“Indeed. He saw her then, and he has been insufferable ever since! He will not shut up about her. The constant whining was going to drive me insane. I don’t think you understand how miserable an incubus can be when denied.” He grunted.
She paused for a long while and looked off, her heart breaking for Bella. “Promise me she is not suffering. Whatever fate she shall befall, promise me she is not afraid or in pain.”
“Not unless she’s the kind of lady who likes it.” Zadok purred, his voice sultry as he traced his hand up her arm. Maxine pulled out of his grasp. Even if his touch was over her clothing, she wanted none of it. “Are you?”
“I rightfully wouldn’t know.”
“Then I hope our Master soon finds out.”
“I do not enjoy speaking about these matters with you.”
“Why?”
“You are revolting.”
“Mmh, you don’t mean that.” He watched her with an idle smile. “You are made uncomfortable by me and the things I say in the way all proper ladies of your age are. You will come around in time.”
“How does Vlad suffer you?”
“He likes me well enough.” He scratched at his shoulder absentmindedly. “Most of the time. Then again, he occasionally tears my arm off for sport. Now that I think about it, he never does that to Walter. I’ve always suspected the old bastard plays favorites.”
She tried not to laugh. She couldn’t hide her smile as she looked away.
“Tell me, Miss Parker. What do you wish might come to pass? How do you want all this to end?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“I wish to know if Master Dracula is in danger. If you are a threat to his life—and ergo, likely mine as well. That is why I am here. And to get away from Mordecai.” He grinned. “I did not wish to listen to him whine as he jerked himself off for the fourteen-thousandth time because Bella was not yet his.”
She tried not to feel sick. “I did not need to know that.”
“That is how an incubus whines, darling. How else did you expect?”
“I am not well-versed in the social behaviors of demons.”
“I expect you will be before long. Now, come. Tell me. What do you wish for?”
“I want the hunters to survive and to leave unharmed. I do not wish ill upon them.”
“Not even Alfonzo?”
“I understand him. Even if his methods are harsh and I do not agree with them, I understand him.”
“How can you understand someone but not agree with them?”
“I am an empath.” She looked over to Zadok and found him watching her, quite puzzled. “And that you do not understand the difference between seeing the reason behind someone’s actions and agreeing with them might be why Vlad keeps tearing your arm off.”
Zadok laughed. “Fair enough. What else? What about you, my dear? All you have spoken of is the fates of others. But what do you wish for yourself?”
“That which I would desire for myself factors little to none into my own fate, vampire. I am always a product of others—their memories, their emotions, and their desires. What I want does not matter.”
“I am asking you all the same. If you do not know, that is all you have to say.” He grinned, a coy and fiendish expression. “Do you love our Master?”
“I do. I did. Until this.” She gestured at the window. “Now, I am not so certain. I was naïve to think I truly fathomed what he was, and what he was capable of unleashing.”
“You still love him. You simply need to come to terms with what you see. And I am sure he is willing to give you as much time as you need to do so. He is a patient creature. Far more so than I.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed.”
He was clearly unfazed by her sarcasm. “Do you want to love him? Do you want to be at his side for all eternity? Or do you want to wrench his soul from his chest and destroy it like all the others you have touched?”
“I do not know. I…do not wish to hurt him. But I will not let this city burn if I can stop it.”
“I suppose that is fair. And I think when the time comes, you will need to decide which you care about more. And I do not pity you for it. I am a man of simple pleasures and simple needs.”
She watched him for a moment. “No. You merely like everyone around you to believe that. You hide behind your callousness, your shallowness, and use it to mask your pain, don’t you? Tell me, Zadok—who hurt you?” She smiled snidely. “Or is the list too long?”
He laughed. It was not what she was expecting. But he seemed honestly entertained by her comment—no, not entertained, pleased. “You are wonderful! Truly you are. I see why the Master adores you so. Who hurt me, my little dove? Everyone. Everyone in this God-forsaken world. I take my pleasure when and how I desire it in exchange. And I desire very much. But!” He slapped his hands on his legs and stood. “You should be sleeping. The Master would be very cross with me if he learned I was not allowing you a good night’s rest with my prattling. I have to keep watch, after all.” He tugged on the bottom of his vest, and as he did, his form shifted back to that of Bella.
“Do you honestly believe you can trick them? Even if I do not give you up, they know her. They have traveled with her for years. How do you think you might hide from them?”
“Simple. I am a woman.” The false Bella smiled. “No one notices a woman’s moods, and if they do, they explain it away to her nature. She is an accessory to them, nothing more. Even Bella.”
“Even if what you say is true for Alfonzo, Eddie loves her. He will see the change.”
“No, I do not think he will.” Zadok-Bella walked over to where Eddie slept and nudged him with her foot. The sleeping hunter did not wake, caught up in the vampire’s illusion. “Eddie does not love her. He merely thinks he does. He loves the idea of her—the beauty and purity that traveled at his side for so long.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps you are right, and he will see straight through my charade.” Bella smiled a sickly-sweet expression. “But if I am wrong and he does not notice? What then? Are you willing to wager a bet on it?”
She shook her head silently. No, she wasn’t. Because his words were true. Eddie’s love for Bella was not a lie. But it was shallow.
“Oh, but—let’s wager anyway. I do so love a game. Come now, what is a silly bet between friends?” Zadok executed a perfect imitation of the girl. Her voice, her tone…everything. Zadok was a good actor, and it was clear he had been observing her. “We are friends, aren’t we, Miss Parker?”
Perhaps Alfonzo and Eddie wouldn’t notice. “This is cruel, Zadok.”
“Ah-ah.” She ticked a finger back and forth. “I am Bella, remember? You will play along, or the real girl dies. Now. Let’s wager. I bet I can go…oh…two days. Two days and nights like this without them noticing anything is amiss. That is, if you do not interfere. What do you think?”
Two whole days? Without Zadok slipping up? It seemed impossible. She was going to curse herself for this later. “What is on the line?”
“If I am right, then I want you to touch me.” At her disgusted noise, he grinned. “Not like that. That’s not how I want to touch you—simply hand-to-hand. I want to feel what the Master feels. I want to know why he loves you. I want to know why everything is worth putting in danger for you. Why he lets someone who can destroy him walk this world. I want to know why I have been banned from ripping these stupid mortals limb from limb and being done with it. I want you to press your palm to mine, and I want to understand.”
“I could destroy you. I might do it accidentally. I might do it willingly.”
“I know. I don’t rightfully care. Now, what do you want in exchange? If I lose, what do you want?”
Maxine paused. She didn’t know. She shook her head dumbly.
“A favor to be named later, then. I wouldn’t worry overmuch about deciding your fee too soon. I doubt you’ll win.” The false Bella sat on the edge of the window and took up her
watch of the street outside, farcical as it was. “Sleep well, my dove. I will see you in the morning. At least the sun will no longer rise to trouble me.”
Maxine did not know how she was expected to sleep in a room knowing an imposter had taken over Bella’s post. But she supposed he was truly no more or less a friend to her than Alfonzo or Eddie. Eventually, she lay down and shut her eyes and tried to let sleep come back to her. Slowly, exhaustion won over her reluctance and troubled thoughts.
It did not matter who was in the room while she slept, human or vampire. She was to spend the rest of her days a prisoner.
There were only two variables left to resolve. Who held her chain…and how long she would survive as their slave.
7
Vlad should not have been surprised.
When he walked into the room to speak to Mordecai, the eldest and the captain of the demons in his armies, he should not have been annoyed to find him as he was—lying sprawled out on his back on a chaise lounge, fully naked.
He was an incubus, after all. He was wearing the guise of a beautiful mortal man with short blond hair and a trim build. He was wearing the shape of a man plucked from the very fantasies of the woman who was between his legs, her lead lowered to him, eagerly worshipping his body with every ounce of passion she owned.
Vlad should not have been surprised, but now he was a little impressed. Not at the act, but at who Mordecai had as a partner. He recognized the girl. Bella, the vampire huntress. “I believe I told Zadok to deal with them.”
“Hello, Master.” Mordecai picked his head up from the back of the lounge briefly to greet him with a lazy smile. He was basking in the affection. “The Illusionist and I came to an arrangement. I hope you’re not angry.”
“I should have expected this would come to pass after you danced with her.” Vlad sighed. “No. I am not angry. Nor am I terribly surprised. Did she fall to you easily?”
“I would say so. She is such a perfect little thing.” He groaned and reached down to stroke her hair. The woman was intent on swallowing him whole. “Will you look at that? Oh, Bella…yes, please, a little more.” He groaned again and tilted his head back, shuddering as the woman succeeded in her goal. “Oh, yes, Bella—like that!”
Impressed, and perhaps a little jealous. Vlad shook his head, walking to stand by a window and look down at the dark city below. “I am surprised she did not give you trouble. She seemed a willful one.”
“Willful, yes. But she yearned to be free. She wanted what I could give her. Anything but the chains she wore to those two idiots she called friends. One look at me, and she fell into my arms. She struggled so briefly. Now I can barely contain her. I think lust is her true nature. She has so much of it to give.”
“I am surprised you have not drained her.” Incubi and succubae were much like vampires in that they could choose whether or not to harm their victims. It seemed that he had not touched the girl. Usually, when he found one of the demons feeding on their prey, the mortal would be mindless and empty-eyed as though they had taken opium. “I would have expected you to kill her.”
This girl, who lavished his body, was neither numb nor limp in his arms. She was clearly in his thrall, as was to be expected, but she was acting very much of her own volition. The girl had not looked up at Vlad, despite the foreign voice in the room. She was so focused on the demon beneath her that she did not even know there was anyone else in the room. Such was the way of an incubus’ magic. They kept their victims enamored only to them and what they wished to see. Bella would know nothing of the world around her that Mordecai did not wish her to.
“I think I will keep her with your permission, sire.”
Vlad shrugged. “Keep her for as long as you wish. It seems she has much fire for her to give you.”
“No. I mean I wish to keep her permanently.”
That drew his attention back to the incubus. He turned and looked at the demon with a raised eyebrow. “You wish to take her as your bride?”
Mordecai was smiling dreamily down at the girl. He did not answer for a moment, instead moaning and tossing his head back. He grabbed the girl’s head in his hands and pressed himself into her to the hilt. His body twitched and spasmed as he spent himself into her eagerness.
Vlad rolled his eyes and waited.
Demons.
When the moment subsided, the girl crawled up the length of Mordecai’s naked body and collapsed into his arms, snuggling into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, cradling her. “Sleep, beautiful Bella. You need your rest.”
She was already unconscious.
As the girl went under, his form changed. He shed the mortal shape and took the one Vlad was far more accustomed to seeing—his true one. Mordecai stretched like a sated cat. His pale blue-gray skin was not the most significant change. That credit was given to the black horns that curled away from his temples and the tail that now swished beside him.
At least he had donned clothing. Little more than a loincloth that draped over his waist, but it was better than nothing. Vlad was hardly a prude. He enjoyed lust more than any of the other sins, including wrath. That said, if he had the option to actually converse with someone while they were naked or clothed, the choice was clear.
“You want to claim her?” Vlad repeated his question.
“I do. If she will have me.” He sighed and looked down at the naked girl in his arms, her rosy skin a far cry from his strange coloring. His long tail curled around her leg covetously. “I will have to free her from my spell to ask her. I would have her gaze on me such as I truly am and understand what she would become. She will reject me, I am sure.”
“Have you ever tried before?”
“I have never felt the need.”
“For what it is worth, I hope she accepts you.” Vlad turned back out to the moonlight and let out a breath. He had his own hopes for the future that might lay in the arms of a mortal girl.
“How goes your hunt? What a delicious thing that Maxine is. Think you might consider sharing?”
“No.”
“Come, now, not even a trade for a night?”
“No, Mordecai.”
“How about all at once, then?”
Vlad growled angrily in response.
“Oh, well. But perhaps you are right. Once she tasted me, she would likely never want you again,” the demon teased.
Vlad laughed and shook his head. He knew the creature was only half joking, but he took it for the good-natured goading that it was meant to be. His thoughts drifted over Maxine. He wondered how she was faring. Though the sun had not risen, he knew the morning had still come. They would be on the move once more.
“Where is Zadok?”
“Oh, here is the clever bit. He has assumed the form of Bella in order to better tear them apart from the inside.” Mordecai chuckled.
Vlad sighed. It was a dangerous ploy, but he knew the Illusionist did not like a game that came without risks. He also did not enjoy the idea that Maxine was left alone in the watch of his most unpredictable general outside of his direct supervision.
But that was how fate had played out. Replacing Bella was a brilliant ploy, Vlad had to admit. It would be all the more beautiful when they realized she had been missing for days. It would be so easy to kill them. But he did not simply wish them violence. He wished them suffering, and such was a gift he had learned to masterfully craft many years ago.
And oh, the terrors he had planned for the Helsing mortal were truly breathtaking. The girl behind him might be a useful tool, if she embraced Mordecai and chose to become as he.
“Is this love, Master?”
“Perhaps.” Vlad shook his head and looked back out the window.
“It’s terrible. It’s frightening and putrid. It hurts me in my heart when I think about her rejecting me. I despise it so very much. I think I can’t live without it.”
Vlad shut his eyes. “Yes. You are in love.”
Mordecai grunted. “Damn it.”
> They had been walking for hours. Maxine, Alfonzo, Eddie…and “Bella.” As they marched, they passed bodies left bent and broken wherever they had been discarded—or whatever had been left of them. Even more alarming than the piles was when there was nothing left, only blood, oozing down walls and across sidewalks, dark but shining in the crimson moonlight.
The moon that never moved, never set, and never gave way to the sun. As the hours ticked by, it remained the constant watcher hanging high in the sky overhead.
She had hoped Zadok’s farce would last a few minutes at most. But it seemed the vampire was an exceptionally good actor. Or his commentary on Alfonzo’s and Eddie’s views of Bella as a commodity and an accessory rung far truer than Maxine would have wished. Perhaps some of each.
Either way, she walked beside “Bella” on their trek through the city. The vampire-turned-huntress had asked to be the keeper of her chains for a turn, to spare Eddie the responsibility for a few hours, and the young boy had agreed.
It had taken every ounce of Maxine’s will to keep from protesting the arrangement. She would have no issue with Bella being the one to hold her “leash,” and therefore it would raise suspicion if she balked at it now. She only spared the vampire a few sidelong glares when she was certain no one was looking.
Meanwhile, Zadok was clearly pleased as punch to stand close to her, smiling, pretending to whisper to her like they were two girls at school. “Six hours we’ve marched. Not even a bat of an eye from either of them. And I haven’t exactly been quiet,” Zadok whispered in Bella’s voice.
It was true. Bella was a talkative, chipper thing. And Zadok mimicked it easily. He was also very careful to avoid topics that which might require reference to previous knowledge of their lives and travels together. And when something did come up, he danced around it like a prizewinning performer.
It was like watching a master at work. This was clearly not his first time playing this game.
Curse of Dracula Page 6
