“There is a different way of living, beauty,” he whispered against my skin. “A different way of being. Do you want to live forever? Do you want the world around you to come alive?”
I did not know what he meant, but I was seduced by his words. His kisses turned to bites, and I screamed as his teeth—his fangs—pierced my skin.
I was in my estate, watching the traitor Szabina and her deceitful friends move about my home, a false smile pinned to my lips. They would pay for their treachery.
You must come quickly, Father, I whispered in my mind. The human woman who killed Dracula is here…and the man who killed your Ilona.
His reply was in my mind, a firm whisper that brushed the insides of my skull. I am coming, daughter. I am in Germany. I am not far. Keep them at ease until I arrive. You have done well, my beloved.
The vampire Anara had me pinned to the ground, her hand around my throat. Pain consumed me as she gazed into my eyes, placing me in thrall.
Desperate, I called out to Father in my mind.
Help me, Father. I am dying. They know I have deceived them.
Where are you, daughter?
Tiergarten, in Berlin. The home of a human. I’ve not much time.
I am coming, daughter. I will kill them all.
“Mina!”
I was suddenly back in the cellar. Gabriel’s hands gripped my shoulders, holding me upright. I blinked, still out of sorts.
“Your eyes went black—what did you see?” he asked.
“Skala—he was in my—he was in Rosalind's mind,” I rasped, when I could find words. “Gabriel…he knows where we are.”
9
Nightfall
“We must leave at once,” Abe said, his entire body taut with urgency.
Gabriel and I had gathered the others in the drawing room, where I’d told them that Skala was coming to Berlin—and he knew where we were.
“We can’t just allow Skala to attack the city,” Seward protested. “We came here to kill him.”
“Yes, but we shouldn’t wait for him here,” Gabriel said. “This is not the ideal place for a battle. We need to be the ones to track him down, not the other way around.”
“How the bloody hell are we supposed to find Skala?” Seward demanded.
"There is a small inn just outside of the city. It is out of the way, quiet. I have stayed there before," Abe replied. "We need somewhere to situate ourselves—a place to meet—before we go after him. We can stay there temporarily."
“Rosalind,” I said, as a desperate thought occurred to me. “If I enter her mind again, perhaps I can locate—“
“She is dying, Mina. I don’t think she will last the hour,” Gabriel interrupted. “If she knew his exact location, you would have already seen it in her mind.”
“Then we need to find one of his ferals,” Anara said. She had been uncharacteristically quiet during our exchange. “Put one in thrall to find Skala’s exact location. We have no other way of finding him.”
“His ferals are indeed the best way of tracking him down. We need to go to areas where ferals target humans. They tend to favor populous and poor areas…that is what Vlad’s ferals did in London. Do you remember, Jack?” Abe asked, and Seward nodded.
“I remember,” he grimly replied.
“It will be best if we split up to seek them out. We can cover more of the city that way. Are we in agreement?” Abe continued.
“What do we do about Rosalind?” I asked.
“She will soon be dead,” Anara replied, her voice tight with hatred. “I will dispose of her body.”
We moved swiftly, taking our bags to the front door while Abe left a brief note of explanation to the professor. Anara made her way down to the cellar while Seward lingered behind.
“Go. I’ll stay with her,” he told us. “We’ll search the Luisenstadt neighborhood—Anara knows it well. We can join you at the inn later.”
The threat of Skala’s entrance into Berlin dominated my thoughts as our cab escorted us to the inn. I wondered with a chill if Skala was already amongst the sea of pedestrians who tended to their daily tasks, unaware of the pending danger they were under.
Later that afternoon, I walked with Abe and Gabriel through the streets of central Berlin. The city had grown since I’d last been here, it now seemed far more cluttered than London. Hansom cabs, carriages, and horse trams seemed to clog every available space of the streets. All around us and in the near distance, the spires of newly built baroque style buildings climbed into the air. Pedestrians hustled past us, and snatches of their conversations, spoken in rapid German, floated past my ears. Smoke from nearby chimneys hung heavy in the air, clogging my nostrils, and I found myself missing the cleaner air of the countryside.
I reached down, delicately touching the outline of my kukri, which was nestled beneath my sleeve. I knew that Gabriel could scent vampires; I studied him as we moved through the crowds. But he remained stoic, and I saw nothing amiss as we made our way through the teeming streets. I now feared that our task was too burdensome; Berlin was a populous city. Skala and his ferals could be anywhere.
Around midday, we’d made no progress, not finding anything untoward in the central part of the city. We decided to take a brief break, finding a pub where Abe and I could dine. My legs were strained from all the walking; I stretched my sore limbs beneath our table.
“How were you able to subdue Rosalind?” I asked Gabriel, as we ate our meal of fish paired with potatoes and bread. The pub was relatively noisy, and no one paid us any mind, except for the occasional patron who gave us a curious glance; I was the lone woman in the pub, and Gabriel was striking, he stood out in most rooms.
“We killed Rosalind’s guards; Anara was able to subdue her ferals. Anara overpowered Rosalind and put her in thrall. Anara is strong—her rage over Szabina’s death only made her stronger. She spent time with Rosalind, weakening her before we brought her with us to the city. We…buried Szabina in the forest behind the estate before we left,” he added, his eyes shadowing with bereavement.
“I’m glad you were able to bury her,” I whispered, sorrow twisting my heart as I thought of Szabina.
“When you were ill in the hospital, Mina…Szabina took me aside. She told me she knew I loved you," Abe murmured. "She told me that life was brief and I should not bury my feelings.”
"She told me to stop hating who I was," Gabriel added. “I knew no one kinder than Szabina.”
“To Szabina,” Abe said solemnly, raising his glass of ale. “Her sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
We raised our glasses as well, and finished the remainder of our meal in silence. I thought of how peaceful she’d been only moments before she was killed, our arms linked as we walked through Rosalind’s gardens; her smile as she took in the abundance of flowers. If only I‘d been able to warn the others in time. I will not lose any more of my friends, I vowed. I would do whatever it took to prevent more death.
When we left the pub, we ventured to neighborhoods adjacent to the central part of the city, arriving in an area clogged with multistory apartment buildings, with shops on the ground floor and residences on the upper floors. Such buildings were populous, with both middle class and poor residents inhabiting the apartments. They were the perfect target for a feral vampire hungry for blood and fresh victims.
We spent much time in this area, walking tensely through the streets, alert for any sort of disturbance, until the crowds grew thin.
As the sky began to darken, we found a cafe on a main boulevard for Abe and me to rest our feet. My frustration mounted as I absently sipped the tea I’d ordered. Gabriel told us he hadn’t scented any vampires, and nothing seemed out of sorts. What if Skala hadn’t come to Berlin after all? What if he had targeted a different city?
We were quiet as we left the cafe; by their tight expressions I sensed that Abe and Gabriel shared my frustration. The neighborhood was quieter now, with only a few passersby out, and fewer carriages clogged the streets.
“Perh
aps we should return Mina to the inn and keep searching on our own,” Gabriel said to Abe.
“Gabriel—“ I started to protest, but my sentence was cut off by a scream.
We turned. The scream came from a nearby alley next to a lodging house. I yanked my kukri from my sleeve as we rushed towards it.
We dashed into the alley, where we found a feral vampire latched to a woman’s throat. The dead body of a man lay crumpled at their feet, his throat violently torn open.
Gabriel was on the feral in a flash, yanking him off the woman. She sank to the ground, clutching her bleeding neck.
“These streets are not safe,” I said in German, kneeling down in front of her. “You need to run—find someplace safe. Go.”
She was instantly on her feet, running away without a backward glance. I turned back to Abe and Gabriel.
Gabriel had the feral pinned to the wall by his throat, holding him in a vise like grip. He gazed into the feral’s eyes.
“Who is your master?” he asked in German.
“He is called Skala,” the vampire whispered, in a daze. “Aurel Skala.”
“Where is he now? Is he in Berlin? What street?” Gabriel pressed.
“House,” he murmured. “House…in Wedding. On Oudenarder.”
Gabriel snapped the feral’s neck with a quick flick of his wrist, stepping back as he sank to the ground, dead. I blinked, startled. My brother was usually so quiet and mild mannered that I often forgot he was half vampire. Though Gabriel didn’t enjoy killing, he was exceptionally efficient at the act.
“It had to be done,” he said simply. “He would have gone obediently to his master. Come. We must leave.”
We found Seward and Anara waiting back at the inn, in one of the rooms we’d reserved for the night.
Seward told us they’d also captured a feral, lurking near a brothel just after nightfall. The feral had conveyed similar information—that Skala was currently lodged in the Wedding neighborhood.
“An ideal location for that bloody monster,” Seward spat. “It’s full of tenement buildings and lodging houses, all inhabited by poor residents. Plenty of victims for him and his ferals.”
“Then we do not have much time. We need to surround him—get him isolated—and attack,” Abe said.
They began to discuss the potential plan of attack. But their words faded as my gaze settled on Abe. I was fearful for him, more than anyone in our group. He had killed Ilona Draculesti, whom Skala loved. The fear for Abe had been lurking within me ever since he’d agreed to use himself as bait at Rosalind’s estate. It had been there when I thought we’d confront Skala at Rosalind’s estate, and even when we were searching for Skala’s ferals on the streets.
But now that the confrontation with Skala was actually upon us, my fear had sprung into full bloom. I was now desperate to keep him away from Skala and his wrath.
I was the one who had lured Vlad and Ilona to the estate in Carfax and killed Vlad. I was one of the last descendants of the Ghyslaine family, a family name hated by many vampires to this day. I had gotten into Vlad’s mind and killed him…surely I could do the same with Skala.
But I knew Abe and my friends would never allow me to go after him on my own. I thought of Abe’s words at Rosalind’s estate. I will always risk my life for you, he had promised. Always, my heart.
My stomach lurched with anxiety at the memory. I would not allow Abe to risk his life.
I excused myself to go to another room we’d reserved, telling them my fatigue had caught up with me. Abe looked pleased that I was getting some rest, and a flicker of guilt darted through me over my lie.
I love you, I thought fervently, as he brushed my lips with his before I left the room. I’m doing this for you.
Once I was alone, I unearthed two more stakes from one of our bags, stuffing them in my bodice and sleeves, along with my kukri.
I peered out the door. The others were in the adjacent room, but the door was closed, and I could hear the low rumble of their voices.
I glanced behind me. I’d changed out of my walking dress and into a fresh one, leaving the old one on the bed, which carried the scent of my sweat. It would give me some time; the vampires would assume I was still inside the room by my lingering scent.
I slipped out the door, hurrying down the stairs. The downstairs dining area was empty, and I left out the front door unnoticed. Out on the street, I immediately found a cab to take me across town.
As the cab clattered into the city, I rehearsed my hastily decided upon plan in my mind. I needed to isolate Skala and get him close to me, close enough to look into his eyes and probe his mind, before staking him through the heart. I calmed myself with the reminder that I’d killed a powerful vampire before, and my experience with Rosalind and the ferals back in England indicated that my ability was still strong. It was just a matter or isolating him, which would take great care.
The cab soon arrived in the Wedding neighborhood, stopping at the far end of Oudenarder street. I scanned the row of buildings; which were all run down and decrepit, wondering which building Skala was in. I would have to bide my time.
The driver turned, giving me an expectant look.
“If I pay you, may I just…sit here for an hour?” I asked, in halting German.
The driver studied me, his gaze sweeping from my face to my dress with suspicion. He likely thought I was a prostitute, though I wasn’t dressed the part.
“How much?” he asked.
His eyes went wide at the number I gave, and he nodded in eager agreement, taking the money I handed him before stepping from the cab.
Once I was alone, I sank back in my seat, training my gaze on the row of buildings. I would have to eventually step out and reveal myself, hoping that Skala would be able to scent my blood; a vampire of the Old Families would know I was a Ghyslaine. But I needed him to be alone… my plan wouldn’t work if he were with other vampires.
I stiffened when I saw two vampires exit one of the buildings. It was their deathly pale skin, slightly flushed with blood, and their great height that gave them away. My heart began to ricochet in my chest; this must be where Skala was lodged. The vampires disappeared down the street, and I fought the urge to follow them—they were no doubt in search of fresh human prey. I needed to remain focused on Skala.
Another vampire exited the building once they were gone, and I froze.
I recognized this vampire. It was the vampire I’d seen in Rosalind’s mind—Aurel Skala.
He bore the uncommon height and breadth of most vampires. His features were aristocratic; a prominent brow, high cheekbones, and a wide mouth. I thought of Anara’s words describing his viciousness. In the flesh, he looked nothing like the monster she’d described. With his flaxen curls and dove grey eyes, he possessed the dark beauty of a fallen angel. I could now understand how he was able to seduce the young human woman Rosalind had once been.
But I knew who he was. What he was. And I was going to kill him.
He turned to head down a small side street only a few yards away. I waited to see if any other vampires would join him, but he was alone, and no other creature exited the building. Perhaps he was going to hunt, like the other two vampires I’d seen. Anara once told me that powerful vampires preferred to hunt alone.
I stepped out of the carriage and hurried after him, maintaining a decent distance as I took out my kukri. If I aimed it perfectly, I could slice his head clean off his shoulders, and hurl my stake into the center of his back, all from a safe distance.
I arrived at the side street. Skala was already half way down it, his head bowed as he walked. I stopped, angling my kukri.
Focus, I thought. Focus.
I raised my kukri, and hurled it through the air.
But Skala whipped around, catching it in his hand by the blade, his palm going crimson with blood as it sank into his skin. His grey eyes focused on mine, and I was hurled against the brick wall behind me, paralyzed.
Skala was before me in an in
stant, his fangs bared, his eyes completely black with bloodlust as he sank them into my throat, and darkness claimed me.
10
Dance of Pain
My entire existence was a maelstrom of pain.
I sat nude and trembling in a massive dark cellar, my wrists shackled to the wall behind me. Warm blood slicked my bare back, seeping through the open wounds that criss-crossed my skin. The chains clamped around my wrists dug into my flesh. My whole body was scarred and bruised, and I could taste the coppery scent of my blood, which seeped from the sides of my mouth. I had my eyes clamped shut, as if I could somehow shield myself from the memory of the torment I’d endured…would continue to endure.
Everything had happened instantaneously. One moment I was in the alley with Skala’s fangs buried in my throat, and the next I was alone in this cellar, stripped nude, my wrists chained to the wall. I’d jerked back when Skala entered the cellar, his searing gaze like sharp knives on my skin.
He took me in for a long moment, his grey gaze traveling from the top of my head to my toes. I wanted to shield my nude body from his eyes, though his appraisal was not sexual; there was only a barely controlled fury, like a beast temporarily confined to its cage before being unleashed.
“You will die tonight, Ghyslaine,” he said. His voice was deep and melodic, a sound many would no doubt find seductive; but to me it was like nails being driven into my eardrums. “It will not be an ordinary death. I will drain you and make you one of my loyal children…your mind will not be your own and you will do as I wish. Did you know that Rosalind once hated me? Quite fiercely. In the end…she died for me. Your fate will be far, far worse. Your first task will be to kill the ones you love. I know that is your greatest fear.”
I tried not to show any of the panic that shot through me at his words. But I failed, and his smile widened. He approached, squatting down in front of me with lithe ease, placing both of his icy hands on the sides of my face. I shivered not from the coldness of his skin, but from the raw savagery in his eyes, the promise of violence.
The Mina Murray Series Bundle, A Dracula Retelling: Books 1-3 Page 39