Forty-one Vampires were separated into several smaller groups. Four males, including Drago, stood in front of a huge fireplace that sent out heat across the room. Vampires are impervious to weather and temperature changes, so I guessed it was for effect. Maybe nostalgia for once-human beings.
Females clustered together on blue velvet parlor furniture to my right on the edge of the ballroom. A love seat, rocker, settee, and several armchairs. More small groups of Vampires were holding discussions around the ballroom.
A waiter served appetizers that looked like different kinds of bloody meat on the end of toothpicks that had colorful frilly tops. Gross. I preferred my meat char-burnt. Those little hors d’oeuvres were enough to turn my stomach.
Another waiter bore a tray of blood-red cocktails. I wanted to heave when I realized that he wasn’t serving just synthetic blood cocktails—real blood was in the crystal glasses.
I shuddered and looked away. Unfortunately just about every Vampire was holding and drinking from one of the cocktail glasses, and eating the raw meat for appetizers.
Of the many groups gathered around the ballroom floor, I wasn’t sure which one to eavesdrop on first. Drago and the males at the fireplace seemed as good a place as any to start, despite the fact I really didn’t want to be anywhere near the Master.
I stayed where I was but mentally focused on the four Vampires. My air element helped bring their words to me, making it easy to hear them from across the room.
“Danut is missing,” one of the Vampires said before he took a sip of his blood cocktail.
Drago frowned. “Perhaps he is simply running late as Volod was.”
A Vampire turned his head a bit. It was Chuck. “I saw Danut go down,” Chuck said. “But he got to his feet again.”
“He’s always one of the first to return,” the fourth Vampire said.
“Give him time.” Drago drew a cigar out of an inside pocket of his leather jacket. He leaned down and lit the end of the cigar in the fireplace, then put the cigar to his lips. He drew in a lungful, then sent puffs of smoke into Chuck’s face. “Why didn’t you back up Danut?”
“I was fighting one of the Trackers,” Chuck said with a touch of nervousness in his voice that hadn’t been there before. “That blue-haired Tracker. I was sure Danut had the Tracker he was fighting under control.”
“He’s Volod’s brother,” one of the other Vamps said. “If he’s dead, so are you.”
“Hey, man.” Chuck swallowed. “Danut was on his feet and like I said, I was fighting another Tracker.”
The other Vamp who’d spoken just shook his head, indicating that Chuck should have backed up Danut if he wanted to keep his life. Chuck looked as queasy as I felt at that moment.
A beautiful redheaded Vampire was speaking to the blond female who’d been with Drago. Luxurious red hair was swept up in a smooth chignon, complimenting the female’s high cheekbones and her slender neck.
The redhead was pale like all Vampires, but it looked good on her, as if she was royalty who kept her fair skin always safe from the sun’s rays. Her emerald green taffeta gown hugged her slim figure, clinging to her body from her breasts to her three-hundred-dollar sandals.
What caught my attention, though, was the anger in her voice. As I looked directly at her, her green eyes captured me. Like Drago’s, her eyes were fierce, intense, and almost hypnotizing.
Perhaps she was related to Drago, but, whatever the case, she was stunning—and dangerous. It radiated from her in a heated blast.
The redhead had her hand on one hip and fury blazed from her red lips. “The blue-haired Tracker,” the female Vampire said. “Chuck said she’s the one who killed my cousin Teresa.”
Considering I’d only killed one female Vampire tonight I knew exactly who she was talking about.
The blond, Jennifer, held her hand to her chest, horror on her features. “Teresa? She’s gone, Elizabeth?”
“The Tracker will die.” The redhead’s words were so fierce they cut through me as if she’d struck me with a blade. “I will hunt her. I will find her. I will drain her of all of her blood. I will kill her.”
“We both will, Letty.” Drago startled me as he approached the redhead, hugged her, and placed a kiss on top of her head. “Tonight, we hunt. And we will feed.”
Elizabeth didn’t look any less angry, even when Drago added, “I hear that Elvin blood is a high like none other.”
“My high will be from killing the bitch,” Elizabeth said. If Vampires could have color in their cheeks from anger, then she did.
I swallowed, trying not to imagine myself as a Vampire main course and the Vampire getting a high from my blood.
The desire to back out of the room now was strong.
It went from strong to urgent as Volod strode in.
“Have a drink, Letty.” Drago selected a glass from a serving tray as a waiter paused beside them. “It will make you feel better.”
The redhead took the blood cocktail but the fury on her features never changed.
Vampires around the ballroom went silent as Volod went to the fireplace. The males who had been standing there bowed their heads, clearly a sign of respect, and stepped away, leaving Volod alone.
“The reason we are gathered together now.” Volod raised the red shoebox so that everyone in the room could see and he gave a grim look of satisfaction. “Our mission is accomplished and we now have what we sought. If we need to, we will use it to obtain what is rightfully ours.”
A kind of frenzied tension traveled throughout the ballroom. It was palpable, enough to make my skin crawl.
The redhead moved through the crowd that parted as she made her way forward to Volod’s side. She ran her fingers along the box as he looked at her.
“We can return.” The anger was gone from Elizabeth’s eyes, replaced by a look of pleasure. “No being can stop us.”
Volod brushed his lips over hers and smiled when he raised his head. “Not a single being can get in our way, my love.”
She stepped aside and faced the other Vampires, enough distance between them to let him take center stage, but close enough that everyone would know that she was his—lover, wife, fiancé, girlfriend, mistress, whatever.
“The contents of this box will allow us to be who we truly are. We had heard stories about this serum and the Werewolves. The Sprites had provided us papers with complete details on the power of the serum, but they held back on the serum itself. Now we have it.” Volod’s voice grew louder, an almost psychotic gleam to his eyes. “Now with this vial of serum, it will be as it should be, as it is meant to be. We will never be forced to live beneath paranorm rule again.”
Volod set the box on an armchair beside the fireplace, close to him, before he straightened and addressed the crowd. “Instead of being ruled by those pitiful excuses for paranorms, Vampire kind shall reign over all of New York and beyond.”
Cheers rose in the ballroom, the Vampires nearly going crazy with their enthusiasm. A chair was knocked over with a loud thump and it seemed as if the sconces rattled against the walls.
Their frenzied excitement was almost frightening. It twisted my insides with a true sense of fear that made me feel ill. Volod really was willing to use the serum.
Volod’s features went solemn. “Too many of our brothers and sisters were lost to us tonight. We lost seventeen in the battle.”
Gasps and looks of horror from Vampires in the room.
“Before we go any further, we will pay our respects to those who are no longer with us,” Volod said.
Every Vampire in the room bowed his or her head, including Volod. After several excruciating minutes, Volod raised his head and started speaking again.
“I have debriefed those who have returned from battle.” Volod’s jaw was set. “Most of our kind have been accounted for, including those lost to us forever. My brother, Danut, is the only one we were unable to locate.”
A sense of unease traveled through the ballroom. I spotted Chuck
and his face looked paler than it had the first time I’d seen him.
“We will find Danut,” Volod said. “And those who took him will be suitably disposed of.”
Murmurs of agreement met my ears and I shivered from a chill that crept up my spine.
“Ever since the Rebellion, we have been forced to be subservient to paranorms.” Volod’s dark eyes grew darker yet, his features even angrier than they had been. “They forced us to feed on the blood of slaughtered animals and terminated us if we touched humans—if they caught us with one of those pitiful beings.”
An angry rumble from those in the ballroom was loud enough I swore the floor was shaking.
Goose bumps prickled my skin. I rubbed my arms, all the time working to keep my emotions hidden and my glamour as strong as possible.
“Not only have we been forced to live under these conditions, but the Paranorm Council has never respected Vampire kind enough to invite a representative to the council itself,” Volod said. “They will pay for that lack of respect.”
The crowd grew louder as words of agreement were tossed out.
“Thanks to our efforts tonight and thanks to the sacrifice of too many of our brothers and sisters, the Paranorm Council will bow to us.” Volod raised his voice, almost shouting the words. “More importantly, Night Trackers will bow to Vampire kind.”
“Or die.” Drago raised his glass. “The Night Trackers should die. All of them.”
“Die, die, die,” the chant rolled through the crowd. “Kill the Trackers, kill the Trackers.”
“You are quite right, Drago.” Volod smiled and bared his fangs.
My body went icy cold as Volod looked in my direction. “Yes. They shall die. And I know which Tracker to start with.”
SEVENTEEN
I went completely rigid. Volod was looking right at me.
I gathered my elemental magic. Air and fire were at my bidding. I would roast the Vampires with fire. Their tissue would regenerate, but it would give me time to escape.
Volod’s gaze didn’t linger on me. He was slowly looking around the ballroom at all of the Vampires gathered around him.
I could have slid down the wall behind me and sat on the floor, I was so relieved. I was in a nest of vipers doing my best not to get bitten and injected with venom. Which was an appropriate analogy considering he held serum that was beyond any venom that could have been put into my veins.
“Originally we sought information to aid us in gaining back our rights as paranormal beings.” Volod put his hands behind his back and paced in front of the anxious crowd as he spoke. “We enlisted the Sprites to aid us in obtaining that information. But we obtained so much more than we ever expected.”
“Drago.” Volod nodded to the other Master.
He stepped forward and handed Volod a thick folder with several sheets of paper sticking out haphazardly. I hadn’t noticed Drago holding anything before, but when he went to stand at the sidelines again I saw a Vampire servant hand Drago a second folder.
“This in itself is power.” Volod held up the papers now in his grasp. His fingers were long, slender, and pale against the brown folder. “The contents detail every paranorm race’s weaknesses as well as their known locations.”
Volod set the folder down beside the box as he continued without pause. “Our scientists and other experts will now be working on ways to use the weaknesses against the paranorms. We had other ideas planned for our research room, but now it will be put to great use testing for ourselves the content of these pages.”
Gasps and sounds of wonder and excitement from the Vampires.
My stomach dropped.
“But fortune was even kinder to us.” Volod’s smile was charming, charismatic while at the same time he looked psychotic. Drago handed him the second folder. “The Sprites discovered something even better.”
“What is it?” Jennifer said from the sidelines, like she couldn’t contain herself. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as it was.
Volod gave her a cool look before addressing the crowd again. He set the second folder on top of the red shoebox. “What does that folder of information and the contents of this box mean to us?”
It was like the ballroom held a collective breath as he paused.
“It is akin to what a nuclear bomb is to humans. What is in this box can shut down every paranorm being except those who were once human or those who remain human but have paranormal powers.”
More cheers. More frenzied excitement that left me cold.
When the cheers stopped I frowned and tilted my head. I now heard noises on the other side of the archway to my left which led away from the large area we were in. The sounds were like muffled groans and wheels squeaking across carpet. My attention went back to Volod as soon as he started speaking again.
“We have it all now.” Volod smiled, showing his fangs. We will rule them. We will have control in every way.”
The cheers from the roomful of Vampires were louder, frantic.
“We have captured a few paranorms and will be gathering more,” Volod said and I caught my breath. “We will use them in whatever ways we deem necessary, from experimentation to threats.”
I held my hand to my mouth, holding back a shout of fear and hate. Where were the paranorms he had captured? I had to help them.
Then my gut clenched as I realized that might not be possible. Not yet. I couldn’t let Volod know I was here. He and Drago had sensed something wasn’t right, and if the paranorms escaped, that might make him suspicious. If he grew suspicious, then he might move the location of the lair they met in and we would have to work to locate them again.
I had to wait until I could come back with a team to go after the serum and antiserum, and to save the paranorms.
“We are free.” Volod held his right arm out toward a doorway and made a “come here” gesture with his hand. “Free to feed from humans again, whenever we choose to.”
The squeaking noises and muffled groans became louder. Horror shot through me as a cage filled with four human men and women were rolled into the ballroom. The wheels rumbled across the wood floor. The Vampires had blindfolded and gagged all of the norms and each was cuffed to a bar of the cage.
Vampires were nearly hysterical with excitement as they stared at the norms. The Vampires bared their fangs or licked their lips in anticipation.
“Never again will you be forced to drink that synthetic garbage served at the nightclubs and restaurants. Never again will you have to drink animal blood.” Volod’s voice rose higher over the noise of the crowd. “You will have plenty of fresh humans to hunt down and feed on.”
I grew more ill by the moment as the Vampires applauded and stared at the norms with fangs bared, hunger in their eyes. Drool rolled from the corners of some Vampires’ mouths.
Pain ached at the back of my own eyes. I wanted to cry for these humans. But Dark Elves have no tear ducts, and all I could do was cry inside.
“Vincent, Afina, Bogdan, Timothy, join me, please,” Volod said, and four Vampires moved to the front of the room. “These humans are simply hors d’oeuvres for these who served me best tonight.”
My own blood drained from my face as I looked at the poor norms as their blindfolds were removed. Horror was in their eyes as they saw the room full of Vampires.
I looked from the norms to Volod when he said, “The rest of you hunt well tonight!”
Hunt. Vampires were going to hunt norms again, a practice that had been banned after the Rebellion.
It was like the beasts of the Underworld had been unleashed. I barely had enough time to press myself into a corner of the ballroom where I wouldn’t get trampled in the mad rush of Vampires going on the hunt.
I wanted to take my buckler and my daggers and start killing Vampires. I wanted to destroy them all and set the norms free and save any who would be hunted down tonight.
As much as every fiber of my being wanted to do it, I couldn’t. Fighting off forty-one Vampires, includ
ing Master Vampires Volod and Drago, would be suicide and I would be of no use to anyone, paranorms and norms alike.
The fact that I couldn’t help these norms made me beyond ill.
I forced myself to block out what was about to happen and turn my attention to Volod and the box.
Volod and the box were gone.
Panic made my heart beat faster.
My gaze searched the ballroom. Not here.
He hadn’t passed me to get to the stairs and I hadn’t seen the French doors open. He had to have gone through one of the two archways. Because the norms had been brought through one, I was betting that Volod had gone through the archway that led down the hallway on my right.
With my glamour wrapped tight around me, I dodged Vampires who still hadn’t left the ballroom, and I made it to the hallway. At the same time I did my best to ignore what I knew would be happening to those norms.
As I entered the hallway, I wondered where the norms had been kept. And where Volod was keeping the paranorms.
I blocked out everything now but the need to find Volod and the serum and antiserum, along with the folder of information from the scientists.
In addition, I wanted to locate the information on paranorm weaknesses and known locations and hoped everything was in the same place. If I could find where Volod ended up stashing them, I could take it all and end the mess paranorms were now in.
I walked down the hallway with walls painted forest green and a black marble floor. No décor was on the walls beyond wall sconces for the dim lighting.
The hallway was long with six doorways along its length. All of the doors were closed. I used my senses and my elements to search. My air element told me the first four doors were to bedrooms, all of which were empty.
The fifth—
My heart began to pound and I wanted to run right then. Volod and Drago were behind that door. Both of the Vampires had the ability to sense me, at least to some extent. With them in the same room together, I might not have a chance to make it out of there. To remain in total glamour I had to control my emotions. I was still working on it. Obviously I hadn’t perfected it.
Vampires Not Invited: A Night Tracker Novel Page 17
