The Vengeance of the Vampire Bride (53 page)

“I have banished you from my life,” I
answered vehemently. “Which is all I ever truly wanted since you
cursed me to this existence.”

“You have become their
pawn!”

“Better theirs than yours!”

With an exclamation of anger, he threw
me away from him. I fell to the shining marble floor and caught
myself on my hands. He was on me in an instant, his cloak flaring
out to engulf my fallen form. Hovering over me, his sharp teeth
gnashed as he spoke. “You would rather serve them than be with me,
is that so?”

“Yes! I would rather serve them then be
enslaved by you!” With force that shocked him, I threw him off. I
glided to my feet and stood defiantly before him. “I refuse to bow
to your wishes any longer.”

“I am your Master!”

“I will not serve you!” My rage
consumed me, making my eyes burn and my teeth descend.

Silence filled the hall as he stood
pondering my words. He made a dismissive gesture with one hand, as
though discarding the entire conversation. “Enough of this. Come,
wife. We shall go, not to the castle, but to London. Come. Come!
We’ll go to your brother.”

“No,” I answered. “I will not depart
with you. Do not dare to use my brother against me!”

“You are being foolish and
unreasonable,” Vlad chided. His green eyes flashed with fury and he
took a step closer.

“Return to your castle with Cneajna and
leave me be,” I said in a hushed voice.

“Leave you with my duplicitous brother?
The man you have bedded in my absence and to whom you declared your
love before the House of Gavril!”

I stomped my foot. “I love him! I love
him with all my heart! He is my joy and my life! Do not dare to
come against us. I will kill you. I will not leave you in limbo,
but strike off your head!”

He stepped back, regarding me. “He is a
pawn of our Mistress sent to spy upon us and report back to
her.”

“I know.”

“Yet, you love him and will be with
him.” Vlad scoffed at me.

“
He
did not murder
my family,” I retorted. Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks
and I fought them back. I would not be weak before
him.

“I did what was necessary.
What is my nature. What is my right,” he answered firmly. “Surely
you realize that truth now. You are a Master now. You have a
fledgling. You know how deeply a Master feels for the creation of
their blood.”

His words were true. I did know. I
would do anything for Laura. I loved her completely. The thought of
her not at my side brought a piercing pain and sadness to my
heart.

Vlad drew closer, realizing he had
found a weakness in my armor against him. His hand lingered near my
cheek, his power brushing over my skin like a feather. “Now you
know. What I would do to have you near me. Blood of my
blood.”

I glared at him, yet I could not help
but believe him. Was this our bond renewing despite the cursed
ring? His presence empowered, yet angered me. “You murdered my
family and forced yourself upon me. Beat me, hurt me, threatened
me!”

“When I thought you were a mere pawn,
yes, but as your power grew and our bond strengthened...” He let
his words trail off as he stepped closer to me, his lips suddenly
close to mine. “I loved you, my countess. I loved you and knew I
could not bear to lose what I had created. That is why I came here
to stand for you despite your betrayal.”

I raised my eyes to gaze into his. “I
do not doubt that you love me, but I have seen with my own eyes
what you do to those you love!”

Swiftly, I stepped away from him, but
once more he caught my arm. This time he slid his hand down to
grasp mine.

“They were not you.”

“Your manipulations will not work on
me.”

“Remember our last night together,” he
whispered, his body pressing against my back. He lowered his face
to whisper in my ear. “You came to me willingly and we were joined
as man and wife. We were powerful and we were at peace. Come to me
once more and that is how it shall be.”

“It was a night of lies. I needed to be
consoled. Ignatius was not with me and you were a convenient
replacement.” I bit off my words tersely as I tried to maintain my
fury against him. I did remember that night. I had used my wiles to
find solace in my loneliness. At times I regretted my actions, yet
at others I did not. After all he had done, he owed me a moment of
peace.

The coldness of his hands chilled me as
he gripped my shoulders firmly, but gently. His lips against my
temple, he said, “You did not think of him that night.”

Words of truth that struck me to the
core. I wrested away from him. “Enough of this. I will not return
with you. Say your piece and I shall say mine, and we shall be
done.”

With eagle swiftness, he caught me up
in his arms. His lips covered my lips, my cheeks, my neck. I
gripped his arms with my hands to thrust him away.

“Release me!”

“Ah ha!” he exclaimed as his hand
closed over my ring. With triumph, he snatched the cursed ring off
my finger and flung it away. The curse removed, my blood responded
to his call and his power flared through me. The kiss he inflicted
on my lips consumed me and for a mere moment I was lost. The
darkness within me called to him. His cold power washed over me. I
was caught up in a vision of me standing at his side, both of us
drenched in blood, our enemies at our feet. I could feel the
triumph, the hate, and the cruelty emanating from us. I gasped,
pulling away from him.

“I am not what you are!”

Fingers tangling in my hair, he
forcibly drew me close. “We are one, you and I. We desire our
freedom and fight against our enemies. Join me and one day this
world can be ours.”

“I am not like you!” I pressed at him
with my hands, my fear making me weak. I would not be a brutal,
sadistic monster like him.

Driving me back against a pillar, he
slid his hands up under my gown. I could feel him hard against my
belly and I was horribly afraid. I forgot myself, everything that I
had accomplished, everything I had gained, and all I felt was the
horrible fear that I was lost forever.

Vlad’s teeth ripped into my neck,
shoving his body against mine as I floundered against him. Rage
filled me as I felt my body respond to his. It was vile to feel my
flesh yearning for pleasure. This was the curse inflicted upon me
by his blood. Bound to him with chains of evil that threatened what
little I had left of my soul. I teetered on the edge of the abyss,
darkness rushing up to wash over me.

“Please, release me!” I cried
out.

The exquisite pleasure of his bite made
it difficult to fight him. I felt his power wrapping around me,
seeking to join with me once more.

It was when he gashed his
throat and ordered me to drink that I regained my mind. The dark
passion that had consumed me and threatened to devour me left as
suddenly as it had risen. I cried out in my despair, grief ripping
through me. The sight of his torn throat woke me to the truth of
our reality. To drink from him would be to damn myself and lose all
I had fought for. My life, my lover, my daughter...

“No!”

I violently wrenched his head back from
my throat, his teeth tearing free of my flesh. My blood splattered
the cold marble floor. My other hand found a silver dagger he
always hid in his waistcoat. I withdrew it, pressing it against his
throat.

“Release me.” His surprise was to my
advantage. I untangled myself from his body and slipped free of his
grasp. My body felt cold and disconnected from my soul. I struggled
to regain my composure.

“You felt it! Our passion burns whether
you accept it or not.”

“It is my destruction I feel in your
arms. The loss of who I am.” Anger flared within me. I was not the
fledgling I once was. I had forgotten that in my moment of terror
and lust. I reached within myself and unfurled my power like great
wings. I felt it flow through my veins like ice water,
strengthening my resolve. My thoughts turned to Ignatius and Laura.
The dark lust and need for my Master faded into a
memory.

“What you feel is your potential to
rise above all of them. Come with me and these usurpers,” Vlad
thrust his hand toward the ballroom, “will be nothing more than
corpses impaled before our thrones.”

Holding my dagger before me, I
answered, “I desire nothing more than to live my life with Ignatius
and Laura. I have no desire for conquest and death as you do! I
remember your mortal life, Dracul!”

“You are what I am. I feel it in you.
My blood in you whispers your darkest secrets to me.” Red fires
burned in his green eyes as he stepped closer. “What did you do to
Baroness Dosza? Did you not seduce her, lie to her, and kill
her?”

“Her death brought me no real
pleasure!” I cried out. “It felt empty!”

“Do not be a foolish child. You are a
vampire! A powerful, beautiful, brutal vampire. And you are
mine.”

“No!”

“You’re being foolish,” Vlad shouted,
his rage beginning to build now that his lust was not
sated.

“Call me foolish again and I will cut
out your tongue,” I warned. “I am not your shirking Bride anymore.
I am a Master. I am a Countess.”

“Countess Dracula,” he said, smirking,
delight in his eyes, drawing so close to me he could touch
me.

I returned his smile. “Yes, I am.
Though I am not the widow I wished to be.” My smile turned bitter
as I shoved the blade against his throat.

“Impudence!” he snarled, but stepped
back warily from the silver dagger.

“What do you expect of me, dear
husband? That you would return and find me fawning to fall into
your embrace and return to servitude? I have lived my own life for
months. I have my fledgling, my lover, and my place in the new
court. I am doing quite well for myself. I do not need you to
destroy all that I have acquired.”

“
Yet, Cneajna came and
nearly destroyed it all because you would not allow me to kill
her,” Vlad reminded me, pointing an accusing finger in my
face.

Lowering my dagger, I
looked away. The pain of her hatred burned in me like a silver
fire. I could hardly endure it. I had once wanted her embrace, her
kiss, her love, her motherly touch upon my life, but it was all
lost now. It was lost because Vlad chose me. Loved me. And she
could not bear it.

“Weak! You are still weak!
Though I do admit you are stronger than most of your sex, you fall
to your emotions. You may be powerful now, dear wife, but you are
weak in your own affections. You have yet to learn to guard
yourself.”

I tossed him an irritated look and I
stomped my foot. “I have denied your lust and your attempt to
enslave me! I am not weak!”

“I will have you again. You will come
willingly to me. Once you are done with these human affectations
you have embraced.”

“Do not mock those human traits and
strengths you no longer possess,” I retorted.

“You are in denial of who you truly are
and I will not stand for it!” His teeth were gritted, his fangs
glistening. He darted toward me as if to grab hold of
me.

I slashed his face with my silver
dagger, feeling the flesh part and blood splash my hand.

He howled, his hand covering his wound.
“How dare you!”

“I will thrust it into your heart!” I
felt confidence fill me. Adem had taught me to fight and I would
battle Vlad for my life.

“Come to me,” Vlad ordered.

“No.”

“Come now!”

I felt his power wash over me, trying
to seep into my soul and spirit and drag me down into the depths of
his darkness. I thought of my family, Ignatius and Laura and my own
power lashed out at him like icy claws. I saw him stagger as if I
had struck him again.

“You are stronger than I thought,” he
said, mystified, yet thrilled. “Come to me and I shall teach you to
harness it.”

“No. Never!”

“I will not be denied!”

“Yet you are!”

He rushed me again, his body but a blur
of shadow. I struck out at him, moving just as quickly. Again my
blade slashed and it sliced through cloth and flesh. He managed to
grab hold of my arm and hurl me into a pillar. The pain shocked my
senses, but I held onto my weapon. My pink gown was now stained
with both our blood. I could feel our powers mingling then
withdrawing like sparks between us.

Vlad looked up at me, his hand pressed
against his chest where I had drawn blood. His eyes were pure red,
full of violence, anger, and lust. I did not see him move, but he
was rapidly upon me. His hand caught my wrist in a vice-like grip,
twisting it, breaking it, and the dagger clattered to the floor. My
nails lashed out like rapiers, drawing blood as I ripped his face.
I twisted around on my feet, using the momentum of my action to
sling him into the pillar. Shocked at my action, he released my
broken wrist.