On the other side, whispers came and then the door opened. One of the maids observed him through squinting eyes. She covered her yawn with her palm. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“Please heat some bathwater for Tanya.”
The maid frowned. “This late at night?”
“Yes, unless you wish to do this tomorrow when you are searching for a new job?” Alexander snapped.
She bowed her head. “I will get the water ready immediately.”
“Very good.” Alexander rushed back to the bathroom where he left Tanya.
She was standing over the washbasin, her hands drowned in the red water. Her gaze did not leave her hands.
Alexander lifted them out of the basin and wiped each hand dry with a white linen cloth, which turned pink on contact. He tossed the cloth aside without a care.
“See? The blood is gone,” he told her.
Tanya’s lips twitched upwards, showing a ghost of a smile. “Is this what it was like with your first? Once the blood is gone, so is the death?”
Alexander led her out of the room and into her bedroom. He opened her maple commode, a drawer at a time, until he found her nightgown. He left it on her bed and faced her. “Change your clothes before the maid arrives.”
“If I do not, will you undress me yourself?”
Alexander ground his teeth together. He understood the things that were going through her mind or their lack of, and it irritated him that he could not snap her out of this state.
“No, I would not undress you. I would put you in the bathtub dressed as you are.”
She nodded and started undoing the buttons of her blouse first.
Alexander took this as her agreement to obey and crossed the room to the windows. He peeled back the curtains and studied the brightening sky.
How will I deal with her?
It was not as if he could talk the pain away from her heart. He thought back to when he dug the fresh grave for Katharine. The torment from that night never let him go. As the years went by, he had come to accept it, but there was nothing he could to do to undo his sin. No amount of supernatural blood that flowed through his veins could turn the time back.
Clothes softly fell on the floor behind him, and he heard Tanya moving towards the bed. Out of courtesy, he gave her two more minutes to put the nightgown on before he turned around.
The material of the white gown loosely brushed her knees. She stood there, her full attention on her discarded attire.
In that moment, the maid walked into the room. She bowed her head awkwardly to them while carrying a large pot of steaming water in her hands.
Alexander gave her a slight nod, and she went into the bathroom and poured the water into the tub. The maid emerged and proceeded to do the same process for ten minutes before the bath was full. After asking for Alexander’s permission to return to her chambers, she excused herself.
Although servitude was abolished in Russia after Alexander II took the throne, there were still people willing to live that life if it proved to be better. He paid his maids good wages as long as they willingly kept their mouths shut about the events in the house.
“Tanya, don’t stand there like a statue. Go and bathe. You will feel better.”
She blinked and scanned the room. “Yes, I should do that…”
Tanya entered the bathroom, and he heard the door click as he sat on the bed. He looked at the hands with which he took countless lives. His lips stretched into a pained smile. The blood will never wash away.
An hour later, Tanya emerged from her bath. He ushered her to bed, tucking her in like he would his daughter. The sunrays were already seeping into the room through the gap in the curtains, so he pulled them shut and lay on the bed next to her.
Tanya rested on her back and eyed him as he propped up his head with his hand.
“I love you,” she said.
“No, you don’t.”
She smiled. “You are correct. I just thought I would test the phrase since I was unable to utter it since my wedding.”
Alexander kissed her forehead and willed for the pain and suffering to vanish from her life. “Sleep, Tanya. All the nightmares will soon be gone. What say you we make a change in our scenery?”
She closed her eyes and smiled. “Hmm, I read about Great Britain. I always wanted to see London.”
“Sounds good.”
St. Petersburg. July, 1890.
“Do you not find this heat to be unbearable?” a businessman across the desk from Alexander inquired as he fanned himself with the newspaper. His damp grey hair had beads of sweat hanging on the ends and occasionally running down his face in long uneven rivers.
Alexander raised a brow. “No, I do not. Are you certain you will be able to look after these properties in my absence?”
The man nodded eagerly. “I will not disappoint the Grekov family. Because of your generous donation to the St. Petersburg State University, I believe the businesses will be even more prosperous than before.”
“You will report everything to my brother, Matvey. Do you understand?”
The man nodded once more. “Please, be assured—”
“I do not care for assurances, Danil. I care for results. So, show good results to my brother from now on. You may leave.”
Stunned, the man stopped fanning himself, his amusement instantly faded. “I—I understand, sir.”
Alexander watched Danil retreating backwards out of the office. On his desk, a red envelope that he did not recognise rested. He lifted the letter and tore it open. Inside, he found a card with beautiful cursive handwriting.
Dear Alexander,
Ewa has been pestering me for years to write to you so here I am doing so. Do not expect me to forgive you for turning a woman as your first childe. The moment I see her, I will test her to see if she is of the Grekov standard. Even if Maxim seemed pleased with her, that may not be the case.
I will be travelling to London next month. Undoubtedly, we shall see each other there. Buy me the most expensive drink you can afford with your riches, brother.
Do not be a stranger anymore,
Your Jana
CHAPTER 21
London. August, 1890.
When the steam-powered ship docked at London Port, it was already the middle of the night. Dark clouds hung over their heads and the cool wind that brushed past became the messenger of the possible rain to come.
Alexander filled his lungs to the brim with air, sampling the new land as he descended the drawbridge with Tanya close behind. Even in the middle of the night, smog clustered above the industrialised city, creating a fog-like effect. Foreign language spoken by the workers was like an unintelligible melody to his ears.
Tanya tapped on his left shoulder once their feet touched the cobbled ground. “It is different to what I’ve imagined. It is much more”—she wrinkled her nose—“dirty.”
Alexander chuckled. “What did you expect from an empire that has lasted this long?”
“Handsome men and mind numbing accents?”
“Let us hope you find what you are looking for then,” he said and started walking down the well-lit street.
This was the first time he had seen electricity being used to illuminate the roads. Indeed, the British Empire was using their monetary resources on expensive inventions without much concern for their coffers.
“What about our belongings? When will they arrive?” Tanya asked, falling into step with him.
“I assumed the fashion in London would be much different to our own, so I decided to purchase everything we would require here. Once we have settled in, we can browse the local stores. There is also some inquiring I must do.”
Tanya raised a brow. “Inquiring? Surely you mean the interrogation of possible competition and their earnings.”
“I am pleased you know me well.” He smiled.
Alexander came to a halt. A tall man in a black frock coat that reached his knees moved to block their way. Powerful energy was exp
elled from him, making the hairs on Alexander’s arms and neck rise.
Alexander grasped Tanya’s arm and forced her to stop midstride.
She said nothing, but her gaze shot multiple questions his way.
“Who are you?” Alexander asked in Russian and mentally berated himself for not spending enough time learning English over the years.
The brim of the top hat hid the man’s face. The streetlight on one side reflected a pearlescent smile, hugged by a trimmed white moustache and beard. He took the hat off with a graceful movement of his hand. The stranger’s shoulder-length silver hair danced with the light breeze and his grey eyes bore into them with interest. His smile faded, lessening the amount of wrinkles on his aged face, and he inclined his head in formal greeting.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the stranger began in broken Russian. His British accent seemed to prevent him from pronouncing the letter ‘r’. “I am Vincent, member of the Vampire Council governing this land.”
Alexander immediately bowed his head, and Tanya did the same.
“I did not think we would meet a member of the Council so soon,” Alexander said.
“Eliza makes it her business to know the comings and goings of new vampires,” Vincent replied with a deep baritone. “For now, please come with me. There is much she wishes to discuss in regard to your aforementioned immunity.”
Alexander studied the man with caution from under his brow. “Have you spoken with my sire?”
Vincent’s expression revealed little. Alexander’s gut clenched with nervousness. He had fed on the ship earlier that night, yet his energy seemed to be seeping away as the intensity of his opponent’s energy grew.
“Maxim is well known in the community for his generosity and levelheadedness. A man to be admired, indeed, but he and I have not spoken in over a century,” Vincent said.
Alexander noted that Tanya was clutching her chest. It had nothing to do with the corset she wore and everything to do with the Councilman. He cleared his aching throat. “Must you use all of your power on us?”
A deep rumble escaped Vincent as he laughed. “All of my power?”
Frowning, Alexander could not understand the humour in this situation. Certainly, this man was using more than what a normal vampire possessed. Not once had Maxim released his energy to its fullest before Alexander.
Does that mean this vampire is also holding back?
“Alexander, it…hurts,” Tanya hissed. Her knuckles turned white from desperation to peel the corset from her skin.
“Please be merciful.” Alexander went down on one knee. “She was reborn almost two years ago.”
Vincent’s energy slowly retreated and the viscosity of the surrounding air decreased. “That was my warning to you, young man. Now that you are on our territory, you must abide by our laws. Are we in agreement?”
Alexander nodded and climbed to his full height. “We are.”
“Then follow me. Tonight, you may rest in the lodgings we have on our grounds. Tomorrow, you will meet with Eliza, and she will explain her rules in more detail.” Vincent started walking towards the dark alley from which he came.
The Councilman led the way to a pristine horse-drawn stage coach.
A single vampire stood beside it with the door held open for them. The younger man, whose hair was equally as fair as Vincent’s, bowed his head in greeting. “Master Vincent, are you ready to leave?”
Vincent patted the man’s shoulder and said something with a strong British accent that Alexander couldn’t understand.
Vincent faced them. “This is my second childe, Levile. He is loyal to a fault, and I fear that people may misunderstand him because of it. Nonetheless, do not let him bring down the mood of this pleasant evening.”
“How many children have you sired?” Alexander asked as they filed into the coach.
Levile returned to the front of the carriage and took the reins.
“Only two,” Vincent replied. “I feel that fate guides us to the strangest of places, and, in those opportune times, it is up to us to recognise that the person before us is someone we need to have at our side for centuries to come.”
Tanya smoothed the skirts of her dress. “Are you a romantic?”
Dark grey eyes flicked to her before Vincent glanced out the window. “The world would be a dull place without love, don’t you think?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I believe love is irrelevant.”
Alexander understood that conversations about love brought back painful memories for her. That was one of the reasons why he thought it would be for the best to make this hasty trip to England. A change of scenery was bound to brighten her mood and possibly his.
“Your Russian is better than that of most foreign men. Have you spent a long time on the continent?” Alexander inquired.
Vincent nodded. “It has been over a century since I have returned from a small village east of Moscow.” He paused as his eyes clouded with the memory he was recalling. “A woman named Eva Valerijevna saved my life when I was gravely wounded by the hunters. She did not need to do that. They were hunting her kind, too. Yet, she never complained. That kind siren tended to my wounds and even taught me a bit of the language while I recovered.”
Alexander paled. “You’ve let a witch touch you? What if she poisoned your body, or worse, left a hex on you?”
“And she would have been right to do so for all the suffering I have caused humans. But, I feel that her mind was occupied with other matters. She was a saint, you see. A being we know little about.”
Alexander leaned forward, eager to hear more about the Councilman’s adventures. “What is a saint, if you do not mind me asking?”
“As I have said, they are beings that we may never understand or see their true power. She spoke little about her life, but she did share one thing. Only one of them can roam the Human Realm at a time. It is a lonely existence, don’t you think? And no matter how much they love someone, they will always be hunted by darkness.”
“What darkness?” Tanya asked.
Vincent gave a ghost of a smile and resumed his observation of the streets through the glass pane. “One that can consume ones soul.”
The rest of the ride they spent in silence. Vincent did not wish to volunteer any more information about his time in Russia. Alexander’s mind filed those details for later, although he knew that there was no need for him to research further in the matter. Meeting a being as rare as that would be close to impossible in a world where the population doubled or even tripled as decades flew by.
The stage coach came to a halt. Levile opened the door for them, and Vincent motioned for them to get out first.
Alexander’s booted feet landed on the glossy cobbled ground, and he automatically studied his surroundings. The mansion before them was close in extravagance to the buildings Maxim owned in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The only thing that was different was the architectural style. This place had sharp edges and eerie gargoyles sitting on the roof.
Vincent barked an order, and his childe immediately climbed back onto the coach and took off along the road.
They scaled the three steps and paused at a set of black double doors with an emblem of a lion on it.
“Is that your Council’s mark?” Alexander asked. The Russian Council had their own mark of a horse imprinted somewhere on their clothing. It prevented young vampires from starting fights with them that they could not win.
Vincent smiled knowingly. “Would it not be foolish to have such an important mark on the front door for any hunter to find?”
“I guess so,” Alexander admitted.
“Then we must be fools. Eliza is keen on her display of power. She said that no matter how many hunters choose to attack us in our home, we must be able to defend ourselves. After all, we are supposedly superior to them.”
“Lady Eliza seems rather relaxed on the matter of protection,” Tanya commented.
Vincent opened the left door with a sh
iny long brass key and indicated for them to enter. “Be careful with your words. With me, you do not need to worry as much as you would with my sire. She has taken heads off for less.”
Alexander swallowed with his suddenly dry throat. Maxim rarely talked about Eliza. He spoke much of other Council members who had achieved much in different areas. Mistress Xi Yi used to be known by another name. She was an empress who established the Han dynasty and, when offered immortality, she could not pass on such a tempting offer. So, she abandoned her kingdom at a moment’s notice. On the other side was Master Andreaz. He was known as an extreme womanizer due to his upbringing as the third prince in Persia. His practices on cruelty to women were known throughout the continent, and Alexander unconsciously took Tanya’s hand. He would not permit harm to come to his childe, even if he had to stake his life as the price for her safety. The last member, after the cruel Mistress Eliza, was Master Vincent—a man many considered to be the peacekeeper of this Council. There were rumours that he was keen on researching the supernatural and that he had enslaved many a creature to study them. But, after their conversation in the coach, Alexander doubted much of the enslavement part was the truth.
From left to right, lavish furnishings were scattered around the hall and the rooms to which the doors were open. Once more, the style of furnishings seemed different and similar at the same time. For that, Alexander was grateful. He didn’t like to admit it, but he feared that the new land would prove too much for him to handle, and he did not wish to appear weak in front of Tanya.
Vincent guided them up the grand staircase and pointed to the end of the hall. “You may use the last two rooms on the right. I suggest that you do not venture outside them until you are summoned by Eliza. It would be bad if you ended up in the dungeon beneath our feet.”
Alexander’s blood felt colder than usual in his veins. He stole a glance at Vincent to check if he was joking. Not a hint of humour bled from behind Vincent’s blank expression. So, Alexander took that as fact. Exploring the Council building was off the table.
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