BloodPledge

by Tima Maria Lacoba

  ‘You have it,’ O’Toole said, bowing his head in deference.

  One by one, all the Prefects did the same.

  ‘Brethren, the lines are drawn,’ I said. ‘I declare in the presence of you all that Count Timur Széchenyi, Grigory Rasputin, and all who support and shelter them, are hereby proscribed. Their properties and all their possessions are default to any who deliver their heads to the Eldership, and their territory is to be transferred to the hands of the Eldership until a Principate prefect can be appointed.’

  ‘Count Timur Széchenyi, Proscribed. Grigory Rasputin, Proscribed.’ Marcus’s voice resounded like a death knell. I was sure, wherever he was hiding, Timur could hear.

  Luc repeated the condemnation, as did the other two Elders. This was then picked up and recited by prefect after prefect until the last voice sounded, and the garden once again fell silent. Any vampire within range would have heard. I particularly hoped Stanton and his gang, who had attacked me earlier this evening, knew the danger they were in.

  War had been declared.

  Chapter 14 - The Yacht

  LAURA

  We stepped down into a sunken living area that would easily accommodate a large group of guests. Leather sofas and ottomans were scattered throughout the room, their beige tones complimenting the blonde parquetry flooring and alabaster ceiling from which shone a string of downlights. In the centre sat a glass-topped coffee table with a pile of magazines on one end and a small, bronze art deco statue of a nude dancing female on the other, while wall-to-wall windows offered an unhindered view of the ocean beyond.

  The whole gave an illusion of space and light.

  Several plump cushions lay scattered on the carpeted floor, presumably from the sofa on which Jake had laid Terens. Jake was in the process of removing the shirts that had been used to bind the amputation. I heard him suck in a breath as he removed the last piece. ‘The regeneration should have started by now.’ His voice was tinged with fear.

  Milena stood behind as Kari, and I knelt on the floor next to Jake. I tried to keep my eyes averted from the raw, open wound. It made my stomach turn. I sent up a silent prayer for Alec’s safety and glanced at my ring – the eyes of the serpent glowed red.

  Please stay that way.

  Terens’s breath came in short, sharp gasps. His head tossed from side to side and his eyes flickered open once or twice.

  ‘He needs blood,’ Jake said.

  ‘Coming up,’ Judy called.

  She had crossed to the centre of the room, to a built-in bar. The large mirror behind the counter reflected a range of glasses, tumblers and decanters any pub would have been proud to own. It effectively divided the spacious room in two. Her voice came from within it. I heard the ping of a microwave, and then she appeared, hurrying toward us with a bag of blood.

  Jake took it from her, lifted Terens’s shoulders and placed the straw end of the bag into his mouth. ‘C’mon, brother, drink.’

  Slowly, Terens’s mouth moved and he began to suck, weakly at first, then his eyes shot open and he drank hungrily.

  ‘Another one, Judith,’ Jake said. ‘And bring the medical kit.’

  Judy raced back to the bar while Kari and I sat on the floor, looking helplessly on. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

  ‘Hold this,’ he indicated the blood bag, ‘so I can inject him with the painkiller.’ As he manoeuvred out from behind Terens, he motioned for Kari to hand him some cushions. ‘Put ‘em here.’

  She placed them behind Terens’s shoulders. The bloody stump that had been his arm and the blood bag I held at his mouth made my stomach heave. But there was no way I’d give in to sickness. Terens had been there for me, and now it was my turn to return the favour. Swallowing hard, I forced the bile back down and concentrated on the diamond stud in his ear, which winked at me from between the strands of his dark auburn hair.

  Judy sat on an armchair next to the sofa and rested her hand on Terens’s shoulder as Jake swapped the blood bags and injected Terens – with a strong painkiller, I assumed – in a couple of sites around his shoulder. Soon, Terens’s breathing eased; he stopped sucking – the bag was nearly empty, anyway – his eyes closed and his body went limp.

  I looked at Jake. ‘Is he asleep?’

  Jake nodded. ‘I added a strong sedative to the anaesthetic. It’ll keep him out for hours.’ He took the blood bag from me and placed it into a plastic bag from his medical kit, together with the syringe, empty cartridge and the shirt-bandages, and strode over to the bar.

  Kari brushed the hair from Terens’s forehead. She’d risen from her kneeling position and sat on her haunches by the sofa. ‘Look!’ she exclaimed. Her gaze was on Terens’s bloody stump. ‘It’s regenerating.’

  Curiosity overcame my disgust, and I glanced down. It was amazing and spooky to see the blood vessels heal themselves. A light film developed and sealed the open wound, which soon changed to healthy pink skin.

  ‘Man, he had me worried there for a bit.’ The relief was clear in Jake’s voice. They’d fought together for over eighteen-hundred years, and today – as far as I knew – was the first time they’d come close to losing one of their number. Very close.

  ‘I find it interesting that an Ingenii, and a half-vampire one at that, has an aversion to blood,’ Milena said.

  Her voice startled me. I’d been so focused on Terens, I’d quite forgotten about her. She sat on one of the ottomans, one elegant, light-blue trousered leg crossed over the other, manicured hands clasped in her lap. Head cocked to one side, she regarded me as though I were a specimen she hadn’t encountered before. Perhaps I was. After all, how many half-vampire, lethal-blooded, part-immortal women could there be?

  ‘It’s the human side of me, I suppose.’

  ‘Mmmm.’ Her delicate eyebrows rose. ‘That can be a handicap.’

  I couldn’t tell if she’d meant that sincerely or she was being facetious, but something in her tone grated on me. ‘In what way, may I ask?’

  Judy’s hand squeezed my shoulder. I briefly turned my head and looked up at her, but her gaze was fixed on Milena.

  ‘You’re in the company of blood drinkers,’ she remarked, as if that explained everything. ‘You won’t find Coke in the refrigerator.’

  Yep, she was definitely grating on my nerves. For one thing, I didn’t like soft drinks – never drunk the stuff. I felt like saying, No kidding, Sherlock! when Kari chipped in. ‘I think she’s doing brilliantly. I didn’t see you holding the blood bag for Terens.’

  Milena’s eyes narrowed. ‘I wasn’t speaking to you, peasant. That’s twice you’ve insulted me tonight. Be silent!’

  In less than a blink, Kari was on her feet, bristling like a angry kitten. I was sure she would have hit Milena if Jake hadn’t caught her around the waist and hauled her aside. ‘Kari, calm down,’ he said.

  ‘You heard what she called me?’

  ‘Yes, and she’s about to apologise.’

  ‘I will do no such thing.’ Milena bit back.

  ‘Yes, you will,’ Jake said, enunciating each word. ‘Whatever Kari’s background before her transformation, it’s irrelevant now. She’s Brethren, and you will respect that, or it’s the last you’ll hear from me.’

  The air crackled between the two vampire women, but at least there was no show of fangs. Well, at least not yet. Milena’s gaze flicked between Jake and Kari. ‘I regret my hasty words.’ She eventually conceded.

  ‘Satisfied?’ Jake asked Kari before he let her go.

  ‘Yes,’ she said grudgingly, but I couldn’t help noticing the way she leaned back into Jake’s chest, the way I did with Alec. I wondered if Jake knew, or even guessed, that Kari was in love with him.

  ‘Sshhh.’ Jake suddenly hissed. His head turned toward the windows. ‘Listen.’

  I couldn’t hear a thing except gentle lapping of water against the sides of the boat. ‘What is it?’ I whispered.

  ‘Princi’s making a special announcement,’ Kari whispered back.

>   Alec! My heart jumped. I glanced at the serpent ring. All was well. What I would’ve given to have vampire hearing; to hear his deep, rich voice and enjoy the delicious tingle it always sent through me. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘He and the Elders proscribed Count Timur and Rasputin, and anyone who supports them,’ Jake said. From the serious expression on his face, I guessed it must be something bad.

  ‘Wow,’ Kari’s eyes were wide, ‘I’ve never heard anyone proscribed before.’

  ‘And I hope you never will, again,’ Jake said before looking at me and Judy. ‘It’s rarely invoked, and only when one of our kind has committed a crime so heinous there’s no other choice. It was used by the old Roman emperors, like being made an enemy of the state. The proscribed one was killed, sometimes their families, too, and their lands and all their possessions given to the one who denounced them, or to the state. Same went for anyone who helped them out.’

  Milena added. ‘Can’t think of a better person it could happen to.’ Her eyes gleamed.

  I looked down at Terens. In some small measure, this was recompense for what Timur had done to him. He wouldn’t need to seek revenge – Alec had done it for him. I glanced at my ring. All was well. My princeps was safe, and so was I.

  The yawn came from nowhere. My planned afternoon nap had not eventuated. It was now past two in the morning, and the adrenaline, which had kept me going the last couple of hours, had worn off.

  ‘Go to bed, dear,’ Judy leaned over and said quietly. ‘Alec could be a while, yet.’

  I didn’t want to go without seeing him, but my eyelids grew heavier, and soon they’d close of their own accord. Yet, I wondered how could I possibly sleep after everything that had happened. I was shocked by tonight’s events, and by the viciousness of those who opposed the Principate; who would stop at nothing to kill any of us, by any means.

  Another yawn. My body and mind were at odds, but it seemed my body was winning.

  ‘You’re right.’ I rose. Problem was, I had no idea where the bedrooms on this massive yacht were, and no change of clothes. I started heading towards a comfortable-looking sofa, when Judy took my elbow.

  ‘This way, dear.’

  She steered me out to the deck and I caught a glimpse of the star-filled night before we descended a set of stairs to a long, well lit corridor interspersed with narrow recesses filled with diminutive statues of naked females. Judy escorted me past numerous doors, each one emblazoned with gold-coloured Roman numerals.

  ‘All the guest bedrooms are on this deck. There are twelve and two of them are the VIP rooms near the front – the “fore end,” I think they call it. Here’s yours.’ Judy stopped at the end of the corridor, opened a door with the Roman numeral for one and flicked on the light.

  My breath nearly left me. I had expected a bunk and a porthole, but I should have known that there would be nothing that simple on my father’s yacht. A white-panelled cabin greeted me, furnished with a queen-sized bed draped with a striped cover in my favourite colours – light-and dark-blue. It sat resplendent on a raised carpeted platform, which extended to include an ebony-topped bedside table with lamp. Accessorising it was a similarly coloured desktop built into the wall, on the other side of the room. Overhead lights formed an arc above the bed and illuminated a set of built-in shelves with books held in place with a metal bar. A dark-curtained, rectangular window – no porthole here – at the far end of the room, and a painted scene of yachts on Sydney Harbour hanging above the bed, completed the scene.

  I bent and removed my shoes, enjoying the velvety tickle of the plush carpet, its expanse of white broken up by wavy stripes of blue and pale grey.

  ‘It’s lovely!’

  Judy beamed, moved further into the room and pressed her hand on part of the glossy panelling. It sprang open to reveal a built-in wardrobe. ‘I had it filled two weeks ago.’

  She had done the same with my room in the house. They’d had it entirely refurbished in preparation of my homecoming. There had been enough clothes and accessories to warm any woman’s heart. I’d been stunned, and it made me realise what a great sacrifice they’d made to keep me safe; how much they’d missed me and longed for the day when I would, once again, be home with them – with my biological parents.

  ‘You’re spoiling me, you know that?’

  Judy laughed. ‘Not at all, especially now there’s no telling when we’ll be back in the house again. There’s sure to be a lot of damage and Luc’ll want it repaired straight away.’

  And that could take a few weeks – maybe months. Were we expected to live on the yacht in the meantime? I had to admit, that prospect sounded okay. After all, I was on summer holidays and being on a beautiful yacht, cruising the harbour seemed not a bad idea. I’d always loved boating, but my job ate most of my free time, and my weekends were often taken up with marking assignments and preparing lesson plans.

  I yawned, and looked longingly at the bed.

  ‘Goodnight, Laura dear. There’ll be enough time tomorrow to show you around – the gym and sauna on the upper deck, the jet skis.’ She kissed my cheek. ‘Oh, before I forget. To your left,’ she pointed to the wall opposite the bed, ‘is your ensuite bathroom. Sweet dreams.’

  I hadn’t noticed any door. ‘Where’s the handle? How do I open it?’

  ‘Like the built-in,’ she said on her way out. ‘Push on it with the palm of your hand.’

  I debated whether to take a peek or wait until morning. My curiosity won out, and I flattened my palm against the smooth panelling. The door popped open revealing immaculate white tiles with splashes of turquoise glass between them. A recessed shower behind an opaque screen stood in one corner, a toilet and bidet in another. Fluffy sea-blue towels hung from the railings. I promised myself a shower in the morning.

  Curiosity satisfied, I dropped the pearl, mesh pouch with my mobile phone on the bedside table, unzipped my dress and draped it over a chair next to the desk. I checked the built-in, rummaging through each drawer for nightwear. After choosing a midnight blue, satin nightie, I slipped it on then sank into the soft comfort of the bed. Just as I was about to close my eyes, the boat came alive. A deep hum started, followed by the sound of a clunk from somewhere aft, and I felt the slightest movement. Jake must have weighed anchor and was steering the yacht out of its mooring. Moving it closer to the jetty maybe? Alec, Luc and the other men were still at the house.

  He’s going to pick them up, I thought, as another yawn stretched my jaw. To the soothing rhythm of the boat’s engines I closed my eyes.

  Chapter 15 - Diamonds And Dealers

  ALEC

  After we’d dismissed the prefects, Marcus told me he’d be leaving with Zhao and Kwome to discuss the election of a female Elder. I agreed. Since the demise of Maris, the position had been left open and now, more than ever, the Brethren needed to see continuity in the Principate.

  I glanced at the yacht, longing to join Laura; longing to have her in my arms. Unfortunately, there was something I needed to do that couldn’t wait. ‘Luc, I’m going to pay a visit to Dawson. Find out what he’s heard. See you back at the yacht.’

  I’d spared the life of Martin Dawson, Brethren, a diamond merchant and former white-oak dealer, in return for information, and even though none of his previous contacts – those we hadn’t caught and executed – dared approach him, he still managed to find out who possessed the stuff and where it might be hidden.

  He might also know where Timur and Rasputin are holed up, I thought, as I raced through the dark city streets. Fire engines blocked the driveway and humans milled around the entrance gates. People were filming the scene on their iPhones. It would be on Youtube – and around the world – within minutes.

  I reached the George Street building and rode the elevator to the first floor, walked down the corridor to his showroom and pressed the bell. I was pleased to see the blood sign smeared on his door. Timur and Rasputin would find no shelter, no refuge among Brethren loyal to the Principate whose doors were sm
eared – in their own blood – with the image of the sword and twin serpents. It was then washed off, making it invisible to humans, but not to vampires.

  Dawson’s voice spoke through the security intercom. ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘It’s Dr Munro.’

  ‘Please, come in.’

  A click, and the door swung open. As I entered, Martin Dawson bowed his head. ‘Good to see you, my lord princeps.’

  ‘You know why I’m here.’ I shut the door behind me.

  ‘Not for a social meeting, I gather. Follow me.’ He led the way past the store counters to a back room I’d been in before. It doubled as a walk-in safe and private meeting room, sound proofed to prevent Brethren ears from listening in. ‘Never can be too careful,’ he said, indicating for me to sit.

  Apart from the metal cabinets standing shoulder-to-shoulder along the walls, the only other pieces of furniture in the room was a solitary table, covered with black velvet, and two chairs. He sat in the other.

  ‘Where’s your staff?’ I asked.

  Dawson used his niece and nephew – twins – to man the counters rather than employ other Brethren. It made sense, as their loyalty and silence was assured, particularly as they owed their lives to him. At the age of twenty-two, both were diagnosed with terminal leukaemia.

  ‘Sent them home to smear the blood sign after we heard your damnatio.’

  Damnatio. The feared Brethren damnation – the Proscription. It was the first time I’d ever had to resort to it.

  ‘Wise move. Now,’ I leant my arms on the table, ‘have you heard anything?’

  ‘Such as?’ He gave me an innocent look, but I knew better.

  I rose and strolled to his side of the table. ‘Don’t play games with me, Dawson. I could rescind that execution order at any time. I want to know where they’re hiding.’

  His chair scraped across the floor as he tried to back away from me. ‘No one tells me anything anymore, not since... I’d tell you if I knew. Believe me!’

  I didn’t enjoy intimidation, yet characters like Dawson seemed only to respond when such tactics were employed. And if that’s what it took to find Timur and keep Laura safe, then so be it.