Alexander sat by Tanya’s bed. Is this what Maxim felt every time he waited for his childe to awaken and see the world anew? Tanya was much like him. She was betrayed by the one closest to her. Her family was gone, too. She had nothing left, and it summoned a sense of kinship in him.
Tanya sucked in a deep breath and her eyes fluttered open. She sat up and grunted as she covered her ears.
“What is that awful sound?” she asked no one in particular.
Alexander smiled. She had to be talking about the murder of crows on the rooftops. He learned to ignore wildlife in time, but to her sensitive ears they would be a nightmare to deal with.
“You are awake at last,” Alexander said.
Her hands fell to her sides, and she stared at him in disbelief. “Mr Grekov, what are you doing here?”
“I believe you know the answer to that.”
Tanya’s brows scrunched together. She scratched her head and gasped. “Anton tried to kill me!”
“And he succeeded. You are no longer among the living.”
Her frown deepened at his words. “What do you mean?”
“How many people in this house have a heartbeat?”
She immediately replied, “Two.” Tanya covered her mouth with her hands. “How did I know that?”
Alexander chuckled. “You are like me now. Some mortals call us undead or vampirs. You may choose whichever title you prefer.”
“I don’t feel dead… I feel more alive than ever and so…so…” She stumbled over her words in her search for the correct one.
“Thirsty?” Alexander suggested.
“Yes!”
“Stay here. I shall bring you something to drink.” Alexander rose from his chair and left the room, locking it behind him. He did not want his childe to stumble upon a servant and tear her throat out.
As he made his way through the house, he found one of the maids in the library, dusting off the shelves. He selected a crystal grass from the brass tray on the table and stopped next to her.
The maid’s heart spiked and her breath hitched at his proximity. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Alexander smiled. His eyes glowed brighter as he pulled her under his vampiric influence.
The young girl’s body relaxed and he lifted her wrist to his lips before biting into it. Using the glass, he collected her blood. He massaged her wrist a little, urging more of her lifeblood to come out. Once he had a full glass, he settled it on a bookshelf and licked the blood off her wrist, never once breaking eye contact with her.
Alexander bit into his thumb, smearing his blood over the teeth marks on her soft flesh. Soon, her wounds would heal.
He took the glass and smiled pleasantly at the maid. “Please be careful. I believe you have hurt yourself.”
The maid gasped and looked at her wrist. “Oh my, I’m so sorry. I will be more careful in the future.”
“Do take better care of yourself.” He left the library with the glass in hand and returned into the room with Tanya. She was busy looking out the window with her back to him.
“I have your drink,” he announced and closed the door behind him.
She twirled on the spot and studied the glass he held in his hand with suspicion. “What is that? Is it some kind of wine?”
“No. It is my maid’s blood,” he replied in a nonchalant manner.
Tanya wrinkled her nose. “I will not drink that! It is immoral. The church’s teachings—”
“You are no longer human, Tanya. The Orthodox Church cannot help you, so come here and drink this to alleviate your thirst.”
With a look of horror, she sluggishly edged across the room to him.
He offered the glass to her, the smell of which excited him.
Tanya’s eyes became glued to the contents, and she took the glass from him with shaking hands. She sniffed it before taking a tentative sip. Her blue eyes lit like a candle, and she gulped down the rest of the glass without a single complaint.
“More please,” she said out of breath and returned the glass to him.
CHAPTER 19
St. Petersburg. September 17, 1889.
A week had gone by rather sluggishly while Alexander watched over his first childe. Tanya’s behaviour was erratic at best. She had tried sneaking out four times during the day, which caused her hunger to spike and energy levels to drop. If Alexander was not there to prevent her from attacking the innocents, she would have devoured dozens in her uncontrollable bloodthirst.
After the last attempt, she would not talk to him, claiming that she had become a demon. That went against the Orthodox teachings of the church. Her father was a believer and, wishing to be much like her deceased papa, she blamed her troubles on her sire.
With much to ponder, he sat in an armchair across from Tanya with a crisp newspaper in his hands. He occasionally glanced over the top of his paper, assessing her expert hands working on her macramé. The library air was thick with the uncomfortable tension that neither was willing to broach.
Alexander caved in first and folded the paper over his lap. “How is it coming along?”
“It is the only thing I can do without murdering someone,” she replied with a drone to her voice.
Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to dismiss the maids in the house because of Tanya’s lack of control. She was not even willing to try and control her thirst. Certainly, it would not hurt to practice some self-restraint. Instead, she kept her hands busy and ignored the most important aspects of her new life.
“Tanya, please, you must understand that you are not a monster or a demon. It will take time, yes, but you can overcome your thirst just as I have mine.”
She finally glanced at him, her blue eyes filled with unshed tears. “My papa would be disappointed in me. I am a work of the Devil who probably has my soul. What can I do to escape such a life?”
Alexander pushed the newspaper onto the armrest and knelt in front of her, gathering her shaking hands into his own. “Stop saying that. You are simply a little different from a human. You will live longer, never age, and experience more.”
Tanya sniffled and wiped at her tears. “And does living such a long life bring you joy?”
Stunned by her question, Alexander sat back on his haunches and lowered his gaze to their connected hands. “A lot of bad things have happened to me in the past. My human family is long buried under a tree along with my beloved. I do not know if I will ever find happiness as a vampire, yet I honestly believe that if I remained human, I would never have held the woman I loved in my arms.”
“Why didn’t you make her into a vampire?”
“All it took was one wrong move, one brief second for her spark to disappear from the world of the living. Humans are too fragile. Being emotionally involved with them can only lead to pain. And we are forced to carry that pain with us for a long time.”
Tanya pulled her hands out of his grasp and rested them on his shoulders. “I guess we are not made to get our happily ever after. Anton was my love. He was my life. I believed him unconditionally. I thought he would make me happy. Yet, the moment we were wed, he stabbed me with a kitchen knife. And his face… He smiled while doing it.” She shuddered. “He held me with those hands, kissed me with his lips, but, in that one moment, he was someone else—a man I’ve never met before.”
“It was an act,” Alexander said. “The way he talked with you around was different to the sly demeanour I witnessed in private.”
Tears spilled over the edge and rolled down her cheeks. She dabbed at them with a flowery handkerchief, still trying to remain the lady she was taught to be.
Alexander had seen many women cry over the century. Some were sad that he was no longer willing to spend his nights in their bed, others wished to manipulate him through the emotional confrontation. In this situation, he felt that he could relate to the pain his childe was feeling. The despair and emptiness he was left with after Katharine had betrayed him. His sudden wish to destroy her and
her family led to a tragedy he did not wish to re-enact.
Is that what my childe wants? Revenge? Or is she a gentle soul that I’ve forced into a lonely life?
“Do you wish to take out your anger on Anton?” Alexander asked.
Tanya lowered her hands from her face. Her expression betrayed nothing, but the glow in her blue eyes shone with the truth. She, indeed, wished to partake in the dark deed, and he would help her.
Alexander straightened up and offered his hand to her. “Master your thirst, Tanya, and you can do as you please with that wicked husband of yours.”
“Do you mean it? I can…I can kill him?”
Alexander nodded. “With your own two hands, if that is what you wish.”
Tanya smiled for the first time. “Then please, teach me.”
St. Petersburg. June, 1890.
“Tanya, bring me the deeds for our new properties,” Alexander shouted from his office.
She marched into the room with a stack of papers in her hands. After dropping them unceremoniously on his desk, she glared at him. “When will I be able to see my husband?”
“We have spoken of this. Once he returns from his trip, you may go and do as you wish with him.” Alexander lifted a first crisp piece of paper off the top of the messy pile.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Could I not seek him out on my own? Am I a prisoner here because you are my sire? Is that why you changed me?”
Alexander raised his eyes from the paperwork to meet her annoyed expression. “Do not make me regret changing you…”
“But every time I hear news of him spending my father’s money and selling properties as if they mean nothing to him, I want to wrap my hands around his throat and—” She made a motion of snapping a twig with her hands.
Alexander laughed. “Since you started controlling your thirst, not once did you attack an innocent or wish them ill. I do not believe you are capable of murder.”
“I am!”
His amusement died. “Don’t be eager to take a life. I have taken many in my lifetime and to this day they haunt me in my dreams.”
“But you sleep with two women at a time. How can the dead haunt you when you have so many naked shields?”
Alexander sat back in his seat with a smile spreading over his face. Ever since they found common ground for discussion, Tanya opened up to him. Her sense of humour and wit pleased him. And to this day, he was thankful that she was not a bore.
“You have given me much to ponder. Should I increase the number of my naked shields to feel safer?”
Tanya grinned back at him.
A knock sounded at the door. In tattered clothing and with greasy hair, a delivery boy rushed into the office. He handed Alexander a letter. After Alexander paid the child, the boy ran out of the room with a mumbled ‘thank you’.
Unfolding the piece of paper, he read the contents of the brief letter. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach.
Should I disclose this information to my childe?
It was her right to know that Anton had returned to St. Petersburg from the countryside. Her talk of his murder still had him worried. He did not wish for his childe to undergo the same pain he went though.
“What is it?” Tanya asked.
Alexander folded the letter and threw it in his desk drawer. “It is a business matter I must attend to. Please, allow me to return to my work.”
“Is it bad news?”
Alexander’s mouth tightened, and he patiently waited for her to leave.
She seemed to pick up on the mood and sighed. “I will leave you to your work.”
Left alone, Alexander eyed the drawer with uncertainty. Keeping things from his childe gave him a sour aftertaste in his mouth but this had to be for the best. She had to remain in the dark, so he could prevent her from making her biggest mistake.
The painful memory of Katharine’s passing resurfaced. Once again, he was holding on to her limp body in the Golden Chalice as the flames consumed the gambling house. He closed his eyes, trying to push the image out of his mind.
A dull headache budded at the back of his skull. He needed some rest. To Tanya, it may be amusing that he slept with multiple partners, but to him it was a habit. Without those women, every time he closed his eyes, Katharine appeared before him. Her body lifeless, her clothes bloodied and dishevelled as he held her. He should have given up on his revenge. If he did, she would be alive. He would have asked Max, Jana, or anyone else to turn her, so they could be together; all bitterness forgotten and forgiven.
He gathered the property deeds into a neat pile and slid them into his drawer. Satisfied, he made his way to his room next door. Business and women were the only two things he was good at. There was no need to separate them, especially since he owned three bars around the city.
He entered the scarcely decorated bedroom. The wooden floor softly creaked under his weight as he made his way to the bed. He collapsed onto the linen sheets and tucked his hands behind his head. By the time he relaxed, the images of Katharine were gone only to be replaced by the memories of his mother and her calloused hands kneading the dough in the kitchen.
Alexander awoke from his slumber and stretched. The door to his bedroom was ajar, yet he remembered closing it. He slipped off the bed and marched into his office, scrutinizing the room with an intense stare.
“She wouldn’t have…” Alexander mumbled and fleeted to his desk. He yanked the drawer out and lifted the stack of deeds, finding the letter gone.
“Tanya!” Alexander shouted.
His childe did not rush into the room nor did she call out from the floor below. Seething with rage, he let out a barrage of curses and burst out of the office in search of Anton. Hopefully, she won’t get her hands on her husband before he arrives.
CHAPTER 20
St. Petersburg. June, 1890.
Alexander burst out of the building into the warm, quiet night. The humidity in the air was thick as he fleeted through the streets of St. Petersburg, pushing his body to its limit. To the stragglers outside, he must have felt like a pleasant breeze when he passed by them with intent to break the natural laws further.
Ten minutes later, he was across the city. He came to a sudden stop in front of his destination. The lights inside the house illuminated the living room, but he could not see past the green curtains that blocked his view. So, he ran up the steps. The front door was left open a crack.
A chill washed over him when he heard faint whimpers coming from beyond the door. Every step he took through the dark hallway felt heavier than the previous. He pushed open the living room door, noting that the furniture remained neatly arranged in their designated places. What stood out was that some paintings were missing.
Alexander let out a deep breath. He closed his eyes, listening out for more sounds. No heartbeats could be found on the premises. The only sounds that reached him were the whimpers that came from upstairs. This time, he discarded his apprehension. He had to find Tanya before the humans came to investigate.
He hurried up the steps of the staircase and traced the sound to the master bedroom at the end of the hall. Using his hand, he pushed open the door, revealing Tanya. She sat on the floor with her face buried in her bloodied hands. Her shoulders shook. Tears mixed with the blood on her fingers made crimson rivulets run down her arms and soak into the navy material of her sleeves.
Alexander assessed the room, finding two naked bodies on the crumpled bedsheets, surrounded by candlelight. Anton’s vacant eyes stared at the ceiling, his neck twisted to an odd angle. The woman next to him had her eyes clawed out, leaving two empty sockets behind. Blood dripped from the sheets onto the floorboards. Those two were beyond saving.
He sucked in a breath, taking in the sweet smell of blood that perfumed the air. Shaking his head, he willed his thirst to subside before he cleared his throat. “Tanya, what have you done?”
She froze, and the room fell into unnerving silence.
He repeated his questio
n, eager to receive an answer. When she didn’t provide him with one, he grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her into an upright position.
“Answer me!” he hissed.
Tanya flinched and lifted her face enough for him to see her bloodstained face.
“I—I killed him. I actually killed him… H-he was with her an-and then I got angry and—” she mumbled between sobs. “Please, please forgive me.”
Alexander wrapped his arms around her, cocooning her in a fatherly embrace. “We must leave this place before the humans come. Can you do that?”
She bobbed her head, hitting it against his shoulder.
“Very good. Come with me.” Alexander clamped his hand around her wrist and guided her through the hallway where he turned on all of the gas lamps. They set off down the stairs. Soon after, they left the house, and he fleeted with her in tow to their home where he marched her to her room and into the bathroom. He turned on the gas lamp and struck a match to light it.
Alexander sat her on the edge of the brass bath. “Take your clothes off.”
Tanya blankly stared at her hands, not moving a muscle.
He let out an exasperated sigh and lifted her chin with his index finger. “While I instruct the maids to bring the water, I suggest you do as I bid and change into a bathrobe. Do not forget to wash your hands in the basin.”
“I do not know if I can ever wash the blood off my hands.” Her eyes widened. “Perhaps I could cut them off. I am a vampire. They would grow back, would they not?”
Alexander kissed her forehead softly. “Do as I bid. I shall return momentarily.”
He left the room in search of his staff. Following their steady heartbeats, he found them in their chambers. He knocked a few times, too urgently for his liking.
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