Shades of Red

by T L Christianson

  He tapped his ring on the table and said, “Are you familiar with Bram Stoker’s book, Dracula?”

  I blinked, eyes wide, staring at my angel—my demon, before nodding.

  “Those legends are based on my kind. I am moroi, a real vampire. A living vampire.”

  I laughed, “What? I’m a vampire?” Incredulity colored my words, and I pushed my chair back to get up. “I’m leaving.”

  This situation was crazy. Aurev was crazy. Was this a trick of the mind? I questioned my hazy memories from the night before.

  The strong German maid held my chair in place. “Nein, liebchen,” she told me—no honey.

  Aurev stood and took a carafe from the icebox, pouring some red liquid into a crystal glass before setting it before me.

  I scoffed again. “Blood? Is this blood?” I blinked my eyelashes doubtfully. As the aroma drew me in, I salivated.

  Instead of the sharp metallic scent I'd expected, I caught a whiff of sweet grass in the summer with an underlying spiciness.

  Unconsciously, I’d raised the cup to my lips. The pattern of the crystal pressed into my fingertips. The thick, cool drink slid down my throat like water, refreshing and quenching. Yet at the same time, it seemed to satisfy much deeper needs within me. Moaning with pleasure, I felt giddy and smiled when I’d finished.

  My gaze met my angel’s, and his eyes sparkled as we shared an understanding.

  Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “What if I’d wanted to die?”

  His expression never wavered, “I’d have drunk you dry and left you on the river.”

  “What? Drained my…” My mind seemed to freeze, unable to process what he’d just said. Gerta took my glass and began to wash it out in the sink.

  I shivered. “You mean, kill me?”

  Aurev watched me thoughtfully, judging my reaction.

  “Why?”

  His eyes narrowed and his voice was low. “As someone who has lived a great deal of time, I respect life, but I also respect an individual’s right over their own body.”

  Shaking my head, I blinked rapidly.

  Aurev continued, “You will never grow old, and you won’t die unless you are burned up or decapitated.” His intelligent eyes assessed me. “However, you will need to learn how to live with this gift. Live here until I am sure that you can manage yourself.”

  “What? I can’t live with you. What would people think?” I began to protest when he cut me off again.

  “I am a man of many resources. I don’t make other moroi lightly. Don’t make me regret my gift to you.” His eyes returned to me and seemed to bore into my soul. “I’m a patient man, a compassionate man. I will help you fulfill your wildest dreams, and you can help build my Clan here in New York. I have three other progenies, other moroi that I have made here in New York. You are the fourth. Ignatius and Elsbet live in the building here and Jonathan—who is new like you, lives here in my apartment as well. I expect you to live in the bedroom you awoke in.”

  Now, I wasn’t a high maintenance type of gal. I’d grown up with a certain lifestyle, and I’d have to admit that giving all that up to be independent had been difficult. My father had owned the local general store back in Iowa, and I’d been used to servants and nice things until living on my own.

  But, living with a man? How scandalous!

  My father’s letters regularly arrived, still asking me to move home and marry. It had been years, and I knew at my age, I was already an old maid. But I wasn’t ready to give myself up to marriage…to a man.

  Now, here I was…giving myself, my freedom, up to a man. I licked my teeth, the tang of blood still lingering, making my stomach growl.

  “Mr. Vatia, you need to understand that I will not be kept as a child. If I’d have wanted that, to be kept at home and away from my work and my job, then I’d have married.”

  His full mouth turned up at the corners, and a chuckle escaped his lips. “Then, my dear, I’ve chosen correctly. I do not believe that females are the weaker sex, especially not you. I expect excellence and education. Push the boundaries, explore, invent! I want to have the most forward-thinking clan.”

  I narrowed my eyes, a smile trying to curve my mouth. I purred, “Very well, then I want to go to law school to become an attorney.”

  This was an unthinkable idea during this time.

  He didn’t even blink, “Then, you shall do it.”

  And my partnership with my maker began. He’d never wanted me pinned back or held down—he wanted me to thrive and be independent.

  I’d had a dream, and my angel had kept his word and helped it happen.

  Chapter One

  Aarhus, Denmark – Present Day

  Addressing my client, the lead judge spoke in Danish, “Karsten Ingvar, on the charges of unlawful transition and moroi child abandonment you have been found innocent. Although it is obvious that one of your blood is responsible, we have found the accusations placed against you erroneous. You are free to go.”

  A smile tugged at my lips as relief flooded me, but the stress and tension of the past few weeks still weighed heavily on my shoulders. My feet took me into the empty hall behind the courtroom, where a sob escaped my lips.

  Karsten was the one thing keeping my brilliant, yet clueless adopted daughter, Sarah from falling apart again. She’d been a tough woman until I’d turned her into a moroi vampire. We’d prepped her, we’d trained her. She knew what to expect and yet, she’d struggled.

  Until Karsten.

  He’d been an expert on helping and training new moroi, and he’d recently moved to New York. I’d hired him to help her control her hunger. But, the strange glances and weird eye contact between Sarah and Emilie, the woman he was accused of turning and abandoning, made me think they’d struck some kind of bargain.

  Experts had argued both that he was innocent and guilty using the DNA provided, but in the end, the case had come down to Emilie.

  She’d argued definitively that Karsten wasn’t her maker. When weeks earlier, during a deposition, she’d the opposite. But, she hadn’t seen his face.

  What had Sarah done or said to make Emilie so certain?

  Falling into a squat against the wall, I covered my face with my hands. My legs trembled from the awkward stance as I balanced on my designer heels.

  Every once in a while, the world surprises me.

  I’d just managed to win an unwinnable case.

  Not only had it been life and death, but it had involved the one moroi I’d created, Dr. Sarah Shepard.

  No one wins against the Global Council.

  No one.

  My gaze downward on the aged wood floor, I wondered, what had Sarah done? In my heart, I knew she’d interfered.

  Footsteps echoed behind the door, and I pulled myself to my feet and dusted my charcoal suit skirt. Pretending to gaze at my phone, I ignored the Danish-speaking group as they passed through the hall where I stood.

  When the door latch clicked closed into place, I realized one of the group remained. My head popped up to see a tall woman with long chestnut hair standing timidly against the wall. She pierced me with pale blue eyes the color of a winter sky. Her skin, pale with fear, contrasted against her red lips, pressed into a line from determination.

  Narrowing my eyes, I tilted my head, “I know you…from…you’re part of Demitri’s clan, aren’t you?”

  Her slender fingers held out a keychain with a Lego man on the end.

  “Take it,” she said.

  Looping the keychain through my index finger, my brow furrowed. “What..?”

  “We’ve tried…” She jerked her head toward a sound in the next hall. “I can’t.” Backing toward the far door, her voice pleading, “Please. You should know what he’s done. Stop him.”

  A creak behind me alerted me to someone entering the small hallway. I turned my head for a moment, and when I looked back, the pale-faced, red-lipped woman was gone.

  Striding to the exit, I opened the door into a stairwell but found onl
y emptiness and silence.

  “Miss?” I called out, knowing I’d receive no answer. She’d been frightened, and now she’d disappeared. A chill ran down my spine. “What on earth?” I muttered.

  Turning back, I found yet another stranger wishing for a piece of my time. A muscular, tall, rugged human waiting for my attention.

  His steely gray gaze pinned me in place as he tapped his lip ring against his teeth.

  “Ms. Richards?”

  “I believe you’ve caught me at a disadvantage… You are?”

  He held out a rough hand, with calluses from hard work. “Alexei Vasiliev—bounty hunter.” His voice matched his exterior, slightly graveled but rich and deep with a slight Eastern European accent.

  Did no one make appointments with me in my office anymore?

  I furrowed my brow as I took his hand. Warmth spread through our connection and for a moment I wasn’t sure if he was human or moroi.

  It didn’t matter. The court case had been long and stressful; I needed to board the company jet and go home with my team.

  “Mr. Vasiliev, do you need representation? I don’t usually do international cases.” I smoothed my face into a calm smile.

  “I worked with Karsten a while ago. He’s a good man- I’m glad this went his way.” His accented words hung in the air.

  I nodded cautiously. “Thank you. I don’t mean to be brisk, but I don’t have a lot of time. What is it you need?”

  A broad smile broke out on his face revealing straight square teeth. “I’d hoped to sit and have a drink while we talk, but this will have to do.” He took a step toward me and stopped when I stepped away. “I would like your help to get close to the Killer, Khama’at…Amy—the Butcher.”

  I cocked my head and frowned. “I don’t understand. I barely know her.”

  “I need someone who she knows and trusts to approach her—or she’ll go underground again, and we won’t find her until more lives have been lost. Your clan leader’s assistant, Ms. Smith said Mr. Vatia would send you...to help.”

  I sucked in a breath. Fricking Aurev! Of course, he’d protect Sarah. Of course, he knew I’d want Sarah far from Amy as well. Sarah and Karsten had tracked her down about six months before, brought her into Sarah’s lab in New Jersey and the two had begun working together. They’d formed a friendship before Amy escaped not too long ago.

  I sighed heavily. “So, you’re telling me that you want me to go to Russia, to help you catch Amy, who is not only a killer but an unhinged scientist who’s breeding deadly viruses?”

  The corner of his mouth turned up, “You make it sound bad, but is not so bad. Besides, it is fall and Russia is a beautiful country. We take a train. You’ll like it, I promise.”

  I raised one eyebrow. There was no way I was going to let some foreign bounty-hunter take me anywhere. “I don’t speak Russian,” I told him.

  “Net problem, vy uznayete.” Mr. Vasiliev put his hand on the door lever. “I am looking for your sense of honor. Where is your sense of duty?”

  Closing my eyes, I took a calming breath. “My work is in New York; I’m an attorney. I can’t just drop everything and go gallivanting off to Siberia or where ever you want to go.”

  His lips formed a thin line, his smile gone now. “Other teams have already lost the killer—no one can get close enough. You are the secret to capturing her. She won’t run from you. There is a hit on her, but it’s for only 10 million. If we catch her alive, it is fifty-million-Euros—Fifty million. I’ll give you twenty if you help us successfully catch her.”

  I bit my bottom lip, tempting... “I’m sorry Mr. Vasilliev, I can’t help you.”

  His eyes drilled into me. “The Butcher needs to be stopped, and now that I’m on her trail, I will collect, dead or alive.” He hesitated, “You came here, to Denmark, because it was important. How much more important is the fate of the moroi race?”

  Tilting my chin down, I looked up at him through my lashes. He bit the ring in his lip. Something about this sexy stranger intrigued me, but I wasn’t some wishy-washy miss. Practicality and methodology anchored my world. He wouldn’t get me to run off after some criminal, even one I knew.

  But, I was reluctant to let him leave—he intrigued me. “If for some reason, I entertained this idea, how long would it take?”

  A smile spread across his lips, reaching his silvery eyes. “Maybe a week, a month. Who knows? The more you help, the faster we get her. So, you’ll go?”

  Laughing, I turned my back to him and began to leave the hall. This bounty-hunter was trouble, sensual and mysterious. I didn’t need any of that nonsense in my life.

  His hand was on my arm, a sizzle running over my skin from the contact. “We need to go as soon as possible.”

  Turning in his grasp, I found his presence entirely too close for comfort. Pressing both my palms against his rock-hard chest, I gently pushed until he took a step back.

  “My answer is no.”

  “You are such a stubborn woman.” His nostrils flared, his eyes fiery with amusement. Was he flirting with me? He held out a black business card between two fingers. “Call me, when you’re ready.”

  I smiled back, examining the flecks of gold in his gray eyes. “Don’t count on it.”

  My trendy heels made muted knocks on the wood floor as I took a few steps toward the door.

  “You’ll call me,” he said, one corner of his mouth quirking up as he gazed at me with hooded bedroom eyes.

  I laughed and took a last lingering glance at the tempting human before leaving that back hallway.

  Chapter Two

  New York City, USA - Three Months Later

  Setting my jaw, I narrowed my gaze at Aurev’s personal assistant, Ms. Smith. She raised one carefully sculpted eyebrow and frowned as I passed her, before one of the two bodyguards opened the door for me as I strode into the large corner office.

  Aurev Vatia, the leader of the New York Clan and Chronos Corp, had texted me: Hazel, please see me immediately.

  When Aurev said jump, we all asked, “how high?”

  Tapping my shoe on the wood floor, I glanced at my gold and diamond Rolex watch and pursed my lips. The man sitting at the desk looked deceptively young for being a bit over 2,000 years old. Under his vibrant play-boy appearance were sharp dark eyes and confidence only gained from time.

  He finished up his phone call and carefully elegant notes in a leather-bound book he snapped shut.

  When his deep chocolate gaze met my own, I sucked in my usual breath. My little crush had been going on since I’d first met him and gave him my personal nickname: Dark Angel.

  “I came as soon as I was able,” I said, breaking the silence of the open space with my words. Taking a position on one of the modern chairs that sat across from his large mahogany wood desk, I asked, “What’s this about? I’m surprised you summoned me today. Is this about the new identities? I have them. They’re ready to go.”

  My dark angel looked at me with a familiar expression on his face.

  Uh-oh.

  “No,” I told him, concerned that he made his ‘I’m sorry’ face.

  Aurev pursed his lips, stood and walked around the piece of furniture toward me. Leaning against the edge of his desk, he tapped his ring on the wood.

  I examined his black tailored shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His suit jacket hung on a rack in the corner.

  His mouth quirked up a bit as he spoke, “We had to enthrall customs when we returned from Denmark. Do you know how old your passport says you are? It says you are sixty-four.”

  I averted my eyes to shuffle through the files in my briefcase. “A slight oversight on my part—but, here they are, I have new ones.” Pulling a large manila envelope from the polished leather case, I held out two folders. “I also have passports and birth certificates for the other four Clan members on my agenda.”

  I flipped open the other folder and held my breath as Aurev perused my two identities. He’d asked me to put together cluster
identities for everyone. Applying for birth certificates sporadically every year to use as future identities when the time came.

  “I think you’ve waited too long,” He tapped the older, established ID that would allow me to continue to practice law in New York.

  “What, why? It’s perfect.” I cocked my head to glance at the papers he held.

  “No. This puts you at almost forty. This ID won’t last more than a couple of years. Besides…” He tapped his hand against the table, his ring again clacking against the wood. He Hesitated, finally saying, “I’d like you to take a sabbatical from New York. Maybe from practicing law. Take a vacation, travel maybe.”

  There was a sadness in his expression that I didn’t understand.

  Something was wrong. Aurev's face looked weird as his eyes roamed my features.

  “No, no! I don’t need time off. What’s this about?”

  His clenched his teeth making his jaw twitch. “Honestly, you know you need a break. I don’t want you to go… But, I’ve been selfish.” He finished, shaking his head. “You work seventy, sometimes more hours a week. It’s not fair to you.” His fingers feathered over my cheek and down my arm giving me chills.

  I blinked trying to figure this out. “I’ll officially kill off my current ID in about a month; I can make the switch then. But I should stay in New York and continue to work here.”

  He took my hands in his own. “Hazel, no. This isn’t a request.”

  I pressed my fingertips to my eyes, wondering what I’d done wrong. “Alright. I’ll get everything worked out…in a month I’ll…”

  He cut me off, “About that. It’s a little ahead of schedule, but a body showed up in our morgue, and I had it ID’d as you.”

  “You had it ID’d as me? I don’t understand.” I stood, pulling my hands away, racking my brain for any answer as to why he’d done this. These actions were out of character for my boss. Why would he do something so permanent and so drastic without talking to me?

  Catching my eye, he frowned, “You don’t need to understand. It’s done. You’re still a member of the Clan. It’s time you traveled and tried a new life, a different life than what you have here. When you come back after sowing the oats you never did as a human then I’ll welcome you with open arms.”