She arranged herself on the bed, lying on her side with her head resting in the hand propped on her elbow. Using her other hand she pulled the slip higher, showing just a hint of the supposed delights under the slip. Looking round Beth could not see what the show was for, that was until Vlad walked past.
If she could have whistled she would have, gone were the wild animal eyes; in his place was a groomed man in control. Ah now she understood Talia's rush to display herself, she had lost control of Vlad.
"Good evening my stunning apprentice." Vlad stopped at her voice, turning he didn’t even glimpse at what she was offering.
"Talia what do you want?" There was a frustration in his voice along with a little boredom. Beth liked this scene; so far it had to be her favourite. Talia stood and moved towards him sliding her hands down his breeches she cupped him.
"I want this, I want you. What happened in Africa darling? Since we left things haven’t been the same, I miss you."
She could actually see Vlad running the scene in his mind. He had indeed found the basement with the prisoners; he had killed each one of them in an effort to save them from her spell, and his fate. From there they had made their way to England, what Beth didn’t understand was why they were still together.
"Surely you have needs that I can meet for you. Darling we used to have so much fun together, now we don’t even feed together. I am bored, you leave me to be alone every night, to go god knows where? You leave me no choice but to find a play mate."
Beth was shocked to see Vlad grab her round the throat.
"I warned you Talia, I would not tolerate you turning another person, if you do I will kill you. Unlike you, I will not miss the life you have made for me." The ice in his tone chilled Beth, but not Talia. Her eyes bulged in excitement.
"I am lonely." From her vantage point she could now see waves coming from Talia, something she had never seen before, but clearly something Vlad had.
"Don’t bother Talia, your seduction no longer works on me."
Her surprise was visible. "Oh yes I know all about your special gifts. Unluckily for you, they don’t work on other species just humans and those turned by you. Well almost all turned by you, I am now the exception. The other thing you may want to know is that if you stop trying to bond with me while I sleep, I may indeed sleep better and rise in a more amiable mood."
Talia purred. "But darling we were meant to be together, rule the world together. If you just keep refusing then I just have to try using more underhand methods." He pushed her hands away.
"I will return with blood for you, but you will remain in here."
Vlad was pleased to see the droop in her demeanour, the unwilling acceptance. Beth wasn’t, it was too easy. When Vlad left she expected to follow him instead she remained with Talia who watched from the window as he left. Hurrying to dress she left shortly afterwards taking Beth with her. This time they arrived at a bar, well Beth supposed they were called taverns in those days.
Talia wandered through, enjoying the admiring glances. As the men and women flocked to her, Beth again saw the waves emanating from Talia. Looking around at her growing crowd Talia scanned and focused on a male. He was a tall broad, man, with long black hair hanging loose, his green eyes, glinting at being noticed by Talia. Beth could see the man trying to get through the crowd, he didn’t need to bother. Talia parted the crowd, by lifting her hands like Moses parting the Red Sea. Walking to the man she kissed him hard, before beckoning for him to follow her.
Just as they opened the door to leave an over made up women walked in. With her long brown hair in ringlets, and her breasts almost bursting from the seams, Talia couldn’t help but notice her. As the two looked at each other, the waves from Talia started projecting again and the woman also followed.
Rather than returning to the house, they made their way to a smaller house on the edge of the town. When they entered, Talia turned to the woman; walking up to her she lifted her hand and pulled the bodice, freeing her breasts. Rather than stepping back and maybe slapping her, Beth saw the look of lust in the woman's eyes. This increased when Talia leaned forward to take a nipple in to her mouth. The man stood in rapture watching the scene play out. His eyes bulged as he moved forward to join them. Talia pulled him forward to kiss the woman while she stood and watched them in turn.
Beth was watching with a disconnected sense of reality, as the man unlaced Talias bodice. She slipped her own gown off, and moved to remove the man's clothing. Thankfully the scene sped up somewhat although Beth was still unfortunate enough to see Talia kiss the woman, as the man dropped to his knees, and kissed the juncture between Talia's legs. As she moaned in pleasure, she pulled him off, separating herself from him. Pushing him onto the table she mounted him and the woman joined them, using her hands to increase Talia's pleasure.
Beth blessed all of the gods and goddesses, when the scene sped dramatically; finally they finished with their little ménage a trois. At the end Talia made a cut on her hand, feeding each of them a little of her own blood before whispering what Beth assumed was the address she shared with Vlad.
"Tomorrow evening, after dark you will both be waiting for the man that leaves this address. You will follow him to see where he goes, you must then return to the address to inform me. Do not be seen and do not approach him."
Eagerly nodding, Talia left them leaving the crowd gazing after her in ecstasy as she departed. By the time Vlad returned, she was sat in a lounge room reading a book by the fire. What a load of shit, Beth wanted to scream at him but the only person that would hear her was herself.
"I agree." Startled she jumped backwards, to see the oriental man who had approached Vlad in Africa. He could see her here in this room.
"Yes I can, and I share your frustration." He was taller now that he was stood beside her. His hair was longer than when she had watched him with Vlad.
"I am Xin, and I am now to join you in your dream travels." He was dressed in white leather pants and no top, he had gold bands around his wrists. She had seen these before but her brain just wouldn’t touch on the where.
"Why?"
"I can fill in the missing pieces as we go along." They both watched on, while Talia continued to try and engage Vlad in conversation. He looked tired, his eyes dark and drawn.
"Do not worry, he is fine just physically exhausted."
When Talia tried yet again to draw Vlad into conversation, he ignored her. He left the room briefly, and returned with a man who just looked mean and nasty. The man was struggling until he saw Talia, at which point he tried to turn on the charm.
"Do what you like with this one, drain him dry and do humanity a kindness." Vlad closed the door and left.
"I would want to keep you and control you, only if I do he will only finish you off."
"You have no hope in controlling me, but let's see if you like my kind of pleasure."
Beth and now Xin breathed a sigh of relief when the scene skipped their sexual encounter.
"Thank the gods we don’t have to see that torture." Beth agreed with Xin. But both watched as Talia did indeed drain him dry after she had used his body.
"She's…she's an animal. She cares nothing for human life." Beth gagged as she watched the man's life force leave him, she didn’t feel for him. Vlad had done the world a favour that much she could see but Talia was a monster.
"Whilst I agree, do not concern yourself with him. You see by this time Vlad has learned a lot about both himself and Talia. That man has spent several years torturing and mutilating woman, the city of London has lived in fear of him for several years. As much as Talia believes that Vlad has changed, she revels in the knowledge that every evening he brings her a man to drain. What she does not realise is that each of these men are a blight in the existence of humans."
"Why is he still with her?" It was the one question truly plaguing her. If he despised her so why did he still live with her?
Talia was licking her lips, as Vlad came back into the room
. Without saying a word he lifted the now dead body of the man and left the room. Sated physically and sexually, Talia lay back against the chair with a sick smile on her face. But when Beth looked at Vlad digging a hole for the man, she saw nothing but immense loneliness.
"I think you need to look at things differently. If she was left without a guard which is what he became, she would have been able to cause untold pain. She has always roamed free, destroying life until that one fateful night in Russia a little over 200 years ago."
"But Vlad does not know what she is doing behind his back." She felt like Talia was taking advantage of him, deceiving him, which she was.
"He does and he doesn’t. At the moment he is gaining in strength, already she has started to fear him. She knows his skills are developing, but as of yet she does not quite know what these developments are."
This time when the scene stopped she was in a house with a young woman. Although a hovel, the house contained many herbs and what looked like bones from animals. The long black hair on the woman seemed almost unreal, her eyes the deepest brown. As the door opened Talia entered.
"Back already."
Talia stared at the woman, silhouetted against the dark of the night; Talia looked almost evil, what with her red eyes. The other woman was not concerned showing no fear.
"Your potions do not work. Every morning I perform the ritual and every evening he knows, yet still no bonding. Now I give you one more chance."
"His will is strong, try this one. But this time he needs to ingest it."
Without another word, Talia left. This night on his return Talia waited until he was resting the sleep of the dead. Slipping into the basement room, she opened his lips the tiniest way. Tipping several drops onto his lips she waited. Giving it a while to take effect she proceeded to slice at her palm and then his. Holding their hands together she uttered the bonding words. As she came to the last line, Vlad's eyes opened wide. With a start he pulled his hand away from hers, watching with astonishment as his blood dripped to the bed.
"What are you doing woman?" Running his tongue over his lips his brow creased as Talia went to grab his hand again. Jumping away from her, he stared.
"How dare you, what are you doing? What did you give me?" The scene suddenly ended.
Beth wanted to believe that she was different. What she had done was different to what Talia had done. She had bonded to him to save him; with a sigh she finally understood why he was angry. Neither she nor Talia had given him a choice.
The scene moved forward initially too fast for her to see, but as it slowed she could see they were in the same house, and Vlad was just leaving. This time they followed Vlad to a large empty Manor, where he met Xin. Beth turned to smile at Xin as they watched together; this time Xin had provided chairs and popcorn. He laughed when she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hey what is the point of me being here with you, if I can't make the journey more appetising?" She laughed and sat to watch Vlad and Xin train. She was mesmerised by the strength in the two of them, wearing just their breeches the sweat started to form on their bodies, glistening in the harsh light. Beth couldn’t look away from Vlad, as Xin showed him a set of moves and forced Vlads body to perform it over, and again.
"Ah if only the look of lust in your eyes was aimed at me, I would die a happy man." Beth laughed at Xins gentle goading. And then she watched Vlad slip to the floor with a look of pure concentration, Xin talking gently behind him. Within minutes Vlad started slipping in and out of the room, beads of sweat forming on his face every time he returned.
"You, you taught him to teleport."
"Of course I did. No I jest he already knew how to teleport. I taught him how to control it, and do it with grace. You didn’t think it just popped into his head did you?" Trying unsuccessfully to smother a giggle, Xin playfully nudged her in the ribs.
As their lessons for the night ended the men relaxed, playfully taunting each other before Vlad left the manor, after shaking hands with Xin. They had clearly formed a close relationship. Maybe Xin provided that link of friendship that Vlad had needed.
The scene again changed this time back to the house where Talia was, she had the male and female with her.
"My faithful servants I thank you for your information. Tonight you may return home, I will come for you on the morrow."
Talia left after them making her way straight to the manor. She arrived just in time to watch the performance through the far window, her eyes widening in shock and fear at Vlad teleporting. Beth watched as Vlad left, her heart beating rapidly when he exited waiting for an explosion that never came. Looking at Xin confused, he smiled without turning his gaze from the scene in front of him.
"Vlad had recently found a young orphan female living on the streets. He had found her room and board with a local woman; the only problem was that the woman walked the streets at night to make a living. So every evening, Vlad went to the house where the child was left alone just to make sure she was safe. And every evening he left a coin for the woman before he returned to his training. A sweet child with hair of ebony and a will of iron, Florence grew up to be a woman who inspired millions, never realising that there was a man in her background looking out for her. On this night he left to carry out his errand, but he will return."
Turning back to the scene, she watched as Xin looked up to the window. "Good evening Talia." Oh Gods please don’t say Xin betrayed him, please no.
"Of course I didn’t, by this time we had spent over one hundred years training and conspiring against Talia. I was never blessed with children but watching Vlad develop is very much how a parent feels, I would imagine. To this day I have never met a better man than him."
As Talia entered the room her footsteps were almost hesitant, until she saw Xin sat on the floor eyes closed, and perceived him to be of no danger to her.
"It is you who has taken my beau from me, for what purpose? Who are you?"
Xin was seated on the floor, still minus his top and Talia looked appreciatively at him, he stood to meet her never once opening his eyes.
"It is you who has taken him from you; he is destined for more than you. And me, why I train him is simple, to defeat you. My name is Xin."
Her laugh was like that of a witch a high pitched cackle. "You fool, you know nothing. I am his sire he cannot kill me."
"He has no need to kill you, incapacitating you will eventually cause your demise. Do not worry, our training will continue long after you and I are gone. His destiny has a bright smile and a good heart. She is so unlike you, not only is she his destiny, she is yours."
With a look of disgust on her face, Talia pulled a sword from her cloak. With no hesitation she swung it up and across, decapitating Xin before turning and fleeing. It was as if she had known Vlad would return. As the head rolled away from the body Beth cried out and rushed forward. She tried to grab Xin's head, but she had no substance, the tears streaming, she cried as Xin pulled her into him.
"Hush little one look at me. I am here no, with you now." His gentle smile eased her somewhat yet did not answer the questions running through her head.
"But you let her you were stronger than her, and you let her do that. You could have killed her, why didn’t you?"
"Ah, if I had done that then Vlads life would have taken a different turn. He would have followed a different path, Talia would have been gone, and he would be no more. Then when it was time for him to meet the love of his life, you, it would have been too late."
Wiping her eyes, she looked at Xin in disbelief. "So he had to suffer for centuries just to meet me."
Putting his arm around her shoulders, Xin squeezed her close.
"No Beth, not just to meet you, but to really meet YOU. You are the person who can make him whole again. And if ever a man deserves it, it is him."
They both turned at the roar of anguish, Beth watched in horror as Vlad returned. He dropped to his knees at the scene in front of him. The pain in the roar was enough to make her go
to rush to him, his anguish was heart breaking. Even though couldn’t touch him, she could be with him in his grief. Vlad stayed crying in that large empty Manor, for what remained of the night. As dawn broke, she watched as Vlad lifted Xin and carried him outside for the sun to claim. His pain was raw and she ached to comfort him, her chest hurt, her eyes stung.
"I will kill her instead." Beth was determined.
Shaking his head Xin warned her. "If you do that the battle will begin early, and precious lives that will be needed in the future will be lost."
"So she can fuck everyone over and destroy the man that I love and I can do nothing."
With a dip of his head Xin confirmed her fears. SHIT.
Taking something from round his neck Xin handed her a necklace. The chain was a piece of leather with a startling blue green crystal hanging from it; the colour was that of the clearest sea. Xin handed it to her.
"This will stop you from becoming a victim to the powers of vampires, including Vlads." She was about to ask why she needed to stop Vlads powers, but when she looked up he was gone.
Turning back to the scene Vlad stepped out of the door, she ran after him fearing he too would join Xin in his final journey. In her head she knew he hadn’t, otherwise she would not have met him. But in her heart, she knew that he had wanted to. He also knew that this was Talia's work, he didn’t know how she had found out about Xin but she had.
He watched from the shadows as the sun consumed his friend, as Xins body turned to ash, Vlad let out a roar that rattled the old manor and pierced Beth's heart. She was crying with him, wanting nothing more than to comfort him.
Chapter 30
Vlad couldn’t rest his mind kept centring on Beth. He hadn’t seen her after she left him in the ball room, and sadly this had disappointed him. He had tried working out in the gym; he had been for a swim and spent time reading but still no rest. Slipping through the adjoining bathroom, he entered her room thankful she had left the door unlocked.
He just wanted to see her, to make sure she was okay. From across the room he could see her in the bed, safe and well. But still he stepped forward taking one step and then another, until he was stood looking at her sleeping form.
Two Halves of a A Vampires Soul (The Silver Series) Page 17
