I opened the window, feeling the light warmth of the setting sun. There was a breeze on my cheeks, nothing like the one that brought the North Pole ice with it. The view spread out over the grassy knolls, a stone wall, and a forest. The birch trees were the only similarity to the view from my room in Tromsø. That led me to wonder what Tertius was doing, and how bored he was going to be without our sessions.
My recent discovery that vamps could endure the sun unless they were left in the desert for days was a novelty. I had noticed that Doris wore light leather gloves, and huge sunglasses, but I wasn’t sure if that was out of fashion or necessity. The thought of Tertius knowing that time would pass before we saw each other again still haunted me. There was no way my telepathy theory could explain that. And, of course, all roads of thought led to Belun—where was he and what was he doing? Damn questions!
I unpacked my things and waited for Doris. I didn’t have enough courage to leave the room on my own. But it was a while before she came.
“Unpacked yet?” she asked, and I nodded. “I didn’t know if you wanted to rest.”
“No, I just unpacked.”
“Then why didn’t you come down?” Seeing my insecurity, she shook her head. “Come on. Dinner’s ready.”
She dragged me through the hall and down the stairs. The house was big, but easy to navigate.
“Balthazar has a famous cook within these walls,” Doris said, and since I was kind of hungry, this info satisfied my belly.
The children were sitting with us at the table, and I looked for any sign of their potential vampirism. But they seemed just like any other kids, complete with parents telling them how to behave.
“So, Nika, Doris mentioned that you’re Baldur’s Inquirer.” Balthazar commented over his pheasant soup. When he looked at me, his eyes seemed very warm.
“Yes, for almost three months now.”
“And how is it, working with the Original?” He smiled. This was his version of light dinner conversation?
“With Tertius? I’d say much easier than with Baldur.”
My comment entertained him. He seemed genuinely nice and quick to smile, and I didn’t feel the threat that felt lurked behind Baldur’s facial cracks: AKA attempts at a smile.
“Tertius has been caught,” Balthazar said his name, and I realized I’d never heard another vamp say it. Except Belun, of course. There was even something unusual about it, like there was some personal touch. Could he have known Tertius from before? Or was he just used to using his name in conversations. Both ideas peaked my attention. Balthazar’s statement didn’t have a healthy dosage of wonderment; it spoke only of a well-known fact. Who was this guy anyway? What did he do? But those weren’t exactly dinner questions, so they’d have to wait until later.
“Baldur couldn’t even dream of catching Vocati of his caliber. What do you think of it?” he asked me.
“I think Tertius let himself get caught.” For the first time my scattered thoughts shaped into this one clear idea, and I felt insecure telling it to some unknown vamp.
“Of course, I don’t have any evidence to back that up,” I added.
“The Inquirers develop high intuition regarding the Vocati they’re working with. Now, I’m curious why you think he let himself get caught.”
I didn’t like to be on the receiving end of questions. Luckily, Clara came to my rescue.
“Darling, no more business talk at the table. I believe Nika has many other interesting things to tell us about.”
Umm, not really.
“Belun’s her team leader,” Doris interjected, and I saw Balthazar’s curiosity grow. So Belun was a topic of interest for him. Was that good for me?
“We’ll adhere to my dear wife’s request; but Nika, you and I shall talk during your visit, alright?” he asked, and I nodded politely. A light bulb was flashing in my mind. Balthazar knew something about Belun that I didn’t, and he thought I knew something that could be important to him. I had to ask Doris about his line of work as soon as possible.
The little girl named Sophie was gazing at Doris with adoration, following her body language, and hoping for her attention. She looked to be five.
“You have beautiful children,” I said.
“Thank you,” Clara’s smile widened. “These are our youngest; we have three more. Sarah is almost eighteen, Martin will be seventeen soon, and Hunter’s fifteen. They’re visiting my parents in Westphalia, Germany.” Her eyes softened at the mention of her children.
After the delicious dinner, we moved into the salon. The hosts smoked. Clara held her cigarette in a holder that gave her the look of a film noir heroine. She wasn’t exactly pretty, but she was elegant and her smile was enchanting. She carried mystery and gentleness in her strong accent. And she was the first human married to a vamp that I’d met. I couldn’t decide yet whether it was fascinating or not. Did I find the thought attractive? The immediate thought of Belun’s face made me blush a bit.
Doris played with Sophie, twisting her around and messing with her hair. The girl enjoyed every second of it. Later, when a servant came to take the children upstairs, they protested loudly. Especially little Sophie.
“I simply adore her!” Doris said, laughing when the kids finally left.
“She’s our special girl,” Clara grinned, and her tone made me wonder. What could be so special? Was she a vamp? Out of nowhere, the idea of the Priests popped into my mind. I wondered if a woman could be a Priest or a Warrior.
“Are there female Priests, or is it strictly a man’s job?” I asked with a smile, and Balthazar immediately turned in my direction.
“It’s a rare call for women, but it happens. Gender diversities were never an issue in our history,” he answered.
Gender equality throughout the whole history of the race? Maybe the fact that their women didn’t give birth had something to do with it. I was stunned.
“Why do you ask?” He sounded intrigued.
“Oh, it just crossed my mind.”
“Interesting, because little Sophie was approached by the Priest. That means she has spiritual affinities that are welcomed in the call. She could become one if she wanted.” He pulled on his cigarette and grinned at my reaction.
“Dear Nika, your intuition is still an untamed beast, even to yourself.”
“So, how do affinities show up?” I asked in a lower voice.
“It’s hard to leave work at the office, isn’t it?” He let out a little laugh.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to . . .” I tried to explain myself, but he waved it off with his hand.
“Feel free to ask whatever’s on your mind,” he insisted. I couldn’t help thinking that he was probably getting more answers from my questions than I was. Where did his interests lie? Tertius? Or Belun? It turned out we both were eager to have that talk he had mentioned.
“There’s no specific way to measure the affinities. Sophie shows a strong connection with nature, living beings, and still things. Her compassion extends even toward the breadcrumbs after the meal, because they’re rejects. Sometimes she cries over their destiny,” Clara answered my question.
“She’s projecting human traits, emotions, or behaviors onto inanimate objects. But the simple answer is that she sees things differently than most of us. And that’s probably the basic affinity. However, a Priest must be the one who recognizes it and leads her on her way,” Balthazar added.
“Has Sophie been recognized?” I asked.
“Yes, she has,” Clara said, proudly. So the kid was a vamp.
“Does your estate have a Priest? I’d been told that every property of size ought to have one.” I wasn’t exactly sure if it was polite to ask such question.
“Not in the role of protector. We have enough Warriors for that,” Balthazar replied pleasantly, and I smiled, deciding to back off of the interrogation. But what he had he meant by “not as a protector”—that they did have a Priest, but he served in a different role? And what was that emphasis on
“enough Warriors”? Why would he need strong security?
“So, how’re you handling the North?” Clara asked Doris while lighting a fresh cigarette. I’d never seen people smoke this much.
“Luckily Aidan is with me. Also, Mia and Bryn joined me, and now we have our fourth musketeer.” Doris smiled at me. I wondered where she had been before she moved to Tromsø.
“How long has it been, three years?” Clara asked.
“Yeah, for me, but Dad’s been there longer.” She added, “Aidan moved because of me, and things are better for him, too, since Belun joined the compound.”
“Oh, right. Baldur’s demand,” Balthazar scoffed. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of Baldur either, which I found to be a good trait. I wondered who the enemies of the fifth Elder were, if any. Belun said that he had accepted the position on the Council in exchange for some benefits on the Warriors behalf. But what did Balthazar mean by “demand”? Was it possible that he was being ironic?
“How’s our old friend Vlad these days?” Balthazar asked Doris. It was the first time I’d heard the name of her Dad. Vlad Lazar.
“Busy as usual. Council duties have him going on many business trips; I’ve barely seen him these last few months.”
“I haven’t seen him for a while either,” Balthazar said, and Doris smiled. He seemed to respect her father a lot.
“And how’s your family?” Clara asked her, and the question intrigued me. I had never wondered if Doris still had human relatives. Well, she wasn’t that old—her mom could be alive, and her siblings.
“Keat recently had a knee operation. He hurt himself playing mini soccer. And Michael is still the same moody professor. He’s not pulling his nose out of the books.”
“What does he teach?” I asked.
“Comparative religions, what else?” she laughed, and I assumed that that covered mythology. I got the joke a second late.
“Keaton is my younger human sibling, and Michael’s the older,” she explained.
“And how’s Keat’s family?” Clara asked.
“Great. His sons are both at college, Ivy League. He’s leading the suburban life, I guess.”
“Which irritates Michael beyond comprehension,” Balthazar laughed. “Two opposites; two different life styles and political views. As if they’re not brothers.”
“To us mortals, life has a different significance,” I said.
“Yes, it’s shorter,” Balthazar laughed.
“It is more fruitful and diverse,” Clara corrected him. “I don’t see many scientists or artists among your race,” she added defensively.
“There are scientists,” Doris retorted. “And I know at least one artist.” She gave me a significant look that I didn’t understand.
I actually didn’t agree with Clara’s opinion that vampire life was less exciting and fruitful. It was impossible not to use all that time you had developing various talents. With each new century, I would live a different life through a different profession.
“We are lazy. Longevity diminishes desire for many things,” Balthazar said, looking at me.
“And that’s why humans are inexhaustible sources of diversity and creativity. But the wisdom’s on our side.” Doris winked slyly.
As the smoke thickened, my eyes began to sting. It was past my regular bedtime, but nobody seemed to be calling it a night. I noticed that vamps had a tendency to stay up late, which seemed to be the second feature that rang true from the movies and books. Creatures of the night, a thought that made me chuckle. The first feature was blood drinking, of course.
I said my goodnights, and went up to my room. The little figurine in my pocket found its way into my hand again. Piano and guitar. Only then did it occur to me how these two were actually incompatible. They both were strong leading instruments that would probably kill each other while playing a duet.
I hadn’t thought of incompatibility before, well at least not between a human and vamp. Clara seemed happy, but what would happen in a few decades when she grew much older? Was it enough to find consolation in your human children who would also be consumed by time? They were probably being raised to take care of their mother when that hard time came. At least, that’s how I would bring my kids up; going alone through that depression that I’d had heard a lot about had to be pretty hard.
Piano and guitar.
I thought of bands that used those instruments, and tried to call to mind some songs. Then I realized they weren’t that incompatible, as I had previously thought. So maybe the two of us could function well. I was thinking of Belun, of course. I squeezed the figurine and called his image to mind.
I had to talk to Doris about him. We had to confront that subject. I looked at the clock on the nightstand; she was probably in her room now. So I decided to knock on her door, but on my way something freaked me out in the dark hall. I jumped and took a few steps back, feeling my door behind me.
“Sorry,” said the unknown voice.
“My fault,” I stammered.
His eyes were dark; so was his hair that fell loosely around his face. He appeared to be in his early twenties, tall and skinny. And I got a strange vibe from him. Actually, I knew what I felt—it was the same feeling that I got looking at Bryn’s Vuk. Was this guy a Priest as well? Balthazar had said he didn’t have a Priest. Correction, he had said he didn’t have him in the role of protector. Whatever that meant.
“I’m Nika.” I offered my hand and he awkwardly shook it.
“Balthazar told me he had an Inquirer who works with Andrei Belun under his roof.” I nodded. But his next question surprised me.
“Do you know where he is?” His voice was calm.
“Belun? No, I don’t.”
He gazed at me, his face showing no change.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m curious.”
This encounter in the dark hallway was an inch from being creepy. His calmness and silence brought the Twilight Zone theme to mind.
“I’m Theodore,” he finally said. There was something very hypnotic about him, which was also like that feeling that Vuk had given me.
“Nice to meet you. You weren’t at dinner.”
“I just arrived. Where is Doris’s room?” I showed him down the hall, he nodded and went ahead. So I probably wasn’t going to be talking with Doris about Belun tonight. Some other time then. I returned to my room, intrigued by the encounter. Had I really just met another Priest? My gut was almost certain of it. What was he doing here? And that open interest in Belun’s whereabouts was alarming. It’s not like he asked how Belun was, or anything even remotely casual about him. No, he was rather specific. Did he need him for something and couldn’t reach him? Doris had mentioned that Belun’s phone was off. Were he and Belun friends? His calling him by his full name didn’t make them sound very close to me, though. What would he need Belun for?
I lay down. It was hard to calm the beehive of thoughts in my brain, but dreams eventually came.
And there I was in a dark space with that unknown breathing entity again! But this time, his breathing seemed to be filled with anxiety. And my annoyance was mixed with frustration. C’mon, it had been almost a week with this limbo-dream thing! All I wanted was one night without dreams, or at least just dreams of some stupid butterflies or fairies—even if they were annoyingly girly! But this definitely had to stop.
I’d heard somewhere that five minutes in dreamtime were equal to a full hour while awake. However, this darkness and emptiness seemed to me like a friggin’ eternity. I had no idea why this dream was repeating itself, and the worst thing was that it didn’t even feel like dream. I was fully aware of each passing minute. If I were able to do something in this dream, with this level of awareness, I could live two human lives. Unfortunately, this dream was totally useless.
Chapter 20
A French Rome
“Good morning,” Doris said, entering my room.
“I have a bunch of questions for you!”
“C
an’t they wait until after breakfast?”
“No, they cannot!” I insisted, and she shrugged, sitting on my bed. She picked up my phone off the bedside table.
“I see you brought it with you.” Doris was looking at the screenshot on my cell phone of the painting that Belun had given me.
“Pity to leave it alone in my bedroom,” I muttered, smiling.
“So shoot, I’m hungry.”
“What does Balthazar do?”
“Ah, I can tell you all about it on the way.”
What’s with vampires and their meals? My expression was clearly frustrated, and apparently it won her over.
“Okay,” she groaned and rolled her eyes. “Balthazar . . . hmm. Let’s just say that he controls information flow.”
“Meaning?”
“Whenever someone needs something, they talk to Balthazar.”
“A quid pro quo?” I asked.
“That sounds primitive when it comes to Balthazar. He’s got a vast network of people who work for him.”
“Is he some kind of loan shark?”
“Jeez, Nika. He’s not a butcher! He’s a business man.”
I didn’t see much difference between the two.
“So, do you need information? Is that why we’re staying here?” I said.
“Oh, no. I love Balthazar, he’s an old friend. No other reason.”
If he was some sort of Pentagon, then Theodore was someone who needed something. And I had a strong feeling it had to do with my team leader. Now I understood Balthazar’s interest in me. He was able to pull information in all possible ways, and he’d probably be a great mentor to an Inquirer.
“Anything else? I’m hungry.” She shifted impatiently.
“Who’s Theodore?”
The question surprised her. Apparently, he hadn’t mentioned our little encounter last night.
“How do you know about him?”
“Last night, I ran into him on my way to your room.”
Darkling Page 24
