She glanced up at me with narrow eyes.
“I know what you’re thinking Sebastian. You think that it’s easy to kill me now. Aare is useless to me and you can kill me with one hand. But if you do that, my guards will tell my werewolves to kill Zoey and your baby.” My eyes opened wide. I didn’t know she knew about Zoey’s pregnancy.
Not knowing if it was a bluff, I released her face. I walked to my chair and slumped down. I would wait until Aare and Samantha were gone to carry out my plan.
Two days passed and when I discovered they were no longer around, it took a few more days to haul in all the gasoline and pour it in the walls and behind every bedroom and fireplace in the castle.
Then I lit a fire and I stood on the outside and watched as the first fire blazed underneath in the catacombs where my mother lay and no doubt my father was hid somewhere Aare didn’t want me to find him.
When the fire reached the tallest part of the castle, I heard the screams of the dying humans and the newly formed vampires. In my joy, I didn’t know if I had completely lost my humanity. I felt at the time I was liberating those loss souls who had put their trust in vampires. Maybe there would be some way I could redeem my soul, and the only way I saw that happening was through the death of my brother and Samantha. They had caused more misery in a short lifetime than thousands of years of vampires roaming this earth.
The fire had now consumed all the castle, and flames were shooting out of the broken windows. The werewolves were running through the halls with their fur on fire, and throwing themselves out the windows, and some were able to limp into the nearby woods. They appeared to be the only beings to escape. The others, some too weak to move burned to death.
I didn’t know what was worse, to be eaten alive by hungry humans or to fall into my fiery pit. Everything I had done before to maintain my soul disappeared that night when I burned down my father’s castle with everyone inside.
Somehow I thought I should be there too, in that fire with all of those beings, but first I had to kill Aare and Samantha and then I would kill myself.
***
Having the captain of my yacht pick me up was part of my plan. My yacht had anchored and waiting for me to swim out to it, where the captain took off the moment I boarded it. Jack had been with me on many journeys. When I took over his ship many years ago, after I was changed, he was the captain of a warship and it flew under a Spanish flag.
He knew what I was and he begged me to be to change him, but I needed someone to serve me during the day because I couldn’t do it. He agreed that if I changed him and he could live long then he would serve me faithfully and so he has.
“The broadcast of the burning of the Vesper castle has gone out over the news throughout Europe. It won’t be too long before they will hunt for you. What do you think Samantha and Aare will do when they find out it was you?” Jack asked as he steered the vessel in the direction of the mainland.
Jack was the one who got me all that gasoline so as to burn that hellish castle down. I would have done it years ago, but for my mother.
“I hope Samantha and Aare will go off somewhere and leave me and Zoey alone.” But that was wishful thinking. Samantha would go back to the states and hopefully she would see no use in Aare and take care of that problem for me. And when she came for me, I would be ready for her. If it meant that we would die together just to be rid of her I would relish that if my child and Zoey could live in peace.
“Did you make arrangements for the jet to fly to Alaska?” I asked Jack. “Terry said she was expecting a visit from Zoey.”
“Will that mortal be with her?”
“Ryan? Yes he most assuredly will. He’s in love with her.”
“I see.” Jack wasn’t much of a talker but he was a good servant who I could trust. “When I get to Seattle, I need my car. Did you make arrangements for my SUV to be ready at the airport? I have to talk to Ann and Robert first.”
***
I arrived at Robert’s compound after eight pm. I rang the bell and Robert opened the gate after many questions. He had upgraded to cameras. He saw when I arrived at his front door and it opened.
“I see that you aren’t taking any chances lately.” Robert didn’t say anything he looked at me with his usual grim look. He had not been that way before, but since I came into his life and Ann’s life, he has been a little less than cordial. Once he couldn’t thank me enough and now he has this look of why me? I didn’t blame him. It was too much for me to take in.
“How is Ann?”
“Sebastian, don’t try to be what you’re not. You’re no longer human and you don’t have to pretend for my liking.” I felt a pain of hurt. I guess no matter how much I tried Robert would still see me as a vampire. A cold unfeeling soulless creature who was only concerned with one thing. He was partly correct. I was concerned with protecting Zoey and my baby.
“I’m worried about Ann whether you believe me or not,” I said to him.
“He knows that. He’s just jumpy. The news you know,” Ann said pointing to the flat screen television. We were listening to CNN and with their breaking news every few seconds that would unnerve anyone. Your castle burned to the ground.”
“I know. I set it on fire.” My voice hapless and uncaring.
“I hope you took that witch with it and that brother of yours. Those two were making me nervous. Ann is pregnant and this is making me nervous being a new father,” Robert said.
He bent and rubbed Ann’s stomach and listened to his babies. I watched at the two of them and wished for something different. I wanted to be anyone and anything but me—the king of the vampires without out a queen that I love and a burned castle for my home. How good was that?
“Robert,” I peered at him. “I need your help.” My voice low sounding helpless and lost. He didn’t answer he just listened. “I need to find Samantha’s sister.”
“No,” he said and walked into the kitchen. Ann and I followed behind him. He took a beer out of the fridge and offered me one and I declined. I think it was an automatic thing. Robert didn’t want to be hospitable at that moment. He knew I never drank beer. Wine maybe, but never beer.
Sitting down looking at him, he drank that one in a hurry and opened another beer. “She’s the answer to defeating Samantha,” I said.
“I can’t leave Ann alone. She will be helpless.” Ann stood in front of Robert.
“Robbie, I will be okay. That little shifter is more than enough to protect me. He kills anything that comes near the house.”
“That bobcat?” I questioned.
“Yes. But he’s too small to handle that witch and vampire,” Robert said. “How long will it take for me to be away from Ann? I need to know this because I’ve never left her alone. Especially not like this.”
“That’s because it’s the first time I’ve been pregnant, silly,” Ann said. She was trying to help me out. I wouldn’t forget it.
“If by daybreak and we haven’t found her, then I’ll bring you back. Or you will bring me back here.”
“Then I’ll go if it’s alright with Ann,” Robert said looking up at her from his chair.
“Of course it is,” Ann said and bent to kiss Robert. “Go now. And hurry back to me.”
Chapter Fifteen-Sebastian
We traveled on Interstate ninety south and then ninety seven north to Chelan Falls, a small town three hours north west of Seattle. As we drove into town it was dark and raining as usual. Only a few light poles dotted the town square. I knew that area well because I had hunted in the Wenatchee National Forest.
I glanced at Robert. “My home town. A town of nothing but Werewolves,” he said looking around with an expression of mild nostalgia. His face smoothing as he passed a small school house. And then a wide smile crossed his lips. No doubt remembering his time as a young wolf and joining a pack. As we came into the center of the town his face changed again. His forehead furrowed as if he didn’t want to be there.
The rain fell hard as if
it would never stop. And it didn’t. It only changed to slow drops and then started up again heavy.
Robert drove my SUV and then pulled up to a bar five minutes later. “Why are we stopping here?” I asked. The windshield wipers were now at top speed. Robert looked at me. He didn’t say a word. He just put the car in park.
“Promise me you won’t do anything foolish. Like antagonize a werewolf or two. It’s a werewolf bar and if you really want to help me you could stay in the car.” He knew me better than that and he turned away ready to depart.
“You might need my help,” I said knowing anything could go wrong and there would be no way I could help him. But I would regardless of what happened, and then there would be two women left alone who were pregnant with a werewolf’s child and a vampire’s child. At that moment, I felt my humanity take hold of me, and I wished our young ones would become friends if we didn’t make it out of this place. I took a hard breath in.
Robert motioned to me with a raised hand, and kept his mouth tight and shook his head. He stepped out in the cold rain and I exited with him. Robert raised his head, shook his wet hair, and glanced at me as if he didn’t want to go into that bar, but then he strode to the door like a warrior going to his death.
“Why are you hesitating?”
“Because the last time I was here looking for Becky, Samantha’s sister, because Zoey had been poisoned, I came across her boyfriend, Hansen. “He’s a werewolf like me. When I left Becky for Ann he was there to comfort her.”
Robert squinted at me as we stood in the rain. I waited for him to finish the story. I needed to know if there was anything worth knowing about Hansen and Becky and Robert that could perhaps save our lives, but he said, “I’ll tell you about it later. Just follow my lead.”
Opening the door Robert walked in and stood in the center of the room. I stood behind him. We stepped near the bar and he shook off the rain from his clothes and hair. I dropped my cape over my arm.
Robert looked at me and said, “Why did you wear that? They will know what you are right away,” Robbie said, “and everyone in this bar, shifters and werewolves will notice you and think you’re here to kill them.”
“They already noticed me. There’s no way to fool a werewolf. A human maybe, but not werewolves, and by the way they’re looking at me, you’ve brought me into a den of them,” I said.
A pack of werewolves sitting at a table stood and faced our backs. They were behind us when I smelled them. They knew who I was. It didn’t matter if I wore a cape or not. They knew what I was.
The bartender a large barreled chested werewolf type with blotchy marks on his skin and a long scar starting from his forehead which took a straight line down to his cheek said, “What did you bring him in here for. You better have a good reason,” he said to Robert.
“We have business with Becky.” Then a tall werewolf about the size of Robert who was dressed in a pair of leather jeans and leather vest stood up.
“What do you want with Becky?”
“I’m her former mate.”
“I know who you are. You’re the one who left her for a human. She hasn’t gotten over that. I had to comfort her many nights and stop her from killing you. I would have done it myself but we have a code. She still curses you every time your name is mentioned and it’s mentioned a lot lately. I wish you would just go away, but you keep coming back for a favor. If I thought I could rid myself of you, I would do it now. Today.” His voice rough and his tone scornful.
“But you know you would lose,” Robert said taking a step forward. I reached for his ridged arm.
I whispered to him, “This is not the time or the place for this, Robert. Remember Ann and my Zoey.” If Robert let his temper get the best of him, we would be in a fight for our lives. It wouldn’t happen as long as I reminded him of Ann. “It’s not worth it.” I said.
“I need this one last favor from Becky and I promise it will be the last time I ask anything of her and you won’t ever see my face again.” Hansen strode close to Robert for a moment sizing him up and then his attention went to me.
“What is a werewolf doing traveling with a vampire?” Don’t you know that’s forbidden? How do we know he won’t bring back his kind and wipe us out?”
“Because he’s a friend of mine. You know me. All of you know me. I’ve done all of you a favor. Even you Hansen. You’ve wanted Becky ever since I met you. You knew she would make you a good mate like I knew Ann was better for me than Becky. We all knew it and so I left and didn’t interfere with your life with her. When I came back it was as a friend and nothing else. Ann is pregnant now, and you would do best to make Becky pregnant.”
Hansen stood looking into Robert’s eyes breathing hard with a tight jaw. There was a moment of dark silence. “Come to the back and bring him, too,” Hansen said pointing to me. “I need to keep my eyes on him.” I walked behind Robert looking around to see if anyone had followed us. And no one had.
We were led to a small conference room. When Hansen opened the door, Becky was sitting at one of the tables. He glanced at Robert with disdain when Becky’s face lit up. She must have remembered the love between them they once had. And Hansen knew the extent of their relationship together which made him want to kill Robert, but didn’t dare for fear Becky would hate him.
Robert tried to hide his lingering want for Becky. Hansen was too busy watching at me to notice the attraction they still held for each other.
“What do you want now, Robert?” Becky said. Her voice warm trying to cover up the heat she held for Robert with a cold unemotional stare.
“My friend needs your help.” She looked up at me. “Sit down, Sebastian. You were the one who married my sister. Well good luck to you.” I sat as Hansen stood over us.
“What is it you think I can do?” Becky said to me.
“I need you to kill your sister for me.” Becky laughed at me and then looked to Robert and shot him a wide smile and even louder laugh.
“Do you think it’s that easy? You had a better chance to do it, Sebastian. Aren’t you married to her?” Becky said.
“I thought since you were a witch, and you cured my Zoey with your potions, you would be the only person who could kill her.”
“You have too much confidence in me, Robert. I’m not even in Samantha’s league. She has been honing her powers with your friend’s help for a five hundred years, and now he wants to be rid of her, like you were rid of me when you found that human. It seems my sister and I have a lot in common. The only difference is this one wants her dead.” Her dark eyes drifted from Robert then with a quick glance settled on me.
She looked at me not with scornful eyes but with an appreciative smile. She wanted her dead too but couldn’t figure out how to do it. “Can you help us or not?” I didn’t want to waste any more time and neither did Robert.
“What you asked for is outside of my expertise. I can only cure and prevent death. There is no way of killing her. I would have done it years ago if it were possible.” She looked at a disappointed Robert. I was disturbed and I felt defeated. My face told it all. I was upset and I couldn’t hide it.
The only thing to do was to let Robert go back to Ann and find Zoey and try to protect her. Aare and Samantha should be psychotic by now after discovering that I had burned their castle to the ground. They will use all means to hunt Zoey and kill whomever gets in the way.
“I wish I could help you, Robert, but as you see there is nothing I can do,” she said with a small smirk.
Somehow I thought Becky knew something, but she wasn’t willing to help us and not with Hansen standing watching her every move. There were other possibilities, maybe she got delight in telling Robert no this time, or her sense of humanity and conscience wouldn’t allow her to kill her sister. I scowled at Robert and we both stood looking baffled. What do we do now?
Hansen led us out of the room and out the door of the bar. The rain had let up as we slogged to the car through mud. Hansen stood still in front a
nd watched at us until we entered my SUV. Then as the car backed out of the parking lot, Hansen turned and strode back into the bar with a satisfied smile.
“What was that about, Robert? I thought she would at least tell us something. You promised she would.”
“I didn’t promise anything. I promised you that I would find her,” Robert said impatience playing in his voice and face.
“What happened between you two?” I had to ask twice when he turned from looking at the road and glanced at me. Then he concentrated on his driving and I thought once again I wouldn’t learn the truth about Robert and the witch Becky.
“We weren’t a good fit.” I didn’t understand what he meant a good fit. Are two people ever a good fit? Look at Zoey and me. Nothing could be a worse fit than a puzzle with missing pieces and trying to place a piece where it doesn’t belong. That was Zoey and I.
Watching at my face, Robert saw that I didn’t understand his uneven explanation. “We just didn’t want the same things. She didn’t want to have my pups, and I didn’t want to travel the world with her. It’s as simple as that.” But was it?
“I guess she found someone who liked the same things she did. And it was the case of dealing with her sister. I don’t know how you could ever fall in love with her?” Now I was wondering the same thing.
“Samantha was a big influence over Becky until I met her. She tried to get her to join in her wickedness with the kidnaping of children. It was during that time I told Becky that I could never live with her, and so I wandered around and found Ann. Ann needed me more than Becky ever could. You see how innocent and frail Ann is? She needed me to protect her. And I did.”
The look on Robert’s face showed his warmth and goodness of heart even as I knew him to be fierce and a killer.
“When I went to Becky to tell her about Ann, Becky pleaded with me to stay because she had turned her back on her Samantha. And that she could never do what Samantha wanted. But it was too late. I was in love with Ann.”
The Soul of a Vampire #3 Page 9
