by Aria Sparke
My mind was catching up with my body. I began to shake. ‘He’s dead—Flynn’s dead, isn’t he—or did I dream it?’
‘It was no dream.’ Tarek looked out the window. ‘We need a spell to protect the room.’
‘You want to hide in here? Why don’t you fight with your family?’ I said in disgust.
Tarek shook his head. ‘You don’t understand.’
‘Yes I do. You’re a coward.’
He half laughed. ‘You think I’m afraid to die?’
‘Your children are fighting your battle.’
‘Without me, their numbers will dwindle and they won’t be able to fight. Then who will protect your kind?’
‘You started it, you animal.’
‘Perhaps, but there’s nothing I can do to retract a mistake made 800 years ago.’
I opened my purse and removed a chalk stick before clearing a space on the floor. I was only half way through the incantation when I saw a face at the window.
‘Concentrate,’ Tarek urged. ‘Ignore it.’
Unafraid, I closed my eyes and completed the last words of the spell as I heard banging on the window and shouting from outside. When I had lit a candle to complete the ward, I noticed Tarek standing over me.
‘Is it done?’
I nodded and glanced at the hideous face of Vincent leering at me from the garden. ‘The ward is finished. They won’t be able to break the windows or batter the door down, so I guess we only need to stay here until dawn.’
‘Thank you.’
My body began to shake uncontrollably, so I dropped onto the sofa.
‘What is wrong with you?’ asked Tarek irritably.
I ignored him, as I curled into a ball and shut the world out. I didn’t sleep because the image of Flynn falling to the grass kept running in a circle around my mind.
Tarek settled in the chair opposite me but didn’t utter a word until light from the outside world began to filter into the room. I heard him stand and go to the window before pulling the drapes closed. An hour or so later, I heard someone tap on the door.
‘It’s me, Lily. Can you lower your wards, please?’ Alexis stood at the now open door, peering in at us but obviously was unable to cross into the room. ‘Are you alright?’
I sat up and when my head had stopped swimming, made my way to the chalk marks on the floor. I rubbed them with my foot and then turned to Alexis. ‘It’s safe to come in.’
Tentatively, he inched forward over the threshold before rushing toward me and giving me a long hug. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘For you too,’ I said, but there were no tears. All I felt was a strange, flat emptiness. It was as though my core had been ripped away and all that was left was a hollow shell. ‘The others?’ I couldn’t bring myself to say any names in case I somehow jinxed them into death.
‘Martin and Anya are okay. Zamira is missing. Alice and four of the visiting Ruberios are dead.’
‘What about the Berishas?’ Tarek asked.
‘None of them died apart from two of their dhampirs.’
Tarek shook his head disgustedly.
I tried to take it in, but it was too much to process.
‘She is obviously in shock,’ Tarek said from his chair. ‘I’ll take her back to the mansion.’
‘You will take her?’ I said indignantly. ‘She doesn’t want to go with you! Can’t you get that into your thick head?’
Tarek’s eyes popped slightly. I knew he was unaccustomed to being spoken to like that, but I didn’t care. I had lost my reason to live.
‘Aren’t you at all concerned about your son’s death or Zamira’s disappearance? What is wrong with you?’
I could see a worried Alexis in the corner of my eye signaling for me to settle down but turned my back on him.
Martin came bounding through the doorway yet propped when he caught sight of Tarek. ‘Oh, you’re still here, I mean, I’m glad to see you survived the attack.’ He glanced at me on the couch. ‘Are you okay, Lily?’
I nodded.
‘I don’t know how to break this to you,’ Martin said gently.
‘I know about Flynn.’ Just saying his name made me feel my shell was cracking.
‘Yes, I know.’
So there was more bad news?
‘His body is missing.’ Martin shifted and exchanged meaningful glances with Alexis.
‘I saw two Ruberio women with Flynn,’ I said while trying to stop my teeth chattering. ‘They would know what happened to him.’
‘I checked with everyone,’ said Martin steadily. ‘Someone has taken him.’
‘If it were Berishas, they may have rescued him from the brink of death with vampiric blood,’ Tarek said.
‘Then we have to bring him back,’ I said.
Tarek shook his head.
‘Don’t you dare shake your head at me! What is it? You’re afraid, aren’t you?’ I shouted at him.
‘That has nothing to do with it, Lily,’ Alexis said softly.
Tarek spoke over the top of him. ‘If he is with them and alive, he will become one of them. Nothing is surer, so either way he is dead to us.’
I felt like spitting on him. His clinical analysis left me with an even colder hatred for him than I’d had.
‘What is the weather like outside?’ Tarek asked Martin.
‘Not good—warm and sunny,’ Martin said.
Tarek turned to me. ‘We shall wait here until evening and then you’ll come with me.’
This time I said nothing, realizing shouting at him wasn’t having any effect. I had to outsmart him.
‘I have to pee,’ I said.
‘Escort her, Martin to the nearest facility. If you don’t return with her, I’ll hold you responsible,’ Tarek said with a steely expression. ‘And I’ll kill you.’
Martin looked at me and tilted his head at the door. I scrambled to my feet and followed him from the room toward the women’s bathroom on first floor.
‘Okay, any ideas?’ I said to him as we walked slowly.
‘Run out the front door into the sunshine,’ Martin said. ‘I mean it.’
‘Mmm no. He’d only make you suffer. I can’t have any of you responsible knowing what he’s capable of.’
‘So what will you do?’
‘I’ll go with him.’
Martin looked at me incredulously.
‘I think it’s the only way.’
‘Rubbish, run for it now.’
‘I have a plan.’
He pulled me into an alcove as though afraid. ‘Whisper it.’
‘Will one of you come to the front gates of the mansion on Tuesday at midday? I’ll need a passport and traveling clothes. Can you do that for me?’
Martin grinned widely. ‘Of course.’ He hugged me. ‘I’m sorry about Flynn.’
I hugged him back until I felt I’d break him. ‘I am too for you and Anya.’ I tried to contain a sob but couldn’t. ‘Until I’ve seen his dead body, in my mind he’s still alive waiting for us to rescue him.’
Martin gave me a soulful look with tears welling in his eyes. ‘I do hope you’re right, Lily. Because I’m not sure how we’ll go on without him.’
* * *
CHAPTER 24
Lily: With Tarek
When twilight fell, Tarek ordered me to come with him. We left the office with Alexis, Martin and Anya looking on helplessly, obviously distressed yet powerless to change Tarek’s mind. Alexis had tried several times through the day to persuade Tarek to let me stay at college to continue my studies, but he was deaf to his arguments.
‘You’ll not need a medical career with me,’ Tarek said. ‘You’ll be far happier and more contented than you could ever dream.’
Even though I raged inside at his comments, I didn’t flinch and pretended to ignore him. A myriad of sarcastic replies sat on the end of my tongue, but I held them in and yawned instead. I think it may have riled him because he upped the ante.
‘Yes, Lily my dear I think you’ll be a wonderfu
l mother. I was thinking six young dhampirs for the cause would be an excellent goal.’
I grunted but held strong. With each nauseating comment, I focused on Flynn and buried myself deep in my store of memories to keep my resolve strong.
‘More perhaps?’ he said and smiled sweetly. ‘I always wanted a big family—hopefully fine, strong sons. You could school them at home instead of sending them to a dhampir school. Mirela did that for the triplets and look how well they turned out.’
His taunts made me want to gag.
‘We could drive Lily to the mansion tomorrow when she’s had time to organize and pack her belongings,’ Alexis suggested quietly.
‘Nonsense, she can have brand new possessions at the mansion. I’m sure she’ll enjoy ordering clothes and books online. I know Mirela took great delight in doing so.’
I wondered if you could order silver blades online, the sort you could plunge into a vampire’s heart when he was sleeping.
‘Smile, Lily dearest,’ Tarek said. ‘We must head off now.’ He held his hand out to me as though to help me from the sofa, but I ducked and deftly avoided him while scrambling to stand. ‘Suit yourself.’ He stood in the doorway waiting for me until I reluctantly followed.
The drive to the Ruberio mansion was silent, as I found my mind drifting back to Flynn and wondering if he were still alive, where he was and how I was going to rescue him.
Tarek drove at high speed, yet I felt no fear of crashing because his coordination and eyesight were obviously better than any human racing car driver. He whistled and hummed while taking bends wildly as though he were enjoying himself. When we reached the boom gate, he spoke into the intercom.
‘We are home, Gregori, the missus and I.’
I sniggered.
‘Would you like me to carry you over the threshold? I’ve never tried it before.’
I rolled my eyes.
‘If you wish me not to niggle and tease, I suggest you try civility, dear Lily.’
I fumed.
‘Are you hungry?’
‘No.’
When Gregori greeted us at the door, I paid closer attention to him and noticed that although he stooped and walked in a crusty, elderly manner, his eyes appeared more knowing and younger than the rest of him.
‘Gregori has organized a room for you and will bring a light supper on a tray. We will discuss our living arrangements and future tomorrow evening. I’ll leave you to get settled and rest. Good night, my dear. Sweet dreams.’
Tarek left me standing in the entrance room with Gregori as he swept up the stairs at an impossible speed. I followed Gregori to the second floor and waited as he opened a room decorated with far too much white tulle, floral wallpaper and ornate plaster for my taste. The bed was huge, which worried me.
After Gregori delivered my supper, I locked the door and sat tentatively in an armchair by the window overlooking the rose garden. I wondered how many women had sat on their first night in a Ruberio mansion deliberating whether to jump out the window or were most under Tarek’s vampiric influence, no longer able to think for themselves? How many previous mansions had he occupied over the past 800 years and how many brides had lived in them as captives? Despite the comfortable surrounds, I might as well have been sitting in a concrete cell with iron bars holding me inside.
The longer I sat, the more a dark cloud grew in my mind. I had been blocking it for the past day, refusing to think about it, denying it air, but as I sat in the twilight, I could no longer contain it. Flynn was gone. A wave of sadness and loss rolled from the depths of my heart and gathered force until it came crashing into the open. I sobbed so hard my body shook. Unable to contain its momentum, I held myself and let the tears fall. Not knowing his fate, left me in a horrible limbo. How was I going to live without him and how would I find him? It was like being in free fall, bleak and unending, and so very lonely.
Exhausted after not sleeping, I didn’t get up the following day. I slept in snatches and each time, woke to the awful truth. When the sun went down, Gregori knocked on my door.
‘Mr Ruberio requests your presence at dinner.’
Hungry, I decided to get up. ‘Tell your master, I’ll be there when I’m good and ready.’
Gregori bowed slightly before backing up.
I pulled on a bathrobe hanging in the closet next to several evening dresses. After pulling on my sneakers, I ventured downstairs.
‘Good evening, my dear. You look elegant as always,’ Tarek said with a flicker of a smile.
I sat at the far end of the table and glowered at him though an elaborate assortment of white flowers and red candlesticks.
‘Will you bring Lily some steak and salad?’ Tarek asked Gregori.
The servant disappeared through the doorway to the kitchen while Tarek raised his glass and took a sip of what was obviously blood.
‘I’d offer you some but ... perhaps some wine instead?’
‘Sure,’ I said avoiding his gaze. ‘So where do you get your servants?’
‘Gregori has been with me since the beginning.’
I frowned. ‘But he’s human.’
Tarek leaned back in his chair. ‘In the old days before I was turned, Gregori and I were good friends. When he saw me not growing old, he eventually asked me the reason. I told him. Instead of being horrified, he wanted to join me in immortality. I advised him against it, but he kept pestering me. I took pity on him; however, when the ravages of arthritis took hold and his body became stooped and crooked. I gave him vampiric infusions over the years to slow his aging, just enough to hold the arthritis back and for him to lead an active life. He was so grateful he stuck with me over the years and became my assistant.’
I looked at him curiously. ‘Why wouldn’t you have him join you?’
Tarek looked into his glass and swirled the blood. ‘When I began my vampiric journey, in my ignorance I turned Vincent Berisha.’
‘You regret it?’
‘Yes. I should have killed him.’
‘Why?’
‘He was responsible for my wife’s death.’
I leaned forward. ‘He killed her?’
He nodded and gulped the blood. ‘She was one of your kind—not that I knew it straight away. We enjoyed a blissful union. I loved her like no other,’ he sighed, ‘until Berisha’s foul act. It’s a long story, but it has kept me motivated over hundreds of years.’
‘It all has to finish some time,’ I said.
‘Since those days there have been so many cycles of births, deaths and turnings. When I told Gregori of my sordid history, he decided being a fully-fledged vampire was not for him—a wise decision, don’t you think?’
‘If you let me go, maybe I could find a way to help you,’ I said quietly, putting it out there like a playing card. ‘To help you off this mad treadmill.’
He burst into laughter. ‘How do you imagine you could do what I, my family of dhampirs and an army of witches have been unable to manage for hundreds of years?’
I folded my arms and set my jaw. ‘Magic.’
Banging on the front door sent Gregori scurrying through the kitchen doorway toward the hallway. I monitored Tarek’s expression, but he seemed unfazed, so I didn’t panic. It was then I noticed two more place settings on the table.
Gregori guided Alexis and Cecilia to the dining room. They nodded at me and took their places at the table. I noticed Cecilia glancing at my bathrobe and unruly hair, but I was beyond caring.
‘Greetings, my son, I’m glad you could make it. And you, Cecilia what a pleasure to see you again. It’s been a while.’
What game was Tarek playing now I wondered?
‘There’s no word of Zamira,’ Alexis said.
‘What about Flynn?’ I asked. My voice sounded forlorn and weak, but I couldn’t help it.
As Alexis shook his head, I saw the devastation in his face. Poor Alexis, I knew how close he and Flynn were.
‘What happened to you Cecilia? You missed the ball,’ I said
almost accusingly, knowing she could’ve helped with her witchcraft.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Tarek monitoring Cecilia curiously.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said in a contrite voice. ‘I went south to a witch coven. It was an emergency, a last-minute affair for an old friend, so I couldn’t say no. Unfortunately because of floodwaters I only managed to return this morning before hearing the awful news.’
Knowing Alice had stepped up to fill her shoes and died in the attempt, I glared at her almost accusingly. ‘You would’ve been proud of Alice. She gave her life defending the Ruberios.’
‘Yes, I heard. It was very sad. We’ll miss her brave and beautiful soul.’
‘Alice went forward ahead of the dhampirs and tried to mend the wards on the wall while under vampire attack.’ I wanted Cecilia to feel bad enough to concede blame and express guilt.
She just looked at me and blinked.
I kept pushing. ‘Alice didn’t have a chance by herself. Her magic was no match for their strength and speed.’
‘Luckily the other witches were able to band together and repair the wards in time,’ Alexis said as though trying to move the focus from Alice. ‘Otherwise I think it would have been a complete massacre.’
Cecilia nodded, reached for her glass and gulped a mouthful of wine before turning to me again. ‘I’m so very sorry about Flynn. It was a tragedy. If there’s anything I can do to help you—a healing potion perhaps?’
I shook my head. I was beginning to realize it was Cecilia’s nature to go missing in action. To count on her or get too close would be foolish. She was nothing like my mother, who had been kind, generous and brave. Cecilia gave me one of her wishy-washy smiles and I felt like slapping her in return, but instead focused on the steak and baked potatoes Gregori had delivered to the table.
When we had finished dinner, Alexis rose from the table and announced he’d be heading back to Anubis. Cecilia pushed her chair back as though she was going to leave with him.
‘Won’t you be staying Cecilia?’ Tarek’s voice penetrated the air.
She startled. ‘I thought now that Lily is here ....’
‘Nonsense,’ Tarek interrupted. ‘You’ll stay here like usual. Lily needs further training in witchcraft. Unless ....’ He stopped and looked closely at her and then Alexis. ‘Is there something you two want to share?’