by Ana Calin
“He’s fine, he’s resting,” Juliet says. Funny there’s absolutely no tension between her and Irina, as if they’re almost fond of each other. But it seems Juliet is no fonder of Herald than she was twenty years ago.
“I know you’re wondering why I helped him,” Irina explains softly. “But he repented, and I could feel it was real. He’s older now, and wiser, and he realized he doesn’t even want to be immortal.”
“Yes, he told me,” Juliet says. “I talked to him a few hours ago, he seems changed. I think you did well in sparing him, even fighting for his life. I still have trouble trusting him, but that’s just me. You’re a good person, Irina.”
Irina smiles and looks down.
“Tristan and the Abbot got to inspect the immortals with Magda the Witch and two doctors of their trust,” Dracula says. “We still don’t understand exactly how human immortality works, so to say, and we still need to analyze them in depth. What we know so far is that metabolism is so slow in these people it basically moves at a crawl; their bodies scans the DNA for the perfect version of themselves, then they transform into that version, and freeze there. Another thing we’re intrigued about are the superpowers. Their cause seems to be genetic mutation, but we need to check more.”
“Tristan, the Abbot and Magda run the research, and we’ll know more soon,” Radek continues. “But we’re worried that Zdrovan’s project was only one of many. That the Serpent Lord has more like it.”
“That’s a good possibility,” Irina chimes in. She takes a hand to her throat as if she can still feel the Serpent Lord’s squeeze. “When he left Zdrovan there to fend for himself, it didn’t look like he was losing much. I got the feeling that the immortals we got were only the tip of the iceberg.”
“We can’t let this go,” Dracula decrees. “We still have Geneva Daniel, we’ll take it from there. The Serpent Lord’s people must be creating more human immortals as we speak. We have no time to lose.”
“We both know who Geneva Daniel will lead us to,” Radek says carefully, eyes on his brother.
Silence.
We all know, not only he and Dracula. Geneva Daniel is the now widowed wife of Zdrovan Daniel, the evil vampire who tortured and killed Irina as a human two hundred years ago. But she’s also involved with Michael the Bad, Dracula’s own son, the one the Serpent Lord raised as his own. And we all know that Michael the Bad hates Dracula.
Irina starts as Dracula pushes his chair, scraping the floor. He walks away from the table, the long black cape hanging majestically from his broad, warrior-like shoulders.
“We need a plan,” he says. “To get to Michael.”
Heavy silence falls over the hall as we all watch the great Prince of Blood. We can feel his pain, the pain of a father.
“I might have an idea,” Irina says faintly. I sense her through our bond, and I squeeze her hand in jealousy.
“You can’t,” I grunt through my teeth. “You may still be a Princess of Seduction, but you’re mine. I won’t share you with anyone, I’ll kill any man who even tries—”
She smiles lovingly at me, squeezing my hand back in reassurance.
“I’m all yours, and I’ll gladly spend eternity in your arms. I was thinking of someone else for this mission, not myself.”
“If your idea involves seduction,” Ruxandra puts in carefully, as not to offend Irina, “let me remind you Michael the Bad is used to orgies of women who drool over him. Add Geneva to the picture, who’s obsessed with him. Plus, you’ve seen the man.” She looks to her husband. “Powerful and dangerous like his father. No woman would resist him if he set his eyes on her.”
Cunning fills Irina’s smile. “Oh, but I didn’t have the weapon of seduction in mind. I was thinking of something else, something not even the dark prince can resist.”
THE END
To be continued with
(October 2019)
This was six four of the Dracula’s Bloodline series. Enjoy the first five books here, until the next one is ready for you:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MJC4ML1/