Abandoned to the Night (The Brotherhood Series, Book 3) (16 page)

Her countenance brightened. “Do you think we have the strength to overthrow him?”

“We can but try, Ivana.” They had too much to lose to fail.

She nodded apprehensively. “The choice is yours. I do not care what happens to me. I will concede to your wishes. I will do whatever you ask.”

“Then we should dress and meet your husband in the Great Hall.”

“You must not call out to your friends in his presence. He will feel and hear the emotional connection you share. You must write a note, and I will ask Julia to take it to the tavern. Quick. We must hurry.”

They entered the Great Hall to find Nikolai lounging in a chair by the fire. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his hands cupping the back of his head. Upon hearing their approaching footsteps, he glanced in their direction and smirked.

“Ivana, there you are.”

Leo could feel Ivana trembling at his side.

Nikolai stood. He turned to face them as he clasped his hands behind his back. His silky black hair touched his shoulders. With him being both tall and lithe, his features were well defined. Possessing a thin patrician nose, prominent chin, and sunken cheeks, he had an air of hauteur. His black velvet coat trimmed with gold brocade reflected a fashion popular forty years earlier. Leo knew the silver cane propped against the chair sheathed a sword because Calvino owned one similar.

“Ah, Leo, what a surprise it is to see you again.”

Sylvester stepped forward carrying another chair which he placed next to the fire. He proceeded to light the candelabras before trudging out of the room.

“I’m afraid you have an advantage,” Leo said with a hint of contempt. “I cannot recall ever meeting you. I remember almost nothing of my time here.”

Nikolai raised an arrogant brow. “If that is the case, then pray tell me how you knew where to come.”

The gentleman was sharp.

“Not all memories were lost to me. I knew to come to the tavern if I had any hope of finding and killing the woman who turned me. I came here for revenge.”

Nikolai laughed and glanced at Ivana. “How interesting. Obviously, you were unsuccessful in your task.” He inhaled deeply. “Indeed, I sense some other need drives you now.”

“What are you doing here?” There was a nervous edge to Ivana’s tone.

Nikolai jerked his head, looked a little confused. “This is my home, Ivana, or had you forgotten that too?” He gestured to the chairs. “Let us talk for a while.”

Like any good host, Nikolai waited for them to sit before dropping into a chair.

“I had not forgotten,” Ivana retorted. “But it is a home you have spent no more than a week in since we married.”

“Ah, so you did remember our vows when you took your friend here to your bed.”

Leo sat forward. He was tired of playing games, tired of skirting around the truth. “What do you want with Ivana? Why have you come back?”

Ivana sucked in a breath. “Forgive Leo.” She waved her hands nervously. “He does not know what he is saying. He is a little overwrought. That is all.”

“Do not speak for me, Ivana.” Anger infused Leo’s tone as he refused to let Nikolai see him as weak. “I am not a child.”

Nikolai’s eyes grew wide with amusement. “What is this? A lovers’ tiff? How quaint.” In the blink of an eye, his expression darkened. “Not that it is any business of yours, but I have come home to reclaim what is mine.”

Ivana gripped the arms of her chair. “What do you mean?”

“Have no fear, I am not talking about you, Ivana. You have served your purpose. After tonight, I no longer need you to keep watch for me here.”

Ivana gulped down a breath as she tried to speak. “You … you mean to lift the spell so I can leave.”

“No,” Nikolai said with a smirk. He picked up the cane and rolled the stem between his fingers. “I have no intention of lifting the spell.”

Leo watched the hope in her eyes fade. “What spell?”

“I cannot leave the village,” she explained. “I cannot travel more than a few miles, ten at most. Nikolai compelled me to stay.”

“Why?”

Ivana shrugged. “He will not tell me.”

Nikolai placed the cane across his legs, one hand gripping it tight. “I will tell you whatever you want to know. All you need do is ask.”

Rather than look appeased by the offer, Ivana’s face turned pale, ashen. “You mean to kill us both,” she gasped as her eyes grew round and wide. “You would not divulge information and then let us live.”

“You were never slow-witted, Ivana. I mean to leave nothing here that would cause me any problems in the future,” Nikolai said coldly.

Leo contemplated punching him until his knuckles bled, until Nikolai’s face was unrecognisable. But he sensed he would have to be far more subtle, far shrewder in his approach if they were to survive.

“If we are to die,” he said turning to Ivana, “ask him anything you want to know.”

Leo hated seeing terror taint her pretty blue eyes. He wanted to tell her not to worry, but Nikolai would hear his words and he did not wish to give him access to his thoughts.

“He lies.” Ivana protested. “He will not tell me anything.”

Nikolai smirked. “I will answer any question put to me. Call it a token of my gratitude for acting as the guardian of this abode.”

Ivana raised her chin. “Why … why did you marry me when you had no intention of living with me?”

“It is simple. I needed money to further my cause at home, and your parents were wealthy, easy to compel. Indeed, they proved to be rather generous in the end. I will not deny that when I saw you in Vienna, I wanted to have you.” He waved his hand at her, the frilly cuffs of his shirt flapping at the end of his coat sleeves. “But you know my heart is empty when it comes to things other than war, other than taking back what I believe is rightfully mine.”

The man talked in riddles.

“Then it is as I suspected,” she said, bitterness dripping from every word. “You used me for your own gain. Out of greed and spite, you turned me into the monster you see before you.”

“We are not monsters,” he replied indignantly. “We are strong, powerful creatures who cannot be easily manipulated by others. My affliction has helped me gain back my lands.”

“You manipulated me.”

“Yes. But only because I needed to keep you here.”

Ivana shot out of the chair. “Why?”

Nikolai tutted. “For this reason.” He waved his hand over her again. “You are too impetuous, too needy. You think with your heart and not your head. Because I do not need such a distraction.”

Leo sat in silence and watched the exchange. Nikolai was not being entirely honest with them. During their conversation, while Nikolai focused on answering Ivana’s questions, Leo attempted to pick up threads of his thoughts. Nikolai had come back for something, something of great value. It had nothing to do with Ivana. It was an object, an item of extreme importance.

Nikolai glanced at him suspiciously, and so Leo sought to ask a question of his own to distract him further. “Is it your intention to remain at the castle?”

Nikolai examined his fingernails. “I’m afraid it will be uninhabitable after the fire.”

“Fire! What fire?” Ivana flopped down in the chair, her frantic gaze locking with his. Despite her husband sitting a few feet away, Leo took her hand and caressed it with his thumb.

Nikolai's flippant comment had revealed another clue: the item he wanted could be found within the stone walls.

Sylvester’s discreet cough drew their attention. He hovered behind them waiting for a sign or gesture to allow him to step forward. Nikolai waved for him to come closer. Noticing the vials of burgundy liquid lying on the silver tray he gave a disdainful snort.

“I have already fed this evening, on a delightful wench in a town not too far from here.” He picked at his teeth, examined his fingers. “I do so hate it when they struggle. There is a tendency to overindulge.”

Sylvester presented Ivana with the tray.

“Please tell me, you are not still drinking animal blood?” Nikolai continued.

Ivana opened her mouth to answer, but Leo spoke first. “Tonight we will follow your lead.” He waved the tray away, turned to Ivana and smiled as a way to reassure her. “Tonight we will drink from each other in celebration of our last night together. That is if your husband has no objection.”

“I would not deny you the opportunity to take one last meal.”

Nikolia’s expression revealed his indifference. If he had no feelings for Ivana, why had he forced Leo to leave once before? Why had he threatened to kill him? Logic told him it must stem from a need to protect the mysterious object.

Leo pulled Ivana to her feet. She tilted her head to give him free access to the vein.

The sight of her elegant neck coupled with the thought of tasting her blood caused desire to flare. “Trust me.” He whispered the words as his fangs burst from their sheath, piercing the vein with ease.

She grew limp in his arms while he drank. He could feel her life force flowing through him, energising, strengthening, just as he’d hoped. If they were going to fight Nikolai, they would need to be strong.

A soft moan escaped from her lips. Her husband shuffled in his chair and cleared his throat. It would not do to rouse his ire at this point, and so Leo pulled away, licked the residue from the white tips.

He tugged at the collar of his shirt, encouraged Ivana to feed. “Take what you need.”

The moment she began drawing his blood, his cock twitched. An image of their erotic coupling entered his mind, and he dismissed it for fear the sensation would cloud his ability to focus.

“Enough.” Nikolai’s voice echoed through the Great Hall.

Ivana straightened. She dabbed at the corners of her mouth, a deep look of longing evident as she raised her hand to caress Leo’s cheek. “I will always love you.”

Leo blinked rapidly, surprised she had given a voice to her feelings in the presence of her husband. All the things he wanted to say were lost under the pressure of Nikolai’s intense glare.

“Sentiment is for the weak.” Nikolai flicked a speck from his coat. “It is for those who fear loneliness. It is for those who lack the courage to feed naturally.”

“There is nothing natural about our affliction,” Ivana spat. She moved to Leo’s side and hugged his arm. “It is a grotesque mutation of all that is good.”

Nikolai snorted. “Well, I for one will miss the sense of detachment that comes when one drinks from the host. I find human emotions far more debilitating, but it is something I must conquer if I am to keep my lands and the respect of my people.”

Still feeling lightheaded from taking Ivana’s blood, Leo tried to make sense of the cryptic comment. “You make it sound as though you have a choice.”

“Oh, I do.” Nikolai chuckled though his mouth hardly twitched and his eyes were cold and black. “I suppose it will not hurt to boast of my ingenious plan as come the morning you will both be dead.”

Ivana clutched his arm tight. Leo refused to be intimidated but did not refute Nikolai's claim as he was eager to discover the reason for his return.

“Do not listen to him,” Ivana said revealing her contempt. “He is playing games with us.”

“Now you know that is not true, Ivana.”

“Why must you kill us?” Leo would keep him talking in a bid to delay his inevitable attack. “If you no longer need Ivana, then let us go.”

“I cannot. You know too much.” He waved to the chairs, but they refused to sit. “You will seek revenge, reveal my secret. When I am human, you will be stronger, easily able to kill me.”

“Human?” Ivana jerked back. “You have lost your mind. Why do you taunt us with your lies?”

“They are not lies, Ivana. It is just that you do not remember. I have taken the cure before. You were the one who bit me again so I could become strong. So you see, you did have a purpose.”

“The cure?” they both cried in unison.

A hundred questions raced through Leo’s mind. Was this just another attempt to weaken their resolve? If there was a cure, why didn’t Ivana know of it? How was such a thing even possible? Their blood contained poison; their skin could no longer withstand sunlight.

“Indeed, I must take it again. My people are suspicious by nature. They believe in witchcraft, omens, and signs. There are whispers that I collude with the Devil, that I sold my soul for the power to overthrow my brother. I must be seen to walk in the sun to secure their loyalty. So, I will return to my human form, marry and bear sons to continue my legacy.”

Leo understood his motive now. “And so you plan to destroy any evidence before you leave here.”

Nikolai nodded as he steepled his fingers. “Yes. There will be a terrible fire, everything but Talliano’s notes and the cure will be lost.”

“Talliano?”

“He was a friend, a man of wisdom and great knowledge. I’m afraid he is dead now and was kind enough to leave me the castle in his will.”

Leo suspected the only reason Talliano was dead was because Nikolai had killed him.

“It will be a shame to destroy such an old building.” Nikolai looked up at the vaulted ceiling. “Of course, you know Sylvester and Julia must perish too.”