The Immortal Greek

by Monica La Porta

  “You know this—” Samuel gestured at Alexander, encompassing him from head to toes. “This new look of yours is going to be in every gossip magazine by dawn.”

  Alexander passed his right hand through his hair, and let out a suffering sigh. “I know.” He crossed his legs at his ankles and lowered his palms behind him to the pavement. He raised his face heavenward and closed his eyes. The breeze of the night cooled his skin.

  “You don’t care a bit that your Mercedes was just impounded?” Samuel mimed Alexander’s stance and rolled his shoulders to shake his wings.

  “Nope.” He could only think of Ravenna. Given the ordeal she had gone through, she looked fine, but until he was with her again, he couldn’t relax. “How long does it take for the courtesy car to arrive?”

  Samuel yawned. “A matter of minutes.”

  The angel was right. The car arrived a few minutes later, but for Alexander the whole night seemed to pass in slow motion. When they reached the impound, they discovered the place was closed until the next morning, and even pulling strings couldn’t help free Alexander’s car. From there, the courtesy car drove them to Castel Sant’ Angelo, where Samuel reported to his superiors in person what he had already said on the phone.

  Alexander, who had been politely and quite formally asked to remain, had stayed silent the whole time Samuel recounted the events of the night. When it was clear he wasn’t free to go visit Ravenna at the hospital any time soon, he had been as angry at the Council as Marcus. The angel’s deposition took several hours in which he explained in detail anything that had happened since the first Immortal Death’s victim was found at Alexander’s house.

  Alexander was never asked to intervene, but somehow he knew he was acting as Samuel’s guarantor. Paranormals were racists at heart. The angel worked as a liaison between species, but he wasn’t an immortal, and the fact that he was also fallen put him in a delicate situation among the paranormal society. When Samuel had asked him to drive him back to the Immortal Council’s headquarters, he had accepted. He hadn’t been thrilled about it, but Ravenna was alive thanks to Samuel, and he owed him. So, he endured the waste of time, half listening to the angel’s droning dialogue and the useless questions his superiors threw at him as if he were the perpetrator.

  Meanwhile, the two thugs had been interrogated. Thoroughly. They had eventually confirmed what Alexander and Samuel had suspected. Alberto Giudici had planned to slip Immortal Death in the food being prepared for the gathering the following night. Some of the most radical fringes among the Vampire Nation felt Claudius had been greatly wronged by the decision of the Council to help Marcus one year before. So they had aligned with him. Once the poisoned food was served, the vampires would wait an hour or two, then carry out the death sentence to any of the immortals participating at the Gala. In his madness, the apothecary had taken on himself to wipe his own race from the planet. Very few of them would have survived.

  When Samuel was finally dismissed by his superiors, it was almost morning. Alexander hadn’t slept in a bed in the last two days, he had yet to shower and eat, and he was still wearing his torn and bloodied garments despite the fact he was carrying around the plastic bag with the new clothes the courtesy car driver had brought for him.

  “You better pull your act together before you go visit Ravenna.” Samuel walked him to the bathrooms before he could escape through the rear doors.

  Once before a mirror though, he had to admit Samuel was right. He looked way worse than he had imagined.

  “You should catch some sleep as well.” The angel had entered the bathroom with him and was washing his face with cold water.

  “Sleep can wait.” He opened his mangled shirt and threw it in the garbage bin, then unbuckled his belt, removed his pants and sent them the same way as the shirt. He leaned over one of the empty sinks and let the water run until it was cold, then tried to remove all the grime and blood left behind on his skin, but it proved difficult. Finally, he contented himself to look halfway decent. He waited a moment to let his skin dry, then donned the new shirt and pants.

  “Do you need a ride to the impound?” Samuel asked at the door.

  Alexander had forgotten he was without a car. “The impound can wait.”

  Samuel called in a favor and had another courtesy car pick them up down at the garage.

  “Where to?” The driver, a young immortal who had been turned in his twenties, opened the passenger door for them.

  “To the hospital, then to this address.” Samuel gave the young man Ravenna’s address where he had left his car.

  At the first red light, Alexander told them he could walk to the hospital from there. The paranormal hospital was on the Tiberina Island, a short walk from there and he could use the exercise to calm his nerves before visiting Ravenna. While waiting for Samuel to finish his deposition, he had made a decision, and he couldn’t wait to tell Ravenna, but at the same time, he was terrified to tell her.

  “Say hi to her for me.” As the car left, Samuel brought two fingers to his forehead and saluted him.

  Alexander started walking, but was soon jogging, and finally running the last few meters. He entered the hospital and went straight to the welcome desk. He must have looked a fright because the girl behind the mahogany table raised her eyes from the screen she was looking at and couldn’t repress a gasp.

  “I’m here for Ravenna Del Sarto.”

  “And you are…?” She gave him a double look, then her eyes lit in realization. “Mister Drako.”

  “Yes. Can you tell me where her room is? Please?”

  The girl seemed startled, but immediately smiled at him. “Third floor, room thirty-five.” She indicated where the elevators were with the point of a pen she was holding.

  Without thanking her, he darted toward the stairs.

  ****

  Ravenna had been resting when Alexander burst into her room. Nurses followed him, calling him back, but, much to their dismay, he closed the door in their faces. He hadn’t reached her bed when the door opened a second time and a peeved nurse in her mid-fifties peeked inside.

  “Miss Del Sarto, we apologize. We told him you weren’t to be disturbed, but he clearly wouldn’t listen.” She gave Alexander a venomous look he ignored.

  Alexander hadn’t stopped staring at Ravenna since the moment he had entered the room.

  Ravenna smiled at the woman. “It’s okay.”

  “We can call security—” The nurse looked from her to Alexander and back.

  Ravenna raised one hand. “Thank you for your concern, but it won’t be necessary. I asked Mister Drako to come.”

  The woman harrumphed, but closed the door, finally leaving them alone.

  “Are you okay?” She reached out her hand for him to take.

  “I am now.” He closed the gap and kneeled by the bed, then lowered his head on her hand, urging her to caress him. “Ravenna…” he purred.

  She leaned to kiss his forehead. “I love the way you say my name, without shortening, without creating a nickname out of it.”

  “I love your name. It’s so you. Strong. Sensual. Elegant. It makes me think of ravens flying in the sky.” He tilted his head and looked up at her.

  She felt a tingling, warm sensation starting from her stomach that spread through her body and reached her heart. She smiled down at him. “My father gave me my name. He told me once that when I was born my hair was so dark and my eyes so black he immediately had a vision of ravens storming into the room. He didn’t like the Italian name Corvina and thought to borrow from the English language to christen me. At my baptism, the priest wasn’t happy my parents had given me a name that didn’t have a saint in the calendar.” She laughed at the memory Alexander had evoked with his comment.

  “Ravenna…” He turned and kissed her palm.

  “Yes?” She lowered herself to his level.

  “I love you.” He kissed her lips.

  “And I love you.” She helped him on the bed. He arranged his body
along hers and she noticed he was shaking.

  He opened his mouth twice before he finally said, “I want to spend the rest of eternity with you.”

  She heard when he stopped breathing.

  He gently cupped her face. “Ravenna Del Sarto, would you do me the honor to be my companion?”

  Ravenna nodded, and whispered a choked “yes.”

  He exhaled and lowered his forehead to hers. “You just made me the happiest man in the whole world.”

  She backed up an inch to look him in the eyes. “You just made me the happiest woman alive.” She caressed his face. “Now, my love, you should really take a nap. You look… horrible.”

  He laughed and rolled on his back, one hand behind her head to lower her to his chest. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  She adjusted herself so that they would be both comfortable. “I’ll be here when you wake.”

  “Later.” Alexander’s eyes were already closing.

  “Later.” She caressed his chest in circular motions, listening to his breath slow until he was peacefully asleep. “My companion.” She liked the title. She loved this man in a way that defied rationality. For the first time in her life, she was happy with whatever decision another person would make for her. She instinctively trusted that Alexander would always act in her best interest. She didn’t need to be in a position of power with him. He murmured something she couldn’t understand, then smiled. She watched as his chest rose and fell, and she realized she wanted to protect this man and feel protected by him.

  Sometime in the middle of the morning, one of the nurses came to check on her before the doctor arrived for the daily visit. The younger nurse’s eyes had been on Alexander’s sleeping form since the moment she had entered the room. “Did you sleep well?” She finally looked at Ravenna and gave her a wink.

  Ravenna rested her palm on Alexander’s chest. “Like an angel.”

  The nurse sighed, then smiled. “The doctor will be here in a minute.”

  She straightened her back against the headboard, but was careful not to disturb Alexander who had been gently snoring for the better part of the morning. “When may I go home?”

  “Soon.” The nurse removed the breakfast tray Ravenna had nibbled at. “Feeling bored already?”

  “Yeah, a bit.”

  The nurse smiled again. “Would you care for something to read?”

  “Yes, please.” She had never realized how much she depended on her cell phone and all the apps she had installed on it until she had been without for more than an hour.

  The nurse left the room and reentered a moment later, carrying a stack of glossy publications. Ravenna thanked her and told her if she could please leave them on the nightstand. She wasn’t found of gossip magazines, but the doctor took more than the promised minute to arrive and Alexander didn’t look he would ever wake again, so deep was he in his slumber. She took the first magazine on top of the stack and distractedly leafed through its pages, but the doctor arrived before she could read the words accompanying a series of pictures that made her heart sink.

  ****

  Alexander opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight in the world. “Hello.” He had been dreaming of her and couldn’t wait to try in real life a few of the things they had done in his sleep.

  Ravenna raised one eyebrow. “We must talk.”

  Her tone dissipated the last of the happy images that had populated his dreams. “Already?”

  She raised the magazine she was looking at. “What is this?” She turned the magazine toward him and pointed at a picture.

  “I can explain that,” he said without looking at the magazine.

  “And that. And that.” She pointed at several different pages. “And that as well?” She closed the magazine and threw it on the bed. “You can explain all of it?”

  “If you let me talk, I can try.” He took her hand, but she didn’t let him. “Ravenna, I love you.” He gave the magazine’s cover a peek, and sighed. It was the Roman Chronicles. “Do we have to go pic after pic dissecting every word that lunatic is writing about me?”

  “That lunatic seems to know your tastes in women rather well.” Ravenna’s eyes were lit with barely suppressed fury, which he found endearing and sexy in her. “I won’t share you.”

  “I won’t share you either.” He cursed Lena Chiosi to the seven hells for being the cause of their quarrel. “What that journalist doesn’t seem to know is that I’m quite monogamous when I’m in a relationship.”

  “You were in a polyamorous relationship for a while. A threesome makes you monogamous how?” Ravenna took back the magazine and rolled it tight until her knuckles became white.

  “Two different things. You’re confused between polyamory and engaging in sex with two or more people at once.” He realized a word too late she wasn’t expecting a treatise about the various shades of sex. “Anyway, the polyamory experience happened several years ago. And, most importantly, we weren’t in love. We lived together for a while, but the novelty ran its course soon. I have had, up until very recently, threesomes and orgies though. They are fun. But, again, I’ve never been in love with any of the women I was with.”

  Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “No, I’m telling you the truth. I am loyal to a fault when I am in love with someone. Besides you, I only loved two other women.” He looked at her to gauge her reaction to his statement, but she had lowered her head and her hair hid her expression. He moved slightly away from her, then gently put a finger under her chin. “Do you want me to be honest with you?”

  After a moment, she nodded and raised her face.

  “I slept with women. I don’t know how many. I’ve been around for a long time and I really enjoy the feminine body in any form and shape. I’ve never been cruel to my lovers, and I always provided for them if they were in need. I cared for them, but I never loved them.” He took her hand, but this time didn’t let her decide and brought it to his heart. “I love you.”

  ****

  Despite his declaration, Ravenna was hurt and confused. She had known Alexander had a reputation, but hearing him confirm everything those magazines had written about him was hard to accept. She would have never wanted a man who lied to her, and in his case lying would have proved rather difficult. Yet, she felt physical pain at imagining him with other women. Then he had told her she wasn’t the only love of his life. Again, given his age, it was only natural he had fallen in love before.

  “Ravenna, why are we talking about those things that are of no consequence to us?” He caressed her hand, the one he had pressed over his galloping heart. “We should be celebrating our union instead. We should be making plans about our future life together.” He moved closer to her in the bed to kiss her.

  She let him because she couldn’t spend a minute longer being angry at him. His lips felt soft and warm on hers. Her heart skipped a beat when he pulled her to him. She couldn’t think when he was so close to her, but she still hurt.

  “I see that we aren’t done yet. What else has that wretched journalist written that has upset you so much?”

  Her eyes filled with tears and she lowered her head again because she didn’t want him to see her crying, and yet she couldn’t stop.

  He wiped her tears with soft strokes of his fingertips. “I can’t erase my past. But I can give you my future.”

  His voice was as soft as his touches, and her treacherous body leaned into his caresses lulled by his words.

  “I’m sorry I’m causing you pain.” He traced the line of her right ear and she shivered.

  Then she realized what was really upsetting her. At first, it had been the stupid magazine and the stupid pictures and articles about his adventures. Then when he had told her his side of the story, her anger had shifted and focused on a different matter altogether. “It’s not about the hundreds of women you slept with.” Not anymore.

  He stopped touching her, his eyes locked on hers, a sudden weariness visible
in the way his body tensed. “What is it?”

  “You said you loved two women before me.” She couldn’t stand the mere idea, but now that she had confessed it out loud, instead of lessening the pain had become sharper.

  His expression softened. “Do you want to know about them?”

  She shook her head, as a bout of nausea hit her. “No. Not really.”

  “I think you should know everything there is to know about Eloisa and Cherry. You’ll feel better.”

  Just the way he had pronounced their names, the affection she could hear in his voice made her regret having mentioned the topic in the first place. “No. I don’t think so.” She turned, unable to bear his eyes on her, undressing her feelings and leaving her heart naked before him when she was so vulnerable. “Please, let’s talk about something else. Anything else.”

  “No. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Now. Then we’ll talk about how much I want to make love to you.” Alexander put both his hands on her shoulders and gently pressed his fingers on her skin.

  A subtle gesture that immediately reminded her she was putty in his hands.

  “In the late seventeen hundreds, as many of the nobles of that time, I spent my days playing cards. Faro, a French gambling card game, was all the rage among the European upper society. I was quite skilled at that game. Eloisa was the daughter of an English earl who lost his entire fortune to me. I didn’t need the money and I was going to outlive him in any case, so I let him and his family use their former properties as if he had never lost them. Every summer, they left London to spend several months in Amalfi. Among all the real estate the earl had owned, the villa in Amalfi was the only one I was interested in. We came to vacation in the same period of the year, and, although I was in my house, I was introduced to the family as a good friend. I fell in love with Eloisa at first sight. I adored her—”

  “Stop, please. I can’t listen to this.” Ravenna pushed herself out of the bed and went to the window.

  Alexander followed her. Then he stood a step behind her for the briefest of moments, before closing the gap and taking her in his embrace, his arms circling her chest, his head nested between her shoulder and neck. He brushed the sensitive area behind her right ear. “It was the first love of a teenager. I had never felt anything like it and I thought she was the one. Despite being turned in my late twenties, and had already lived several hundred years by the time I met her, I had the emotional stability of a fifteen-year-old boy. She was an English rose, bred to enchant and please. She fell in love with me as childishly as I had, and we married in Amalfi at the end of that summer. Soon after our honeymoon in Paris, we came back to Amalfi, and I told her the truth about myself.