The Bathory Curse (19 page)

“No…I think that this might solve problems.” He
smiled, a little nervous.

“You seem calmer than most about my offer,” Nea
said, wary all of the sudden, but still feeling like this was the
right choice, compelled almost.

“It is odd, and frightening, but my options are not
much better. I wasn’t kidding; if my brothers find me…they will
kill me.” Costica grimaced in pain, swallowing down some bile.

“You cannot take this back if you change your mind,
unless you wish for true death,” Nea warned.

“Just do it, please, my brothers were not far behind
me,” he begged.  Nea grabbed his arms and began, the process
took much longer than it ever had before and she wondered if he was
resisting and she had made a bad choice. Then it was over and he
stood in her embrace, healed.

“How do you feel?” she asked, excited about his
creation and the upcoming travel. He seemed like a well learned,
polite, interesting man who would be good company. She enjoyed
having new friends.

“I feel great,” he moved away and bowed low, “at
your command my lady.” With those words he grabbed her shoulders
and kissed her, cruel and feverish against her lips. She strained
away from him for a moment, but when his hands slid over her hips
she felt her skin prickle and her heart rate speed up.

This was just what she needed, a tryst with a good
looking man, to make her feel warm, alive and happy again, even if
it wasn’t permanent. The night before with Vlad and been wonderful,
but full of too much emotion.

So Nea kissed him back. She allowed her hands to
roam over his body as his kisses excited her. It was hot and quick,
consuming her. His own hands cupped her bottom, her breasts,
lightly brushed her hair. He smelled of the woods and she couldn’t
wait to have him inside of her.

“I am sorry, but since there is no bed.” Costica
growled and pushed her up against a tree. His hands thrust between
her thighs as Nea used one hand to steady herself and the other to
hold up her skirts. She wrapped both legs around him.

Pleasure danced through her system as she watched
him unlace his breeches and pull out his hard and waiting cock. He
pressed against the apex of her legs and she could feel his heat.
Arching against him she moaned deep in her throat, muttering a word
her under garments disappeared. Not a bad trick, Sabine had taught
her 20 years or so ago.

“That’s handy, I would have hated to ruin such
pretty under things.” Costica grinned, eyes wide and dilated. His
fingers found her wet and ready for him. Without any warning he
impaled her with his shaft, driving the air from her lungs. He
rutted against her like a wild animal and she took every thrust,
even as the bark on the tree became painful at her back.

“Go, go, go.” he said frantically, head buried at
her neck. She strained against him, trying to reach climax.

“Harder.” She begged, and he gave her what she asked
and she screamed his name as her orgasm racked her body. He
couldn’t contain himself and followed her quickly, pulling out, he
came hot on her thigh, breathing heavily, he leaned into her,
giving her all his weight.

The sound of her bright laughter had him meeting her
gaze, he too smiled and then stepped away, holding her arm as she
cleaned up and righted herself.

“That was wonderful, thank you.” Nea sighed, a wave
of her hands restoring her appearance.

“Hopefully that isn’t how you greet all your new
Strigoi,” he teased.

“Of course not, you shall be a good distraction on
my trip however. I have never taken a Strigoi lover before.” Nea
felt quite relaxed and happy, a dim shadow in her mind felt guilty,
like she was cheating on her husband.

“Happy to be of service,” he bowed, “now what?”

“Well, you must feed, we are traveling to France in
two weeks and you will come with me, until then you can do whatever
you want,” Nea said. Her Strigoi always enjoyed their freedom. She
briefly explained about feeding on emotions, most of her Strigoi
did not need much in the way of guidance. It was a built in fail
safe when they were turned.

“If you like I have several Strigoi that can teach
you to hunt.” Nea blinked a few times; like a veil that had formed
over her mind was being lifted. Why had she been so desperate to
turn this man? A bit of her joy from earlier left, had she really
just had sex with a stranger? That wasn’t like her. She shrugged it
off, she had a good time after all. However now the guilt of being
with Costica felt like lead in her stomach, she and Vlad didn’t
live as man and wife, but she had never really stopped considering
herself his spouse.

“Whatever I want? I thought I was to come home with
you?” he asked. She could tell he was stuck on that one comment and
hadn’t been paying attention to anything else she said.

“You can if you like. You can do anything now. Most
of my Strigoi relish in their independence.” Nea was proud of that,
some Stregas kept all their Strigoi in their household, like play
things, she hated the practice.

“Independence; but I assumed I was to be your mate.
I figured that was why you took me as your lover.” Costica’s eyes
darkened as he looked at the beautiful woman before him. His family
had always had a weakness for pretty girls.

“I don’t have a mate and while I am flattered, I
don’t need one. I did enjoy our encounter and wouldn’t be against
it happening again in the future.” Nea laughed, complimented by
Costica and thinking he was bound to be fun to have around, though
a tinge of worry breathed across her skin.

“No, that’s not how this works. You make me a
Strigoi, fuck me and then you abandon me?” He was getting angrier
with each word.

“I am not abandoning you. You are my Strigoi, you
may see me whenever you like.” She was confused at his words; he
seemed agitated, his hands clenched at his side.

“You saved me, tended to me, offered me great power.
You let me inside you. You must want me, it seems only logical that
we now be together,” he stated. Nea didn’t care for where this was
going.

“You can come home with me if you want, but I am not
going to be with you, not in a romantic relationship way.” She
played the get out of this free card, “I am married.”

“Married! So you acted like this with me knowing
that you belong to another man! You whore!” He roared.

“It is complicated. I understand how it must seem
and I am sorry. I suggest you calm down. Like I said, as long as
you are at the castle in two weeks you can do whatever you want.
That includes coming home with me.” She was a little worried, there
was something about him now that bothered her. She left him there,
before he could yell at her any more. She took her time getting
home and would later regret it.

Chapter 12

“Where have you been?” Sabine yelled at her as she
came through the door.

“I told Marina to tell you.” Nea took her coat off
and placed the large bouquet of flowers she had picked on the entry
way table. She wanted to talk to Sabine about the romp she had in
the forest and why she still felt sick about it, hadn’t she had a
great climax and a nice time?

“I have been trying to reach you for hours; didn’t
you get any of our summons?” Sabine seemed much shaken up.

“No, but I wasn’t paying attention. Did you ask
Mihail or Stasi to come find me?” Nea asked, looking at her friend.
Sabine was flushed from the top of her red hair down to her bare
feet. Nea focused on her outfit, her friend rarely wore clothing
from the correct time period, but today she had on a green tabbed
skirt with a black high waisted bodice over a ¾ sleeved white
chemise and on her head sat a capotain; a tall black felt hat. She
must have been out and about among normal people.  Nea took
half a second to admire the satin gold sash and remind herself to
go shopping before her trip.

“Has something happened?” She came further into the
room.

“I couldn’t send Mihail or Stasi because as soon as
we figured out what happened I had to send them to Hungary.”
Sabine’s anger deflated as she realized her best friend had no idea
anything was wrong.

“What. Has. Happened.” Nea repeated, fear curling in
her belly, apparently she couldn’t even have a day off.

“That new Strigoi you made came here, furious that
you have abandoned his love or some such nonsense. You really
should change stupider more naïve people, I swear. Mihail tried to
calm him down and sent him into the library to wait for you. He
found your journals about the Bathory women and went into a rage,
he destroyed half the library before Mihail and I were able to
control him.” Sabine led her to the destruction.

Nea pressed a hand over her mouth, the library was a
wreck. Books were flung every which way, loose pages lay around the
room, lost and alone. A table was upturned and two shelves were
splintered and destroyed.

“He screamed something about how your obsession with
the curse and the Bathory women was keeping you apart. I tried to
explain that if he waited for you to get home you could explain
it.” Sabine helped Nea right one of the tables. Nea’s eyes were
wide and dry, she wanted to cry but from the way her friend was
acting she knew it was about to get worse.

“He kept boasting about how you and he were
intimate, I didn’t believe-“Sabine stopped seeing the truth in her
friend’s eyes.

“Oh Nea, now is when you decide to screw the help?
You couldn’t pick a normal guy, had to be the one and only crazy
one,” Sabine laughed, sardonically.

“I know, I regret it now, please continue. What
happened?” Nea felt a tightness in her throat, she could barely
swallow let alone speak and she felt sick to her stomach.

“He calmed down for a little while and I brought
Renata in to speak with him, they spoke for a few minutes and then
he muttered about fixing things and left.” Sabine concluded.

“What did she say?” Nea asked.

“Renata says he is a stalker, a
term from the future. Costica thinks he is in an intimate
relationship with you and will do anything to try and see it
fulfilled. It’s all in his head. He feels you are his mate and are
rejecting him. Anyone you care about is a threat to the
relationship.” Sabine explained. It didn’t all make sense to Nea,
it was a lot of 21
^st
century gibberish,
but she got the general idea. She had seen plenty of men obsessed
with women in her day, and plenty of women fixated with a certain
man, for that matter.

“You really should read those books Bendis brings
from the future.” Sabine scolded.

“So, where did he go and what does Renata think we
should do?” Nea sat down on a torn up cushion.

“Oh honey, he went to Hungary.”

“Then we have to stop him” Frantic, Nea stood
up.

“No, we have to hunt him. Renata said he will only
get worse and she has never seen a case like this advance so
quickly, he shouldn’t be at the violent stage yet.”

“What don’t you want to tell me?” Nea braced
herself.

“I think he was using magic to block you, which is
almost impossible, especially since he is only newly turned. I
think he called you to him on purpose, you never would have changed
someone on so little information” Sabine said. Nea sat back, it had
been something nagging at her ever since she had left Costica. It
had felt so right and perfect at the time, like a great idea, but
the farther from him she had gone the more apprehensive she had
become about why she had turned him, especially why she’d had sex
with him, she was pickier than that.

“My family, I have to go.”   She tried to
get up and leave again, anxious, if he went to Hungary it could
only be bad, but Sabine restrained her.

“There’s nothing you can do. He slaughtered Zsofia
and her family before Mihail, Stasi and Ruxandra got there. Only
Borbala survived the first onslaught. He won’t be able to get to
the rest.  Stasi and Mihail are bringing Borbala here.
Ruxandra went to find Antal and Imre to make sure the others stay
safe.” Sabine finished. Nea’s heart clenched, at least Klara had
been spared.

“So we hunt.” Nea couldn’t understand what had gone
wrong. He had seemed so perfect when she had met him in the woods,
her magic was never wrong! She thought about the lives lost and
grief welled up inside her.

“Yes, we kill him and try to figure out why this
happened so the mistake isn’t repeated.”

Bendis walked through the library door; shoulders
hunched a little, hair whiter, appearing as the crone. “Yes, you
will hunt, Sabine go ready yourself.  I must speak to
Nea.”

“What happened Bendis?” Nea was bewildered.

“He had the blood of the Zmeu in him.” Bendis said
it like it should explain everything. Nea knew a Zmeu was a fire
breathing human like creature from fairy that had an over fondness
for young girls. They could shift into dragon form and were
considered greedy and selfish. How could Costica have Zmeu blood in
him, she had never found evidence that they were real.

“Oh dear, I will go get my big sword. Remember
Lesson 28, we don’t turn magical or mythical beings into Strigoi.”
Sabine hustled out of the room, cursing her skirt as she went.

“I have heard tales of the Zmeu all my life, they
are not true,” Nea said in disbelief.  

“They are, like most myths, based partially in fact
and fiction.” Bendis began helping Nea clean up. Nea felt like she
should be doing something more, rushing off to fight. It seemed
that her family had it covered and she was reminded how nice it was
to not always have to be in charge of everything, to allow others
to shoulder part of her burden.

“In fairy there is a large family of Zmeu, though
much of the blood has been diluted by the human girls they kidnap
and force to marry into their family. They are quite greedy and
horde riches and also very selfish and violent. I think his magic
had a bad reaction to becoming a Strigoi, it has made him powerful
and psychotic. He is a threat to be wary of. The first you have
encountered.” Bendis blew breath on several of the ripped apart
books and Nea was happy to see them weave themselves back
together.