Whisper to Me (Borne Vampires Book 1)

by Petzler, W. M.

  “We are in a bind. The only clothes we have are the ones we are wearing. Can you help us select outfits to replace our lost ones?”

  “I think we can help you there.”

  An hour of trying on clothes, a certain madness took hold of her when she selected a low cut ‘v’ neck shirt made of dark blue satin. The sleeves long and the cuffs unbuttoned. Next, she chose a pair of faded hipster jeans and black, heeled boots. To finish the outfit, she chose a hip-length, black leather jacket. A pair of tight-fitting leather pants and a sleeveless black satin shirt with a plunging ‘v' neckline caught her eye, and she put it in the purchase pile. New bras and underwear, socks completed her list of necessities. Adding several pairs of jeans and novelty t-shirts, the clerk helped her take her selections to the cash register.

  Lydia stepped out of the fitting room wearing a darling dress in delicate hues of pink and peach. The colors enhanced her natural beauty. As she twirled around, her shining, curly red hair bobbed about her shoulders. “What do you think?”

  “Lydia, you look beautiful. You need to pick out more clothes though.”

  “I think will.” Grinning, Lydia went to the jean section.

  Carrying several hug bags each, they hailed a cab and went back to the hotel. In their room, Lydia made known she was starving, so they ordered room service. While Lydia devoured her steak, she tried the beef soup, unable to stomach it. All she could think about was drinking blood. The bloody juice on Lydia’s plate made her mouth water. Breathing hard, she rose from the table and gazed out the window, the sun lowering in the sky. Nighttime would bring out the vampires — those with souls and ones without. She chewed worriedly at her lower lip, not as confident as she was earlier about what she was about to do.

  “Mariah, can you still go through the book signing? Are you strong enough?”

  Sighing, she smiled at Lydia. “Signing books is the least of my problems tonight.”

  Petting her dogs, who were sprawled out on the carpet, their bellies full from the hamburgers she’d fed them. “Don't worry, I'll be fine. We’d better change. We’re supposed to be at the bookstore around six.”

  “I’m done eating. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be ready.” Pushing away from the table, Lydia went into the bathroom while Mariah dressed in the bedroom.

  Wearing jeans, a white tank top under a lightweight, knitted black sweater, she pulled on a pair of running shoes, just in case tonight went bad. Rummaging through the duffle bag, she pulled out a few items she felt they might need later. Handing Lydia the extra handgun she’d found in the bag, she took the gun Rathe had given her and slipped it in her waistband, at the small of her back, pulling on her leather jacket to hide it. Leaving the dogs in the hotel room, they took the elevator down to the lobby.

  “Mariah, I know it’s important for you to learn about your family, it’s just that … we are about to have a conversation with the leader of the Damned! I’m scared.”

  “We’ll be fine. We’re armed and dangerous.” She realized she wasn’t scared. Exhilarated, actually was how she felt. The elevator door opened, and they exited. Nodding to the desk clerk, Mariah pushed open the glass door. Outside, the evening air cool, she skidded to a stop.

  “Mariah?”

  “Can you feel it?”

  Rubbing her arms, Lydia nodded. “Yes.”

  Evil had woken from his slumber.

  A long, white limousine pulled alongside them and parked. The driver opened his door and stepped out of the car. He walked around the rear of the car and tipped his black hat to them. His cold, bloodshot eyes met hers, a creepy grin spread on his colorless lips. He opened the rear passenger door and swept his arm, inviting them into the dark interior.

  “Ladies, my employer offers the use of his car and ordered me to drive you wherever you wish to travel.” The driver's oily, simpering voice and the rotted fleshy smell around him made Mariah sick to her stomach, which she hid.

  Behind her, she heard Dora’s voice, “Miss Jordan, why don't you share our cab?”

  “Umm, yes, we would love too.” To the ghoul, she tried to smile while trying not to gag. “Please inform your employer I am flattered by his offer, but I promised these sweet ladies I would ride with them to the bookstore.”

  Bowing to her, he tried his best to stay civil. “As you wish.”

  Piling into the cab, they huddled together in the backseat. As the cab pulled away, the ghoul glared at them as he pulled out his cellphone out of the inner pocket of his black suit.

  Dora said, “Sorry about intruding on your ride in such a pretty car, but you know what he was, don’t you?”

  “Ghoul, right?”

  “Yes, he is a day guardian for his maker, a vampire who has chosen to lose his soul.”

  May leaned forward and looked around her sister to see her. “Miss Jordan, you must take better care of yourselves. One mistake and you can wind up at the mercy of a very evil and vile vampire!”

  Lydia asked, “You protect your minds, blocking in case they can hear your thoughts, don’t you? It's why I can't read you.”

  They preened, seeming quite proud of themselves. May nodded. “Whenever we travel to San Francisco, we have to guard our minds. The leader of the Damned is the most strongest of them demon vamps, and he is recruiting. Especially those who are touched in the head, so to speak.”

  “Is that why he sent a car for me?” she asked, nervously, “To recruit us?”

  “Miss Jordan, I’m sure you know by now that he has selected you to be his.”

  “Why me?”

  Dora patted her hand sympathetically. “Evil has needs as do we, humans. Except, boundaries differ for a vampire.”

  Confused by what he said about family and what the women shared with her, she had a very bad feeling about meeting the vampire now. The cab pulled to the curb and they climbed out. Mariah offered to pay the fare, but Dora stoutly refused and handed a twenty to the driver. Together, they stood outside the bookstore and nervously watched the sun fall beyond the Pacific Ocean.

  Startled, she heard Rathe roar his rage when he found her gone. Putting up the block in her mind, she shut him out and focused on the long line of women assembled in front of the bookstore. Later, she would deal with him.

  “Dora, May, thank you for sharing what you know. I appreciate it.”

  “Anytime you need us, we’re here for you, Miss Jordan.”

  “Please, call me Mariah.”

  Upon entering the quaint bookstore, a charming, round woman introduced herself as the store’s owner and led her and Lydia to a table with a comfortable chair positioned behind it. The owner found another chair for Lydia, who sat beside her as she settled in to sign books. Answering questions about her plans for future books, avoiding those aimed at her personal life, she managed to keep smiling until she smelt it.

  Death!

  Searching the cause, she saw him standing in a dark corner. His white suit was elegant and pristine. Waist long, flaxen-blond hair immaculate, there was not a single strand out of place. He leaned on a black cane, his finely boned hand rested on the ivory headpiece, smiling serenely as he watched her. Dark, square sunglasses prevented her seeing his eyes, but she knew his face, knew him.

  Aidan.

  A woman put her book in Mariah’s hands and she bent to sign it. Insistent whispering in her mind distracted her from her work. She tried blocking him out, to ignore him. Stupid thinking on her part. With a wave of his hand, the store cleared, including the owner. He approached the table, holding one of her books in his hand.

  “Miss Jordan, I would be honored if you could be so kind as to sign my book for me. I have enjoyed your writing immensely.”

  God, he sounded like Aidan, moved like him, too!

  Staring at the bluish veins tracing the back of his pale hand, she warily took the book, careful not to touch him. “You've read my work?”

  “I find your writing most stimulating. You are a vital part of your characters, immersing your soul into
your writing. There’s darkness in you which I find inspiring.” His lips pulled back in a smirk. “If I may, I would like to extend an invitation,” he paused with an amused smile before saying, “for dinner.”

  Swallowing hard, she prayed she didn’t piss him off, but there was no way she was going anywhere with him. “I cannot. Due to a previous engagement, I must regretfully decline.”

  “This little bookstore shall have to do then.” He smiled coldly at Lydia. “My dear, why don’t you return to your hotel room while Miss Jordan and I converse?”

  Lydia shot her a scared look. Mariah forced a smile and said to her, “It’s alright, Lydia. I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Off with you now.”

  Nervous, Lydia cautiously went around the table, keeping her eye on him as he watched her with amusement. Opening the door, she glanced back once at her and left.

  “Excellent,” he said cheerfully, “we can have our chat now.” Waving a hand, a chair slid to him. Regal as a king, he sat down, elegantly crossing his long legs at the ankles. A quizzical expression was on his beautiful face. “You do not fear me?”

  “Are you Aidan?”

  Taking off his glasses, she saw they were blue. Not Aidan. His eyes glittered, shiny on the surface, dead inside the icy depths. “I see you are disappointed. Please, allow me to properly introduce myself, I am Jarrod Draco, Aidan’s twin brother.”

  Draco? She went cold inside. Oh, God, she was Aidan’s daughter!

  “I see in your eyes recognition of my name. Our name.”

  “Y-yes, my name on my birth certificate is Mariah Draco.”

  “Why do you go by Jordan then? You are not married, are you?” his voice went cold, a thread of anger intertwined in it.

  “I took the name Jordan when I became a published writer,” she lied. No way was she telling him her adopted family had her use their name when she came to live with them.

  His eyes narrowed, as if he knew she was lying. She quickly changed the subject. “Twins? Do twins run through vampire families often?” Sitting back in the chair, the dream she had now made sense.

  “Not often. It is considered a burden rather than a blessing. At least in our family, it seemed. How much do you know about your father?”

  “Then Aidan is my father?” she asked, trying hard not look into his eyes. Damn, he was powerful!

  “Yes, dearest Mariah, Aidan was your father. How much do you know about him?”

  “Only what he looked like and … and how much he loved my mother.”

  “Nothing else?” She shook her head. “What memories have you of your youth?”

  Surprised he asked that, she wondered if he knew about her amnesia. “Not much. I remember finding the people I thought were my parents beheaded, the fire that burned their bodies and our house down.”

  His face hardened in response. “Slayers were sent to kill you.”

  “You think it was Slayers who had murdered them?”

  “I know they did. The Slayers were there to kill you, to kill the ‘abomination’. That’s what the Borne call the Dhampir. Abominations.” Jarrod tilted his head as he observed her. “The spell the Gypsy cast on you protected you from the Slayers, kept you hidden from detection — kept the vampire in you hidden. Unfortunately, it prevented me from finding you and bringing you home, where you belonged.”

  Jarrod’s long fingers tightened around the gargoyle. “It is the Borne Vampire Law not to consort with humans. The Borne are never to turn the humans, never produce a child with them,” he said it with such bitterness, such hatred; she began to wonder who the real monsters were. “Death is the penalty for infractions. Ordered by the precious Borne Elders.”

  “Did you know my mother?”

  “No, I had not met her, but I knew her name her through my connection with Aidan.”

  “What was her name?”

  “Maria was her name.”

  “Maria.” She repeated, blinking back the tears, not wanting to appear weak before Jarred. The vampire who had saved her had named her close to her mother’s.

  “Maria was a delightful creature. Whimsical and wild. Aidan was immediately smitten with her spirit and delicate beauty.” Lifting the head of his cane, he pointed it at her hair. “Not many a redhead amongst the Sinti and Roma or possessed her gifts.”

  “Was she full-blooded gypsy?”

  “Yes and was so much more. Much more.”

  “How?”

  “Maria could read peoples’ thoughts; sometimes see into the past, the future. It was her gift that told her Aidan was vampire, and they were destined to meet.”

  “She wasn’t scared of him?”

  “No. In fact, she told him she’d been waiting for him. They were destined to be together, she’d said. Imagine that? A human seeking out a vampire, and she loved him to top it off.” Jarrod wore a baffled look and the strangest thing, admiration. “Aidan was lost in her, and she in him.”

  “Who attacked them? Was it her clan?”

  “No, Ivan had left his people after Maria’s mother perished giving birth to her. He took his daughter to Romania, wanting her to have a normal life, not used as a fortune teller, forced to see people’s misery or their hopeless dreams at endless readings.”

  “To protect her, he made her an outcast? That makes no sense.”

  “Humans. When do they ever make sense?” Jarrod’s eyes bore into hers as he leaned forward. “No Slayer would have taken mercy on a half-breed child. I am curious, who saved you?”

  “How did the villagers find out Aidan was a vampire?”

  Relaxing back in his chair, if he was disconcerted, he didn’t let it show. “Your grandfather learned Maria had been sneaking out at night. When he followed her, he realized the man she met was a vampire. Fearing for her mortal soul, he confided in his friends. They took it upon themselves to hunt Aidan down. My brother was outnumbered, and no Borne would come to his aid.”

  “Why not?”

  Jarrod dropped his gaze to his hands, his voice raw with grief and anger, “Because Aidan had committed a heinous crime in his vampire families' eyes. He had fallen in love with a human. A sin which left him defenseless, for no Borne vampire would ever come to his aid, even if he had called for it.” A brief, haunting agonized expression replaced Jarrod’s calm before he collected himself.

  “But a vampire did come to his and Maria’s aid.” Cursing her stupidity, she wanted to slap herself for opening her mouth.

  “What?” He sat straighter in his chair. “How do you know?”

  “I-I saw him in a dream. Aidan told him to save Maria.”

  Eyes narrowing, Jarrod demanded, “Why didn’t this vampire save Aidan as well?”

  “Aidan ordered him to protect Maria and the child growing inside her while he stayed to hold back the villagers from following them.”

  “Have you a name for the one responsible for saving your mother’s life?”

  “No. He saved me twice though.”

  “Twice?”

  “He killed the hunters when they attacked my grandfather and mother, after she’d given birth to me.” She watched him carefully, seeing he did not react when she said ‘hunter’ instead of ‘Slayer’. The men who killed them were definitely human, not vampire!

  “I owe the one who saved you much. Have you seen him since your birth?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  Swearing, he took his cane in hand, twisting his hands about it. “Who saved you, I wonder?” Giving his head a little shake, Jarrod focused on her. “It does not matter. I’ve found you, and no one will harm you again. With transfusions of my blood, the spell will break, and you will become what you should have been. Do not be fooled by the dilution of your blood, you are vampire.” His smile was triumphant.

  Not wanting to exchange blood with him, even if he was her uncle, she remembered Rathe’s words of Jarrod and him friends. “You were a Slayer, weren’t you?” She glanced down at his hands and found he did n
ot wear a ring like Rathe and his brothers.

  “I was, a long time ago.”

  “Why didn’t you save Aidan? Did you obey the Borne law and leave him to die for his sin of loving Maria?”

  “In vampire families, we are able to converse telepathically with one another. For twins, we feel what the other feels. Except Aidan had broken the link with me when he met Maria, afraid I would judge him. Something I never would have done, not to Aidan.” The sadness in his eyes made her wonder if his soul was really gone.

  “The night Aidan was captured he opened the link between us. I suffered what Aidan suffered as they stabbed him, burned him, finally chopping off his head. In vengeance, I killed my brother’s murderers. I, who was a Slayer, was judged for seeking revenge for my brother’s murder! See for yourself!” His eyes blazed white-hot and she gasped as he showed her the night he found the villagers.

  Jarrod ripped limbs off, tore bodies apart, and drank the gushing blood. Blind was his rage, his grief monstrous in proportion to a mere human at losing his only brother, his twin. Reeling at the magnitude of his grief, the infinite separation, she felt Jarrod’s despair as he held his brother’s headless body, having lost the only person who had loved him unconditionally.

  “Jarrod, you didn’t lost your soul when you killed the villagers, did you?”

  “No, I hadn’t.” A ghost of a smile escaped the vampire. “When I declared war on the Borne, I needed the true vampire in me to arise and give me the power to kill them all. I traded my soul for real power!” Ice-blue eyes glowed with a half-mad light. He leaned forward, eager. “Mariah, bind your soul with me. Together, we will change the vampire world. No longer shall the Damned fear the Borne. With you by my side, we will rule the world!”

  “Excuse me? Did you say ‘rule the world’?”

  “Only you, Mariah, can bring back my soul. You will have the power to do it, once the protection spell is completely broken.”

  “How? Once a vampire loses their soul, it can never return.”

  “It has been foretold a woman who is Gypsy and vampire, a telepath who can bend vampire and human to her will, will come and within her she has the power to return lost souls. You, Mariah, are the one prophesied to save the Damned. With your blood, my soul shall be restored to me.” Jarrod smiled confidently. “I will rule the Damned and the Borne vampires, with you by my side — as my bride.”