“Not dead man’s blood?”
“Nein, Miss. Fresh blood donated by the women in my family,” the girl reassured her. “My grandmother says the blood your enemy injected into you is out of your system. Our blood, Gypsy blood, will heal the damage done to you by the dead blood.”
Relief made her relax against the restraints that turned out to be sheets. “Thank God. I-I won’t fight you anymore.” The girl inserted the needle back in her vein and she felt the blood flow into her. She could feel her body absorbing it as quickly as it entered her and the weakness she felt was slowly abating.
The women visibly relaxed and began chatting.
“Where is Alex?” she asked, seeing he wasn’t in the room with her. “Is he safe?” Oh, God, was he dead? “Please,” she tried to rise, needing to find him. “Is he alive?”
Mary placed her hands on her shoulders, “Ja, Miss Jordan, he is alive. Master is receiving blood as well.”
“Good.” She settled into the pillows propped behind her head. “Please, call me Kai.”
“I am so glad you are one of the nice vampires. I prayed you were not the evil ones.” The girl bit her lip, glancing guiltily at the woman standing across from her. “Forgive me. I often speak without thinking first what comes out of my mouth.”
Kai chuckled at the way the dark-haired woman on her right rolled her eyes heavenward. “I understand completely. I am guilty of speaking my mind when I shouldn’t, too.” The girl blushed. “I must ask. Have the vampire hunters been here? Wherever here is.”
The woman answered, her German accent heavy, “Miss Jordan, you are at Wulf Manor. I am Sarah. Mary is my daughter. The hunters have been patrolling close to Wulf Manor. We thought they were hunting the demon vampires, until Mary saw you and Master in a dream. My husband and our sons went in search of you, hoping to find you first. Praise be, they were successful.”
Feeling stronger than she had in several days, she smiled at Sarah. “I am very grateful your family found us first. We’d run into them twice. The last time I was shot and is why I am the mess I’m in. Well that and the dead man’s blood. Been a really crappy week.”
Sarah patted her hand. “You are lucky to have survived. Vampire hunters are careless and do not care if they hunt a Borne or the Damned, they only like to kill.”
“A vampire’s curse, to be feared, hated, and hunted,” she replied cryptically.
An old, wrinkled woman shuffled forward and placed her gnarled, arthritic hand on her shoulder and patted it in the same motherly manner as Mary had. When she spoke, her old age faded away as she said to her, “Child, you are the hunter. Your curse will be your weapon against the evil I have dreamt returned to seek the Master. It bears a terrible need for revenge and its hunger is insatiable. You must be strong for the Master and for your very soul.”
Swallowing hard, Kai stared into the old woman’s kind eyes and saw fear in the dark depths. “I will be. I promise.”
“Good. Sarah, change the bag, Miss Kai needs more blood,” the old woman instructed as she shuffled toward the door. “Children, chores need to be done. Let us be about our day.” She shooed the other women out of the room, personally taking Mary by the hand, leaving only Sarah to watch over her.
“Sarah,” Kai asked after the old woman had closed the door, “who is she?”
“She is Gaeta, my husband’s mother. Gaeta has visions, sees people’s future, their past. Old magic. Strong magic.”
“Magic? As in real magic?”
“You will see. You will believe.”
“Okay, that should be fun. I think.”
Smiling at her, she said, “Rest, Miss Jordan, while I hook you to another bag of blood.”
While Sarah worked, Kai closed her eyes and focused on her own power, opening her mind, hoping to hear conversations — any voices that weren’t her own. At first, she heard a faint whisper. Growing louder, she thought it was several people talking, quickly she realized it wasn’t. Only one person. The one man she never thought she would ever be able to hear since he broke the blood bond between them.
“Kai, please be well. Do not die. I cannot hold on, not if you die.” The heart wrenching sorrow in his voice had her struggling to sit up.
She reached to pull out the needle, Sarah tried to stop her. “Sarah, I need to go to Alex. He’s in a bad way.”
“How do you know?”
“I-I just do. Where is he?”
“Here, let me remove the needle.” After she had it out, Sarah made to bind it with a bandage, not needing to as she had already healed. “Follow me.”
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, her feet hit the plush carpet. She stood unsteadily, gripping the bed for support. Gritting her teeth, Kai made her aching body move and managed to follow Sarah out of the room to the foyer. There was a wide, elegant staircase leading to the second floor, the carpeted rungs a dark coffee color against golden wood that was polished to a high shine. She faced the stairs with a grimace and made her legs move. At the top, she stopped, winded. Forcing herself to go on, she followed after Sarah down a long hallway. Considering the distance between the doors, she figured the rooms had to be apartment-sized. Sarah stopped and knocked on the fourth door. It swung open and a man, perhaps in his late sixties, whose long hair was white as snow, met them.
“Herrick, Miss Jordan needs to see the Master. She says it is most urgent she speaks with him.”
“Come in, come in. We are not able to awaken the Master. He is barely breathing.” He motioned for Kai to enter the spacious chamber. Alex lay on the four-poster bed, the emerald green and black comforter emphasized his pale, ashen features to a disturbing shade of death.
“Herrick, is there a sleeping chamber for….” She stopped. Unable to read them, to see if they were trustworthy or not, she found she didn’t know how to proceed with her question.
He gave her an understanding smile and said, “The Wulf family used the lower cellar when they resided at the manor.”
“We need to get Alex below, to recover.”
Understanding lit his dark eyes. “He needs to go to ground! Boys, let us carry him downstairs.” Herrick guided his sons in carefully lifting the unconscious man and carried Alex out the door.
Kai stared at the empty bags of blood. Alex had enough blood in him, why was he still out? Her gut instinct told her to hurry and put him the ground. She stumbled after them, feeling the dawn’s arrival and knew why he wasn’t waking up. His body had taken the choice for him and was trying to shut down to sleep the sleep of the vampire!
They walked past the foyer and into the kitchen. Sarah opened a trap door and the men struggled to carry him down the steep, narrow stairs into the dark cellar. Kai opened a grave, making sure it was big enough for her to join Alex. He might not approve, but she didn’t care. Alex needed her.
The tall Gypsy instructed his sons to put him in the grave. After they had him in it, they hurried out of the cellar. Herrick shrugged at her inquiring look. “Forgive my boys. They are not accustomed to such things. They have not seen evil as we have. Unfortunately, my children will soon encounter it.” He heaved a deep, regretful sigh.
“You have heard the Damned are recruiting, seeking unwilling as well as those who wish to sell their souls?”
“Ja, we have heard from family who reside near Berlin. The gypsies are able to keep their youth away from the Depraved, those not of the Rom are not as fortunate.”
“Faeroes, King of the Borne, has the Slayers hunting the Damned. We will win this war,” Kai said with conviction.
“You are a brave woman, Miss Jordan.” Herrick smiled. “Mortals are indeed lucky to have such fighters as you and the Master aiding them.”
“Please, call me Kai.” Looking askance at him, his reference to humans as the ‘mortals’, as if it were separate him. “Herrick, are you ‘different’ from other humans?”
Chuckling, he touched his finger to his nose. “I knew you were a bright child. My family is blessed with unnatu
rally long life. My grandfather lived to be a hundred and twenty-five. His only daughter, my mother, is considered a very powerful witch amongst the Rom. Our clan is the Sinti, the Germanic Roma. Gaeta has shown me and other how to extend our lives in order to protect the secrets we are bound to keep.”
Eyeing the tall man, she asked bluntly, “Which secrets are those? About Lisle or Aldric?”
Visibly shaken by her question, Herrick made his ways to the stairs. “We protect the Master and the estate we live upon. Master was involved with the Nazis. Germany holds those who were either sympathetic to the Third Reich or, in most cases, unwilling pawns, responsible and take legal means to bring justice for those who suffered cruelly during the war. We keep his secrets safe.”
“I understand. Thank you, Herrick.” She yawned, barely able to keep her eyes open. “I’d better go to ground.”
“Rest. We will continue our discussion tonight, after you and Master rise.”
“Herrick, before you leave, I must ask you something.”
“Ja, Miss Kai?”
“Why do you call Alex ‘Master’?”
“He is the sole heir to Wulf Manor and the titled lands belonging to the Wulf family. He is the last of a powerful and noble line of Borne vampires.”
Wow, he had truly left everything behind!
“See you after sunset, Herrick. And thank you again for saving us.”
“It is the least I could do for the Master, especially for what he’s done for me and my family. Sleep well.” Herrick left the cellar.
She waited for him to shut the door and slid the bolt in place, to ensure no one disturbed their sleep. Returning to Alex, she snuggled close to him. Willing the dirt to cover them, she closed her eyes and shut down her body.
And dreamed.
Chapter Six
January 27, 1819, Wulf Manor, the Winter Ball
“General Wulf,” a young man, dressed in civilian clothes, shouted above the music played by the hired orchestra, “Magistrate Breber requests your immediate aid! He needs more men to search for the Lord Mayor’s missing daughter!”
Ulrich slashed his hand in a signal to silence the musicians. He ordered gruffly, “Alexander, wait in my study. Aldric, you follow me.” He issued to Captain Von Patterson, “Assemble your men and await me outside, in the courtyard.” Ulrich stormed away. Aldric cast a worried glance back at him as he followed their father out of the ballroom.
Wondering why Aldric was to withdraw with Ulrich and he sent to the study, Alex found Archbishop Arturo, assigned by the Pope to oversee the morality of the Borne who made Germany their home, standing beside him. Observing the Archbishop, who was attended by four personal bodyguards, the old priest mumbled a prayer for the Lord Mayor and his family, for their loss, for mercy, and the means to find the girl and kill the beast who had taken her.
Opening his eyes, the priest beckoned him closer, “Alexander, I must caution you to watch your words and tread carefully with the Iron Wulf. He and others have exhibited erratic behavior in a time when level heads and open minds are a prudent path to find the beast hunting our children.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I shall strive to mind my words.” Why had the priest taken a personal interest in his dealings with his father?
The priest did something even more puzzling, he signaled his men to close in around them. He whispered, “The beast taking the children is unnatural. You and I both know this. Alexander, you and your brother have done credit to your kind by participating in the patrols. Hence, I speak to you directly and without mincing my words.” The old man’s shrewd eyes narrowed. “Long have I watched the Iron Wolf and how he has raised you to blend in, to act as the humans, to constantly be vigilant for signs of turning — of losing your soul, and I have openly disagreed with him his course concerning you and Aldric.”
“Your Grace, I do not understand why this is a concern to you.”
The priest offered him a sad smile. “His obsession of you turning will become his undoing, I fear. Do not allow it be yours. To this point I make, we know a normal wolf cannot open windows that have been locked on the inside. Let me ask you this, how can a wolf carry off a toddler without the child screaming for someone to come to their aid? Why hadn’t any of the children cried out to their parents or nannies?”
“You think the wolf has a human accomplice?”
“Mayhap.” The worry and fear the Archbishop exhibited as he glanced around them convinced Alex he thought differently. “The better question, my young lord, is what evil prowls the streets of Magdeburg and has the face of a neighbor or an associate? Who has permission to enter households?”
Alex caught his meaning, having wondered it himself if they dealt with one of the Damned. The priest grabbed his arm, intent upon him. “I ask of you to seek out the beast with any means necessary. Embrace your true nature, Alexander Wulf. Use the powers given to you by God and end the terror griping Magdeburg this night! I beseech of you, end this nightmare the people of Magdeburg are entwined in. Please!”
Swallowing hard, he said, “I must meet Ulrich, Your Grace. If a way presents itself and I am given the opportunity, I will hunt it and end its reign of terror over the mortals. This I vow!”
Nodding, he patted his shoulder. “You are good man, Alexander. God be with you and your brother.”
“May God be with us all.” He bowed to the Archbishop and left the ballroom.
Dressed in an expensive black dress coat, heavily embroidered silver thread adorned the cuffs and collar. The white of his starched shirt stood out brilliantly against the dark material. His black breeches fit him perfectly and were tucked into his knee-length boots that were polished to perfection. A glittering façade to aid the people in forgetting for a short time their grief and fear, until a rider sent by Breber, who had declined Ulrich’s invitation, came for Blumenthal and his wife, informing them of their only daughter’s abduction. Witnessing the poor woman’s screams, her fear and grief as her husband took her in his arms as they left to search for their missing child.
Entering his father’s study, he found he was alone. Grinding his fist into the palm of his hand, he paced back and forth across the expensive carpet, passing his father’s mammoth-sized desk. The thought of the innocent children being slaughtered left him sick to his stomach. His imagination played havoc as he thought of the Lord Mayor’s wife, sitting beside the very window where the thief had snuck in and had stolen her child, under the very nose of the sleeping nanny. If memory served, Blumenthal’s daughter was a precocious little four-year old, possessing a bright smile, blonde curls, and a feisty nature. Surely, the child would have called out and not allowed herself to be taken without a fight. Why hadn’t she?
The heavy door swung open, distracting his thoughts, admitting Aldric and their father. Their expressions were grim to say the least. Ulrich strode around his desk and sat in the plush chair, waving a hand to the armchairs positioned before it.
“Sit, boys. We need to speak.”
Casting an uneasy glance at each other, they did as their father bade. The fire snapped and popped. Ulrich stared at them, unblinking and unyielding. Finally, he addressed them.
“Alex, I am sending you to assist Breber in hunting down the wolf responsible for taking the children from their nurseries. We must put an end to the killings.”
Aldric leaned forward in his chair. “Father, have they found the children’s bodies?”
Swiping a hand across his furrowed brow, Ulrich replied, “No. Not a body, not a single scrap of their clothing or bedding taken. The children have vanished into the mists of the Harz Mountain without a trace.”
“God be merciful.” Aldric sat back. “Do you truly consider it is wolves abducting the children?”
“Only one set of tracks were found at the window where the animal snuck in and left with its goal. A rogue wolf is guilty,” Ulrich said with such conviction that it made Alex wary.
He asked, “Father, are you so certain the killer is a wolf? Perhaps
a demon vamp is hunting Magdeburg?”
“You think a demon vampyre disguises himself as a wolf to throw us off his trail and spend our resources hunting innocent wolves, thus freeing him to hunt other children, do you?”
“Why not? You have always told us the Damned are clever. Why is it so farfetched one would shape-shift to lay blame on the local pack, to cover up his tracks, so to speak.” Bolder, he concluded, “A wolf cannot enter a locked house. Not a one who is natural.”
“Careful, boy,” Ulrich warned. “To think like the demon is to become the demon.”
Refusing to back down, Alex countered, “To hunt our enemy effectively, should we not learn to better understand them and how they think, to stop them from killing the helpless and the innocent?”
“Enough!” Ulrich roared, jumping to his feet. “Go and ready yourself to meet the magistrate. Aldric, you will stay here with us.”
Furious, Aldric demanded, “Why? What use will I be here? I can search with them, Father.”
“As my eldest son, you are destined to carry on the Wulf name if I should die. If some mishap should befall Alex, I have protected my bloodline.” Ulrich showed no sign of remorse or guilt at having openly chosen between his sons.
Any other time the bastard’s words would have angered him, not now, not when there was so much at stake. “What about Herrick and his people? Were they freed due to the latest abduction?”
If possible, Herrick’s gaze hardened more. “The gypsies were cleared of the charges by Magistrate Breber earlier today. Herrick sent word he and only four of his men would return to serve us. The rest have chosen to abandon us to their pagan ways.”
Alex looked away, not wishing Ulrich to see his disgust. The gypsies were far more devout followers of God than his parents could possibly achieve. Breber was indeed a good man to judge by evidence and not the fear of his townspeople. He felt truly regretful having slept with the man’s wife, a mistake he would never again make.
Wulf's Redemption (Borne Vampires Book 3) Page 7