Elusive Hero: Invitation to Eden (Vampire Queen Series Book 12) (2 page)

Fran had been an active Inherited Servant for nearly thirty years. She’d served at the Council headquarters for twenty years, and been Kaela’s second-mark for the remaining ten. Kaela understood Fran had been placed with her initially as eyes and ears for Lyssa. So when Lady Lyssa granted her permission to claim Fran, give her the third mark that would make her Kaela’s full servant, all hers, a permanent addition to her household, it had been another sign of Lyssa’s approval and trust. Inherited Servants were highly valued, trained to serve high-ranking vampires.

Kaela had treasured the honor, but indicated she was satisfied having Fran in her household as a second mark. During the years since, Kaela had made it clear as often as appropriate that she was very satisfied with Fran’s services, yet willing to let her go if Lyssa wished to assign her to another vampire who wanted to fully mark her.

Lyssa had not yet reassigned Fran, so that was where the situation stood. Kaela knew she was unusual, a hundred and seventy-five year old female vampire who hadn’t taken her first full servant. The Council head had never questioned Kaela about that, so Kaela assumed Lady Lyssa understood the solitude and self-discipline a female vampire in a leadership position faced in their world. Perhaps Lyssa leaving the Inherited Servant with her this long, even as a second mark, was yet another statement of her support of Kaela in her overlord appointment. Kaela hoped so, even as she bore the guilt of denying Fran what every InhServ wanted most. A vampire who claimed her fully, all the way down to her soul.

Fran was a treasure and an asset, no question. An excellent assistant, intelligent and infallibly courteous, she was also passionate and well-trained in the sensual arts. She was beautiful as all InhServs were, with soft skin, a lush body, curling copper-colored hair and eyes brown like polished creek stone. She responded with enthusiasm to everything her Mistress offered her. The second mark allowed Kaela access to Fran’s mind, and the few times she delved there, she saw the shadows, indications that Fran knew there was so much more her Mistress could give. According to Fran’s training, it was just a matter of proving herself worthy, but Kaela knew the InhServ was more than worthy.

The problem was her Mistress wasn’t the proper receptacle for such a generous gift.

Kaela often enjoyed Fran’s body when she took blood from her, and she made sure to give the girl pleasure when she did. She was able to do that most successfully when Fran told her “bedtime stories” about her sexual service for past Council functions, describing in detail the creative performances that had been demanded of her and other servants, a part of almost every social vampire gathering.

Fran probably thought what aroused her Mistress so much during those recitations was Kaela imagining herself as one of those vampires, restraining Fran with use of rope, chain, cloth, doling out stinging or thudding punishments against lovely, supple flesh, forcing orgasms that would make her hoarse with her own screaming. But it wasn’t the vampire’s point of view that captivated Kaela.

Fortunately, Kaela’s suggestion that Fran bring her back more “bedtime stories” from her vacation trip made the InhServ’s gaze light at the implication. She nodded, though she couldn’t conceal the wistful note in her voice. “Very well, my lady. You know where I am if you need anything. I am yours.”

No you’re not, dear girl. But hopefully one day you will belong to someone the way I wish I could, but never will.

§

Ten days. She was free for ten days. Or she was making the biggest mistake of her life.

At a little after one a.m., Kaela made the transition from the jet in Miami to the puddle jumper that would take her to the Eden resort, located on an island in the Bermuda Triangle. She’d boarded the plane without comment, though the female pilot had looked surprised by her nonchalance, as if used to passengers who were nervous about the dragonfly-sized plane with its bumpy ride and roaring engines.

For her, crashing in a plane meant a long walk through water to get home. A miserable prospect, but certainly nothing to fear.

Kaela embraced the cocoon the loud engine provided. She just wished it could drown out her thoughts. At least she didn’t have to converse with the pilot. The absurdly young woman guiding the plane wasn’t intrusive, however. She’d picked up on Kaela’s unwillingness to chat and matched it with a comfortable silence. With Kaela’s enhanced hearing, she could sometimes hear Joely—the pilot—humming to herself. She didn’t know the tune, but it was pleasant, a good mesh with the growl of the engine. The girl smelled good as well. Engine oil, soap and cotton. A light perspiration odor, feminine and appealing. Her blood would probably taste like her personality. Complex yet simple, possessed of a lovely humor and grace, with a trace of poignant anguish beneath the surface. A daisy.

Kaela needed to feed, but it wasn’t critical yet. She’d been told that need would be amply met when she reached the island. The invitation she’d received weeks ago had promised her a lot of things.

There’s no such thing as vampires.
That was what most humans believed.

There’s no such thing as a vampire submissive.
That was what all vampires knew.

The human world thought vampires were a supernatural fantasy that happened in movies and books, because that was what vampires took great measures to ensure the most prolific species on the planet other than insects believed. But whatever species one happened to be, whether unicorn, fairy, vampire or cockroach, one tended to trust one’s reality. A vampire could be just as skeptical about magic as a human. The reality was she really shouldn’t be on this plane, believing in a fantasy that could get her killed. Or worse.

A vampire submissive. It didn’t exist in nature or, if it did, it ranked just below the blinded, three-legged member of the wolf pack. A very brief anomaly, soon to be torn to pieces or turned out to starve to death. Starving would be preferable. Probably.

Kaela crossed her legs and folded her hands on her knees, refusing to allow either one to shake. Because she wanted to reach into her purse and finger the vellum paper of the invitation once more for empty reassurance, she deliberately didn’t. She’d done that enough it should look as worn as the corners of a favorite book. Instead, the cream paper and raised lettering gleamed the way it had when she’d received it. The weight of the paper, its silken smoothness, the faint vanilla scent, made one think the color had come about from the invitation being dipped in actual cream, which enhanced the words written upon it.

You are cordially invited to spend a week at the Eden resort, where reality is whatever you want it to be.

Oddly enough, she’d found out about Eden from eavesdropping on a conversation. She’d stopped for an evening coffee at a diner, and had picked up on a discussion three booths over. The woman meeting with a friend was apparently bestselling romance author, Leila Connors. She’d been invited to the Eden resort some time ago for a writer’s retreat and not only had tapped into her muse, but even deeper fantasies.

“I know how insane it sounds, but that’s how Sebastian came into my life. It started with the dreams I was having while I was there. It was like, as the book came to life in my head, he came to life…in my life.”
The woman laughed shortly.
“No, I wasn’t drinking that much. I’m telling you, there’s something about that island. I think if you’re invited there, anything you desire—if it’s meant to be—could happen.”

Usually Fran did all of Kaela’s administrative tasks, but she’d looked up the resort on her own, dumping the cache afterward just to be safe. Even so, a week later an envelope marked for her eyes only arrived via a private delivery service. Fran had passed it to her unopened because it looked official enough to have come from the Council or another overlord.

The envelope had included the invitation to Eden. While the arrival of the document was astonishing enough, the invitation had included an unsettling note in a bold male script.

Lady Kaela, I understand your world comes with many demands. I believe Eden can provide you a respite from your current responsibilities and answer your deepest wish. The one you can’t share with anyone else. This is my direct line. Please contact me for more information.

Her title, “Lady Kaela” was associated with the vampire world. She was a made vampire who had achieved overlord status, no small feat, so she was proud of the title. But a human outside the vampire world shouldn’t know about it. Plus her street address wasn’t common knowledge in the human world, everything coming to her through a post office box.

I can assure you that you will have complete confidentiality and discretion to pursue whatever desires you have while on Eden. I’m sure you will appreciate the irony that Eden, like your world, does not make public all the ways we can meet our guests’ needs. But you’ll find my island allows those such as yourself the chance to be at ease…to be who you truly are.

–Theodosius Vardalos

According to her Internet research, he was the owner of the island, the mysterious billionaire who granted no interviews and was the brains and money behind the exclusive, by-invitation-only Eden resort.

The invitation had been accompanied by a small box. Opening it in the privacy of her bedroom, she found it contained a bubble-wrapped crystal sphere. The sphere caught the light of her lamp as she held it up, sparkling rainbow beams across her desk and skin. But the note with it indicated it wasn’t for decoration.

Open the crystal over a bowl. Immerse your hand and then expose it to the sunlight. Only for a moment. The effect doesn’t last longer than that away from Eden.

When she turned the sphere over and over, there was movement inside. Liquid. Opening the side latch to drain the contents into a bowl, she’d inhaled the scent of sandy beaches soaked by sun, something she hadn’t experienced in many years. Some sand drifted to the bottom of the bowl.

Just past dawn she’d tried it, crazy as it sounded. Hidden behind the heavy drapes, she’d slowly extended her drenched hand through the small opening, ready to jerk back at the first touch of burning agony. Her heart had tripped a beat as she felt sunlight touch her flesh and warm it only. He was right; it only lasted a moment. When she started to feel that warning pain she brought it back, stared at her hand, the bowl of water. Then she re-read the whole note.

I know your desire is not to embrace the sunlight, but far darker desires. However, I am hoping this small demonstration will help you gain confidence that you might find what you seek here.

Two weeks passed before she called Vardalos. She had plenty of enemies who resented her appointment to the overlord position and would love to trip her up with an elaborate plan like this. However, everything she researched meshed with what he’d sent her, as well as what she’d overheard in that diner.

On top of that, there was his voice. When he started speaking on the phone line, she was pulled into the sensual timbre. There was command there, power, as well as sorrow and wisdom. This was not a person you fucked with, or who fucked with others. She read people well, and he sounded like a person who knew what it was to fight through adversity simply to exist.

“Why?” she asked. “Other than the exorbitant price I can afford to pay to come to your island?”

“While I do appreciate those with the income to help maintain the island, money is not my main purpose for running Eden. You have your secret desires, Lady Kaela. I have mine, and fulfilling the fantasies of others is part of what brings me peace, the closest thing I’ve found to it. Much as your service to Lady Lyssa does for you. Fair enough?”

“You know that unmarked humans aren’t permitted to know this much about my world. It carries a death sentence.”

“There are exceptions to many things in Eden. You will be safe here, Lady Kaela. That is my solemn vow, and my life surrendered to you if I’m wrong.”

With that voice, the commanding presence he had even over the phone, him surrendering anything to her wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. She’d licked her lips, a nervous movement, and battled back the reactions surging inside her in an alarming manner.

The pilot’s raised voice drew her from her thoughts, returning her to the present. “My lady, we’re approaching the island. It’s quite something at night. Well, anytime, but I especially like the night approach.”

Kaela leaned forward to gaze out the window, her fingers tightening on her knees.

The castle was an uneven pyramid of glittering lights that expanded in reflection against the dark waters surrounding the island. It was the crown on a vast and hilly terrain that sloped down to the sea on all sides. With her vampire eyes, she could see even more detail as the plane started its descent. Tall spires, stone pathways. It had a few modifications, but overall it was the type of castle she’d seen in Ireland on her travels. The information about the island had confirmed that. Theodosius Vardalos had had the castle transported here, piece by piece.

It was the type of place a person with dark desires might never want to leave, because it might hold the answer to them. She suspected not everyone felt like that, trying to reconcile a place built for defense and long battles in tropical resort surroundings. But it underscored light against dark, the key difference between want and need. To get the most out of what you wanted, you had to have what you needed first.

As the plane landed on the water and taxied toward the land, she saw a wooden dock sculpted in a zigzag path up to the mainland, as well as a gold plated sign mounted on an outcropping of rock.
Welcome to Eden, where reality is what you want it to be.

Want versus need. It was truly dangerous for her to be here. What she wanted was something she’d never even said aloud, but Theodosius Vardalos had.

During that phone call, she’d asked a second question, though she’d not intended for it to leave her lips. “You said you thought you might have what I seek there. What exactly do you think I’m seeking?”

“This is a secure line, so there’s no need to be alarmed by me speaking the truth. You are something incredibly unique in your world, Lady Kaela. A vampire submissive who craves a human Master’s hand. While you are at Eden, you can have that fantasy.”