Beth's parents hadn’t mocked her though she knew it worried them. She had caught the whispers at night when her name was mentioned. Looking back she could see that her mother's strange gifts had made it easier for them to accept that Beth might be a little different. Her mother was a human yet not, she was strong, incredibly strong, she was immune to magic, had the ability to feel what others felt, and had used these gifts in her previous job as a police officer.
In fact her mom was someone Beth aspired to equal; she was a terrific role model and continued to offer her children a fantastic childhood. This left Beth with the question of, why Vlad had allowed Talia to come into his house, uninvited. Maybe they had been lovers although just the thought of that made Beth boil inside, oh god what if they were still lovers? Surely she would have known this already she had never seen him with a woman, and Vlad honestly didn’t seem to like her. Neither did anyone else, Beth was certain Vlad had better taste than Talia.
"Beth will you please take Vlads advice and stay here at night?"
"Since when did you start asking, and stop telling?" His grin in turn made her grin.
It might have been a teasing question, but she had a point. Ben stood to leave the table, laughing as he rose.
"A few things, initially your mom spent some time reminding me of your age, that didn’t work. Until my dad pointed out all of the times he told me what not to do, which I promptly ignored. Therefore, I am taking a new tact by asking you. You are my test study; if it works I will try it with your sisters and brothers."
He kissed her in the top of her head as he headed out of the room.
"Ben," He stopped turning to offer her a sleepy smile. "Thank you and I will follow yours and Vlad’s rules, for now. Listen to me; it looks like the new you gets better results."
Chapter 14
Vlad was tired, and just a little irritated. Talia has been there for nearly a week and so far showed no signs of leaving. She had proceeded to wander the house, annoying his staff and getting in his way. He had made several calls to France and not one had been returned. Edwardo must be majorly pissed; he didn’t normally ignore his calls. Vlad made contact with Edwardo every now and then, as the head of Vampire fraction in France, it was advantageous for Vlad to maintain strong relationships, but more than that he was able to keep abreast of Talia's whereabouts.
Rubbing his temples he felt tired and weary, almost drained which was odd for any vampire even more so for one as old as him. As Albert brought him his evening blood he stretched up trying to rid himself of the achy feeling. With his arms stretched high he was overcome by the urge to vomit, something that hadn’t happened in a millennia. Taking the glass he went to shower again, hoping to perk up before the staff meeting.
Donning his clothes he looked in the mirror, noting the bags under his eyes; the tiredness reflected back at him, he had never felt this way before. His pallor always pale looked almost deathly.
It was obvious at the staff meeting, that all of his Elite Warriors were tired; they had been working extra hours increasing the security in the house. Imogen had been here a lot and she needed to go home, the twins needed her.
He smiled when he thought of Liza and Lewis, who were the half siblings of Imogen's mate Theo. Unlike Theo who was a wolf like his father, they were vampires like their birth father. Birth born vampires were incredibly rare and developed into exceedingly strong and talented. Imogen undoubtedly needed to spend more time at home with the twins, especially now that Vlad would be unable to continue teaching them.
Every week he had a session with them, aimed at teaching them to harvest their talents. But he would not risk Talia seeing them, who knew what she would do to them. She could see them as a risk and hurt them, or she could see them as talented and want them. Neither one was acceptable. Imogen however was a hybrid, attacked by Vampires who accidentally turned her at the same time she mated to a wolf, and the result was elements of both species in her. Talia seemed unconcerned by Imogen, seeing no threat in her, this was Talia's mistake. Although very young, the mixture of species had created a super being in Imogen. There was a reason other vampires called her the White Assassin. Either way she needed to go home.
Ice wasn’t happy; he was convinced Talia was up to no good. Vlad didn’t THINK she was he KNEW she was but they needed to work out what she was up to. Right now she was behaving, being sweet to everyone yet Vlad wasn’t fooled.
After the staff meeting, Vlad checked on his reports from Beth before going back to bed for a while. She was doing exceptionally well in the offices; the reports were of a high standard, the managers and employers enjoyed Beth's visits as well as the extra support she offered. Already he could feel the difference with her not being in his house. It felt gloomier without her cheerful demeanour, and Albert missed her sunshine outlook. The Elite hated having to go back to being his PA, his business acquaintances were complaining at not being able to speak to her, and her filing system had worked wonders in saving him time.
It was not having her there across the hall from him that he struggled with; he missed seeing that smiling face, he missed hearing her melodic tone. By the end of the staff meeting he felt worse, he was hot and cold simultaneously, with a constant pounding at the back of his head.
Hearing her heels on the carpet he braced himself; he knew she was heading his way. Talia had been the constant thorn in his side for all of his vampire years. He did have a lot to thank her for, he would not have been the man he was today without her influence.
"Vlad darling, I was thinking that you really ought to take a night off and show me the town. I am starting to feel bored, and you know that when I am bored I have to find my own entertainment."
Didn’t he just know it, never the less he had no intention of showing her anything? Even when she was running her finger down the side of his neck he felt nothing better than a cringe. The total opposite to what Beth made him feel.
"Unfortunately I am unable to at the moment, you know how it is. Business doesn’t take care of itself. You have Ice and Shaun at your disposal." He watched her pout and then just as quickly, she tried to use what he knew was her seductive pose, a look he knew all too well, one that had no effect on him, anymore.
"Ah Shaun is acceptable, him I can deal with. Ice, on the other hand spoils all of my fun, with his brooding looks and awful manners; I don’t know why you keep him around. In fact I have wondered if you send them out with me just to stop my fun."
If only Talia knew how true that was.
"Would I Talia, no I send them to watch over you. Although, if you were to commit some sort of serious faux pas in my city, I would have to uphold the vampire laws. I mean how would it look, allowing you to break the laws that would normally result in punishment to others?" As he watched her laughter, he had to question how she had managed to hold him for two centuries. Unfortunately he knew the answer to that; he had been a different person then, a remarkably different person.
"You seem to forget that when you own the city, you get to make your own rules Vlad darling."
"I think you forget that I do not own the city, I merely lead the vampires. So very different I assure you." She had taken a seat opposite him thankfully the desk separated them.
Looking at her objectively, he was surprised to see how right Beth was. Before, he had always thought that Talia had retained a timeless attractiveness. But looking at her now, wearing a long black gown, that was low cut and most obviously requiring a corset, he realised that she had remained in a century long past. Her makeup that used to make her complexion appear healthy and flawless, now looked thick and heavy. Talia lacked the finesse, and elegance that Beth managed to achieve effortlessly.
"I tried so hard to teach you Vlad, I think that's why I keep coming back to you. All of my others have been malleable, but not you. You were like a rebellious child and every couple of centuries I feel the need to check on you, see how much humanity you still have left. You have proved such a disappointment yet such a chall
enge. When will you learn, if the vampires unite we can rule the world make it our own." He had heard this conversation so many times, why she thought he would ever give her a different response he did not know.
"And yet again I ask why we need to rule the world; no I don’t need the answer, this conversation reminds me of a child on a merry go round. Now if you will excuse me, I need to make some phone calls and deal with my business affairs."
Rather than taking the hint and leaving she remained seated. "Considering this blonde female is supposed to be your right hand, she does not seem to be needed. In fact why don’t I help you, I am sure it would be fascinating to learn more about your affairs. It seems you have made a rather large name for yourself. I keep trying to convince Edwardo to buy me one of your signature pieces, but alas he is so uncultured."
The thought of having Talia helping him brought on an involuntary shiver, and every night she asked about Beth. He also knew from his Elite, that she had approached each of them and tried to elicit information about Beth. It hadn’t helped her, all of his Elite were loyal to him therefore they were loyal to Beth. Imogen had been openly rude to Talia when she had approached her, which prompted Talia to demand he fire her. This had prompted Talia to threaten Imogen, Vlad was immensely proud of Imogen who, rather than retaliating she had taken the threat. He had no qualms that if needed, Imogen would prove a strong adversary to Talia.
Vlad ignored Talia's attempts to continue engaging him in conversation. Ploughing through Beth's latest reports Talia finally left, he sat back closing his eyes. Could vampires get sick? Ice had once suffered with illness, but that had been after ingesting some sort of blood borne virus. Tonight, Vlad felt as if he had the flu. Not that he remembered flu, at his age how would he? He finished his blood just as Albert entered.
"Sir I thought you might like to know that she has left. Shaun and Ice are with her. However, she has left her animals here."
Vlad reinterpreted this as, Talia had left the house, but her vampires had remained. Albert refused to call her by any name and referred to her vampires as animals. Rightly so, Vlad had seen the way they looked at Albert. Thank the gods Talia was going out tonight he had been waiting for her to leave.
As much as he wanted to go to bed he needed to make the most of her absence. Focussing his thoughts on her men, he teleported into the gym where they were training. Landing at the back of the room they didn’t notice him arrive, but Imogen did. She had been watching them at the door, her eyes slid to his and with a nod of her head, she slipped into the room. Vlad had ordered that they be watched at all times.
The gym was large, set in a rectangle shape, containing all of the equipment his Elite would need. There was also a boxing ring and a full length swimming pool just outside of the gym.
Again Talia's men didn’t notice Imogen, such sloppiness; he would not tolerate it in his men. It wasn’t hard to listen in to them, in their arrogance they didn’t bother to lower their voices. This would have been helpful, had they been talking about anything interesting. Who has the biggest bicep was not interesting, nor was it helpful to them. Then the discussion moved to Imogen.
"I bet the one with the white hair is an animal in the sack." He watched her face, prior to being turned Imogen had been kidnapped and sold into the sex trade. Vlad knew she wouldn’t take this well. She shook her head at him telling him not to react. Taking his cue from her, he waited as did she.
"Talia already promised that I can have her first, you can have seconds."
"Shit no, I had seconds last time. By the time you finish with them there is nothing left, they can't even cry out."
Vlad watched her step forward, he knew what was coming and had no doubt that it would be them crying out.
"Talking about me fellas I feel left out, care to fill me in." She walked slowly and surely towards them, the gym was large enough to allow twenty people to work out in comfort giving Imogen time. Leaning against a cross trainer she smiled, her long white hair tied in a plait, her thin frame giving the impression of weakness. Imogen was far from weak; one of them started walking towards her, arrogance in his swagger, blue eyes trained on her petite yet voluptuous figure.
"I was just thinking that you need a good fucking. It would help loosen some of that tension from your body." Wearing a pair of shorts and runners, the sick smile on his face was directed towards Imogen.
They still failed to note his presence. "I don’t think so; you are so not my type, too puny for me." She goaded him waiting for a reaction. Vlad guessed that they were five hundred years old at the most; she would barely break a sweat, even with two of them.
Grabbing his crotch he answered.
"There is nothing puny about this baby." Vlad watched as the other circle behind her, Imogen acting as if she hadn’t noticed him move.
He saw Julian look in through the door immediately seeing him. Vlad shook his head, and Julian moved to the side so he couldn’t be seen. Vlad had however, noticed the grin on Julian’s face before he moved.
"I don’t know who told you that, but they lied. I tell you what; if you or your friend can get me to the floor I am all yours. But let me just warn you if you do my man will come and rip you into small pieces, if you don’t I will hurt you both. What do you think? Either way you hurt, now are you man enough?" What idiots, neither of them thought about it or considered why a single female would offer herself on a plate.
"Agreed, but when we get YOU to the floor, you need to know that it will hurt and hurt bad. It's how I like it." He was grinning, his erection was evident.
Both were now circling her, instinct made him want to step forward out of the shadows. He didn’t, knowing Imogen would not appreciate it, but Julian discreetly slipped into the room also grinning. Vlad saw two more of his Elite arrive and watch. Talia's men had pissed them all off since their arrival, they too would enjoy this.
Imogen stood in the middle of them waiting for them to make a move. They would move before she did, he saw her eyes close and waited for the impending pain. The first moved forward from behind her, he went to grab her hair and pull it backwards, but she had moved before he made contact. She was already over the far side of the room, lifting her head she smiled in triumph. The other man ran at her, she ran to meet him in the middle delivering a round house to the side of his head.
Vlad heard the impact from where he was watching as she threw her fist into his nose, the ensuing crunch and roar of pain announced the broken nose. His friend came at her from the side, as he lifted his fist to hit her Vlad watched in amusement as he suddenly lost the ability to move.
One of Imogen's more impressive moves was the ability to paralyse a person. Initially she had only been able to use it when she was scared. However as she trained and developed it had become something that she could use at will.
Imogen left him there waiting as though he were a statue, while she kicked the other man in the stomach. Vlad slipped to the side as the man hit the wall exactly where he had been standing. The impact he noted had resulted in a large crack, in the wall, it was worth it. He fell to the floor but Imogen hadn’t finished, pulling him up by the hair, she pulled the stake from her boot placing it against his heart, slowly she started pushing it in. The woman was ruthless when it came to men like these, men who obviously enjoyed causing women pain.
The other man tried to flail his arms, she had him immobilised and partially let him go, his face twisted in fear of death and pain.
"This is how easy it would be for me to end you, but I won't. You see I don’t need to kill you, my man will and he will keep you alive while he takes you apart bit by bit. If you attempt to hurt any female while you are here whether they are human, vampire or any other species, I will come after you both and this will be my version of foreplay. I can make this a lot slower, believe me."
He nodded yet she didn’t release him, she did release his friend who came running at her fast and hard; standing still she turned at the last minute, and slammed her hand into his
shoulder joint. Even Vlad cringed at the crunch of the dislocation, the man's pain was deafening. Maybe now it was time for him to step forward. As Vlad made his presence known, at least six of his Elite Warrior's also stepped into the room; clapping his hands as he moved forwards.
"My congratulations gentlemen, not many people leave the White Assassins presence alive. Although from my viewpoint it was her choice to leave you alive, for now. I am not sure whether I pity your future pain, or whether like Imogen I would revel in it. This is just a taste of what awaits you whilst in my City. I personally would leave now, while you can."
The one with the dislocated shoulder answered, his voice strained as he tried to pop his shoulder back into place. "We can't, she will kill us."
Vlad had no sympathy for them, clearly they like inflicting pain.
"Well in that case, treat this as a warning. Do not harm any of the people in my employ, or in my city. What Imogen can do to you is nothing compared to what I can and will do. Believe me, I have no remorse and will kill you. If any harm befalls any person in this house or this city, whether accidental or not. I will send my Elite in first to show you what true pain is and then I will finish you off."
It wasn’t the words that made them wince in pain; it was the momentary pain that lanced through their brains. The tiny pressure Vlad placed in their brain sent a wave of agony through them, he could literally take the brain and expand it to the point that it ripped through your entire body, the pressure setting off the nerve endings. With enough pressure the brain exploded resulting in death, but before the explosion there were no words to describe the agony. It was not a pleasant way to die and Vlad had given them the smallest taste of what could happen to them. The point had been made and with a few words to Imogen he dematerialised, to materialise in his bed room where Albert was waiting for him.
Two Halves of a A Vampires Soul (The Silver Series) Page 8
