The sound of a car pulling into the driveway interrupted their conversation. Glancing at each other, they stood up and went out to meet Sebastian’s friend. Though Sebastian talked with Jacques often, he hadn’t seen him for a couple weeks.
“Thanks for coming, mon ami,” Sebastian said, giving his friend a warm embrace. He introduced Ian to Jacques, and the two exchanged a sincere handshake.
“What’s up Sebastian? You look worried,” Jacques said.
“It shows?” he snorted.
“Yes, it shows,” Jacques echoed and chuckled. “Actually, you look pissed off, what’s up?”
“It’s Annabel,” he said darkly.
“What has she done to make you this mad?” Jacques asked.
Sebastian looked surprised for a moment, but then he shook his head and smiled lightly. “Well, you and I have talked about Annabel before, but now her intrusion into Arielle’s life and mine has reached a dangerous level.” Sebastian’s face darkened. “She appears out of nowhere and tries to hurt Arielle, scaring her to death. She has vowed to destroy my life, as you very well know, but now she wants to do that by killing Arielle. She has tried to harm her on several different occasions. One of those times she almost succeeded in killing her and Eva, Ian’s fiancée,” he said and waved his hand in Ian’s direction.
A long silence fell between the two friends. “I think she’s living in this house,” Sebastian added abruptly.
“What?” Jacques said, eyes widening. “In this house? Where?”
“Yesterday, due to the incident that almost killed Arielle and Eva a couple of days ago, we discovered that someone has been living in one of the rooms in the west wing without my knowledge. I don’t know if it’s Annabel, or a friend of hers, or both. We’re just not sure how many people have access to this house and for that matter how they get in and out without being detected. They must be getting in through a secret passage. So the whole matter has reached a new, and yes, maddening level. Pier and Jon are already here,” he added.
“Great!” Jacques said. “It’ll be good to see them, no matter what the circumstances.”
“We have a few other guys here to help as well. I will introduce them all to you in the next few hours. You are familiar with the house so I don’t need to escort you upstairs, but we are on our way up as well. Go ahead and pick a room that is not occupied and relax for a little while. I have a feeling we may have a long night ahead. I’m sure you’re tired after all that driving, and I do appreciate you coming all this way. Let’s meet down here again around three-thirty.”
“All right, Sebastian. Sounds good.”
Jacques and Ian followed Sebastian upstairs, and Ian left them when he reached his room.
“I’ll see you both at three-thirty,” he said. They nodded, and Ian shut the door behind him.
Sebastian left Jacques at the door of the room he had chosen and walked toward his own room to gather his thoughts.
Everyone had arrived, and Sebastian was sure that with their help he would be able to accomplish a great deal. How long it would take was another question, but no matter what it took, he knew he had to see it through. He swallowed the lump in his throat, thinking of Annabel and wondering what was to come. Thinking about Arielle’s safety made his chest ache. He couldn’t let anything happen to her! She was the center of his universe, the person he lived and breathed for, and the passion and the excitement that she brought into his life was growing more powerful and more intoxicating every minute of every day.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, he lay in bed and closed his eyes. One thing was for sure, if he had to, he knew that he would give his own life to make sure that she was safe.
At three-thirty everyone gathered in the library, waiting for Sebastian. They all seemed to be getting along just fine and exchanged stories of their escapades. Ian was amazed at the tales he was hearing, and enjoyed every moment of it.
After a few moments, Sebastian walked in and greeted everyone. “Thank you all for coming,” he said. His voice was calm, low, and direct. “As you know by now, Troy, Ian, and I came here to celebrate our engagements to three amazing women. We had a wonderful time here the first week, but then strange things started to happen. For those of you who don’t know, Annabel is the woman I was forced to marry due to family commitments back in the 1600s. Our annulment two years after the wedding set her off on a maddening quest to cause me whatever grief she could. She has tried to seriously injure Arielle more than a few times but wasn’t able to succeed thanks to a very powerful necklace that my mother gave Arielle for her protection. When she wears the necklace, anyone who touches her with the intent to harm her will be repelled, including immortals.”
“On her last attempt, Annabel didn’t try to touch Arielle, she just lured her and her friend Eva into a dark room in the west wing of the house, with no way out and no ventilation. She locked them in there and left them to die. And she almost succeeded in getting them killed. We got to them in time only because Eva possesses some incredible powers that helped guide us.”
Everyone listened carefully as Sebastian spoke, totally engrossed in what he was saying. “I have banned Annabel from this house and I know she is not getting in through the doors because there is someone here watching at all times. There has to be a secret entrance, or perhaps several, that she is using to get in. The west wing has been empty for centuries now, used only for storage and nothing more. Just before the last incident, the girls found a room that looked occupied by someone—most likely a woman with an Italian name—someone completely unknown to me. I say a woman because I found a suitcase in the closet with a woman’s name on it. I asked for Troy’s help in case he was familiar with this woman,” he said. “To my surprise, Troy said that he has had a short affair with Giovanna Degrali hundreds of years ago but nothing more. We thought maybe some of you might know of her as well.”
An uncomfortable silence fell in the room as Troy’s friends looked at each other, dismay in their eyes. Their surprise was evident.
“What?” Sebastian and Troy asked at the same time.
“Did you say Giovanna Degrali?” Antonius snarled. His voice was cold, hard, infuriated.
“Yes. Do you know her?”
“Oh, yes, I know her!” he said furiously, lips pulled back, teeth grinding painfully. The veins were bulging in his neck, and his face was suddenly jerked by revulsion. “I’ve spent most of my life looking for that bitch, and when I find her I will destroy her with my bare hands.” His hands came up balled into tight fists and thrust into the air. Sebastian and Troy looked surprised, their eyes widened.
“How do you know her?” Sebastian asked.
“I’ll be the last person she will ever see before I rip her body to pieces,” Antonius said. The hatred in his voice was unmistakable, astonishingly rigid and cruel.
“How do you know her?” Sebastian asked again.
Antonius spoke slowly, his voice full of venom. “This goes back long before I met Troy. They told me that she had my brother Paolo killed. But I am sure she did it herself. He was my best friend. He was brilliant. Fluent in six languages, high-spirited, loved the arts. And a very successful surgeon.”
“How well did you know her?” Sebastian asked.
“Giovanna was a very interesting woman. She was the daughter of one of the most powerful families in Italy, a sixteenth century version of the perfect socialite. Her father had her killed because she was in love with an immortal, and he was not going to allow something like that to take place in his high society circle. Her lover was very upset and determined to keep her with him for eternity. So, he got to her on time and gave her immortality. A couple of years later, he found out how evil and selfish she was, and he left her. Afterward, she became much worse. It was as if she hated every man on this earth. Her reputation became that of a true demon. She lured men into her life and then ripped their hearts out once she knew they were in love with her. She is completely incapable of falling in love with anyone but hers
elf.”
Troy listened, nodding in agreement. So far, Antonius’s story was exactly like the story Troy had told.
“My brother and I met her at a party one night. Giovanna pursued him with an incredible passion. I tried to warn him by telling him all the stories that surrounded her to keep him away from her. But he didn’t listen to me. She was very convincing, and he ended up falling for her. She was good to him for a short time, and then she got tired of him. Suddenly, he vanished. My friend Giani and I looked for him for months, following every lead we could get. We did find the truth, but it was long after she was gone from our circles. An old boyfriend of hers that had survived her virulent madness told us the details of Paolo’s death. He didn’t know if she had used a sword or stabbed him with a dagger, but she dismembered him and discarded his body parts everywhere for the animals and the birds to find.” He paused for a moment, overcome with emotion. He took a deep breath and continued, “I have vowed to avenge his death and that is exactly what I’m going to do when I find her. We ran into her once in Bologna a century ago and the three of us hurt her real bad. We were pretty close to snapping her head off when several of her friends jumped in and she escaped during the confusion. I have gone to every place I have been told that she has visited and I seem to always miss her by a day or an hour.”
As Antonius spoke, bitterness dripped from every word. A dark look crossed his eyes and an agonizing pain shot through his chest. He took a quick look around the room, and resting his gaze on Sebastian he hissed, “Are you telling me that she may be living in this house now?”
Sebastian nodded, lost for words. An uncomfortable glimmer passed through his eyes and he drew in a deep breath. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” he said. “And your story sounds exactly like Troy’s. He was her lover for a short time, and from what you’ve told us he’s lucky to be here today.” He looked at Troy and they both smiled.
“Well, let’s go!” Antonius said, a steel edge in his voice.
Sebastian’s mouth twisted and, raising his hand up, he warded Antonius off.
“There is no one here that does not understand your anger, Antonius,” he said. “However, I think we should do this the right way. Let’s all go quietly to the room where Giovanna’s luggage was located. If she is there, we’ll deal with her. If she isn’t, we can locate the passage and then wait for her or whomever she is with to enter. I think all of us working together have a better chance of destroying her. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, of course, you’re right,” he said, but a dark light burned in his eyes.
“The second task is locating the secret passages,” Sebastian continued. “That shouldn’t take long, considering that there are nine of us here. Once we know where they are, we can follow them and see where they end up. Ian, I have to restore order in this house before I can leave for Brighton. If we aren’t done with this matter by Monday, you should feel free to go back with the girls so you can get back to school on time. The same goes for anyone else here who might have things they need to do.”
“We are not going anywhere until we finish what we are going to start here today,” Troy said.
“I don’t mind being late for classes,” Ian added with a smile.
Sebastian smiled. He exhaled with relief, pleased to have the support of his friends. “Thanks,” he said pointedly, his voice husky with appreciation.
“Sebastian?” Antonius said, the harshness in his voice making Sebastian look up.
“I’ll do this your way. But when we find her, she is mine to do with as I please. Okay?”
“I think it’ll be our pleasure to let you deal with her,” Sebastian chuckled, and they all joined in.
Chapter 14
THEIR ADRENALINE PUMPED HARD as they walked at an agonizingly slow pace down the long hallway towards the room looking for Giovanna. The room was not located in a conspicuous place. Sebastian was sure it had been picked on purpose so that its inhabitants could go unnoticed for as long as they needed to achieve their dreadful results. And for a while it had worked. If it were not for Arielle’s desire to explore the house, nobody would have been aware of the unwanted visitors or the deadly plot that was being developed right inside Sebastian’s own home.
They moved quietly, like ghosts. Sebastian kept Ian close to him, even though he seemed comfortable moving along with the others. They crept silently, stopping short of the door and listening. The men smiled. Voices were coming from inside the room.
Sebastian looked at Antonius, who couldn’t help clenching his teeth, fire spitting out of his eyes. Every feature on his face was alarmingly full of resentment. His fists were clenched against his body, and he looked ready to explode.
Sebastian was the first to burst into the room, followed by the others. Two young men were standing in the middle of the room, and a woman was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in a nightgown. Their heads jerked around to face the door, looking completely startled. Antonius leapt to the side of the bed and stood right by the woman’s side, grinding his teeth. The other guys surrounded the two young men, who were completely taken aback, glancing fearfully between the men that had burst into the room. The woman sat unruffled on the bed.
A long, cold silence fell in the room. Eventually, everyone turned their attention to the woman. From the look on Antonius’s face, they were sure they were looking at Giovanna.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, with black hair and striking blue eyes. She was both serene and passionately seductive. Her features were perfect, and her sensual mouth curved into a soft arc when she smiled. They all looked directly into her amazing eyes as she stood up slowly. Her silk négligée slid down over her shoulders, exposing her beautiful white skin.
“Well hello, Troy, hello, Antonius,” she said, a sexy smile on her face. “I’m delighted to see you.” She spoke sixteenth century Italian in a strange, fashionable style.
A wide, wry smile spread across Antonius’s face. “I’m sure the feeling is not mutual,” he said, spitting out the words.
At that, her expression became sober. “What can I do for you, Antonius?” she asked in a tightly controlled tone of voice. Sebastian looked at her in dismay, unable to believe her unmitigated gall.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Sebastian interjected, moving closer.
She turned slowly to face him. “Who wants to know?”
Sebastian bit an oath back and pinched the tip of his nose. “I own this house,” he spit out angrily, “and you have not been invited here.”
She seemed taken aback for a short moment, but she recovered quickly. “Oh, really?” she said. “I was told that I was welcome here,” she said, her voice turning quiet as she swallowed hard.
Antonius and the others fully understood that when a person lives for centuries like they all had, you get smarter along the way. This allows people to either perfect themselves over time or turn out as bad as a person can be. That is exactly what had happened with Giovanna. She was not fooling anyone in that room with her act.
She turned to face Antonius, ignoring Sebastian completely. Her voice was low and husky, full of revulsion that had been lying dormant for centuries, waiting for a moment like this. She felt a mix of bitterness, exhaustion, and anguish for Antonius.
He pierced through her eyes with his own, and with a harsh laugh, he said, “Well, well. Here we are now, and no place for you to go. You do know that you are going to pay, and pay hard, for my brother’s death.” There was a sharp edge of fury emanating from his voice. “Consider this your swan song before you leave this earth, and be thankful that I’m going to rid the world of your worthless existence.”
Her eyes darted wildly around the room. “I wasn’t responsible for Paolo’s de…” she started to say, but Antonius raised his hand to stop her from talking.
“No more lies,” he said, disgusted. “Mauritsio told me all the ghastly details. You do remember Mauritsio, don’t you? He was the lucky guy to escape your wicked punishment.
So just stop talking. Nothing is going to help you at this point.”
Giovanna tensed and looked around for an escape route, but she was surrounded. She launched toward Antonius, who in a quick move, wrapped his hands around her throat and tried to tear her flesh apart. His eyes were wild with loathing and desire to avenge his brother’s death. She choked and clawed the empty air, desperately trying to reach with her free arm to strike Antonius between the eyes, but he was faster than she was. He tightened his grip around her neck and lifting her off the floor, he flipped her over his shoulder and slammed her face down onto the stone floor. Giovanna growled with pain and stopped moving for a short moment, stunned by the assault. Then, gathering her strength she crawled until she reached the wall and hauled herself into a sitting position. Opening her eyes she saw everyone staring at her with mocking expressions, except for her two young companions, who were watching the events unfold in front of their eyes in complete shock.
She sat for a short minute, stunned, then shook herself and stood up.
She pulled away from the wall, and then suddenly threw herself against Antonius, catching him by surprise. She threw her leg up and kicked him hard in the stomach. As he bent forward, she socked him between the eyes with every ounce of strength she possessed. He staggered backward and roared an explicit oath.
“Don’t touch her!” he called out to his friends. “She’s mine!” Their eyebrows shot up, but they all backed off and let Antonius deal with Giovanna. She used the moment of hesitation while Antonius was trying to recover to move behind him, ready to strike again. But he darted forward, avoiding the blow. He spun around to face Giovanna, and his eyes went wide.
Ian had staggered forward and found himself in a very dangerous place. Giovanna was coming for Antonius and Ian was frozen in place right in her path. He heard Sebastian’s growl and suddenly Ian was seized by the back of his shirt. He found himself hauled behind Sebastian to a safe place.
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