Saint’s Passage: Elemental Covenant Book One Page 20

  Didi had put the older girls to work making chili and hot chocolate for the younger children, knowing wisely that activity and direction were often the best medicine.

  Wash, Oso, Daniel, and their group of friends were organizing tents and watch teams for the rest of the night, determined to stand guard over the group until Daniel’s friend from an immigrant-rights group and Lupe’s lawyer came in the morning.

  Carwyn walked up to Brigid and stuck his large hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “So I just made a call that’s liable to give Giovanni and Beatrice headaches.”

  “Did you warn them?”

  “I did. After I made the call.”

  “To?”

  “Ernesto’s people.”

  “Oh lovely.” Brigid closed her eyes and shook her head. “Beatrice will have your hide the next time she sees you. She told you not to get her grandfather involved.”

  “That’s why it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” he said. “Let’s face it—technically, this is all Ernesto’s territory.”

  “And none of this had a whiff of vampire interference before we came along and got involved.” That was the rule in Los Angeles, and it was the same in Dublin. Unless a vampire was involved in the crime, human authorities were in charge. Patrick didn’t involve himself in solely human matters, and neither did Ernesto. “What were you thinking?”

  Carwyn nodded at the little children sitting around a fire and drinking mugs of hot chocolate and eating bowls of chili.

  “I was thinking of them,” he said. “I was thinking that the human government might take months—years even—to find their parents. I was thinking of children lost in a system that doesn’t care enough. And I was thinking of all the resources that Ernesto and his people have.” He rested his chin on the top of Brigid’s head. “You know I did the right thing.”

  Brigid sighed. “You did the right thing.” It would be a mess, but Carwyn was right. Ernesto’s people could find these children’s parents in days, not weeks or months. And it wasn’t until they were safe at home with family who loved them that healing could begin. “We can’t save everyone,” she said. “You know that, don’t you?”

  “We saved them.” He kissed her temple. “We can’t save everyone, but we saved them.”

  “We did.”

  “Doesn’t that feel good?” He stood behind her and settled his arms around her shoulders, surrounding her in his warm energy.

  Brigid stilled in the comfort of her mate’s arms, and it was as if the moonlit mountains had embraced her. Everything that was uneven or sideways in her soul shifted and settled with a sigh.

  “Why do you want to leave Dublin?” Brigid asked.

  “It’s a big world out there, darling girl. Don’t you want to see a bit more of it?”

  “Where would we go?”

  “Anywhere you want.”

  She looked over her shoulder. “And what would we do? I’m not a tourist, Carwyn. I need…” She thought of Daniel Siva’s regimented life. His busy calendar that left little time for idleness or too much drifting thought. She thought about her own drive to be working always, to be busy, to be occupied. She turned her head back to the fire.

  In many ways, she was just like Daniel, stuck in her own routine because it was safe, it was predictable, and it kept her from thinking of hungers that couldn’t be sated.

  “I need things to do,” she said. “I need to have a mission.”

  “I know that.” He kissed her head again. “Don’t you think I know my wife?”

  “So what—?”

  “This.” He pointed his chin at the campfire. “We’ll do this.”

  “Rescue children from human traffickers?”

  “Sometimes. Sometimes we might find a runaway like Lupe. Sometimes we might track down a person who did something wrong.”

  “Kind of… bounty hunters? Of a sort.”

  “We’ll help people,” Carwyn said. “In our own ways, we’re both very good at that, don’t you think?”

  “And we keep the house in Dublin?”

  “Why not? Dublin’s home, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” It was home. For now. She was still relatively young in vampire years, and the thought of leaving her aunt, her last human connection in the world, wasn’t something she wanted to face. Still, her aunt was in excellent health. She wasn’t an old woman. She didn’t need Brigid around all the time. “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  She could hear the smile in his voice. Brigid turned in his arms and looked up. “I’ll call Murphy tomorrow night.”

  A wicked smirk touched the corner of his mouth. “Can you video chat with him? And can I watch? I don’t have to be on the call, just… observe from the corner of the room.”

  “Like a creepy professional voyeur?”

  “Yes. Exactly like that.”

  She shook her head and turned back to the children, who were starting to blink longer and longer as the safety of their surroundings and the warm food began to settle in.

  “Yer a strange man, Carwyn ap Bryn.”

  “You’d be bored if I wasn’t.”

  “Probably.”

  Definitely.

  * * *

  Carwyn and Brigid retreated for the day and woke at dusk to a report from Daniel about the goings-on of the day. He and Wash had driven down to Miller’s Range and watched the fire department going in and out of the compound. In addition to the local fire department, there were multiple local, state, and federal agencies spotted.

  The sheriff was the most prominent until the FBI arrived with a caravan of SUVs and several large trucks. The local news was reporting that a Mexican cartel had been occupying the old army base.

  “There was no mention of the contractor.” Daniel was sitting on a rock near the mouth of the cave where Carwyn and Brigid were sleeping during the day. The moon was rising and silhouetted a stand of Joshua trees along the ridge.

  “So the chances of anyone coming after the children is small,” Carwyn said. “That’s a relief.”

  “There wasn’t any mention of missing kids on the news,” Daniel said. “I mean, they left stuff in their rooms, right?”

  “Most of them did,” Carwyn said. “They may be keeping those details from the media for the investigation.”

  “Or because there’s a border agent involved,” Daniel said.

  “Yes, also because of that.” Carwyn stretched out his legs. “Either way, I don’t think anyone could track the children here. I collapsed the tunnel, and we made sure none of the tracks from the truck were visible. There’s no way they would trace them to the Springs unless someone here talked.”

  Daniel laughed. “No one in the Springs is gonna talk to the cops. You can be sure of that.”

  “Did the attorney come?” Brigid asked. “Lupe’s attorney?”

  “Yeah. She and Anna Marie came around lunchtime. Anna Marie talked to all the kids. The lawyer lady talked to Lupe and some of the older girls. Didi and Crystal too. They seemed okay with the kids staying at the Springs for a couple of days. Just said to make sure we watched out so none of them sneaked off, you know?”

  “Yes. Especially the older kids.” Carwyn had told Brigid about Celia, the girl from El Centro who killed the guard. “How much information did they get from the children?”

  “I think most of them had something. Some of them knew their parents’ names. One little girl just kept repeating her aunt’s phone number, but she didn’t know her name, you know? Just Tía. But there was the phone number. The biggest problem is the baby boy. No one seems to know his name or who his mother is.”

  “And the boy who went missing,” Carwyn said. “Do any of the older girls have any idea—?”

  “No.” Daniel’s face grew dark. “I mean, I guess the best guess would be to interview the guards, right? The ones left at the range. They might know what happened to the baby.”

  Brigid rubbed a hand over her face. “What a nightmare.”

  “A
t least it’s a nightmare that twenty-three kids avoided,” Daniel said.

  “I’m praying that someone took the child home,” Carwyn said. “Or grew a conscience and returned him to his mother if he was that young. It’s possible.”

  “We need to find the border patrol agent they bribed,” Brigid said. “That might be something for Ernesto’s people.”

  “That might give us way more information about all the kids,” Daniel said. “Between what Celia can tell us and what that border—”

  “Celia?” Carwyn asked. “Why would Celia know— Oh, I’m a knob.” He shook his head. “Of course she would know. It all makes sense now.”

  “What?” Brigid was lost. “Isn’t Celia the girl who killed the guard?”

  “Yes, and she didn’t hesitate for a second.” Carwyn looked at Daniel. “She’s a coyote, isn’t she?”

  Daniel shrugged a little. “I mean, I don’t think she organized it, but she was the one in charge of the group, you know?”

  “The girl?” Brigid was gobsmacked. “That little girl was the smuggler?”

  “She was the driver,” Daniel said. “She’s a citizen, can move freely back and forth across the border. According to her, she was driving a camper van, trying to cross with a bunch of surfboards on the back of the van. She’s a regular, so she doesn’t usually get stopped. She had one of the older girls in the front, acting like it was a girls’ trip to Ensenada, you know?”

  “She’s a regular,” Brigid said. “So the wrong kind of guard gets wind of her cargo and she’s a prime target.”

  “She had twenty people in the back of that camper,” Daniel said. “A dozen of them were kids or teenagers trying to get north. The adults got arrested, and she and the kids all got taken to Miller’s Range.”

  “Damn.” Brigid rubbed her chin. “Fuck me, I never would have guessed a girl that young—”

  “She’s not looking to go home,” Daniel said. “Said she won’t go. She’s already talking to Didi about working at her place.”

  Brigid and Carwyn exchanged a look.

  “She’s made it this far on her own,” Carwyn said. “I have a feeling our advice would go in one ear and out the other.”

  “I can’t disagree.” Brigid shrugged. “There are worse places to be than working with Didi. She needs help though. From what she said—”

  “She won’t get help until she’s ready,” Carwyn said. “It has to be in her own time. We can keep in touch. Let her decide when she’s ready.”

  “Anna Marie was already talking about getting a trauma counselor out here tomorrow,” Daniel said. “She’s a really good person. She cares. For real.”

  “Thank you, Daniel.” Brigid smiled at the young man. “You’ve gone above and beyond on this. You should be proud of yourself.”

  He looked uncomfortable. “It was the least I could do. After taking Lupe from home… I just hope she’ll forgive me. Eventually.”

  “In time.” Brigid patted his hand. “She’s young, Daniel. Give it time.”

  * * *

  Later, as the children settled in for their second night in Liberty Springs, a shiny black Lincoln drove down the road, kicking up a long trail of dust as it slowly approached the encampment. The smaller children poked their head out of Didi’s compound as the older children shoved them back, uncertain in the face of a car that exuded wealth and power.

  When the car came to a stop, a uniformed human driver opened the passenger door and Paula de la Cruz, oldest daughter and lieutenant of Don Ernesto Alvarez of Los Angeles, stepped out of the car. She was a light-skinned woman with deep brown hair that fell straight to her waist in a mahogany waterfall. Paula was dressed casually—for Paula—in a pristine white pantsuit and matching coat. Her boots were made of rich brown leather, and she carried an alligator-skin briefcase.

  Carwyn stepped forward to greet her. “Paula, it is so lovely to see you again.”

  She raised an arched eyebrow. “I wish my father was as pleased as you are.”

  “I don’t want to bring up the number of favors that I have done for Don Ernesto, but should I be forced to recall them—”

  “You do not need to inform me.” She lifted a manicured hand. “I have reminded him of this myself.” She looked around the motley group in Didi’s compound. “What have you gotten yourself into, Carwyn? Because I don’t know you and your wife that well, but I do know this was not Brigid’s doing.”

  Brigid barked out a laugh and covered her mouth. “Paula, do you like hot chocolate? I feel like this is going to take a while to explain.”

  * * *

  It was near midnight when Carwyn, Brigid, and Lupe pulled up to a brightly lit house in Huntington Park. The white picket fence was securely latched, but Carwyn knew the door was open and Lupe’s mother was waiting.

  “Are you sure you don’t want us to go in with you?” Brigid asked.

  “We can tell your mother everything you did,” Carwyn said. “Lupe, you’re a hero to those children. You’re the only one who never gave up on them.”

  The girl took a deep breath and reached for her backpack. She was dusty and her hair needed a wash. Her clothes were dirty and her shoes were probably destined for the rubbish bin, but her face was determined. Her eyes were confident. She was the same steel-willed girl they’d met days before. Only now she had an air of confidence and assurance. She’d been through the fire and survived.

  “I’m okay,” Lupe said. “Maybe tomorrow night. For tonight I just want to hug my mom and let her know I’m okay.” She smiled. “And take a really long shower and sleep in my own bed.”

  Brigid nodded. “Good. We’ll plan to come over tomorrow night then.”

  “Okay, cool.” She opened the door of the Bronco and paused. “So like… an immigration lawyer. That’s something that can really help a lot of people, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Carwyn said. “I believe it is.”

  Lupe nodded. “Yeah. I thought so.” She hopped out of the car and walked through the gate just as her mother opened the door. María ran down the steps and embraced Lupe before she could reach the front step.

  Carwyn blinked hard.

  “Are you crying?” Brigid asked.

  “Just a little.”

  “We’ll be paying for her university fees, won’t we?”

  He sniffed. “Every single one.”

  “And making sure her legal status is settled?”

  “It’s the least we can do, Brigid.”

  “Just making sure.” She reached across for his hand and squeezed. “Like you said, it’s the least we can do.”

  Epilogue

  Patrick Murphy was glaring at the video screen, every polished inch of the man exuding irritation. “Is he forcing you to do this?”

  “Forcing me?” Brigid raised her eyebrows. “Tell me yer jokin’ with that question, Murphy.”

  “Fine.” He pursed his lips. “Persuading you very forcefully.”

  “And in what universe have you or that man ever convinced me to do anything I don’t want to do?”

  He was grumpy. Murphy was grumpy and more than a little pissed off.

  “Is Anne there?” Brigid asked.

  “No, she’s in Belfast visiting her sister.”

  That explained it. Murphy was like a grumpy little boy without his favorite toy when his mate was away. “No wonder yer in a mood.”

  “I’m losing my chief of security! Did you think I’d be happy about it?”

  “What’s Tom then? Chopped liver? I’m telling him you said that.” Brigid was just poking fun at Murphy now. “We’re keeping the house, man. We’ll still be based there. Do you think I’d not come in a heartbeat if anyone back home needed me?”

  He looked slightly mollified. “What the hell are you going to do with your time then?”

  “I don’t know. Travel a bit. Go to Alaska in the winter and stay out all day. Learn glassblowing and practice my knitting on Carwyn’s chest hair. I don’t know. I’ll do vampire shite and act
cool.”

  Murphy had been with her every step of the way. He was the first person to give her a job after she’d started recovery, and he’d continued to employ her when she was a volatile newborn fire vampire. He knew her as well as a brother.

  “You need more than that, Brig. You know you do.”

  “We’re going to be helping people,” she said. “We’re going to travel and be knights errant or something like that.”

  “Now that is definitely Carwyn’s idea.” Murphy rolled his eyes.

  “Yes, but it’s a good one.” She smiled. “You know it is.”

  Murphy gave her a rueful smile. “Don’t let yourself get bored. You light things on fire when you get bored.”

  “As if Carwyn doesn’t know that firsthand,” she said. “Come now, you know I’ll be busy keeping him out of trouble.”

  “Where are you headed next?”

  Brigid shrugged. “I don’t know. Not Europe. Maybe we’ll stay in America a little bit longer. Head back to New York. Surf the volcanos in Hawaii. Visit the cowboys in Texas.”

  Murphy made a face. “You have a strange idea of fun.”

  “It’s an odd place, this country. I could stand to see a little more of it if I’m being honest.”

  “Don’t be gone too long,” Murphy said. “You know we’re all going to miss you.”

  “Carwyn and I will be sure to come back by Christmas. Fair?”

  “Oh no.” Murphy rubbed his forehead. “We don’t need the Welshman. Just you will be fine.”

  Carwyn winked at her from the door. “It’s okay, Murphy. I know you hate me for stealing her.”

  Murphy narrowed his eyes. “Has he been listening this whole time?”

  “Not the whole time.”

  Carwyn had missed the first twenty seconds or so of the call because he’d been trying to convince Zain that he needed to sell them the Bronco.

  “Tell the idiot that I’m expecting you home at regular intervals, and if he doesn’t comply, I’ll report him to his daughter.”