“Contain.” Vlad pronounced the word as if it offended him. “That’s how you see vampires, isn’t it, Doctor? Things to be contained. First my brother, and now her. Are you containing me as well?”
“N-n-no!”
“My Lord Dracula,” Liam said, smoothly, stepping forward. Fulk knew, with that voice, that he was trying to compel the prince. “Be at ease.” He walked straight toward him, without hesitation, confident in his power…
But he shouldn’t have been. Vlad’s eyes were hard and bright, and his gaze was completely his own.
For a moment, Fulk almost felt sorry for his mortal enemy.
The stupid mage kept talking, and kept walking. “Everyone here is–” He choked off, the very tip of Vlad’s sword coming to rest in the center of his throat.
Vlad said, “Did I give you leave to speak to me, witch?”
Liam swallowed, and the skin of his throat moved against the sword-tip. A drop of fresh blood welled. “I mean no disrespect, your grace.”
“Then hold your tongue.”
Liam did…for a moment. His mouth formed the semblance of a smile. He said, “They’re true, then: the tales of your viciousness.”
Fulk had never been more grateful to be bound to a vampire than in that moment, because Liam’s magic compulsion pushed through the room like a wave. The humans all went slack-jawed. Ramirez sat on the floor, drooping against Vlad’s leg, her loose-curled arm around his calf all that held her upright.
But Vlad’s gaze sharpened. His voice came out calm, conversational. “Did you ever hear the story of the mage Mehmet sent to treat with me? The one who tried to force my surrender?”
For the first time in a long time, panic flitted across Liam’s face.
“I impaled him on a pike of ash,” Vlad said, “and I planted him in the forest, so that brother-raper could get a good look at what I think of magic.”
This was it, Fulk realized. This was the moment Liam finally met his end. He’d always thought, should he be fortunate enough to witness the occasion, it would bring him joy. But he felt only dread now, boiling like sickness in his belly.
Vlad drew his sword back.
Liam set himself aflame.
Vlad reached through the fire with his free hand, and gripped Liam by the face.
Liam screamed, and the fire went out, and Vlad dragged him in close as a lover, chest-to-chest. He ducked his head and bit the mage’s throat. His arm was badly burned, Fulk saw, but the prince paid it no heed.
The humans snapped out of their stupor. Some shouted, others cowered.
Fulk didn’t wait around to watch the rest of the binding. It was nothing like his own, kneeling quietly on the floor while Val petted his hair and called him sweetheart. Val was the gentle brother, in his own way – as gentle as a vampire could be – and Vlad had given Fulk and Anna to him. Vlad might be vicious, but he could be kind, too.
Fulk turned and fled, sprinting for the garage, and his Anna, and freedom.
~*~
“Hello, boys. Mind letting me through?”
Someone had shut off the alarm – a bad sign – and two more guards awaited them at the entrance to the tunnel. They’d scented them from around the corner, and Anna had said, “I’ll get them.” Her knife was stashed away in her boot, and to all appearances, she was just an unarmed, petite girl with a baby face. She wondered how much these two goons knew about werewolves.
Enough to be nervous, apparently. They made a good show of drawing themselves up, rifles held across their chests – rifles. No longer just handguns, but full assault gear. Their faces set at stern angles, looking down at her over the bulk of weapons and tactical vests, she could nevertheless scent fear on them.
A scared human was a more aggressive human, usually. But also a human who made mistakes.
“What for?” one of them asked.
“No one’s allowed through the tunnel after hours,” the other said. “You know that.”
“Well, I do…” she drawled. She aimed for cute, hip cocked, big smile plastered on. She’d never been good at charming anyone, though; she firmly believed the only reason Fulk had ever taken a shine to her was because he thought her hissing-cat routine had been endearing somehow. “But. I figure that’s just so none of the scientist guys can go running outta here with a buncha vampire blood and research notes, right?”
They went goggled-eyed. If the guards had been told about the existence of immortals, none of them seemed quite ready to believe it yet.
After a moment, the first one cleared his throat. “I’m afraid our orders stand. We can’t let you through.”
She sighed. “That’s a real shame, boys.” And she launched herself at them.
They reached for their guns, but she was already within their defenses. She grabbed one by the wrists, gripping tight, tighter than any mortal girl could have, and kicked off from the floor, twisting, catching his friend in the jaw with the heel of her boot. He fell back against the wall with a grunt. She swung around behind the other, and karate-chopped him in the back of the neck. He flinched, dropped down to his knees, and that gave her the chance to whip the knife from her boot and bring the hilt of it slamming against his temple. Hard. He fell, unconscious. And as his friend scrambled, she took him out the same way.
She straightened, and saw the others crowded together in the hallway. Mia looked numb. Kolya looked…the way that he always did. And Val had a hand on the pommel of his sword.
“We could have helped,” he lamented.
“That’s not your job. Come on.”
He hesitated, looking down at the fallen guards. “Couldn’t we just…”
“No.” Anna turned and started down the tunnel at a jog; thankfully, she heard the others following.
The tunnel itself had existed in the duke’s time, though then it had been a narrow, dark passage hewn into the earth and lined with stone, big enough for two to pass through it with shoulders overlapping and heads ducked beneath the low ceiling. Once the Institute moved in, modern equipment had been used to expand it. Now three could walk abreast, with room on both sides, and the ceiling was a standard eight feet, laced with wires and cables that ran electricity to the caged lights set at intervals. It ran under the conservatory and sloped slowly down, and eventually emptied out into an underground parking garage where a bevy of unmarked SUVs, sedans, and Humvees crouched on cold concrete.
“You don’t actually think they’ll let us drive out of here, do you?” Val asked from behind her.
“That’s the plan,” she tossed back over her shoulder. “Have faith.”
“Yes, well…you’ll forgive me if I have my doubts.”
Anna huffed to herself and lengthened her stride. It felt good to run, even if now it was for the wrong reason. Her wolf, already straining to be let loose, wanted desperately to drop to all fours and really run. To streak through trees, and leap creeks, and meet the wind with open mouth and joyful, lolling tongue. If they got out of here – when they got out of here – she and Fulk were long overdue for a shift. Maybe even a hunt…
All such fantasies jolted to a halt when they entered the cavernous garage and were met by a lone figure. A red-haired woman in a green dress, arms down at her sides, still as stone. The smell of ash rushed to greet Anna; she’d always wondered if her sister had smelled like that from birth, and if it was only her turning that had allowed her to scent it. Humans claimed they couldn’t sense it.
All her bubbling energy drained away. Her fledgling hope. “L-lily?” She’d expected more guards, a few more heads to bash. Maybe, if Fulk hadn’t shown up yet, she’d even let Val have a drink from one of them. But for some naïve reason, she hadn’t thought the final obstacle would be her own sister.
She should have. But she was stupid, and always would be when it came to her own flesh and blood.
Lily stared, calm and cool, her face like porcelain. “I’m sorry,” she said, without even a hint of emotion. “I can’t let you leave.”
Ann
a took a deep breath, and then another, even though the smoke-smell was enough to choke her. Lily wasn’t burning fire…yet…but her power surged within her, just below the surface. She could burn them all to a crisp at any moment – and the scary thing was, Anna thought she might, without hesitation.
“I–” This time, when Val put a hand on her shoulder, he pushed on their bond. Stand aside. Forceful this time, but not unkind. And Anna obeyed.
Val, to his credit, didn’t place himself in front of her, but beside her. He was still thin, still weaker than he ought to have been. But in the moment he stood tall, relaxed, pleasant half-smile gracing his angular face. Even in jeans and a motorcycle jacket, he looked very much like a prince, golden hair cascading over his shoulders, and it had nothing to do with the sword across his back; it was just him, his bearing. His noble lineage.
He had a prince’s grace with language, too. “Lily, is it?” He sketched a quick but correct half-bow. “Please take it as a compliment when I say that your daughter favors you greatly.”
Mention of Red sent a flicker of emotion across Lily’s face, there and gone again.
“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her,” Val said. “She even, in the short time she was here, tried to help me escape.” His regretful frown was one born of long practice; a calculated expression that nevertheless looked genuine. “Obviously, we weren’t successful.”
A tremor moved through Lily, a tiny earthquake. She clenched her hands into fists. “You have to stay here.” But her voice was threaded with cracks this time, unsure.
“I know that’s what you’ve been told,” Val soothed. “But the plan has changed.”
“Whose plan?”
“My brother’s.”
If it was possible, she paled further.
“I know,” Val continued, “that Dr. Talbot, and maybe even your husband, had grand ideas about arming Vlad with a wolf and a mage, and using him as a weapon. I confess I don’t know what they want with me – perhaps just to keep me locked up for the safety of the world. But Vlad is in charge now. He’s the one who will find Romulus and kill him. It’s his wish that we be allowed to leave.” He gestured to the rest of them with a slow sweep of his arm.
She stood her ground.
“Lily,” Anna tried again. “You can do whatever you want. But, please…you don’t need us. Fulk and I are bound to Val now.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“Let us go.” Inwardly, she wanted to scream. Is this the way you want us to reconnect as sisters? With me as your prisoner?
The sound of running feet echoed from down the tunnel behind them, and a moment later Fulk burst into the garage. Unharmed, thank God. Without missing a step, he said, “Lily, Vlad’s just bound your husband, and probably drained half his blood. He’ll need you.” And he grabbed Anna’s arm and towed her along with him.
Anna went with him. She didn’t turn around to see what Lily did, but none of them were set on fire, so she figured they were being allowed to escape.
~*~
Vlad left him alive. Mostly. He was immortal; he would heal. When the mage swooned from blood loss, Vlad nipped his own wrist and pressed it to the man’s slack lips. The blood filled his mouth and overflowed, running down his chin, pouring over his fancy clothes. But, finally, he swallowed a few times. Vlad pushed with his will, and the binding was done, whether Price wanted it or not.
He released the mage, and he crumpled to the floor, eyes shut and face pale beneath a faint mottling of newly-forming bruises. He felt sure he’d broken a bone or two, perhaps even his jaw. But yes, he would heal.
Vlad wiped his mouth with the back of his burned hand. The blood stung the wounds, badly; he would heal also. It was of no consequence. Pain was something he’d learned to tolerate long ago.
He lifted his head, and surveyed the humans standing around him – those that hadn’t cowered beneath tables and covered their heads. Dr. Talbot, always so nervous, had finally been shocked into complete blankness of face. His expression gave away nothing, eyes glazed behind the lenses of his glasses.
It was to him that Vlad spoke, while Adela clutched at his leg, and Liam Price lay unconscious on the floor at his feet. “This moment marks a turning point, Dr. Talbot. Every one of your plans has crumbled, because you are a scientist, and not a leader. You woke me so I would fight, and I will…but I will do so on my terms.
“As of this moment, this house, and your entire Institute, are under my command. Your troops will obey orders. You will obey my orders. Is that understood?”
Talbot looked at him with something like hopelessness. His voice was a small, broken thing. “Yes, your grace.”
“We are at war,” Vlad said, “and if you think I’m cruel, then you should meet my uncle. Stopping him is the thing I care about; anyone who chooses to stand in my way rather than at my side can expect a similar fate.” He reached to nudge the decapitated guard’s body with the point of his sword.
“I – I understand, your grace.”
Another alarm sounded, this one softer, a gentle chiming. All the computer and TV monitors in the vast lab switched to the same view: black and white footage of vehicle taillights.
“The perimeter alarm,” one of the guards said, voice wavering. “Someone’s leaving the garage, sir.”
Vlad recognized the car: he’d seen it in the vast underground parking structure when he’d been given his initial tour of the compound; long, and black, and chrome, and described as “an old thing” by Fulk le Strange. His car, one he’d had since “it rolled off the line in Detroit.” Whatever that meant.
“That would be my brother,” Vlad said. There was a sudden scramble, a reflexive reach for guns, for radios. “You will not interfere,” Vlad said, deep voice echoing off the walls. Everyone froze again. “My brother has been held as a prisoner his entire life, and that ends today. He’s not the warrior – I am. You don’t need him. Surely if there was anything useful to be discovered about his magic, you would have already done so. So yes, he’s leaving, and you’re to allow it.”
He turned to Talbot again. “Valerian has saved your daughter’s life.” His mouth fell open. “And she’s chosen to leave with him. As have the wolves: the baron and baroness are bound to Val now, a bond that persists until death.”
“He – he–” The doctor gulped. “What did he…?”
“He turned her. As I said: he saved her life.”
Talbot groaned and clutched at his belly, as if in pain. He sank backward into a chair, head hanging low. “God…oh my God…”
“Major Treadwell,” Vlad said, and turned to find the man standing upright, though shaking. He stiffened when Vlad’s gaze fell on him, but he didn’t shrink away.
“Yes, sir?”
“See that Sergeant Ramirez gets safely to her room. You will do this alone, without any of the guards.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And then you will report back to me so that we may discuss strategy. If I’m going to plan a war, I will need the assistance of a modern military man, and not these doctors.”
“Yes…sir.”
On the screen, the car left the garage.
Vlad wiped his sword clean on the dead man’s sleeve and thought, finally.
He would finally have his revenge for the evils his uncle had inflicted upon the world.
And, God willing, Val would never have to see any of them ever again.
~*~
Mia couldn’t catch her breath.
The Cadillac went around the fountain with a spray of gravel, fish-tailing, and then roared up the drive, through the massive iron gates. No one tried to stop them. No one shot at them. Trees enfolded them, and the round yellow headlights, so delightfully old fashioned, carved a path through an alley of close-set tree trunks.
In the back seat, she leaned forward and put her head between her knees, struggling to get her lungs to work right.
Val cupped his hand around the back of her neck. “Darling.” Laced with worry.
<
br /> “I’m okay,” she panted. “I’m okay, I just…” It was hitting her all at once. “I can’t believe we just…did that.”
His squeezed once, gently, comforting. But he didn’t give her any false platitudes or try to tell her how to think about it.
It would be…a while, she knew…before she could wrap her mind all the way around the entire chain of events.
She’d drunk blood tonight.
Become a vampire tonight.
Watched two men get killed tonight.
She cut a glance across Val’s lap – he was sitting in the center of the wide backseat – to the silent man with the long dark hair on the far side. She’d watched him drive a knife through two throats, and here he sat, totally unbothered, staring at the back of Annabel’s head.
She was still figuring out this whole incredible sense of smell thing, but he smelled…different. Like an attic trunk full of old books; a picnic tablecloth left out in the rain.
Val caught her gaze, the dark of the car more like twilight to her new eyes, and lifted his brows in silent question.
“I’ve never watched anyone…get killed before,” she admitted.
His expression smoothed, warm with sympathy. He slipped his arm across her shoulders. “I see. It’s an unpleasant thing, but sometimes necessary, I’m afraid.”
She tried to smile. “Please don’t tell me that I’ll get used to it.”
His smile went strained. “Alright. I won’t tell you.”
He pulled her in close, so they were pressed together, hip-to-hip, thigh-to-thigh, her head resting on his shoulder. “Take all the time you need, love,” he murmured against her hair. “I know this is an incredible amount of change to take in.”
It was. It was more change than most people ever saw in an entire lifetime, a thought that settled like dread in the pit of her stomach as Fulk drove them away from the unreal English manor house in the woods, and toward a more familiar civilization.
The drive snaked for several miles through the trees: ruts, and dips, and dark hollows like bowls brimming with moonlight…and shadows studded with blue-reflective animal eyes. Did Fulk and Anna’s eyes look like that in the glow of headlights? Did her own?
Dragon Slayer (Sons of Rome Book 3) Page 78
