The Red Lily (Vampire Blood)

by Juliette Cross

  “This is a prophecy,” said Friedrich, voicing what was on their minds.

  Nikolai urged her to take a seat again, handing her a handkerchief. “A possible prophecy. Nothing is ever set in stone.”

  “True,” said Freidrich, leaning forward. “My uncle only has one daughter, Lucille. Queen Lana has had two stillborn sons prior to her. But she is pregnant again and nearing her day of delivery.”

  “I’ve never met Queen Lana,” said Nikolai. “Is she blonde?”

  Friedrich nodded. But Sienna sat forward, tightening the handkerchief in her fist.

  “No. I don’t believe it’s her. Last night, in the dream, I think I recognized the mother giving birth.” She closed her eyes as if remembering, then opened them with a look of pain. “I believe it was Mina.”

  Nikolai blanched. His voice was a cold whip. “Did the queen honestly believe Marius would’ve handed over his newborn son for her to murder?”

  “But Marius didn’t marry Mina,” offered Sienna. “She’s safe from the queen now.”

  “Unless it was Queen Lana in the premonition and she gives birth to a healthy son.”

  Friedrich opened his mouth to say something, but the door opened. Grant stepped in carrying a silver tray with a bone-white teapot and a plate of biscuits, fruit, and cheese.

  “Ah. Thank you, Grant.”

  Grant set the tray on the table next to the blue chaise where Nikolai laid Sienna last night. He didn’t wear the livery of a servant, but the casual clothes of a field hand. He eyed the group with an intelligent gaze, nodded to Friedrich, then sauntered out.

  When he’d left the room, the duke sauntered to the tray, poured a cup of tea, and delivered it to Sienna. The delivery of tea somehow broke through the ominous veil spun by her tale. She had wiped her eyes and breathed easier now, seeming to have come out of the oppressive cloud of her dream. And yet, they couldn’t ignore the fact that the queen’s ultimate goal was to reign in a world much darker than it was now.

  “He doesn’t behave like normal servants,” Nikolai remarked offhandedly.

  “No,” he admitted. “He’s not. But don’t worry, friend. Grant keeps my secrets. No one will know that you are here.”

  Nikolai thought to ask more, but it was obvious Friedrich had secrets of his own he wasn’t willing to share. And if the duke trusted the man, then so would he.

  Sienna turned her attention to him as he poured another cup of tea and handed it to Nikolai. “But won’t your cook wonder where he’s taking tea and breakfast?”

  “Not at all,” he said, handing her a plate of food, his charming smile in place. “Cook will only think I’ve kept a lady friend overnight. Common enough occurrence.”

  Sienna smiled, then moved her gaze toward the map spread atop the duke’s desk. “What is this?”

  Friedrich resumed his place behind the desk. “I was showing Nikolai my map here earlier.”

  She took a sip and set her teacup on the outer edge of the desk, seeming to have recovered from the dark foretelling a few moments before. “And why are these circled in red?” she asked, homing in on the unusual markings right away.

  Nikolai edged forward at her side, brushing his fingers against the back of her hand at her side, seeking to comfort her. She flinched in surprise, then let her fingers brush his before she tangled them together, barely casting him a sidelong glance, then focused on the map again. Tension, sharp and bright, charged the air.

  Friedrich cleared his throat, eyeing both of them with an arched brow. “All of these villages along the southern border of the northern kingdom have vanished.”

  That brought Nikolai back to the earlier conversation. “Vanished? How do you mean?”

  “I mean, gone. The entire village is completely gone. Not a single soul left, dead or alive. Well, except for livestock.”

  “But how?” asked Sienna.

  “The how I’m not sure of, but I’m investigating. Or at least, I was.”

  Nikolai shifted partly behind Sienna in a protective stance. The mere mention of danger rose his hackles and an instinctive nature to keep her close. “How do you mean?”

  Friedrich combed a hand through his hair, tousling his brown locks, disheveling his controlled demeanor. “My uncle.”

  Something burned in Nikolai’s gut. “King Dominik.”

  “Yes.”

  The Varis Empire was divided into four kingdoms ruled by three kings and one steward—King Stephanus in the eastern kingdom of Korinth, King Agnar in the western kingdom of Pyros, Steward Thorwald in the southern kingdom of Arkadia, merely keeping the place of Marius who was supposed to have married the Arkadian Princess Vilhelmina and take his rightful place but did not, and finally, King Dominik, the ruthless ruler of the northern kingdom, Izeling.

  Friedrich continued. “My uncle has visited Winter Hill more often than he ever has before. Always some excuse like resting his horses on his journey here or there. But truly, I believe he’s spying on me.”

  “Why would you say that?” asked Sienna.

  “I’d say firstly because I relinquished my Legionnaires, who were most probably all under his employ.”

  “Getting rid of them may have solidified your guilt in his eyes,” Nikolai noted.

  “Not necessarily. He knows Marius and I were close growing up. But he also knows I am my own man and wouldn’t appreciate nursemaids watching my every move, then reporting back to him. Which is precisely what they were doing.”

  “Did they have anything to report?”

  “Besides the fact that I like to feed twice a week and my lovely hosts tend to sleep over, no, there was nothing to report.” Friedrich turned a sheepish grin to Sienna. “Pardon my frankness. Purely consensual, of course.”

  Sienna nodded with a tentative smile. “Of course.”

  “And what of your courier bringing correspondence to and from Cutters Cove?” asked Nikolai. “Also, I forgot to personally thank you for your gift of the ship and the goods in Hiddleston.”

  “The least I could do,” he said with a nod. “And my courier comes and goes only by night and through a secret passage in and out of Winter Hill. The Legionnaires never knew of it. That is how we’ll get you two out of here as well.”

  Sienna glanced at the map, then back up at Friedrich. “If the Legionnaires are gone, and you say you trust your personal guard, then why all the secrecy?”

  “Because anyone can be bought. A servant in the kitchen, a scullery maid, a night guard. I pay them all well, but my uncle has unlimited resources. He could offer a lifetime’s coin and jewels in exchange for information of my betrayal.”

  Nikolai tensed, knowing what that betrayal, if discovered, would cost him. “I am sorry that we came here. I didn’t realize you were already under such scrutiny. I wouldn’t wish any trouble on you because of us.”

  Friedrich waved a hand. “Please. I am glad you came. It is safer in here than it is out there.” He folded up the map carefully and locked it back in his drawer. “And I do not wish the queen discovering your betrayal, Nikolai. Not for anything.”

  Sienna sat up straighter, her back stiff. “Why do you say that? What would she do?”

  The soft edge to Friedrich’s expression hardened as he leaned over the desk on the knuckles of both fists. When he answered, he leveled his gaze on Nikolai. “She is cruel to those who betray her.”

  “What has she done?” asked Nikolai.

  “That is what I wanted to tell you before Grant came in.” He heaved a sigh. “When Marius fled with his peasant bride, Princess Vilhelmina was still within the grounds of the Glass Tower.”

  “Yes, I know.” Nikolai leaned forward. “When I abandoned my post to follow Marius, she was preparing to return to her home Briar Rose in Arkadia. Did she not return?”

  “Oh, she most certainly returned. But words were exchanged between the princess and the queen before she departed. The queen discovered that it was the princess who had encouraged Marius to follow his heart rather than go through
with their arranged marriage.”

  “Bloody hell,” murmured Nikolai.

  “And with the foretelling,” added Sienna, “the queen would be furious at losing her chance of Mina marrying Marius and having his son.”

  “Precisely.”

  Sienna sat on the edge of her cushion. “But what happened to Mina?” she asked in desperation. “When the princess was in our care in my cottage, she and I became friends. Please tell me,” she pleaded urgently. “The queen didn’t hurt her, did she?”

  Friedrich’s relaxed demeanor hardened, his dark blue eyes taking on a glacial hue. “She was condemned to a bloodless sleep.”

  “What?” asked Nikolai in shock, his expression hardening.

  “What is that?” asked Sienna. “What is a bloodless sleep?”

  Friedrich exchanged a look with Nikolai, then the latter turned to Sienna to explain. “The bloodless sleep is an old practice. A cruel one. It is used on vampire criminals. Of the worst kind.”

  “But what crime has the princess committed?” asked Sienna in disbelief.

  “Treason,” replied Friedrich. “The queen determined her actions were an outright break with her betrothal and a betrayal of the crown. Queen Morgrid had her own royal Legionnaires escort the princess back to Briar Rose. There, under orders, they murdered her lady-in-waiting right before her eyes.”

  Sienna gasped and whispered the woman’s name. “Kathleen. She was her host. And her friend,” added Sienna. “Mina drank only from her.”

  “I know,” said Friedrich.

  “What did they do to Mina? This bloodless sleep?”

  Friedrich tapped his index finger on the desk, his signet ring winking in the morning light, before telling the rest in one long breath. “The Royal Legionnaires locked Mina in her tower and starved her until she collapsed. Under the queen’s orders, they now feed her one drop of blood per week. Enough to keep her alive, but also trapped in the darkness of a hungry sleep.”

  “Torture,” bit out Nikolai. “Brutal torture.”

  “Yes,” agreed Friedrich. “So keep ahead of the queen, my friend. She is certainly bringing back the old ways, trying to reinstate the tyranny she once ruled. Whether she truly is chasing this dream Sienna told us, she is definitely taking steps to control with dark forces.”

  “Indeed.” His sharp gaze landed on her. “Do you see now why we must flee to Cutters Cove?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “It’s too risky to take you to Dale’s Peak, Sienna.” He said her name with bite and steel. And finality.

  She gave him a sad sort of smile, tilting her head submissively. Yet her words were not the admission of surrender he longed to hear. “Nikolai, we need to finish what we started. At the very least, we need to meet our contact at Dale’s Peak where recruits are likely to be large in number.” She placed a hand atop his on his lap. “We must try for the sake of the Black Lily.”

  He jolted to a stand, biting back a reply, then returned to the window, hands at his back.

  “Don’t you understand?” she implored. “Revolutions aren’t won without danger. And death. We are all risking our lives. Why shouldn’t I?”

  He spun. “Because I—” Snapping his mouth shut and clenching his jaw, he whirled back to face the window. Tension rippled off his stone-like frame.

  Friedrich rounded his desk and ambled toward the door. “I’ll leave you two to decide.” He stopped with his hand on the knob. “I don’t want to interfere in your mission, but she is right, Nikolai. War is coming. And we need good men on our side.”

  …

  Sienna could feel Nikolai’s anger like a biting chill in the air. He made no move from the window when the duke shut the door behind him. His stance and posture blocked her out, as cold as the snowy landscape beyond. She couldn’t stand to see him suffer, especially when it was because of her.

  Approaching lightly, she grazed a hand from his taut shoulder down his arm. “Nikolai?”

  He flinched but didn’t move, continuing to stare at the vast snowy hills rolling away.

  Inhaling a deep breath, she positioned herself in front of him. He’d left little room between himself and the casement, so she was forced to squeeze in close and grip his shoulders. With her body so near his, their chests touching, he finally broke his distant glare out the window and lowered his gaze to hers.

  “I don’t want you to be angry, but you must understand the importance of our mission.”

  “It will matter little if we die in the fulfilling of it,” he snapped, his hands still clasped at his back.

  She brushed a hand down his chest. “I am surprised you are afraid of such a thing as death.” Lifting her wandering hand, she brushed her fingertips along his granite jaw, trying to soothe him.

  He caught her hand and leaned into her palm, closing his eyes briefly before giving her the full force of his supernatural gaze—intense, lethal, and razor-sharp. “I am not afraid of death.” He pressed a kiss into her palm, the slow, sensual act weakening her knees. “I am afraid of losing you.”

  The stark admission of his feelings knocked the breath out of her. But then he made it worse by crowding her farther back against the window ledge, her bottom resting on top. He braced his legs on either side of hers and cupped her face with both hands.

  “I’d rather take you away to some safe place and hide from the world so there is no one but you and me. I’d rather let the world bleed than put you in danger’s path one more day.”

  Somehow she managed a small smile, even as he hovered his tempting mouth so close. “When this is all over, we can return to my cottage in Silvane Forest. I’ve done a fine job of hiding from the world there. And I never knew loneliness until—” She faltered, gathering strength to say what she longed to say.

  He grazed his lips across hers, like the brush of silk. “Until what? Tell me, my sweet.”

  She clenched her fists in his shirt and finally admitted aloud, “Until you.” Refusing to take the cowardly way out, she raised her gaze and met his fierceness, head on. “Ever since we first met and you went away with Marius and Arabelle, I have longed for you. Daily. Nightly. Desperately. I want nothing more than to have you near me.”

  His brow bunched into a frown. “You never said a word of this before.”

  “How could I? You have always been flirtatious. But so are many men I encounter at the market. I thought you might be indifferent.”

  He scoffed. “Indifferent?”

  In a punishing kiss, he swept in, brutal and hard, his tongue tasting and devouring, evoking a soft moan from her throat. After a long, bruising kiss that set her body on fire, he pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers.

  “I can’t take chances with your life, Sienna. It would cut me too deep if anything should happen to you.”

  “It is my decision. We return to Dale’s Peak tonight.”

  “Damn you, woman,” he ground out, breath coming fast. “Why won’t you listen? You could be killed. So could I.”

  “Then we die for a good cause. Look at Mina. She already suffers for her part in helping us.”

  “Yes. Precisely. Look what the queen did to her.”

  “Even more reason to do all we can to arm ourselves so we can fight.” She slid a hand over his nape, the muscles in his neck still tense. “And here I thought you were fearless?” she teased.

  “I was fearless when it was only my life at stake. Now I have so much more to lose.” He slanted his mouth over hers more gently, lining her lips with his tongue, then supping at her mouth with wet, warm kisses as if she were the most delicious of delicacies. “I wish I could kiss some sense into your pretty head.” He nipped again. “But I will surrender to your wishes. I’ll take you to Dale’s Peak.”

  She darted her tongue along her lip where he’d nipped her. He hadn’t broken the skin and, heaven help her, she wished he had.

  His eyes dilated, following the flick of her tongue.

  She let her hands wander down his chest and abdome
n, wishing to feel the hard body beneath with no barriers. “We have many hours before nightfall.” She lifted a hand and traced a fingertip along his parted lips, catching sight of his sharpened fangs. “Take me to bed, Nikolai. Make me yours.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nikolai would never forget this moment. A gray pall covered the sky, casting a soft light through the window panes. The quiet drift of snow floated to the earth. Two five-tiered candelabras flickered on either side of the vast bed, dusting the room in gold. Sienna undressed with her back to him, letting her dress pool on the floor.

  Brave. So brave. He could hear her heart pounding as swift as a hare in a trap, and though she could not turn herself to face him, wrapped in nothing but her sheer chemise, she dared to look over her shoulder, letting him know what she wanted with a glance.

  He was well and mightily caught. After her bold words in the parlor, she’d taken his hand and led him back to her bedchamber. Leaving him to stand in a stupor, he watched her light the candles, then quietly remove her clothes as if she were simply preparing for bed.

  Except it wasn’t time for bed. It was still early morning, the rose of day unable to peek through the clouds, as if the snowfall would keep their secret. There were no words for what he felt at this moment, standing on the precipice of fate, preparing to grab what fortune offered with both hands. And heart and soul.

  He couldn’t even count the number of women he’d bedded over the last century. He’d never thought of the action as anything more than a physical release to calm the beast within. He couldn’t even remember the last woman he’d taken without feeding on her first.

  And here was the greatest complication of them all. Sienna. Standing demurely in her bare feet and her chemise, gazing at him with desire and wonder and a little trepidation. She was right to feel fear. Once they’d crossed this threshold, she’d be forced to take him, beast and all. Her easy willingness to give him what he wanted, what she wanted, paralyzed him to the spot.