A Dance in Blood Velvet

by Freda Warrington

  The look the unknown vampire gave Benedict was both horribly calm and furious. He had an aura of power that Andreas had never possessed...

  Of course! Obvious who this was!

  Benedict stood up. His numb legs almost gave way, but he clung to the doorway and said, “Good evening. You must be Kristian.”

  His voice shook, but his words stopped the vampire in his tracks. He looked astounded. Then he smiled, and the smile was not pleasant.

  “What gave you that idea?” Beautiful deep voice, a slight Germanic accent. Ben shivered involuntarily. Such a presence about him. “Who do you think Kristian is?”

  “An immortal of great power.”

  “And you are -?”

  “Benedict Grey.” Ben drew himself up and folded his arms; he matched the vampire’s height, which made him feel less intimidated. However, he was aware of being dishevelled and exhausted, and that he stank.

  “Well, Mr Grey, count yourself lucky that I am not Kristian. If I were, you wouldn’t be talking to me now; you would be dead. My name is Karl.”

  “Andreas’s friend?” he said in sudden excitement. “Karl - I can’t recall your second name -”

  “It doesn’t matter. Just Karl.”

  “But have you seen Andreas? Where it he?”

  “On his way,” said the vampire, gazing into the attic. “We found him at the castle. He can tell you what happened, if he wishes. He told me how he came here, and how you summoned these others...” His tone was deceptively conversational, so when Ben looked round, he was stunned by the hostility in Karl’s face. “Have you the faintest idea of what you’ve done? How long do you think you can control starving vampires? You are a damned fool to meddle with this.”

  Ben responded thinly, “I don’t answer to you.”

  The too-perceptive gaze raked over him. “Andreas says you have a hold on him that he doesn’t understand. Perhaps you do have power, but it isn’t enough. You should look at yourself, Mr Grey. You’re on the verge of a breakdown.”

  As Karl spoke, Ben heard the front door open. The noise jolted his raw nerves. After a few seconds, a woman mounted the attic stairs, followed by Andreas. Another of them, Ben realised in dismay. Her radiance was unmistakable. She had one arm around Andreas’s back, the other hand stroking his shoulder... suddenly Ben knew that this must be Katerina!

  Andreas looked ill, disorientated. Ben found himself both angry and relieved to see him. “Where the hell have you been?” he said. “The Book, have you got it?”

  “No,” Andreas said flatly.

  “What? Why the devil not? What happened?”

  “Don’t ask!” There was a crazed look in his narrow green eyes. “I’ll tell you later. Not now!”

  “Let him be,” the woman said protectively. She was as extraordinary and unnerving as Karl, and Ben felt like an outsider in his own home; acutely aware of being in the presence of unholy angels.

  Trying to regain command, he said, “Excuse me, madam, I’m delighted to meet friends of Andreas, but would you please explain how you found him?”

  Her eyebrows rose. “You called us, I believe.”

  “Didn’t your invitation extend to all vampires?” said Karl. He stepped past Ben and entered the attic, looking around unhurriedly.

  “Be careful!” Katerina said, but the creatures played dead and made no move to attack him; perhaps they didn’t dare.

  A flame of resentment lit in Benedict’s brain. I called these beings to serve me, not to act as if they own my bloody house...

  Karl’s face was impassive as he moved among the vampires, but his eyes were dark - with pity? Presently he came out and said, “This is disgusting.”

  Benedict was startled. Could a vampire feel disgust? He didn’t understand these beings at all. He tried to stare Karl down, to prove himself equal, but Karl - to his annoyance - wouldn’t play the game. When Ben asked, “How so?” Karl addressed his answer to Katerina.

  “This is cruel, keeping them in a state of starvation.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I know how it feels. It is horrible.”

  “But we cannot bring them back to life.”

  She gazed at Karl, dark eyes expanding. “Why not?”

  “It would be irresponsible. Restoring these old vampires would be as bad as creating new ones. How do we know what we might unleash?”

  “What are you saying? There’s no alternative.”

  “Yes, there is. Behead them.”

  “Would that end their misery?” she said passionately. “Are you absolutely sure?”

  “No, not absolutely,” Karl replied, “but I believe it would.”

  Ben watched impotently as she seized Karl’s arms. “How can you even contemplate this? They aren’t animals, to be put down! They’re immortals; some may have been my friends, and others may have knowledge of the old times, before Kristian! How can you throw that away?”

  “Because the price is too high!”

  “Would you have struck off my head, Andreas’s too, never realizing whom you’d slaughtered? You can’t want to do this, Karl!”

  He shook his head, not answering, clearly troubled.

  Benedict listened grimly, gathering his strength. “Excuse me,” he said sharply, “The decision is not yours to make. I summoned them here and their fate rests in my hands, not in yours.”

  “Does it, really?” Karl said. “What in heaven’s name do you plan to do with them?”

  Katerina gazed at the undead husks with revulsion. “I was like that when Karl found me,” she whispered. “It seems unbelievable now.”

  “So was I,” said Andreas, moving to her side. “It took me a few days to recover, although I can’t enter yet the Crystal Ring.”

  “Days? My healing took weeks!” she said. “We must help them.”

  “Why?” said Andreas. “Kristian put them in the Weisskalt because they were trouble. If we bring them back, they’ll be nothing but trouble to us.”

  “Not to mention their victims,” Karl murmured.

  “So behead them,” said Andreas. “Put them out of their misery.”

  “What if you or I or Karl had been among them?” Katerina exclaimed.

  “Help them, then,” Andreas said, off-hand. “It’s all the same to me.”

  Karl sighed. “Very well, Katti. We’ll revive them. I’ve no right to pronounce death upon them; even Kristian didn’t do that.”

  “I am glad you realise it,” Ben said, trying to re-assert his authority. “Their right to survive was never in question.”

  Karl fixed him with impassive jewelled eyes. “Then would you like us to go, and leave you to it? How will you cope? You’ll have to take them out one by one to feed - assuming their first victim is not you. The process could take months. Perhaps you have the strength, Mr Grey, but looking at you, I doubt it. And if these creatures don’t kill you, we might. You may have the means to control us as you control Andrei - but do you really want to put it to the test?”

  Benedict hated Karl, because every word he said was true. He glared at him in frustration. Then he leaned on the wall and pushed a hand through his unwashed hair, sighing deeply. “You are correct, sir, and I don’t want to make an enemy of you. I have one powerful enemy, and that’s enough. I need help. I’d be grateful for your assistance.”

  “Our pleasure,” Katerina said archly.

  The three were close together in the doorway, excluding Ben. Seeing only each other. The change in Karl’s expression was striking; no longer hostile, he looked as tender as a lover. Ben watched in fascination and resentment as they whispered, caressing each other with an abandon no human displayed in public. An unholy trinity.

  He burned to break them apart, to re-establish his leadership. He persisted, “It must be understood that we work as a team.”

  “Benedict,” Andreas said mildly, “go to bed.”

  Ben felt chains of fatigue on him and decided to take this advice before he collapsed. In a softer tone he said, “Do me one favour
, Andreas. Go and find Holly.”

  * * *

  Holly woke with a jolt of shock, wondering what on earth she was doing in the shop, in darkness... Her neck ached and her right arm was numb from sleeping on the floor.

  Her heart sank as she remembered. At that moment, she became aware of someone standing over her. A thin black figure with a long, pallid face...

  With a gasp of terror, she sat up.

  “It’s me,” said Andreas’s voice. “Whatever are you doing here?”

  She crouched miserably over her knees, trying to rub life back into her arm. When she didn’t answer, he leaned down to help her to her feet. His face was close to hers, and in the dim glow of predawn she saw he was smiling.

  “Oh, God, have I been here all night?” she said, her mouth thick. “Has anything happened?”

  “Ben is all right. You look so worried, Holly, but there’s no need.”

  “And you look happy,” she said suspiciously. Being close to him was like being drugged by an exotic poppy. She fought the feeling.

  “Because my friends arrived last night.”

  “Friends?”

  “Katerina and Karl.”

  At that, her legs almost gave way. He helped her to a chair and she sat, fingers pressed to her face, unable to speak or breathe. He left her, and she heard him in the little kitchen at the back of the shop. Returning, he placed a glass of water in her hands.

  “What’s wrong?” he said. He was being so kind.

  “I - I tried to reach Raqia last night, and summon them. Your friends, I mean. But nothing happened - I thought - I can’t believe -”

  Andreas crouched beside her and stroked her knee, looking at her in wonder. “You brought them?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

  “But you must have done! Why else would they appear now? They’re helping Benedict with his guests, so the poor man can sleep. Did you know they would help?”

  “I hoped - but I was afraid I might make things worse.”

  “No, you did the right thing! Dearest Holly, how can I express my feelings? I’m in awe of you.”

  His gratitude embarrassed her. “Please don’t be. They may have heard Ben’s summoning, not mine. But if you think it was me -please don’t tell Ben!”

  “Why not? Might it dent his ego?”

  She smiled wanly. “That’s one reason. Besides, I’m in enough trouble already.” In her distress, she forgot what Andreas was; he became a simple, human friend. “Ben and I used to be close. I don’t know what went wrong. Now he’s fixated on higher beings, and he doesn’t see me any more. Lancelyn’s the same. Yet I still can’t believe Lancelyn is evil... I suppose it’s true, but I can’t accept it.”

  “The death of illusion,” he said, his cold breath brushing her cheek. Suddenly he hugged her, kissing her cheek and then her mouth, holding her tight in a paroxysm of emotion. Holly received the embrace with a shivering mixture of alarm and excitement. Then he drew back and looked at her. “Men are wicked, human and vampire alike; don’t let them make you so sad.”

  “I’m not sad, really,” she said, struggling to retrieve her composure. Andreas was so strange; as pernicious and falsely consoling as opium, and just as seductive. She needed to escape his influence. “Once I’ve combed my hair and had a cup of tea, I’ll be ready to face anything.”

  “Shall we go home?”

  “You go. There’s someone I must see.”

  * * *

  Benedict slept with the dreamless abandon of a child. When he woke, he found sunlight shining through the curtains, and Holly standing over him.

  “Ben!” she said. “Ben, are you ever going to wake up?”

  Gods, what a lovely sight. Her face was flushed, brown eyes shining, bobbed hair pushed untidily behind her ears. Not a statue animated by stolen energy, but pink and soft and alive.

  “Mm, m’awake.” He reached for her, but she stepped away.

  “Get up!”

  He pushed himself onto his elbows - then the memories came back. Her betrayal, and their house full of dangerous guests.

  “Maud’s downstairs. Please come and talk to her!”

  He dressed hurriedly, fully alert now, and ravenously hungry. “Where have you been?” he said. “You just walk out and disappear -”

  “Do you blame me, after the things you said? You didn’t come looking for me!”

  “How could I, when -” He stopped, and clasped her shoulder. “Look, Holly, no more angry words. Whatever our differences, let’s be calm about them. What do you say?”

  She lifted her chin. “Very well. But I didn’t take the Book! I - I spent the night at the shop, then I went to Maud’s lodgings first thing this morning.”

  “The shop? Where, on the floor? Good grief. Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “Perfectly. Let’s go downstairs and have breakfast in a civilised fashion.”

  They went onto the landing; the cottage was quiet. Ben noticed that the doors to the three guest bedrooms were shut; he glanced at the attic stairs, but saw nothing. “Did Andreas find you?”

  “Yes,” she said briskly. “Do you seriously think it’s a good idea to send vampires looking for your wife?”

  He drew a heavy breath of guilt, and made no reply.

  Maud was at the kitchen table, pouring cups of tea. “Hello, Mr Grey. There’s yours, two sugars. I thought I’d make myself useful.”

  “You always do. Thanks,” he said, draining the cup in a few swallows. Ah, the restorative power of tea. He studied Maud - fawn skirt and jumper, fawn hair brushed back from her almost-pretty face. The big spheres of her eyes and her prominent teeth gave her a look of breathless innocence; he couldn’t perceive any hint of guilt in her.

  Holly leaned towards Maud, resting the heels of her palms on the table edge. “Tell my husband what you told me. About the key.”

  The innocent eyes grew larger. “The older Mr Grey came into the shop one day and asked if you kept a house key in the office, and could he borrow it one afternoon. So we arranged a time and I took it to him.”

  “Did he give a reason?”

  “No. I thought it was all right because he is your brother.”

  Ben sank down on a chair and groaned. “Oh, God. So he came in and took the bloody Book himself.”

  Maud blinked. “Did I do something wrong, sir?”

  “Yes! No. You weren’t to know. He... borrowed something I didn’t want to lend him.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.”

  Holly went on glaring at Maud, not satisfied. “Didn’t it strike you as odd that he asked you instead of me? Did he offer you a reward?”

  “Holly, for heaven’s sake -”

  “How well do you know Lancelyn Grey?”

  “Look, drop it, will you?” Ben said. “Maud, did you know Lancelyn had a sinister motive?”

  She shuffled, adopting a wounded voice. “Of course not, Mr Grey.”

  “Right, that’s an end to it.” He stood up. “Go and open the shop, would you, Maud? Just carry on as normal. But if my brother approaches you again, you must let me know at once.”

  They saw Maud out. Closing the door behind her, Ben put his arms around Holly and they stood in the hallway, holding each other. “Holly, I’m so sorry. How could I doubt you?”

  Holly was unresponsive in his arms. “She’s not telling the truth.”

  “Well, what is the truth?”

  “I don’t know! I can’t be psychic to order! But how can you tell her to ‘carry on as normal’, after she helped Lancelyn break into our home?”

  “She didn’t mean to. I know she’s a little odd, but not sly. Darling, she’s just a simple girl who’d help anyone and never suspect any harm.”

  Holly seemed about to argue. Instead she relaxed and hugged him, her head on his shoulder. “You were a beast.”

  “I know, I behaved unforgivably,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  “You weren’t yourself. This is the effect the vampires are having, if y
ou could only see it! I’m frightened of what’s happening to us.”

  “Don’t be.” He kissed her glossy brown hair. “Come and talk. There’s a lot to tell you.”

  He led her into the parlour, pausing in shock as he saw Karl and Andreas sitting on opposite sides of the dead fire grate. They were silent, as if they weren’t there at all.

  Seeing Karl, Holly stared, pressing a hand to her chest. She uttered a faint, “Oh.”

  Her shock is understandable, Ben thought. He closed the door, and made introductions.

  “I am charmed to meet you, Mrs Grey,” said Karl. He took her hand but she froze and pulled away. Still glaring at him.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m finding it rather hard to be polite, when I know what you are. I find all of this... impossible.”

  “Sit down,” said Ben. “Where’s Katerina?”

  Karl answered, “We took the first one out after you’d gone to bed. He is doing well. Katerina’s sitting with him.”

  Ben saw the blood drain from Holly’s face. He took her hands and told her what had happened, as briefly as he could.

  “It won’t work, Ben.” she replied. “I’ve told you all along, this can’t work!”

  He felt such sympathy, affection and remorse that he would have done anything to reassure her; unfortunately, he feared she was right. “Love, I’d like you to go away for a while. It’s too dangerous for you here. Do you mind? You can go to your parents.”

  She looked less than thrilled at this suggestion.

  “For how long?”

  “Until it’s over.”

  Ben expected Holly to protest vehemently, but she didn’t react. Her eyes were gravid with unexpressed thoughts. Before he could press her, Andreas spoke. “Is no one interested in my adventures? I saw Lancelyn when you sent me to his house last night. I had no chance to take the Book, didn’t even see it. He was asleep, but three shadow figures set on me and almost killed me. All I saw of them were black shapes and silver fire, but their fangs and appetites were real enough. I don’t remember escaping, or how I ended up near the castle. If Karl and Katti hadn’t found me...”

  “Three shadows,” Benedict said grimly, “that drank your blood?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry to tell you this, my friend, but however terrible your vampires are, Lancelyn has something worse.”