Ironic Sacrifice (9 page)

But nothing happened, except Jayden was beginning to get a headache. With a huge yawn, she rolled over and hugged Razvan tight, burying her face in his hair and inhaling his sinful spicy scent. Tomorrow she would hopefully learn more about this captivating man.

Jayden was unable to get inside Razvan’s memories again for nearly a week.

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” she complained to Silas for the umpteenth time. “It was so easy the first time.”

Silas sighed, drumming his fingers on the dining room table. “I’ve told you over and over, lass, your powers are unstable, and things won’t always work consistently. After all, you often fail to read Max, though he is incapable of shielding…and you never get anything from Akasha unless you touch her.”

“I know,” she began, “but—”

“Not to mention,” he interrupted. “You’re not only attempting to do something far beyond the scope of your training. You’re also attempting something I have never heard of a psychic doing on quite the scale you’re daring to try…if that makes sense.” Silas’s finger crept up to his mouth in an age old musing gesture. “In fact, it almost borders on a new kind of power. Those do tend to manifest as one gains control of their abilities. I would not be surprised if you end up pulling more tricks from your proverbial hat.”

Jayden shuddered. “God, I hope not. What I have is frightening enough.”

The vampire smiled. “You seemed to enjoy using them for Razvan’s sake.”

Her cheeks heated and she opened her mouth to respond when a deep rumble of thunder stopped her. A quick peek out the window at the clear starry night made her skin prickle. It was coming from inside her head, the aftershocks still throbbing in her skull. Silas heard it too. The vampire’s eyes were wide and he jumped as the thunder sounded again.

A shadow appeared in the chair between them, swirling ominously as it gathered substance. Silas leapt to his feet, but Jayden remained frozen as her heart tried to beat itself out of her throat.

“Hello, Jayden,” the thing said in a melodic voice laden with authority before turning to the vampire. “Silas, how are you?”

“Delgarias,” Silas whispered and sank to his knees.

Now that the creature was identified, Jayden should have felt better, but she didn’t. As she looked at the first vampire ever created, her flesh wanted to crawl from her bones and flee. It wasn’t that he was horrifying in appearance. On the contrary, he was ethereally beautiful, but so alien as to unnerve her base human instincts. His waist length hair was enough to hold her in disquieting rapture. The strands were thicker than normal, and clear as glass on the outside and containing jet black cores within. From the light of the chandelier above, the mass looked like a living night sky, framing an angular face that would make artists weep.

Pale sapphire eyes peered out under sharply arched brows. Full, sensuous lips curved in a knowing smile. It felt like he could see inside her soul. He throbbed with power, so much that his presence nearly made her teeth ache. He had to be at least twice as old as Razvan. For the longest time Delgarias sat and smiled at Jayden before he finally turned to Silas and gestured for him to rise. There was something about his hands…

“You honor me with your presence, my lord,” Silas said with only the slightest bit of inquiry creeping into his tone as he stood up. “Ah, would you like something to drink?”

Jayden’s pulse sped up. Surely he didn’t mean….?

Delgarias grinned at her, flashing fangs before nodding. “I would like a glass of water if you don’t mind.”

She sagged in her seat, unable to hide her relief— until Silas left her alone with the strange vampire.

“Be at ease, Jayden Leigh,” Delgarias said in a voice that would have been more soothing if not for his vast power ramming itself down her throat. “I am not here to hurt you.”

“I…” she tried to speak, but the reverberations in her skull made words impossible.

Delgarias’s eyes shone in understanding. “I am overwhelming you, aren’t I?”

Jayden nodded and the creature closed his eyes. The intensity ebbed away and the tension drained from her body as if she’d slipped into a pool of cool water.

“Thanks,” she said, now noticing what was wrong with his hands. The fingers were at least an inch longer than those of a human.

“I am sorry about that,” he said. “You are far more powerful than I anticipated. This is good.”

Silas returned with a glass of water and a piece of paper. Handing both to Delgarias, he said, “We are having problems with Selena, my lord.”

Delgarias sipped his water and read Selena’s letter with a chuckle. “Yes, Akasha told me about this when I paid her a visit earlier. Selena is more insane than ever, it seems. Poor thing.”

Silas grimaced. “My sympathy for her mental instability evaporated centuries ago. I don’t suppose you could speak to her?”

“I could,” Delgarias replied disinterestedly, “but at this point I’m certain it would have no effect. Only killing her will make her stop her nonsense and that I cannot do.”

“Why not?” Silas and Jayden chorused.

“I have other things to attend to,” he said vaguely. “I only stopped by to see how you are getting on and now I must be off.”

The vampire stood, towering over Silas by at least five inches. He bent down and placed a long-fingered hand on top of Jayden’s head. “It was a pleasure to finally meet you. Take care of Razvan. He has endured much loneliness.”

He gave Silas a slight nod and vanished. The rush of air barreling into the spot he vacated turned Jayden’s stomach.

“Ye mean ye dinna think her threat is serious enough to merit yer almighty attention,” Silas growled to the now empty chair.

“I’m not certain that’s what he meant,” Jayden said, scooting back slightly in case her statement upset him.

The vampire raised a brow. He opened his mouth, shut it, and sighed. “Yes, I know. He was just being his usual enigmatic self.”

“What did he mean by checking to see how we were?” Jayden asked. “He didn’t even ask how anyone was doing.”

Silas smiled. “He didn’t have to, not with his power.” He turned and nodded as the front door opened. “What concerns me most is that he made an appearance at all.”

Razvan strode into the room trailed by Max and Akasha. As usual, Jayden’s heart clenched at his dark beauty.

“Ah, so he came here too.” His Romanian accent was thicker than usual. “I expected as much.”

Akasha darted around him to place a possessive hand on Silas’s arm. “How did he get here so fast? He was just at the shop five minutes ago.”

Max cut in, “Don’t answer her, I don’t want to know. That guy shivers my skin as it is.”

Razvan stalked behind Jayden, sliding his hands down to cup her shoulders, holding her frozen in her chair as he addressed Silas. “I presume he came to reiterate his instructions to me?” He laughed, low and dangerous. “As if you could stop me.”

Silas leaned back in his seat, undaunted but for a silky undertone in his voice. “And what instructions would those be?”

“I am not to Change Jayden without Delgarias’s permission.”

“Ah,” Silas replied with a slight smile. “He didn’t tell me anything of the sort. He really didn’t say much of anything.”

“Wait!” Jayden interrupted as their words became clear. “You mean change me into a vampire? I’m not sure I—”

Razvan squeezed her shoulder painfully then absently rubbed it as if in apology. “Yes, I was told not to…yet. Not that I intended to do so at this point in time.”

Jayden felt a pang of disappointment even as her mind screamed at her
. What’s the matter with you? You don’t want to drink blood!

Max went to the kitchen and scooped three bowls of chili from the crock pot as Akasha heated up the cornbread. During dinner, Silas and Razvan speculated as to the significance of Delgarias’s visit.

“I think it’s starting,” Silas said. “The events of the prophecy—”

Razvan scoffed. “I think the old bastard just wants to keep us on our toes.”

Jayden shivered as the memory of the ancient vampire’s power washed over her. She hoped he wouldn’t drop by again. Forcing her thoughts from the terrifying creature, she focused instead on getting back into Razvan’s memories. Maybe this time it would work again.

***

As dawn broke and the vampire’s breathing delved into deep slumber, Jayden focused her will on Razvan, concentrating with all her might. Nothing happened and she heaved a sigh of disappointment before trying again. Her consciousness began to float away and her heart surged in triumph. It was working!

Jayden left her body behind and drifted into a dark chamber, poorly illuminated by banked coals in a worn fireplace. A figure sat in a chair, facing away from her. Was it Razvan, or Radu? Just as she reached forward with invisible fingers, the chair swiveled to reveal Delgarias’s ethereal countenance. His brow rose in amusement as he looked right at her.

Slowly, Delgarias shook his head and pointed an abnormally long finger to the right. His other hand rose, waving her off in that direction. Jayden was catapulted away from Delgarias and back into Razvan’s memories….

The twins hurried out the door of their birth mother’s home and down the winding streets. Nothing looked familiar in the waning light. After an hour of searching for the square and doubling back, the twins sighed in defeat.

“Father is going to strap us raw for certain,” Radu said glumly.

“He’s not really our father,” Razvan countered. “And I intend to confront him about that fact before he can say a word about his stupid command to stay away from the village. It’s because he didn’t want us to know the truth. You know that, right?”

Before Radu could answer, a voice behind them said, “That is not the reason, not entirely, anyway.”

Alexandru Nicolae stepped out of the shadows and surveyed them with a stern frown. Razvan shivered despite his earlier bravado.

“I wanted to wait another year or two to tell you the truth, but now that you have learned some of it, I suppose I’ll have to tell you the rest tonight.” He let that cryptic statement hang in the air before he asked suddenly, “Where is the wagon?”

Razvan cleared his throat, his ears burning with embarrassment. “We paid a boy to tether it while we explored, but we got lost and cannot find the place where he put it.”

“Did you offer him more coin upon its return?”

“No.”

Alexandru frowned. “Then it has probably been stolen.”

Humiliation poured through Razvan in waves. His face felt like a hot coal.

“I should have taught you better,” the Voivode said.

Radu spoke up in defense of his brother. “Razvan protected me from a harlot today!”

Alexandru’s eyes bulged in surprise then he burst out laughing. Neither had heard him laugh that hard before. It seemed to echo through the village. There was an eerie quality to it that made goosebumps rise all over his flesh.

Finally the laughter faded and Razvan couldn’t help his relief.

“Well, that is probably fortunate. Diseased things, they are,” Alexandru said. “Never mind about the wagon, I will deal with it tomorrow. A long walk will teach you boys a lesson, I think. And it will give me time to explain a great many things.”

They walked with Alexandru in the darkened village. The moonlight reflected in his eyes, making him look otherworldly. He told them the tale of how he met Crina and how her longing for motherhood persuaded him to take the twins.

“But why was she ‘sacrificed’ to you in the first place?” Razvan asked.

“Ah, now here is the most important part of my tale,” Alexandru said. “I and, thanks to me, your adopted mother are no longer human beings. We are something far greater, and far more powerful.”

“What do you mean?” Razvan asked.

Alexandru answered him with another question. “Would you care to hazard a guess as to how old I am?”

Radu answered, “You look to be no more than five and thirty. But then you’ve always looked the same.”

Razvan sucked in a breath at his brother’s observation. Radu was right. The Voivode seemed not to have aged in all these years…it was the same with their adopted mother. Now that he thought of it, Crina only looked to be a few years older than themselves! The oldest of his newfound sisters seemed to be older than her. How could that be?

The Voivode looked at them gravely before answering, “I am four hundred years old and I have been Voivode of this
ţări
for nearly three centuries. For you see, my sons, I am immortal.” He smiled at them and the moonlight fell full upon his face, revealing gleaming fangs where his canines should have been.

The twins gasped and took an involuntary step back. Razvan shuddered. Crina must have such teeth as well.

Just then the door to a nearby inn was flung open and a man stumbled out, singing loudly to himself as he shambled down the road.

Alexandru put a finger to his lips. “Watch and see how I maintain eternal life.”

One moment he was standing before them, the next, he was gone. Razvan felt a phantom wind brush his cheek.

“Look!” Radu said, pointing.

Alexandru held the drunkard in his arms. The man’s eyes were glazed over as they stared back at the Voivode. Slowly, Alexandru tilted the man’s head to the side. He looked up at the twins and smiled before plunging his fangs into the drunkard’s neck.