Immortality Stolen (The Mortal One Series Book 2) (9 page)

A knock came on the fence and Christoph got up to get it.

I gave Olivier a quick look and he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “You’re good. Relax,” he whispered.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened my eyes to find a man that was about Christoph’s height but bald and covered in tattoos heading over to the table. I rested my hands in my lap under the table and Olivier kept one hand under the table and on my hand to steady me. It was the only way that I was going to get through tonight. These people scared the shit out of me and we hadn’t even started talking about anything. They simply weren’t the friendliest of characters out of the gate.

A few basic introductions were made so that we knew the man with the tattoos was Gregorio, in case we hadn’t been able to guess.

“So you need a necromancer?” Gregorio asked.

“I do,” Olivier answered. “In Paris.”

Gregorio nodded. “Go on. What’s the problem?”

“Oh. I had assumed Christoph told you about the situation.”

Christoph shook his head. “This is your deal. I only make the introductions.”

Olivier began explaining the situation about having zombies raised and then the necromancer being killed.

“What is my guarantee that your sovereign won’t kill me, as well?” Gregorio asked.

“That sovereign was killed by the zombies. The new sovereign is the one that authorized me to meet with you,” Olivier said.

“Very well.” Gregorio sniffed the air and held his hands up for a moment. “You are not a standard vampire.”

Olivier shook his head. “No. I was a necromancer when I was mortal. As soon as I became a vampire, I lost the ability to raise the dead.”

Gregorio snorted as though he could have told Olivier that to begin with. “Of course you did. The dead cannot rule the dead.”

Olivier nodded. “Would you be willing to travel to Paris and help us with this issue?”

“How many zombies need to be laid to rest?”

“There are eleven remaining.”

“I can do this. How long have they been up?”

Olivier took a deep breath. “Approximately seven weeks.”

“Fuck.”

“I know.”

“I can still do this, but it requires human sacrifice,” Gregorio said and looked at me when he said it.

I shivered and dug my nails into Olivier’s palm.

“I know,” Olivier said, staring at Gregorio.

“Her?”

“Absolutely not.”

Gregorio snorted again. “You arrange the human sacrifice. A virgin is better because of the purity in their blood. What is my reward?”

“Reward?” Olivier asked.

Gregorio nodded. “My services are in high demand. I don’t raise the dead, or put them down, simply for sport.”

“What is your price?”

Gregorio scratched his bald head for a moment. “One million and a favor.”

Olivier’s hand flinched in mine. I looked at him and he was staring at Gregorio.

“What kind of favor?”

“The next time I need a human sacrifice, you provide me with one. It is much easier for a vampire to obtain a human than it is for me.”

“Fine.”

What the fuck?
Some innocent was going to die just because a necromancer needed human blood to perform some abominable ritual. And here the vampires were discussing it as a regular business deal.

“I’ll come to Paris on Thursday to put the zombies down. You will have the one million for me then?”

“Yes,” Olivier said. “Do you want it as a wire transfer or cash?”

“Cash.”

“Done.”

The two men shook and Gregorio got up and left.

“Is that all handled?” Christoph asked, stepping in. He had been standing back in the shadows and I hadn’t even realized he was still around.

“Yes, thank you.”

“No problem. Now for my payment.”

“How much do you want for the introduction?” Olivier asked.

Christoph laughed. “I don’t want your money.”

This wasn’t looking good. I couldn’t make eye contact with anyone and my nerves kicked into high gear with the way he made his comment.

“What do you want?”

“Just a sip. It’s been a while since I had some O.”

Olivier looked at me with pleading eyes. He didn’t know how to ask and it wasn’t something that we had discussed. I would have asked about the possibility earlier had I thought it would even become a possibility. What the fuck was I supposed to say? If I said yes, I’d have a strange vampire latched to some part of my body. If I said no, we’d have a big problem on our hands since Christoph just did a favor by arranging this meet and greet.

“A sip?” I asked.

He laughed. “She does talk! Yes, just a sip.”

“Okay,” I said.

“You don’t have to do this, Dylan,” Olivier said. “We can establish new terms.”

I shook my head and rolled up the sleeves of my jacket. He could take it from my wrist. I didn’t want to expose my neck or any other artery on my body for this man.

Christoph was at my side and salivating before I had finished rolling up the sleeve. He grabbed my wrist and brought it up to his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He licked the skin across the radial artery and let out a guttural moan.

“Relax,” Christoph whispered and before I could respond, he bit in. His fangs broke the surface instantly and I felt the blood rushing into his mouth. I pressed a hand behind me to steady myself and Olivier came to my side.

Christoph appeared to be in some kind of trance. He let out soft purrs as the blood was sucked from my wrist.

I was about to ask him to stop but he stopped on his own. He licked the wound to stop the bleeding and released my arm. The wound closed immediately and started to fade.

“Thank you.”

I nodded, not knowing what to say.

“You’re delicious. No wonder Olivier here brings you to Paris to visit him.”

Neither Olivier nor I said anything. We weren’t about to correct him.

“The debt is settled,” Christoph announced. “If you need anything else, ever, I’ll be happy to help. Simply bring the girl,” he smiled. He opened the gate for us and then closed it behind us. He took off in the direction of
Alexanderplatz
and we headed back to our hotel.

Olivier had one of my arms wrapped around his shoulder to provide me with some stability. I was still a little lightheaded from the blood loss. It was probably as much as I would have given at a blood drive, but it came out a whole hell of a lot faster.”

“Thank you,” Olivier said.

“For what?” I asked as we walked into the hotel.

“For paying off my debt.” I could tell it bothered him to put me in that situation. He expected to pay Christoph in cash, not with my blood.

“Yeah, well, it was the easiest way.”

“You still didn’t have to.” He set me down in the chair inside the lobby and walked over to the restaurant. He placed an order for room service and then came back to get me.

“I’m not hungry,” I said.

“You need the protein to be able to recover completely.”

“Okay.” I hated being force fed, but if it helped, I’d eat.

We got into the elevator and to our floor.

“I’m taking you into your hotel room. Don’t argue with me.”

I laughed and reached for my hotel key card. “Here,” I said, handing it to him.

He opened my door and helped me to the bed. “Room service should be here in about ten minutes.”

“Okay,” I said, reaching over to take off my boots.

“I’ve got these,” he said, helping me unzip them. His fingers lingered on the zipper and there was that unexplainable spark between us again.

“Need help getting out of anything else?” His eyes watched my face and seemed amused by what he was hinting at.

I laughed, but it was awkward. “No, I’ve got it from here.”

He settled into the chair next to the bed. “I am really thankful that you were with me tonight. I don’t know what Christoph would have asked for if you weren’t at my side since he didn’t seem interested in cash.”

“I wish I could say the same. Both of those guys scared the shit out of me and I don’t scare easily.” It was freeing to be so honest with him. I knew he wouldn’t judge me for being a girl and scared of some of the events that seemed to keep taking place around me.

“I have to say that I wish it had been me, though.”

“You for what?” I asked.

“Taking the sip out of you. I was jealous as hell watching him drink from you.”

My cheeks burned with an intense heat. “Really?”

“I haven’t fed since we left Paris. I would have loved the chance to press my fangs into that beautiful skin of yours. And when he told you that you tasted delicious, I wanted to slug him for not being able to know myself.”

This was such a weird conversation to have. I was sitting in front of a vampire, but he was talking about the blood that was coursing through my veins and keeping me alive.

I must have had a startled look on my face because he laughed and quickly apologized.

Room service knocked and Olivier got up to get the door. The man came in with a tray and set it on the table across the room. Olivier reached into his pocket and tipped the man and then closed the door.

“Come, eat,” he said.

I nodded and got up. I wobbled a little bit, but made it over to the table and chair where my food was. When I lifted the dome, I was disappointed by what I saw. “A cheeseburger?”

“What? You’re American.”

“But I’m in Germany. I wanted a bratwurst or a schnitzel or something.”

He laughed. At me, not with me. “Sorry, your highness. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow evening on the way out to the airport.”

“Damn right you will,” I grinned. “I bled for you tonight.”

“Not for me, sweetheart. If you bleed for me, I’m not taking it from your wrist like some stranger.”

I didn’t dare ask him where he would take it. My mind went to all the parts that he could take it and that made me a little shaky. I made it a point to stare at my burger because my cheeks were burning and if I looked at him, they would catch on fire. The burger was juicy, cheesy, and delicious. But I still would have rather had some German food.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t hungry, I managed to eat the entire cheeseburger and all of the fries, too. I felt restored to my normal self, so maybe Olivier was right. I needed the protein to heal and give my body some strength.

“Where is the one million coming from?” I asked, getting up and walking back over to the bed.

“I have to call Costin.”

“Will he give it to you?”

“I’m assuming so.”

“So you agreed to pay Gregorio with money that you don’t even know you can get?”

“You worry too much. Costin is the sovereign of Paris. He will take care of the issue for me. One million for these older vampires is nothing. You should know that.”

I knew that Nico had money, but we never talked about Costin’s wealth. Antonio never mentioned it, either. Maybe Olivier was right. They all had the money because of being around for so many years.

“Should I call and tell Costin?” I asked.

“Only if you want to talk to your beloved Nico, too.” He stared at me when he said it and it was more of a dare than a comment. He didn’t like Nico. It was obvious in his voice. It wasn’t something that he had to verbalize and it made things uncomfortable in the room.

I just sat on the bed, not saying a word. I held the phone in my hand, deciding whether I should dial or not. The idea of telling Nico that I let another vampire feed on me wasn’t sitting well with me.

“Go ahead,” Olivier said. “He is probably with Costin and so you can tell him that you’re going home tomorrow night and that someone needs to come to Paris to supervise as well as to bring the one million.”

Great. This was not a conversation that I wanted to have and certainly didn’t want to have it with Olivier sitting right in front of me.

“Should I leave?” He asked.

I shook my head and dialed. “It’s fine, just butt out.”

Nico answered on the second ring. “
Mia mortale
. It is good to hear from you.”

“It’s good to hear from you, too.” I looked over to Olivier where he was letting out a dramatic yawn. I extended my middle finger and turned my back on him so that I could enjoy the view of Berlin without dealing with his antics.

“How is Berlin?” Nico asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t really know. I’ve seen the airport, the hotel, and Charlie’s Beach. I’m hoping to do some sightseeing tomorrow. That’s not what I’m calling about, though.”

“I didn’t figure it was. What’s going on?”

“We met with the necromancer. His name is Gregorio. He has agreed to go to Paris and lay the zombies down. He will be there in three days and it’s going to cost us one million dollars.”