Ulysses Exposed (Blaire Thorne Book 1)

by N Gray

  Her face was close to mine, her breath warm and smelling of blood. “You smell of old blood,” I said, lifting my face upward and away from her, but still keeping eye contact.

  She cackled as I tried to get free from her grasp, but she held on tighter.

  “What is so special about you? I do not see it.” She shook me as she spoke, almost as though she wanted to emphasize the fact that there was nothing special about me. The old Blaire might have killed her, once.

  “There is nothing special about me, Galina. Nothing.”

  She sniffed the air. “You tell the truth, but you are still unsure of many things, human. Your mind is clouded. There is something blocking you from truly seeing. I can set it free, if you like. I can release the lock on your mind.”

  I shook my head a little too quickly, a ‘gah’ sound escaped my lips, and the nausea started to build. I wanted nothing from her. I didn’t want to find out what she could offer, and I certainly didn’t want to know what she wanted in return.

  I wanted out of this dream. Out of her grasp. OUT!

  She let go of my left arm, and her right hand brushed hair out of my face. With her fingertips, she touched my cheek, and with that soft touch, her back bowed and her green eyes rolled into her head until I could see only white.

  With all the strength I had, I pushed her away from me with both hands. She let go of my other arm and fell, but before she hit the floor, she had disappeared in a cloud of dust.

  I was left gasping in the car seat.

  Ralph jumped, turning the steering wheel left, then right as he corrected the car. Other cars flashed us from ahead and others honked their horns from behind or next to us. I caught my breath while Ralph kept us from crashing.

  “Blaire! What was that? Are you okay?”

  It was already dark outside, and Ralph couldn’t see the tears on my face. “It was her, Ralph. Galina invaded my dream. I can still feel her on my skin.” I started to shake. I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

  “Damn it. We are here, Blaire. Maybe we shouldn’t follow them inside. What do you want to do?” Ralph slowed the car and turned right, stopping behind the Jeep.

  “Stop right here. I don’t want to go in. She knows who I am, Ralph. She knows—and she isn’t happy about it.”

  Ralph made a U-turn, ramped up the pavement, and stopped.

  Sebastian must have seen what we did because Miles stopped the Jeep before they entered the garage and Sebastian walked toward us. He knocked on my window.

  “What happened?” he said as I opened the window.

  I was shaking, rocking in the seat. “I saw her, Sebastian. I fell asleep, and she invaded my fucking dream. She fucking touched me! I can still feel her like she was inside me.” I shuddered, tears streaming down my face.

  “Shit.” Sebastian sighed like he was tired, defeated. “There is no way you can come inside now. No fucking way.” He looked over the roof of the car. “Shit, they are here,” he said, under his breath.

  I turned to see what he was looking at, and Ian, the vampire who had tried to bite me—the vampire who was supposed to be locked in his coffin—was walking toward us. He was swaying his hips, a malicious smile flashed across his face.

  “Start the engine, Ralph. Let’s get out of here.” I hit Ralph’s hand so he would start the car.

  Something hit the bonnet; it was Esther. She dented the car so badly that it wouldn’t start. Ralph kept turning the key, but all we got was the clicking sound of a dead battery.

  Roland was suddenly beside Sebastian, and he hit him so hard that Sebastian flew across the road. Then, Roland bent down to rest his arms on the window, his head close to mine. “We have been waiting patiently for you.”

  “What are you doing, Roland?”

  “Galina asked me to fetch you.”

  “Did you let them out?” I asked, motioning toward Ian and Esther.

  Roland was supposed to be on our side—on Léon’s side—but the glimmer of evil that swept across his face told me otherwise. He would not help us, and he would take great pleasure in inflicting any pain that Galina asked him to do.

  “What have you done to Léon?”

  “Nothing, yet.”

  I was angry, hurt and scared, but anger seemed to be the most that I felt. The vampires had us surrounded, but something in my training told me that I needed to see how this played out. I reached for the drawstring bag containing the jewels and secured it over my shoulder. I wished that the stones didn’t need to be held in order for their power to be unleashed, as they would have instantly diminished the threat that the vampires currently posed, but I also knew that now was not the right time. Whatever they had planned, we needed all of them to be together.

  With that in mind, however, I couldn’t wait to test the jewels out on these assholes.

  I unlocked the door, twisted my body toward it, unbuckled my seat belt, and pushed as hard as I could when I opened the door. It was not the best thing to do because the only thing that happened was Rolland fell on the floor by my feet and laughed. Well, at least I was entertaining.

  Sebastian started running back to us, but he couldn’t get past Esther and Ian. Esther was holding him from the front while Ian had his arms pinned behind him from the back. I couldn’t see what Esther was doing to him, but she was touching him in places that I didn’t think he wanted her to touch. He struggled between the two vampires, but eventually, Ian appeared strong enough to restrain Sebastian on his own.

  “What is so special about you, Blaire?” Esther yelled. “Why do Sebastian and Léon want to keep you safe?”

  I didn’t know, either. I shrugged, but she didn’t see me. Roland was off the ground and gripping my right arm, and he started pulling me toward them.

  “She must be good in bed or something, cause I sure as shit don’t see it either,” Roland said as he pushed me into the back of Esther, who turned around to catch me before I bumped into her.

  “I like the taste of her, though.” Esther licked her lips and hissed.

  “What is with you fangers? Can’t you just leave me alone?”

  “I love it when humans get angry; it spices up their blood,” Ian said from behind Sebastian and let him go. Then he started walking around the were-animal to stand beside Esther.

  “Come, Galina is waiting for us,” Roland said, grabbing my arm again.

  CHAPTER 22

  WE LEFT RALPH’S car outside on the pavement and entered the warehouse through the garage. Darkness spilled around us when the large metal door hit the ground. I saw spots before me as my eyes adjusted to the change, and I flinched when someone grabbed my shoulder and walked beside me. I was calmed by the smell of waves of the ocean, citrus, fresh leaves and wet grass. It was Sebastian.

  “Just stay near me,” he whispered near my ear.

  I wrapped my arm around his waist so that I could walk where he walked. I was sure those leopard eyes could see perfectly and would stop me from walking into things. After a few steps, a dim light came on, and I saw we were inside a large garage containing twenty cars. Some were old and dusty, while others were new and clean. One was a limo, while another was a sports car—there was a car for every occasion.

  We followed Ian through a door that led us down a narrow hallway which branched off in three different directions. We continued along the middle one. After descending a small flight of stairs, we entered a large banquet hall with gas torches on the walls all the way around—they provided enough light so that we could see everybody in the room. The walls of the banquet hall were high and dark, so dark that they appeared almost black. The soft light from the torches barely challenged the shadows, offering the room a sense of deepest night. As we walked closer, I saw that there were a few people in the room whom I did not recognize.

  Léon had his back to us, but I knew it was him by the broad shoulders and the way he stood, with the confident stance a man of his esteem had gained. He was wearing a long black coat over an out
fit that I could not see yet.

  Galina had her hand on his shoulder and spoke close to his ear. Everything about the situations screamed ‘old lovers’, but as I couldn’t see his face, I wasn’t sure whether he was enjoying her conversation or not.

  As we entered the hall, everyone turned to look at us—all eyes darted from one to the other so that they could see us all. Were-animals, dressed in black, lined the walls, standing ready to protect Léon, and just off to one side, I saw Miles lurking in the shadows.

  The air was mildly suffocating from all the power radiating within the confines of the room—the power produced by each of the vampires staring at us, each hinting at what they had the strength to do.

  Heat danced along my skin like hot water droplets from a shower. The burn spread across my skin like molten lava flowing down a hill. I shivered and rubbed my arms, hoping that it would stop.

  Léon turned around, his eyes flickering between Roland, Ian, and Esther as he said, “Who released these two?” He pointed at Ian and Esther.

  “It was me,” Roland said as he closed the gap between Léon and himself.

  “Why?”

  “I thought we might need the help. My humble apologies if I was wrong.”

  “You continue to defy me, Roland. This is becoming a common occurrence,” Léon said, a hint of warning suppressed behind his words. He leered at Ian and Esther, evidently unhappy. “They can stay for the night, but then they must go back.”

  Ian and Esther stood closer to each other and held hands. They stiffened when Léon said they were to return to their coffins. Good.

  There was a tall man beside Léon. His straight hair was more salt than pepper and was kept neatly off his face. From where I stood, his skin was pale and smooth, and he had small pouty lips, a thin nose and high cheekbones. His eyes looked like they could either be blue or dark grey. He wore a black high-collar mandarin suit with silver loops sewn on, the patterns of which moved as he walked.

  The man glided toward Sebastian but kept staring at me. They embraced in a half-hug while the man spoke in French. I had no idea what was said, but it sounded pleasant; there was no shouting or high-pitched sounds, and they both smiled like long-lost friends. With them standing so close and their faces together, I saw that they shared similar facial features. Léon glided over to the two men, and the three of them shared a group hug. Again, with all three standing so close to one another, it was those high cheekbones and jawlines that made them all strikingly similar.

  I stared as all three of them turned to face me. I saw that the older man had blue eyes, a shade lighter than Léon’s dark ocean blue.

  Léon spoke first. “This is Salvador, our father.”

  Salvador glided over to me with an outstretched hand. He had long delicate fingers and wrapped both hands around my hand, kissing the air next to each of my cheeks.

  He smiled, still holding onto my hand, and said, “So, this is the Blaire everyone has been running around to meet.” He glanced over his shoulder at Galina. I didn’t know what look he had on his face, but Galina looked like she had bitten into a lemon, with her mouth pulled askew and her green eyes narrowed.

  She lifted her hands into the air as if chasing a fly away from her face. “What would you expect? This is most sudden, is it not?” Her glare moved from Salvador to Sebastian.

  Sebastian could not keep eye contact with her and looked at his feet, and then to his left—at me.

  I didn’t need a mirror to know what was on my face. The lines between my eyes deepened, and I gave him one of my blank stares and shrugged.

  “She doesn’t know it was you?” Galina asked, and then she laughed, a high-pitched cackle that would burst your eardrums if it was any louder. I had the urge to cover my ears, but then the laughter stopped, just as abruptly as it had started.

  Looks were shared between Galina, Léon, and Sebastian, but no-one spoke. Salvador glanced at each of them and grimaced, and then his mouth blossomed into a smile. He was enjoying whatever was going on.

  “Will someone please tell me what is going on?”

  I folded my arms across my chest. Léon came toward me with his stony face hiding whatever he was thinking.

  When he was close to me, he placed his hands on the side of my arms and said, “We had to lie to you, Blaire. It was not I who marked you—but Sebastian.” He considered his brother and tilted his head toward me as if telling him to comfort me.

  I did not want to be held.

  “Wait, what? Sebastian is a were-animal. Can you mark humans?”

  “I’m a hybrid, Blaire,” Sebastian said. “I’m part vampire, part were-leopard. I am the best of both worlds.”

  “Why not tell me from the beginning?”

  I did not understand why they had lied. It wouldn’t have mattered either way. They saved me—both of them.

  Sebastian stared at me while he stood beside his brother.

  My arms were still crossed. I didn’t want anyone to touch me. If they did, I might just go for the gun and start shooting.

  Sebastian tried to explain. “We had to lie to you because we weren’t sure what you would do if you found out it was me. As you know, people are still unsure of were-animals, and there is more supporting literature on vampires than my kind. If you wanted to research it, you would have found that what Léon told you was plausible. We didn’t know who you were. And I couldn’t tell you what I truly was.

  “My secret is just that, and you can appreciate the risk to me if I had shared my secret with a human I had just met. But you need to know, Léon did first try to mark you, but it didn’t work, and you were dying. When I tried, the mark took, and you started to heal. We suspect that it was because I was a different were-animal to the one that attacked you and I had the additional vampire powers to heal you.”

  Roland laughed, and I flinched. He closed the gap of our little circle, still laughing. “Sebastian is a half-breed; a lesser vampire and a lesser were-animal. He is just lesser. And Léon is too selfish to help anyone—his sole focus is strengthening his power base. He does not care for anyone.”

  “I tire of your constant ramblings, Roland!” Léon responded. “Do I not give you enough power to manage the club?”

  “Ah, but that is the problem, old friend. It is your club; it is your power you lend me.”

  The conversation was moving too fast and in different directions. I was trying to keep up with who had marked me, and now there was this tension between Roland and Léon. Roland was powerful, but I doubted that he was more so than Léon. The air seemed to thicken with a sour stench to it, and I raised my hand to my mouth.

  “You need to control your rot, dear friend. Even the human can smell it.” Léon turned to Roland as he reached him, and the two vampires leered at each other.

  How was Roland’s power rot, when in the club, it had felt like desire and pleasure?

  Sebastian stepped away from them and pulled me into the embrace of his left arm, and we stepped back. Something was about to happen, and I didn’t want to be in the middle of it, and neither, it seemed, did Sebastian.

  “Sebastian is more powerful than you will ever be, Roland. The only reason he must hide it is because of what he is. Because of who he is, as my brother.”

  Roland yelled in French, and he sounded mad. Léon smirked at the man.

  “Your temper sets you apart from me, my old friend. If you were truly a master vampire, you could have left my court and established one of your own. But it is what I have that makes you stay. It is the power I share with you at the club that keeps you there. Do you believe that if I were gone, you could still offer pleasure to so many all at once?” Leon’s face grew grave as realization dawned upon him. “It was you who tempted fate with your greed.”

  Roland fell silent and nodded slowly with a wrathful grimace.

  Léon pressed on, like he was poking a stick at a snake, waiting for it to strike so that he could kill it. “What makes you so miserable, old friend? I thought you were ha
ppy.”

  “It is true. I wanted you dead.”

  Power rolled off Léon upon hearing Roland admit that it was he who wanted him dead, and it took my breath away. Roland fell to his knees, clutching at his throat as if he was struggling for air. Somehow, Léon was able to choke Roland without even touching him; the effect on Roland was surprisingly great, given that he was such a powerful vampire himself, rendering him powerless.

  “No, Léon, it’s not worth it,” Sebastian said, edging closer and almost grabbing hold of Léon’s arm. “Think of the consequences! You can’t have the Council against you.”

  With one hand, Léon caressed the air in front of him and Roland could ‘breathe’ again.

  I could breathe.

  “I should kill you, Roland, but I need to hand you over to the Council. They will see to your punishment.”

  Roland’s eyes flickered from Léon to Miles. As he tried to recover his composure, a smirk began to form on Roland’s lips. “Perhaps I am not the only one deserving of punishment, Léon. After all, I didn’t act alone. I had Miles to assist me.”

  Everybody turned to stare at Miles.

  “Miles?” The pang of betrayal was evident in Léon’s voice. Léon turned to his security, the man he entrusted to keep him safe. His eyes widened, but fury slipped into his expression. “What have you done, Miles?”

  Miles paled, and he looked like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights. He avoided Léon’s gaze. “It is true. At first, I helped Roland, but I later changed my mind. I stopped the assassin.” Miles’s eyes flickered in my direction. He paused for a second, then said, “I am sorry we attacked you, Blaire—my brother Danny and I. It was regretful, but it was my duty. When I saw you following Léon that evening, I knew that you would kill him, and I couldn’t allow you to do it.”

  To Léon, he said, “Please forgive me, master. When I learned of Roland’s true nature, I knew I had made a grave mistake. He said he would make me his second-in-command, but I knew that a were-animal could never be second to him. He was only using me like he does everyone else.”