Twice Bitten (40 page)

“The King Xerxes of the Persians?” I said, and with only slight disbelief in my tone. Having seen and experienced what I had the past two months—and especially since arriving in China—had at least softened some cynicism.

“Yes, the very same,” he said. “If I had carried less ambition, perhaps I would’ve died long before Alexander brought his ten year campaign against my homeland, and ended the reign of glory I had known so well a century earlier.”

He seemed to grow sad as he reminisced, and I started to tell him that he didn’t need to delve into painful memories. But, he raised his hand to stop me.

“Truly, it’s okay. I’ve long since healed from my human regrets,” he said. “Back then, an alchemist worth his salt could shape shift, and I could do that easily for as long as I can remember—definitely long before I was orphaned and taken to Persia as a Greek slave. Once I was accepted for my talents, we used to hold contests in Xerxes’ court, and the biggest challenge was to try and become something so minuscule that the naked eye could not see it. You would be most surprised at the other direction the universe travels. Not everything is part of the ever-expanding energy movement beyond our planet. It’s as un-ending and magical in the other direction.”

“What, sort of like reverse infinity?”

“Yes…I guess that’s an excellent term for this phenomena,” he said, nodding thoughtfully before going on. “To become a magician for the great King Xerxes, one had to master both directions of the energy flux. It’s the only way a magician could effectively cloak the king’s assassins. It also enabled us to be effective spies for his Highness—either as invisible or as a domestic pet, like a bird, dog, or cat.”

“It sounds really cool…I don’t suppose you can teach someone like me to do some of that?” I saw endless possibilities, and not all bad. It could actually provide the means for me to return to America with my baby to visit my family, friends, and Peter, and then return to wherever our latest hideout was without anyone being the wiser for it.

“I’m not sure if that’s possible…yet,” he said, offering me a wry smile. “I believe you have the talent and most other spiritual qualities. My main concern is your level of control and maturity. Having the ability to perform such magical spells also means knowing exactly when to employ them and when to hold back. It sounds easier than it is—especially if you must allow someone you deeply care about to perish for the greater good….”

He grew quiet for a moment, and then peered carefully through the banyan leaves.

“It appears that the sun is moving below the mountains to our west,” he said. “Once dusk arrives, I’ll need to bring you to Suddhodana and his village. They already know we’re coming, since Xuanxang convinced them to take you in with them.”

“Are these more vampires, then?”

Hearing about Xuanxang’s connection to them made me wary.

“Only Suddhodana is a vampire, and he was turned by Xuanxang long ago,” he said. “Most of the village’s population are males, with only a few females for the men selected to propagate.”

“That sounds really old fashioned,” I said, thinking maybe we should continue on until we found a more suitable place to stay. “Isn’t Kathmandu in Nepal? I’ll bet there’s a hotel there that would be safe.”

“Have you already forgotten what happened to your friends in Tennessee?” Kazikli’s tone became stern again. “Ralu is gaining support for his cause throughout the world. I assure you that at least one vampire sympathetic to what Ralu wants is waiting in Kathmandu. This is the case in any city larger than twenty to thirty thousand souls. You’ll be safest right here.”

“So, it’s true that vampires exist everywhere, huh?”

Not a question asked from a hopeful perspective. I felt so surrounded by enemies, and yet I’m quite sure this is the way it’s always been for me. The difference is that when I’d get a creepy feeling back in high school, as if someone was studying me from a nearby rooftop or in the taller trees back in Richmond, I assumed it was some odd paranoia brought on by too much partying and too little sleep. I would’ve never in a million years considered it to be a vampire—or vampires—watching and who lusted after my unique blood.

But, this
is
my reality. No matter where I go—or where my child and I reside—we
will
be hunted. Always. Like a pair of walking T-bone steaks trying to tiptoe past a pack of ravenous Dobermans.

“It’s not only vampires,” he said, after deliberating in silence while rampant thoughts raced through my head. “There are many different kinds of immortals. Some fit in easily with society to where no one would ever suspect they are ‘different’ in any way. Others—like the scores of different vampire breeds—could never blend in with mankind. Many of these have been forced underground, and only come up for fresh air—and meat—every few centuries. That’s why folklore changes from time to time, and things like trolls, fairies, and goblins disappeared from literature and reported sightings for hundreds of years. But such creatures have recently risen again.”

“I see….”

“Why don’t you ask me one last question, and then I think you should rest a while. I might turn into a seagull and see if I can catch some fish for supper, and afterward it’s on to the village.” He laughed.

“How about two questions, and I swear that will be it,” I said. “Just two, and then I’ll be more than happy to shut the hell up for the rest of the night.”

“Okay…as long as it’s only two.”

“How come you’re protected from the sunlight when you shape shift?”

I had wanted to ask this question right away, but it somehow slipped my mind once we got to talking about Ralu and reverse infinity, etc.

“Good question—really it is.” His wry smile grew wide enough to reveal his double fangs. That was another question for another day, since I wanted to hear his take on something more pressing for me personally. “I learned early on in my vampire life that as long as I shifted into a creature that was comfortable in daylight, I would be too. The only drawback is I’m always fiercely hungry when I morph back to vampire form. So, it’s critical for me to eat something when in the altered state.”

“It must’ve been very difficult not to take a bite out of me on the way here.” I snickered playfully.

“Yes, it was,” he said, evenly. A rush of tingles surged up and down my spine. “But I knew it would be, so I fed on one of the kitchen staff members this morning. Don’t worry, Txema, I took only enough blood to get by.”

Good thing the dude is committed to my survival.

“What is your last question, then?” He gently prodded, when I stared comatose at the comfortable blaze in the fire pit.

“Okay…you mentioned you were once an alchemist, right? Did you ever come across Racco and his brother? Chanson said they were also over two-thousand years old.”

“What an interesting question, Txema,” he said, admiringly. He grew silent, as if collecting his thoughts. Then he remained silent.

“Well?”

“Perhaps an even better question would be this: Do you honestly think a human being can stumble upon the exact chemical recipe for immortality in a single human lifetime?” he said. “What is that…about sixty to eighty years, perhaps?”

I nodded.

“Well, here’s the long answer to your question in sort of a nutshell,” he continued. “After I was turned into a vampire, during Xerxes’ return from the Battle of Thermopylae, I felt quite despondent. I wanted to continue my growth as an alchemist and master magician. But, the miracles performed by a human alchemist are far more glorious and appreciated among the mortal nations of the world, and not so much among immortals. That meant I needed someone to take my place.”

“And the brothers St. Germain were whom you chose for this?”

“Yes,” he said. “And without going too far into detail, I found two orphaned brothers left to die by Alexander’s army in a pillaged town near Persepolis. Since the original names I gave them are not easy to pronounce and remember, we’ll stick with who they are now. Comte was the more astute wizard between them, as Racco has always been more interested in the finer things that life has to offer. I made sure they lacked for nothing in terms of luxury and comfort, and as my dedicated researchers into ‘man-made’ immortality, they were considered very wealthy by their peers and within Greek/Persian society.

“They had a huge head start on their peers by means of my research conducted at night during the previous century. It still took them nearly twenty years of painstaking experiments—some with disastrous results—until they made the most monumental achievement in the history of mankind.”

“And, how long ago was that?” I was trying to get the full picture of this in my mind.

“Less than a decade after Alexander’s death…so somewhere around twenty-three hundred years ago, mankind had the secret to ‘real’ eternal life. At least life on earth…which as any immortal will tell you can be terribly lonely at times,” said Kazikli. It looked as if he might pause to reminisce some more, but he pushed onward. “My lads lost the recipe, unfortunately. So, like all of us who can’t experience the magic of normal eating, sleeping, and even really loving anything beyond what we crave and need, these two are alone for eternity. No one else can join them.”

“That’s so sad,” I said. My heart again was pulled to thoughts of Racco. I ached to hear his voice…to feel his touch against my skin. “I never imagined they were schooled by a vampire. You’re sort of their dad, huh?”

“Sadly, that’s true,” he said. “And as their ‘father’, I have words of advice for you, Txema. Never let your guard down around Racco. My boy has always been self-serving, and a never-ending scoundrel to women. I warned Chanson about him many times while she was still human nearly three hundred years ago, and like you, she was loathe to listen….”

He paused to study my expression, which I managed to keep blank. But, his widening smile told me that he had gathered something from my thoughts.

“I hope you will at least think about what I’ve told you tonight,” he said. “Garvan would be a better match for you, because he does sincerely love you, Txema.”

My mouth dropped open in surprise, as this was the exact thing I was thinking about when he studied me.

“But, lasting happiness with a vampire is an impossibility…unless you become one, too,” he said. “You may well decide to do that, in order to oversee your bloodline’s survival, as Chanson decided to do when it was only her and the two baby girls she had with Racco.”

“What?”
I gasped in surprise. “Neither one ever told me that!”

“I imagine they haven’t,” said Kazikli. He smiled compassionately. “That’s why you need to be careful about who you chose to be with. What about that Worley kid? He seems all right, and is a good-looking boy. Not to mention, he must love you dearly to have gone through the five days of torture in Racco’s dungeon and then still have enough mental fortitude to have sex with you in front of a nation of vampires. You may not have seen it, but I tipped my hat to him that night for coming through when we desperately needed it.”

All I could do was shake my head in wonder. So many new facts to sort through.

“Think about it, Txema,” he said, coming over to my side. I was too numb to even care about his instantaneous change of location. “Think about it all, and make the best decisions for you and your child to be.”

Chapter 9

After learning this latest information from Kazikli, I wasn’t interested in sleep or rest of any kind. Not with my mind racing as I sought clues that might’ve hinted at the bombshell of Chanson and Racco’s one time love affair from centuries past. Maybe that’s why she sought to discourage me from hooking up with Racco back in France. Although, at the time, the main point presented to me was that I had to remain unsullied until the blood and sex ceremony had produced a perfect heir for the birthmark and blood legacy that I alone could pass on to another generation.

I could live with that, I decided, and was almost ready to move back to the present and consider what was about to become of my life situation later that evening. But then I recalled Chanson mentioned a girl during the heated discussion between her, Racco, and Gustav when determining whose seed I should carry in my womb…. She mentioned a name….

Marissa.

That was it! Chanson had said ‘Shall I take her to see Marissa?’, and Racco’s response was a dejected one. It was the last time I ever saw him, since he immediately exited the grand hall in his own castle and left the collective presence of vampires gathered there. It was probably for the best, since he wasn’t allowed to witness my Relance de sang anyway. Briefly reliving the ceremony’s lurid details in my mind made me thankful he didn’t attend.

But, what about this girl named Marissa? Since I knew virtually nothing about her, other than I could almost feel Chanson’s terrible angst when she spoke of her that night, I had a new thing to discuss with my ancestral cousin whenever we’d meet up again.

That thought alone brought me immediately back to the present.

Kazikli had gone fishing for our dinner. His catch was to be eaten ‘raw’ in the river while in his transient ‘bird’ state and mine would be cooked civilized over the fire. He was quite serious about shape shifting into a gull or pelican of some sort—at least that’s what the bird looked like that flew out from our hideout and headed for the river. Not to mention there was no sign of Kazikli once the bird flew off.