Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger

by Theresa Hissong

  “This gentleman was just leaving,” I spoke through clenched teeth, but still managed to keep my perky club owner voice intact. It worked, Dragus growled and Romeo turned right around and got the hell out of there quick.

  Lydia totally lost all control and starting laughing like a damn hyena. “Oh, that was great! The look on Romeo’s face…he won’t be bothering you anymore, Char.” I think Lydia realized a second too late that she had said too much. With nothing more than an “oops” she took off back toward the stage. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to my office. Dragus followed me inside.

  “Lydia was a little out of line,” I murmured, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

  “Who was that?” Dragus’ eyes narrowed, daring me to lie. The blood had not completely drained from his eyes, so I knew he was still livid. I had to choose my words carefully.

  “His name is Romeo. He is the manager for the band that’s playing here tonight.” Well, it’s the truth. The look in Dragus’ eyes had me spilling, “We dated a long time ago. He’s a creep and was being a little pushy. Don’t worry about it.”

  “A little pushy?” he asked.

  “I said don’t worry about it,” I growled.

  “Is he the one that…” his voice trailed off and I knew that he knew about my ancient history; so much for keeping that a secret.

  “No,” I whispered. It wasn’t a lie. I hung my head in shame, because I didn’t want him knowing about my past. It was just too creepy to relive.

  “What did he say to you?” Dragus demanded.

  “Nothing you need to be concerned about. You scared him off, so don’t worry.” I acted like it was no big deal. Which to me, it wasn’t. Romeo was the least of my worries.

  “Did he hurt you?” he pressed.

  “Do I look hurt?” I snapped. Dragus flinched at my words. Obviously, he wasn’t use to someone taking that tone with him. Well, if he stuck around, I’m sure he will get used to it very soon. “It’s over, so quit worrying.”

  Dragus nodded and focused on the back of my office door, like he could burn a hole through it. His concern was flattering, but a little over the top. Part of the blame I put on Lydia.

  “What brings you by?” I asked, bringing his attention back to me.

  “I sensed something was wrong, so I came right over,” he paused looking back toward the door. “I’m glad I came when I did.”

  Okay, it was time to change the subject, “How’s work?”

  The question seemed to snap his attention back to me. No doubt Dragus was planning a massive background check on Romeo, or possible threats to his manhood, if he even looked in my direction again. “There are two male vampires reported missing by their families. We think maybe the Lycans have attacked again.” Dragus got to his feet and paced back and forth in front of my desk, as he talked. “Have you had any other contact with Adam?”

  “Nothing as of yet,” I said. I couldn’t lie to him now. His blood flowed through my body now and we were connected in sort of a weird way. With Dragus’ blood in my system, he can read my mind and can even track me.

  His pacing was starting to annoy me. I stood up and walked over to him, stopping in his path. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned down to kiss me then sighed and let me go.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to get back to the office. I just wanted to come by and see that you were safe.”

  “Okay,” I pouted. Dragus and I haven’t even had a date yet and that made me a little sad. I felt as though he was sort of a boyfriend, but I couldn’t tell you what he thought. He’s always so cryptic. Granted I can’t read his exact thoughts, but I could pick up on some of his emotions.

  Right now, he felt content and determined.

  After he left, I managed to drag myself out to watch Walter sing his little heart out. I’d forgotten how exceptionally good he was and enjoyed every second of the night. Romeo was nowhere to be seen. Lydia danced all night and looked completely exhausted by closing time. She and I helped clean tables and restocked the booze before locking up for the night.

  “Oh, I totally forgot to tell you. I rented out the club tomorrow night for a private party. Can you come open up and help Abby set up? I’ve got a date.” Lydia smiled a little too much. She was up to something.

  “Who rented out the club?” I asked, skeptical.

  “Some well to do lawyer. He wants to have a special night for his lady. Be here at eight. I have to go, see ya.” Lydia turned for her car without another word.

  I was tired. My first night back at work took a lot out of me. Granted I’m almost impossible to kill, but I can still hurt. The worse the injury, the longer it takes to heal. Hopefully, when I wake up tomorrow night, I will be back to normal.

  Dragus

  My plan for Charity was set in motion. I talked to Lydia and had her trick her best friend into going to the club to host a private party. Tomorrow night would be our first date. I was nervous as hell, but Lydia assured me that their head waitress and party planner, Abby, would not disappoint me.

  Ashby and the twins were waiting for me at the public picnic area on the east side of Shepherd’s Forest. We worked with the human authorities to close down the forest to humans until this whole mess was over.

  The last thing I wanted to do was to dispose of the Lycanthropes or the hybrids, but when my people were threatened, I have to suck it up and do what is necessary. My one goal is to find Adam Castillo. I would not allow Charity to be hurt by him or any of the others again.

  Charity’s safety is first on my priority. I’ve waited too long to let her go now. Ever since the first night I had met her in my dreams, she has been a part of me. Ever since the night she ceased to dream, I have mourned her, as though she had died. A few times over the past decades, I wondered if she had been turned. Akalika was never any help. He always spoke in riddles and I think he did it just to anger me.

  It is not time for you to know your mate. Either you will know her in this realm, or she will be with you in the next life. Only fate decides our paths.

  Well, now I know who my mate is and where she lives. There will never be another day that I will not be away from her. And there will be hell to pay for anyone who attempts to take her from me. The thought of someone bringing harm to my beloved Charity, made me want to kill them with my own hands; bathe in their blood.

  I pulled into the parking lot to find an ambulance, on its way out, with lights and sirens blaring. Bastian was standing by a wooden bench running his fingers through his messy blonde hair. I got out of the Hummer and walked toward him.

  “Who was that?” I asked.

  “We don’t know his name, other than he is an attack victim. He had no identification on him, so we’ll have to wait for fingerprints to come back. Palo is on his way to the hospital to take the prints now.” Bastian and I looked up as we heard the eerie howl coming from behind us.

  Bastian reached for his knife that was hidden in his boot. I pulled my gun out of its holster at my hip. We walked to the edge of the tree line, looking for werewolves.

  This part of the forest had been used for hiking trails. The park has been closed for a few weeks now. There was no sign of overgrowth yet, because we were still in the winter months. I noticed the path to my left was made from small white pebbles. It disappeared into the dense woods.

  Bastian stepped off of the asphalt and I heard the quite crunching of his footsteps as he hit the path. He took a few steps in and sighed, “They’re gone.”

  He kicked a stray pebble before turning toward me. “Can you sense them?” he whispered.

  I opened my mind and felt for any sign of the Lycan’s unique signature. My powers did not pick up on them, so they must have ran deeper into the forest. Usually, if a Lycan was near, I would get the feeling that made all the hairs on my body raise and a scent of sour musk would coat the back of my throat.

  “You’re right, Bash. They took off. Let’s head over to the hospital and check on the patients.” Bastian look
ed like I had taken his toy from him, but otherwise didn’t argue. He was always ready for a battle. He pouted all the way to Sacred Heart.

  I parked close to the emergency entrance and followed Bastian through the sliding glass doors. They were rather slow tonight, so I was able to find Dr. Combs in his makeshift office. The poor man was the best vampire doctor for miles around, and they stick him in an office no bigger than a broom closet.

  He looked up from his files and smiled, “Master Dragus, how may I help you?”

  “We came to check on the victim that was brought in.” I watched as he flipped through his pile of charts.

  “Ah, yes,” Dr. Combs opened the file and sighed. “Richard Somers. He’s been taken up to the I.C.U.”

  “Thanks, doc. We’re going to go up and take a peek at him.”

  Bastian and I made our way up to the intensive care unit. The nurses were all sitting around a block of monitors, watching their patients. They stood up when we walked into the ward.

  “Master Dragus,” the head nurse spoke first. She was a thirty something brunette with hazel eyes to match. Her badge said her name was Alice Pell. “What can I do for you?”

  “We came to check on the patient that was brought in earlier tonight, Richard Somers.”

  “Yes, sir. He’s right over here,” she pointed to her left and walked out from behind the desk. “We sedated him. So, you may not get any answers out of him tonight.” She stopped in front of a room with glass doors. We walked forward and waited for it to slide open.

  The patient looked to be around thirty human years, but I sensed he was somewhere around three hundred. He was resting peacefully in the hospital bed. Richard was large enough to be considered for a Krieger position. His face looked harsh, like he had lived a rough life. Even relaxed, I noticed his lips kept to a thin straight line, and his hair was deep dark red. Something about his aura made me uneasy. He had hate written all over him.

  “Are you getting the same feeling about this guy that I am,” Bastian whispered.

  “Yeah, he’s just not right. He reeks of danger.” I glanced back at the nurses. They were watching us carefully, none of them getting too close to the door of the room. “Even the nurses look uneasy.”

  Bastian walked away to go speak with them, while I talked to the head nurse. “Why is everyone so scared of this man?”

  Nurse Alice sighed heavily, “He’s mean and nasty. Richard could be rouge by the way he acts. We just don’t like to be around him much.”

  “If you are afraid, I can post someone here to watch over him.”

  She shook her head and smiled, “No thank you, Master Dragus. We will keep him sedated.”

  I patted her on the shoulder, “Call us if you change your mind. I will have someone come over right away.”

  Bastian and I left the hospital about half an hour before sunrise. After we returned to the estate, I retired to my chamber and pulled out a suit for my date with Charity.

  Charity

  Nights only closed on Sunday and Monday evenings. Tonight I was going in for a few hours for a special occasion. We started renting out the club a few years ago, for those willing to pay the fee. Lydia was on her hot date tonight so I’d agreed to play hostess to the vampire socialite renting the place.

  I dressed up tonight in a sleek royal blue wrap dress and black heals. My feet would surely be killing me if this had been an ordinary night at the club, but since I was just playing hostess, I could sneak off back to the office while the couple has their romantic interlude.

  When I parked, the place was still dark. Abby hadn’t arrived yet which wasn’t like her. She was always early for work. I resisted the urge to call her and decided to start opening the place myself. My keys were still in the car locked in the center console. I hated being out in the back alley by myself. After zipping over to the car and back to retrieve my keys, I fumbled through the key ring until I found the right one.

  When I stepped inside the rear entrance, my nose was assaulted by the smell of roses. The corridor leading from the back door to the main area of the club was lined with white candles. There was a walkway made from a white satin, and it was covered in white and red rose petals. I followed the hallway slowly, not wanting to destroy this beautiful path that was lain out against the blood red carpet covering the floor.

  I wondered if Abby had already been by and set up. My senses were so consumed with the smell of fresh rose petals that I did not sense Dragus until I stepped into the main floor of the club.

  He was standing alone on the stage, next to a table that was draped with a white tablecloth and covered with more petals. I sucked in a jagged breath when I looked at him. Dragus was wearing a tuxedo and his hair was out of his usual pony tail. He was absolutely beautiful. He looked a little uncomfortable in the suit; like he hadn’t worn one in ages. I drifted toward him barely noticing that the club had also been filled with hundreds of white candles and thousands of rose petals.

  “Mi amado,” he whispered. Obviously I was moving too slow for him, because he used his vamp speed and met me in the center of the dance floor. It was then I heard a click and the music started.

  “If this is your idea of a first date, you are seriously going to spoil me,” I laughed, nervously.

  “That is my full intention, Charity.” Dragus leaned in to brush those velvet lips across mine.

  I pulled away slightly to look into those brilliant blue eyes of his and smiled. “You planed this?”

  “With Lydia’s help,” he admitted. “You were right, we haven’t properly courted and I agree.”

  “You read my mind last night in my office. Didn’t you?” I pouted, because that thought was mine.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to ask you after that first night, but with what’s been happening at work, I wasn’t sure when I could get away,” he frowned. “Then you were hurt.”

  I stopped him before he could go any further and stepped up on my toes to kiss him. There was no way I could reach those delicate lips from where I was, even with the added height from my high heel shoes. Dragus took my hint and leaned in to my advance. He placed his hand on my waist; with the other one he took my hand and we danced.

  We danced for what seemed like hours and while we danced, we talked. Dragus had a tough warrior exterior but on the inside, he was mesmerizing. He was born in 1353 in Romania and had been made a vampire in 1380, at the age of twenty-seven, by a Krieger who had been out looking for recruits for the Queen. Dragus welcomed his life as a Krieger and prides himself on protecting others of our kind.

  He lives on the estate with the other Krieger and their families, southeast of town. Their property also borders Shepherd’s Forest. The estate was purchased by the Queen and the land held seven homes for the warriors. It sounded to me like it was more of a compound than an estate, but Dragus assured me it was not.

  “Do you all have a house on the estate?” I asked.

  “I live in the main house and the others have their own smaller home. The trainees live in the dorms on the property.”

  “Do you like living there?”

  “I’ve always lived on a Krieger Estate. Now that I am Head Krieger of the area, the main house is mine. I don’t get to enjoy much of the amenities at home, because I am never there.”

  “That doesn’t seem right,” I paused. “You should take time for yourself.” I toyed with his lapel while we talked. He smelled wonderful, like sweet earthly musk. It was his scent, no perfumes to taint its delicious smell.

  “I am tonight,” he smiled. The song changed and we continued to dance. The soothing music had me leaning into his chest for comfort. I felt secure when I pressed myself into him.

  “Have you ever met anyone you could consider bonding with?” Dragus asked after a brief silence.

  “Oh, no,” I shrugged. “I’ve dated a little but have never found ‘the one’.”

  “Me either. I haven’t courted much, because being a Krieger takes up most of my time. Plus, I’ve been wai
ting on you,” he smiled. He truly believed that I was his soul mate. I couldn’t imagine living for as long as he has just waiting on me. I felt sorry for him, but his other admission made it not so bad.

  Dragus didn’t come right out and say it, but I read the undertone to that statement. He was letting me know that his job kept him away from home a lot. The thought saddened me a little but I understood his position all too well.

  “I know how you feel. This place takes up most of my nights. One of the reasons I opened this was to keep myself busy.” Hopeful that my explanation was clear enough that he knew I was thinking along the same lines as he was. The last thing I wanted to do was to sit at home and wait for my man to return home. I was not a kept woman, nor would I ever be.

  Dragus snickered, “Modern women are very hard for me to understand. I come from a time where the woman’s place was inside the home. Don’t get me wrong, I understand your independence, but it’s not something I’m use too. If we were back in the fifteenth century, I would have murdered Adam for entering your mind without my permission and definitely would have annihilated that Romeo for coming within five feet of you.”

  Oh, crap! Big bad warrior Dragus was rearing his ugly head. It’s time to nip this in the bud.

  “Dragus, you cannot lock me in a house and expect me not to live my life. I have been on my own for almost three centuries. Life has been great for me and it’s been that way, because I have taken care of myself. Lydia and I have stuck together for all this time, but by no means have we relied on each other. My wealth was made by me. Everything I have, it was bought by my own hands, not some other person. I understand your desire to protect me and that’s fine, but like I thought earlier, I will not be a kept woman.”

  “Mi amado,” he sighed. “Thank you for understanding my feelings and I will honor yours, but I am your protector now and always. I’ve known this since I met you in my human dreams.” The song drifted to the end and with that he escorted me over to the table.