by Pace, Pepper
I had not heard from Paul in well over a year. He told me he would return, but other than that promise, I had yet to hear one word from him. He had gone to find a better self, one more powerful than his human self. I thought about that as I tried to understand what I was sensing through our bond.
Some kind of presence was watching me through Paul’s link. But how could that be? Was it Athena? I tossed that thought away. Athena couldn’t trace me though anyone’s link but Alexis’.
Thinking about Athena reminded me of how pissed I was. The anger flared again, and I could feel my hands turn into tight fists. I squeezed so tightly that I could feel little bones break. The pain of it did little to calm me.
Whatever it was watching me through Paul’s link seemed interested in my anger, and it seemed to sniff at me. I froze and tried to see what was looking at me. The only image I had was something big and powerful. That made me think of the creature I had become. Whatever was watching me reminded me of that, but it did so without anger. Could I be seeing within my own self?
I began to tremble. Could it be Paul? Had he made it? Had he found a way to become superhuman? What I sensed was in no way human, and when I tried to examine it, the presence abruptly disappeared.
Safely unwatched, I opened Paul’s link and tried to follow it to.
Yes, whatever had been watching me was coming from Paul. My rage now forgotten, fear for Paul was like a punch to the stomach. What had become of my Paul?
“Kim!”
I turned and looked around. It was Monica. Who knew how long she had been calling me since I had been in the fortress. I would have never known. I cursed.
“Monica, I’m on my way.”
I pushed all thoughts of Alexis, Athena, my creature, and Paul to the back of my mind. I simply couldn’t process everything that had happened to me in the last two days. I disappeared from that miserable forest and found my way back to the villa.
Monica, Tyler, and Karen paced back and forth frantically at the villa, but when I appeared, they practically tackled me with hugs and kisses.
Tyler said it was all her fault. She thought I had died.
Karen said it was her fault. She said she should have never brought me here.
Monica said it was her fault because she should not have kept secrets from me. I hugged and kissed them all.
Tyler pulled away from me and looked at me. Her eyes were big, and her mouth fell open. “Oh honey, your burns. They’re gone!” She sniffed. “And you’ve been fucking!”
My face warmed.
“You really found Alexis?” Karen asked.
I tried not to blush. “I found him,” I said.
They squealed and jumped up and down. They touched my skin.
Tyler examined my eyelids. “You had time to fuck him? How did you have time to fuck him?”
“No, you didn’t,” Monica whispered, hugging me.
“What?” Karen asked.
“Ladies,” I said when Monica broke her hold on me. “I have a secret to tell you. But I can’t tell you here. It’s a secret that’s going to take a blood oath.”
I’d never done a blood oath with them because I’d never had a secret big enough to tell them. Blood oaths bound humans not to speak of a certain thing. Even if another Vampire commanded them to, they wouldn’t be able speak about whatever I’d told them. Paul had been under two blood oaths—first when I made him my donor and he agreed never to tell anyone about me being a Vampire, and then when I told him that I was a day-walker. Would I ever be able to tell him my secrets again? Was he really that animal I’d sensed back in the forest? Enough! Blood oaths were made not because you didn’t trust your human but because you didn’t trust others not to get information out of them.
Karen hurried out of the room. “I’ll make the arrangements to leave as soon as possible.”
“Thank you,” I said. I wanted out of this country before I fucked up somehow.
Tyler briefly squeezed my arm. “You did what we all doubted you could do. You found your one true love. And you survived.”
I grinned. “That last is debatable. Someone might be coming after me.”
Tyler frowned. “Someone or something?”
“Something.”
“How powerful?”
“More powerful than Alexis.”
Tyler hurried out of the room after Karen.
Monica’s eyes gleamed. She came to me and took my hands. “Was it everything you wanted it to be?”
“God, yes. He’s been exiled by the Elders, but someone else is keeping us apart.” I tried to smile despite my pain. “But he loves me. He loves me every bit as much as I love him.”
“Then nothing else matters.” She released my hands. “I’m going to get us packed.”
When I was alone, I thought about Julie. She still hadn’t risen yet, and it was full dark. They had put her coffin in my bedroom. From all outward appearances, it was a coffin, but I hated to use the term “coffin.” Vampires had constructed coffins for the sole purpose of keeping themselves safe. No one was ever to be buried in such a thing. It was completely impenetrable by light of any kind because a belt of some type slipped into place to seal it. It could be operated from either the outside or the inside, and inside was a lock so a human couldn’t accidentally open it, and anyone with superhuman strength could beat his or her way out of it if necessary.
I sat in a chair beside Julie and waited for her to awake. I felt her stirring and opened the lid for her. She sat up like a marionette as if strings were attached to her.
“Kim,” she said before she saw me.
“I’m here.”
Her head pivoted in my direction. “Kim.” I saw her face relax. Even in death she had been afraid for me. I gave her a hand out of the coffin. “You rose before me.”
I smiled. I couldn’t speak of it yet, and I didn’t want to lie. “I found him.”
She grinned. “And by what my nose smells you had a good time finding him.”
I blushed. “Okay, that’s it! I’m getting my funky ass in the tub.”
Julie grabbed my hands. “No, not before you tell me everything.”
I had to remind myself constantly that Julie was much older than twelve and was much older than I was. “Well, one thing I can tell you is that I might be in a wee bit of trouble. We need to get out of town like now.”
“What did you do?”
“I’ll tell you on the plane.”
I know I should have showered, but I needed time to absorb all of my thoughts and a hot bath is the place to do it.
While I soaked in the hot water I relived every second of my time with Alexis. Our lovemaking scared me because of how powerful it had been. Could the power of my love for him bring that woman’s attention? I dared not say her name. I dunked my head underwater and got out of the tub.
Monica had left me an electric blue suit to wear. It shimmered when I moved. The skirt was a long A-line that flowed against my ankles. I spun back and forth after slipping on black suede pumps. A black scarf went around my neck, and I pulled my hair back into a French twist. I loved being dressed European fashionable, but when I got back home I’d be back in my Apple Bottom jeans again.
It didn’t take long for the driver to have us loaded into the trailer. Monica had found us a flight on TransEpic Airlines, which was owned by Vampires. While it didn’t cater only to Vampires, there was a lower hold that accommodated coffins separately from the other luggage. There were never any concerns of lost coffins and unwanted layovers that could put a Vampire’s life at risk when you flew TransEpic.
“I’ll feel better when we’re out of here,” Tyler said.
We were locking up the villa when I felt a familiar tingling on the back of my neck.
“Shit,” Tyler said. She had felt it, too.
My first thought was Athena, but it was a masculine voice that spoke. “Leaving so soon?” It was the heavily accented voice of Marcelle.
We spun around to see not only Marcel
le and his second in command Paolo, but five other Vampires as well.
I studied Marcelle. “As I said, my time here is limited.”
Marcelle smiled. “You look lovely this evening. Do my eyes deceive me or is your skin healed of its burns?”
I smiled slightly. “Thank you for noticing. You are correct. My burns have been healed.”
“And if you don’t mind me asking, how did you achieve such a feat?” Marcelle asked.
“Well now, a lady can’t reveal all of her beauty secrets.”
His smile grew even broader. “Of course, forgive me.” He looked around. “I seem to always catch you at a bad time, when you’re on your way to someplace else. However, I feel that if I let this opportunity pass, I may not get another chance to introduce you to our Council. We have a meeting tonight, and I commented to my fellow Council members about your visit to our fair town. They requested the honor of your company.” His pleasant smile disappeared. “On this I must insist. Don’t worry. You may bring your lovely ladies with you.”
“Kim?” Julie thought.
“Stand down.” I repeated the command to each member of my entourage.
Marcelle offered me his arm, and I took it. He led me to a stretch limo where we all fit in comfortably. The driver was apparently human, and Tyler was asked politely to sit up front with him. Marcelle sat next to me. His touch was warm, but I could sense that he was old. How old, I didn’t know.
“May I say that is a lovely shade of blue?” Marcelle stated.
“Marcelle, let’s stop the bullshit,” I said. “What do you have planned for tonight?”
He put on a carefully choreographed pout. “You are too beautiful a woman to use such language. Do not fear. I would not be the one responsible for one hair to be out of place on your beautiful head. I am the Master of Barcelona, and you and yours are under my protection. It is my Council’s wish to visit with you. And since you went to Epic Cu despite my warnings, they are well within their rights to request the honor of your presence.”
“How do you know I went there last night?” I asked.
“I have eyes everywhere.”
It didn’t look as if I would be able to fight my way out of the limo, and because I had three humans with me, Julie and I couldn’t just teleport ourselves away. I was at Marcelle’s mercy, and he knew it. I decided to try to charm my way through the evening since it was a game we had already begun to play.
“So, you said yesterday that your Council was steeped in tradition,” I said. “Tell us about a typical Council meeting.”
His smile returned. “Music is important to our people. There is low mellow music playing which sets the mood.”
Was he describing a date or a Council meeting?
“Our Elder greets us individually with a welcoming kiss,” Marcelle said.
I thought about kissing Malarias and hid a grimace.
Marcelle touched my wrist lightly. “The kiss is here. A blood kiss.”
“Oh.”
“We pledge our oath and speak the words of our Elders. We drink from our blood donor. The secretary will ask about the current business. We give our accounts of the week’s business. We speak an oath of secrecy and then we disperse. It all takes about two hours. Of course we have visitors, so it won’t be a normal meeting this evening. This is a special meeting.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You know I won’t let anything happen to my people.”
“I would have thought that you would have considered that yesterday evening,” Marcelle said.
“Just giving you fair warning.”
“I made some calls about you, Kim. I hope you don’t mind. You are new to our world and yet you are a Master and a Council member. I found out how you were burned and why. You took the punishment of your sire. Very admirable. I know that you are bound to an Elder. Also admirable.”
“You know a lot about me. Tell me a little about you.”
“I have been a Master for close to seven hundred years,” Marcelle said. “I outwitted my predecessor for his seat on the Council. I found later that to be a Master to such an important city is not, how do you say, all that it’s cracked up to be.”
I nodded in agreement. Being a Council member wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I can imagine policing all of Barcelona with its many tourists. I suppose Marcelle had no choice but to be charming to Vampires and humans alike.
We pulled up to a house that put our Council house to shame. It was lit up like Christmas, and it looked as if a party was going on.
“This is your Council House?” I asked as he helped me out of the limo.
“Is there a party?” Julie asked in her little girl’s voice.
Marcelle offered her his other arm. “Yes. We find as many opportunities as we can to meet and greet. You will find that we Spanish love our friendly gatherings.”
I glanced over my shoulder at my other three ladies who were directly behind us. We entered the lovely home and knew that we were the center of attention although everyone continued to mingle among themselves.
“Let me introduce you to our Elder,” Marcelle said.
He guided Julie and me through the crowd, stopping periodically to speak to some of the other guests. I didn’t know what he was saying because he spoke Spanish, but we eventually made it to a young woman who appeared no older than thirty. She was dark despite being an old Vampire. Her dark hair was worn long past her waist, and she had piercing black eyes like Alexis’ where no whites showed. Her small pouty lips were a deep shade of red. She was beautiful.
Marcelle bowed slightly to the Elder. “Esmeralda, may I introduce you to our guest. This is Kim Russell and her First Lieutenant Julie. The others are her personal staff.”
Esmeralda held out her hand. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with it—kiss it, bite it, or shake it.
Marcelle smiled at me.
I took Esmeralda’s hand and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I understand that I was summoned here.”
“Yes,” Esmeralda said. “You were summoned by me. Marcelle said that you were badly burned around your eyes, yet your skin is flawless.” She tilted her head slightly. “How did you manage this in one evening?”
I slammed my shields up remembering something Alexis had said about creating false memories. Athena would be able to see what had happened between us unless I created false memories, too. How the hell did you create false memories? How did I spend my evening if it wasn’t with Alexis? Perhaps I had spent my evenings with an elder, but the only one I could think of in a pinch was Malarias. I pictured Malarias fucking me, and the thought was so gross it seared into my head and I couldn’t get rid of it if I wanted to. We exchanged blood kisses—eek! And he took away my burns with his … love bite.
Esmeralda did enter my head. I knew when she did it because it felt like little worms crawling around in my brain. She gasped and stared at me. I was picturing Malarias’ thin little ass pumping in and out of me.
“How … could you?” Esmeralda asked.
“Were you peeking in my head?” I asked with a frown.
Julie was looking back and forth from me to Esmeralda.
Esmeralda turned and walked away, which was rather rude.
Marcelle stared at me.
“In my country,” I said sternly, “we knock before we enter.”
Marcelle nodded. “Do you require sustenance?”
“No, but Julie might.” Julie had her own set of donors but had utilized my ladies in waiting while we were overseas to keep our party as small as possible.
Julie charmed him with an innocent smile. “I haven’t had Spanish in ages. It’s tempting, but I fed last night.”
My other ladies had been quiet. I saw Karen smile at Julie as one indulges a child. She took her hand to help the illusion. Yes, we were playing it cool. Tyler inched closer to me. The human driver was apparently guarding her, making sure she didn’t use her death touch on any of them.
I knew Monica and Karen would b
e wearing their crosses, but no one else would know that. Normal Vampires never allowed their donors to wear religious implements.
Marcelle introduced us to the Council members. Luckily they all spoke pretty decent English, because with the exception of Karen and Julie, none of us could understand a lick of Spanish.
“Shall we?” Marcelle gestured to a door.
Here we go.
He led us into a large room filled with members of the Council. I didn’t remember seeing them leave the party, but here they were. The room didn’t have the feel of a basement encampment like ours did. The room was like a hotel conference room. Marcelle was right. There was beautiful music playing from a hidden sound system. It smelled like fresh-picked flowers, and I heard the soft gurgling of a fountain. This Council sat behind a long table like ours when we held ceremonies. Facing the table were a sofa and comfortable wingchairs. Marcelle gestured for us to be seated and then found his place behind the table.
“Kim?” Julie’s thoughts seemed unsure and nervous.
I didn’t like knowing that she was afraid. “I don’t know, honey. Just stay alert.”
“Kim Russell,” an attractive man wearing an immaculate all-white suit said. His dark hair was combed back neatly, and he sported a moustache that appeared to be waxed along the tips. He appeared to be in his forties. “Do you know why you have been asked to stand before this Council?”
“I’ve been told very little,” I said.
“You are here because you were warned against going to Epic Cu,” he said. “And yet reports state that you and two others were there.”
“Yes,” I said. “After Marcelle’s visit, my interest was piqued. I apologize for trespassing, but we Americans are oftentimes considered thrill-seekers. We just wanted to know what all the mystery was about. No harm no foul. We couldn’t get in anyway.”
No one spoke.
I didn’t blink an eye.
“We understand that you have a lover in Epic Cu?” a woman said.