“Something I didn’t expect.”
Alexander sighed. “Did you get cursed, too?”
Lucious burst into laughter. With the way things were turning out today, it wouldn’t surprise him if that was their next goal. “No, I am merely being tracked by one.”
“I’m glad you have retained your sense of humour, old friend, but it’s not the right time for it.”
Lucious stood. Eyeing the ruined bottle of beer on the floor, he contemplated whether it was worth uncorking another one. “So, can you help me or not?”
Alexander grumbled something in Russian, and the sound of laptop keys came through the speaker. “Sorry, the only witch who would aid us is here.”
“You’re not saying that to get me to come over, are you?” A shuffling noise beyond the door made him halt. This building wasn’t well-populated, and he made certain no one lived on the same floor as him. He turned the phone off and slid it into his back pocket. Light on his feet, Lucious edged closer to the door, listening for movement outside.
Upon reaching the door, it burst off its hinges. A split second passed, and he was pinned to the ground by a vampire who was worthy of being a professional wrestler.
A cold, hard object pressed against his side, and he stopped struggling. The hounds carried weaponry with silver ammunition which, in the wrong place, was a death sentence to anyone of their kind.
Today is not a good day.
“Lucious Ellwood, you are hereby ordered to attend your trial tomorrow, and I am here to escort you.” The vampire grasped Lucious’ throat. “Any attempt to fight me will result in your immediate execution.”
Lucious kept most of his body as still as possible. Meanwhile, he used his free hand to search nearby. His fingers found the broken bottle and gripped around the neck.
“Did I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.” Lucious lifted himself and mid-roll plunged the jagged edge straight into the hound’s chest. The sound of cracking bone overpowered the loud explosion from the intruder’s gun.
A scream tore out of the man’s mouth as he scrambled away. His back hit the wall and, with trembling hands, he reached for the glass bottle protruding from his ribcage whilst trying to aim his pistol.
Lucious didn’t bother to stick around and wait. Where there was one hound, there could be another.
A curse left his lips, and he fled the building. He ran until fatigue swept over him, and his calves burned. There wouldn’t be a single place where he would be welcome now that even Alexander heard the news. He was dead meat to the rest of the vampire community.
Lucious leant against the side of an office building and contemplated his next move. He had two choices: abandon his lead and figure out why the elders were after him or stay and try dodging the Council as he continued his search. Neither option appealed to him.
He slammed his fist into the wall, causing uneven red chips of brick to fall. The cut from the bottle had already healed and was replaced by a fresh layer of skin. No other choice remained. For the last time, he drew his phone out of his pocket and sent Alexander a message: I’m taking you up on your offer. L
Lucious boarded Alexander’s private jet as the sun rose above the horizon. At least, the weather was on his side, hiding the heinous rays behind the stormy, grey clouds.
A beautiful flight attendant swayed her hips in her skin-tight skirt while she led him to his seat. She handed him a smartphone and an envelope with his name on it.
He took the offered items and fell into the leather armchair where he tore off the envelope’s side.
“Would you like to feed, Mr Ellwood?” she asked, pulling her ebony locks away from her neck.
His throat went dry, and the ache in his stomach informed him it was empty. I should have finished my beer.
The woman slid onto his lap, extending her neck as an offering. Her spicy perfume invaded his senses. Placing her palms on his shoulders, she drew close until she was a few inches away from his lips.
Using the pad of his thumb to stroke her jugular, he brought the pulsating vein near the surface, causing her to moan and dig her nails into his jacket. Uncomfortable in his seat, he shifted. A silver gleam next to his neck alerted him.
He pushed the girl off, sending her to the ground with a loud thud.
“You should have behaved, Mr Ellwood!” She lunged at him with a syringe in her left hand.
He grasped her wrists, pulling them both above her head.
“Bastard!” she shouted, not stopping her struggle as he jerked the sharp object out of her hand and tossed it away.
The pilot rushed out of the cockpit. “Is something wrong back here?”
Lucious barely contained his bark of laughter when he glanced at the panicked human peering from behind the separation curtain with his mouth agape.
The flight attendant seized Lucious’ distraction as an opportunity and kicked him in the crown jewels.
Electrifying agony spread through his lower half as he folded in on himself. Black spots marred his vision while he struggled to retain his standing position. His nostrils flared. Past the pain between his legs, he concentrated on his spiking anger.
The girl scrambled on all fours towards the syringe.
“I guess”—Lucious took a handful of her dark hair and lifted her head to meet his eyes—“I will have that dinner you so kindly offered.” He bit into her neck, not caring if he was hurting her.
She screamed and flailed in his arms as he sucked her life blood into him. A rumble escaped his throat. This human tasted of cigarette ash and dirt, ruining her sweetness.
Once he drained her, he tossed her lifeless husk to one side.
“Sir, ar-are you alright?” the pilot asked as he wiped his palms on his black trousers.
Lucious raised a brow at the question. Alexander had a knack for hiring odd employees, some more murderous than the others. “As well as I can be.”
The pilot returned to the cockpit with quivering legs, providing Lucious with the peace and quiet he craved.
In the envelope, he found a card with Alexander’s cursive handwriting. One sentence in black ink contrasted against the white paper: Look out for the flight attendant.
Lucious pinched the bridge of his nose. His friend sure had a bizarre sense of humour. Exhausted after the ordeal, he closed his eyes. He felt the connection that tugged at his gut. But, for some reason, the further he got from England, the more excited it grew.
Lucious awoke from the loud ringing next to him. The time on the bright screen of his phone told him it was ten minutes past 6 p.m.
He grumbled a greeting and studied his whereabouts. He was in a hotel room, lying on the bed with drawn pink polka dot curtains. It was dark enough for him to have to squint to make out where the door was. The pilot must have brought him here after he drifted off. With the hounds on his trail and the exhausting search for his sire’s killer, he had become open for an attack.
“I take it you’re still alive,” Alexander said.
“Next time you send me a present like that, call me beforehand. There was no time to read your beautiful handwriting during her attempt to kill me.”
Alexander laughed. “I didn’t send her, but I had my suspicions.” His amusement faded. “It’s time for you to get up. I have arranged for you to meet the witch.”
Lucious slipped into his black leather jacket. “Tell me where and when.”
Much of Dublin remained the same. Humans hated change as much as vampires. The more the world morphed into something new, the harder the adjustment came to either race or such was his interpretation.
He stopped at the traffic lights. The ache in his gut resumed, so he attempted to rub it better, but it made no difference. He cursed under his breath and ignored it by looking ahead. A handful of people across the street were staring at him, most of which were women of different ages, but one stood out. Her hazel eyes dissected his soul, and when he forced a smile, she looked away like a guilty thief.
The light changed
to green, and he moved closer to where the girl would pass. With her head down, she bumped into him, and he caught her. The moment his hands landed on her shoulders, the pain stopped, and his fingers tingled with alien energy.
What is she?
She assessed him with large eyes. They didn’t belong to a well-trained witch he expected to find. This was a girl no older than twenty. There was no way she could possess the power to track him from another country. Then again, she could be part of the local Circle.
The wind blew past, filling his nostrils with her flowery scent, and he knew he was not mistaken.
She tore away from him and hurried past.
The car on his left honked, telling him the lights had changed.
Without further delay, Lucious shadowed her. Innocent or not, she had created a connection he did not need. If the Council reached her first, she could locate him with ease. He couldn’t allow that.
The girl glanced over her shoulder occasionally. Her caution didn’t bother him. Hiding in the dark was something he grew accustomed to when hunting his prey.
Once she reached a bus stop, she placed her hand on her chest as if trying to calm her heart. There was nothing noteworthy to her. She wore simple clothes: jeans and an anorak. Rushing into a store, she bumped into a burly man. A flurry of apologies stumbled out of her mouth, and she kept her head low. She manoeuvred around the shop to meet with the clerk, handed something over, and ran outside to catch her bus.
Lucious waited for the bus to pass. He entered the busy store, closing in on the clerk with long strides.
A teenager behind the counter asked, “Do you need any help?”
He concentrated on the kid’s eyes, and the teen’s expression slackened.
“Hand over what the purple-head gave you.”
The teen produced a few sheets of stapled paper titled ‘CV’.
Sitting on the bench in the nearby park, he skimmed through her resume. She was nineteen—a child. She had given her contact details, but no address—smart girl. He scanned the pages for anything else that could give him an idea of what she was. To his dismay, there was no more useful information, so he saved her phone number.
Lucious arrived at the private estate belonging to one of his oldest friends. He paused at the three-storey Victorian mansion Alexander had converted into a nightclub sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. A red neon sign above the entrance had curving letters moulded into the words ‘Russian Roulette’ irradiating the place like a Christmas tree in this dark hour.
He approached the beginning of the queue where a bouncer guarded the main door to the club. “I’m here to see Alexander.”
The man whose nametag read ‘Dean’ sized him up with one look. “And, you are?”
“Expected. Be a good fellow and step aside.”
With his patience wearing thin, Lucious released the hold on his mental shields. He let his energy leak out and tightened it around the bouncer. An extra century of being alive gave a vampire more power over the young.
Dean sensed the intrusion and took an uncertain step back. He beckoned for Lucious to pass. “I hope you’re not here to cause trouble.”
Lucious ignored him and ambled inside. Things hadn’t changed much since the last visit. The plum-coloured reception room seemed darker with sparsely spaced low-wattage bulbs embedded in the ceiling. The loud boom of rock music guided him to where Tanya, Alexander’s sole childe, sat with a fashion magazine on her lap.
Without looking up, she pointed at the price list on the wall.
“Tanya, where is he?”
She dropped her copy of Vogue at the sound of his voice and bounced out of her seat. Without warning, she launched herself at him, trapping him in a tight embrace.
“I have missed you. You have not called in forever,” she whispered into his ear.
Lucious peeled her arms off and moved out of her reach. “I’m sorry, I’ve been busy.”
Flicking her blonde hair back, she pouted. “That is what they all say.”
When he didn’t offer anything, she sighed and gestured to the hallway on her left. “He should be in his office. You know the way.”
He started for the door, and she grasped his arm. The palm of her hand pressed onto his chest and her long nails dug in through the leather of his jacket. Yet, he felt nothing when she flirted with him. No matter how many years had passed, he had accumulated no romantic feelings for her.
“Come see me after you’re done or if you need anything.” She winked.
Lucious wanted to shake her off and head over to Alexander. Fighting that urge, he gave her a light peck on a cheek.
“Will do, luv,” he whispered back.
“You’re such a tease,” she said, retreating to her desk.
Lucious took this chance to find Alexander’s office. He followed a long dimly lit corridor cluttered with posters of bands he had no interest in. Once he reached the steel door at the end of the windowless path, he stopped.
Raising his hand, he knocked once. The sound reverberated through the thick metal. Upon hearing an invitation, he entered the room and groaned in annoyance at Alexander’s intimate scene playing out.
Alexander was notorious for having multiple partners in bed. Today was no different. A lean, pale man rested between two just as naked women on a king-sized bed.
Lucious diverted his attention to the interior of the office. The ebony desk was overflowing with paperwork, more posters, and balance sheets. Black marble tiles gleamed beneath his booted feet. They contrasted against the ivory furniture in the room. Those were the only two shades Alexander approved of—something that existed outside the standard colour range, like vampires among humans.
“Don’t be shy,” Alexander said. “You can come and join us if you like.”
Lucious shook his head and plopped into an armchair across from the desk.
Alexander whispered something to the girls, and they climbed off the bed. He found a pair of white suit trousers on the floor and tugged them on. Once half-dressed, he nudged a short-haired brunette’s side. “Allow me to offer you some dinner then.”
The young woman glanced over her shoulder at Alexander as if asking for permission.
With a semi-interested expression, Lucious watched her gliding towards him. She looked too young to be here. On her slender body, he counted a dozen bite marks and grimaced.
Lucious lifted his hand in protest. “No, thank you. I already ate.”
The brunette ran her hands over her small breasts. “Are you sure, honey?”
“Quite.” He dismissed the human by diverting his attention to Alexander. “We need to talk.”
His friend raked his fingers through his short platinum hair. Pale-grey eyes assessed Lucious from underneath his dark brows. He barked something in Italian, and the girls scattered to gather their clothes. It did not take long until they ran out of the office, muttering their displeasure under their breath.
As Alexander strode over, Lucious tried recalling their last meeting. Although he visited Ireland a decade ago, he didn’t drop by the club. His interest lay with the lead he was chasing which, in the end, led him nowhere. The last time they spoke face to face had been close to fifty years ago when things went south with Zafira—a time best forgotten.
Lucious rose from his seat and extended his hand in the form of a handshake. “It has been too long.”
“It sure has.” Alexander ignored his hand and drew Lucious into a tight hug. “As always, all manners and awkwardness. You Brits need to learn to relax more.”
Immobile from the embrace, Lucious patted Alexander on the back.
Alexander chuckled and released him without another word. He opened his drinks cabinet in his desk. “Shall I bother offering you another drink?”
“I think I need it after everything that’s going on.”
“And, what is going on?” Alexander found two crystal glasses from his second drawer, filled them mid-way with amber alcohol from a decanter and handed one
over.
“It would seem you already know.”
“If I knew, I would not risk my immunity to hide a fugitive from Eliza and the rest of the Council. Come with me.”
They passed through a set of double doors into a spacious living room. Its walls were hidden by bookcases and antique daggers resting in their glass cases.
Alexander sat on the white leather Chesterfield sofa. “I’m listening.”
Lucious took the invitation and relaxed into an armchair across from him. He placed his drink on the glass coffee table and clasped his hands together over his stomach. “Where do you want me to start?”
“Why not begin with why you didn’t go to the witch you wanted to see? I got an earful of how I wasted her time and that she’s on the verge of cursing us both.”
“It’s because I found her.”
Alexander’s dark brows drew together. “Found who?”
“The witch, or whatever she is, that created the connection between us.” He recalled the way she looked—almost too innocent for her own good.
“And what? You let her go?”
Lucious grinned. “I got her name and phone number.”
Alexander downed his poison of choice. “To be honest, I don’t know why you didn’t take her with you. I would have influenced her and fuck her until she told me who she was working for.”
“I am not into kids, Alexander.”
Alexander’s brows shot up. “Hum, a young witch with tracking spell capabilities? This I have got to see.”
“It’s not a tracking spell. It’s something else.”
“Alright, I’ll bite.” Alexander lifted his laptop from the seat next to him and nestled it on his lap. “Tell me her details, and I’ll see what I can find out about her.”
Lucious did as instructed. While his friend worked away on his computer, he finished his scotch.
Ten minutes passed, and Alexander blew out a hefty sigh. “She doesn’t belong to any Wiccan circles in the databases I possess. She is a…student and is almost normal.”
“Almost normal?”
“Looks like our little witch got a lot of therapy as a kid, but her records are sealed. I can’t gain access to that information from here. Want me to send someone to retrieve the data?”
Russian Roulette (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 1) Page 5
