Authors: Aiden James
His words were cut short by the sudden appearance of another vampire in our midst. This one was even rougher with him, wearing a facial expression of intense anger.
“You almost brought about the deaths of the only two humans who matter to us—do you even realize that, you fool?” said Gustav, after he grabbed Peter and pulled him up to the empty marble pedestal above the harp stand, the daytime home of Mohini. “And to think I had taken up for you, to defend your right to exist. But, for what you’ve done, and the hand you’ve played in the deaths of so many…tonight, you shall surely die!”
He pulled back Peter’s head while bringing the sharp edge of his jeweled golden scepter up against Peter’s neck.
“Any last words before I send you to join your maker in the afterlife, if there is such a place for you both?”
“I-I’m s-so s-sorr-r-y!” Peter stammered, sounding confused and frightened as he did the night he was brought to the island from America. It appeared that Alaia had an effect on his speech, at least until a moment ago. “Pl-le-e-ea-s-s-se d-don’t k-kill m-m-e-e-e!!”
“Don’t hurt him, he’s her father!” I pleaded, while watching my former love cry and tremble in terrible fear. “Peter didn’t hurt Alaia—if anything, he kept her safe from everything that happened in there!”
I pointed back toward the ruined wall of the palace that was plainly visible as the lights inside the palace were all on again while the initial clean-up process began.
“What, so you think he has a birthright to Alaia due to the fact he was physically involved in her conception?” sneered Gustav, much more hateful in his manner than he had been with Ralu a short while earlier. “He has
no
birthright—and even
you
have no birthright! You and Alaia belong to us, and both of you will always be
our
birthright!!”
Ignoring my further cries and pleas for mercy, he prepared to execute Peter, who continued to beg pitifully for his life. It became rapidly apparent that the execution would go through as planned, and all of my companions were silent—including Racco. No one dared to challenge their angry king.
No one, that is, except one vampire, who came out of nowhere to place his own neck above Peter’s.
“I beg you, my lord, let me take him with me to my fortress in India,” said Kazikli, his tone more plaintive than I’d ever heard it before as he peered up at Gustav. “I can fix this one—I’m sure of it! And, I can make him into the kind of warrior you will be proud of…I only need time. Besides, if Ralu somehow survives then Peter Worley can only attract him to me and my home, and to no one else. I’m willing to deal with the personal consequences should that happen….
Please
do not kill this boy tonight!”
At first, Gustav merely glared at Kazikli, and was surely incensed that his close friend chose to upstage his decision. Kazikli, however, never wavered in his resolve to rescue Peter, who now clung to the old vampire’s torso like a life raft. Nor did his compassion weaken as he gazed up into Gustav’s face.
“Very well, my beloved friend,” said Gustav, as he loosened his grip on Peter’s head. His tone had softened. “He will be yours for now. But if anything else happens to endanger Txema, Alaia—or any one else in our society—he will be summarily destroyed. Am I clear?”
“Yes, my lord,” said Kazikli, whose smile was grateful. Peter wept quietly beneath him. “I’ll take him with me tonight.”
“I thank you for your mercy,” I said to Gustav. “And I promise to make up this favor to you at some point in my life. I’ll find a way to repay your kindness.”
He released Peter and leaped over the lagoon to where I stood with Racco.
“Oh, I certainly expect no less from you, Txema,” he said, smiling wanly while keeping his voice barely above a whisper. “In the meantime, I need for you to keep a much better eye on Alaia. She was lucky this time, and as such so are you. But, there will be other challenges to face…other attacks to thwart…and soon a new home to find.”
“When do we need to decide on our next destination?” asked Chanson, as she came up beside me.
“Tonight,” he said, his smile dying in its weariness. “The journey to find a place safe enough for all of us begins right now.”
Chapter 22
Making plans to leave the island turned out to be harder than expected in the aftermath of Ralu’s attack. Before anything could realistically be discussed and settled upon, there were security and clean-up measures that needed to be taken care of first.
Koimala and his shape-shifting vampire contingent combed the island and surrounding reefs for stragglers from Ralu’s army. Meanwhile, the survivors from Gustav’s allied army worked diligently to clean up Racco and Koimala’s palace. That turned out to be a much more gruesome task than it first appeared. It meant picking up vampire corpses from both armies, along with body parts strewn in hard to reach areas, and then taking everything to the southern beach to be burned. Mohini and her vampire maidens insisted on taking care of the bloodstained marble surfaces themselves after sunrise, along with the defiled pools and fountains.
“It will take some time to rebuild this place, but at least I’ll have something to work on for a little while,” said Koimala, chuckling sadly. He and his group had just returned from their surveillance trip around the island. They found only one straggler from Ralu’s routed army, and that vampire flew off in a frightened screech when Bhima and Chatur surprised it. “But other than Ralu’s redecorating efforts upon our reception area, we should have everything else taken care of before tomorrow night.”
“Do you think Huangtian Dadi’s magic will revive Ralu?” Mohini asked Xuanxang. She looked worried.
“I don’t know,” he said, sounding a bit shaken by his former master’s betrayal of longtime friends and alliances. “It depends on how much of Ralu’s vampire DNA was destroyed or altered. Huangtian Dadi is the unquestioned dark sorcerer in the Himalayas, and I fear what he is planning to do with Ralu’s remains. If he is not careful, he may unleash something beyond his control, something that could one day destroy us all—including him.”
We were gathered in a large library that escaped the notice of our enemies when they attacked, located on the second floor and not far from my accommodations for the past few weeks. Exquisitely paneled in hand carved oak, it would’ve been much harder to restore if it had received similar damage to what was prevalent downstairs. Oh, and by ‘we’ I am referring to Gustav and his closest confidantes from the vampires who joined us from around the world, along with my protectors, Koimala and his vampires, Racco, and my baby girl and I. Kazikli and Peter had already departed for Kazikli’s Indian fortress. Nora decided to join her longtime beau, at Kazikli’s request, which gave me even more hope that he would eventually find a cure for Peter—to at least make Peter’s vampiric existence no worse than Tyreen’s.
“Whoever among us is still on the fence about traveling north with Txema and Alaia, they need to make a decision very soon,” said Gustav, studying everyone’s face as he scanned the room. “With what we’ve learned tonight about Huangtian Dadi’s allegiance and with Ralu’s fate very much unknown, we must be someplace far from here by dusk tomorrow night. The only exceptions are for those who have expressed an interest in rebuilding the palace with Koimala.”
“I’ll be here for as long as it takes to get that done, and then I’ll return to Paris,” said Franz. “It might give Armando enough time to decide what he wants to do.”
As anyone reading this, I had no inkling that Franz and Armando were not planning to accompany me on my next adventure. Armando’s hesitation was far more painful than my German companion’s decision to forego the trip, since more than any other vampire I’ve known, Franz likes to come and go freely. It doesn’t mean he cares any less about my fate or Alaia’s, but I already knew he prefers to be called upon when direly needed.
As for Armando, I felt immediately crushed, since he has always been the catalyst for a great time among our group. There were only two possible reasons for his hesitancy, and one certainly was the misadventure he went through in saving Peter. The other dealt with Racco’s presence in my life. When I finally had a moment to tell him what had transpired over the past few weeks, I could see the anger deepening his gorgeous blue eyes to where they almost turned purple.
Gustav nodded thoughtfully to Franz’s response.
“Please tell me that we won’t have to wait for a decision from you until dawn,” said Gustav to Armando. He smiled slightly, as if he would miss Armando’s antics, as well.
“I can give you an answer right now,” said Armando, as an elfin grin threatened to erase his sullen expression. “I need to understand why we all can’t go back to Paris. Why is it so ‘absolutely necessary’ to travel into the Alash hills to visit that miserable mine shaft?”
“Because the only way we will ever escape Ralu’s or anyone else’s hatred for your type of vampire is to make sure Txema and Alaia are protected in the same manner as Marissa is!” said Racco, angrily.
His tone alone told me there had been harsh words spoken earlier, away from my presence, that night between him and Armando. As for the mention of Marissa’s name? I hadn’t even considered that she was still alive…but it made sense. I remembered that Chanson stated the average lifespan for Racco’s offspring was four hundred years, and how my cousin became a vampire ‘two hundred and ninety-three years ago’.
I looked over at Chanson, whose expression was stoic. No doubt she wanted Franz and Armando to both accompany us, but had resolved for them to do so only if they really wanted to come along. The destination sounded a little austere…more Himalayan than Maldivian. I doubted anyone in our group looked forward to this place they all seemed quite familiar with. Even Tyreen grimaced at the mention of a northern locale and a ‘mine shaft’.
“The only way?” Armando jeered, lashing out at Racco, and for the moment ignoring Gustav’s hand raised in warning. “You, better than any of us, should know
all
of the hideouts we have yet to access this century beneath the streets of
‘Gay Paree’
. Why would we want to deal with a crazy witch like Marissa?”
“We need her amulet,” said Racco, evenly. “I require it only long enough to make two more…one for Txema, one for Alaia. Then we’ll get the hell out of that place!”
“And you think she’ll be content to see you and I together for the first time in more than a hundred years, only to watch us turn around and leave her again? Are you ready for what that will do to our only living daughter, Racco?” Now Chanson was angry. “Do you not remember how she cried for weeks on end, the last time we did this? Gabrielle told me last year that it took nearly two decades before she quit asking for her father! She’s gotten used to the idea that you’re dead, and it’s only her vampire mother who checks up on her regularly!!”
A single red tear flowed down my cousin’s left cheek, and her brilliant green eyes took on a yellow tint. Racco couldn’t bear to look into those eyes, and he wasn’t ready to look at Armando either. He glanced at me warily before looking down at the long oak table we were gathered around.
“Ahhh, so perhaps there’s a lesson to be studied here in how you, Racco, handle your paternal affairs, no?” teased Armando, twirling as he stood up from his chair. Despite the growing anger I’m sure we all felt from both Racco and Gustav, he wasn’t finished with his latest taunt. He leaned across the table toward Racco, after first winking at me. “This should definitely be included in ‘Responsible Daddy 101’ for Txema!”
“Responsible?” Racco shot back, looking up from the table. His face was flushed and his intense blue eyes misty. “I have paid a fortune in trying to make sure Marissa, my beloved daughter—who barely survived an attack by a bloodsucker like yourself—is safe from
all
harm! She has protection, she has companionship, and there is an entire town whose rich annual endowment from me makes sure she is entertained in every way imaginable!!”
“Oh cut the
shit
, Racco—she’s stuck in a fucking mountain that’s only accessible by your goddamned train that has killed
more
vampires in the past one hundred and seventy years than Van Helsing could’ve ever dreamed of killing!!” shouted Armando.
“That’s quite
ENOUGH!!!”
Gustav’s thunderous voice reverberated loudly throughout the room, commanding everyone’s complete attention. He glowered angrily at both Racco and Armando, before casting a more compassionate look toward Chanson, who quietly wept next to me. I sought to comfort her, as did Tyreen and Raquel, while we waited for the melodrama to end.
“We have the important business of finding a permanent solution to keeping Txema and Alaia safe and healthy,” said Gustav, once he had everyone’s full attention. “It’s imperative that we get this done as quickly as possible, since our alliances throughout the world are fragmenting faster than we can repair them. Ralu is only the beginning, as other rulers who resent the lofty privileges we’ve exclusively enjoyed for nearly two millennia have undermined us.”
He paused to make sure we were with him, and we all nodded for him to go on.
“I fully support Racco’s plan, and will be accompanying him, Txema, and Alaia to Kazakhstan at dusk tomorrow,” he continued. “I hope you all will join us on this journey, as we can always use the company. Remember also that we’ll be there a week or two, at most. Isn’t that correct, Racco?”