Why! Why help me then?
Because one life for the lives of many is a small sacrifice. I am not afraid to face death. I have lived for centuries in this world and I realize now that this is what I was meant for. To save our people from certain death.
Amee surprised herself by reaching out and touching Bettina’s cheek. Thank you. You are so very brave.
Bettina shook her head sadly. I wish I could do more. My mistress is very powerful and I am ashamed to say that I have contributed much to that power. She didn’t always intend to use that power for ill mans. I believe, in her own mind, she still thinks what she is about to set in motion is best for our people. Perhaps that is how I justified my own actions over the decades.
Reaching out, Amee clutched Bettina’s small hand in her own. I will wait for Ross then. I promise that we will get away. We will make it. We will find a way…
I hope that is the truth. For all of us.
Chapter 6
Svetlana's palms grew moist with excitement. Her plans, plans that had taken over a hundred years to design, were about to come to fruition.
A knock at the door brought her head around sharply. She knew it was Ross standing on the doorstep. She could smell his scent. She had taken his body, seduced him, drank his blood and he was none the wiser. His blood formed an unbreakable connection for her. She always sensed when he was near. She could read his thoughts and emotions.
It was almost a pity that he was soon to be turned to a vampire. All the power she had over him would wane. Well, perhaps not all of it. She knew the power of her mind over mortals but she still had her lush body with which to seduce their new Prince. That and the fact that as his maker, she would always hold a certain power over him.
“Ross!” Svetlana crooned when she opened the door.
“Svetlana,” he said in his deep, sexy voice. Ross was a handsome man. Dark, thick, curly hair, bronze skin, strong, chiseled features. His dark eyes always seemed to snap with humour… or desire. His lips were as strong and masculine as the rest of him, his jaw square. It always bore the shadow of a fresh beard, even when he had just shaved.
Svetlana could not have hoped for a more delicious man. She had seduced Ross, put him under her spell right from the start. It had been her pleasure to take his body. For a mortal he was a good lover. Svetlana could only hope that as a prince he was still as adoring and attentive as he was at the moment.
“Come in.” She opened the door with a smile, inviting him in. His eyes raked over her body, clad in a tight black dress. She had invited him to her home under the pretense of dinner. Ross had never questioned why she had two mysterious roommates who were always around. Why would he? She fully controlled his mind, manipulating him easily.
“You look beautiful my dear,” Ross said. He had dressed nicely in dark washed jeans that fit his muscular body and hugged his trim waist just right. His broad chest and shoulders were clad in a black dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up on his perfectly shaped forearms.
“Thank you,” Svetlana purred. She led the way over to the table she had set. It was complete with two candles. The light sent shadows flickering off the walls.
Ross seated himself and, ever considerate, poured her a glass of red wine. She sipped at it, savouring the tart, dry taste. She imagined how much better it would be to dine on that virgin’s blood. Only a matter of hours and her prince would be reborn. Her own body would be strengthened by that girl’s innocent blood. She would be ever more powerful for being a maker and the consort of the vampire Prince.
“This is delicious my dear,” Ross said. He was always so polite. That was natural for him. Svetlana did nothing to control his manners, just manipulate his mind so he wouldn’t see what was right in from of him. Which was of course, the obvious fact that she was not born a human any more than he should have been.
“Thank you.” Svetlana narrowed her eyes. “What do you say we skip the rest of the meal and take things to the bedroom?”
Ross’s face flushed with desire. “I must say I’m ravished… for you. The food can wait until later.” He shoved back his chair, standing abruptly. He had eyes only for Svetlana. Her body heated up with her own longing for him but she managed to control herself.
“I will be there shortly, my love. I will call for Bettina. She can prepare you.”
Ross looked into Svetlana’s eyes and she used her mind to persuade him that there was nothing amiss. He merely nodded. Svetlana almost laughed at how easy it all was.
“Bettina,” Svetlana called. She downed the last of her wine before standing. Bettina arrived a few moments later. “Please take Ross into our room. I will be there shortly.”
“Yes. Of course.” Betting bowed and Ross followed her like a lost puppy. He would be kept safe with Bettina to guard him while she and Sarali set everything up for the rebirth of their Prince as a vampire. She needed the tables and the bindings and then she would send for the little virgin.
Again the thought of her nubile body and innocent blood filled Svetlana with desire. Her mouth watered at the thought of it. It was her pleasure that her body guards had chosen such an attractive female. Perhaps she herself would have some fun with the girl before she drank her dry.
Chapter 7
Bettina steered Ross down the hallway, taking him into Svetlana’s room. The actual transformation would take place underground, the secret passage leading from the kitchen down to a room below the house. She knew she had precious little time.
She led him over to the bed and had him sit on the edge. She stood, facing him. He was a handsome man and she could sense a kindness and an inner strength in him that few mortals possessed. Which was well enough because inside him he had the true spirit of a Prince.
Bettina waited until she could sense that Svetlana and Sarali were below, preparing the underground chambers before she began speaking. She was sure they would not hear nor be able to interfere with her now as they were deep below the earth’s surface.
“Ross,” she whispered. She stared at him, her eyes blazing. He looked into her eyes and she could feel the powerful hold Svetlana had over his mind. It took all her concentration to break it.
“What?” Ross asked, confused. He blinked as the last of Svetlana’s control shattered.
“I don’t have time,” Bettina rushed on. “You must listen to me. Look at me Ross. Please!” He did as he was bid, staring back into her blue depths. She worked her own hold over his mind, suppressing the fear and the questions she did not have time for. “I have to tell you something. I know you likely won’t believe me but please, your very life depends on it, do you understand?”
“Yes,” he responded automatically, the holds of her control working very effectively.
“You are someone very special to our people. We are not like you yet you were born with the spirit of royalty inside. Svetlana means to harm you and someone else… there is a girl here. Amee… you must take her and leave this place. I have an address of a home where you will be safe. They will offer you shelter. Everything was set up weeks ago. Please. You must promise me that when I release my hold over you, you will do exactly as I say.”
“Alright,” Ross muttered woodenly. His dark eyes held confusion and the first hints of alarm, as Bettina started to break her hold over him.
“Take Amee. Go to 6 Nickel Street. Knock on the door, one quick taps then two longer ones. A man named Adam will answer. Well, he is not a man. He is one of us. He and his wife have agreed to protect you. You may send word to your family that you are safe, as must Amee but make something up. Do not, under any circumstances tell them about the things you know or it will mean certain death for you. Do this. Please. Stay hidden and keep Amee safe.”
“I will,” Ross promised automatically. His sudden urge to protect, his fierce will to survive, flavoured the air around them. Bettina’s nostrils flared, drinking in the deep, spicy scent.
“One other thing Ross… Amee is a very special person. I have not yet determined what
is in her blood but it is unusually powerful for a mortal. She is a virgin. In order to keep her safe you will need to take that from her. She can only be of use to my mistress as a maiden. Break that you will break the hold Svetlana has over her.”
“Svetlana?” Ross asked in confusion.
Bettina sighed in frustration. She didn’t have time to explain things fully, as she should. Instead she placed her hands on either side of Ross’ temples. She focused all her energy, transferring mental images that served as memories as clearly as if he had experienced them first hand.
When Ross opened his eyes, blinking slowly, Bettina knew he understood. Everything. It was even more dangerous for him this way but she had given him everything. She had given him the knowledge of their people, of Svetlana, of himself. It was the only way to truly set him free, she was sure.
“Go now Ross! Amee is in the room next to this one! Go quickly! I will go down below and create a diversion. This is the last time I will see you, I think,”
Ross looked at her, his head brimming with the new knowledge she had given him. That knowledge included her death. He looked at her sadly before he shook his head once and rushed from the room. She waited until she heard the door of the room next to Svetlana’s bang open. Then she stood, firming her resolve.
Bettina gave them a few moments to clear the house. She walked into the kitchen as calmly as she knew how. She pressed the hidden lever on the wall and when the stairway appeared, she stepped lightly below. Just before she reached the underground chamber, she reached into her boot and took out her deadly knives.
Chapter 8
Amee ran until she could no longer take a breath. Her side was in stitches, her lungs screamed for air. They seemed to have been filled with fire rather than oxygen.
She wanted very much to beg Ross for a break but wouldn’t have dared even if she had been able to speak past the burning in her throat. Her bare feet slapped against the pavement, sending shooting pains through Amee’s knees and shins with every step. Her shoes had been abandoned at the house, being all together useless for anything but a party.
Keesha’s party! Amee allowed herself to be momentarily distracted by thoughts of her best friend. What would she think when Amee never came back with her gift? Was it really only a few mere hours ago that she had been there? Before her life changed so dramatically. Her parents would worry. She would somehow have to get word to them, to make them believe that she was fine even if she couldn’t return home right away.
Amee dared a look up at Ross as they turned a corner. There were houses everywhere. The joy of the suburbs was that it was a maze of humanity. He had an address, a safe house, Bettina had told her but they had no idea how to get there. Certainly they wouldn’t be able to cover much ground on foot.
Finally, out of breath, completely exhausted, her feet torn and ragged from the uneven sidewalk, Amee begged Ross to stop.
“Please Ross!” She gasped. “I just need a second to catch my breath.”
He stopped abruptly. He pulled them back away from the sidewalk, hiding them in behind some bushes that had been planted as a natural fence for someone’s front yard.
“Sit down,” he whispered. Though it was pitch black he took her foot in his hands and Amee felt a shiver run through her at his touch. She had glimpsed his face in the lamplight as they ran and knew immediately that he was exceedingly handsome. He had a regal bearing. She felt instinctively safe with him. He fairly exuded strength and masculinity and had a strangely powerful air about him even when he was fleeing for his life. The kindness in his touch and his dark eyes as he leaned close to Amee were enough to assure her that she could indeed trust him with her life.
“What are you we going to do?” She whispered. “I don’t think I can run anymore. I’m so exhausted. We need to find a car.”
“Do you have a phone?”
“No. Do you?”
“No. So we have no way to call for a cab…”
Amee breathed out a ragged sigh. Fear choked her throat. Her side was still in stiches and she found it hard to breathe past the pain.
“I have no choice then. I’ll have to steal a car.”
“What?” Amee choked at the determination in Ross’ voice. “How would you know how to do that?”
He looked at her for a moment, the smallest of lights overhead illuminated in his dark eyes. “I don’t know. I just… do…”
Amee didn’t know what to say. Everything that had happened was so very strange. This was no stranger. That Ross should claim to know how to jack a car but be unable to explain exactly how he knew. Bettina. It occurred to Amee that she would have done everything she could to ensure they got away safely. Perhaps she had planted the knowledge in Ross’ head. Amee didn’t even know if that was possible and she felt foolish just thinking it.
“I’m going to go try that one there.” Ross pointed to a red minivan parked along the sidewalk.
Amee almost laughed thinking of the slow, ancient looking family chariot being their getaway vehicle. “Alright,” she whispered. “Please hurry!”
Ross said nothing. He just nodded and took off across the street, carefully to keep a low profile and stick to the shadows.
Amee leaned back against the hedge, forcing air into her lungs. Her breathing became less ragged with each minute that passed. Ross crept up to the van. He was on the passenger side so he tried that door. It was locked. He moved to the backdoor but found it locked as well.
He crept around to the driver side. Seeing no alarm flashing in the window he pulled his fist back and smashed it through the window. Amee was astounded as his strength and fortitude. If she had tried such a thing she knew her hand would have bounced back uselessly with only sore knuckles to show for it. Even if she had some object to toss through, like a brick, she probably wouldn’t have enough strength to launch it effectively.
Amee held her breath but no alarm went off. The sound of breaking glass had been minimal and since it was the dead of night, no one came out to investigate. Ross flung open the door. She crept from the bushes and ran up to the van just in time to see him pull the dash apart and rip out a bunch of wires.
“It’s so black out! How can you see what you’re doing?” Amee hissed. She shivered in her little dress although she wasn’t really cold. She just wanted to be away from this area and safe in that house Bettina had spoken of.
Thinking of Bettina made Amee’s throat close. She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. Was Bettina dead? All because she had helped them? Amee thought it was likely. Although not yet… or they wouldn’t have even got this far.
Finally Ross spliced the right wires and the van hummed to life. “Get in!” He said urgently.
Amee didn’t waste a second. She pulled open the back sliding door and jumped in. Ross slammed his door, put the van in gear and took off.
He drove more slowly after a couple minutes so they would not attract attention. That was the last thing they needed, in a stolen vehicle. Amee moved up to the front seat. She watched Ross as he drove, his brow furrowed in concentration.
“How do you know where you’re going?” Amee finally asked after fifteen minutes of navigating the city. Luckily it was a warn night and it made perfect sense for Ross to have his window “rolled down.”
“I don’t know… it’s like… it’s in my head. The route, the place. I know exactly what the house looks like. It’s strange.”
“Just like you knew how to hotwire the van? Or break the window? How did you do that anyway?”
“I don’t know…” Ross seemed to be growing agitated by her questions so Amee remained silent. She thought the only explanation for everything was what she had suspected earlier. That Bettina had done something to Ross; put the images in his mind, in order to save them.
Finally Ross pulled up in front of a white house with dark singles. It was just a small bungalow and looked completely ordinary. The door was red and there was a cheerful looking wreath hung on it. It was dark and the fro
nt yard was poorly lit. The windows were all black and it appeared no one was up.
“This is it?” Amee asked. She tried to keep the disappointment from her voice. She had half expected a fortress.
Ross turned to her and offered her the smallest of smiles as he shut off the van. “Yes. But don’t be afraid. I’m sure that the house is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Meaning?” Amee took off her seatbelt, looking at the house all the while.
“Meaning I’m sure what matters is buried well underground.”
Chapter 9
Ross walked slowly to the door with Amee. He couldn’t help but feel reluctant to knock. What if the whole thing was a trap? Yet why would that vampire, Bettina, have gone to so much work to show him who he truly was? To make him aware of a secret world and a secret war that that been going on for centuries between mortals and vampires? She had given him a glimpse into his own soul, his past lives. She had opened his mind a way he never thought possible. She had shared her greatest secrets with him when she’d touched his mind. Surely she would not have done that had her intention been for them to walk into a trap.
No, he was sure Bettina had saved their lives.
Amee twisted her hands nervously and looked up at Ross with large, frightened yes. He wasn’t sure how much the girl knew but he was willing to wager it was enough to make her deathly afraid. She had run from that house with him, her bare feet soon to shreds and she had kept right on going.
“Should we knock?” Amee seemed to share his fears that they were walking into a trap. But what choice did they have?
Ross didn’t answer. He raised his fist and rapped in the code Bettina had told him. He stared at Amee, who fidgeted. She gripped the hem of the little black dress she was wearing, twisting it anxiously in her hands.
A few minutes later the door opened. A normal looking woman stood there. She was likely around thirty, with an oval shaped face. She was dressed in a colourful tunic with black leggings. Her chestnut coloured hair was arranged perfectly atop her head even though it was the middle of the night. Nothing was strange about her except for those blue eyes. Eyes that Ross now knew were not human.
A Fall From Grace. Mail Order Bride Western Page 48
