by Aiden James
Despite Armando’s gruff treatment of him, Peter smiled, his attention focused entirely on our daughter, and she seemed enraptured to be in his arms.
“I wanted to spend time with my little girl. She’s all I’ve got—”
His words were cut short by the sudden appearance of Gustav in our midst. He was even rougher with him, wearing a facial expression of intense anger.
“You almost brought about the deaths of the only two humans who matter to us, do you even realize that, you fool?” said Gustav, after he grabbed Peter and pulled him up to the empty marble pedestal where Mohini usually perched. “And to think I had taken up for you, to defend your right to exist. But, for what you’ve done, and the hand you’ve played in the deaths of so many, tonight, you shall surely die.” His jaw unhinged like a snake and his double set of fangs elongated.
“I-I’m s-so s-sorr-r-y,” Peter stammered, sounding confused and frightened as he did the night he was brought to the island from America. It appeared Alaia had an effect on his speech, at least until a moment ago. “Please d-don’t k-kill m-m-e-e-e.”
“Don’t hurt him, he’s her father,” I wailed, as my former love cried and trembled in terrible fear. “Peter didn’t hurt Alaia—if anything, he kept her safe from everything that happened in there.”
I pointed back toward the ruined wall plainly visible as the lights inside the palace were all on again while the initial clean-up process began.
“What, so you think he has a birthright to Alaia due to the fact he was physically involved in her conception?” asked Gustav, much more hateful in his manner than he had been with Ralu a short while earlier. “He has no birthright. Even you have no birthright. You and Alaia belong to us, and both of you will always be our birthright.”
It became apparent the execution would go through as planned, and all of my companions were silent―including Racco. No one dared to challenge their angry king.
“I saved you out there and you know it!” I cried.
He looked at me and his eyes flashed with such anger that I thought for a moment that Ralu’s spirit had hopped into Gustav, but I held my ground. His fury passed, and he regained control of whatever beast lurked within himself.
“You saved yourself, Txema. The timing was fortuitous for me, certainly, but there was no altruism in your action and I will not let you lie to yourself or to me and pretend otherwise.”
Before I could respond (and likely make things worse) an old friend spoke up.
“I beg you, my lord, let me take him with me to my fortress in India,” said Kazikli, his tone more plaintive than I’d ever heard it before as he peered up at Gustav. “I can fix this one. I’m sure of it. And, I can make him into the kind of warrior you will be proud of. I only need time. Besides, if Ralu somehow survives, then Peter Worley can only attract him to me and my home, and to no one else. I’m willing to deal with the personal consequences should that happen. Please do not kill this boy tonight.”
At first, Gustav glared at Kazikli, surely incensed his close friend chose to upstage his decision. Kazikli, however, never wavered in his resolve. Nor did his compassion weaken as he gazed up into Gustav’s face.
Gustav looked around at the gathering crowd.
“Very well, my beloved friend.” Gustav loosened his grip on Peter’s head. His tone had softened. “Enough blood has been spilled today. He will be yours for now. But if anything else happens to endanger Txema, Alaia―or anyone else in our society―he will be summarily destroyed. Am I clear?”
“Yes, my lord,” said Kazikli, with a humble bow so that there could be no doubt among those watching that Gustav was king and Kazikli a grateful servant. Peter wept beneath him. “I’ll take him with me tonight.”
“Thank you for your mercy,” I said. “And I promise to make up this favor to you at some point in my life. I’ll find a way to repay your kindness.”
He released Peter and flew over the lagoon to where I stood with Racco.
“Oh, I certainly expect no less from you, Txema,” he said, smiling thinly while keeping his voice barely above a whisper.
“When do we need to decide on our next destination?” asked Chanson, as she came up beside me.
“Tonight,” he said, his smile dying in its weariness. “The journey to find a place safe enough for all of us begins right now.”
aking plans to leave the island turned out to be harder than expected in the aftermath of Ralu’s attack. Before anything could realistically be discussed and settled upon, there were security and clean-up measures that needed to be taken care of first.
Koimala and his shape-shifting vampire contingent combed the island and surrounding reefs for stragglers from Ralu’s army. Meanwhile, the survivors from Gustav’s allied army worked diligently to clean up Racco and Koimala’s palace. That turned out to be a much more gruesome task than it first appeared. It meant picking up vampire corpses from both armies, along with body parts strewn in hard to reach areas, and then taking everything to the southern beach to be burned. Mohini and her vampire maidens insisted on taking care of the bloodstained marble surfaces themselves after sunrise, along with the defiled pools and fountains.
“It will take some time to rebuild this place, but at least I’ll have something to work on for a little while,” said Koimala, chuckling sadly. He and his group had recently returned from their surveillance trip around the island. They found only one straggler from Ralu’s routed army, and it flew off with a frightened screech when Bhima and Chatur surprised it. “But other than Ralu’s redecorating efforts upon our reception area, we should have everything else taken care of before tomorrow night.”
“Do you think Huangtian Dadi’s magic will revive Ralu?” Mohini asked Xuanxang. She looked worried.
“I don’t know,” he said, sounding a bit shaken by his former master’s betrayal of longtime friends and alliances. “He is the unquestioned supreme dark sorcerer in the Himalayas, and I fear what he is planning to do with Ralu’s remains. If he is not careful, he may unleash something beyond his control, something that could one day destroy us all, including him.”
We were gathered in a large library that escaped the notice of our enemies when they attacked, located on the second floor and not far from my accommodations for the past few weeks. Exquisitely paneled in hand carved oak, it would’ve been much harder to restore if it had received similar damage to what was prevalent downstairs. Oh, and by ‘we,’ I am referring to Gustav (whose arm has grown back now) and his closest confidantes from the vampires who joined us from around the world, along with my protectors, Koimala and his vampires, Racco, Alaia and I. Kazikli and Peter had already departed for the Indian fortress. Nora decided to join her longtime beau, at Kazikli’s request, which gave me even more hope that he would eventually find a cure for Peter, or to at least make Peter’s vampiric existence no worse than Tyreen’s.
“Whoever among us is still on the fence about traveling north with Txema and Alaia, they need to make a decision very soon,” said Gustav, studying everyone’s faces as he scanned the room. “With what we’ve learned tonight about Huangtian Dadi’s allegiance and with Ralu’s fate unknown, we must be someplace far from here by dusk tomorrow night. The only exceptions are for those who have expressed an interest in rebuilding the palace with Koimala.”
“I’ll be here for as long as it takes to get that done, and then I’ll return to Paris,” said Franz. “It might give Armando enough time to decide what he wants to do.”
I had no inkling that Franz and Armando were not planning to accompany me on my next adventure. Armando’s hesitation was far more painful than my German companion’s decision to forego the trip, since more than any other vampire I’ve known, Franz likes to come and go freely. It doesn’t mean he cares any less about my fate or Alaia’s, but I already knew he prefers to be called upon only when the need is most dire.
As for Armando, I felt crushed, since he has always been the catalyst for a great time among our group. I could only think
of two possible reasons for his hesitancy. One certainly was the misadventure he went through in saving Peter. The other dealt with Racco’s presence in my life. When I finally had a moment to tell him what had transpired over the past few weeks, anger deepened his gorgeous blue eyes to where they almost turned purple.
Gustav nodded at Franz’s response.
“Please tell me we won’t have to wait for a decision from you until dawn,” said Gustav to Armando. He smiled slightly, as if he would miss Armando’s antics, as well.
“I can give you an answer right now,” said Armando, as an elfin grin threatened to erase his sullen expression. “I need to understand why we all can’t go back to Paris. Why is it so ‘absolutely necessary’ to travel into the Alash hills to visit that miserable mine shaft?”
“Because the only way we will ever escape Ralu’s or anyone else’s hatred for your type of vampire is to make sure Txema and Alaia are protected in the same manner as Marissa,” said Racco, angrily.
His tone told me there had been harsh words spoken earlier, away from my presence, that night between him and Armando. As for the mention of Marissa’s name? I hadn’t even considered she was still alive, but it made sense. I remembered Chanson stated the average lifespan for Racco’s offspring was four hundred years, and how my cousin became a vampire ‘two hundred and ninety-three years ago.’
I looked over at Chanson, whose expression was stoic. No doubt, she wanted Franz and Armando to accompany us, but had resolved for them to do so only if they really wanted to come along. The destination sounded a little austere, definitely more Himalayan than Maldivian. Everyone else in our group seemed quite familiar with this place and none of them were looking forward to it. Even Tyreen grimaced at the mention of a northern locale and a ‘mine shaft.’
“The only way?” Armando said, lashing out at Racco, for the moment ignoring Gustav’s hand raised in warning. “You, better than any of us, should know all of the hideouts we have yet to access this century beneath the streets of ‘Gay Paree.’ Why would we want to deal with a crazy witch like Marissa?”
“We need her amulet,” said Racco. “I require it only long enough to make two more―one for Txema and one for Alaia. Then we’ll get the hell out of that place.”
“And you think she’ll be content to see us together for the first time in more than a hundred years, only to watch us turn around and leave her again? Are you ready for what that will do to our only living daughter, Racco?” Chanson was angry. “Do you not remember how she cried for weeks on end, the last time we did this? Gabrielle told me last year that it took nearly two decades before she quit asking for her father. She’s gotten used to the idea that you’re dead, and it’s only her vampire mother who checks up on her regularly.”
A single red tear flowed down my cousin’s left cheek, and her brilliant green eyes took on a yellow tint. Racco couldn’t bear to look into those eyes, and he was avoiding Armando’s gaze too. He glanced at me warily before deciding to study the wood stain pattern of the long oak table we gathered around.
“Ahhh, so perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned here in how you, Racco, handle your paternal affairs, no?” said Armando, twirling as he stood up from his chair. Despite the growing anger I’m sure we all felt from both Racco and Gustav, he wasn’t finished with his latest taunt. He leaned across the table toward Racco, after first winking at me. “This should definitely be included in ‘Responsible Daddy 101’ for Txema.”
“Responsible?” Racco said, looking up from the table. His face was flushed and his intense blue eyes misty. “I have paid a fortune trying to make sure Marissa, my beloved daughter―who barely survived an attack by a bloodsucker like yourself―is safe from all harm. She has protection, she has companionship, and there is an entire town whose rich annual endowment from me makes sure she is entertained in every way imaginable.”
“Oh cut the shit, Racco. She’s stuck in a fucking mountain that’s only accessible by your goddamned train. A train that has killed more vampires in the past one hundred and seventy years than Van Helsing could’ve ever dreamed of,” said Armando with mixed look of disgust and fear on his face.
“That’s quite enough!” shouted Gustav.
His thunderous voice reverberated throughout the room, commanding everyone’s complete attention. He glowered at both Racco and Armando, before casting a more compassionate look toward Chanson, who wept next to me. I sought to comfort her, as did Tyreen and Raquel, while we waited for the melodrama to end.
“We have the important business of finding a permanent solution to keeping Txema and Alaia safe and healthy,” said Gustav, once he had everyone’s full attention. “It’s imperative that we get this done as quickly as possible, since our alliances throughout the world are fragmenting faster than we can repair them. Ralu is only the beginning, as other rulers who resent the lofty privileges we’ve exclusively enjoyed for nearly two millennia have begun to undermine us.”
He paused to make sure we were with him, and we all nodded for him to go on.
“I fully support Racco’s plan, and will be accompanying him, Txema, and Alaia to Kazakhstan at dusk tomorrow,” he said. “I hope you all will join us on this journey, as we can always use the company. Remember also that refuge will be temporary, a week or two, at most. Isn’t that correct, Racco?”
Racco nodded, while glancing cautiously around the room, like a little boy making sure his buddies still wanted to play with him. Tyreen and the rest of the females, those I had now come to think of as my ladies in waiting, nodded along with him, as they had already sworn they’d never leave Alaia and me. Xuanxang also gave his hearty support to our trip, which made me feel better since it wasn’t too far removed from his stomping grounds. Familiarity with the area could prove invaluable.
As for the males in my vampire entourage, it didn’t look so easy to resolve.
“Am I correct to assume that you won’t be coming along, Armando?” said Gustav, when Armando started playing a game on his cell phone.
“I tell you what… why don’t you ask Garvan what he wants to do, and I’ll let you know right after he tells you,” he said, his tone aloof and apathetic.
“I’m going to see Kahn Tengri for the first time in almost ninety years,” said Garvan, to which Armando shot him a surprised look. “The last time I was there, it was snowing at the top of the second highest peak in Kazakhstan. Do you remember, Chanson? Maybe this time, since it’s summer, we won’t get stuck in a blizzard.”
He chuckled, and many in the room chuckled along with him.
“So, I guess everyone is going except for Franz and Armando,” Gustav said. “Let’s move on to other things we need to take care of―”
“All right, I’ll come,” yelled Armando, his attitude still surly. “But if I get sick from that fucking train, it will be everyone in this room’s fault.”
I wanted to rebuke both Armando and Racco for their childishness. However, if their feud reignited, we might never get moving.
“We will make sure that everyone gets on and off the Silver Train safely,” said Gustav, smiling.
With that taken care of, Gustav moved on to the logistics of getting from point A to point B, which took up the rest of the night and while important, wasn’t terribly interesting.
When it was finally time to go to bed, I lay down and closed my eyes. I feared another visitation from Ralu would prove the entire affair had been a waste of time and lives, but I slept peacefully, for the most part.
Right before I woke up the morning we were to depart, I dreamed of a woman who looked like Chanson, though with a bit more red to her hair. She sat, surrounded by broken dolls, on a bed, and cried. As I approached, she twisted around and stared straight at me. A voice, half aloud and half a whisper in the back of my brain broke the silence.
“Tell my daddy he’s wrong. It won’t work this time.” The woman picked up one of the dolls and cradled it, her motions those of a child trapped in the body of an adult. “Someone’s g
oing to die.”
I think her name was Marissa.
The End.
To be continued in:
Blood Princesses
(Lifeblood Legacy #3)
Buy Now at: https://curiosityquills.com/kindle/vampires-birthright/
n explosion shook the ground—maybe the world. Senses returned, and with them… pain.
A blinding light carried me to the unknown. Commotion circled me, confused me. Searing pain swept through and over my body. Between matted straggles of dark hair, I watched a thick cloud of gray dust settle on the strange scene in front of me. When I tried to move, I felt heavy… battered… ripped apart.
People yelled.
“What the fuck?” said a man wearing a yellow hat, while brushing debris off his chest and arms.
“Who is this asshole?” said another, picking himself off the ground, holding the same type of hat, his body also covered in dirt.
With their looks of disgust pinned on me, I realized immediately I was the asshole they spoke of. With all the strength I could muster, I unlatched my fingers from the mane of a white horse I lay upon and straightened up.
Excalibur.
I didn’t know how I knew the horse’s name—I just did. But who was I? Where was I? And why did I feel bashed and beaten?
A cool breeze sailed over my skin, alerting me to my nakedness. The light pressure of the wind caused me to grimace and moan. I tore my gaze from the seemingly confused and angry group of men and looked upon myself. Through the filth covering hard muscle, bright crimson gashes were visible. With a movement that caused me more grief, I brushed dirt-crusted lines of blood off one arm and blinked dust from my eyes.
Excalibur lifted his head and neighed. Particles of dirt slid down his coat. His action caused sharp pains to shoot into my groin, pressed against the horse’s warm back.
One of the men broke from the agitated group and shifted closer. He stopped a few feet from me, gave the horse a look of unease, then looked up. A layer of dirt covered his deeply tanned body and filled in the squint lines around his eyes. “Hey, are you drunk?”
