Knowledge Revealed

by D. S. Williams

  “Would that have worked?”

  Lucas smirked. “Highly unlikely. My backup plan was to leave here, track down Ambrose's Kiss. I'm certain with the correct amount of goading, I could have convinced them to execute me.”

  I shuddered, the tremble working its way throughout my body at the thought. “I'm so sorry.”

  “Don't be,” Lucas responded simply. “You are here with me now, and I'm gloriously happy. You make my existence complete, Charlotte.” He leaned forward and cupped my face in his hands, kissing me gently at first, then with more insistence as he deepened the kiss, tracing the shape of my mouth with his tongue. I moaned softly, blood racing through my veins as my desire heightened and I ran my fingers across Lucas's broad shoulders, tracing the strong lines of muscle and sinew with my fingertips.

  There was a quiet cough behind us and Lucas broke away, grinning sheepishly at Rowena who stood at the head of the couch with a tray in her hands. I blushed furiously and didn't know where to look.

  “My apologies, Rowena,” Lucas said casually.

  Rowena grinned happily. “No apology required, Lucas, I'm thrilled to see you together and clearly so very happy.” She leaned over the back of the couch, carefully placing the tray on my lap. “Some lunch for you, Charlotte, you must be hungry.”

  Certain that my skin was the color of ripe strawberries I managed a weak smile. “Thank you, I'm absolutely ravenous.” Too late, I realized the double entendre in my words and blushed to an even deeper shade of scarlet.

  Rowena didn't say a word, only sharing a knowing smile with Lucas before she turned and left us alone again.

  “How did you become the leader of your Kiss?” I questioned after eating a sandwich.

  Lucas looked up from the laptop he had sitting on the coffee table, where he'd been working while I ate. “It developed over a number of years, I never intended to be leader, and somehow it just eventuated over time.”

  “I thought Ripley or Ben would be leader – they're both so much older than you.”

  “Neither Ripley or Ben wanted the job; they are both involved in their careers and have no interest in the politics of governing a group of vampires.”

  “But you did?”

  Lucas snorted. “Hardly. It came about through necessity, rather than plan.” He leaned back against the couch. “As you know, we all have some special abilities, both supernatural and highly refined human abilities. I have the ability to recall every conversation I've ever had in my existence. Which is a remarkably handy talent to have when you work as an attorney for decades at a time.” He grinned, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Very hard to get anything past me in cross-examination, as you can imagine.”

  “What else can you do?”

  “Besides the usual vampire traits, my psychic skills are limited. Most of my skills are much more mundane, I'm afraid and not something to be particularly proud of. My strongest include strength and the ability to fight, which I learned in the slums of Chicago and has been honed after I was created as vampire.”

  “So… you fought your way to leadership?” I questioned.

  “No, not at all. Our group is quite harmonious and we've never resorted to using fists to resolve issues amongst us,” he explained, before a wry grin crossed his handsome features. “Although sometimes I am tempted to slap some sense into Gwynn.” He sobered again, his focus on some thought from the past. “When I was first created, I was approached by a number of Kiss to join their groups, but I refused every request.”

  “Why?”

  “I wasn't looking for a new family. It took many years for the grief of losing my family, my life to pass. I'd lost my fiancée because I had to avoid her. I couldn't stay in Chicago, nor see everyone I'd known when I was alive. Becoming vampire requires leaving behind everyone you've ever loved, purely because they cannot know the truth and would eventually notice our lack of ageing.”

  “I never thought of that,” I said slowly. Each one of them had endured similar losses to the one I'd sustained. Perhaps even more traumatic, was the knowledge their relatives had been alive and well, yet they had to deliberately break contact with them.

  “For a long time I lived alone, moving from place to place to ensure my condition remained secret. After twenty years or so, I decided I needed to create some relationships with other vampires. I'd met many during my travels, of course, but most groups were violent and fought amongst themselves for seniority within their Kiss – something I had no wish to involve myself in. My interest in trying to better myself had always been there, it was perhaps magnified once I became vampire. I knew then I had decades to learn and study, I was no longer tied to the cycle of birth, life and death and I could choose any career I wished, study to learn about it, work at it for a decade or two and when I got bored,” he shrugged nonchalantly, “start all over again.”

  “But you eventually joined a Kiss?” I probed, curious about his past, and how everyone had come together.

  “Yes, in 1888, whilst living in California. It was a mistake from the beginning as I had already begun questioning my existence and our way of doing things. I was coming to abhor the senseless slaughter, yet I had aligned myself with vampires who relished the hunt for humans and willingly slaughtered hundreds. Sometimes they would hunt for the sake of it, with no need to quench their hunger, merely the desire to chase and terrify their prey. It took a very short time to decide it had been a mistake. Unfortunately, you cannot just say your goodbyes and leave a Kiss without some confrontation; each Kiss is fiercely competitive and works on a dictatorial system of control. The leader is the equivalent of God to his group and he in turn controls down the line through his second and third, his warriors and troops, guards and protectors. Announcing I wanted to leave meant I had to fight my way out.”

  “Fight?” I repeated softly.

  “I had to win challenges against six of his best men,” Lucas explained, his eyes taking on that far away look again. “It was to be a fight to the death with each of them, one after the other. If I won all six challenges, I would be allowed to leave. If I lost—” His voice dropped away for a moment. “Ripley was a member of the same Kiss, had been for many, many years – decades in fact. I knew how miserable he was – he too was considering trying to exist without the need for human blood – but Ripley has never been a warrior. He's cunning and wise, but not a physically combative man unless extreme measures are called for. He and I had grown close during my time with the Kiss and I decided I would try to gain his release. I told Alterus, the leader of the Coraclãs Kiss that I would fight twice the amount of his men, if Ripley would be allowed to leave with me.”

  “Twelve?” I echoed hollowly. The idea was mind-boggling – how could one man fight twelve?

  Lucas nodded his agreement. “I'd honed my skills as a fighter over many years, first as a teenager in Chicago, then later when I was protecting myself from the inherent dangers of being a vampire without a Kiss. I won't go into the details, suffice to say it was brutal and cruel, but I defeated the twelve and Alterus had no choice but to keep his word and release Ripley and me.”

  “So Ripley was the first member of your Kiss?”

  Lucas smiled. “Ripley was my friend, first and foremost. We didn't so much form a Kiss, as we remained together to pursue our new ideals and to protect one another. We decided to leave America for a while and travelled to Europe, settling in France for a few years and then we travelled on to England. Ripley had a passion for returning and seeing the country of his birth again. Which is where I met Ben - he joined our group when we met him in 1898, at the Countess of Blanchester's dinner party in York.”

  I raised a questioning eyebrow. “The Countess of Blanchester?”

  Lucas nodded, taking the empty tray from my lap and placing it on the coffee table. “A very rich, very influential socialite in the late Victorian era who also happened to be vampire. Ben was living on her estate as a guest at the time – whilst she didn't lead a Kiss in the formal sense, he
was very much her vampire. She used him as a gigolo.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

  Lucas sighed heavily. “Ben was her sex slave, for want of a better description. Whilst he was kept in excellent conditions, given everything he could ever want, he was tied to the Countess because of his lack of financial means.” Lucas grimaced, rubbing his fingers across his brow. “Ben had come from a wealthy background, however when he was created, all financial security was gone for him, as he had no way to make formal claim against his father's estates. He had to rely on his own wits, his own abilities to survive. He did survive, admirably well for centuries, but it took all his cunning to do so. He had no formal skills, nor the money to earn those skills. For many centuries, Ben lived from hand to mouth without the ability to increase his standing in the world. His abilities as a Knight stood him in good stead, he was readily accepted into a Kiss where he acted as the leader's second, but it was not the life he dreamed of and without the means to create the life he wanted for himself, he drifted for many years without hope or dreams of a better future.”

  “That's terrible,” I offered quietly.

  “It happens that way for many of us,” Lucas admitted. He sighed deeply, reaching out to clasp my fingers in his. “Ben began to make inroads into improving his future in the late sixteen hundreds. He began to learn as much as he could, wanting to become a healer of some description, but his plans were thwarted at every step and he fell back on his abilities as a Knight to survive. Ben has served in more conflicts than the rest of us combined, from the Napoleonic Wars through to the Boer War. It was whilst he was serving in Her Majesty's Forces that his fortunes began to change for the better, but not without significant sacrifice. He'd worked his way up through the army to the rank of Captain and he was well respected amongst his peers, creating unlikely friendships amongst his so-called 'betters'. It was through one of these friendships that he came into the Countess's circle and she immediately recognized him for what he was – vampire.”

  “She had human friends?” I asked curiously.

  Lucas chuckled. “Of course, she did. She was a Countess, and mixed with the best of Britain's upper classes.”

  “How did she hide the fact she was a vampire?”

  “Extremely discretely. She was quite young, in her early thirties when she was turned and she had the extreme self-control that comes of being part of England's landed gentry. Beautiful manners, the epitome of poise and style. She had been turned in the sixteenth century and disappeared overseas, residing in Paris, Berlin, Vienna – a multitude of European capitals. She would remain in each place for perhaps ten or twenty years – only long enough for the rumors and innuendo regarding her remarkable 'youth' to become a subject of gossip, before she would move onto the next place.

  “What if someone recognized her?”

  Lucas grinned. “You think like a modern woman, love. In those days, travel was only something for pirates and explorers to indulge in. Most people never travelled, or if they did rarely and certainly not on great expeditions around the world. There were plenty of places for the Countess to appear and continue with her life as she chose to live it, without anyone being the wiser.”

  “So she met Ben?” I prompted, eager to hear the rest of the story.

  “She was instantly besotted with him, however Ben had no interest in her. He was already determined to help the less fortunate, but of course, with no reputable name behind him, no funds – it was extremely difficult. When the Countess discovered Ben's desires, she offered to fund his social work and provide the entry for him into polite society by keeping him as her lover.”

  “And Ben agreed to that?” It seemed unlikely, Ben was so composed, so assured of himself, I couldn't believe he would ever allow anyone to use him in that way.

  “Yes, Ben did.”

  I flushed with embarrassment when Ben appeared by the couch, I hadn't heard his arrival and hated the thought of him knowing we'd been talking about him. “I'm sorry, Ben,” I muttered.

  “For what? You are sharing our lives now, there's no reason to be embarrassed about my past. I'm certainly not,” Ben remarked casually. He glanced at the empty tray and smiled. “Would you like anything else?”

  “A Coke?” I requested bashfully.

  “I'll go and find one for you.” He strode off towards the kitchen and I rolled my eyes at Lucas, still smarting from Ben hearing us discuss him so openly.

  “You really are beautiful when you do that,” Lucas remarked, brushing his fingers across my cheek.

  “Do what?”

  “Blush. To see the color in your cheeks is delightful. You look much better today; the dark shadows under your eyes are disappearing.”

  “Sleep will do that for you.” I studied his eyes, suddenly aware of the darkening rings that had appeared around them. “The skin around your eyes is getting darker.”

  Lucas sighed. “I should go hunt. Unfortunately, I believe it will take longer to acclimatize to you than I'd hoped.”

  “Maybe you should stop kissing me so much,” I recommended shyly. It was very much a half-hearted suggestion, certainly one I hoped he wouldn't accept.

  Lucas shook his head firmly, a smile blossoming. “Stop kissing you? Impossible, my love. My yearning in that regard burns harder than my thirst.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” Lucas stood up, brushing his hands down his faded Levi's. “I think I should go out for a while.” He grinned wickedly, winking at me. “You really do smell delicious. Far better than anything I'm likely to find in the forest.”

  For a split-second, I was shocked, until I saw the impish twinkle in his eyes. He was teasing me. “Got you. Bet you thought I was going to bite you.”

  I smiled back. “Nope. I don't believe you'll ever bite me.”

  His expression turned serious in the blink of an eye, growing somber. I pray you are right, Charlotte. I find myself so overwhelmed when I'm kissing you; it's a constant battle to keep from holding you too hard or somehow hurting you.”

  “I trust you,” I responded simply.

  He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”

  Ben reappeared, handing me a can of Coke and I smiled my thanks as Lucas strode towards the door. “Look after her for me. Perhaps you can finish telling her your tale.”

  Chapter 24: Spirits Released

  “You really don't have to do that,” I muttered to Ben as Lucas closed the front door quietly.

  Ben sat down opposite me, an amused look in his eyes. “I told you, Charlotte, I don't mind at all. What I did at that time, sleeping with the Countess as payment for her supporting my philanthropic work… it's something I've regretted, but I won't deny what I did.” He glanced up, his eyes filling with affection when Rowena walked in, dropping down onto the couch beside him, and taking his hand. “It brought Rowena to me.”

  I was curious now, less concerned about snooping into their private lives. “That's how you met Rowena?”

  They shared a loving smile before Ben spoke again. “Rowena was visiting with Maria, the Countess, when Lucas and Ripley visited in 1898, along with her husband.”

  “Finchley?” I recalled the name from talking to the spirits.

  Rowena shuddered delicately, for a moment a dark shadow crossing her eyes. “Yes. He had taken me to England on an extended visit and we spent a weekend at the home of the Countess in York, on our return journey to Scotland.”

  Ben leaned across and kissed his wife tenderly before continuing. “Finchley was a bastard of a man, there's no kinder way of putting it. He treated Rowena abysmally, as nothing more than a beautiful treasure he'd purchased. After dinner that first evening, at which I was absolutely transfixed by her beauty and spirit, Rowena and I met in Maria's library after everyone had retired for the evening. It was quite accidental, with no impropriety involved. I'd merely gone to select a book to read in bed, whilst Rowena had gone to the library to escape from Finchley for a little while.”

/>   “What happened?”

  Rowena smiled with delight. “He completely and utterly charmed me from the very beginning and we sat and talked for hours. Ben told me about his desire to help those less fortunate and I hung on every single word, fascinated by the wonderful man who was so polite and gracious and so incredibly handsome.”

  “If I could blush, Rowena, I would do so at that glowing recommendation,” Ben murmured quietly. “The attraction worked both ways, I truly believed Rowena was the most stunning and delightful woman I'd ever met. For myself, it was love at first sight and I craved being at her side forever. That first night, we did nothing more than share one illicit kiss, yet I knew from that point on she would be the only woman I would ever want.”

  “Which of course, was quite impossible,” Rowena explained in her soft lilt. “Finchley was my husband and divorce was not acceptable in those times. Not that Finchley would ever have let me go.”

  “And I was tied to Maria, through my pledge to her in return for her financial aid.”

  It seemed like an impossible situation for both of them and my heart ached, even though there was tangible proof in front of me that the obstacles had been overcome. “How did you get together in the end?”

  “Lucas and I had become good friends during his visit to the estate. Whilst Finchley and Rowena only visited for a weekend, Lucas and Ripley stayed for a fortnight as they were touring the country at the time. Lucas became aware of my attraction to Rowena and encouraged me to try to make a break from Maria. You may not be aware of the fact, but Lucas is a remarkable player of the stock market and has been for many, many years. Even back in those days, he was playing the stock exchange and making significant amounts of money. Lucas knew of my unhappiness in my current predicament, and forgive me, Rowena for saying this, but whilst I slept with Maria every night, I neither loved, nor truly desired her. I was doing 'my duty' in every physical sense and I abhorred what I was reduced to doing, prostituting myself to earn my keep.”