by Eve Newton
“Just run.” I grabbed his hand and in a flash of Vampire speed we were across the bridge that collapsed again as soon as we were over. “Christ. It’s like it was made for Vampires,” I said, a bit breathless from the adrenaline. “No wonder they hired us to get this damned egg back.”
“I thought it was yours, anyway?”
“It was. A while ago. Constantine gave it to me after we left Russia. It got stolen in France and now the Nazis have it.”
“Poetic really then, when you think about it.”
I grinned at him. “Sure is.”
We made it without incident to the end of the tunnel and waited. A few moments later, the trap door opened, and Esther popped her head in and said, “Quickly. You have to make it to the Study Room and back out in five minutes, that’s when the guard comes back around.”
I nodded briskly and Devon and I went in the direction of the Study Room, careful to keep to the shadows. A quick search of the room found us the egg and, checking the secret code was still hidden carefully inside, I wrapped it up gently and placed it in my satchel.
“Hide,” Devon whispered to me as we heard the guard come back. We each ducked behind the curtains pulled back and held in our breath. The guard came in and inspected the room. Oh, please don’t let him see anything is out of place, I thought. I was not in the mood for taking down a bunch of Nazi guards. He left and we peeked out from behind the curtains.
I motioned with my head that we should get out of there and, silently, we also left and made our way back to the kitchens, where Esther was waiting for us.
“Come now,” I told her. “We got it, but we have to leave now.” There was a commotion coming our way, the guard must have gone back suspicious and saw that the egg missing.
“Now!” Devon hissed at her as she hesitated. “Katherine, just grab her.” I pulled on her hand and she got into motion. We dropped down the hole and she pulled the trap door closed behind us. “Go,” I said, and we ran, triggering a few traps on the way, but we made it back to the bridge with our heads and other body parts intact. “When the bridge goes up, take hands and run,” I said, pushing the levers into place as we heard the guards closing in on us. Esther grabbed Devon’s hand and he grabbed mine and we ran. The bridge disappeared under my feet before I made it and felt myself falling but Devon was there to save me, as always. He gripped my hand tighter and pulled me up out of the hole with a quick chuckle. “What would you do without me?”
“Let’s hope we never have to find out,” I said as I pushed him down to avoid the gunfire now coming at us. It wouldn’t kill us, but it would hurt like Hell and slow us down. We kept running even though there was no way they would be able to follow us over the bridge, until we reached the other end of the tunnel some miles away from Neuschwanstein Castle, in the village of Hohenschwangau. We burst through the trap door into some poor peasant’s house that we had tied up for their own protection in case they were caught. With many thanks and compensation, we disappeared into the night, hoping that they wouldn’t get into any trouble for appearing to help us, and we headed for the Swiss border.
“Y ou lost the egg I gave you?” CK says, clearly miffed and taking only that piece of information away from my tale.
“I got it back,” I tell him in a huff.
“Humph.”
“Esther? As in Esther, helped you?” Cole says, aghast.
“Yes,” I say. “Why do you look so shocked?”
“I have to admit, I didn’t realize she was a Vampire,” he says, somewhat shyly. “I guess I don’t have the Vampy sense yet.”
“No, probably not,” I concur. Not to mention Esther is very unassuming, if you didn’t know she was there, it would almost be as if she wasn’t.
“But she’s so… you know,” he presses, and I have no idea what he is talking about.
“So, what?”
“Old!” he blurts out to Devon’s amusement and my annoyance.
“Older people can be turned as well, you know,” CK says huffily. “You could be ninety and still be a Vampire, albeit an old-looking one.”
“I’m sorry. I just find it odd. Who would turn her?” Cole asks, interested.
“Her son,” CK answers.
“Her son?” Cole repeats. “She is able to walk in the sun so her son would have to be either a…”
“Master Vampire,” I interrupt. “What of it?”
“Who was his sire?” he glowers at CK who glares at him down his nose.
“He has mommy issues and so therefore comes from the creepy pool. Who do you think?” I ask.
“Gregor,” he says.
“Got it in one.”
“Christ, her son turned her so they could be together for eternity? That just really is creepy.”
“Okay, now that we have established Esther’s lineage, shall we move on.” It’s not a question.
“What I want to know is, Constantine, your reasons for picking Sebastian as your first,” Devon says slyly.
CK glares at him but we are now at the door on the other side and he says with a smile, “Two reasons I won’t tell you. One, we are out of time and two, it’s none of your damn business.”
“Fine, as soon as you tell Lizzie, she will tell me. I can wait,” he goads, and I turn to him with a furious look.
“Enough!” I snap. He gave vets me a contrite look.
“Cade, you can let Jess go now. She should be calmer now that Devon has been around her for a bit.” He nods and places his hand under the orb and closes his hand over it. It dissipates and everyone relaxes a teeny bit now that Hunter magick is no longer hovering.
“Take her hand,” I mutter to Devon, who is still standing behind me.
He sighs but half complies, grabbing her elbow instead.
She looks up at him and then all of us and our surroundings. “Where are we?” she asks.
Everyone ignores her as I push the door release button.The back of the pantry slides open and we step in.
“How come you use the back of my pantry but your floor?” CK asks.
“I use mine,” I say nonchalantly.
“So do I,” he says, annoyed. “I do cook, you know.”
“I do know. Very well, in fact. However, I have many people living in my house. You only have two. Three now with Sebastian,” I say, and we all jump in surprise as Sebastian opens the pantry door to see us all standing there.
He freaks momentarily before regaining his composure. “May I ask what you are all doing in the pantry?”
“A secret mission,” I say mysteriously, to which he looks annoyed he wasn’t part of it. I stalk past him as does everyone else. CK’s kitchens are darker than mine. In fact, his whole house is. Preferring the shadows to sunlight, I reconstructed the house to his liking. Most of the windows are high up at the top of the very high ceilings, letting in light, but a very refined light. The only room that doesn’t have these is the indoor pool room, which we walk past to get to The Room. The pool room is situated off the main sitting room and is all windows, frosted windows, a beautiful construction with marble floors and a long narrow pool running through the middle of it. I love that room. I used to come swimming here on my own before CK moved in. Just to get away from everything. He sees me notice it and I can see him making a mental note to himself about it.
He leads us over to the massive bookcase at the back of the sitting room and pulls out a book. It’s all very clichéd but as I’ve mentioned before, they are clichés for a reason. Cole raises his eyebrow at me.
I smile back and say, “When you have lived in castles through battles and wars centuries ago, you become well versed in the art of skullduggery.”
“Skullduggery? I like that word,” he says and laughs.
A door slides open. We all step inside and down the stairs into a very comfortable room. It is as large as the sitting room, equipped with every modern convenience, a bedroom, and bathroom.
“What makes this room so special?” Cole asks, interested.
&n
bsp; “It’s a modern-day dungeon,” CK answers for him. “As you can see, she will be perfectly comfortable. She is a liability at the moment, it’s for her own good as well as the safety everyone else.”
“I will stay with her then,” Devon says. CK and I exchange a glance. This is good.
“Very well. Your phone won’t work down here but if you want to leave or need anything there is an intercom system. You will get, Nico?” I ask CK who nods. “There is also blood on tap, but only one pint every four hours is permitted. Make sure she drinks,” I say to Devon. He nods.
“I’m sorry I attacked you, Mrs. O’Dell,” Jess says suddenly. “I lost control and there was this haze of…”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I interrupt her.
She smiles, grateful that I’m not going to punish her further. “I would like to carry on with the conversation we were having. If you don’t mind.”
“Of course. I will come back before dark and we can carry on talking.”
She nods. “Thank you.”
“Right, we will leave you now,” I say to Devon as I pull him closer. “Will you be okay, or do you need Cade to stay?”
“I will be fine. I think I can handle her,” he says sarcastically, and I kiss him lightly.
“Use this time to…”
“I will. That’s why I’m staying,” he says determinedly and kisses me again.
I sigh inwardly and turn to Cole. We leave them alone and lock them inside. My eyes go momentarily to the pool again with longing.
“Come and see me later, before you go downstairs,” CK says to me knowingly. “We need to discuss a plan for when we are en route.”
“I will,” I say, loving him for making up a decent excuse for me to come and see him. Well, his pool anyway. Oh, screw it, him too, hopefully in the pool.
I wrap my arms around Cole and with a little wave, we Astral out to our bedroom.
“Oh, man, I thought we were going to go back via the tunnel,” he says with a boyish sulk.
“Sorry, baby, that would take far too long. I have you exactly where I want you,” I say and drag his mouth to mine and kiss him.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX
We surface from our ardor sometime later.
“What day is it?” Cole mumbles and it takes me a minute to think.
“Saturday, I think,” I chuckle. “Shit, this has been a hectic few days.”
“It always is with you,” Cole points out.
“True. I long for some quiet days but…”
“What?” he asks straight away. “What is it?”
I shake my head. “Nothing,” I lie. I still have this feeling of dread that something terrible is coming.
“Liv,” he says. “No more secrets, remember?”
“It’s not a secret. It’s just a feeling.”
“Of what?”
“Dread,” I say before I wish I hadn’t.
“Dread? That doesn’t sound good.” He looks concerned. “Should we be worried?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what it is,” I say truthfully.
He frowns at me. “Liv, don’t make light of it because you don’t want me to worry. If you know something, tell me.”
“Cole, I honestly don’t know. It’s just this feeling. Forget it. Whatever it is, is probably nothing after all we have faced.”
He doesn’t like it, but he drops it and I snuggle into him. “It’s going to be weird having everyone in Toronto with us. I had gotten used it being ‘ours’.”
“I know. Me too,” I say softly. “Unfortunately, we don’t have much choice. I’m not leaving Devon with that girl. I need to help him. Especially as he doesn’t have a bond with her.”
“What?” Cole asks surprised. “How is that possible?”
“CK reckons it is because she forced the turning. He says it’s rare, but it happens in cases like this.”
“Shit. That is intense. I can’t imagine how I would feel if you had no bond to me. Poor Jess.”
Poor Jess? Is he nuts?
“What about Devon?” I snap at him. “Think how this is affecting him.”
“Alright, mama bear,” he laughs at me. “I am only drawing on what I know. Never having sired with or without a bond, I can’t really comment.”
Appeased by his humor and candor, I apologize, “Sorry. You’re right. You can’t know. I don’t even know what he is going through, really. I can’t imagine how it must feel to have no bond.”
“Did you… erm, did you have a bond with all those you, you know… during the evil years?”
I’m taken aback by his question. “Yes,” I say honestly. “I may have turned them for my own amusement but yes, I did have bonds to all of them.” I sit up and away from him suddenly.
“Sorry, my love. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, it’s fine. You have a right to know. Anything you ever want to know, just ask.”
“How many have you sired?” he asks hesitantly.
“Fifty-seven,” I say to his shock.
“And you only have two left?” he asks in disbelief. “How is that possible?”
“I killed most of them,” I admit, only somewhat ashamed. “During my evil years.”
“Oh.”
“As it turns out, CK also had some hand in getting rid of a few. A few that I sired out of lust, because they wanted me to.”
“As it turns out? You didn’t know?” he asks. He is interested now.
“No, I obviously knew they were gone but it was only when the records were downloaded to my brain that I knew the truth.” Having had the chance to go back into my record and peruse it at my leisure after Gustav, I was somewhat shocked to see “CKA” next to a few of my later murdered charges. Although, it shouldn’t have surprised me really, as I already knew about one he had staked out of jealousy.
“Why would he do that?” he asks but then says, “No, you don’t need to answer that. It’s obvious. I guess it’s more surprising that Devon has lasted as long as he has.”
“He would never hurt Devon, or you. He knows that I would never speak to him again.”
“Humph, I disagree, judging by the two attacks to my person over the last day,” he says rudely.
“Your person? I think one of them was to my person,” I joke but he isn’t amused. “He and Devon have gotten into a few scraps as well, you know. In fact, I seem to recall a pistols-at-dawn moment once.” I chuckle at the memory. “But by hurt, I meant…”
“Kill,” he states.
“Yes.”
He pulls me back down to him. “I’m not taking this turnaround at face value,” he says. “He doesn’t seem the type to just roll over.”
“He isn’t.”
“What, the type or not rolling over?”
“Both.”
“Liv? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I have had to promise him something.”
“What?”
“Just something he wants. Further down the road. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Okay, now I am worried,” he sighs.
“Don’t be. Forget about it. I am with you and I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Agreed,” he says genially.
C ole and I spend the rest of the day together talking and just enjoying being in each other’s company, undisturbed. Dusk is getting close, so I tell him I must go and see CK about our travel plans and then have my chat with Jess.
“Can’t I come with you?” he asks, forlorn.
“I need to see Jess on my own. She won’t open up if you are there. I need to guide her on a certain path,” I insist.
“What path?”
“A path away from Devon,” I mutter more to myself and he grabs my wrist.
“Liv. You can’t do that.”
“Yes, I can. If I can get her to see the true Vampire way, she can be free to be with whomever she chooses. He will still be her sire, but he will be free.”
“Is that not risking he
r development?”
“No. Not if Devon is a factor in her life. She will thrive. I just want her attentions diverted elsewhere.”
“Is that for you to decide?”
“Yes. I told him I would take care of it and I will.”
“Does he know that is what you meant?”
“I’m certain that is what he asked of me. I will do my duty by him,” I say sternly. “Why are you fighting me on this?”
He just looks at me and gives up. “I’m just surprised. I thought he cared for her more than that.”
“Caring for and siring are two very different things,” I say haughtily.
“What if I did choose to sire?” he asks me in earnest. “Would you meddle with that as well?”
“Meddle? I am not meddling. He asked me to deal with it, and I will.” Now I’m pissed, and he knows it.
“Fine, go off and be his hero. I know how much you covet the role,” he smirks.
“I will be your hero as well, one day, my love. As soon as you need me to swoop in, I will be there without fail.” I kiss him and he smiles. “A sire needs to feel wanted, needed,” I add unnecessarily, then I Astral off to CK’s house to swim in solitude and then deal with Jess.
I land in the pool room and admire the décor. I wish I had one of these in my house. I must definitely get someone around to sort it out and soon. Maybe off the gym where it is not easily accessible. There are that many people living in my house now, I am finding it even more difficult for a few minutes just on my own.
I switch clothing from my dress to a swimsuit and dive in. It is fairly shallow but deep enough for a skilled dive. I surface and turn onto my back. I lounge there, floating in the peace for a good few minutes until I feel Sebastian’s presence.
“Go away,” I tell him.
He snickers. “No.”
“I want some peace.”
“Then just pretend I’m not here.”
I do try for a few seconds, but it just isn’t the same with someone watching you. I huff out a breath of exasperation and stand. “You have ruined it.”
His eyes roam over me dripping wet, my tiny bikini clinging to me. “I want to feed,” he says.
“We agreed on three times a week. We only did it yesterday, do you want to use up all of your days at once?”
