Aris Returns (26 page)

As she breathed in the sweet smell of him, his touch changed. Shyly at first, his
large hands began to caress her back. His breath grew ragged. Suddenly, he grasped
her shoulders. He held her at arm’s length, looking into her eyes with a burning hunger.
She tried to look away but he held her gaze with his longing. He drew her to him.
His full, beautiful mouth covered hers in a deep, slow kiss. His lips were sweet,
soft and so warm. She disappeared into the kiss and returned it, tasting the salt
of his tear on his lips.

Her hand moved to his face. Her fingers caressed his strong jaw.

“No.” The word exploded from him as he shoved her away. “No. Not now. Not this way.”
He shook his head to clear his mind, to regain control. Was it him or was it Aris
who had kissed her? He wasn’t sure. He stood, crossed the room and unlocked the door.
He turned to look back at her.

She sat shaken, short of breath. Wrapping her arms across her chest, she leaned back
into the cushions.

“I’ll see you on Friday, Sarah. We’ll never mention this again.”

He opened the door leaving her alone in the night with nothing but her thoughts to
warm her.

T
he sound of the grand piano was soft in the background of the elegant restaurant as
the waiter placed their plates on the table. He carried each one in a thick, white
napkin and reminded Sarah and her mother that they were hot to the touch.

“Tell me, dear, how is your friend Colleen and her new husband?”

Sarah laid her napkin across her lap. She sipped her water before she spoke. “They’re
doing great. It was hard for Colleen at first, but she’s getting used to the routine.”

“I’m glad. She is such a nice girl.”

“She’s hardly a girl, Mother, she’s thirty-five.” Sarah laughed when she thought what
her friend would say to being called a girl. “They really are happy. They’re made
for each other.” She took a bite of her salad as her mother cleared her throat.

“I’ll be honest. I wanted to have lunch today because I’m worried about you. You’ve
become so involved with your work we hardly see you anymore. I can’t remember the
last time you came for the weekend. You’re too thin and you seem nervous.” Her mother
leaned in as she spoke. “Sarah, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Mother. I’m just really busy with clients and . . . well, just busy with
clients.”

The older woman wanted more of an answer from her only child. “That’s not enough.
You’ve been busy with clients before. You wrote that book; you published it. You still
had time for your family. What is it? Are you involved with a new man?”

Sarah sat silent for a moment. “Yes, I suppose you could say that, in a way. But not
the way you think.” She took another bite before she answered. “It’s a client. He’s
in trouble and I want to help him and his family. That’s all.” Even as she spoke,
she knew she was telling a half truth. She was more involved with Carlos than she
could explain, even to herself.

#

He walked into her office without looking at her. He crossed the room to the recliner
and lay down, closing his eyes before his head touched the cushion. His body was tense,
his forehead wrinkled as if he was in deep thought. “Let’s get started, okay?”

“Carlos.” She didn’t know what to say to him. There was a distance between them that
had never been there before. The intimacy they shared at her apartment had somehow
created a wall. She didn’t know how to break it down or even if she should try. “Carlos.”
He still didn’t look at her. Not knowing what else to do, she picked the recorder
up from the corner of her desk and moved to the chair next to him.

She sat, turned on the recorder and began the usual induction to take him into the
hypnotic state. As she spoke, his body began to relax and his breath grew steady.

#

“As you open the door, what do you see?”
CARLOS HAVARRO, transcript, session 15, June 18

As I crept into the sleeping chamber of the Cardinal, I could hear the old man snore.
Nearing the bed, I saw two figures beneath the blanket. I couldn’t help but smile.
It appeared the celibacy requirement of the priests of the church didn’t apply to
this man sleeping with his mistress. And
now, instead of just one human, there were two. I knew I must be very delicate and
quiet as I went to work. Silence surrounded me as I moved closer.

Wolsey slept on his back while his mistress slept as far from the snoring hulk as
she could. Leaning over the bed, I was presented with the folds of his flesh lying
in rings around the Cardinal’s neck like necklaces made of sausages. How to find the
vessel in such a hunting ground? Such a task. I remember moving closer to him and
the night smells of him.

Silent as death, I watched the sleeping pair. The moonlight coming through the high
window illuminated the covers and Wolsey’s hand and wrist as it lay exposed in the
cool, white beam of light.

“Ah, I’ll begin just here.” My thoughts continued in a stream as I kneeled silently
next to the bed and softly placed my tongue on the Cardinal’s wrist. The saliva from
my mouth numbed the skin and made it insensitive to pain. Slowly, I sunk my teeth
into the soft, moist flesh of the man’s wrist. I was careful and only a small amount
of venom entered the wound. A small bit daily would mix with his blood and no one
would notice. Within hours, he would feel ill. Within days he would waste away. Soon
he would be dead.

I could not help but laugh softy under my breath as I moved to the window and climbed
down the outer wall of Cawood Castle.

For many nights I scaled the wall to the bedchamber of the doomed man. On my last
visit, the moon was bright, illuminating the room as I crept through the window. I
found only one mound in the bed. Wolsey’s mistress no longer slept with the Cardinal.
She was sure he had the wasting sickness and she was afraid to be close to him, awake
or asleep.

The sleeping man before me was a shadow of the doomed Cardinal. He was thin; his flesh
hung on his bones. He couldn’t eat. He barely slept. He knew he was dying yet he didn’t
know why. His physicians had bled him. His servants had nursed him. His clergy had
prayed over him. Still he wasted away. He tossed in his bed unable to find comfort.

Suddenly there was the sound of running feet in the corridor. An evil tiding.

The door swung open. “Your Grace,” a servant boy stood at the foot of his bed. “The
King’s men are in the castle. They are coming for you. You must rise and dress.”

I quickly stepped behind a large, ornate tapestry hanging on the wall. It was in the
shadows and I was well concealed behind it.

Wolsey rose, his night clothes hanging on him like a shroud. “The King’s men, you
say?” He spoke with trepidation, “and who leads them?”

“Lord Henry Percy.”

George Cavendish, the Cardinal’s gentleman usher, rushed into the chamber. “Allow
me to assist you in dressing, your Grace.” The sound of stomping feet grew louder.
Before Cavendish could move across the room to his master, soldiers burst through
the door.

“You are under arrest, Cardinal.” Percy spoke. “Come as you are. No need for your
red Cardinal’s robes. You are arrested for treason and for treason you will die.”

The soldiers surrounded the Cardinal, marching him toward the door. He stumbled on
the cold stone of the floor.

“Boots. May I not have my boots?” he pled. “At least my boots?” He was a broken, sick,
old man, but that did not stay the hatred emanating from the Lord of Northumberland.

Percy snarled, “No boots. You will feel the cold on your body equal to the cold in
your heart. And you will die hungry and alone like the traitor that you are.” He shoved
the Cardinal ahead of him. “Now move.”

When the chamber was empty, I moved to the window. There were horses and a wagon waiting
in the courtyard below. Wolsey would be exposed to the freezing air of winter on the
road to London with nothing but straw to cover himself. He was weakened and I knew
he would never survive the journey.

“But I will trail along behind just to make sure.” I spoke to no one other than myself
as I crawled out the window and down the steep
wall.

The Cardinal died in Leicester and was buried there. There was no pomp at his burial
as there was none at the death of my dearest Elizabeth, entombed in the sea so very
far from English soil. It was justice. After all his years as servant to the Pope
and the King, the once wealthiest man in England died a pauper and a traitor. King
Henry wept. Queen Anne cherished the day and called for a masque ball. And I, Aris
the vampire, rode south to London.

When Anne was told I had arrived, she summoned me to her. I entered into the dark
audience chamber. She was there, standing in front of a huge blaze in the hearth,
a warm, welcome scent of burning applewood logs filling the room.

“So, you have accomplished the deed.” It was a statement, not a question.

I bowed low before her, smiling as I lifted my head to look into her eyes. “Yes, my
lady. I have.”

“A job well done.” She was dressed in a red robe lined with fur and her long dark
hair reached her waist. The room was chilly in spite of the fire. Moving closer, she
wrapped the robe around her legs then sat. “And was it difficult?”

“No, it was my pleasure to do your bidding. Pity he didn’t live to arrive in London.”
I saw her black eyes glistening in the dancing light of the burning logs.

She laughed, “Yes, it is a pity.” She lifted the goblet from the table and tasted
the wine. “You must help yourself. I do not wish any servant to see you in my chamber.”

“Thank you my lady, I do not have a thirst.”

“You will be given a rich reward for your service.”

Again, I bowed to her compliment. “You are most gracious.”

Her laugh was harsh. “Yes, I’m sure Wolsey would feel the same way. I understand Percy
was the one to bring him into Leicester. Is that true?”

“It is true.”

“Circumstances can be so strange, can they not?” Replacing the goblet on the table,
she rose from the chair and began to pace. “And what if I should ask you to perform
another task? Would you be up to doing it?”

I tipped my head in acknowledgment. “Most certainly, my lady. I am loyal to you in
all things.”

“Precisely what I want to hear. You are a good man, Aris, a good man.” She moved into
the shadows, and then turned to stare at me. ‘”I will call on you again when the time
comes. Until then, you are most welcome at court.” She swept from the room leaving
me staring after her.

After a moment, I too left the room and as I walked the darkened corridor my thoughts
were of Anne, the look in her black eyes. “The undead are not the only cold ones.”

#

“Man, she sure is somebody I wouldn’t want to cross.” Carlos laid back on the recliner
after his return to present time. “She is one bad-assed broad. I’ve been up against
some really tough people and let me tell you, she is somebody I wouldn’t want to have
pissed at me.”

“You can’t be a mouse and displace the ruling Queen of England and that’s just what
she did.” Sarah leaned forward. “Carlos?”

To avoid any personal conversation, he spoke quickly. “And she wasn’t even much to
look at, except when you saw her eyes. They were almost black in this snow white face.
She could have been a vamp except she still had a heart.” He smiled a sardonic smile.
“A heart beat anyway.”

“Carlos?”

He stood immediately. Crossing the room, he lifted his hand in goodbye. “See you next
week.”

He quietly closed the door behind him leaving Sarah to ponder this new turn in their
relationship.

“I
don’t really know what happened. We just sort of lost our connection.” She couldn’t
bring herself to tell Colleen about the kiss. She was almost certain her friend would
think it was great but Sarah wasn’t sure how she felt about it even now. “He shows
up for session without fail, but I don’t feel as if I can touch him anymore.” She
swiveled her desk chair to face the window as they chatted on the phone, looking at
the city and hoping for a distraction.

“I don’t know, hon. He seems the same to me. Well, not the same. Better than I ever
thought he would be. Hold on a second, Bob’s calling me. He’s in the kitchen and I
can’t hear him. Hang on.”

Sarah waited while Colleen checked with her husband. “Dinner is almost ready. I’ve
got another minute but I haven’t seen Bob in two days and he cooked for us so I’ve
got to go.” Colleen covered the mouthpiece on the phone as she spoke to her husband,
then returned to her conversation with her friend. “Quit worrying. He’s better than
he’s been since I got him. He’s doing better than I thought was possible and it’s
all because of you. Hang in there babe.” She heard Bob say something unintelligible
to Colleen. “Okay, coming.” Her voice called to the next room, then quietly, back
into the receiver, “Hey hon, got to go. See you soon.”