Vampire Princess of New York (Arnhem Knights of New York)

by Susan Hanniford Crowley

  She laughed. “You’re always starving.”

  “I’ll even eat that vampire special pizza. I don’t care. You need a change from being here.” He sat up and pulled her to go with him.

  “Donovan, please, we can’t go just yet.” She gently drew him toward her. “I want to do an experiment of sorts. I was wondering if . . .”

  Before she could answer, Donovan possessed her lips. He was strong for a human. His firm passionate kiss left her quivering all over, wanting more. Heat spread throughout her every part. She rubbed against him. He moaned, pulling her closer, becoming her blanket, and enveloping her with his delicious fire.

  Instead of ending the kiss, he lingered with small nibbles at her mouth. Coaxing her lips apart with his tongue, demanding entrance, Donovan did the unspeakable. He stroked her fangs with his tongue.

  Noble whimpered into his mouth and writhed beneath him. No man ever made her feel this way. She ran her fingers through his thick salt and pepper hair framing his handsome features. He closed his eyes when he kissed. She closed hers and found every sensation intensified.

  Her body ached for him, only him. In short gasps, she whispered, “Donovan, I need you. I wanted you when we danced at Max and Evie’s wedding, and I want you now.”

  Carefully he lifted himself up and off and lay by her side, stroking her cheek. “Ma chérie, I think we both know the results of this experiment, and we can’t let it go further.”

  Noblesse opened her eyes. Frustration stung in uncomfortable places throughout her body. “Why not? We know how we feel about each other. That’s why when I’m upset I call to your mind. I know I’m safe in your arms. It’s more than a need. The bond between us runs deep. Don’t deny what you feel, Donovan. Our emotions are entangled, hot and wild.”

  “Noble, if I make love to you, then you are mine. But somewhere out there is a vampire who is your lifemate. If you left me, my heart would break. I would kill him or die trying before I’d give you up. So you see, my beautiful Noble, we can go no further. It’s time to get up and rejoin the world.”

  Donovan sat up and got out of bed. His clothes were on the chair where he’d thrown them, sleeping only in his blue boxers. Her appreciative moan made him turn. He smiled into those lit up eyes of hers. Noble was watching him dress. She wore nothing when she slept. He dressed quickly so he could watch her rise from the bed with that sweet derriere of hers. She threw a long blue kaftan dress over her head and it flowed down to her ankles.

  Donovan walked over to the white and gold double doors dividing the bedroom from her sitting room. In one whoosh, he opened it, and something cut him deep in the gut. Donovan fell. He saw no one. Blood gushed out between his fingers as he tried holding his stomach in place.

  “David,” he whispered his appeal to the captain of the Arnhem Knights. Long ago, his son-in-law had bitten him, so they had a telepathic connection. He didn’t like it at the time but now he needed it. The world grew gray around the edges. Noble knelt beside him, calling his name.

  Donovan couldn’t answer.

  Chapter 3

  Noblesse rushed to his side, at the same time summoning the Arnhem Knights to her aid. Her brother David arrived first followed by Mina James their resident doctor.

  Mina ripped open Donovan’s shirt to expose the wound. She examined the deep gash, her vision seeing more than a human.

  “The wound is straight puncturing the upper intestine. It’s deep as if to cut him through. They were interrupted and didn’t get to finish him.”

  In a flurry of activity, each vampire knight knew just what to do. Laura knelt by her father and held his hand. She also managed to block the view of Noblesse and David licking the wound to heal it.

  Donovan moaned. “No one's licking me, are they? I hate that.”

  Noblesse left her spot and moved around Mina, who was quickly setting up an IV.

  “Don't be a baby, Donovan. We will do everything in our power to make you well again.”

  He didn’t have to read Noblesse’s mind to know she feared for his life. He saw it in her eyes. Then she kissed him, pushing her tongue through his lips and caressing the inside of his mouth. She would put her healing saliva into him anyway possible.

  “Stop licking. Something’s wrong,” Mina said. She took a sample from inside the wound. “Whatever cut him was dirty, perhaps a poison. Laura, go and get the King’s Elixir.” Laura ran so fast she blurred.

  Carefully they lifted Donovan onto a stretcher and moved him to his bedroom next door. He refused to cry out. Donovan didn’t want Noblesse to know his agony, though he felt she did anyway.

  Noblesse went to her brother who had ordered Donovan’s move. “He could have had my bed.”

  “No,” David said. “You can't stay here either until we find out what in this room stabbed him. We can't be sure he was the only intended target.”

  "Then I should sleep with him in his room?"

  "You're sleeping with my father?" Laura entered the room.

  Sydney Lucente, the famous vampire inventor, blurred into the room setting up strange green boxes.

  “Thanks for coming right over, Syd,” David said.

  “What affects one affects us all.” The inventor moved with lightning speed.

  “Did you give the elixir to Mina?” Noblesse asked Laura.

  “First thing.”

  Noblesse wasted no time in getting next door.

  “Donovan, I need you to open your mouth.” Mina held the small bottle near his mouth.

  “No. I know that is Max’s saliva, and I’m not going to drink it.”

  “Donovan, do you remember when you said you would do anything for me?” Noblesse held his hand.

  “Damn,” he muttered, right before opening his mouth. He swallowed. “Ew.”

  He opened his eyes then closed them again.

  Will he die? Noblesse mindtalked to Mina.

  We’ve gotten to him in time. The elixir will neutralize the poison and heal the internal injuries. Then we can close up the wound. He will sleep now.

  Noblesse took that cue to return next door. She had to know what was going on.

  As she entered, Sydney finished positioning the last green box.

  “What are these for?”

  “I’ve set up a dampening field. No one will be able to teleport, be invisible, or use any extraordinary power in this room. Noblesse, step outside the room and try to teleport in.”

  Noblesse did as Sydney asked. She tried to teleport and was thrown back against the hall wall.

  “I didn’t know you could teleport,” David said.

  “Father taught me.”

  David frowned. “He didn’t teach me.”

  Sydney laughed and held up his hands. “Let’s save the sibling rivalry for another time. David, try to go invisible.”

  Noblesse watched her brother but nothing happened.

  “I can’t.”

  “Good. Now I need someone who can create a great burst of power. Where is that vampire who’s a Telkhine, a storm caller?”

  Laura entered the room.

  “Ah, our resident Telkhine. Can you do that lightning arc with your hands?”

  “Sure.” Laura raised her hands but couldn’t get off a spark. She reached beyond the building to call a storm and some invisible wall stood in the way. “The dampening field won’t let me.”

  “Excellent.” Sydney adjusted a dial on one of the boxes.

  “Syd, do you have enough of those boxes to do the entire building?” David asked.

  “You think it’s necessary?”

  “I do. I’ve told Curtis to lock the doors. No one comes in and no one goes out.” David practically growled.

  “You think someone here did this?” Noblesse asked.

>   “I will interrogate everyone in the Arnhem Society.”

  He was so adamant it scared her. Noblesse turned to go back to Donovan’s room.

  Laura stopped her in the hall. “Let me get this straight. You’re sleeping with my father?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “We’re friends. He holds me and wakes me when I have night terrors.”

  “Noblesse, vampires don’t have night terrors.” David joined them in the hall. “How long has this been happening?”

  “Only two nights so far.”

  “Then my father walked out of your bedroom into someone or something that stabbed him.”

  “Excuse me, everyone,” Sydney said, “but we really need to inventory Noblesse’s apartment. Something in here could have caused it. Have you gotten anything new lately?”

  Noblesse walked back into her apartment. “A lot actually. The chairs by the fireplace. This little desk and chair. This little table and another one near the bookcase. The bookcase.”

  David frowned as he examined each piece. “This furniture all looks to be from the same period. It’s French, isn’t it?”

  “They are all pieces from Louis XVI’s reign.” She walked over to the mirror. “I haven’t decided where to put this mirror yet. Probably in the bedroom.” Noblesse ran her fingers over the frame of the mirror, caressing the intricately carved letters and figures in the dark warm wood across the top and sides. Gargoyles, fish, birds, panthers, bears, and dragons twisted and twined through the wood. Walking back and forth in front of the mirror, Noblesse wound her dark hair in her fingers, enchanted by her reflection it its Old World silvery surface. “The engraved words say, Miroir de Sang! It’s French for Blood Mirror.”

  Sydney stood in front of the mirror and frowned.

  “What’s wrong, Syd?” David asked.

  “I can see myself. I can see you and Noblesse. I have never known anyone else in history that can make a mirror that reflects our kind. This bears further investigation. Are there any more new pieces of furniture?” Sydney peered into the mirror.

  “Only the bed and the armoire.”

  He opened the bedroom doors and gazed in. Turning, he said, “Donovan was stabbed here? Where I’m standing?”

  “Yes.”

  David looked at the back of the mirror and then around the room which had recently been painted in a style to match the furniture. “Noblesse, why did you buy the furniture that belonged to a king you hated?”

  Noblesse burst into tears. Why? She couldn’t answer. Blood tears fell on the floor where she sat completely desolate. She hated Louis XVI. In her apartment, she recreated his world. Why?

  Laura sat down and hugged her. “Something weird is going on. I think you may be a target too. Perhaps it’s best if you’re in with my dad.”

  “Will you be mad if I tell you something?” Noblesse whispered to Laura.

  “I will try not to be.”

  “I love Donovan.”

  “Does he know?”

  “I tried to tell him. He said that there is a young vampire out there that is my lifemate, and I needed to be patient. Your father thinks he’s too old for me.”

  Even though she whispered, David and Sydney heard and laughed.

  David shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Noblesse wiped her face from the little trails of blood left behind. “I’m a mess. I’m going to wash my face before I scare Donovan.” She walked over to her bathroom and turned on the light before shutting the door. The cold water on her face felt good. The blood swirled around and down the drain. Taking a towel from the rack, Noblesse patted her face dry then looked up. Reflected in the mirror, a hooded figure stood behind her.

  Chapter 4

  Noblesse roared, throwing herself at the intruder with fangs out and claws extended. The light went out. David ripped the door off its hinges. Laura rushed to get the bath towel off her, trying to calm her.

  “It’s me. It’s me, Noblesse. You’re okay.”

  Noblesse looked around. “He was here standing right behind me.”

  “Who?”

  “The man from my night terrors. The man in the black robe whose face I never see. He was in Paris when we stormed the Bastille. I saw him in New Orleans when Father and I arrived. Then he was gone. Now he’s back.”

  Sydney went to his bag and took out some sort of meter. “Everyone, out of these rooms. I have work to do.”

  “Syd, I’m having two of the Arnhem Knights stay by your side. We don’t want anything to happen to you,” David said.

  “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

  Mina ran into the room. “Noblesse, see Donovan now! You screamed, and he nearly flew out of bed. Knights are holding him down. Go now before he pulls out his IV!”

  Noblesse ran out the door. Even in the hallway outside his room, she could hear him yelling.

  “I’ve got to see her now,” Donovan snarled at Hatcher.

  Cassandra kept a firm grip on the arm that held the IV. “We’ve got orders that you stay in bed.”

  “I’m here.” Noblesse entered the room. He turned to her, a relieved smile spreading over his face.

  “I hear you are undoing our doctor’s work.”

  “I heard you scream.”

  “I’m okay.” Moving past Hatcher, she lifted the covers and got into bed beside Donovan, who happily hugged her. “Now you go back to sleep like the doctor ordered.”

  “Are you staying with me?”

  “Yes, I’m not letting you go.” She snuggled against him and felt him relax. A few minutes later, he was asleep. Hatcher and Cassandra sat in chairs by the door on guard duty. She knew that two other Arnhem Knights were outside the door as well.

  Noblesse held him against her. Humans were always warm. If only he thought she was warm too. Donovan, can you hear me?

  I hear you, Sha. You’re shaking. Why did you scream?

  The man in the black hood stood behind me in the bathroom. I saw him in the mirror.

  Your bathroom mirror was made by Sydney Lucente.

  Yes, it was.

  He pulled her even closer.

  Are you still hungry? Maybe I should go to the kitchen and get you something. Laura always has human food on hand for you and our librarian.

  Mina says I can’t eat real food, until I’m completely healed. I’m eating through the IV.

  She kissed him. He kissed her back. I was thinking that perhaps we should take our joy where we find it. It may be centuries before I meet a lifemate. I haven’t met him so far. What if we did make love?

  Donovan chuckled. Don’t you think I want to, Sha? But then I’d die inside when I’m forced to give you up.

  I thought you were going to fight for me?

  I’ve gone over it in my mind, and I cannot refuse you an eternity of love. I know how it feels to lose love. The emptiness. The way your heart aches and you can’t explain it to anyone. I won’t deny you your happiness. Now go to sleep, ma chérie. Dream of France in happier days.

  Noblesse woke in the dreams of her past. Thin beams of light had spilled into the shadows, lighting the pine needle pathway in the forest near her grand-mère’s house. Somewhere ahead, a sweet pie of apples and brown-butter sat on a windowsill cooling in the morning air. Memories were meant to be savored.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to keep that peaceful scene a bit longer. Noblesse had pushed aside the curtain of wisteria and entered the house. Her grand-mère lay on the dirt floor dying. “You have been my great joy. Now go and seek your mother in Paris.” Taking the threadbare blue blanket from the bed, Noblesse wrapped the small, white-haired woman in it to guard her against some imagined cold. Still shaking, she went to get the priest.r />
  Few came. After the priest spoke over her grand-mère and the gravediggers buried her, Noblesse returned to the empty hut. Folding a cloth around the pie, she put it and some cheese and bread into a basket.

  Here began her walk to Paris. No one from the village offered to take her. All Noblesse could remember about her mother was her name, her dark hair and green eyes. It was so long ago when she left her with grand-mère. Her mother was going to send for her. She never did. The thought that her mother might still be alive kept Noblesse’s feet moving on the path.

  Fields of lavender spread out engulfing her in its sweet perfume while she walked. Then it was through woods to the village Domrémy, the birthplace of la Pucelle d’Orléans (Maid of Orleans) to pay homage to Jeanne d’Arc. Noblesse had never told anyone she dreamed of Jeanne right before her grand-mère died. She’d laid some lavender by the door where the Maid once lived and continued walking toward Paris.

  Dark forests lay ahead.

  Noble, ma chérie, wake up. Someday we will walk in Paris together. I know it. I feel it. Wherever you are in the dream world, come back to me.

  Donovan? She was almost awake. Noble, rolled on her side facing him and was immediately conscious of his IV. Was I having a bad dream again?

  I don’t know. What was your dream?

  I left my village and was walking to Paris to find my mother. I laid flowers at the doorstep of the house that Jeanne D’Arc once lived in. Dark woods loomed ahead. Then I heard you calling me.

  Donovan pulled the blanket over their heads.

  What are you doing?

  I want some privacy with you away from the eyes of our guards.

  Why? What are we going to do?

  Just kiss for a while. I think you need some of my kisses. He pressed his lips against hers and fireworks went through her whole body. He nibbled her lower lip and she laughed.