From where the limousine had stopped, we hiked the narrow path up the mountain. The sun peeked through the clouds for brief moments, casting a muted light across the valleys and mountain peaks. This was the first time I’d been in the mountains. The crisp air, the mighty gusts rolling through, and the towering cliffs cleared all the chaos inside my head and drowsiness from my body. I stopped to enjoy nature’s stunning show, but Traian hurried me inside a small rock opening. A few feet past the entrance stood a man, a strigoi, with a massive gun-like machine in his hand. He set it down and bowed deeply to Traian.
“Cornell.” Traian embraced the man. “I have missed you, brother.”
“And I you,” the man replied.
Cornell turned toward me, his eyes wide. “This is her?”
Traian nodded. “Yes.”
Do I see a hint of sadness in his eyes?
Cornell stepped up to me and extended his hand. Reluctantly, I took it. He gave me a firm shake.
“Welcome, Everly. I am Cornell, and I am at your service.”
“Thank you.” I bowed slightly.
“We must keep moving.” Traian took my hand and pulled me deeper into the mountain just as a solid rock rolled across the entrance, sending us into darkness.
We walked through a labyrinth of tunnels. Every few turns, we’d come up to a dead end. Cornell would wave his hand to the side, and a keypad would appear. He’d enter a code, and the rock would slide out of our way, revealing another tunnel.
Eventually we came to a large cavern. Cornell continued through the massive room, going to the right, and disappeared through a passageway.
I gasped at the size of the room…A commercial-sized jet could easily fit inside. The area was divided into different sections, and in the middle, couches and easy chairs were arranged to form an amphitheater. At the center, a roaring fire blazed, giving the space warmth. To the right stood four long tables and chairs. The swinging doors next to the farthest table revealed a kitchen. I could smell the human man inside, working a large clump of dough. His blood raced through his body from the exertion.
I swallowed hard and turned to the left, looking for something to distract me. On the opposite side of the dining area, an arena filled up the rest of the space. Weapons lined the walls, many appearing to be different forms of medieval armaments. At the center of this area, splatters of blood and other fluids had stained the stone floor over the years. My eyes noticed the conch shell embedded in the wall furthest from us.
“This is our training area,” Traian said. “Here, we learn to fight different creatures so we can survive. The center is our main meeting space. Over here is the dining area, and behind that curtain is the kitchen. This room is our common area.”
He just had to draw my attention back to the kitchen. The burn in my throat escalated so quickly, I had to clamp a hand over my mouth.
Traian realized my pain and turned me away from the kitchen, toward an opening at the far end of the cave. “Through there is our quarters… our personal rooms.” He pushed me along.
The tunnel was large enough to fit an elephant or some other massive animal. Right before we stepped through, I turned my head and gazed up.
“What's up there?” I covered my mouth again.
“An old entrance into this cave.”
I was about to ask more questions, when I noticed several people were gathering inside the big common room.
A woman stepped forward. “Taking her away so soon?”
Her brown hair fell over her shoulders in loose ringlets that bounced as if she had walked off the set of a shampoo commercial. Black leather pants and a matching top highlighted her slim body with the right amount of curvy frame. A sheathed blade hung on her belt, and a gun was holstered on the other side. Her red eyes focused on me for a moment before she threw herself into Traian's arms.
He embraced her with as much warmth as he had Cornell.
The woman pulled back and placed both her hands on Traian's face. “Sire, I thought we had lost you. Welcome back.”
Traian bent his head and kissed her cheek. “It is good to see you, Rodica.”
A pang of jealousy lashed through my body. Who is this woman? Why is she so familiar with my man? And why am I so jealous? He’s the one who’s been giving me the cold shoulder.
Rodica turned toward me and smiled. “Let me see what all the fuss is about.”
Her hand was an inch away from my chin, when Traian let out a low growl.
Her face got serious, and she shrugged. “Come on, Traian, I was just joking.”
“This woman is under my personal protection. You will show her the same respect you show me.” He squared his shoulders and made eye contact with all his subjects present. “That applies to all of you.”
“Does that mean you have claimed her as a mate?” Rodica asked.
Traian nodded. The warmth he’d shown her earlier had vanished and been replaced with coolness.
She eyed me reluctantly. “Yet you have not bedded her?”
I could feel the anger boiling right under my skin.
“I’m standing right here,” I said through gritted teeth.
Traian grabbed Rodica by her throat and lifted her a full two feet off the ground. “My bedroom activities are none of your concern. But know this: Everly has as much authority in this place as I do. If you cannot follow these orders, you must leave now.” He set her back down on the ground.
Rodica rubbed her neck. “Geez, being in hiding for twenty years has made you a bit testy. You don’t have to question my allegiance to you.” She glanced over to me. “In the five hundred years we’ve been together, I’ve never once disobeyed you, Sire.”
She walked away, her chin up and shoulders back. As she left, two men came in, carrying the box that contained my coffin and cemetery dirt.
“Where do you want us to place this?” one of them asked.
Another faint trace of human scent wafted under my nose. This one came from behind me. I sensed the girl down the wide tunnel to the left, at the far end, inside a large room. She had a wet rag in one hand and a bucket of dirty, soapy water in the other. And she was headed our way. My nostrils flared as I moved into a crouch, ready to pounce on the approaching prey.
“You’re hungry.” Traian placed a hand on my shoulders. “Let’s go into the kitchen and get you some blood before you accidentally kill my warm-blooded staff.”
He led me to the kitchen through a small opening in the wall by the dining tables. Everything had a military, industrial feel, with all the stainless-steel counters, appliances, and shelves. The man that had been there earlier was gone, but I could still smell him. Traian opened a huge cooler full of pouches of blood.
“Whenever you get hungry, come here and help yourself. The blood needs to be warmed, or your body will refuse the nutrition.” He pointed to the rectangular appliance sitting on the counter across from the fridge. “That’s a microwave right there. Pop the bag in, close the door, and push this button here. In thirty seconds, it will be ready.”
“I know how to operate a microwave, Traian.”
“I wanted you to know exactly how long to heat it. If you push any other button, the bag may explode, and that would mean wasted blood.”
When the microwave beeped, Traian poured the crimson fluid into a white mug that humans would normally use to hold coffee. I tipped the cup back and drained the warm liquid in one gulp. The effects were nearly instant. The burning in my throat subsided, and I didn’t feel compelled to chase down every human in the caves and chomp on their neck.
Traian took the mug from my hand, rinsed it, and placed it in the dishwasher. Next, he took me to a different part of the cave. Many tunnels branched from the main cavern. The passageway next to the kitchen led to a room filled with screens, four desks, and metal cabinets lining the walls. Cornell sat behind a huge monitor that displayed camera feeds from both inside the cave and outside. I could see a snowstorm raged over the mountains from one of the screens.
“This is our command center. Here we have our security system and weapons, ready to go in case of an emergency.” Three other men sitting behind monitors nodded at Traian and me.
Cornell stood up, holding a tablet. “I need to scan her hand.”
Traian motioned for me to place my palm at the center of the green-lit screen. When Cornell was satisfied with the result, we left the room.
Down through the cave passages we walked. Traian showed me all the different rooms for the coven members. The humans had their own hallway.
The Carpatian Coven had five members: Rodica, Cornell, Marius, Odeta, and Nicolai. There were ten strigoi and five human servants that served as security and maintenance staff. All were well cared for. The rooms were comfortably furnished, with inviting furniture, amenities, and state-of-the-art entertainment systems.
After he showed me their rooms, we came back into the main cavern and went through the large tunnel Traian had tried to take me through before Rodica had stopped us. It opened into a beautiful room where a crystalline lake extended out like a gleaming mirror, half the size of a football field. On the left side of the shore, I noted a door. Traian pulled me in that direction. Next to the entrance stood a hand scanner.
“Place your hand here, please.”
I did as he asked. A green light lit the screen, the device beeped, and the door unlatched. Traian and I stepped into a large room.
I glanced at the stark furniture. A massive fourposter bed was at one end, and a wardrobe on the opposite side of the room. Next to the wardrobe, stood a desk in the far-left corner, and a stool and cello. To the right, there was another door.
Traian led me through there, into a smaller room where my casket sat on a huge pile of dirt. Next to the door stood a solid wood armoire.
“This is your room,” he said. “You must live next to me, so I can keep track of your progression into immortality.”
“Progression into immortality? I thought I was already immortal.”
“My love, you have a way to go before achieving immortality.” Traian took my hand. “Yes, you are not dead right now, but you could easily be killed with a stake through the heart or a knife through your neck. Detaching your head wouldn't take much.”
“What about you? Can you be killed?”
“Same with you. But to be fatal, they would have to dismember my body and burn it, in addition to a plain stake through the heart. If they only detach my head, my body will continue to fight until I find my head and reattach it.”
I burst out laughing at the image of his decapitated body fumbling around, looking for its head. How monster family-ish. I moved to be next to my casket and grabbed a pile of dirt, only to let it fall between my fingers. “How does this work? What are you supposed to do with this stuff?”
“We arrange the soil around your coffin to simulate the grave you were buried in. The soil must touch the casket, but it doesn't have to cover the top. Nutrients from the soil will permeate through the sides of your coffin and into your body every time you sleep, helping you regenerate.”
A wave of lethargy washed over me. “When will this sleepy thing go away?”
“Your body is adjusting to its new systems and the new time zone. It will take years, but eventually, you won’t need but a few hours to regenerate. As you get older, and once you’ve survived these initial years, you will require less and less sleep.” He pulled open the top of the coffin. “You need to rest. Take a nap. We’ll talk more later.”
A commotion coming from the main area of the cavern caught our attention. Traian pushed me behind him as a man popped around the corner.
Chapter 5
Cornell, Rodica, and a few other coven members came running behind Padrick, guns drawn and crossbows pointed at his vital body parts.
Padrick smiled and held his hands up. In one hand, he had a small crate. “I have a delivery for the miss and I think she needs this.”
I pushed around Traian and ran to Padrick. He unlatched the crate door as I reached him. Storm jumped out of the cage, onto my shoulder, and rubbed her little head against my cheek.
“My baby,” I murmured, cuddling her body with my hands. “I missed you so much.”
Storm broke into a rumble of purrs.
Everyone except for Padrick and Traian froze, staring at the cat as if they hadn’t seen a feline before. I ignored them and turned to the elf.
“Thank you.” I reached one arm up and over his shoulder to draw him into a hug. “This is the best gift you could ever have given me.”
Padrick returned the half embrace one-armed. “My pleasure. You two belong together.”
I pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. “How did you get her to come with you?”
“Magic.” He winked.
“That’s enough. Everly needs her sleep,” Traian interrupted, coming to stand by me.
I stepped back, my eyes heavy. “Whoa.” The room seemed to tilt to the right.
Both Traian’s and Padrick’s arms shot up to stabilize my body.
“Stop touching my mate,” Traian growled.
Padrick tightened his hold of my waist. “Has she chosen you yet?”
What the heck is he doing?
“Guys! I’m standing right here.” I pushed away from them. “And I need to go to bed.”
“Everyone, back to your stations,” Traian commanded. “And you.” He turned to Padrick. “Wait for me in my office. We have much to discuss.”
Office? Traian never showed me his office on the grand tour.
Everyone left promptly except for Traian. He came to stand toe-to-toe with me, his hand scratching the top of Storm’s head.
“Go to sleep, Everly. Your body needs it.” His free hand cupped my chin, tipping my head back enough to place his lips on mine.
I could feel the familiar buzzing starting in my hands and traveling up my arms. But the moment he ended the caress, my body settled down. I really needed to sleep, but I had to know one thing.
“What does this ‘mate’ nonsense mean?” I asked.
Storm leapt onto Traian’s shoulder as he spoke. “Long ago, I mated with a woman. An elf.”
“Evelina.”
He nodded. “When elves mate, they do so for life.”
“But she died.”
“Yes.”
“So you chose another mate?”
The same sadness I’d seen earlier flashed through his eyes. “Yes, then I met Eva.”
“And you’re still in love with her?”
Traian’s face morphed into a scowl. “Is that what you think?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve only been in love with her longer than I’ve been alive.”
I scanned the room, searching for a place to sit, because my body felt like lead. The only place was the edge of my coffin. I was going to have to work on decorating my room.
“Yes, but you are the one and only now.”
“Am I now…” I sat on the edge of the satin-lined box. “What does Padrick mean, I need to choose you?”
“Same as you would choose the human you want to marry and spend the rest of your life with, except in the strigoi world, life can last for thousands of years, so you must choose well.”
“Are you hoping I choose you?”
Of course, everything inside me had already picked him, but I didn’t need to let him know that just yet. Jeez, what is wrong with me? I hoped that this back and forth of my emotions was just a part of my body adjusting to being dead. Or undead. Whatever.
Traian came over and sat down next to me and took my hand. “Yes, but we have more important things to figure out right now. You and I have plenty of time. There is no reason to rush.”
Storm jumped back to my shoulder.
I wanted to discuss this further, but my body had other plans for me. “Okay, well, I need to sleep.” I yawned.
“That you do.” Traian kissed my forehead. “I’ll see you in a few hours, my love.” He stood and left, leaving me to my thou
ghts.
With Storm in my arms, the world felt right again. Sort of. At least we were back together. She was the one connection to my human life. Storm had chosen me when I still breathed, when my heart still beat. I set her inside the plush padding of my coffin and laid down. She curled up next to my face and purred. I closed my eyes.
As I drifted to sleep, I thought of my mother and Stella. What I wouldn’t give to have them show up at my apartment for an impromptu dinner. Or have my mother fussing over my medical appointments and meals…and I would give my left arm just to hug Mindy one more time. But at least I had Storm. With half-open eyes, I took my grandmother’s cross off and hooked it to Storm’s collar.
I don’t know why I did that, but it felt right.
I woke up not knowing how long I had slept. There were eerie lights inside my cave room and Traian appeared by my side the next moment. Storm jumped onto his shoulder and purred.
“Little princess.” Traian scratched behind her ears.
I sat up and looked at the ceiling of the cave. “What are those?” I pointed to the little lights above.
Traian followed my gaze. “Those are fire rocks. They get charged with light and then release that energy during certain periods of time. They provide a nice ambience, no?”
“They look like red stars.”
“That they do.”
My stomach growled loudly.
Traian chuckled. “Let's get you some food.” And by food he meant blood.
He gave me privacy to change and waited for me out by the lake. A black skirt and red corset hung on the outside of the armoire, which I slipped into within seconds. As I followed him out to the common area, questions poured out of me like a river.
“How long do I have to survive on blood? And how much blood should I be drinking a day? When can I start eating like you? Also, how long did I sleep?” And I stopped myself there.
Traian opened a can of cat food for Storm. She jumped onto the counter and ate with such gusto that I felt bad she hadn't been offered food before she climbed into the coffin with me.
“Your body will adjust eventually, but right now, you need to drink as much blood as possible to keep from disintegrating.” Traian responded. “And you slept four and a half hours.”
The Witch's Chalice Page 3