“No,” he admitted with a rueful smile. “It doesn’t work like that, the vampires who made the rules saw to it. They had no wish for power grabs or assassinations. You keep your position until you are either dead, missing, or the previous leader is fit to lead again. It’s just as well, because you have nothing to fear from me. I have no desire to rule our kind. I feel those days are behind me.”
“I’d still like the possibility removed,” Arthur added, giving me a look that was almost secretive, like we were alone instead of with James watching everything we did.
I nodded to him, showing a blank face that I didn’t feel with him looking at me like that. “I retract my comments about putting you in the stocks for insubordination.”
“You never said that.”
“Really? Hmm. Could’ve sworn I did.” I walked around my desk and unlocked the drawer with Anastasia’s journal. “Arthur, you may leave us. Don’t talk back. Out, please.”
His fist curled up again, but he nodded and left the room. With him gone, I felt vulnerable and exposed. Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and stared James down.
He turned to me and smiled. “Well, Lisbeth. We are alone.”
“If you touch me, I will fucking murder you right here on this disgusting green carpet.”
His lips pursed, not expecting my reaction. “Not before you’ve gotten the information you need.”
“Fucking. Murder.”
“My hands will not touch you, my liege,” he said with a slight bow.
Tapping my fingers on my desk, I enjoyed seeing him being submissive for once. “I preferred your attitude when you first arrived. Quiet. Repentant. Serious. Mostly quiet.”
“Yes, I recall. And I shall endeavor to be all three.” I slipped the book out from the drawer and stood it up on my desk. His face brightened at the sight of it, like it held a hidden twinkie bar. “Ahh, my journal. My recount of the wrath of Anastasia. The forbidden words forever–”
“Yes. It’s your journal, stop being so dramatic.” He pursed his lips at me again, almost amused at me now, the surprise wearing off. “The conversation we are about to have is confidential and private to the utmost extreme. You speak of this to any living soul, and I will execute you on the spot.”
He went from a smile to serious rather quickly, and I’d rarely seen such a look on him. “You’ve changed quite a bit, my liege. I understand the need for secrecy. No one will hear your words from me, I swear on my life’s blood.”
I relaxed against my chair, my fingers splayed over my now empty belly. “‘Have you ever wondered why there are so few older Born?’ That’s what you asked me in one of our first conversations. Then you preceded to tell me that no one really knew why that is, and what I thought on the matter, all before I told you it was something my Order had taught me not to discuss. Do you recall this conversation?”
“Of course I do, don’t insult me.”
Raising an eyebrow, I continued. “And yet, I find you’ve written the only account of what really happened to vampires, and why there are so few of us left.”
Pointing to the book, he defended himself rather loudly. “You also read that I was sworn to secrecy. I was curious what you knew, and that meant being very careful about what I said to you.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded, holding my hand out to calm him down, because if he went off the lid, I didn’t know how I would react. “Your account of Anastasia’s life was most interesting to me. Not for the reason one might think, as I have no significant curiosity for the history of our kind, at least not to the degree of needing your input.” I stood up and took the journal with me. “I discovered your journal when I was expecting my daughter. I had some… reservations about her.”
“The vampire child who drinks vampire blood,” he said thoughtfully, rubbing at his chin. “Everyone is afraid of her. Of what she will become.”
“And none more so than me.” My fingernail tapped against the book, and I felt on the level with him for once. “My daughter is only part vampire. The other half is Incubus.”
“You fucked an Incubus?” James looked shocked, but more like I’d made friends with a unicorn than simply shared a night with my oldest friend. “And that is why your daughter drinks vampire blood. Such a thing is… unheard of.”
“You had a child with a human,” I reminded him frostily. “I’d never heard of a living dhampir before. I mean, there’s human lore of it, to be sure, but it’s never been seen among us. I didn’t even think it was possible.”
“Fair, but while there might be a history of dhampirs, there is no lore about a vampire and Incubus child. Not to my knowledge.”
I shook my head wearily. “Nor mine. That’s why your book intrigued me. You mentioned in your account that Anastasia was different from other vampires. She had power over her peers that you couldn’t explain, and there were mysterious circumstances surrounding her birth. Did you ever see her drinking another vampire’s blood like my daughter does?” I waited for his answer with all my hope on the line, that all my fears had no foundation, that I had been worried for nothing.
He debated for several moments, pulling back his old memories of a time long passed. When he looked up to meet my eyes, I saw the answer he’d found, and it was not the one I wanted. “Yes. I saw her drink vampire blood many times.”
Hell in a hand basket. Was I unbelievably fucked? Unaware of my internal panic, he went back into his mind to search for more memories, his blue eyes flicking from side to side like he was watching a movie fast forwarding on a television screen. “Now that I am presented with the option, I cannot in all honesty discount the possibility that she was not fully vampire.”
My legs started to shake so hard I had to steady myself against my desk. “My daughter could end up like her. She could be the next destruction of our species if the turned vampires don’t finish us off first.”
James reached out, seeing my body on the verge of going into shock, making me recoil away faster than Barry Allen changing clothes. Dropping his hand, he took a step back and tried again. “You don’t know what she was. I said I couldn’t discount the possibility, I didn’t say I was positive she was part Incubus. And even if she was, there is no way to prove it now. She’s been gone for four hundred years.”
“Is she dead?” I probed, brushing black curls from my face and feeling sweat forming on my forehead. “Did you see her body? Was there chanting in the streets in celebration of her passing?”
“She was presumed dead, but it was never confirmed. I tried for decades to find her again, I swear this to you. If she is alive, and I mean if. Finding her will be next to impossible.”
“No, I won’t accept that answer. There has to be something, someone, who has seen her.” I hoisted my hip onto my desk to think. I would not give up on my daughter. She was all I had left.
“There…” James started. He stopped himself and pressed his lips together, but my hopes had already risen.
“Say it. Please?” My mouth turned acrid from the word, but it seemed to unbind James’s tongue.
“There is only one thing we can do. Hand me the journal, please.” He took it from me and immediately ripped the binding off. I dove to protect the book, but he held out his hand to stop me. Hidden inside the cloth outer layer and the hard, inner layer of the binding was a folded piece of paper. He handed the journal and its destroyed cover back to me.
“I hope that was worth it,” I complained, trying to piece them back together but failing at it. The paper in James’s hands unfolded to reveal a small piece of blood-stained cloth. “What is that?”
“This,” he said with a wicked smile. “Is stained with the blood of the only vampire who ever mattered to Anastasia Bathory.”
“A blood-stained cloth.”
“Yes.”
“And that will help us find Anastasia? And by ‘us’ I mean me, don’t get ideas.”
“Yes,” James repeated insistently, like I was stupid. “Presuming he is not dead. B
ut finding him requires an extra component.”
Glaring, I held up a warning finger to him. “Do not say magic. Or the light of a full moon. I will slap the piss out of you.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “No, don’t be ridiculous. This requires something I didn’t have when I was trying to find the vampire the blood belongs to. I tried doing it on my own, it’s how I started blood bingeing. I figured enough human blood in my system would allow me the power to track any scent of blood. Sadly, I had no idea that that wasn’t something a blood binge would give me, and by the time I figured that out, I was too far into the binge to even care. I left Europe and I never searched for Anastasia again.” So he hadn’t started his trip to crazy town because he was just a psychopath who liked torturing people. It didn’t make me like him more, though.
“Is the component a dhampir? Is that why you had a child with a human?”
He narrowed his eyes at me, his mouth pinched together. “Believe it or not, I had a child with Sara because I love her. I know that sounds contradictory, considering our history, but it’s the truth.”
“Just tell me what the thing is, I’m not incredibly interested in your love life.”
He glared harder, but his smile came back on cue. “The component is a werewolf. Your lover should suffice.”
“He’s not my lover.”
“Details,” James said with a wave of his hand. I contemplated smashing his head into my desk. “A Lycan cannot track blood older than a few years. Werewolves, on the other hand, can track any scent of any age. Your lover is the last of his kind, and I suspect there will never be another. If he dies, you will never be able to track the vampire you need.”
“Then I’ll make sure he doesn’t die,” I assured James. Not that I was planning on Knight dying or anything. Quite the opposite.
“Then I suggest you do this before any kind of battle with the turned takes place. I can assure you, no matter what you might say about the werewolf, if there is a choice between your life and his, he will choose you, and the battle to come will not be without casualties.”
“I can’t exactly run off to Zanzibar right now.”
He continued as if I hadn’t spoken, a behavior I was well acquainted with from our time together. “The vampire’s last recorded residence was in Italy. You can start from there. His name is Lucas.”
“Lucas?” I asked.
James handed me the cloth wrapped in its paper sleeve again. “Lucas.”
4. Carry on, Glenda
Lucas. That was the name of the vampire I needed to find, the only being on the planet that knew where Anastasia Bathory was. I didn’t make the mistake of believing finding either of them would be simple. First, I had to come up with an excuse to go to Europe without Arthur, because let’s face it, there had to be more than a few lines he wouldn’t cross when it came to Anastasia Bathory, and in order to actually find Lucas, I had to make sure Knight went with me while also keeping it secret as to why he had to come along.
Cameron would’ve helped me. He would’ve taken care of Kitty for me, even let her feed off him without hesitation. I missed him more than words could say, but I had to believe he’d be back one day after all of this had blown over, but a small part of me was afraid for him. He was undercover in the turned army now. If they caught him, they’d be sending him back to me in a pile of ash.
On that day, I would rain a raging fire over their worthless bodies in such a way that would make Anastasia Bathory’s deeds look like child’s play. I hoped for the turned’s sake they never made such a careless mistake.
The first part of my plan would be another meeting with the Council. I’d fiddled with the alliance draft until it more suited my needs, while still achieving the overall goal. To pull this off meant making it look like I had to go to Europe to help negotiations. My stubbornness was well-known, and my position of authority meant if I said I wanted things a certain way, getting it done would be fairly simple. Since the Council was letting me spearhead it, I knew everything would fall into place. Eventually.
It took little effort to gather the Council together after a few days of planning. As this was an informal meeting, I had instructed Arthur to direct everyone towards the smaller drawing-room. By the time I arrived, everyone had found a seat or a place to stand. Castilla was perched on one of the antique sofas, so close to the edge that I was afraid she might slide off.
“Council members,” I said as I walked in. Sending everyone a respectful nod, I noticed Estinien standing in a corner of the small room with his arms crossed over his chest. I nodded to him as well.
Thaddeus sat in one of the armchairs, his hands propped up on an old cane. “Lisbeth, we eagerly await the purpose for this meeting. It is your right to call us together whenever you wish, as the leader of the oldest vampire Order.” His tone had more than a hint of annoyance, though I’d thought he was one of my allies. Had I interrupted his goddamn nap? He noticed my mood shift and smiled warmly at me. “Forgive my tone, dear one. Estinien has been very vocal these past few minutes before you arrived.”
“Flaunting her power all over the place. Disgraceful,” Estinien spat. “Othello would be ashamed to see his successor consorting with Lycans, sleeping with a werewolf, giving birth to a monstrosity, and now forcing us to attend meetings whenever the desire suits her just to flaunt her power. This is a disgrace to the Council, make no mistake.”
Bitch, say that again. I dare you.
Giving him the most venomous look I could muster, I opened my folder without breaking eye contact. “I’ve brought you here for the next phase of Lycan negotiations.” Estinien scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“The Council will be silent,” Castilla declared. “Lisbeth has the floor and our respect.” She glared at Estinien until he relaxed his stance and looked away. In that brief moment, I sensed something coming from her, but it disappeared before I could process it, and she turned back to me with a smile. “What are you proposing, Lisbeth?” Arthur handed her the papers and she flipped through them. “Diplomatic parties to each foreign Lycan pack. One vampire, four Lycans.”
Thaddeus motioned to be given the contract next. “That’s suicide,” he said as he scanned the words. “This is extremely dangerous. They wouldn’t attack a group of us, but Lycans could, and will, turn on one vulnerable vampire. And if their guardian Lycans don’t, the foreign packs will. This is suicide,” he repeated, sounding it out for me.
“This is war,” I told him firmly. “We don’t have options. This is the best way to negotiate with the foreign packs. I’ve thought out every detail. The vampires chosen as diplomats will be protected from their guardians, and from the packs overseas.”
“Not everyone has the luxury of being friends with the Lycans,” Estinien quipped. “There’s nothing that will keep our diplomats safe. Your blind trust will get more of us killed.”
It said something for my patience that he wasn’t writhing on the floor in pain.
I continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “There’s something we can do that will ensure absolute protection, but we need permission from the Lycans to get it.”
“Hostages?” someone asked hopefully.
“Not quite,” I answered with a smile. “It’s something the Alphas have, a bracelet that protects the wearer from harm.”
“What, does it have a magic spell?” Estinien said with another scoff.
“Better. A law in the Lycan culture. Whoever wears the bracelet will be protected, no matter who the human, or vampire, is. I had one when I was with the werewolf. It’s why he swore fealty to me.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t the reason,” Castilla said under her breath and my mouth curled at her in annoyance. Was everyone shipping us? For fuck’s sake, this wasn’t an episode of the Bachelor.
It took every ounce of effort for me to not roll my eyes. “There’s only one problem.”
“Beyond getting their permission to use these bracelets?” Thaddeus asked.
Knowing exactly how they
would react, I hesitated to explain, chewing on my lip to quell my anxiety. “They’re decorated with vampire teeth.”
The room erupted with outrage, which was what I’d expected from them. It took several minutes, and Arthur’s constant ordering of everyone to be quiet, before the room became silent again.
“I will not order my kinsmen to wear a bracelet with spoils of slaughter on it,” Estinien declared, his clenched fists pumping at his sides.
It wasn’t as if I couldn’t see the opposite side of this. I was asking them to pretend like it didn’t matter that the teeth on those bracelets belonged to our kind, vampires that were loved and missed by us. It didn’t matter that we had no idea who the teeth belonged to. They belonged to a vampire, and that was just as important as knowing the owners.
On the other side was Kitty, my precious girl, whose future depended on these negotiations. I swallowed any guilt over what I was about to say and felt my stomach churn in response. God help me.
“I...” The room spun slightly. I was low on blood again. Keep it together, Lisbeth. Kitty needs you. “I understand. I really do. This is too much to ask, believe me, I know. I could say that the Alphas here have only killed vampires from my domain, but the foreign Alphas will also have bracelets, with teeth from your brothers too.” I glanced at Castilla. She was always on my side, no matter what I did because she saw the wisdom in my choices. Instead of looking at me with an encouraging smile, she was staring at the carpet near my feet looking like she’d just licked a salty lemon. I tried someone else. “Thaddeus. How many Lycans have you killed?”
His fingers curled and uncurled around the hilt of his cane, and his mouth worked in thought. “Eighty-three.”
“Estinien.”
He looked like he was going to giggle before he answered. “Three hundred and twelve.” Damn, son. Someone needed a new hobby.
“Castilla.”
She finally glanced up from her study of the carpet, her eyes cloudy. “Two.”
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 37