“Uh, no thanks, I’m straight edge,” I tell him, backing Carver away. “My body is a temple and all that shit. You have fun though!”
“Whatever,” the guy says with a shrug, but he’s still squinting at Carver. “Nah, but I’m serious, where did I see you before? It was definitely here at the castle. Hey, weren’t you in the raid group that took it from those Abe fucks however long ago?”
Carver says nothing, turning pale even for a vampire.
“Hell yeah, I was there too!” the guys looks elated to have found an old war buddy. “Where were you fighting? I was… uh… wait a minute…”
His happy expression folds slowly into befuddlement. I freeze, waiting, until I see the light of understanding slowly dawn in his dull eyes.
“Okay, great to see you, bye!” I say, shoving Carver down the hallway immediately. It takes the guy another solid thirty seconds to react, shouting for help. By then we’re already booking it down towards the lower floors.
“That’s going to make getting out of here a lot more difficult,” Lucian mutters. “You might have mentioned you’d been here before.”
“How was I to know any of the original raid would still be hanging around this place?” Carver hissed in reply. “Most of them were the elite of their kind! More than worthy of an invitation to the fête.”
“Apparently even vampires aren’t immune to self-destructive down spirals,” I say. “Let’s just focus on getting Abe and getting out of here as quickly as possible. We can spank Carver later.”
“Is that a promise?” Carver asks, grinning, and I elbow him in the gut. His wheezing laughter echoes off the stone halls as I lead them down another staircase into the dark understory of the castle.
“Are these catacombs?” Lucian asks as I turn on a flashlight, illuminating the narrow, heavily cobwebbed passage.
“I think so.” I sweep the beam of light over the stone alcoves that line the passage. Most of them are sealed, but a few have crumbled or been broken open over the years to reveal heavily rotted coffins or, in a few cases, exposed bones. “From whatever nobility built this castle, I guess. Before Abehartach took it.”
“It’s my understanding that it was always his,” Carver states, whispering as we slip past row after row of the ancient dead. “He was unusual among ancient vampires for guiding and providing for his human descendants. Generation after generation for thousands of years, he was the shepherd of his family line, watching it disperse all over the world, until even Morana couldn’t wipe out every trace of him. He built this place for them. In all likelihood, these tombs all belong to distant grandchildren of Abehartach himself.”
“It seems weirdly sentimental of Morana to put him here then,” I say, peering into the gloom ahead as Lucian bats down cobwebs. “With his family.”
“You misunderstand her intentions,” Carver says, expression bitter. “To her, being buried here would be an insult. Her way of saying he was no better than his weak mortal issue. No immortal needs a grave. With this gesture, she declares him less than a vampire.”
I swallow a weird lump in my throat at that. Jesus. Morana is such a witch! But things are starting to look familiar again and I refocus.
“We’re close,” I tell Carver, hurrying ahead. “Through here.”
There’s a space between the tombs that leads to a larger chamber. It’s been sealed off, the bricks a few hundred years old at least. But even I can see they are nowhere near as ancient as the surrounding structure. I give Lucian and Carver a nod and they step forward, putting their shoulders to the stone.
“This is going to be loud,” Carver warns, grunting with effort. “We’ll need to move quickly.”
“We’ll carry him out and wake him up somewhere else if we have to,” I say, looking back the way we came warily. “Just hurry.”
Lucian puts his head down, snarling under his breath as he throws all his strength into the slowly shifting stone. Carver matches his intensity and I watch the old dried out mortar slowly give way. Within a moment the entire wall crashes down, the sound deafening in the bare stone halls. Behind it, a massive antechamber. I hurry through the rubble before the dust has even settled. There’s moonlight coming through the ceiling and I look up to see the shaft of an ancient well. A wooden lid that once covered it has rotted away, letting in the air. The beam of silver light illuminates a monolithic stone sarcophagus, bare of any inscription.
Stalling, I look back at Carver and Lucian.
“Ready?”
“Yes,” Carver replies. Lucian nods beside him. “Hurry.”
I take a deep breath, grabbing the lid of the ancient coffin and, with one hard push, shove it off and down onto the floor. My heart stops as I look into the tomb.
It’s empty. “No. It can’t be.” I whisper the words as shock ricochets through me like bullet that’s trapped inside my ribcage.
I stumble back, my head spinning, and I feel Carver catch me. Lucian rushes to look into the sarcophagus himself and swears loudly. “Son of a bitch!”
“He was supposed to be here,” I whisper, close to hyperventilating. “I don’t understand. I saw it. I saw him here!”
“She must have moved him,” Carver says grimly, pulling me into his arms, brushing my hair from my face. “We’ll find him, my belle. Pull it together.”
“We need to leave,” Lucian says, leaning back out into the hall where I can hear angry voices and footsteps. “Now.”
“No,” I start to protest. “There’s got to be a clue here somewhere! Where she took him- or, or someone who knows! This can’t have all been for nothing!”
“There isn’t time,” Lucian says, already eyeing the well. “I’m sorry, Aura.”
“It wasn’t for nothing,” Carver tells me as Lucian climbs onto the sarcophagus and launches himself up into the shaft of the well, climbing quickly. “We’ll find him. But for now we have to go.”
I feel like an idiot. Worse, I endangered Carver and Lucian and everyone else for this. Someone could have been killed for my wild goose chase. I follow Lucian up into the well silently, trying to figure out where I went wrong. Lucian climbs out ahead of me, knocking the rest of the rotted wooden cover out of the way. He turns back to offer me his hand, pulling me up out of the darkness. Our eyes meet for a moment in the moonlight, and I can see the sympathy in his eyes as surely as he can see the bitter disappointment in mine. He hesitates for a moment, then pulls me closer, his hand gently cradling the back of my neck, and presses a soft, lingering kiss to my forehead. His actions send a balm of peace through me and I sigh, leaning into him for a moment.
By the time Carver climbs out of the well behind us, Lucian’s already let me go. The three of us fly through the trees together back to where we left the car. I look over at Lucian as he slams the car into drive, the warmth of that kiss lingering on my skin. I only wish we hadn’t had to run away so quickly. And now we’re back to the drawing board, and figuring out just where the hell Abe actually is. And why I had visions that would steer us so wrong.
Chapter 15
One upside to being a vampire is being rich enough to have a private gym in your house.
I was certainly appreciating it at the moment. After the long, silent flight back from Romania to Carver's home in the city, I was more than ready to work out some excess energy. I'd changed into exercise clothes as soon as we'd arrived and set to beating myself bloody on Carver's heavy bag.
The finished basement was quiet but for the sound of my fists hitting canvas and the irritating hum of the fluorescent lights. I’d always hated that noise, but now that I was a vampire it was more annoying than ever. It seemed to reverberate off the clean mats, the carefully maintained weight lifting equipment, and the mirrors on the wall which reflected my failure back at me like an infinite corridor of fuck-ups. I eyed them, wondering if I could jump up and smash them. It’s not like I couldn’t see in the dark anyways.
I felt so stupid. I'd been completely certain Abe was there. I'd seen it as clea
rly as I could see the punching bag in front of me. Had I been wrong about all of it? Had I ever seen that tomb, or just convinced myself that I had? Maybe being turned had also driven me crazy and I was just hallucinating. Hell, probably this was all happening in my head while I rolled around in a straightjacket in some psych ward anyway. Nothing would surprise me at this point. I’d wake up tomorrow when the doctors find the right combination of meds to bring me out of my bizarre vampire fever dream and everything would go back to normal. Yeah, right. My life was never that easy.
I hit the bag harder, frustration growing. I hated that thought. As shocking as being suddenly turned had been, the idea of going back to my previous life was worse. The trip to Paris had been the most exciting thing I’d done in ages. I’d had no plan before, no real ambitions. I was just blindly following the school-work-family-death path of middle class American life. And then this came out of nowhere. And yeah it’s terrifying and drinking blood is a little gross, and I could die but fuck if I don’t feel alive for the first time. Like I’m doing something that matters. Or at least, I thought I was.
I'd been so ready for it. To find Abe, to be the hero, to drink in that feeling of real accomplishment. And instead it feels like we've been sent back to square one. Worse that square one. We aren't even on the board anymore! We have no leads. Finding Abe at this point is impossible.
I scream as I slam my fist into the punching bag with all my new vampiric strength, sending it swinging wildly.
I stand there, breathing hard as I wait for it to settle. I'm so caught up in my own head I don't even notice Lucian coming into the room until he catches the swinging bag and positions himself behind it. He’s changed clothes into something more relaxed as well. A dark shirt that matches his hair and sets off those warm eyes I keep getting lost in. I give him a grateful smile before I go at it again, harder now that the bag is being braced.
"You seem upset," Lucian says sarcastically as I hit the bag hard enough to make his feet slide back. "Want to tell me what's bothering you?"
I give him a sour look. He knows what's bothering me.
"Mistakes happen," he says seriously. I hit the bag hard enough to jar him again, the sound of my fist on the canvas a sharp smack and he harrumphs.
"It wasn't a mistake," I say through gritted teeth. "He was there, Lucian. Abe guided me there himself. I don't get it!" I blow a stray strand of hair out of my face.
I slam the bag again and Lucian's eyes widen as he struggles to hold it.
"It happens," Lucian says patiently. "Sometimes you do everything right and things still go wrong. It is possible to have every eventuality planned for and still lose. That is not weakness. That is life."
I pause hitting the bag for a moment, the sound of my breathing echoing in the large room as I process that. Finally I give him a hard look, a smile curling the corner of my mouth.
"Did you just quote Star Trek at me?"
Lucian shrugs, unruffled. "Gene Rodenberry was a wise man with a vision ahead of his time."
"Nerd." I chuckle.
"You recognized it." He points a finger at me, a smile flirting at the corner of his lips.
But he's got me laughing now and that makes it difficult to remember how pissed off I was. I go at the bag again, losing steam now.
"So what happens now?" I ask. "We've got no leads on Abe and if Morana realizes we aren't at the fête she'll have us buried alive." Or staked. Or burned or whatever her black little soul comes up with for funsies.
"We survive the next few days," Lucian answers. "Once the fête is over we go home, clear our heads, and start again. After you've had time to rest you may have another vision."
"We've seen how reliable those are," I scoff, throwing a flurry of quick jabs, then slowing. I hesitate, not sure if I'm ready to be this vulnerable around Lucian. The memory of that kiss warms me, encouraging me to try. "…I feel like a failure. Abe was counting on me. Our friends are counting on me. You and Carver risked so much to follow my crazy vision."
I stop, looking down at my hands, bloody knuckles already healing. "I never did much with my life, before all this. I wanted this to be different. I felt like I finally had a purpose. To fail now..."
Lucian steps out from behind the bag and takes my hands, holding them carefully in his own.
"You haven't failed," he says softly, thumb stroking the backs of my fingers. "Not till you've given up."
"More Star Trek?" I ask, smiling.
"No," he says, meeting my eyes at last and smiling back. "Just experience."
Our gaze holds and for a moment I think he might say something more, something I'm really hoping to hear.
Before he can speak the door opens. Carver doesn't even step inside before he speaks.
"Lavinia's here."
All three of us hurry upstairs to where the ruler of the surviving Dakvahar sits on Carver's couch, looking pale and weak. She's sipping a blood pack from Carver's fridge. Her brown hair has been bleached blond and she’s wearing a worn hoodie. There's blood on one sleeve and splashed across the bottom hem. I can't tell if it's hers. She's clearly been through the ringer. It’s an odd contrast to Carver’s prim, old fashioned living room with its richly patterned wall paper and deep burgundy carpet, a fire roaring in the elaborate old fireplace. So much violence in a place so pretty.
"What happened?" Carver asks, concern obvious as we settle in around Lavinia, him on the couch beside her, Lucian and I taking the arm chairs across the coffee table.
"Morana found us," Lavinia says between sips of blood. "Sent the rest of La Tiruer after us."
"Does she know we're working with you?" I ask, tensing with worry, but Lavinia shakes her head and I exhale a sigh of relief.
"No. But she's moved Abhertauch."
"Yeah, we found that out first hand," I say, grimacing, but Lavinia is shaking her head again.
"Not Romania," she says. "We suspect she moved him from there a long time ago. By the time we found out for certain where he was, you were already on the plane. The visions you had must have been the last things he remembered. He wasn't aware enough to notice being moved again."
"But you found him?" Carver asks, confused. Lavinia drags a tired hand down her face.
"No," she says, sounding exhausted. "We found the place, prepared to attack it. But it was an ambush. She'd already moved him again. I lost many of my best men and barely escaped myself."
"La Tiruer?" Carver assumes, and Lavinia nods.
"Henry and Laurent."
Carver curses under his breath.
"She's got something else too," Lavinia says seriously, her expression harrowed. "Some kind of creature. Something I've never seen. And more dangerous than any La Tiruer."
I shiver, wondering what could possibly be worse than a team of trained vampire assassins.
"So what do we do?" Lucian asked. "You found him once, you can find him again."
"You need to get out," Lavinia says at once. "You need to take Aura and get away from here as quickly as possible."
"No," I counter immediately. "I'm not giving up. I'll have another vision. Once we find him-"
"You're not listening," Lavinia says sharply. "Finding him isn't the problem anymore. Morana will just keep moving him and strengthening her guard."
"So we're more cautious," I try to argue. "We don't let her know we're coming until-"
"You are the last connection we have to Abe," Lavinia says, interrupting. "If we lose you, we lose everything. That cannot happen."
She turns her hard stare on Carver and Lucian.
"If you want to survive, if any of us are going to survive, you need to take her and run."
Chapter 16
Carver offered Lavinia one of the guest rooms for the day and, though she put up a resistance, she was too tired to refuse. After which Lucian, Carver, and I had a long, heated argument about whether to take her advice and get out.
I was firmly against it. Still am. But it was two against one. I should be happy
to have two wonderful men who think my safety is more important than anything, even this. But all I can think about is what Lucian said earlier. I’m not a failure till I give up. But damn if this doesn’t feel like giving up.
I crashed out for a while, exhaustion from the trip finally catching up with me, and woke up around sunset. After a shower, wrapped in a silk robe, I sit at the patio table on the balcony and watch the sun slowly vanish behind the horizon in wide streaks of red and orange, like an impressionist painting. I drag a comb through my wet hair, thoughts far away, returning again and again to the empty tomb. I knew Lavinia was probably right, but I couldn't accept it. There has to be a way to finish this. I don’t want to fail, not when I’ve finally got a chance to make something meaningful out of my life.
My thoughts scatter at a tap on the balcony door and I turn to see Lucian standing in the doorway. The red and gold light of the sunset shines on his dark hair, highlighting the curve of his angular jaw. He looks even more beautiful and out of reach than ever. The empty tomb hadn't been my only recent disappointment. Not a failure my ass.
"May I join you?" he asks, smiling, and I nod, still distracted.
He steps past me to the balcony railing, leaning against it, looking out at the sunset. I watch the muscles of his back shift under his shirt, wishing I could stop torturing myself with the idea of being with him. However much I might like him, however much he might like me, however much Carver might try to encourage it, we both knew it couldn't happen. Lucian was too old fashioned, and too much of a good person, to just abandon his fiancé at the first sign of a pretty girl. Even if a prophecy and the fate of the Kresova was at stake, I can’t blame him. And I didn't want to be the kind of person that would encourage him to go against his morals.
He shifts a little to look back at me, the sunset illuminating the curve of his cheek and turning his brown eyes golden. He glances my way for only a moment, then looks away again.
"I spoke to Erica."
Tempt (The Kresova Vampire Harems: Aurora Book 2) Page 12