by C. L. Quinn
“It is so exciting to show this site to vampires. Your race’s opinion is critical to accurately describe and log this find. Please, tell me anything that occurs to you, however trivial.”
Dez wore appropriate boots this time, compelled from a shop in town, and seemed to have some difficulty walking in the unfamiliar footwear.
“They didn’t have any of these with heels?”
“Extreme weather gear tends to be practical rather than fashionable.”
“Ugh. I can see one good reason not to linger in cold regions then. Zach, do we really need to do this?”
“You’ll find this fascinating, I guarantee it.”
Once more, Zach carefully made his way down the slick cold ladder into the crystalline world below. Feet on solid ground again, he reached up to help Dez off the ladder, and then Olivia next. Zip was above Olivia, but he jumped the last two steps, slipped on the icy surface for his trouble, but didn’t fall.
He grinned. “I think I prefer the clear blue sky below me rather than the earth’s core. Somehow, I’m convinced it’s safer to jump off a cliff than to climb down one.”
“It’s an adventure, right?” Zach patted Zip on the back with hearty thuds.
Nikolai, up ahead already, called back. “Come, children.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Zach grumbled. “This guy is hard to keep up with.”
The chamber opened up as they rounded the final wall of ice and the small group spread out. Olivia followed Dez as they automatically went toward the bodies locked in ice.
Olivia stepped up behind Dez. Together, they searched the forms beneath them.
“They’re embracing each other,” Dez said.
“They’re mates, aren’t they? Dez, look. Nik told me that he thought they had fangs, but I thought that he was mistaken. He isn’t, those are definitely fangs.”
Both women looked up simultaneously at Zach.
“Why is there a vampire graveyard here? It looks as if they died all at once, which is almost inconceivable. What are we seeing here?” Dez turned her inquiring eyes to Nikolai. “Scientist, tell me. What do you posit happened here?”
Nikolai shook his head and shrugged. “We are only beginning to study the site, so suppositions are only that. But judging from the fact that we have a total of five couples uncovered, all expired at what appears to be about the same time, all holding each other, so they died together, indicates perhaps a catastrophic illness.”
“No. Vampires don’t get sick.”
“There is no evidence of any other possibility. Yet. So you do concur, though, these are vampires? The fangs are not an odd anomaly in physiology?”
“These are vampires. Mated vampires, I assume. And we need to know what happened to them. Little human, you must stay on this task and report to us the moment you have any credible information.” Dez turned to Zach. “I need to advise Park.”
Zach agreed. “I’m new, so I couldn’t provide any timeline to Nik about vampire history. To your knowledge, then, you know of no time when vampires died en masse?”
“No, and I think that I would, given my recent history with…you know what I mean.”
Dez paused, her eyes moving around at the four people watching her. “This is a vampire grave. Humans have no business here.” She turned to Nikolai. “I’m sorry, but we need to keep this find within our small group and the vampire community.”
“I have several associates who have been involved with this find from the beginning. They will not step away.”
Dez lowered her head and commanded his gaze.
“You realize that we can take care of that?”
“I do, but I need their aid, their expertise. I cannot do this alone.”
“You’ll have help. What I mean is, if we can, we’ll find a way to keep you involved. No promises. The vampires will control this site and manage any humans put into place for research, then we will purge all memories of it before they leave the project. None of your findings can be published or released to those who fund this project, you understand.”
Nikolai stared back, then turned away to surge back into the corridor.
Olivia sighed. “You’re right, of course. Poor Nikolai. He was excited to bring us here to show us his great discovery only to have it ripped from him.”
“We’ll make sure that he is happy before we go. He’s really interested to find out more about vampire biology and he’s going to.” Zach walked away to find Nikolai and assure him that it would all be all right.
“This is huge, isn’t it, Dez?” Olivia leaned past Dez, her hand on Dez’s back. “Is that…?”
Both women dropped to get closer to one of the couples frozen together forever.
Olivia tapped Dez on the back. “Hey, yeah, there’s a necklace on this one.”
It wasn’t. Dez recognized it. It was a spirit amulet. It looked dormant, which made sense, the thing had been buried for centuries.
Her attention had been fully on the corpses when she realized that Olivia not only rested a hand on her back, but had leaned against her. Her skin felt hot, almost as if electricity passed between them.
Pushing away from Olivia, she noticed that Olivia looked at her strangely. “You are extraordinarily hot, vampirella.”
“I’ve been told that many times.”
Zip watched the exchange between the two vampire women. What he saw surprised him. From his vantage point behind them, when he saw Olivia lean over Dez, and touch her back, a slight glow began beneath her gloved fingers. What the hell? He had to be hallucinating in this hell-hole of a place. He’d spent a lot of time in cold places, but this deep beneath the surface, it was awful. His feet burned from the cold, even through his special edition heavily insulated boots. From the moment he’d been compelled to accept Zach’s vampire world, he’d been fascinated and confused. Even now, spending all of this time with three vampires, a phrase still played over and over in his head…vampires are real?
Zach hurried back into the chamber. “Nikolai is okay.”
“Did you compel him?” Olivia asked.
“No. He’s a bright man, he gets it. The disappointment is harsh, but he’ll be okay. Let’s get out of here and get back to pseudo-civilization, hot coffee, and booze.”
“I second that,” Zip groaned.
“Please. I have gone from 90 degrees to minus 5 in one day and my body, vampire or not, is not adjusting to that.”
Dez grabbed Zach’s arm and led him back to the ladder. Everyone followed quickly, Nikolai taking up the tail, his steps halting, his eyes worried.
“Whoo-hoo! To new friends,” Olivia killed three full shots of Irish whisky. Lowering the small glass, she walked over to Nikolai, seated by the fire, and threw an arm over his shoulder. “And to old ones.”
He tried to smile, but it was forced.
Olivia kissed Nikolai on the cheek. “My dear friend, I will take care of you. This is just a new journey, which is what life is all about.”
“I will still be able to study the graves in the ice-cave?”
Olivia shot a look at Zach and Dez. Hush, she sent to Dez.
“Absolutely. We just need to stay involved, but I know that you understand that. Drink with me, Nik. Where’s your vodka?”
The Russian scientist finally grinned and nodded, his jovial manner returning. Dez knew that Olivia had used the vampire skill of touch to impress relaxation to him. Highly effective on humans, she’d seen first bloods use it on vampires as well.
Returning her attention to Zach, she watched him drunkenly try to dance a waltz with Zip.
“Boys, with two lovely women here, why would you ever want to dance with each other?”
“Zip told me that he’s a skilled ballroom dancer. I wanted to test that claim. I have to admit, he isn’t bad.”
Olivia giggled. “Then I’ll take over, you poff. Get over there with your own lover.”
Dez shook her head as Zach disentangled himself from Zip. “I’m no dancer, you know that. I would recom
mend you stay with the sky king over there.”
Zach dropped beside Dez and pulled her into his lap.
“I have a tango in mind, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Zip or standing up.”
“Now you have my attention,” Dez whispered, and pushed him over to land hard against the wood floor. She took the opportunity to pin him there by straddling him.
“This is interesting. Are we going to have a free-for-all?” Olivia, now in Zip’s arms, paused and watched Dez and Zach.
“Nope,” Dez said, and a split second later, she and Zach were gone, leaving Olivia and the two human men alone in the room.
“Sigh. That could have been interesting.”
“I’m enough for you, little vampire lady,” Zip demanded, and swept Olivia into his arms to carry her to the top of the stairwell. “But, um, I’m afraid I’ll drop you if I try to carry you down these tiny stairs.”
“Meet you there, then,” she said, gone instantly like Zach and Dez.
Zip stayed at the top of the stairs a moment longer and wondered if he was really nothing more than a plaything to her. He was falling for this stunning woman, but he knew he was nothing as magnificent as these vampires. As he stepped off the last step, he paused and looked down the short hallway.
It was true, it had to be, he was nothing more than a quick fuck for the moment for someone as amazing as Olivia. And he’d better understand that he was damn lucky to even get that. This was the experience of a lifetime and he needed to be grateful and just live in the moment. Daredevils didn’t live for the future anyway, so this situation was just like a daring jump…grab the glory while you’re flying high.
Yeah, that was it. Get to the girl and take off.
Six
IN SOUTHERN FRANCE
Isolation was a bitch. Tiny room, small TV, food was okay, but too sparse. Burne buzzed for Baron again.
“Yes, miss?” his clipped voice came through the radio.
“Yeah, how much longer?”
“A few hours should do it.”
“You said that a few hours ago! Let me have a phone to call Park.”
“I will see that you get one. Please just stay calm. We’ll know soon if you are clear.”
Clear. Free of a virus that might kill vampires. Free to be with her friends and continue this special life that Park had given her. Clear.
Slowly lowering herself back to her bunk, Burne closed her eyes. Even in the “immortal” lives they lived, dangers still lurked that could take a vampire’s life. This she’d learned from that first moment when she lay bleeding out, dying, on a wood porch, her guts shredded. A soft heart had been the only thing that saved her life, and although she’d been forced from the life she’d built as a human, she’d been reborn to a new and better one.
Park’s guilt at being the reason Burne had been abducted and mauled had been deep until Burne convinced her that she was truly happy in this new life as vampire. Little Bernie Malone from Louisiana, sister to 6 outlaw brothers and an alcoholic, abusive father had a much grander life now. She wouldn’t change any event that led her to where she was now.
Looking around the tiny isolation cell she inhabited, she laughed. “Except for this stupid virus thing, that I’d change.”
A tray pushed through a slot in the door and Burne got up to see what was in it.
“The cell phone!” she whispered, and dialed Park.
“Hello?” Park’s soft voice came from the little box.
“Your hostess skills are lacking somewhat, lady. At least you could provide around the clock sweets if you’re going to lock up your guests!”
“Bernie! How are you feeling? And didn’t Baron give you the five boxes of Gillard Chocolatiers finest? Shame on Baron.”
“No, he’s really been fine. But I’m anxious to get out of here.”
“Sweetie, soon, I hope. I spoke to him a few minutes ago and he told me that he should have results in about an hour. I wish I could be there with you to hold your hand.”
“No. If I’m contagious, if I’m carrying this virus, you can’t risk it. Not with baby boy vampire on board. It’s just…this isn’t the reunion I hoped for.”
“Me too. Once you get the all clear, we’ll take a trip to Paris and do a little shopping, yeah?”
“Oh, deal! Vaz’s keep is in a village that literally carries only essentials. If I want a spot of decadent shopping, I have to hop his jet. It can be exhausting to keep myself amused. I love Vaz, you know that I do, but there are times I wish we could just relocate here with you guys in sunny France.”
“I would be ecstatic. You never know, times they are a-changing. I’m going to make sure that I place that order for chocolates. You should have them soon. Bernie, I have a call coming in from Dez in Siberia, I’d better see what she needs. See you in about an hour.”
“’Kay. ‘Bye.”
Park touched a button to accept the incoming call.
“Dez, hi! Did you find Zach?”
“Yeah. It has been an interesting visit so far. I really appreciate your help in locating him. The reason I called is to let you and the others know that we’re lodging with a human named Nikolai who is excavating an ice cave here at Lake Baikal. He’s found an underground burial chamber. It’s several thousand years old, and Park, the bones laid to rest there are those of vampires.”
“What?”
“I know, it shocked me too. It’s true, though. Lying side by side, in several sets of couples, mates, I assume, I counted at least four sets of skeletal remains, fangs apparent, and the most fascinating part is there are dormant or dead amulets like the one Tamesine gave me before I left Koen’s villa. I think you should come, Park.”
“Holy hell. Um, yeah, I agree. I want to. But we are dealing with another situation here that is of great concern. And then there’s the fact that I’m quite pregnant.”
“Yeah, I thought about that. I can field this, if you want, but I’m not really sure what I’m seeing or what is relevant.”
“No, Dez, a first blood should really be there. I’m going to send someone…”
Dez cut her off. “Not Tamesine. Please.”
“Dez, you’re going to have to accept her and speak with her eventually.”
“Ummm, but not for a while. Send someone, anyone, but not her.”
“Okay. Sure. Text your location and I’ll have someone out tonight. How’s it going with Zach?”
“Good. Better. I think… Park, I don’t know. It’s like we’re starting over.”
“That’s okay. You two fit well together before, you will again. You just have to relax and let him in.”
“I am. I think. I haven’t felt this good in years.”
“It’s worth it. So, I’ll send a first blood to you. Let yourself love, Dez. Open up your heart and you’ll know who it beats for.”
“Yeah.”
Park listened as the call disconnected. No goodbye from Dez, but that wasn’t a surprise. She’d never been good at social etiquette.
After a few seconds to mull over the possible impact of Dez’s news, Park dialed her phone again.
“Hi, how is everything in your neck of the woods?”
After she received a brisk answer, she smiled.
“Look, I know this is sudden, but I need you to go to Siberia.”
AT LAKE BAIKAL
“Wicked windstorm. Thank God we have plenty of food and booze!” Olivia was already bombed, Zip close behind, both lounging on the floor in front of the fireplace wrapped together in a plush blanket.
“This is brutal tonight. We must stay in.” Nikolai shook his head as he watched Zach, who stared out the window.
Zach looked back. “We can get to the car, the wind isn’t an issue.”
“No, this is too dangerous. I know that the conditions will not kill vampires, but you will suffer much if frostbite occurs. And we humans will simply die.”
Dez leaned out and touched Zach’s arm. “I’ll keep you occupied, handsome.”
“I did. She can’t come herself. Something’s going on in France, she didn’t say what, and then there’s the fact that she’s pregnant and doesn’t want to be crawling around a hole in the earth in a giant refrigerator. She’s sending someone, though. A first blood.”
“Who? And when?”
“I didn’t ask. Do you want to join me in our room?”
Zach dropped in front of Dez, stretched out on two of the wood chairs beside the table, and put his face into her lap. He nipped at a leather-encased thigh. “Very much. But I want to talk with Nikolai about the grave area a little more before the first blood arrives.”
A sigh escaped Dez as she pushed her chair back and gently shoved Zach off her with a stiletto heel.
“Fine. But I need to get out of these leathers and into something that breathes easier. I’ll be back.”
Glancing at her companions, Dez grabbed a bottle of red wine before she headed to the stairs.
After she disappeared, Zach dropped into one of her vacated chairs. “Nik, drink with me.”
“Da,” he said quietly. He was still processing how this whole thing was going down with the vampires, but he genuinely liked Zach.
“You must try my vodka.”
Zach smiled. “Deal. Bring two glasses.”
Olivia yawned. “Three, Nikki. Bring three.”
“Ah, hell, bring four,” Zip chimed in.
“You’re human. Mixing all that booze might have unfortunate consequences.”
“You’ll fix me, won’t you? Give me some of the magic blood?”
“Sweetie, I was planning to get a nice blood meal myself tonight.”
“Outstanding.”
For the second time tonight, Olivia giggled like a schoolgirl. It wasn’t like her to giggle, and she knew that, even as drunk as she was, but she felt sort of giddy. Trapped in this wonderful warm cabin on an inhospitable night with friends and a new lover that surprised her by how close she’d gotten to him already, she felt serene and more content than she had in centuries. Perhaps ever. While she was proud of her independence, it could be lonely being alone all the time. Tonight, she glowed in the company of people she thought that she could love.
