Duella Book 3: The Witch and the Vampire Series (7 page)

There’s a secret within this book.
He turned his eyes away from the text, testing his suspicion. He looked about the library, studied the darkness for a moment, waiting for the dust to rise up and swirl before his eyes, obstructing his vision as it had previously. When the cloud didn’t move, he knew his suspicions were right. Someone or something had been sent to prevent him from learning what the book had to reveal.

He pondered his revelation. He clutched the amulet beneath his shirt and silently beseeched it for help. He felt a breeze on his neck, lifting the long hair at his nape. It blew against his cheek and whipped across his eyes, causing him to close his eyelids. He heard Miriam gasp.

He opened his eyes. The room was clear of dust. He lowered his gaze to the pages of the book. The writing was clearly visible.

Chapter Nine

He had thought perhaps that
Drucella
was something other than the witch he had once believed she was, and as he searched through the pages of the old book, he felt more and more certain that his suspicion was correct. He read about witches and warlocks, demons and creatures that stole souls and never returned them. He read about fairies and gnomes and their mystical cohorts. When he came upon the heading of vampires, he paused his reading and stared at the grotesque picture on the page. The creature of the night had a distorted face, long bared fangs that threatened from a gaping mouth and red glowing eyes resembling burning embers. He looked away, disgusted.

The touch of Miriam’s hand on his shoulder brought his thinking round. He wasn’t like the rendition of the vampire in the book. He was neither distorted in face or body. He sighed. Turning the page, he read briefly about magic and wizards,
then
he came upon something that gave him pause.

Gideons
?
He had never heard of such creatures.
Gideons
were mythological beings that had the ability to live forever and take on many forms. It was almost impossible to kill one of the creatures—given their immense range of powers.

Almost impossible?
Is
Drucella
a Gideon?
He thought about his brother casting the witch into the fire and seeing her remains turn to ashes. Fire was supposed to destroy witches. His brows furrowed. If
Drucella
was a Gideon, that would explain how she had survived the flames and come back to retrieve the amulet of her coven. He grasped the gem and held it tightly.

Are my powers strong enough to defend the amulet from its previous owner?
He scanned the pages of the book, looking for some means of verifying
Drucella’s
identity. The passages told of
Gideons
coming into power and the forming of a colony centuries earlier. He learned that the race was immune to destruction—except for one threat.

He turned the page, but found the parchment tattered too badly to make out the writing. He grimaced. He understood that
Drucella
had indeed wanted to prevent him from reading the book so that he couldn’t find out about her real identity or learn how to destroy her. He raked one hand through his hair.

But I didn’t find out how to destroy her—only that there is one threat to
Gideons
.
He closed the book and lifted it from the table. As he walked across the room to replace it in the bookcase, he was assailed with the feeling that another presence had joined
he
and Miriam. He whirled around, his intense gaze encompassing the interior of the room with lightning haste.

A spark of light glimmered in the corner of the room,
then
drew nearer, growing larger as it approached. He braced his legs, threw the old book on the floor and clenched his fists, ready to do battle.

The shard spun, flashing amber, then white before halting. It hovered, wavered.

Miriam gasped and raced across the room to hide behind
Duella
.

“Show yourself!”

His voice was commanding, leaving no room for rebuke. “Show yourself!”

The mass shifted, swirled. A shape began to form.

Duella
stared at the image being manifested before his eyes. He could see a body emerging, a woman with long hair. She was naked. He blinked his eyes, recognition coming to mind.

“
Duella
.
Come. Let’s lie together and enjoy each other’s bodies.”

He felt uneasy as the voice rasped into the wide-open space. He clearly recognized the woman he had met and taken nourishment from the first night of his existence in the present era. He knew now that she had faked her fainting spell only to get him in her domain where she later transformed into
Drucella
and attacked him.

He gathered his courage. Prepared to fight to the death, he snarled angrily and leapt toward the figure within the lit vision. He landed mere inches from the apparition and glimpsed the surprise in the piercing blue eyes when he thrust a fist into its protective aura.

An angry wail came from the light as
Duella’s
powerful thrust upset the balance of prism. The mass shrank back, quivered—the female form contained within its boundary, groaned and thrashed about.

Duella
lashed out, clutching the form by the chest. He clenched his mighty hand, gnashing his teeth as the apparition fought to get free. It drew back, threatened him with long, pointed teeth, raked his forearms with sharp talons. He felt his skin pierced as the claws dug in,
then
suffered a crushing blow from a foot as it landed in his mid-section. He bellowed and gnashed his teeth, growing angrier as the creature fought back.

“You cannot beat me. You do not have the power.” The voice sounded remarkably calm, a hint of sarcasm clung to the words.

Duella
paused with his fist clenched tightly on the creature’s chest. He gave the form a mighty shake, demonstrating his hate.

The form hovered—the face stared at
Duella
through the misty aura,
then
vanished as quickly as it had come into the room.
Duella
grasped thin air, his fist still clenched in an agonizing grip as he realized that
Drucella
had disappeared right before his eyes—again. “I’ve got to find a way to destroy that fucking witch!”

Miriam was before him, her hands clutching his face. “Who is she? What does she want?”

He looked into her eyes. He had to be honest with her. She had given him blood when his body was suffering from the effects of the old book.

“She’s a witch from my past. She wants…” He paused. Did he dare tell Miriam about the amulet?

“She wants to destroy you?”

“Yes. And she’ll stop at nothing.”

Miriam covered her mouth with one hand, horrified. “What can we do? There must be something we can do?” She jerked her head toward the old book
Duella
had dropped to the floor when the witch arrived. “What did the old book tell you?”

He noted the fact Miriam offered to help him. He smiled in spite of the circumstances. He drew her into his arms. “I read about creatures called
Gideons
. I think
Drucella
may be one.” He stopped short of revealing that
Drucella
had been a witch in the year 1185, thinking perhaps that Miriam might not understand time travel. He grimaced, once again feeling uncertain whether he should have come to this present time. He had encountered nothing but problems since arriving. He pushed Miriam to arm’s length and gazed down at her.

Well, perhaps not everything he encountered could be classified as a problem.
He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers, then drew her against his chest.

“What are we going to do,
Duella
? We can’t just ignore the witch. She’ll come back and try to kill you again. I know she will.” She tightened her arms around his waist. “We have just found each other—I don’t want to lose you.”

Her words tugged at his senses. Since meeting her, he had been in a quandary over his growing feelings for her, repressing them as best he could, but now that she had spoken her true feelings about him…

“Come. I have something to show you.” He took her hand and led her to the windowsill where they had entered the building. Urging her to transform, he seeped beneath the pane and then reappeared as a bat, taking to the air. She followed close behind, soaring on the calm night breeze at his side. They crossed the city and flew into the suburbs.

Duella
arrived at the mansion he would soon be living in. He landed in a tree, then leapt to the ground and transformed. With Miriam by his side, he walked to the front door of the mansion and pressed one hand against the solid wood structure, ordering it to open.

The mansion unfolded before their eyes, a lavishly decorated home that bore all the finery of the previous owner.
Duella
took Miriam’s hand and stepped across the threshold.

 
She looked around in wonder, retuning her gaze to his face. Her lower jaw hung open in awe. “What is this place?”

“My new home.
Would you like to live here with me?”

She bit her bottom lip,
then
smiled. Tears appeared in her eyes. “Oh, yes. I would like that very much.” She turned to have another look. “Should I ask about the previous owner? Or how you came to have the house?”

He shook his head. “The less you
know,
the better. Know only that I have made arrangements for the future.”

She nodded her head, satisfied with his explanation.

The stench of death clung to the home office where Fred
Glasco
spent his final moments.
Duella
strode into the room, crossed the carpeted floor to the wide desk and gazed upon the array of papers scattered across its top. He gathered the sheets, stacked them neatly in a pile,
then
tucked them into a manila folder. Soon, he would put everything in order, but tonight he would entertain Miriam.

She swept into the room, the long dark dress she wore billowing around her calves. She smiled, appearing happy for the first time since they left the library and their harrowing ordeal with the witch. “We’re going to live here forever,
Duella
? We’re going to have servants to wait on us and
cooks
to prepare our meals?” She sucked in a quick breath and covered her face with both hands. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget how horrible it is to be a vampire. We don’t eat food—real food anyway.” She lowered her hands and looked at him, a faint smile on her lips. “But I suppose we could if we wanted to.”

“You could.” He returned her smile. Remorse gathered in his gut. He realized then that she suffered the same sad feelings as he about their vampire state, the undead existence they were forced to endure.
Alas.
There was little either of them could do to change things. The curse would remain with them forever.

She shrugged her shoulders. “When will you occupy the house?” She stared at him with wide eyes.

He glanced toward the desk, reminded that the former owner had been taken away and now lay in a funeral home a short distance from there, prepared for burial in the human manner. The servants were presently gathered in the chapel, grieving.

And perhaps worrying about their jobs.
“Tonight.”

She bit her bottom lip.

He sensed her concern. “I’ll send for your coffin.”

She looked relieved,
then
lowered her eyes. “I know we’ve been sleeping together, but—”

“You don’t owe me an explanation, Miriam. If you feel at ease having the crypt near you, then you shall have it.” He smiled.

“All vampires should have their casket nearby,
Duella
.” Her brows drew together. “Have you no coffin of your own?”

He sighed and took a seat on the corner of the desk. Looking about the great room, with its book lined walls and sleek leather
furniture,
he felt he could get used to his new surroundings with little effort. “I have no coffin, my sweet. And now that we are in this new place, I intend to sleep in a real bed in a real bedroom with curtains at the window and a bolt on the door.” He laughed out loud.

She smiled broadly. “Do you suppose we could sleep without being near the earth—the very thing the undead is supposed to retreat to for security?” She crossed the floor and stood very close to him. “Are there some human things that we could do—instead of always hunting for victims in the night, then scurrying into the darkness to hide?” She combed her fingers through her hair. The dark mass hung lank against her shoulders. Dark circles rimmed her eyes. Shadows played about her mouth, reminiscent of her lost beauty.

He took hold of her upper shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “We are going to make some changes, Miriam. We are going to establish ourselves in the community and live among the living.”

She drew in a quick breath. “But how can we—when we must hunt mortals for their blood? How can we live among them—they will discover us and drive stakes through our helpless bodies while we slumber.” She shook her head.
“Oh,
Duella
.
We cannot.”

He drew her into his embrace. “Miriam, we can. And we shall.”