He leans into me and inhales deeply, his face coming close to my neck. "My blood has changed your scent, but before, when you were bleeding out… let's just say the last human girl I met who smelled this delicious turned out to be more than human. You don't smell like her, but you smell… different."
I scoot away from him, though the feel of his body so close to mine sends shivers through my spine. Traitorous body. "Why do I feel so different? What did your blood to do me?"
He frowns. "It shouldn't have done anything to you, other than heal you. Vampire blood doesn't give powers or change people. It can heal mortal wounds. That's it. Why? What are you feeling?"
Again he looks suspicious, and I know I need to change the subject. I check my body to see how it's doing. There's a bloody shirt wrapped around my arm where the stone wall sunk its teeth into me. I pull it off carefully, expecting to see open wounds, but the skin is completely healed. Only fading scars remain.
"Those should mostly heal, with time," he says.
I just nod as I look down at my abdomen, where a knife was recently jutting out of me. Traitorous Trevor. But my stomach is smooth once more, save another fading scar.
"That's… " I don't have words. But I do have a question. "Why?" I ask, my eyes full of accusations. "Why did you save me? What do you want?"
Before you judge me too harshly for being ungrateful and for not falling into the arms of the sexy vampire, let me first say, I get it, okay? I get that there's a whole new fad of loving vampires. Of wanting to be them or be with them at least. I know there are gaggles of girls—and women—everywhere who would kill to be in my position right now.
But they didn't see their parent's lifeless bodies mere moments after a vampire drained them.
They didn't see the cold, dead look in that vampire's eyes as it walked away covered in their parent's blood.
They don't know what it's like to wake up with nightmares about having the blood sucked out of your body while you scream, but no one can hear you.
And now I have a vampire's blood flowing through me. Now, I am indebted to the kind of creature that ruined my life.
And it's changed me. I can feel it. Maybe it's not supposed to. But maybe because I'm something more than human it woke something up inside me, and I'm terrified by that. And angry. And suspicious. Wouldn't you be? Keep in mind my partner and former lover did just stab me in the gut and leave me for dead. Can you blame me for being on my guard?
Dr. Vane grins and stands, offering me a hand to join him.
I refuse his assistance, but I do stand. Slowly. Cautiously. I expect to feel weak, tired, in pain… but instead I am filled with energy and mental clarity. I smile at the sensation, taking a brief moment from the madness to offer a quiet thanks to whatever gods may be that I am still alive.
Glancing at the sexy archaeologist standing in front of me, my smile and gratitude fade. I'm alive, but at what cost?
"I'm still waiting for my answer," I remind him. "What do you want from me?"
"Come this way Dr. Stone, and I will show you."
My night vision is sharpened and my myopic focus expands to take in my surroundings for the first time since consciousness returned.
I expected to find myself in the desert. Somewhere outside of Azekah in Israel, to be exact. But what I see is… well, it's nearly indescribable.
I'm standing in the center of a mighty grove of trees, thick branches swaying in a warm breeze that smells of forest with a hint of floral notes. We seem to be situated around the largest tree, and without thought I reach out to lay my palm on its bark, closing my eyes. As I do, I can feel the roots of the tree digging deep into the soil, the tips of the branches reaching for the sky, extending towards the stars, and I hear its heartbeat. That's the best way I can describe it. The pulse that gives it life. That pumps life into the world around it. And like a very old woman opening her eyes slowly, the tree wakes and looks at me. No, not at me, into me. And I feel it communicating with me. Not with words, exactly, but with some kind of emotional language that far outdates the limitation of words. But I understand the message.
I open my eyes, tears filling them, spilling onto my cheeks, though I barely notice and care even less.
"She's scared," I say. "They're all scared. Why?"
Dr. Vane raises an eyebrow at me. "How do you know that?"
"She told me," I say, my mind still in a haze. I see the grove with fresh eyes now. I see the invisible connections between the roots and the plants and the animals that scurry about, as if the underlying pattern of the world has just become clear. Its transposed itself over reality, in lines and swirls of glowing blue.
I blink, and it disappears, but somehow I know I can bring it back again. That a new part of my gift has been awakened.
By him, I realize, staring at the vampire before me. "Where are we?" I ask, with less anger than I would have had a few moments ago.
"We are in my world," Dr. Vane says. "Inferna. I brought you here because I feared I could not save you in the desert. This grove has its own magic, an ancient magic that goes back to the time before our kind ruled here. I felt you needed to be here in order to survive. It wasn't just my blood you drank," he says, cocking his head. "It was mixed with the sap from this tree. The Mother Tree. She saved you."
My eyes water again as those feelings of connecting with her wash over me. "She has been through great pain," I say. "Many years ago."
He nods. "There was an accident. A misuse of power. This grove was nearly destroyed. But her roots run deep and through time and the power of the Earth Druid, we were able to bring her back to full power."
"But now she's in danger," I say. It's not a question, though I don't know why. She doesn't know why.
"Yes," he says. "And I think your employer is behind that danger." His voice tightens in disapproval.
I spin on him. "If you're talking about Global Tech, they aren't my employer."
"But they did pay you to find Nirandel's Star, did they not?"
"To find what?"
He sighs, clearly exasperated. "The artifact you were after. They sponsored the dig, yes?"
"Yes, but I was using them. I was never going to give it to them. Unfortunately, that was also my partner's plan. He betrayed me at the last moment, leaving me for dead."
"I figured something along those lines when you turned up with a knife in the gut," he says.
I wince at the memory of that moment. Of the pain, but also, the betrayal.
"What do you know about Global Tech? About their plans?"
"Come," he says. "Let's go inside. You might want a bath and some food. There is much to discuss. It's a pity you lost the piece you had. That's a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands."
My mind snaps back, pulling out of the haze the Mother Tree put me in, as his words sink in and take hold and the truth of what he's said hits me hard. "Wait. Hold up. You're talking about this place like it isn't part of earth. Like it's a different world entirely."
He grins, winking at me as if this was a bar and not… well, whatever it actually is. "Did you really believe earth was the only inhabitable world? There's a lot you don't know about the universe, Doctor. And Earth isn't the only game in town."
He's walking at a brisk pace, and I have no choice but to keep up or be left alone in the grove, not that I would mind. But my breath hitches when we move out of the trees and onto a cobbled, moss-covered path that leads to… "Is that a castle?"
He nods, clear pride glowing on his face. "Welcome to my realm," he says. "One of seven in Inferna." He gestures to the towering castle before us. "And that is the Pleasure Palace."
"The Pleasure Palace? Are you for real? That's the best you could do?" Corny name aside, it's extraordinary. Made of what looks like quartz crystal with hues of peach and pale pink, with rounded towers at each of the four corners It glistens under the bright gaze of the moon—correction, moons! I look up and am astonished to see two moons hanging heavy in the clear sky.
&
nbsp; "We really are on another world," I whisper, all doubt erased even as my mind boggles at it all.
"Is it really so hard to believe?" Dr. Vane asks. "You clearly know about the paranormal on your world, so you already have a more open mind than most people—especially in the sciences. Don't you think it's the height of hubris to believe you're the only world, the only people, in the entire galaxy of existence? Doesn't that belief seem more absurd than the reality of many worlds?"
I've never talked about it in professional circles—for obvious reasons—but it's long been a wondering of mine. What else—who else—is out there. But this… this is just… "Many worlds?"
He nods and leads me down a path lined with trees hanging with glowing fruit. In the distance, what I assume is the main town is alive with lights, sound, smells. As we near the area I see scantily clad men and women, some with pointed ears and unusual hair color, dancing, drinking, laughing, eating. Indulging in all the carnal pleasures without any worry, it would seem. Anyone else might blush and look away at the spectacle before us, but I have been to cultures all over my own world and seen how different people live, celebrate, worship, love. Bodies are bodies. Sex is sex. I'm not embarrassed by nudity or public displays.
"Is it not late in the evening?" I ask.
"It is. Or likely very early in the morning. Perhaps two or three in the morning, if going by your sense of time. My kingdom never sleeps, especially at night."
We come closer to the crowds as we head up the main walkway to the palace, and as the people see us, they begin to bow before returning to their festivities.
"You have returned, my Prince," a woman with green eyes and matching hair says, cozying up to Dr. Vane. She wears nothing but a few silk scarves strategically tossed over her body. Her pointed ears are studded with gemstones and she gestures to a group of women in similar garments. "Care to join us?"
"As much as I'd love to, I have business to attend," Dr. Vane says. "Another time perhaps."
She sighs, pouting a lip, then returns to her friends.
I glance at the man I thought was a stuffy old archaeologist in wonder. "Prince?"
He nods. "Indeed. Dr. Vane is only one of my many identities in the Nine Worlds. Here I am Prince Dean, son of the former King Lucian, brother to the current King Fenris and brother-in-law to Queen Arianna Spero, Midnight Star of Avakiri."
There's a sadness when he speaks of his brother and sister-in-law, and I sense a story there, but I have too many other questions. That one will have to wait.
"So you're royalty. You have a kingdom, but you come to Earth to dig up bones?" This is stretching my credulity.
"Would you stop doing what you love if you became a princess?" he asks.
My mouth snaps shut, as I have no good response to that.
"I know you mistrust me, and you should. But not because I'm a vampire, though I understand your hesitation in that regard," he says.
In a rush, all my fear, anger and hatred come flooding back into my veins, like boiling lava. I allowed myself to be distracted by all the wonders of this new world, but he's still a monster. In fact—oh shit. "Are all these people vampires?" I ask, shuddering. Am I surrounded by my greatest enemies?
"No," he says, studying my face. "But many, if not most, are. There are Fae, of course. Those with the ears you saw. And there are Shade. Those who are both Fae and vampire."
Fae. He throws that word out so casually. Like, of course. Fae. Duh. My mind—however—is spinning. "You're right," I say. "I don't trust you. But it is because you are a vampire. A monster."
He raises an eyebrow as we pass the threshold of the palace. The two guards on duty salute with a bow as we pass them. "Monster? That seems a harsh term for someone you just met. Someone who saved your life, as I recall."
"You live on blood and kill to survive. What else would you call that but monster?"
"There is a lot you don't know," he says, his face turning hard. "About my kind, and about me."
I stop walking, crossing my arms over my chest. I might regret this, but… "Take me back to my world. I'm done here."
"There must be quite the battle going on in that beautiful, fiery head of yours. On the one hand, you must be dying to see more of this world, to learn more about all the things you know nothing about. You have a chance to learn about an ancient culture that's still alive! On the other hand, you clearly have suffered trauma at the hands of someone like me. Your responses are too ingrained, too triggered to be thoughtfully considered."
He pauses, waiting for me to say something, but I press my lips together, angry that he can read me so well.
His lip twitches into something of a smile. "Let me ask you something. Are you racist?"
The question is so out of left field I don't even know what to do with it except answer. "Um, I mean, no. I try not to be. I suppose we are all influenced by the racial tensions of the culture we are raised, but having traveled extensively and immersed myself in different cultures, I think I've done a better job than most of exposing my own internal biases and dealing with them."
He nods. "Would your feelings about a different race change, if whatever trauma you experienced at the hands of a vampire, were done by the hands of someone from a different race instead? Would you hate that whole race for the crimes of one person?"
I suck in a breath, unable to exhale for the longest moment."That's an unfair comparison. Vampires aren't human. Their biological needs are antithetical to human life. They are inherently killers."
He chuckles. "Looking at human history, you could say the same of man. Your biggest wars and largest death tolls weren't triggered by monsters. They were triggered by humans. Men, mostly. Do you hate all men? All humans?"
He has me at an impasse, because of course I don't. I glare at him, frustrated at this line of questioning.
"Give my kind a chance," Dr. Vane says with a charming smile. "You might be surprised you don't know everything there is to know about vampires. Where one might kill, another might heal." He winks, reminding me again of the debt I owe him, then pulls a ring off his finger and places it into my hand. "Show this to any vampire in this realm, and they will see you home safely. You are not my prisoner. But if you stay, I can help you. Rather, we could help each other." And with that, he walks away, letting me choose whether to follow or stay.
I stare at the ring in my palm. It's thick and gold, set with a blood red gemstone. The sides are etched with an ancient script I don't recognize. I slip the ring onto my middle finger, and consider my options.
Stay… or go.
He left the choice to me.
Making me culpable in my own destiny.
If I leave, I'll never know what he knows about the artifact I seek. Not to mention, I'll lose my chance to learn about this world and culture.
If I stay, I'll be sleeping with the enemy, so to speak. I will be putting my life at risk. And there are things on Earth I need to tend to.
In the end, there was never really a decision for me. I am who I am.
And so I follow the vampire into his lair.
Dean Vane, Prince Of Lust
I knew she would follow, of course. What else could she do? Her mind is buzzing with curiosity and a quest for knowledge and understanding I have never seen in another person aside from myself. I feel pulled to her in a way that is unnerving for one such as myself. Usually, it is my pull over others that is the overwhelming force. And though I can smell her attraction to me, reluctant though it may be, it is not what one would expect. My draw to her is much stronger, putting us at an uncomfortable imbalance.
At least it's uncomfortable for me. She seems fairly oblivious to it, which makes the situation even more frustrating.
I knew Dr. Stone would be someone to contend with, though I had assumed she was a he, given the reports I'd received. Clearly she has done a good job of keeping her identity secret, though the 'why' of that is a curiosity I intend to sort out. I didn't expect her to be so knowledgeable of the parano
rmal—for a human at any rate. Though whether she is human or not is still up for debate, despite what she might say—or even believe—about herself. What she did with the Mother Tree, that shouldn't have been possible.
She's something extraordinary, and I'm going to need her to stop what I fear is coming—and to find my brother.
Whether she knows it or not, she might be the key to it all.
But first, she must learn to trust me, at least a little. Whatever a vampire did to her, it was bad. I can feel the hate coming off her in waves. It's almost painful.
I have a three-pronged strategy for building trust. First, a bath and food. Second, dazzle her with my collection of old books and artifacts. This strategy doesn't work with all women, but my gut says it will be immensely effective with this particular woman. And third, turn on the charm. I'd typically be a lot more optimistic about that third part, but with Dr. Alex Stone… well, let's just say I'm reserving judgment. If all else fails, I will show her the truth, if she's ready to see it.
"This way, Dr. Stone." I lead her through the palace and watch as her eyes widen at the splendid decor. The crystal, the tapestries, the original artwork dating back thousands of years, all of it would be wasted on anyone else. They would see the glamour of it all but wouldn't know the true worth. But I see in her eyes, she does.
She stops as we wind down a hall, her hand hovering over a crude figurine just over 11 centimeters tall. It is of a woman heavy with breasts, stylized in the extremities and face, made of oolitic limestone and tinted with red ochre. "Is this? It can't be. Is this the original Venus of Willendorf?" She looks at me, mouth agape.
"It is," I say, knowing there will be more questions. I wait for her to ask them.
"But how? It's supposed to be in a museum in Austria."
"That is also true. There were two figurines found in the dig in 1908. The one in the museum, and this one."
She shakes her head, disbelieving. "That's impossible."
"I assure you it's very possible. You see, I was there. I was the one who discovered them. In exchange for my particular talents, I was allowed to keep one."
Vampire Girl 7: Fallen Star Page 3