Now, while Shane had been overseeing the kids cleaning up the kitchen, he failed to notice that Marissa and David were both missing. In fact not only were they missing, but so was Jarvis. Knowing that Carmen had left him in charge and gone upstairs due to having a headache brought on from the stress of the state of the kitchen, he really didn’t want to go bothering her just yet. Not when they had just got back. Shane racked his fingers through his hair, as Misty gave him an awkward look. Clearly, he hadn’t seen the REST of the house. He had been in the den, which he kept locked when away, and come straight to the kitchen, so what he was about to discover, was going to make him one….very angry man. Misty was still looking at him oddly, when she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“May I just say in my defense, that it was totally David’s idea and that me and Bianca tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen. Kept going on and on about how this was how they did things in their lair.”
Shane suddenly closed his eyes, knowing exactly what that meant.
“Do…I want to look?”
“Maybe…” Misty said in a small voice, as she set down the cleaning product and led him out of the kitchen and into the main lounge area. What he saw…left him shell shocked. It was like a scene from the aftermath of an Animal house frat party, with even girl’s thong’s hanging from the light fittings. Food stains, split bottles, blood dolls that were half naked lying on the ground and against walls, broken TV sets, ripped furniture. We are talking thousands of dollars of damage if not more. Shane…did not say a word. It was like this from room….to room.
He rounded on Misty and asked. “How many people were here, while Carmen and I were away?”
“From…the Queen’s coven…about…five hundred..ish?” she said, twisting her body so her right shoulder rose up and she cringed as Shane was now looking like he was going to hyperventilate.
“You…mean to tell me…that…DAVID…let the COVEN in my house…UPSTAIRS…where…the humans could have come…and…RUINED EVERYTHING?!” At this his hand shot out and gripped Misty’s throat, lifting her up off the floor and holding her aloft with a furious gaze that would have incinerated someone on the spot. Misty struggled, with her hands up to try and wrestle his from her.
“Pppplease…Shhhhannneeee!” She squeaked, her feet dangling and kicking out – terrified. Bianca ran out and saw what Shane was doing and raced over. The young Vampire screamed at him. “It’s not her fault…please…Dad!” This was a first, Bianca calling Shane dad, and that actually made him stop himself, as Misty’s eyes were bulging from her head. Unceremoniously he dropped her from his hold, where she landed with a clatter at his feet.
“WHERE IS DAVID?!” He roared, as the girls held each other in fear of their Sire.
<3>
Carmen lay on the bed, hearing the mumble of voices downstairs, easily picking out Shane’s among them. That was until…
You…mean to tell me…that…DAVID…let the COVEN in my house…UPSTAIRS…where…the humans could have come…and…RUINED EVERYTHING?!”
A slice of pain shot through her head like a knife and she whimpered, biting her lip against it. She heard one of the girls speaking and tried to relax her body.
Shane’s angry roar when he next spoke made her actually cry out loud, tears springing to her eyes. Tala brought her head up with a whine, sensing her Mistress’s distress. Even Eric and Ethan could sense her pain and knew its cause. They needed to tell Shane before it became worse.
Main Lounge
Shane looked like a fire-breathing dragon come to life as he stood in the center of the destruction of his home, staring at the two women as if wanted to rip them to shreds.
This was the scene the twins walked in on when they finally located him.
“Sire…” Eric began, waiting for Shane to acknowledge him before he continued to speak, trying not to flinch at the hard gaze Shane pinned him with. “The Mistress is in severe distress. She has locked away the Power and it is causing her undue pain. She must release the excess energy before she burns.”
Ethan was nodding frantically, his heart racing as he tuned in to Carmen’s emotional state. She was very upset and had no understanding as to why she was in so much pain.
Shane was going to go nuclear against the vamps that were in the house, trying in vain to clean up one room, let alone the whole house, but it was when the twins approached with word that Carmen had locked her power up, and sealed it inside herself, that he knew she had just put herself into great harm.
“What?!” Almost incredulous at the thought she would do such a thing. He actually fell back a bit. How could he be so blind, worrying about the house, when the love of his life lay upstairs, about to implode if she didn’t release her anger…her power.
Running from the room, he raced up the stairs, and darted along the corridor, not looking left or right, but zeroing in on their room. Reaching it, he saw her laying on the bed with the wolf nearby. No time to waste, he ran to her side of the bed and scooped her up in his arms, before turning around and saying the special chant, that unlocked the secret door to the dungeon lair below. The door slid back, and carrying his beloved, he made his way down the spiral stairs, that returned her Queen to their true home, the dimension where she was Queen of the night, and not just Carmen Williamson. The torches all flared to life, as the servants and creatures of this sub-terrain domain crept out of the shadows, to see their Queen being carried in like a limp doll.
“OUT OF MY WAY!” Shane cried, as he made it to her temple throne at the top end of the structure. It was here, she could be her true self. Gently he laid her down on a large antique sofa, as others gathered in behind, bowing before her. His hand smoothed over her hair as he lowered himself to meet her gaze. “Love…please, let her out. For the sake of all we have….I beg you.”
<3>
It couldn’t have been but a minute later that Shane was at her side, taking her up in his arms. She whimpered at the sudden change in position, pressing her fevered head to his neck as he rushed her through the house to the caverns below.
The Coven
The coven was surprised to see Shane with Carmen in his arms as they moved from the shadows to kneel at their side. He placed her on a sofa before them as his hand carded through her hair. She didn’t know how serious this was until he spoke.
“Love…please, let her out. For the sake of all we have….I beg you.” His tone was both worried and scared, two emotions she didn’t think he was capable of. But it showed her the depth of his worry for her that he did this before their entire enclave.
She struggled to deny his request but the pain became so bad, she needed to release it or she would die. A moment later, her body arched up off the sofa and a tortured cry echoed around the cavern, causing those in attendance to fall flat to the ground in supplication.
The clothing she wore shredded beneath the suddeness of her transformation, one beat of her wings having her airborn in a thrice. Claws biting into her palms, she raised her head, her eyes blacker then death as she screeched her anger to the air. All who heard it, knew there was a chance they would not come out of this alive.
“I should kill every last one of you for the destruction you have caused our home.” she hissed, landing on her feet, her wings curled around her like a cloak, hiding her naked body from their view. Oh their Queen was very angry, justifiably so.
“My Queen-” one brave soul dared to speak.
“SILENCE!” she roared. No one dared to breathe. She paced back and forth before them, thinking. “You have not only shamed yourselves, you have insulted your Lord and Master and his Queen with your despicable behavior! What the fuck kind of example are you setting for our younglings? Not a very good one! What made you think that going upstairs was condoned? Do you not realize that if the humans caught wind of this place, they would not hesitate to end us all? You, all of you, put the entire coven in danger of destruction!”
The full implication of their actions finally pierced their brains and they all looked down in shame. She spoke the truth and they knew it. They couldn’t even beg for forgiveness for it would never come.
“I will need twenty able-bodied men and women to help clean and repair the damage done to our home.” Carmen demanded.
Slowly, twenty hands moved into the air, none of the volunteers looking up from the floor. She nodded and sent them on their way. “The rest of you…your punishment shall be shared with that of your Sires! You will refrain from seeking pleasure from them. From this point onward, until I decide otherwise, you are nothing but a food source! So help me, if you even try to get your fuck on, you will feel my wrath!” she snarled, speaking to both the vampires in attendance and their blood dolls.
She turned to look at Shane, looking so sexy in her anger it was a wonder he didn’t grab her right then and throw her to the ground.
“Is this punishment acceptable to you, My Lord?”
Carmen at first fought the Queen from rising. Trapped and locked down, it was going to kill her mortal form if she did not allow the release. Shane knew it, and understood all too well. His words, practically showing the emotions of a man desperate to save her from herself had helped unlock the Queen from this inner cage.
Free.
Watching her, Shane fell back so he was well behind. He did this for a reason, for seeing her evolve, set off a chain reaction in him as well. So while she screeched and roared, with her wings beating in full, his own body split and cracked, shedding his cloth. He did this holding in the sound of tortured pain that it brought, but when complete the Vampire Lord was ready to act on the Queen’s word, as the coven knew well. Eyes of the deepest red tore across the room of followers, that had danced to the merry song of his brother David, and brought the magnificent house above to look like it was set to be internally demolished. He didn’t need to reemphasize to the Coven what damage this could have done to all, if they were discovered, if this underground chamber was found. The Queen’s own chambers could be raided and then what?
Unlike the Queen, who wrapped her wings around her like a cloak, he allowed his to beat behind him slowly, as he listened to his beloved dish out just what action was to be taken to repair the damage done, and also, that they were all on a ban from sinful sexual pleasures. Oh…that was a master stroke, if he did say so himself. The Vampire lord leaned against the Queen’s throne, as she strode back and forth issuing her decree, only to turn to him as she had voiced her demands.
“Is this punishment acceptable to you, My Lord?”
“Absolutely, my Queen. I know the randy little bastards will be champing at the bit to right the wrongs.” His slow grin was a sign that he knew more than one way to make them learn a hard lesson for their misdeeds.
<3>
“Absolutely, my Queen. I know the randy little bastards will be champing at the bit to right the wrongs.” Shane’s slow grin and the way his gaze traveled over her body let her know that he knew more then one way to get the point across. With a smirk of her own, she uncovered her body, sauntering toward him, very aware that every eye was upon their Lord and his Lady. They could smell the arousal coming from the two of them and more than one vampire whimpered in response.
“Hmm.” she purred, walking around his larger form, the edge of one of her wings trailing across his arm. “What do you think would drive the point home, my darling.” she hissed, slipping her tongue from between her lips to trail along his ear.
The fight was now a little more even with Booker, David and Marissa joining the fray. There was a rustle in the underbush and Jarvis, Amelia and Charmaine appeared.
“You are so fucking lucky I’m not telling Carmen about this.” Dyna snarled at Jarvis, not removing her eyes from the vampire in front of her. Jarvis had the good sense to blush with shame.
“Can we discuss this later?” Jarvis asked.
“You bet your ass we will.” Dyna frowned. “Amelia? You okay, sweetcheeks? How about you, Char?”
Booker transformed back to his human form. “Where’s my niece?” he demanded.
“I told her to lock herself in my car. She should be safe.” Dyna told him. Booker nodded before shifting form once more.
“Are we done playing ‘Happy Families’? I have people to kill and blood to drink.” Ray snapped.
“Bring it, bitch!” Jarvis taunted.
And the fight was on.
—————————-xRMx—————————-
6666 Mockingbird Lane
The massive, victorian style manstion had stood empty for dozens of years. Rumors abounded that the place was haunted and no one dared to approach for fear of the things that go bump in the night. The last person who attempted to live there, reported strange sounds coming from the basement, but they refused to go and investigate, choosing instead to put the house and everything in it up for sale and moving across the country.
A single caretaker was hired to keep the lawn mowed and the house from falling apart, but he refused to work past sundown, for that was when the noises started.
Near the end of September, the “For Sale” sign that had been tacked to the front gate, now read…
Gossip was ripe as to who had purchased the place. But for nearly a month, the place stayed empty. The caretaker continued to do his work but no lights or movement was seen.
Until that Halloween night…
The black stretch limo, silent as death, pulled in through the gates shortly after 2 in the morning, followed by a large storage truck. The driver of the limo stepped out and if one had been looking, they would have seen his eyes were glazed over and blank as if he was in some kind of trance. He went to the back and opened the door on the passenger side. A woman stepped out first, hair as dark as the night that surrounded them. She stepped to the side and waited as the second person stepped from within. He was taller then the woman by a good foot or two and looked very distinguished. The three-piece Armani suit he wore gave him a broad-shouldered look that would make many women swoon. He turned to look at the mansion, nodding with satisfaction. A third man joined them from the truck that had been following, nearly as tall as the first man but much more bigger in stature.
“See to it that our cargo is delivered to the basement.” a deep and cultured voice spoke.
The delivery truck driver blanched and began to sweat. “T-The b-b-basement, sir?” Hazel eyes turned and pinned the man in place with a look.
“Yes, the basement. Is there a problem?”
“N-No s-sir, Mr Tepes. I-It’s just t-that there are rumors of s-s-something down t-there. No one g-goes down there.”
The man known as Vlad Tepes arched a brow, intrigued. “I shall have to see this for myself. Carry on.”
“Y-Yes sir.” the driver stammered, scurrying away to do the Master’s bidding. It always amused Vlad when he found a human actually willing to serve him. He would keep the man around for a bit. He’d be useful.
Leading the way, Vlad went inside the mansion and looked around the surroundings. “Reminds me of home.” he smirked, taking in the furnishings with a glance. He paused in the act of turning toward the stairs. His well-honed senses were telling him that there was someone else in the house.
He frowned. “Someone is here.” he murmured to Rheksas, who was standing behind him. “Let us find the basement.”
Basement Door
It didn’t take them long to find the door to the basement, located just off the kitchen. They stood to listen to the faint sounds whispering across the grain of the wood and Vlad was nothing but curious.
“What an interesting puzzle.” he mumured, more to himself but loud enough for the others to hear.
He put a hand on the knob, feeling the cool metal beneath his palm. He tugged once, but the door did not open. “Hmm…” Looking it over, he noticed the padlock. “Clearly they didn’t want someone or something coming out or getting in.” He gripped it in one hand and gave an effortless yank, breaking the lock instantly. He retried the door and it opened instantly. Something moved in the shadows and launched forward. Vlad ducked out of the way and something moved to tackle Rheksas to the ground, snarling like a beast.
Vlad got a glimpse of disheveled hair and pale features…another vampire, and one that was starved.
“Veti înceta acest nonsens, la o dat?!” he snarled. (Translation: You will desist this nonsense at once!)
It seemed the vampire, a female from the looks of things, knew who he was and was at his feet in a thrice.
“My lord, I live to serve.” she whispered.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Danika, My Lord.”
“How long have you been here? How did you end up locked away?”
“I am…unsure…the days have blended together. I had been searching for a coven and found this house. An elderly couple lived here and I fed upon them to survive. I was…caught…and locked away. Fed upon the rats and bugs that crawled below…lonely existence.”
“Hmm…” Vlad stated. With a thought, he sent for the limo driver currently under his thrall. The entranced human joined them after a few moments and Vlad drew Danika to her feet. “You wish to serve me, then you must grow stronger. Feed and regain your strength.” He pushed her toward the driver, who’s eyes cleared before widening in fear. Before he could scream, Danika was at his throat, tearing into the man’s skin without thought or care.
Vlad turned to Emilia and Rheksas. “See to it that our coffins are placed below, Rheksas. Emilia, you will stay with Danika and show her a room where she may rest. I have business to attend to elsewhere.” Expecting his orders to be obeyed, he turned and strode away.
Jarvis’s war cry of “Bring it Bitch!” set off the attack on both sides, as Vampire went against Vampire and witches fought alongside. Marissa’s fighting style was a little unorthodox to say the least, banging on Vampire over the head with her clutch, that just so happened to contain a set of brass knuckle busters. Jarvis was actually levitating fighting a Vampire, both had their hands clutched around each other’s throats, slamming from tree to tree, as below Amelia was using her ability to throw objects, such as rocks and stones at oncoming Vampires from Ray’s crew. Char…who was still naked, was darting around a tree, trying to out run another vampire, who found her nakedness to be a little too enticing.
“Come ‘ere, and let Dirk eat you..OUT!” the Vampire taunted, as Charmaine screamed and then in her panic she clutches at a tree branch to swat the vampire away. But this only angers a tree full of feral squirrels that all started to attack the vampire in what looked to be a nasty case of going for his nuts.
David stood in the midst of the madness, as Vampires were being hammered by the small group, and Raymundo’s crew were coming off second best. One Vampire was running past on fire, as Amelia started hurling fire balls, in a fit of rage.
Trying to hold back a wicked grin, David spotted Dyna out of the corner of his eye, knowing she was not going to take attacks from Raymundo lightly. He refocused on the angered Raymundo and laughed.
“Don’t look now, but I think you are about to get the “point” as why not to mess with the ladies.”
If Dyna looked to her right, there was the antlers of a dead deer on the ground, the perfect thing to impale a Vampire with. All she needed to do was either pick it up and run at Raymundo with it or use her ability to make the skull levitate and push it forward.
6666 Mockingbird Lane
Basement
There was something in the rogue vampire’s story that…didn’t quite gel for Emilia. How is it possible for a fully fledged vampire to go from attacking elderly citizens to being locked up against her will in an abandoned house. Was this some sort of stunt? And why is it she knew the Count off the bat? Emilia stood along side Rheksas as she watched the half starved vampire feed on the limo driver, and Emilia thought to herself, that was just another mess they had to clean up.
The Count gave his orders as usual, that Rheksas was to set up the coffins in the basement, no surprises there. But the part that had Emilia seething was that she had to find a comfortable room for the Count’s new charge. Oh…that didn’t go down well at all. Rheksas, who normally went to work right as he was told, actually stopped to look between the two women. This…was going to get ugly. Placing a hand upon Emilia’s shoulder he uttered.
“General…I know what you’re thinking. Remember the dramas in New York. We don’t want a repeat.”
He was right of course, and then giving the girl known as Danika the once over, he left to go fetch the coffins, leaving Emilia alone with the blood stained Danika. The Count was now well out of ear shot, and Emilia snorted through her nostrils in a show of severe annoyance, before saying in a deep Romanian accent.
“Follow me.”
Going up the stairs to the main foyer, she realized that the bedrooms would probably begin on the second floor. Much of the furniture was still covered and there was a lot of work to do within the house to get it presentable. Heading for the spiralling stair case, Emilia said without looking back.
“Don’t get too comfortable around the Count. He is known for his…unpredictability.”
This was as good a warning as she would give, considering she had already defied the Count’s wishes once.
Reaching the second floor, she simply pointed at a random door and waved Danika towards it.
“That’ll do.” To Emilia all the rooms must be the same, since they were only being used at night, for the daylight hours they descended into the darkness of the basement.
Emilia didn’t even bother to check it, instead of having thoughts of turning around and going back down to help Rheksas. The girl just gave off all the wrong vibes. But instead, the General approached the girl, getting very close. “I am the General, and I will carry out the Count’s wishes….but I am not your lackey. Understood?”
<3>
Seeing a vampire chasing a naked witch before being attacked by rabid squirrels, Booker jumped into action, charging after the parasite and hamstringing him. The vampire roared with rage, turning to face the new threat, coming face to face with the werewolf. Booker wasted no time in tearing out the throat and snorting in satisfaction as the vampire was reduced to dust.
Dyna was still facing off with Ray as David taunted him. She took note of the deer antlers, but had no means of which to grab them like he was hinting as she had currently charged her tree branch club so it would remain sturdy. Didn’t mean she couldn’t do it, she just didn’t have the concentration for it at the moment. A vampire tried to get the jump on her from the trees but she was in motion before he could land a hit, swinging the tree branch and knocking the vampire’s head from his shoulders. Not even bothering to watch the dust fly, she turned in time to catch a glancing blow across her shoulder from Ray. She hissed in pain as her arm went numb, causing her to drop her make-shift club.
Ray laughed, watching her fall to a knee. Booker saw her go down and his rage knew no bounds. He turned away from chasing another vampire and ran full speed at Ray. Ray jumped out of the way and Booker went sprawling headfirst into a tree, knocking himself silly. Laughing, Ray turned back to Dyna in time to see her launching the tree branch at him like a javelin. Her aim was accurate but her target was no longer where she had thrown.
An arm snaked around her throat, nearly cutting off her air and she realized that he had used her as a distraction. His hot breath ghosted across her neck and she shuddered.
“STAND DOWN OR THE BITCH DIES!” he roared.
Almost immediately, Jarvis and Booker stopped, eyes wide as they stared at the two locked together.
“Dyna!” Booker moaned, seeing her in the arms of his greatest enemy. He was going to lose her…and he hadn’t even told her how he felt.
“NO!” came a shout none of them expected. Ray turned, Dyna in his arms to see Raelyn standing in the clearing. She was breathing heavily, as if she had run a great distance and her arm was outstretched, trembling wildly. But her eyes…they were glowing so brightly it was near blinding.
“Dyna, duck!” Jarvis shouted, seeing what was happening. The deer antlers that Dyna had been directed to were vibrating wildly across the ground and toward the back of the vampire who held his captive. Dyna didn’t hesitate. Using her police training to full advantage, she shoved an elbow into Ray’s stomach before swinging her fist into his balls. Howling in pain, he released her and she dived out of his grasp just as the antlers were launched from the ground like a missle from a silo.
The sharp points impaled Raymundo like shish kebab, sending him sailing into a tree and pinned like a butterfly in a display case. He didn’t so much as explode to dust, but simply melted into a puddle of goo as he died.
Seeing their leader dead, the remaining few vampires knew they didn’t stand a chance with their leader gone and took off into the night until the only sound was the crackling of the fires that Amelia’s fireballs had created.
Booker was immediately across the clearing, yanking Dyna into his arms. Before she could say a word, he was kissing her, his tongue diving into her mouth without so much as a bye-your-leave. She was stunned for all of two seconds before she succumed to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and melting into his touch.
“Um…hello…other people here!” Rae snorted, though she was smiling that her uncle finally got a clue.
————————-
Vlad’s New Digs, Second Floor
Danika followed behind Emilia, sensing the other woman was not happy with her presence. She nodded when Emilia told her the count was unpredictable.
“I’m used to that. My sire was much the same, I’m afraid.” she nodded. Emilia pointed to a random door and told Danika to use it before she pinned her with a hard glare.
“I am the General, and I will carry out the Count’s wishes….but I am not your lackey. Understood?”
“Yes.” Danika nodded, simply grateful to be out of that dank and dark basement. The blood of the driver was slowly reviving her senses and she just wanted to rest and gather her strength again. She moved toward a door, opening it slowly before looking at Emilia. “Thank you.” She went inside and closed the door in the General’s face.
—————————
Town
Vlad had taken the truck driver and installed him as his new limo driver and ordered him to drive around town so that he could get a feel of the place. Therefore he was quite surprised to see a pair of bloody and dishevelved vampires darting into the cemetary. “Hmm…” he mumured. “Interesting. I believe I am in the correct place. I smell Vincent all over them. We are close.”
“Do you wish to follow them, sir?”
“No. It is too close to dawn. We will have plenty of time. They aren’t going anywhere.”
“Yes, sir.”
The driver turned the car and headed back to the mansion.
Charmaine cheered and bounced up and down wildly, to see Rae take down the lead vampire in style. You had to admit, that seeing her be able to control her powers to do good when it was needed was a miracle in itself. Amelia got an eyeful of Charmaine’s bouncing boobage and tossed her clothes at her. “We are no longer dancing round the fire, Char.” Amelia had managed to pick up their clothes, though they were smoking a little bit from Amelia’s hot hands. She had worked her magic using fire balls to help thwart the enemy vampires, and now as they all stood in the clearing, their attentions turned to Booker and Dyna, who were going at it like jack rabbits.
Jarvis actually smirked and then gave something of a brotherly acknowledgement of a head nod towards Booker. “And the guy gets the girl. Cool.” He was hoping he would have the same thing going with Amelia, but she was too busy helping a protesting Charmaine get dressed. Charmaine by all accounts loved nudity.
Marissa stumbled over, nearly breaking her heel and remembering why she hated the forest so much. Her hair was in dissaray and she had blood all over her Gucci clutch purse. David was just enjoying the show, since he didn’t even lift a finger to fight at all, merely acting as a distraction at one point and was pleased to see his old rival turn to dust. The felling of the enemy pack of Vamps meant little to David, since it just meant more for the taking with less vampires around. Amelia then asked David.
“What on earth brought you two out? I don’t see the bikes.” She asked, curious at the two of them being together. This was when David came clean on a few things. “Well, Carmen and Shane got back from their romantic weekend away…and saw the mess the coven had made…and…Carmen killed my blood dolls, and Marissa was helping me find a nice hole to put them in.” This all said with a trademark David grin. Marissa shrugged and added. “He promised me we would go parking.”
Jarvis then slapped his hand to his forehead, knowing the merry hell that would be going on at home, since the house was trashed by David’s crew and the full coven. “Carmen…is going to go nuclear.” He was right of course, only thing was he wasn’t there to witness it. Which was probably a good thing.
Amelia approached Rae and went to give her a hug, which is something Amelia used to do a lot of, before she had her relationship issues after Jason and Rodger. She pulled her in and squeezed her tight, before letting her go and smiling.
“And that is the first part of control. Under great stress, you were able to manipulate the deer horns, and save your Aunt. You really are so gifted, but we know that to use our powers, when at our greatest need. Never for our own gain.”
Charmaine, who was now dressed sung out. “How about we go back to the pool house for hot chocolate?”
Vlad’s New Digs, Second Floor
After Danika closed the door in Emilia’s face, the Vampire General stood there with clenched fists, ready to rip the door down and demand answers to why she was so coy about the Count. Just how many damn vampires were under his charge in this area already? Why hadn’t he disclosed all this to her? She never felt so out of the loop in all her unlife. Seething, she spun on her heel and went back down the spiral staircase. No doubt the Count had business to take care of…he always did. Done with an air of mystery. For the first time in many hundreds of years, Emilia felt like she truly was the pawn he had turned her into. The anger continued to swell as she went down to the basement, where Rheksas was setting up their coffins, in what was a huge underground ball room. It was a little too opulent for her tastes.
Seeing her enter, Rheksas stopped what he was doing a moment, and looked up. Oh, he could see she was not enjoying the company of the house guest; Danika.
“So, what is her story? I take it you drilled her.” At least this is what he thought Emilia had been doing, she was not above it.
Emilia ran her finger along her own coffin, before coming to a stop, her head down as she didn’t want him to see the fury in her eyes.
“She was sired by another, one like our Lord. Other than that, I got nothing from her.” Emilia didn’t really ask a lot either, more or less offered her advice that the Count was unpredictable. The funny part was, Emilia suspected that the girl, already knew.
Rheksas rubbed his chin for a moment. He was wondering how long she had been locked down here, and by who?
“Something doesn’t add up. Maybe she was one of Vincent’s?’ It was a strong possibility, but Emilia would have thought that the Count might have made mention of that. Emilia shook her head. “I doubt it. But something is not right about this.”
Rheksas approached Emilia and placed his finger under her chin, much like Vlad did. Emilia resisted a little before looking at him. He could see she was acting out as though jealous of another female getting close. “What have I told you, Em? I keep saying it over and over…we are nothing but his servants. Hmm?” Emilia nodded slowly before Rheksas offered her a light smile. “Until he destroys us….we have each other.”
He was speaking the truth.
<3>
