Master of Ecstasy

by Nina Bangs

  Darach didn't buy it. He stopped and waited for her to meet his gaze. "Ye're a brave lass. I dinna believe there are any in Odin's Hall with more courage. I…" He drew in a deep breath. Whatever he'd been about to say would go unsaid.

  He strode the few steps to Arnora, untied her reins, and led her back toward the castle. Blythe walked silently beside him.

  "There is something I must tell ye. I didna tell ye before because I didna wish to frighten ye."

  As if she hadn't been scared witless from the moment she'd ridden away from the castle? Blythe supposed there were degrees of fear. "Spill it."

  "Spill what?" He looked puzzled.

  "Tell me about whatever it is that's going to scare me." Talk about a language barrier.

  He nodded. "There were seven vampires. One ran when I entered the clearing."

  Blythe shuddered to think that Darach would have to kill again. "Why did he run? All the others I've seen couldn't wait to attack you. And why don't they try to kill each other?"

  "In their madness, they have no ability to reason, only the instincts of a predator. They dinna try to kill each other because they sense their sameness, and traveling in a pack makes them more efficient killers. They attacked me because they have no memory of those they once knew, no understanding of what they do, only a need to kill any they meet."

  "And that means?" She didn't think she was going to like this.

  "The one who ran was sane enough to seek to escape. I dinna know why he returned before complete madness took him, but he is more dangerous than the others because he can reason." He fixed her with his gaze. "Ye must always stay near me, and never leave the castle until he is destroyed."

  Blythe wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. The cold had nothing to do with it. "What's happening, Darach? Why're so many coming here at once?"

  Within his gaze she saw the vampire he truly was. "I dinna know, but I intend to find out."

  * * *

  Chapter Twelve

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  Blythe had returned to help him. She had faced her greatest fear because she thought he was in danger. Darach glanced at the woman who walked beside him. The wonder of her sacrifice filled his heart. Through force of habit he laid his hand across his most valued possession to assure himself it still beat.

  If not for Blythe, his sorrow would be almost beyond bearing. He had just killed six warriors, men he had known through the centuries. And most likely he would slay another before the night ended.

  Darach knew of only one way to deny grief its prize. Stoically he rebuilt the emotional wall that Blythe had breached. If he didn't feel, he could think clearly. He must discover what was driving so many of his clan to madness. Before, there had only been one or two every few years. Even the women who hunted them had not caused this kind of horror.

  "You're brooding. I can tell." Blythe hooked her arm around his as they walked toward the castle. "You need to let it out or else it'll eat a hole in you from the inside out."

  Darach stared straight ahead at the castle's dark silhouette, stark against the moonlit sky. "I canna 'let it out.' I must discover who has caused this."

  He felt her attempt to touch his emotions, and firmed his lips along with his resolve to keep her out. If she could not reach his feelings, she would at least believe he had some. She would be upset to find that he had none, must have none until this was over.

  Unexpectedly, the unknown vampire's presence touched him. He stopped and stared at the castle.

  "What's the matter?" Blythe sounded uncertain.

  "The vampire waits outside the castle." He pointed to a part of the wall shadowed from the moon's light. "Stay behind me. I wished to see ye safely inside the castle before we battled, but I must reach him quickly before he kills." He handed her Arnora's reins, then unsheathed his sword.

  "Before he kills? Kills whom?" She hurried to keep up with him as he began to run across the footbridge.

  Darach saw clearly what Blythe could not. The vampire had a woman trapped against the castle wall. But as he drew closer, Darach sensed something familiar about the vampire. His back was to Darach, but there was something in the set of his shoulders, the long gold hair, the tilt of his head, that stirred memories.

  Darach stopped a short distance away from the rogue vampire, dread building in him along with desperate denial. He sensed Blythe close to him, but she was wise enough to remain quiet.

  The vampire had to know Darach was behind him, but he didn't turn, only concentrated his attention on the terrified woman cowering against the wall. While Darach watched, the woman stabbed at the vampire with a wooden stake. Darach recognized her now. It was Clara, the woman Blythe said wished to be a Buffy.

  "Ouch." The vampire's exclamation was derisive. "I hate to disappoint such a bonny lass, but I must tell ye that stabbing me in the heart willna kill me. I have no heart. And ye should never hunt vampires with a twig. A twig breaks too easily." To demonstrate, he yanked the wooden stake from Clara's shaking hands and broke it in half.

  "Your cross is a fine talisman"—he clasped the cross that hung from her neck and examined it—"but it willna make me cover my eyes and run from it." He released the cross. "Ye've only done one thing that has truly fashed me." He wiped a hand over his plaid. "Ye've soaked me with the holy water ye flung on me, and 'tis a cold night to be walking around in wet clothing."

  He moved closer to the terrified woman and reached for her. "Ye should never anger a vampire."

  Darach had faced many things in his life, but this… ? He did not think he could survive this. He might have banished all feeling, but this transcended emotion. This spoke to who he was, who he had once been.

  "Thrain." He spoke the name he had once uttered so fondly.

  The vampire turned slowly to face him while Clara, speechless with terror, ran for the safety of the castle. "I didna think ye'd remember me, Varin."

  His gaze locked with Darach's, and emotion flooded his eyes. " 'Tis Jamie I've been these many centuries, but on this night that will see my death, I choose to be the Northman, Thrain." He unsheathed his sword. "I didna stay to fight with the others because this should be between only the two of us. I wish to see Valhalla before dawn."

  "No." Once again, Darach's emotional wall was crumbling. Mayhap Blythe had weakened it so that it would never stand again. "Ye canna ask this of me." Not remember Thrain? How could he think that Darach would forget him? They had played together, fought together. So many memories. They had each received their sword on the same day, and shared the pride of feeling as though they were truly warriors. Until they'd hacked the legs from his mother's table, and she'd chased the no longer brave warriors down the hill. Darach barely remembered Aesa's face, but Thrain's would never fade.

  Thrain stepped closer. "I would have slain that woman if ye hadna saved her. I am not so mad as the ones ye killed tonight, but I canna resist the blood lust.

  When I learned that this cycle of the moon was your duty, I knew that I wished to die by your hand, so I came. I didna want to wait until I couldna reason. I would control when and how I die."

  Darach's complete rejection of what Thrain asked pounded through him with each beat of his heart. Thrain seemed much like Darach remembered him through the mist of so many years. Tall, powerful, with intelligence gleaming in the blue eyes that all of Darach's clan possessed. But as Darach gazed into his friend's eyes, he saw the beginning of madness, the slight clouding that signaled the start of what could only end in death. He also saw the battle Thrain fought to hold back the madness, to go to his death with dignity.

  "What happened?" Darach needed time to think. There must be a way to save his friend. There were so many lost years between them, so many things that he wanted to say.

  "The women who hunt us have found a way to use the bog myrtle without coming near us. I dinna know how they do it." He fingered the Thor's hammer talisman at his neck, a gesture that brought back memories of so many days spent together in their youth. "I ha
d met with the warriors ye killed tonight to talk of the old days and share a night of friendship. Sometime during that night the women struck. I have no memory of what happened until I woke and found myself bound."

  His expression grew bitter. "When they were finished with us, they left us for the morning sun to find. I was able to free myself, and then I freed the others. We had lost so much blood that all we could think of was the need to survive. The others could not stop once they started feeding. They gorged themselves, and by the time they finished, they were doomed. I tried to stop, but I didna stop soon enough."

  Killing fury roiled in Darach; the need to destroy lived and breathed in him. "Tell me what these women fear, Thrain."

  Thrain smiled for the first time. "I've heard of your power. May Odin grant ye the chance to use it on them." His smile faded. "They despise men, whether vampire or mortal. They use us sexually, but other than that, they feel we serve no purpose in their world. I know of no fear they all share. They believe that what they do will make them immortal. What then could frighten them?"

  Thrain's gaze grew intense. "But they've grown greedy. When one of their number died even though she had joined with a vampire, they decided that each must mate with many vampires in order to assure their immortality. I dinna know how they found us, but I suspect they use their wealth to employ an army of spies.

  "But we have spoken enough. It is time." He reached up and removed the Thor's hammer talisman from around his neck. Then he handed it to Darach. "Ye gave me this when we were but lads as proof of your friendship. I give it back to ye tonight. Keep it and know that I always valued and honored that friendship. May we one day meet in Valhalla." He raised his sword.

  Darach stood holding the talisman, staring across the chasm of so many lost years and the knowledge of what he had to do, at the man who had been his closest friend. But the duty to his clan was clear. He must do what Thrain wished.

  Darach lifted his sword. And for the first time in his long life, he knew true despair.

  Blythe watched in unblinking horror as the drama unfolded. They weren't really going to fight, were they? The harsh clash of swords answered that question.

  Darach wouldn't really kill Thrain, would he? With a motion so swift that her eyes couldn't follow it, Darach brought his sword to Thrain's neck.

  Blythe opened her mouth to shout at Darach, but nothing came out. Ultimately, this had to be his decision. This moment was like so many of her nightmares about her family. She would watch them walking into that convention hall, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't yell a warning to them.

  The moment hung suspended for what seemed to Blythe like a million heartbeats.

  "Do it." Thrain's voice grated with his knowledge of imminent death.

  With a vicious curse, Darach flung down his sword and backed away from Thrain. "I canna."

  Way to go, vampire! Blythe felt as though her voice and feet were freed at the same moment. Even her brain cells must have been frozen, because suddenly she could think logically again. Time for her to offer an alternative to life-and-death combat.

  Dragging Arnora behind her, she rushed between the two men and held up her hands. "Wait. I have an idea."

  Darach glared at her. "Go into the castle, Blythe."

  "Not until I've told you my idea." She turned to see if Thrain was listening to her.

  Thrain was staring mesmerized at the herd of bitty-fluffs crowding around her. "What are these creatures?"

  "Bittyfluffs." Impatiently she waited until she had both men's attention. "Here's the problem, as I see it. Thrain, you have too much human blood. You need less human blood and more vampire blood. Right?"

  Thrain nodded, puzzled. Darach continued to glare at her.

  "It seems the solution is simple. Thrain, you need a wound that'll get rid of some of the blood you have now. Not enough to kill you, but enough to weaken you. Then you bite Darach and take some of his vampire blood." Blythe frowned as she thought out the details. "I hope you all have the same blood type. I guess you might have to repeat the process a few times, because you couldn't take that much of Darach's blood all at once. And I'm assuming that once you've gotten back the correct balance of vampire blood to human blood, the negative symptoms will disappear." She offered them a brilliant smile. "It's so simple I'm surprised you guys didn't think of it."

  Darach didn't return her smile. "We canna bite each other."

  "Why not? You bite everything else." She couldn't believe he was rejecting her plan.

  " 'Tis the law of our clan."

  "That's a pretty dumb law, if you ask me." Everyone should be allowed to bite in an emergency.

  "I didna ask ye. 'Tis the law and we canna break it." Darach was wearing his I-must-be-patient male expression.

  "Why not? Who's going to tell? A little bite in the dark. No one will ever know." She was trying really hard to be reasonable here.

  " 'Twould not be honorable." Thrain entered the fray.

  "Excuse me? Dead is pretty permanent, pal. Maybe you should rethink the death-before-dishonor attitude." She was getting steamed now.

  Both men offered her their stubborn-mule expressions.

  "Well, hell." There had to be a way around this. "Does the law say anything about giving blood, or does it just forbid biting?"

  Darach looked puzzled. "It only forbids the biting. It says nothing about the giving of blood, because without the biting there would be no blood to give."

  "That's what you think. I don't know when the first human-to-human transfusion took place, but I'd bet it came after 1785. You guys are about to become medical pioneers. First, though, I have to get something from Ganymede." Please let Ganymede have remembered to bring an emergency medical case.

  "Who is this woman, and why does she speak so strangely? And I still dinna understand what manner of creature these bittyfluffs are."

  Thrain's confusion would have been funny if the situation weren't so desperate.

  Darach gazed intently at Blythe. "Can ye help Thrain, lass?"

  "What're you willing to do to save him?"

  "Anything." His gaze never wavered.

  "As long as it doesn't involve him biting you." She shook her head. "I don't understand that, Darach."

  "The clan is only as strong as its laws. Those who break the laws when it suits them weaken the clan." He rubbed the back of his neck. "According to clan law, I should have killed Thrain." He offered her a half smile. "Ye may take some comfort in knowing that I have broken at least one law tonight."

  Blythe couldn't help it. She leaned into him and kissed his chest where his shirt gaped open. "Let's hear it for law-breaking. And look, no cuts or bruises. You're getting better, vampire."

  He smiled at her, but his eyes looked weary. "Mayhap ye will search my body later for wounds in places other than my chest."

  Blythe gazed directly into his eyes. "If you'd killed Thrain, you'd have suffered a mortal wound here." She placed her palm over his heart. "You did the right thing, Darach."

  He nodded. "I'll return Arnora to the stable, then take Thrain up to our room and hope we dinna meet Clara. 'Tis unlikely, though. She has probably locked herself in her room." He glanced down at the bitty-fluffs. "Ye must come to the room for a few minutes before ye get what ye need from Ganymede. The bittyfluffs will follow ye, and I will keep them in the room until ye return." He forced a smile. "Ye dinna wish to upset Ganymede with a herd of these creatures in his castle."

  Fifteen minutes later, Blythe returned to her room with the rolling medical case in tow. Luckily, she'd caught Ganymede at the right moment. She'd found him surrounded by his two male guests, Textron, and Sandy. Sparkle sat nearby cleaning her face and trying not to look amused as Ganymede made desperate excuses why he couldn't join any of them in a threesome, foursome, or any other number combined with "some."

  They'd stopped talking when they spotted Blythe, but she'd already heard enough. She curled her lip at the thought of Textron and Sandy. But at least
Ganymede had been so busy trying to escape them that he just told her where the case was and didn't ask her why she wanted it.

  Once back in her room, she faced Darach and Thrain. She tried to ignore the sea of chittering pink covering every surface. "I sure hope these guys did what they had to outside."

  The two men glanced at each other as though that thought hadn't occurred to them.

  "We will put them outside the door. They willna leave ye, so we dinna have to worry about them terrorizing the others." Darach herded the bittyfluffs out the door, then slammed it before they could run back in. "I have learned a lesson from this. Someone else's greatest fear can become a plague on the one who called it forth."

  Thrain seated himself in the chair while Darach sat on the stool beside him. Darach's gaze was inscrutable while Thrain's was openly hopeful. Blythe knew Darach well enough by now to understand that he wouldn't allow himself to show hope when he feared it might be a false hope. How many disappointments had he suffered in his life to develop this kind of attitude?

  "Thrain, I'm not going into any complicated explanations right now, but you need to know that I'm from the future. Luckily for us, medical science has reached the point where procedures that at one time had to be done in a hospital by doctors can now be done routinely by anyone who can read directions." She frowned at his blank expression. Okay, so much for explanations.

  "I'm going to read these directions, then I'm going to fasten parts of this small machine to each of you. This is called a Transfusomatic, and it'll locate a vein, check for blood compatibility, and then draw blood from each of you. The blood that's drawn from Darach will be transferred to you, Thrain." She immediately buried her nose in the directions so that she didn't have to face their startled expressions.

  A few minutes later, she was ready to start. As she fastened the machine to Thrain, he fixed his gaze on her throat and his lips lifted to expose his sharp canines. Blythe shuddered. "Stop staring at my neck."

  He shifted his gaze as Darach growled low in his throat and half rose from his stool.