Aris Rising: The Court of Vampires: AN INFINITY DIARIES NOVEL

by Morgan, Devin

  Even in the dream she was shocked. She was ‘Sarah’ dressed much as she dressed to go to her office in current times, yet here she stood, in sixteenth century England as a trophy for the games. Her subconscious quieted and allowed the vision to continue.

  A loud fanfare sounded and two contenders entered the arena, both dressed in silver armor riding enormous white stallions. One of the mounts stood quietly waiting while the other pulled at the reins, stomping his feet and pawing the air.

  They both circled the arena, both stopping before the Queen to ask her blessing and her favor. Her blessing she granted to them. Her favor? It was handed to a maiden who tied it around Sarah’s throat. It was soft and pink and smelled like lavender flowers.

  “Show your faces,” demanded the Queen.

  Sarah lost her breath as the two knights removed their helmets. Aris and DeMarco revealed themselves. It seemed there was no rest from her confusion. Even in her dreams, it was a contest between the two, the man and the vampire.

  Another fanfare and the two riders replaced their helmets and rode to opposite sides of the arena. The Queen stood, dropping the gauntlet and the joust began. The giant mounts pounded toward one another carrying the tremendous weight of the men and their armor. There was a loud crash as one of the riders was dismounted and lay unmoving in the dirt. The victor disappeared from the scene as one can disappear only in a dream.

  When the horsemaster came to remove the helmet from the fallen knight, it was neither Aris nor DeMarco. She gasped as she saw Diego, her gypsy lover dead in the dirt.

  When she woke in the morning, her pillow was still wet with her tears of frustration and sorrow.

  CHAPTER 27

  The four companions sat in Sarah’s living room. Three Immortals and one human bonded in a way that had made them friends. They had just gathered and settled in for a quiet evening. Richard asked that they meet to share his last communication from the Catacombs.

  Aris rested his hand on Sarah’s shoulder as Richard began to speak. “I have good news from Sebastian. De Flores is in Spain. He is being watched by Immortals now. He has joined his coven once again. His whole subterfuge with us in the Catacombs seems to be for no fathomable reason at all. The only evidence we have of his even being in the U.S. are the roses on your pillow, Sarah, and that really isn’t positive.”

  “But Richard, no one knows what in the world he wanted of Sarah? Did anyone find the reason he took her name from the Infinity Diaries?” Gabriela was puzzled and it was apparent in the tone of her voice.

  “No, the Master Keeper was able to recreate her soul chart to complete the sequence for her, however, no one is any the wiser as to why it was taken in the first place.”

  Sarah trembled. Aris reached for the afghan lying over the arm of the sofa and covered her tenderly.

  “It appears he is finished here and she is perfectly safe. The Immortal spies report from Spain that no other coven members are missing. It seems they are now rallying around De Flores as their leader. He is the only one of them to have traveled so far or had such an adventure. They admire his courage and wit to have made such a journey so they have proclaimed him their first King. From what is reported, they are no more developed than they were when Gabriela and I made our escape so many centuries ago. They have had no government and no leader until now.”

  It was Gabriela’s turn to shiver. “They were murderers then and are still in spite of government, King and all.” Richard reached to take her hand.

  “Butchers.” She interlaced her fingers with those of her mate.

  “Richard?” Sarah questioned her friend. “What makes the Spanish vampires so different than those of the Catacombs? Aren’t you all blood drinkers?”

  “Yes, Sarah, both covens drink blood and we all are able to live as human or vampire. It is there the similarities end. The Immortals of the Catacombs are refined. We were made by Queen Akira and have her pure venom in our veins. Those of us who make others pass on that purity. We of the Catacombs are intellectuals. The Spanish coven came to being when an ancient, evil enchantress discovered the powers of the Immortals. She searched until she found a young changling who she wooed until he loved her. She convinced him to change her. She came into everlasting life a wicked and cruel witch. She used her Immortal powers to create a species of evil blood drinkers who are without conscience. They kill for the blood lust, not to survive. They find pleasure in the fear and pain of their victims.

  “They have never been able to touch us. They are fearful of the Immortals and we most assuredly will never go to Spain.” He stood as if to shake off the heavy feeling their conversation about the Spanish vampires had left them all experiencing. “Come, my friends, let us walk in the early spring air. It will refresh us and cleanse the vile taste of those monsters from our mouths.”

  “Excellent idea.” Aris rose, reaching into the closet to find his jacket and Sarah’s trench coat. As he helped her into it, she finally accepted the grave danger to which she had been exposed and the commitment of the Immortals to protect her. In the world she was discovering, it seemed to her it might not be such a bad idea to be invincible.

  CHAPTER 28

  “I can’t believe you guys actually did this.” Colleen held back tears of happiness as her friends led her into the large private room in the back of The Bistro. It was decorated with everything baby. Pink and blue crepe paper hung everywhere and pink and blue balloons were suspended from what appeared to be every inch of the ceiling. The couple was still in the dark about the sex of their unborn child so Bonnie and Sarah made sure both sexes were equally represented.

  Tables were set; gifts were piled on a large sofa near the door. Women of every age, shape and size filled the chairs and applauded when she entered. Both the parole board and the police station were duly represented. Not one invitation sent was refused. Colleen and Bob were both loved by their co-workers and they all shared the couple’s joy over this pregnancy.

  “You can’t have a baby without a shower.” Sarah kissed her best friend on the cheek as she showed her to the place of honor in the center of the front table. Maggie waited for them to be settled before she stood, tapping loudly on a water glass to get everyone’s attention.

  “Good afternoon ladies. Thank you all for coming today to welcome little Bob Junior or Collette into the world. The order of the day is lunch, massive quantities of blue and pink cake and the opening of the gifts surrounded by the sipping of wine with lots of laughter throughout. And now, bon appetit.”

  The waiters brought in the plates as happy chatter filled the room.

  CHAPTER 29

  Aris and Sarah sat on her little balcony, silently watching the early spring twilight as it changed from dusk to dark. It still wasn’t quite warm enough to sit outside in shirt sleeves so he wore a jacket and she was wrapped in a blanket. She sipped a warm cup of tea as the stars began to make themselves known in the darkening sky. Her decision to tell Aris about DeMarco plagued her and her heart pounded in her chest.

  “There never will be a good time so now might as well be it,” she thought.

  “Aris?”

  “Your voice sounds very serious, Sarah. What is it?”

  She stammered as she answered. “I don’t quite know how to say this or if I even need to say it.” Unsure as how to continue she paused, hoping he would speak to ease the discomfort of the moment.

  His only reply was a single word, “Yes?”

  She was reminded of DeMarco when she told him about Aris and she remembered DeMarco’s single word reply. It had been the same. She wondered if it was a universal male-thing to not help the female at all when in the midst of what could become a strained conversation. Continuing on, her sentences were short, clipped and to the point. “I’ve met a new friend and I’ve been seeing him for some time now. He told me he wants to be more than friends and I feel an attraction to him that I can’t explain. We haven’t taken the next step and I don’t know if we will or not. I don’t know why I eve
n feel like I need to tell you, but I do.” She realized her words sounded as if they were spoken by a computer generated voice at the end of a phone line. She leaned toward him, taking his hands in hers. “I guess it’s because you’re one of my dearest friends and it feels dishonest to have someone in my life that you don’t know about.”

  Staring into her eyes his voice was soft, controlled, as he spoke. “I have known about him for some time.” He leaned her back in her chair and released her hands.

  A look of astonishment covered her face. “But, you never mentioned it.”

  “No, I never did.” His face turned to stone, his voice a monotone. It took all of his Immortal power to control his jealous rage. He felt no competition from the outsider as long as Sarah didn’t speak of him; he was just a new colleague. The fact that she had been driven to tell him was the first sign this man was an opponent. He longed to roar from his soul, to break things. To hold her. To take her in his arms, to make her his own. Visions of ripping his rival to shreds filled his frantic mind. “I never did mention it.” With Immortal self-control, he held himself back. He could not influence her decision to become like him, to become a blood drinker. “It must be her choice and hers alone.”

  He leaned toward her, holding her hands again as he spoke out loud. “Those who are in your life are none of my affair. Sarah, any time I spend with you is a treasure. As long as you are safe, what you do when I am not with you is your business and yours alone.”

  “Aris, I. . .”

  “No, no more conversation about my rival. You have no reason to feel guilty.” He laughed to lighten the moment. “I would say let the best man win, however, that would put me out of the running, would it not?”

  A tentative smile crossed her lips.

  “I told you long ago, I am prepared to wait. That has not changed at all.” He spoke calmly while inside the venom in his veins boiled. He fought silently to hold the beast within him at bay. If he followed his instinct, he would crush her to him. He would devour her. He would change her. He would create his mate and there would be no other rival. With great effort, his alien side claimed power over him. The philosopher created by his centuries of existence quieted the human monster of jealousy. He calmed, acknowledging, once again, the choice must be hers.

  A sense of relief flooded her at his response to her statement. She had anticipated more of an argument, yet here he was, a vampire and a gentleman.

  He paused a moment before he spoke again and when he did, she noticed a great change in his demeanor. “Apart from all of that, I, too, have news.”

  Sarah leaned more closely toward him.

  “What news, Aris?”

  He hoped she would understand his reason for telling her about his talk with Richard. It was two-fold, partially because he shared just about everything with her and partially so she would feel free to see whomever she wished to see without it driving him mad. If he wasn’t there to watch, he could ignore the fact there was someone else in her life. She needed to choose him, Aris, of her own accord.

  “Richard spoke to me today about Sebastian.”

  “Yes?”

  “Of course, Sebastian had to be told the whole story of the intruder and in the telling, he came to find out I am alive and incarnate.”

  Sarah’s heart began to race.

  “Yes?”

  “Well, they both seem to think it might be a sound idea for me to return to the Catacombs to beg forgiveness. Sebastian believes it will be given and I will be welcomed back. He worries about the Spanish coven and knows I am the only Immortal with experience as a warrior. Information from our spies has led him to believe a conflict is coming and he wants me to return to lead the campaign. He told Richard Akira has longed for my company these past centuries. She cares for all her children, but I was one of her special ones. Richard agrees with Sebastian.” He grew silent as the sky darkened and more stars became visible.

  “Sarah, there is a longing for my own kind. Being here with Richard and Gabriela has made me see that. I know I am able to live in a human world and I find your time fascinating. Yet each day I crave the company of the Immortals, of the creator of my kind. Can you understand that?”

  She understood his need to be with his family. Even before she told him about DeMarco, she wondered how long it would take before he wanted to go back to London once Richard and Gabriela were in his life again. She more than understood. Imagining what it would be like to be separated from her family, her friends, was something that caused her a great deal of pain. But to lose him? What would become of their relationship if he left? Would he survive the inquiries of the High Council? And how would DeMarco fit into the equation if Aris was gone?

  At last, she answered his question. “Of course I understand.”

  “I have made no decisions. There is no certainty they will allow me to continue and I am without desire to end my existence now that I have found you. Yet I am sure my love for you will be one saving grace in my plea. That and the additional fact they need a warrior in the face of a possible war with the Spanish coven. I am the only one of the Catacombs who has ever been at war. They will need my experience and leadership.” He paused a moment before he continued. “However, if you wish me not to go, all you need do is to say it.”

  It distressed him to tell her he might leave. He hoped she would ask him to stay. He wished she would tell him no human could mean as much to her as he did. He waited for her reply.

  She sat without speaking as the silence surrounded them, deep as the space that held the now twinkling stars above them. In spite of her sense of losing something much greater than herself, when she finally spoke it was from her heart. “I understand, Aris. I honestly do. Maybe it will be good for us to be apart for a while.” She choked back the tears that fought to spring from her eyes. “I will miss you dearly.”

  “Sarah, I will not leave here until Sebastian has had a private conversation with Akira. He feels he will be able to convince her without giving away too much about my present life. When we are greatly assured of an acquittal, I will travel to London. While I am gone, if I do go, you will be able to live your human life without my intrusion.” Stepping aside for a while would give Sarah complete freedom to spend time with the human without guilt. As desperately as he desired her, he didn’t want to use his Immortal influence to manipulate her.

  “Aris, I’ve never thought of you as an intrusion.”

  “Those were the words you used when you thought I was the one to leave roses on your pillow.”

  “You must believe me, you are a welcome part of my life, someone I will dearly miss if you are to leave. But I do understand your need and I respect you for your courage to embrace it. Of course, I want you to do as you feel you must. Just know I will miss you and wait for your return.” She said no more but her mind kept going back to that century so long ago when, in her regression, he left her to go to the Catacombs. It ended in misery and death, but that was a different time and a different life. “I won’t think about that right now,” she thought. She rose as she spoke, “Let’s go inside. I’m getting cold.”

  Gathering the blanket close around her to shield herself from the chill she went inside, then slid the door silently closed.

  #

  She shut her journal for the night, placing it and her pen in the night stand drawer. Her thoughts had been pushing her from one hemisphere to another, one century to another all evening. Journaling hadn’t been much better. Her session with Bonnie clouded her every thought. Suicide? If she committed suicide then, how would she get on without Aris now? He meant so much to her. Never had she felt more safe, more protected than she did with him. That was one fact she was sure of. She would feel empty without him if he left for the Catacombs. Another fact. She didn’t want to influence his decision, it must be his own. He said he would stay with her, to be only her friend, if she just asked him but in her heart, she knew he needed his own kind just as she would need hers if she were to go to the Catacombs.
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  Go to the Catacombs? Not probable, hardly even within the realm of possibility. However, the Immortals didn’t bite humans any more. That was a fact. Her existence had been so simple, so easy. Then Carlos walked into it and brought Aris with him. It had been upside down ever since. Would she change it? Not on her life.

  And woven through and around her thoughts of the vampire was an unquestionable desire for the human male who had come into her life.

  Her thoughts raced on until they were silenced by the dark cloak of sleep.

  #

  Her dream self was Elizabeth Wyatt and her dream time was sixteenth century England. Gazing at the tapestry on the wall of the chamber, she knew where she was at once. Candle sconces held glimmering lights that shined and shimmered on the silk threads depicting the hunt. Heavy, deep green bed curtains hung on the four huge posters, one at each corner of the down mattress. It was his chamber. Her beloved. Her Aris.

  Standing nude in front of the tall, narrow window, the moon slicing through the dark sky and the stars, his back was turned toward her. His golden hair shimmered as a sharp wind cut under the glass causing the candle flames to gutter, then revive.

  She rose from the bed, her chemise soft against her skin as she lifted it over her head. Quietly she crossed the room. Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed her warm full breasts against his back. He shivered. His desire rose as he felt their softness brush his hard muscles. Turning, he carried her back to the bed.

  He laid her in the pool of satin made by her long blond hair. Lifting one thick curl, using it like a paint brush, he began to trace the contours of her body. He outlined the mound-like shape of each white breast; he traced the deeper pink full moon in each center. Lowering his head, his tongue traced soft trails behind the curl. She gasped as he took her sweet nipple between his lips. It grew hard as if to greet him and entreat him to continue.