Prophecy of the Undead by Fiona McGier Page A

got back into the car and continued driving up the road. He glanced over at Keisha who frowned with anxiety.
    “I’m still terrified,” she said in reaction to his unspoken question.
    He nodded. “Good. Never forget for an instant that these two are the monsters from under your bed. They have the power to destroy your mind or snap your neck like a twig, and they don’t need to even touch you to do either. Be respectful and polite.”
    “Show a little leg?” she asked nervously. “That won’t do any good. You said they are partners. So, they’re gay, right?”
    “For the most part. No man, alive or undead, will turn his eyes away from an attractive woman’s legs.”
    They pulled up to the entrance and parked next to a beige dirt-covered Humvee. Keisha didn’t wait for Yuri to walk around to her door to open it for her. She climbed out of the car and stood uncertainly until Yuri claimed her hand, pulling it up to his mouth to kiss her fingertips gently, making her shiver.
    “I will be with you at all times. Even when you don’t feel me, I will be there. I won’t let you out of my sight.”
    “Why are we here, exactly?” Her voice shook from nerves.
    “To find out why your research made you a target. And to impress upon them the importance of calling off the attack dogs so you can answer my questions. They pretend not to care but there are few among us who haven’t wondered what makes us what we are. We need to be sure you will be allowed to find those answers.”
    “So, we’re asking them to let me live?”
    “Basically.”
    Keisha took a deep breath and strode up to the front door to knock. Before her knuckles hit the wood, the door swung open.
    A slender blond man stood in the doorway, smiling at them both. He wasn’t as tall as Yuri, but the similarities in bone structure and coloring made Keisha fairly positive which one of the powerful Old Ones this man was. She would have guessed his age to be slightly younger in mortal years than Yuri.
    “Yuri Kozakov, welcome to our home. This must be...”
    Yuri answered quickly, “Keisha Brown. Keisha, this is Casimiro Pavlenko, the countryman of mine I told you about.”
    Keisha offered her hand for a shake, but Casimiro bowed and took her hand in his to gently kiss the backs of her fingers. He stood again and waved into the house.
    “ Bienvenido á nuestra casa. Welcome to our home. Apolinar is painting but asked that I bring you down to meet him when you arrived. We so seldom have visitors.”
    Keisha found it hard not to scream from nervousness. Somehow even the normal pleasantries of polite conversation threatened her. She hoped that she only imagined things but she felt like the proverbial fly entering the spider’s web.
    She followed their host down the hallway to an elevator, with Yuri close behind her. The door was open so they got onto the elevator and Keisha watched as Casimiro pressed a button. The door swished closed in an efficient manner.
    In just a few minutes, they walked through the open door into a hallway lit by wall sconces burning scented oil. They continued down the hall to a large door at the end of it. Casimiro knocked briefly and then threw the door open.
    “They are here but then you knew that already. Come and meet them. She’s delightful. I think you will be pleased.”
    Keisha and Yuri both turned to look in the direction that Casimiro spoke. There was a large canvas on an easel and two legs were visible under it. Keisha tried to hide her surprise when a teenager looked around the canvas at them. His face lit up with a smile as he walked around the easel to approach them still holding the paintbrush. He was about the same height as Keisha, who was the average height of an American woman at five feet four inches. His long black hair was pulled back away from his face and held by a piece of red ribbon, tied in a bow. He had an olive complexion and a faint mustache barely darkened his upper lip. His black eyes sparkled as he