“Do you think your clothes will fit here, or do you think we’ll have to rent a storage facility?” he asked. Phoebe ran to him and again wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed.
“Oh my God Lionel this is just amazing. I have never dreamed I would live in such a space. Who was this created for?”
“At the time this villa was built, Marcus had not met Anne. This wing was added so that they could entertain Anne’s mortal family who would come to visit. Our species and your Golden species mingle with mortals frequently as you know. Precautions have to be taken. This is a special wing designated for special guests.”
Lionel walked to the window and heard the mechanism begin to warm up. Soon they would be protected from the rest of the world so he could have his required sleep. As the shutters closed and Phoebe joined him at his side, he kissed the top of her head.
“Time for bed my love. I am actually feeling rather weary from the long trip, which is unusual for me. But let’s retire. Tomorrow, I’m going to arrange for your protection so Marcus can give you a tour of the winery during the light of day. It’s beautiful from what I’ve seen from moving pictures. I’ve only seen it by moonlight, of course. But I’d like you to know what it looks like as I cannot join you.
“I wish you could join us.”
“No fears, Phoebe. My life is shielded in darkness. You are my princess of the night.”
He tenderly touched her cheek and planted a kiss there.
“What’s your first priority?”
“After you are settled, I hope to schedule some study sessions with Marcus. The two of us have much to discuss. As soon as he’s available, of course. We are guests, Phoebe. But I hope to discover things which will be illuminating for our situation.”
He took his new bride in his arms and together they snuggled into bed. The sheets were scented with lavender. Or maybe it was the lavender that he tasted and smelled in the ridges and folds a Phoebe’s young moist skin. She thanked him with her body and kissed him every place she explored.
“I’ve listened to my heart Lionel. And I can be patient. I will be patient for you. For us. For the life we have together. I want this life now. I want you to explore how we can be together. I think it’s time for me to take my turning.”
He was tired but not too tired to pleasure her several times, leaving her damp, wrung out and lifeless in his arms, knowing that she’d been fully satisfied. He knew he could continue this with the alternative means available to him for some time. But he dreamt of the days he could take that bite and join her. Until then, he felt loved. He knew it was something more than what he had experienced with Maria Monteleone.
And that it was growing, entangling him further through a one-way portal he hoped would lead to centuries of love and rearing a family. And even if it didn’t lead there, it was the path he would willingly take, couldn’t help but take.
There had to be a God of Vampires out there somewhere who would protect him and his Golden bride.
Chapter 6
The heavyset priest traveled down the gravel driveway, his leather sandals crunching over the delicious pale peach-colored crushed stones. Stopping at the gate with the enormous scripted M for Monteleone, the family crest of all the Goldens in this region, he was surprised to find it unlocked.
The hinges on the twenty-foot high iron gate squeaked like the sounds of a cat in heat. The Villa appeared quiet. One garden worker was trimming hedges to the right and didn’t look up as the priest passed him.
The priest exchanged the wicker basket from his right to his left arm. Inside, it contained white envelopes with notes on their outside scrolled in Latin. The basket was flat on the bottom and sprinkled amongst the contents were several petals from camellias and roses he had collected on his short journey from town.
He came upon the stone stoop, grasping one heavy metal ring that hung from a carved lion’s head on each door. He banged it loudly against the metal plate beneath it. Stepping back several paces, he waited.
Inside the house he could hear footsteps and muffled voices, including several children. He smiled. He’d waited to greet the family he thought about all evening.
As the door opened, he was presented with the face of a perfect cherub. She would’ve made the perfect angel model Michelangelo would have enjoyed painting. She must’ve been no more than five years old. Her hair was mussed, with its unruliness confined to a long braid in delicious colors of caramel floating down her back.
“May I help you, sir?” the cherub asked of him.
The priest was delighted. Inspired. In spite of his dark soul, he actually felt pleasure, mirth, and expectation of something special. He knew he had found pay dirt.
“And you must be Isabella is that correct?” he asked the child.
“Yes, sir I am,” the child answered.
From the distance he could hear someone yelling, “Isabella!”
“I’m here mummy. I’m at the door. There is a priest here who wants to speak to us.”
“A priest?”
In the next instant, the priest laid eyes on one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her brown chestnut hair fell around her shoulders and upper arms, cascading in the shimmering sunlight. Her lips were full and painted bright red. Her dark eyes were enhanced by thick brows. With her porcelain skin and plump lips, she was not in need of any makeup to be one of the most stunning women in the world.
Carmine’s beauty.
This was the woman the elder Monteleone had chased halfway around the world for until she agreed to marry him. Carmine had taken the turning late, never meeting his fated mate, and then found the lovely young Athena. As her namesake hinted, she was thought to be descended from a Greek goddess of an ancient lineage. The priest remembered the story. It was emblazoned on his soul. And, just as he suspected, this woman would bear many beautiful children. Virgin females. A bountiful harvest for one so dark as he.
“Priest, what is your mission?” The lovely lady asked him.
He could feel effects of her spice perfume burning the insides of his nostrils. A fully actualized Golden vampire female was too powerful for him. But just as little dogs often fight great Danes, it didn’t lessen his ardor or his desire to compete with a man who had claimed this woman for his bed. Carmine might have to pay an awful price. This woman would have to be caged, since she would never submit willingly. Or perhaps she would give herself up to him to save her daughters. The priest was calculating all of this. He was getting more and more excited by the minute.
“I am father Luigi Salvatore, Madame.” The priest bowed as low as his mortal knees and hips would lower. He was feeling his age, and the length between his last Golden feeding. As he raised his torso, he allowed his eyes to wander from the soft fleshy cheeks of the cherub up behind her to the luscious mother draped in red and purple silks. She had a small waist, demurely disguised behind layers of fabric, a large bust and an upper chest that was heaving, making the red garnet and gold necklace undulate deliciously. The large stone’s facets gleamed in the morning sun.
“Yes, father. What can I do for you?”
If he hadn’t already selected a target, she would have made the perfect mate/sex slave.
“I am here collecting contributions for the poor, Madame. In these envelopes I have names of certain families who have sick or missing children. They are not of your cast Madame. They are poor, paupers in our congregation.”
The priest held the basket high in front of her face showing the white envelopes.
“Would you do me the honor of picking one to become your charity?”
She examined the basket and then her eyes returned to the priest’s face. She squinted. “I see, but father Salvatore, I do not recognize you from our parish.”
“Ah, yes, yes. Madame, I am on a special mission to visit all of the great families in Tuscany, especially those in the Monteleone dynasty. We have come to understand in our order that the Monteleones are very generous with the poor mortals that
live among them.”
At the word mortal Mrs. Monteleone’s eyebrows raised. She put her hand in front of her daughter’s eyes and with the other pushed the basket back into the priest’s chest. She whisked little Isabella behind, calling to someone from the inside remove the child.
She closed the door behind her as she stepped out onto the stoop, dangerously close to the priest’s protruding gut.
“I have sensed your aura sir. I do not believe you are a priest. Before I get my protectors to throw you out, I would ask that you leave our premises. And please consider yourself dis-invited.”
“Tell your husband the traveler has returned to pick up the item your husband has secured for me.”
With that, he turned, carrying his basket over his right arm, his fingers laced together as if in prayer or contemplation. Whistling, he walked through the metal gate, slowly closing it behind him and peered back through the black iron bars at the woman standing in her doorway. Did she know that she had just had an encounter with her dark future?
It didn’t take Carmine Monteleone long to find the traveler. He sat at the same little table and sipped his espresso carefully as the Golden Lord approached him. His lips were tightened into a thin line. His gait was determined. His jaw set. The look in his eyes to anyone else on the planet would be worrisome. But the traveler was used to anger, especially fits of anger from Golden males. And he had an ace up his sleeve that Carmine Monteleone would soon discover.
“Just what was this personal visit to my home all about, traveler? I am furious with this display. We never agreed it would be this way. Your lack of decorum will never be tolerated.”
“I’m sorry Carmine. You seem to misunderstand the fact that I am avidly seeking the Book of Spawn. I have talked about it for years now. I have discussed it with you every single time we’ve gotten together.”
“But this is irresponsible, appearing before my wife and my child. I never gave approval for this.”
“I never gave you permission to take so long to find this book. I understand that you may perhaps have conflicted loyalties. I’m here to merely remind you that you have an obligation to me from which you cannot retreat.” He leaned forward for emphasis. “Let’s put it this way, if you retreat it will be terrible for you and bloody for your family. I have run across people of your ilk over the past several years. I have learned to be ruthless. And I have learned that I always get my way, given that I apply the correct pressure in the correct locations.”
Carmen looked like his eyes were going to explode from his skull. His already round face was bulbous. The blue vein at the side of his neck pulsed dangerously. The priest didn’t want to make a comment of it because it was actually something he liked watching. It could make his forward motion less impeded if Carmen were out of the way. Especially if it were a natural death. And if he continued to scare and put pressure on poor old Carmine Monteleone, he would certainly not come under scrutiny at the old vamp’s passing.
The man was breathing hard and doing a decent job of calming himself down. “I apologize.”
The traveler could see it was one of the most difficult things Carmine had ever said in his life. He noted that the elder man was just as soft in his resolve as he was in his belly.
“That’s a good start Carmine. You have my attention.”
Monteleone studied the pigeons, the people passing by, the traffic on the tiny village road. He was assessing his location, his vulnerability, the time of day, and the traveler knew he was examining his insides as well. He sensed the gentleman would soon have to use the potty.
The traveler sat back, crossed his arms and watched him squirm.
“My family is all that I live far. As you know, since you’ve probably studied me for years before approaching me about the book, I am not in a very strong position to negotiate.”
“Duly noted. And thank you for being bright about it. There’s nothing worse than negotiating with someone who doesn’t understand they don’t have a freaking leg to stand on.”
Carmine’s face sported a sarcastic grin as his right eye twitched. He blinked several times and then focused back on the traveler’s hands folded at the table in front of him. Then the man spoke.
“As I have said before, my life is rather precarious. Our wealth is gone. I wish no pleasures for myself, although in younger years I strayed from our vampire ways, and that’s how you found me no doubt. But I love my wife and my children. My daughters.”
“Yes. Your daughters. That is also noted. You have exceptionally beautiful daughters. You have an exceptionally beautiful wife. And it would be a shame if some harm were to come to any of them.” The traveler placed his palm against his heart and continued, “I certainly do not desire to cause you pain. But if I don’t get my way Carmine, trust me, you will feel it, perhaps not as strongly as the females in your family would, but you would feel it in your heart. I do not wish to cause you that pain. Trust me.”
Carmine’s smirk was dangerous, but the traveler knew he was subdued and would do his bidding. The problem was he wasn’t sure if he could accomplish the goals he had set for the man. Other things were at play and he was uncomfortable, almost angry about the situation they were now facing. His streak of defiance made him unreliable. There were others who had congregated interest in the book. If Salaman did not get it in time, his position would be vulnerable. And he didn’t like being vulnerable.
“So, the news of the book then?”
Carmine examined his lap, grumbled, and then looked back up and tried to act brave. The traveler had never liked weak men and now he was beginning to see some of the legendary Monteleone bravery even though the man’s lower lip was quivering, and a tear shed down one cheek.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news, traveler. I am informed that instead of waiting, the entire Monteleone clan has left for America. More specifically, California. Lionel Jett and his new bride Phoebe Dominicelli are with the group now. I have not heard yet, but I believe they traveled by plane. And they should be there now.”
“So, what you were saying Carmine is that the book is with them?”
“Oh, I would guess so. Unfortunately, yes.”
It didn’t make sense to the traveler that Marcus and Paulo would leave the precious documents behind. And he knew that the plans had been to move back to California all along. And, in a way, it made his plans easier with the mere fact that Phoebe had gone with them. There were two things in the world he lusted for and he would die trying to obtain either one. Of first importance was the Book of Spawn. But the other, nearly as important to him, was capturing Phoebe.
“This doesn’t have to be a problem, Carmine. You can perhaps go follow them to California and retrieve the book for me.”
“But I am not sure I will be welcomed.”
“I don’t think that should be a sufficient impediment. Do I have to remind you for the third time today that the health and safety of your wife and daughters is dependent on this mission?”
The two men stared back at each other. The traveler’s skin was beginning to itch, indicating he needed to feed. As a mortal, if he didn’t feed soon, he would start aging dramatically. And even if he were to be replenished, he would never reverse the aging process. He was going to need to find a host very soon.
“I need a favor first. I desire a meal. I do desire female Goldens. Do you know of such a person right now who is unaccompanied by a protector?”
Carmine reared back, his face filled with fright. “You cannot make me do this. I will not sacrifice anyone I know. I will not sacrifice my family. Surely you are not thinking along those lines?” Deep worry had created gashes in the bridge above his nose.
“Calm down please. I’m not asking to host half your family. Surely you have enemies. Surely your wife has someone she would like to get rid of? A rival of yours in business? Someone who has a luscious Golden daughter? All I require is one for today. And then if I can be on my way, if I have a direct contact with the book, I shall return to
North Africa.”
Carmine was shaking his head as he leaned over the table, bracing himself against what he knew he could not face. The traveler saw that he was very close to a full mental collapse, and if this occurred, he’d be no further use.
His captive pleaded, “Why can’t you host off of a mortal woman? I can think of several that would be available. Do you have to murder them, or can they be willing subjects for a time perhaps two? That I can arrange.”
“A prostitute? No, Carmine, only an unturned virgin female will give me the blood power I require. Otherwise the nourishment is adequate but won’t sustain me for more than a few hours—perhaps minutes even. I will have to feed less if I can feed on quality. That way, I don’t have to feed with quantity.”
The traveler didn’t want to mention the aging process or what would happen if he didn’t find a Golden female. He decided his accomplice didn’t need to have that information at the present time.
“But if you insist on not choosing one then perhaps I’ll choose for myself.”
“You stay away from my family, traveler. I have no reason to live if anyone in my family is harmed.”
“This I understand fully, and I will abide, for now.” A new idea came into his head. “Carmine, wasn’t there a banker you especially disliked, I believe he was your cousin, and he threatened to take away the estate if the arrearages were not paid? Does the gentleman have any daughters?”
Carmine angled his head, thinking about this. “He has four. Four girls, and one son.”
“Then he has several spares. And he owes you a favor. If it weren’t for him, you might never have met me. Surely that deserves a good turn?”
Midnight Bite Page 5
