“Could I have some time alone with my cousin?”
She kept her gaze riveted on the constable, making it impossible for him to take his eyes off of her. “I’ll wait out in the hallway for you,” he said.
“I’ll be forever grateful, Sir John.” She touched his arm lightly.
Once the constable left them alone, Michael let out a burst of laughter and jumped up from his cot. “You certainly put a spell on that gentleman.”
“We haven’t much time. We’ve got to get out of here.”
He grabbed her, kissing her on both cheeks. “Of course you’ve always put a spell on me. I’m certainly surprised to see you here my beloved-cousin.”
“Never mind your nonsense,” she said, swatting him away like a troublesome gnat. “I have a boat waiting for us at Traitor’s Gate. I’ve thralled and bribed all the guards, so we should be able to walk out of here without incident. We’ve got to hurry because I desperately need to feed, and I don’t know how long the thralls will last.”
“What if they become unthralled before we escape?”
She shrugged. “I guess that’s a chance we’ll have to take.”
Michael forced her to look at him. “I thought you were the one who suggested to Charles I be imprisoned. What changed your mind? Did you decide you’re still mad in love with me?”
“For the love of God, Michael, we don’t have time for this. As you said, the guards might become unthralled, so we have to hurry. I was wrong to want revenge.”
“Will you come back to Prague with me and be my wife again?”
“If you don’t shut up and come with me, then I’m just going to leave you here to die.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” He smiled tantalizingly.
“Michael!”
“All right, then, let’s go,” he said crossly, taking her by the arm.
When they reached the door, they heard a horrendous shriek out in the hallway. It froze them in their tracks. “What the devil was that?” Michael asked.
Elizabeth opened the door a crack to peer out, and a silver-and-black-furred creature forced the door open wider and bounded in. The wolf put his giant paws up on Elizabeth’s shoulders, nearly knocking her down. “Lance, what are you doing here?” she asked, giving him a shove.
The wolf changed into human form, grabbing the ragged blanket on Michael’s cot and wrapping it around his muscled torso. He stared hard at her. “Why, Elizabeth. What large teeth you have.” He gave a low chuckle that sounded more like a whine.
Embarrassed, she pressed her lips together, refusing to speak again.
“Come on, I was only teasing. I’ve always wanted to say that to someone else. There’s no shame in needing to feed. I’ve knocked out the constable.”
“Why? I’d already thralled them all. You’ve just made our situation much more dangerous. Who sent you?”
“Who do you think? Julian believes Sir Michael can help him convince the king to become a vampire. So I came to rescue him. Why are you here?”
“I’m here to help Michael. I’d already taken care of the constable without your help.”
“That wasn’t something I was likely to know, now was it?”
She averted her eyes from the curly black hair that formed a “v” shape down his chest, tapering to his taut abdomen. “I have a boat waiting down by the portcullis. We don’t have time to argue. Are you coming with us?”
“Yes. Perhaps I can be of help.”
“What might Julian say?”
“No one controls me.” Lance’s ears grew pointed, his face and nose elongated, and his body became covered with fur, his hands and feet turned into paws, before he dropped down on all fours.
Michael, who had been stricken speechless since Lance first appeared, finally managed to say, “Who the devil is this creature? Have you stooped to consorting with shape-shifters now, Elizabeth?”
“I wouldn’t criticize, if I were you. Lance is here to help.”
With those words, the three of them stepped out into the hallway. She gave a gasp of dismay at the sight of the constable with his once immaculate uniform now shredded, even while his face was bloodied with claw marks. Running over to him, she let out a sigh of relief to find he was still breathing and had a steady pulse.
Lance pulled her sleeve with his teeth, urging her on.
Reluctantly, she walked away from the constable. They encountered no one on their way down the dank stairway.
Once on the first floor, a yeoman warder stepped in front of them, aiming his musket in their direction. “Halt or I’ll shoot.”
Luckily, Lance stood behind Elizabeth and Michael, so the warder didn’t see him until it was too late. Lance raced toward the warder and lunged, causing the man to drop his musket before he fell to the ground. He screamed out in pain when the wolf pounced. The wolf glanced in Elizabeth’s direction and gave a yelp.
Michael grabbed her hand. “I think he wants us to get out of here.”
She hesitated until Lance gave another deep-throated growl. This time she lifted her skirts and raced along beside Michael. She heard clattering of boots on stone, and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw four of the guards she’d thralled now chasing after them, muskets in hand. She heard the boom of a musket being fired and she paused, turning in the direction the shot had come from.
Michael pulled her away and grasped her by the hand. They moved faster than a thought, reaching the entrance, and then down the staircase leading outside, leaving the guards far behind in the mist.
Once outside, they could barely see one another because of the fog. She started to lead Michael to the portcullis, but he stopped her and pulled her in another direction. “The boatman won’t have waited around in this thick stew.”
He cloaked them both with his cape. They moved so swiftly, it nearly took her breath away. “Where are we going?”
“We’re heading in the direction of the Strand. Don’t you want to go back to Whitehall?”
She looked ashamed. “I have to stop first and feed.”
“I don’t need to worry about that because there were rats aplenty in the Tower,” Michael said with a laugh. He then untied his cravat and offered up his long, white neck. She saw the pulse at the base of his neck throb. “Take me, please.”
Stunned, she leaned away. “No, I can’t, I mustn’t. Just wait for me a few minutes.”
In the deep thickness of the fog, Elizabeth heard a drumbeat. It took her a full minute to realize it was no drum at all, but rather the sound of Michael’s heartbeat. Her teeth elongated at the sight of her former husband’s vulnerable throat, his pulse hammering away at the base of his neck. She drew away from him quickly.
She rushed off down the narrow alleyway where her preternatural hearing told her there was a small creature scurrying along. In a short time, she arrived back at Michael’s side. “I’m ready,” she said. “The palace won’t be safe for you. Can you meet me at the George and Dragon at midnight? Darius is having another meeting of the vampires to decide what must be done. He fears some of the vampires want to side with the psychic vampire demons.”
They moved with such speed they were soon at the stone steps leading to the palace. Michael lifted one of her hands and kissed her wrist. “You’re safe now, love. I’ll see you at the meeting, but I have one question before I go.”
“What’s that?”
“Why did you really save me? Can it be possible you’ve forgiven me for what I’ve done to you, and that you still love me?”
“If I don’t have charity, then having a soul will do me little good. I no longer love you as a husband, Michael, but I do forgive you. I want my soul back more than anything in the world. I believe forgiving you will help me in my journey back to my soul.”
“I had time to think in the dungeon. There’s something I’ve wanted to explain to you.”
He had such a look of such painful yearning on his face, she paused. “What is it?”
“I don�
��t have enough time to tell you now, but if there’s anything I can do for you, I swear I’ll do it.”
She stared at him for a long time, trying to determine whether he spoke sincerely or was mocking her. She decided he meant what he said. “That means a great deal to me, Michael.” She lightly kissed his forehead before she headed up the stone stairway leading to the palace.
Chapter 26
Dashing up the stone steps, Elizabeth saw the ghostly silhouette of someone standing out on the terrace. The fog had lifted somewhat, but a fine mist still clung to the ground. Softly, she approached, only to discover Charles standing with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out into the gray haze.
He jumped when she touched his shoulder. “Are you all right, Your Majesty?”
“Elizabeth, you startled me. I was remembering my Restoration when I rode through the city and felt like I would like to rule forever. It’s an odd feeling to imagine I actually can exist forever.”
“Sire, I told you I’d never make you a vampire.”
“According to Buckingham, you’re not the only vampire in London.”
“I beg of Your Majesty to reconsider.”
Without answering her, he laughed. “I asked my Nelly if she wanted to live forever with me, and she said, “Of course, just make sure me mother and sister don’t live forever as well. I’d rather go to the devil than put up with them two throughout all eternity.”
Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. “Nelly is an amazing woman.”
One of the royal guards rushed out onto the terrace. “Begging Your Majesty’s pardon, but I have a most urgent message from the great Sun King across the Channel.”
“What pray, does my cousin Louis have to say to me?”
The guard stepped closer and bowed. “I was given this sealed message from a servant of the king’s, Sire. I was told to deliver it to your hands only with post haste.”
Charles glanced at Elizabeth and raised his eyebrows.
She shrugged in bewilderment.
“Thank you, my good man. Go back to your post now,” the king said.
The guard bowed again and backed his way out. “It’s always my pleasure to do your bidding, Your Majesty.”
Elizabeth watched his tanned face turn to an unhealthy pallor while reading the missive silently. “My God, what have those fools done?”
“What’s wrong, Sire?” She leaned closer.
He grabbed her by the hand and led her back into the palace, through the hallway, and into his study. A fire burned in the grate of the huge stone fireplace and he rushed over and tossed the letter into the fire. Staring at the flames, he used a poker to make sure the letter burned to total ash.
Frightened by his expression, she gave his arm a shake. “Are you going to tell me what has happened?”
The king looked flushed and flustered. “You’re not safe here anymore, Elizabeth, and neither are any of the other immortal vampires. You’ll all have to leave, to go someplace, to hide somewhere.”
“Where would we go? What did the letter say? You must tell me.” Her fingers dug deep into his arm.
He scarcely seemed aware of her touch. He rubbed his palms over his face and shuddered. “My cousin, Louis, let his mistress, Athenais de Montespan, go too far. She struck up a friendship with this woman who claims that she’s the queen of Satan.”
Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open. “Is she truly the mistress of Satan?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know about that, but for all purposes, people believe her to be so. She’s La Voisin, the one I spoke of before.”
“She’s the creature who has half of Louis’s court worshipping Satan?”
“Yes, and Montespan is in the middle of it all. The last straw came when rumors spread throughout Paris that the king’s mistress stripped naked on the altar, and they sacrificed a newborn child over her body.”
She gave a shriek and put a gloved hand to her mouth. “It surely can’t be true.”
Charles nodded. “It’s horrific, I know, but it doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not to the people of Paris. Now Louis is advising all of the nobles and their ladies who were involved in these rituals to get out of France while they still can. There’s to be a trial of the mistress of Satan. Who knows how many of the court will be prosecuted unless they flee.”
“Sire, please understand the immortal vampires aren’t in league with Satan, or the psychic demons.”
He refused to meet her eyes. “I don’t know what to believe now. If this horror is true in Louis’s palace, how do I know what’s happening here in London? How could I have been willing to give up my soul to those devils? It’s inexcusable.”
Moved by his stricken expression, she lightly touched his arm then let it fall to her side again. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sire. You only wanted to become immortal for the sake of your country. But it’s a good thing you’ve decided not to become a vampire, Sire, even though it’s the psychic vampires who are demons, not the immortal vampires. True, immortals sometimes take lives to feed on, but most don’t use human blood unless they have to. There’s been no feeding on humans, and humans were never used for sacrifices.”
“It’s all too horrible,” Charles said. “I can’t believe I was ever tempted to become an immortal vampire, or any other kind of vampire. What was I thinking? I let my concern for my kingdom carry me too near to the brink of damnation.”
Elizabeth raised her hand and touched his cheek. “You were worried about your kingdom because you care about your people, and you’re worried about having a legitimate heir. But you know what I think, Charles?
He gave her a look mingling regret with longing. “What do you think, my darling Elizabeth?”
“I think you love your wife above all your mistresses, and that’s why you’d never get rid of her.”
“You’re quite right. I love my stubborn, complaining, loyal subjects, in the same way I love my gentle, frightened, loving wife. And I love my funny, warm Nelly, who always makes me laugh.”
“Don’t you realize you’re a good man and a good king and the love you hold in your heart comes from the goodness within your soul?”
“I think I believe Catherine and Nelly are the only two women who have ever truly loved me, and that’s why I can trust them.” Charles then gave Elizabeth a shy look saying, “I think you might possibly love me, too.”
“I do love you, Charles, in my own way. That’s why you must believe me and become Catholic the way your wife so desperately wants you to. It will keep your soul safe.”
His mouth quirked downward and he spoke. “I didn’t think your faith was enough to keep you protected.”
Elizabeth stared into the orange glow of the fire. Suddenly, she understood where she’d gone wrong. “My faith wasn’t enough to save me because I became too self-absorbed. My faith couldn’t protect me from my husband’s vampire bite. I lacked faith because I thought I could fight Michael through my own strength. I was wrong.”
“I believe you’re the strongest woman I know.” He took off her right glove and softly kissed each fingertip.
Elizabeth tried not to be distracted by her sudden rapid heartbeat. While the king wasn’t as handsome as Darius, he had a charisma and charm difficult to resist. She regained possession of her hand and tried to stay focused. “Don’t you see if you convert to your wife’s faith, it will prove to her how much you love her?”
“How can that help my kingdom?”
“It would mean so much to the queen. It will also prove you believe in a higher power that will take care of England after you’re gone.”
Charles strode over to the bookshelf, running his fingertips along the spines of his books, his finger resting against The Confessions of St. Augustine. “My kingdom will never accept my becoming a Catholic. To my people, Catholicism is almost as bad as embracing the Satanism of Louis’s mistress.”
“At least give it some thought.”
“I’ll consider the matter, my dear. R
ight now we have more pressing worries. Can you get the vampires together to tell them they must leave England soon?”
“There’s a meeting later tonight. I’ll warn them.”
Sadness and regret tightened his features. “Elizabeth? I know you want to help me, but I’m afraid you’ll no longer be safe at the palace. You’ll have to leave Whitehall.”
“Of course, I understand. I’ll pack my things right away, Your Majesty.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look at him. “I’m sorry. I still care for you, but I can’t put my kingdom in more jeopardy.”
She stepped away from him and curtsied low. She prayed he wouldn’t notice the tears stinging her eyes. “As you wish, Sire,” and with a whirl of her skirts, she left him.
Paying no attention to the groups of people thronging the hallway and stairs, Elizabeth dashed toward her room. Castlemaine stopped in the middle of the hallway, attempting to block Elizabeth from her apartments. Without a word, Elizabeth shoved her aside.
Tossing clothes in her trunk, she fought back the tears burning the back of her eyelids. She struggled against the feeling of betrayal she felt at Charles’s abandonment. She hadn’t been in love with him—she hadn’t—but it still hurt to be dismissed from the palace with such cynical casualness. It convinced her even more in her belief she was something unclean that must be sent away before she contaminated everyone with her poison.
Before she had a chance to ring for a servant to pick up her baggage, her serving girl knocked at the door, announcing the Duke of Buckingham wished to be received.
Distracted, she brushed her hand across her eyes. “Send him in.”
Buckingham entered with a swirl of his black cape. His royal blue brocade suit gleamed immaculate. His elaborate blond periwig created a startling contrast to the way he’d darkened his eyebrows and mustache. “All hell has broken loose,” he said with a wave of his hand.
She dismissed her maid who lingered in the doorway. “Shut the door on your way out, Rose.”
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