Duet in Blood

by J. P. Bowie

  “Good,” I said, pulling down the front of my tunic and covering my crotch with my hands. “Better than good.” We grinned at one another. “Does this mean I’m a vampire?”

  “Not quite. We’ll get into the specifics later.”

  I eyed the shining light around the portal. “Let’s try it.”

  “Go slow,” he warned. “Try putting your hand through first.” He yelped with delight as my arm disappeared through the portal. “Yeah, way to go, Micah! Okay…” He glanced over his shoulder. “I better do what Marcus wanted, just so I stay out of trouble. Be right back.”

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  As soon as he’d gone, I stepped through to the other side. He’d been right. There was a lot of nothing to see, just mist and stuff. I called out, “Marcus? Jean-Claude?” A hand on my shoulder made me jump out of my skin.

  “Roger.”

  He arched his right eyebrow. “You’re as bad as me. Can’t wait to get in on the action, eh?” He had Andre with him, and a bunch of other vampires, male and female. All of them looked to be about my age, but I had already figured that they were probably not a day under four or five hundred—years old, that is.

  “Okay…” Roger peered into the mist ahead of us. “What d’you think, Andre?”

  “Let me go in there first to reconnoitre,” Andre said. “If it looks clear of traps, I’ll signal for you all to come through.”

  “I’ll come with you.” One of the women, a pretty brunette, grabbed Andre’s arm. He smiled at her, showing off his cover boy teeth, and together they flew off into the mist.

  “Wow,” I breathed. “When can I do that?”

  “That takes time and practise,” Roger said, wryly. “Remind me to tell you one day about—” He broke off as if a sudden thought had occurred to him. “All clear,” he muttered.

  “Let’s go. Micah. Jump aboard. We’re going for a little ride.”

  I climbed on him, piggy-back style, and held on tight. We lifted off, a little unsteadily compared to the others who rose into the air without any seeming effort at all.

  “Sorry...” Roger turned and gave me a grin. “Haven’t carried anyone before. Should be all right, though.”

  I wrapped my arms around his chest, hating the sinister feel of the cold damp air that surrounded us. Then the mist suddenly cleared, and I found myself gazing down onto a valley surrounded by lofty pine trees. In the distance, the turrets of a castle glinted in the moonlight.

  “Where are we?” I yelled.

  “Haven’t a clue,” was Roger’s bland reply. “I’m a stranger myself here. Andre knows the way, I expect.”

  I sure hoped so.

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  Joseph

  Angelo regarded me with impatience as we stood together in his bedroom at the Castle Fortneaux.

  “You should be grateful to me, Joseph,” he drawled as he slipped his scarlet cloak from his shoulders. “I could have killed you and that mortal you seem to hanker for on the spot.

  Instead, I bring you here to my home, and you glare at me as if I am your enemy.”

  “You are my enemy, Angelo,” I said, barely able to control my anger. “You have

  abducted me and taken me back to the hellhole where I endured years of misery. You think I should be grateful for that?”

  “But I rule here now. You will be my lover again—revered and toadied to by some of the very men who tortured you so long ago. This is my reward for turning the wizards over to the power of the Dark Forces.”

  “So, you betrayed your masters, and you think the Dark Forces will allow you to rule here?”

  “They got what they wanted—the magic of the Brotherhood. All that knowledge is

  theirs now, to do with what they will.”

  “And what do you suppose they will do with that knowledge?” I asked. “You have

  played into their hands, and you will never be free of them. You think you rule here? They rule here. You have brought them from the bowels of the earth where they belong and have given them dominion on earth. They will destroy everything they touch. That is their way.”

  He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “I care nothing for that. All I care for is here before me. You, Joseph. I claim you for my own.”

  I hissed at him and bared my fangs. “My kiss on your lips will be the kiss of death, Angelo. I warn you.”

  His laughter echoed around the room. “Oh, Joseph, Joseph, you cannot harm me, nor can your friends help you. This place where we stand is invisible to all save the few who must know of its existence.”

  “Marcus will trace my thoughts,” I said. “He will find me, then—”

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  “Then, nothing,” Angelo interrupted. He came closer and ripped away the flimsy fabric that only partially covered my body. His hands caressed my chest and abdomen.

  “Remember, Joseph? Remember when I would come to you and soothe your pain and anger?

  Remember how I would lie with you, and tell you that before long you would be free—free to love me as you wished? Free from the constraints the wizards had placed upon your body and soul. Well, that time has come. You are indeed free to love me, and I to love you.”

  He brought his mouth to mine and enfolded me in his arms. His kiss was honey sweet, his scent an aphrodisiac to my senses, his power over me overwhelming in its intensity. I felt myself unable to resist him. What ability had he been given to sway my affections like this? I pulled the thought of Micah into my mind. A vision of his sweet face swam before my eyes, and I pushed away Angelo with all the strength I could muster.

  His face flushed with anger as he stumbled back, his eyes darkened with a slow

  burning rage. “You would resist me?” he hissed. “You would prefer that weak mortal boy to me—to my strength and power? When he is dead, you will beg me to give myself to you. But before that, you will crawl to me craving my forgiveness.”

  “Never, Angelo. Better to kill me now than wait for that impossible day.” I stared at him, trying to remember the boyish young man who had cared for me with such tenderness.

  “There was a time when I loved you…a time when I thought you and I would be bonded forever. But you chose a different path. You followed those who made you what you are today. Bringing me back to the time when we were lovers cannot make me love you again.

  The disguise you now wear does not hide your true colours, Angelo. You are a demon, and you always will be. You sold your soul to gain power—and you can never get it back. Now, you have gone over to the Dark Forces. There is no way back from that dire choice. They will use you until you are a dried up husk, then they will throw you aside. If you think I would willingly join you in this madness, then you do not know me at all.”

  “I do not care to know you. I merely want to possess you.” His eyes raked my

  nakedness. “You will be mine.”

  “No, I will not. Take care, Angelo. My vampire strength is returning to me. Whatever spell you cast is waning.”

  “You cannot match me in a test of power,” he snarled.

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  As if to prove what he had just said, he gestured at me, the force of it throwing me backwards onto his bed. Tearing his clothes from his body, he launched himself upon me, gripping my torso in a hard embrace, pinning my arms to my sides. He went down on me, taking my flaccid penis into his mouth, striving to arouse in me the need and lust he obviously felt. I clamped my thighs around his neck, straining to break the hold his mouth had on me. With a disgusted growl, he released me, but maintained his iron-like grip on my body.

  Silently, we wrestled back and forth across the great bed. His strength was indeed prodigious, as was the huge erection he pushed between my legs. But my need to survive the outcome of this fight filled my body with hidden reserves. I m
anaged to wrest one arm free of his grasp and delivered a sharp punch to his chin, then another, then one to his nose. It broke under my fist, and a great gout of black blood spurted from it, splattering my face and chest. I gagged from the stench and from what happened to his once beautiful face. All vestiges of the disguise he had presented to me earlier were gone, and the true Angelo was revealed in demon form.

  Roaring with rage and pain, he flung me from him, sending me spinning off the bed onto the floor. He stood over me, his eyes burning with lust from a face that was now a ghastly mask of wrinkled flesh. He held his huge cock in one hand as he fell over me, pushing his erection towards my mouth. I opened wide, then I bit down hard, my fangs penetrating it to the underside. Angelo screamed, a high-pitched wail of exquisite pain as he tried to force my head away from his bleeding member. I worried at it like a jealous dog with a bone, tearing at the flesh, puncturing blood vessels and sending great spurts of blood flying in every direction, all the while ignoring the pounding of his fists on my head.

  Then I felt myself being pulled from him. Guards, hearing their master’s screams of pain and terror had burst into the room to tear the mad vampire from what remained of Angelo’s penis. I was dragged from the room and down a long passageway, still hearing with some pleasure Angelo’s howls of anguish. I knew my punishment would be terrible, but it caused me some satisfaction knowing that Angelo would never quite be the same demon again.

  I was locked in a dark windowless cell. That was a good thing. Before long, the sun would come up, and at least here, I did not have to worry about that problem. So, Angelo DUET IN BLOOD

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  had brought me back to the Castle Fortneaux, and to the exact time before Marcus had come to rescue me those four hundred years ago. In doing so, he had surmised that my friends would not be able to follow me, and that Micah would be lost to me forever.

  I sighed with despair but, at the same time, sent out a mind message in the hope that somehow Marcus would know where I was. He had found me here once before after he had been alerted to my captivity by Bernard, the young vampire the wizards had thrown into the daylight to die. But Bernard did not die, and several years later recounted my plight to Marcus, who set out with his companions to rescue me. They brought a swift and terrible punishment upon the Wizard Brotherhood—so terrible that all of us believed they were gone forever.

  I had tried to persuade Angelo to give up his allegiance to the Brotherhood, but he had refused, cursing all of us as he disappeared into the flames that had left their stronghold a smoking ruin. Marcus had found me, weak and near death from lack of blood. He had let me feed from him, and his powerful blood restored my strength and bound me to his side as his forever friend.

  Now I was reaching out to Marcus again. Still, four hundred years in the past was a long way to come. Here I was in the same damned prison that had held me all those years ago and with a maddened demon to contend with.

  Sorry, Micah, I thought. Sorry this couldn’t have gone better for us. Paris with you had seemed a wonderful idea. But now? When, and how, would that dream ever be fulfilled?

  Joseph!

  I started as Marcus probed my mind. Yes, Marcus, I’m here, in the Castle Fortneaux. Where are you?

  A few kilometres away but I’m scanning the countryside and can see no sign of Castle Fortneaux.

  Angelo has cast a net of invisibility around it, I told him. Do you remember its approximate location? I can guide you when you are near. But take care, Marcus. Angelo is mad with rage because of what I have done to him.

  Whatever you did—I hope it hurts.

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  I chuckled. Oh, it hurts all right. My mind soared with joy at the thought that I had not been abandoned four hundred years in the past—and at the mercy of an emasculated demon.

  How did you manage to find me? I asked

  The portal Angelo used to transport you back in time remained open long enough for Jean-Claude and I to follow you.

  The portal was open? But Angelo thinks he closed it.

  As I’ve said before, the Dark Forces cannot be trusted—no matter what they promise.

  Marcus’ words caused a shiver of apprehension to course down my spine. Of course, he was right. I would be foolish indeed if I thought that they had taken our side by leaving the portal open. This was merely a furtherance of the games they indulged in. We were all pawns to be moved around their chessboard of life and death.

  We are very near, Joseph. Your thoughts are loud and clear. And you are correct. The Dark Forces are not on our side nor on the side of our enemies. I suppose, in a way, we should be grateful for that, at least. There is a large copse of trees ahead of us. Jean-Claude is pointing to an indentation of some size in the ground.

  It sounds like you are directly over the castle. Take care, Marcus. He will know you are nearby.

  I felt a gasp of surprise come from Marcus.

  He has dropped the net of invisibility, Joseph. Why would he do that?

  Perhaps he did not. The Dark Forces may have just made another move, I replied.

  Perhaps. We can see the guards he has positioned on the battlements. They look as surprised as we were a moment ago. They have not seen us yet, so…

  In my mind’s eye, I saw Marcus and Jean-Claude swoop down on the startled guards, dealing with them swiftly and with a silent stealth unique to we vampires.

  Where are you, exactly?

  I smiled. They had been even quicker than I had imagined. I would guess underground, I told him. In one of the lower dungeons. The cell is without windows.

  Now all I could do was wait, keeping my mind clear. I tensed suddenly. Micah—he was nearby! Had Marcus brought him here? Surely not. It was too dangerous.

  Marcus…is Micah with you?

  No, I left him with Roger.

  Strange. I can sense him close by.

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  There was a long silence as Marcus focused his thoughts towards Roger, then, Of course, I should have known better. Roger and Micah are here, but fortunately they have brought reinforcements. Andre and several others—

  The door to my cell swung open, and several guards swarmed in, dragging me roughly to my feet and hustling me out along the stone-lined corridor.

  Marcus, they have taken me from the cell. Angelo must know you are here.

  Right. I see him. He’s in the Great Hall surrounded by guards. So far, we remain undetected, but he must sense our presence. I see you being brought before him—Joseph, where are your clothes?

  There are more pressing concerns at the moment than my nudity, Marcus.

  True…but you present a fine show, he replied.

  Hey! Roger’s thoughts invaded our mental conversation, and despite my predicament, I smiled.

  Angelo glared at me as I was dragged before him. He had not bothered to cloak himself in the disguise of the beautiful young man he had once been. Now, he stood in front of me, his face made even more ugly by the evil that roiled and writhed within him.

  “You smile, Joseph?” he spat at me, the pain he obviously still endured fuelling his rage. “You think this is amusing?”

  “I think you are pathetic, Angelo,” I replied candidly. “You have allowed yourself to be duped by the Dark Forces, who I am sure, are watching this charade with glee. They are not your allies nor will they ever be. My friends are on their way here—allowed to pass through the time portal by the Dark Forces themselves. And what happened to the net of invisibility you cast around this place? You didn’t remove it—they did. You see? You are as much a pawn in this game as we are.”

  “We shall see.” He stared at me, malevolence streaming from his eyes. “In a few

  minutes, the sun will rise, and the Great Hall will be flooded with light—daylight, Joseph, from which you and your friends cannot escape. I offered you a place here by my side. Yo
u repaid that offer with betrayal—”

  “And a nasty bite,” I interrupted, enjoying the look of outrage on his wrinkled face.

  “It’ll take a great deal of magic to make you whole again, if ever.”

  “That’s enough!” He snapped his fingers, and I was grabbed on either side by the guards. “Bind him so he cannot fly.”

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  Angelo smirked as my hands were tied behind me, and I was pushed into the centre of the floor, directly on the place where the first shafts of morning sunlight would fall. I braced myself for the searing pain I knew would come when the rays of the sun bathed my bare skin with its killing fire.

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  Chapter Twelve

  Micah

  We stood, hidden in the shadows, on the stone steps that led to the Great Hall,

  watching as Joseph was brought in to confront the demon Angelo. Joseph was naked, and even in this moment of danger I couldn’t help the feeling of lust that swept over me as I gazed at this beautiful man. He’s just perfect in every way, I thought, my eyes taking in the graceful symmetry of his body, the round swell of his butt, the strength in his thighs and calves. His head was held high, giving me a wonderful view of his noble profile. I wanted to break from my hiding place, rush across the Hall and throw my arms about him—and get him the hell away from that monster.

  As if he’d intuited my thoughts, Marcus gripped my arm and held me close to his side.

  I winced—these guys just don’t know how strong they are! I glanced up at his face, set in a grim expression. I didn’t know it then, but he and Joseph were in mental contact with one another, had been for some time.

  “What will they do to him?” I whispered.

  “They are going to stand him in the path of the sun’s rays.”

  “He’ll burn.” From behind me, I heard Jean-Claude’s gentle voice confirm my greatest fear.

  “No!” I yelled, struggling to free myself from Marcus. In the Great Hall, all heads swivelled in our direction as my shout echoed around the Hall’s stone walls.