Anna and the Vampire Prince (7 page)

Her words catch me unawares.
You misunderstand.
I was under the impression we were going to act only if there was an attack on Vlad.

Puzzled glances between husband and wife make me realize I was the one who misunderstood. Or who was led to misunderstand.

Vlad and I must talk,
I say.
Will you excuse us?

I lead Vlad outside. Anger bubbles like a hot springs inside me, threatening to erupt. I swallow it back, hard, and temper my voice when I can trust myself to speak.

You are planning to kill the dissenters tonight?

Do you not think they deserve to die? I told them what would happen if they came back to the continent. And brazenly, they disobeyed.

His tone is that of ruler once again. Abrupt, decisive.

Why have you brought me into this?
I ask.
You have many loyal followers who would have gladly help you vanquish these vampires.

Did you not supplicate that they be allowed to live? Was it not at your urging that I did not strike them down along with Steffan?

Everything he is saying is true, yet the forbidding chill in his voice, the rigidness of his bearing, makes my own blood run cold. This is a Vlad I have never seen before. The Vlad of old that made his enemies quake with fear.

You do not need me to make this happen,
I say.
You have two excellent collaborators inside who await your bidding. You know the plan. The three of you could handle a dozen vampires on your own.

Vlad crosses the ground between us before I can say another word.
You will not fight for us?

I was willing to fight
for you
,
I snap back.
You lied to me about your intentions from the start. I am not a part of this battle, Vlad. If I become involved, I become a part of your family. I can’t do that. I told you.

And what of the debt you owe me?
Vlad whispers.
I saved Frey for you from Steffan. I brought your niece’s friend home. I have let you live as a vampire among us. Do you not owe me something?

I knew no matter how I answered, it would not satisfy Vlad. I also knew I would have lost Fray had Vlad not saved him from Steffan’s attack. That Trish might be home now crying over a lost friend if Vlad had not intervened. That the entire human race might be lost if this plan of Steffan’s supporters was not stopped now.

I search his face.
If I do this,
I say at last.
It will be the last thing I can do for you. It will mean the end of our friendship. And it can never be known that I was with you when the six are vanquished. You must promise me.

For a long moment, I think that Vlad might not have heard me. He is staring off again, his eyes clouded, his lips turned down in a frown. When his face clears, he squares his shoulders and steps back from me.

I accept your terms. Your part will remain a secret between the four of us. I will instruct Amélie and Alexander to never speak of it. I will also instruct them that they are to be at your service if you need anything while you remain in France. They will be protectors of you and your family…

His voice drops and I sense something left unsaid.
You are abdicating to them?

His eyes lock with mine.
There is no longer any reason I should stay in France. After tonight, I will be gone. You yourself said they would make excellent leaders. They have the compassion and human touch that I lack. It makes sense.

It’s almost as if Vlad is talking as much to himself as to me. When he is done, he turns abruptly and goes back into the house. I don’t follow him. I have a feeling he is telling Amélie and Alexander the same things he just told me.

When they emerge a few moments later, there is an air of solemnity about the couple that wasn’t there before.

They have accepted Vlad’s proposal.

He mounts his Ducati and rides away. The three of us go back to the house to await the arrival of the six who would change the world.

The night is cloudless and crystal clear. There is no moon to break the darkness that swallows up the vineyard or to cast even the faintest shadow on the road. Amélie, Alexander, and I are in place on the roof, lying flat, relying on our senses to alert us to anything approaching.

We have been here an hour. After thirty minutes, others arrive. They are using the moonless night to shield themselves among the vines. But we know they are here. The five who would plot to kill Vlad. They are not so powerful as Vlad, or even the three of us, because they have no awareness of our presence while we know exactly where each is located.

We don’t communicate among ourselves, keeping our thoughts tightly locked away. My blood sings with anticipation. Now that I have committed to the fight, I am ready. It’s been a long time since I tasted the blood of another vampire. Years. Back to the time when I worked as an enforcer for The Watchers and one of my duties was to execute rogues.

It was not a duty that I enjoyed, but this, in its way, is no different. Protecting humanity sometimes necessitates drastic action. I am armed tonight as I was then, with only a knife and my blood lust.

The car arrived a few minutes after midnight, a big off-road vehicle that plowed through my dad’s vineyards, mowing down rows of old-growth grape vines in its path.

I wondered what my father would think when he saw it. I rage at myself for not thinking it through when I offered the old wine press building as a meeting place. It was remote, true, but the fact that at least two of the vampires would be approaching in a car rather than walking as the rest of us had done never crossed my mind.

Car doors opened. Vlad got out on the front passenger side. Renaldo opened the left rear passenger door and stepped out. The driver reversed the car and pulled back the way he had come, incurring even more damage. I gritted my teeth as I watched.

Vlad and Renaldo approached the building. From the roof, I watched with Amélie and Alexander for any sign of movement from the vampires hiding in the vineyard.

There was none.

We listened as the conversation drifted upward to us from the ventilation pipe.

Vlad spoke first. “I am here, Renaldo. As you requested. But I must warn you, I can think of nothing you can say that will change my mind about you. Or make me accede to your plan.”

Renaldo clucked his tongue. “How unfair of you. To dismiss us out of hand. You were once a feared warrior, brutal in the defense of those under your command. But now, when you command the most fearsome creatures to walk the earth, you are content to let us dwell in the shadows. To live as scavengers when we should all be living as kings.”

“And how long would those kingdoms last? Once you subjugated mortals, what would come next? Vampires are a lazy lot, content to take mortal pleasures. Those pleasures would die away with the humans.”

“You do not think we could become a race of innovators on our own? Why do you think so little of us? Steffan did not.”

“Steffan was an ego-maniac. Once you did his bidding, he would have gotten rid of you, one by one, until his was the only ‘kingdom’ left standing. The world would become a bleak place. One I would not care to inhabit.”

There was a pause. We could hear Renaldo pacing the room. “Then,” he said at last, “it’s a good thing you will not be around to suffer it.”

He signaled telepathically to the vampires hidden among the vines. Unfortunately for him, we hear his signal, too. The three of us jump soundlessly from our hiding place and go to meet the vampires rising from the vineyards. They are not expecting to see anyone, especially three powerful vampires appearing before them like specters. Amélie and Alexander take the three to our right. I take the two to our left.

Renaldo’s vampires were all relatively new and while they expected to be able to take one vampire, even an old, powerful one like Vlad, they were caught completely off guard by us. I grab the first vampire’s head and twist until I hear vertebrae pop. He drops. I will finish this one off after I take care of the second.

He is older and squares off against me with a snarl. We circle each other until I grow tired of the game and lunge. I catch him with a hand against the back of his neck. He fumbles for a knife in his belt. I get it first and slash at his throat. The first spilled blood unleashes the beast. I grip his head and pull his neck toward me, latching onto to the wound with my mouth. He struggles but only for a short time. As his blood becomes mine, his life flashes in my head. It was a life of brutality, beyond redemption. I feel no remorse when blood turns to salty, bitter water. He is gone. I let his body fall to the ground.

The second vampire is struggling to his feet, his head in his hands as he tries to straighten his neck. A piece of vine lay at my feet. I pick it up and plunge it into his chest. He collapses in on himself, his head still at that odd angle, but now, his hands scrabble for the stake in his heart. I hear the beating stop and his blood cease to flow. I think of drinking from him, too, but the first kill gave me enough to sustain nightmares for a month. I do not want to take on this one’s transgressions, too.

I turn to Amélie and Alexander. Two vampires lay dead at their feet and they are drinking from the third. I watch until they are finished, their eyes glowing yellow at me when they stand.

Everything happened silently and was over in minutes. We move as one toward the building. When we sweep the curtain inside, it’s to greet a startled Renaldo, who was expecting a sight far different than that of three bloodstained, snarling vampires smelling of his vanquished friends.

Renaldo gasps and whirls to face Vlad, his face gone white, his hands shaking. His thoughts project to all of us, first feigning shock that Vlad would have broken his trust by bringing friends. When he reads from our own thoughts and sees what has happened, he protests innocence, saying the others acted alone and not at his bidding.

Vlad says nothing for a long while, letting Renaldo squirm as his own thoughts are completely sealed off. Finally, he reaches out to me alone.

What is your counsel this time?

I am caught off guard by Vlad’s question. I know what I should say, mercy, set a good example, etc. etc. But it’s what I said the first time, and that led us here.
You have no choice,
I say sadly.
Do what you must.

He turns then to Alexander.
As new leader, do you concur we should pronounce the second death on this vampire?

Alexander steps forward and draws a sword from the folds of his coat. He starts to hand it to Vlad, but Vlad steps back and away.

Renaldo drops to his knees.
As new sovereign, Alexander, I pledge loyalty to you. Please—

The sword slices through the air. Renaldo’s head parts from his body, his blood turning to red ash as it hits the air. In a moment, his body bursts into flame.

Then there’s nothing left but dust.

Vlad pulls a cell phone from his pocket and sends a message to his driver to come back. I stop him.

“Tell him we will meet him at the road. There has been enough damage done to my father’s fields.”

“This means—”

I sigh. “I know. This means we will have to carry the bodies out. But I’m not sure how I’m going to explain rows of old-growth vines being destroyed. I can’t risk anymore.”

He passes the message on to his driver. Then, “I suppose we might as well get it over with,” he sighs.

I can only imagine the picture we make, the four of us carrying the dead bodies of five vampires out of the fields. Amélie, Alexander, and I each carry one. Vlad has two, one slung over each shoulder. We pile them into the back of the SUV and climb in ourselves. The car reeks of old blood and bile.

Vlad instructs the driver to let me off at my driveway, where I’d left my car, then to take Amélie and Alexander home. When I get out, so does Vlad. He sends the driver away.

I look at him with upturned eyebrows.

He laughs. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to ask you to let me spend the night. I just wanted to be alone with you one last time.”

It’s my turn to chuckle. “I think you once told me that to a vampire, there is no one last time. We have forever, remember?”

“So I did.” His expression sobers. “I meant what I said to you, Anna. You are the first woman since my beloved Jusztina—”

“No, Vlad,” I say, stopping him. “There is no future for us.”

“Not now, maybe.” Vlad lets a smile play at the corner of his lips. “But…”

He takes me in his arms before I can resist, and his lips are on mine. His strength is formidable; he’s in my head, promising pleasure beyond description. He lets me taste it, feel it in every part of my body before breaking away to leave me wilted and breathless.

“That’s not fair,” I whisper.

“It wasn’t meant to be.” He releases me and steps back. “Goodbye for now, Anna Strong,” he says.

Before I can reply, he’s gone.

It takes me a while to relax enough to fall asleep after Vlad’s departure. When I finally do, it’s to dream about him and I awake feeling guilty. I realize I’ve been away from Frey too long. As soon as Trish’s play is over, I’ll call for my jet to pick me up. First stop, will be to see my husband and son.

I go downstairs, knowing Trish will have already left for school and Dad will be in the fields. I doubt he’ll discover the ruined vines for a while. They are pretty remote. When he does, maybe I’ll be gone and won’t have to come up with a story or even worse, feign innocence. I’m such a bad liar.

I’m not sure how I’m going to occupy my time these next few weeks. Except for vampires, I have only my family here. Maybe I’ll join my father in the fields. Hard work and fresh air may take the edge off a body whose sexual appetites were deliberately awakened by a kiss from a vampire prince. I’m not even tempted to track him down. Who I want is Frey.

When the curtain falls on Trish’s acting debut, our house is turned into party central. Dad spares no expense, catered food, a band, open bar. The yard is festooned with lights, excited young actors fill the house with laughter. I watch from the stairway as they come and go, reveling in the knowledge that I played a part in making this happen. A large bouquet of long-stemmed yellow roses is delivered to Trish with the inscription, “Congratulations on a stunning performance. Your faithful friend, Vlad.”