“ORIANA!”
But there was no reply.
Then a sound coming from the butler’s pantry made him whip his head in that direction. Giuseppe’s dropped shoulders and his lowered head told him everything he needed to know. He charged the man and slammed him against the wall.
“Where is she?”
The footman trembled. His lips moved, but nothing came over them.
“Speak!”
“She w-w-went t-t-to m-m-m . . . ” His voice died.
“Where?”
“Th-the group who is i-i-interested in her r-r-research. She’s meeting them to show them the machine.”
His heart turned to ice. After declaring his love for Oriana, she’d betrayed him. And he hadn’t seen it coming. He’d not seen her deception. How blind he’d been, how utterly blind!
“Where?” he repeated, his voice dead calm.
He knew what he had to do now. There was no other solution. And simply wiping her memory wouldn’t be enough. There was only one answer to such a betrayal.
As he listened to the footman giving him the location where Oriana would meet a representative of the Guardians, Nico glanced toward the small window over the entrance door. Almost an hour of daylight was still left, but he couldn’t wait for nightfall. This situation had to be dealt with without delay.
Throwing his black, hooded cloak over his shoulders, he headed for the sheltered dock that held his closed gondola.
18
Oriana’s hands trembled slightly when she inserted one vial into the metal holder in the center of her machine. Nothing happened at first.
“What is it supposed to do?” the man barked, his face concealed by the hood of his cloak.
They stood in an archway that led through a row of houses to a bridge crossing one of the many canals. It was quiet in this mostly residential part of Venice. There were no shops, no street vendors, no passersby. She’d realized too late that the location the Guardian had chosen to meet her was remote. Unease settled in her belly. What if she was mistaken, and the machine didn’t work the way she wanted it to?
Trying to keep her voice from revealing her nervousness, she said firmly, “When a human touches the rod which protrudes from the front, the center of the machine will glow orange, indicating a human’s warmth.”
“And how does that help with detecting a vampire?” he asked impatiently, suspicion rolling off him like rain water off the smooth tiles of a roof.
“I was coming to that.” Her hands fumbled underneath the machine, partly concealed by the dark cloth she’d attached to its bottom before leaving the house. “But first, I need to ask a question.”
“Mmm?”
She swallowed nervously. “Who knows about the machine?”
He chuckled unexpectedly. “All my uh . . . brothers do.”
“Yet, you’re the only one who wanted a demonstration of it?” she countered, hoping to get more information from him.
“A wise man doesn’t share his sources.”
“I beg your pardon, signore?” Could this possibly mean what she thought it meant?
“Every society has its hierarchy. To climb, one needs advantages.”
The wheels in her mind clicked. “You’re the only one then who knows who I am?”
“As I said, no man has ever risen to the top by sharing all his secrets with his competitors. But enough of that. Explain the machine! You said it would be glowing if a human touched it. I don’t see it glowing now, and you’re touching it.”
“I simply have to establish the connection from the vial to the rod by way of a tube.” She felt for the tube underneath the fabric and shoved it into an opening. Then she touched the rod with one hand, and the center of the machine instantly started glowing orange. “See?”
The man shrunk back a step, then curiosity made him move closer again.
She removed her hand and slipped it underneath the machine again, and the glow dissipated. Underneath the cloth her next action remained hidden from his eyes.
“Would you like to try it out too?” she asked, keeping her voice indifferent, so as not to make him any more suspicious than he already was.
***
From his hiding place across the bridge, underneath a sheltering archway, Nico watched his wife demonstrate the machine to the hooded man. His heart broke into a thousand pieces at having her deception confirmed. She was there to sell her apparatus to the Guardians, thus giving them a valuable tool to help them eradicate him and his fellow vampires.
Still, he waited, unable to do what he had to do: kill her and the man with whom she was striking the despicable trade. Why hadn’t she simply staked him in his sleep? It would have been a kinder death than letting him suffer like this. Suffer, because the woman he loved was betraying him to his enemies. Was that what he was waiting for, to hear her tell the stranger where he could find a vampire on whom to test the machine?
His throat constricted, allowing no more air into his lungs. For an instant, he closed his eyes, wishing for this nightmare to end, but when he opened his eyes again, he was still standing at the same spot.
Yet one thing had changed: the machine suddenly glowed blue, the same way it had glowed when he’d touched it that night. Only, the person who touched the apparatus now, was the Guardian!
Panic surged through him. He couldn’t see the face of the man. Was it possible that one of his fellow vampires had tricked Oriana into believing she was meeting with a Guardian? And once he knew the machine worked, would he then kill her?
Oh God no!
“I’m not a vampire!” he heard the man shout furiously. “It doesn’t work! The machine is a useless piece of garbage! How dare you waste my time?” He raised his hand to strike.
Too many emotions collided in Nico, rendering him unable to make a decision. His body made it for him: no matter what she’d done, how she’d betrayed him, he couldn’t allow Oriana to get hurt.
Nico charged from his shelter and barreled over the bridge, feeling the late afternoon sun’s rays on his back. Even though he was covered head-to-toe by the heavy hooded cloak, he could feel the heat instantly as it tried to penetrate the cloth and reach his skin.
In the seconds it took him to cross the bridge, one thing became instantly clear: the man wasn’t a vampire—now that Nico was close enough, he could not only smell the man’s human blood, but also see that he wasn’t surrounded by the telltale aura that identified a vampire to other vampires.
In the distance, a question emerged: why then had the machine glowed blue instead of orange? He had no time to find an answer, because at that moment, the man’s fist struck down on Oriana, knocking her toward the narrow stone stairs that lead down to the canal next to the bridge. She stumbled backwards, crying out.
“Nooooo!!!!” he roared, drawing the Guardian’s attention on himself.
But he couldn’t deal with the man right now. Oriana was falling backwards, her feet getting caught in her petticoats and her hands flailing. She’d dropped her machine to the ground the moment she’d been struck. Nico jumped toward her, reaching his hand out from under the protection of his cloak.
Muted sunlight hit his skin. He ignored the burning sensation, his eyes focused on his wife as her back crashed against the metal handrail. Her hand gripped it, but the metal made a cracking sound. Without a conscious thought, he lunged for her, reaching for her with both hands. He’d neglected to wear gloves, and now the skin on the back of his hands was blistering. He ignored the pain and got hold of one of her arms just as the handrail gave way, and she fell.
Oriana’s scream was a mere croak. Nico felt her full weight, now only supported by his hand clasping tightly around her forearm. From the corner of his eye he saw the Guardian approach. Nico whipped his head toward him and saw the blade he now wielded.
“I’ll teach you to cheat me!” he ground out and lunged toward them.
With one hand holding onto Oriana, trying to steady her swaying body, which hung suspended over the canal, he reached for his own knife under the cloak, realizing too late that he hadn’t armed himself before leaving the house.
The Guardian barreled toward him. Nico kicked his leg out, grazing his attacker’s thigh as the man sidestepped him. Knowing he was at a disadvantage, both because he was still holding onto Oriana, and because the late afternoon sun was quickly robbing him of his energy as it damaged his skin, burning through the upper layers, he made a split-second decision.
He turned away from the Guardian and reached for Oriana with his second hand, gripping her other arm. He heaved her up, depositing her onto the steps, just as a knife sliced into his back.
Pain seared through him. He knew the knife wound wouldn’t kill him, but in his current state, it debilitated him further. Swinging around, he faced the Guardian. This time, his attacker sliced through Nico’s cloak. It got tangled up with the knife, and as the Guardian attempted to pull his knife from it, he inadvertently ripped the protective cloak even further, pulling it halfway off Nico’s body.
Instantly, Nico felt the sun’s rays on his body, his white shirt and thin waistcoat providing no adequate barrier.
Stunned, the Guardian stared at him, seemingly only now realizing that he was fighting a vampire. With an evil grin, he pulled on the remainder of the cloak, pulling it clear off Nico. Now he was fully exposed. His face and neck instantly started to blister. From his damaged hands smoke already started to rise.
Despite the pain, Nico lunged at his attacker, knowing that if he couldn’t defeat him, the Guardian would kill Oriana. He landed a punch in the man’s face, wiping the grin off it. But Nico immediately realized that his strength was already waning. Under normal circumstances, his fist would have knocked his attacker unconscious. Now it only numbed him for a short moment. Already, his attacker was fighting back.
Nico eyed the archway. He had to push the Guardian back toward it so he could fight him under its shelter and avoid any more damage by the sun. Ramming his entire body against the man, he managed to get a few feet closer to the shaded area, but then a kick to his stomach pushed him back toward the bridge again.
The scent of charred flesh rose to his nostrils. Nico caught sight of his right hand, the one that had been exposed to the sun the longest and saw that the back of it had turned black like charcoal. Shit! He didn’t have much time left or the damage would be irreversible.
The Guardian’s hand holding the knife flew toward him. Nico twisted, avoiding it by a hair’s breadth, then landed a punch in his attacker’s neck, throwing him off balance. The Guardian tumbled for a brief moment, but caught himself and aimed his knife again.
Nico saw it coming toward him and tried to avoid it, but his movements were slowing, and his breath deserted his lungs. He was done for. The sun was killing him. He’d failed. The knife came closer. The Guardian didn’t need a stake to kill him now; he knew that: by debilitating him sufficiently so Nico wouldn’t have the strength to crawl inside, the sun would finish the job for him.
Nico’s eyes darted to where he’d left Oriana, hoping for one last glance at her, but she was gone. Disappointment and relief collided in him. At least she had escaped. Nico’s vision blurred.
Suddenly the Guardian froze. There was a movement behind him. His hand holding the knife dropped, then blood seeped from his neck.
Nico focused his eyes just as the Guardian fell. Behind him, Oriana stood, still holding her machine with both hands, blood dripping from the metal rod that protruded from its front.
Stunned, he stared at her.
Concerned eyes looked back at him. “We have to get you out of the sun.”
She rushed to him, put an arm around his waist and dragged him toward the archway. His feet barely cooperated, his knees already buckling, but Oriana didn’t give up. A moment later, he found himself sitting in the darkest corner of the archway, away from the sun.
His body still smoldered, the damage to his skin and flesh severe. He needed blood, and he needed it soon. But he needed to know something else first, otherwise his heart would never rest.
“Why did you save me after you betrayed me?”
A tender hand stroked over his chest. “I didn’t betray you.”
He closed his eyes, unable to look at her. “You demonstrated the machine to a Guardian.”
“I did. To prove that it doesn’t work.”
“But it works. The night you were attacked, it worked. You didn’t see it, because you fell, but when I touched it, it turned blue.”
“As it did when the Guardian touched it a moment ago,” she confirmed. “I secretly connected the machine to a different chemical to make sure he would think it doesn’t work.”
He stared at her, not understanding. “Why?”
“Because they’ll never give up if they think there’s a machine out there that’s working.”
Nico motioned his head toward the bridge where the dead body of the Guardian still lay. “But he’s dead. He won’t be able to tell his fellow Guardians that the machine doesn’t work.”
“But he was also the only one who knew who I am. The others don’t know. They’ll never find us.”
“How do you know?”
“He was using the knowledge of who I am as leverage with the other Guardians. He said, a wise man never reveals his sources. He was too greedy to share the information. We’re safe.” She sighed. “Now, let’s get you home.”
He shook his head. “I won’t make it.”
Oriana’s breath hitched. “No! Don’t do this to me! Don’t die on me!”
He shook his head. “What I meant to say is that I won’t make it home without blood. My body is too damaged to sustain another moment in the sun. I left our gondola on the canal parallel to this. I won’t make it that far unless I have a chance to heal first. To heal I need . . . ”
His eyes dropped to her neck, and he saw her shiver.
Then a smile suddenly curved her lips. “I suppose it’s the least I can do after you saved me from the Guardian.” She inched closer.
“Yes, it’s the least you can do,” he confirmed, smiling too.
Oriana tilted her head to the side, exposing her pale neck. He raised his hand to brush over her skin, then caught sight of the charred surface of it, and pulled it back.