Looking over the dinner plate, Amelia realized that Nikolais was keeping her as a prize pet, it was something like quail and asparagus. It figured he’d have expensive taste in food, even if he didn’t eat it. In fear that she would be bitten, Amelia picked at the plate, she didn’t really have that much of an appetite.
In a locked windowless room, time passed without meaning. Amelia sat on the bed and stared at the embellished ceiling wondering what time it was. Again a key scraped in the lock, revealing Anya. “It looks like you’ll be getting your wish, hunter.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nikolais has called for you. I wouldn’t be in your place for all the gold in the world. I’d pray I survived his pique if I were you.”
Standing Amelia walked towards the door, “I’m not afraid. Bring me to him.”
Anya raised an eyebrow and gestured out the door, “After you.” As frustrating as it was to have Anya at her back, Amelia walked out into the hallway. The hall itself was a study in luxury with its deep oriental carpets and crystal wall fixtures. “Where do I go?”
“Straight ahead, and the elevator will take you to the top.”
Amelia was surprised that Anya wouldn’t be accompanying her, but wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. She’d take the elevator alright. Right to the bottom and out. With a glance behind her, Amelia walked to the elevator and got in, only to find that it required a hand scan to leave. The only button lit was for the penthouse and the all the others were dark. They wouldn’t work without an override. Paranoid much?
With a sigh, Amelia pressed the glowing button and the elevator rose in silence. Coming to the top, the doors slid opened silently.
Another vampire waited beside the doors - the one blond one called Dimitri that she had faced at the warehouse. He pointed sternly to an open doorway. Warm light golden spilled from within. Straightening her spine and glaring defiantly at Dimitri, Amelia walked forward into the rectangular light of the doorway.
“Why don't you come in Amelia and stop hovering outside. I won’t bite I promise.” Nikolias’s purring voice was dark and sardonic. Amelia stalked in, back straight and eyes firing with challenge. She didn’t know what to expect, but the room was homey with two over stuffed red velvet armchairs and a fire crackling in a hearth behind. Nikolias sat in one of the armchairs, leaned casually back against its crimson softness, his hands steepled and his face deceptively serene.
“Let me go. My family will come for me.”
Nikolais raised a single eyebrow, the rest of his face a beatific mask. “Will they?”
She flushed red and glared. “Of course.”
“I think they don’t even know you’re here. Much less value the family fuck up as important enough to storm a whole vampire conclave for. No, I think you’re here till I let you go.”
“What do you want?”
“To have a little chat.” He smiled. “We used to do that regularly, no? Why don’t you take a seat and get comfortable. Drink?”
“Seriously? We were never really friends, you were just playing with me, deceiving me. We know nothing about each other really, our relationship is based on a pretty deception. You were just using me to get to Gianni.” Amelia narrowed her gaze suspiciously. “Was Kristoff in on this too?”
Kolya shrugged gracefully. “At first.”
“What do you mean at first?”
“When he met you in the alley outside of here that night, we decided that we wanted to know more about your sister’s death - and would use you to uncover some of the hidden aspects. But, disappointingly, you knew little in the end.”
“Kristoff planted the necklace. Mona’s necklace. How did you get it?”
“She gave it to me, a gift.”
“She’d never give you the family cross.”
“And yet she did,” He sighed as if she was tiring him. “Now, we have a bit of a complication on our hands. As in you.” Amelia glared at him. “My idiot brother used his time with you to make the mistake of falling in love with you. A fact I pointed out to you many weeks ago. Something I regret encouraging. But you can now see why I consider such things a mistake. You were a mistake, I made the error of thinking you better than you are. With leads us to our issue. Kristoff has developed an unhealthy attachment to you, an obsession per se. I fear he thinks you’re his mate.”
“Mate?”
Nikolais grimaced, “True love, destined one, other half, soul mate. Whatever ridiculous notions of romantic fate you choose to ascribe to. And unfortunately for vampires - we only get one.”
“Well I’m not. He can forget it, I won’t sully myself with your kind.” Amelia sneered.
He laughed without humor, “I’m sure that’s how you felt only days and weeks ago when you were in his bed. You, my dear, need not worry about sullying by your definition, I’m afraid it’s already too late. But it has also caused an unforeseen issue. Mated vampires only drink from each other. He won’t take a drop from anyone else.”
“Sounds like a personal problem. Why should I care?”
Nikolais bared his teeth and growled, his perfection cracked by a viciousness Amelia had never suspected was within him. “Show some respect. He has a saved your life more times than you have succeeded in doing anything in your pathetic career as a hunter. Your ingratitude just proves how little you bother to leave your bigoted little world. To imagine I thought you worth my time. Well now, I need you to save his life and let him feed. He won’t recover without blood and the fool will only take yours.”
“No.”
“I’m being magnanimous - I am asking. Some sort of disgusting leftover emotion of fondness I had for you. In moments I will forget such frivolity and take.”
“I’ll die first.”
Nikolais laughed dryly. “How dramatic. Yet I suppose somewhat true.”
“You’d kill me then? After you and Mona were lovers?”
“Nothing so mundane. I’ll turn you. You can deal with the self-hatred for a few hundred years as your punishment. It is simple, if I turn you, as a fledgling I control you, you’ll behave for my brother. And if you don’t I’ll just make you.”
“Kristoff would never let you get away with it.” Amelia sneered triumphantly.
“Now you rely on my brother to save you? Presumptuous. I thought he disgusted you?”
“Yes, but he’s a hunter. He has some honor for a monster.”
“Sadly, true. But unfortunately he is not the coven master, and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I find honor is a concept for past chivalry and a luxury the leader of a clan of vampires cannot afford. You can keep your humanity and go willingly to him, or I can turn you. I’ll give you until the next sunset to think on it. An unwarranted kindness considering how badly Kristoff hurts. Do not presume to disappoint me again.”
Amelia listened to his tirade with a numb sense of resignation. She’d just have to escape - or kill herself. No Dagda had been, or ever would be, a slave to vampires - much less a vampire. She wouldn’t dishonor her family in such a way. “I’ll give you my answer now, I refuse both options. You can either let me go, or send my body back to my family. You won’t succeed in keeping me alive if I’m here against my will.”
Nikolais looked bored. “How positively melo-dramatic. As usual you underestimate me and my clan. I can keep you alive indefineftly. Go think Amelia, I wouldn’t want to force you to turn, but I have no qualms about doing it.” Then with a casual wave he looked away at the flames and dismissed her.
Chapter 32
Amelia walked back to the elevator brooding, she was not going to let Nikolais take over her life and she certainly wouldn’t become a blood slave. She just needed to find a way to leave the conclave while the vampires were in their sleep after daybreak. Dimitri grinned at her as she came to the elevator, with his senses he probably had heard the whole thing and Amelia grimaced. When the door opened to the elevator and Amelia walked in she shot the vampire a look of loathing and he smiled baring fangs then pressed th
e button for where she must have been kept. She seemed to be making his day. A hunter born witch brought down. The elevator automatically stopped at the floor she’d been on and when the doors opened Anya waited to take her back to her gilded cell.
Well, did you have a nice chat?” The bitchy vampire asked with a cruel laugh. “Don’t worry, Kristoff will soon get over his delusions about you and move on. Then we can find some menial position for you to fill for the good of the clan.” Anya grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her to the door of her room. Amelia gave a half hearted yank at Anya’s hold, but knew she was fighting vampire strength and little would help her escape that. With a shove Anya tossed her back into her room. “I suggest you settle in, you’ll probably be seeing a lot of these walls in the coming years. Oh, and you may as well sleep. You’ll need to be on our schedule now. Have a good day.” She added viciously, and with a final click she locked Amelia in again.
Amelia sank onto the bed pensively looking around for ideas as to how to get out. Could she use the toilet top to break the door handle and get out? A good blow with the heavy porcelain might work…
Suddenly there was a jiggle at the door handle again, and Amelia braced for another vampire to barge in - maybe Nikolais was back to give another ultimatum, or Anya to taunt her. Amelia got as far from the door as possible and crouched down in the shadow of the bed. With a crunch, the door handle and deadbolt were pulled directly from the door, and Kristoff slumped in. He seemed ravaged and weak, only held up by leaning on the broken wood of the door jamb.
“What are you doing here?” Amelia hissed out. As Nikolais had said, he didn’t look good, Kristoff was waxen and still in the bloody hunting clothes he had been wearing earlier.
“Getting you out,” he murmured tiredly.
“Is this some kind of trick? Anya said you’d be with her tonight. That you had a history?”
Kristoff gave a wan smile and his deadened eyes sparkled briefly. “Why do you care?”
“…I don’t.”
The sparkle died and Kristoff shook his head obviously covering disappointment, “In any event, I’m busting you out. I heard what Kolya plans for you and I won’t have you sacrificed for my needs Once you’re gone I promise to keep Kolya from coming to get you. This is over Amelia. You got your revenge, we can go our separate ways.” The speech that he gave seemed to wear him out, and he slumped more fully against the door jamb.
“Is it true that you think I’m your mate?” Amelia asked warily.
A tight look of anger crossed Kristoff’s pain-filled eyes. “Kolya’s delusional. Don’t bother with anything he says.”
“Don’t you mean Nikolais?” A look like resignation crossed Kristoff’s hollow gaze. After a moment Amelia spoke slowly, “You don’t look so good,” It slipped out before she could stop it. “Why don’t you go bite Anya?” She snapped to make up for her slip.
Kristoff exhaled deeply and struggled to straighten out. “She’s not my type.”
“AB positive?”
He grimaced. “No. Bitch.”
Amelia couldn’t help but feel tingles of relief in her stomach that Kristoff didn’t like Anya. It soothed her strangely sickly jealous side. But she tamped it down angrily. “Well, if you're going to be picky, it’s not my problem, it’s still not going to be me.”
“Stop arguing with me Amelia, I said I didn’t need you for that,” Kristoff snapped. “Let’s just get you out of here.”
“Can I have my weapons back?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “Once you’re off the property. I don’t want you killing anyone.”
“Who are you protecting? Nikolais?”
“No,” Kristoff bit out in exhaustion. “You. If you killed anyone here, Kolya would keep you as a pet, a slave… turn you. He’d never let you go.” He sighed deeply. “He’s angry enough with you as it is.”
“And who’s fault is that?” Amelia gritted out.
“Yours,” Kristoff snarled, baring his teeth for the first time, and she realized that his incisors were, in fact, a little too sharp. Amelia blanched. “You all but antagonized him at the warehouse and now here - if what I was told is true. That wasn’t smart Amelia. You of all people should know what Nikolais is capable of, and even though I may be his brother, I still think he can be a bit of a tyrant sometimes. Too much power for too long.” Kristoff seemed to lose his wind again and slumped. “Let’s just go Amelia.” He continued in evident exhaustion. “He and I will have an argument about this soon enough and I’m just too tired to argue with you too.”
“Why aren’t you healing?” Amelia asked carefully, moving to the door.
“It’s none of your business.”
Amelia shut her mouth, but as Kristoff shuffled into the hallway, she couldn’t stop herself from bracing her arm under his shoulders to help him. “You obviously need blood.” Amelia said with barely concealed distaste.
“You want me to go out and find someone then?” Kristoff growled lowly.
Amelia paused, as disgusting at the idea of Kristoff needing to drink blood was, she found the idea of him with some other woman in such a way enraging. To cover, she snarled. “Well I’m not offering. But you look like you’re going to keel over.”
Something bitter crossed Kristoff’s features. “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself.”
“Well, you’re certainly doing a fine job of it,” Amelia dug. They had reached Nikolais’s opulent elevator and slogged on. Kristoff scanned his palm in, unlocking the elevator functions and pressing the button for the main level.
“Stop it.” Kristoff snarled, shoving away from her support. “Stop teasing me. You hate me, you don’t care, so just shut up and be grateful I’m getting your ass out of here so you can go back to your neat little black and white world.”
Amelia felt an irrational urge to cry at his harsh words. What was wrong with her? He was a vampire for Christ’s sakes!
But he’d also told her he loved her… And hadn’t she been sure she loved him? Even facing Nikolais, hadn’t she known he would come for her? Amelia needed out. She was panicking, this was all too confusing, it was all too…blurred.
The elevator opened leading out to a foyer that overlooked the building Amelia knew so well. The one she’d whose suicide wall she had sat upon for longer than she should have. Mona hadn't needed revenge against Nikolais, she’d chosen him. So then why did Gianni kill her? And what was it that Nikolais and Gianni had spoken of at the last?
“Kristoff?” Amelia ventured quietly, “Why did Nikolais kill Gianni?”
“For Mona…and for his own reasons, I suppose.”
“Do you know what they talked about right before Gianni died?”
“No, and I don’t want to. It always works out badly for someone when Kolya gets that mad. Be grateful it wasn’t about you.”
They pushed out through the main entrance into the cold and a beep told Amelia that the touch sensor locks to the doors had been engaged, she wouldn’t be able to get back in. Kristoff straightened slightly and pulled her sword from behind his back, then pulled one of his daggers from his boot. Amelia cringed back, afraid he was going to hurt her.
A look of betrayal and agony crossed Kristoff’s face at her fear, and he made it a point to hand her the knife butt first. “Your sister’s blade was lost in the fight, I’m giving you one of mine.”
Amelia looked at the hilt of the knife, not sure if she should take the gift, but she relented and took it. She sheathed it in her own boot, and then slung her sword in its own sheath over her shoulders. “I guess this is it.” Amelia said quietly. Kristoff nodded silently. “So, I guess I may as well thank you for all your help…And for getting me out of here…” She stuttered, then stuck her hand out to shake. Kristoff looked at her hand as if trying to decide if he could bring himself to touch her, and Amelia lost her nerve, pulling the hand back awkwardly planning to stuff it in her back pocket. But at the last minute Kristoff grabbed her hand as he had always done, and pulled her in cl
ose with a jerk. Without saying a word, Kristoff kissed her as hard as he could, and once more Amelia felt like he was memorizing her, her taste, her body.
Just as suddenly as he had grabbed her, he let go sharply. “Goodbye, Amelia.” Then Kristoff turned around with as much speed as he could use in his condition, and let himself back into Nikolais’s home.
Amelia was frozen as she watched the gilt glass doors close behind him.
Chapter 33
When Amelia arrived home, the door had been replaced, and there were locks and a nice security system. Jack still hadn’t returned but furniture better than her destroyed set sat arranged in her room similarly to the way she’d placed it. That night she didn’t have the energy to do anything but fall in bed.
The next day, Amelia cut up the credit card Kristoff had paid her from into pieces. The day after that, her sketches and the clay model of her sculpture came via courier.
Along with the colorized shot of the couple kissing.
Her backpack and clothes (cleaned) showed up outside her door the day after that.
Then, nothing.
Amelia hadn’t contacted Kathy’s Koffee for her job back, she hadn’t really done anything for a few weeks, and without what Kristoff had been paying her she was broke. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave her apartment. Sitting on the bed in the darkening sunset she looked at the napkin she’d found crumpled in the Mountain Dew bottle the day her apartment was trashed. It was for Jack’s favorite pub the Dancing Mage. She might as well see if she could find him to find out if she could continue on at the apartment without him living there.
Amelia stood slowly and put on her uniform of black jeans, t-shirt and combat boots then went to the new front door. As she reached for the knob, she paused and went back into her room. Dropping on all fours, Amelia dug through the piles of clothing that had been building up and pulled out Kristoff’s dagger. She looked at it for a moment trying to remind herself she didn’t need it, didn’t want what it represented. But she couldn’t go out unarmed - and a sword was rather obvious. Wasn’t it? Strangely happy with her decision to take it with her, she slid it into her boot, pulled her jean cuff over it and went out.
A Guide to Vampire Hunting: ...and other failures (Alchemy Inc. Book 1) Page 23