Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1)

by Isabelle Gallo

  “That’s too risky. Just let her catch her breath.”

  I dismounted and stood by her side, waiting for her breathing to slow. Pete led his stallion away and I followed him, looking back every now and again to watch as Versailles made her way back over the bridge.

  The sun was rising, an orange halo glowing around it, the sky once gray turning blue. I walked the busy streets with Pete. There was a frenzy of people around every corner. I did not know where we were going. The people crowded even closer and I lost track of where Pete was and stood on my toes to look for the stallion, but did not see him either.

  Pete where are you? I thought.

  People stopped, eyed me wearily and spoke hushed to each other. I kept looking, searching desperately for a hint that he was near, but heard nothing.

  “Vampire! Loose Vampire!” Someone shouted.

  I looked around hopefully, but I did not even see Pete. Someone grabbed my hands and people screamed.

  “Where is your mortal?” The person demanded.

  “I’m the mortal you fool!”

  “Is that so? Where is your vampire then?”

  “I lost him in the crowd.”

  “Sure you did. Clear the way! Loose vampire coming through!”

  Pete where are you? I need you. I’m in trouble! I thought, but there was no reply, as I expected.

  Someone tied my hands together and pulled me onto a high platform.

  “Vampire bidding starts at twenty-five dollars. Twenty-five dollars for this fine vampire,” a man chimed, gesturing to me. “Do I hear twenty-five dollars?”

  “Twenty-five!”

  “Twenty-seven!”

  “Thirty-seven! Do I hear forty? Forty! Do I hear forty-five?”

  “One hundred and ten dollars!” someone cried.

  “One twenty!”

  “One fifty.”

  There was a long pause. “One fifty. Do I hear one sixty? One sixty? Once, twice? Sold!”

  The mortal came to the man, gave him the money and pulled me from the platform. He was only a teenager.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Chenille. What is your name?”

  “My name is Jeff.”

  “Where are we going Jeff?”

  “To my house,” he said.

  He put me in his car, and drove away from the town. I watched the trees pass in silence until it made me feel sick and I closed my eyes. He pulled up to a small house, smartly decorated with a nice plot of land. He opened the door but I refused to move. I was feeling sicker than ever.

  “You feel all right?”

  I shook my head. “I feel awful.”

  “Come inside. That car ride was probably long for you.”

  He led me inside the quiet house. “Is anyone else here?”

  “Yeah, the nanny who takes care of the kids.”

  I moaned, feeling sicker still.

  “This is my room. Sit down, relax.”

  “Jeff? Are you home? Come here, come quickly!”

  “Don’t go anywhere.” He closed the door behind him.

  I plopped down on the bed and listened to the conversation on the other side of the bedroom door.

  “How am I supposed to know where he is?”

  “I thought you might have seen him.”

  “The pony is gone.” A girl’s voice cut in. “And Mom is going to be home any minute.”

  I felt myself begin to nod off, the voices dying out as I tried to focus my energy on retracing my steps, wondering where Pete had gone.

  I heard a door open and a flurry of voices, one rising above the rest. “He’s gone? What do you mean gone?”

  The voice slowly died away like the others. After a few minutes, I began to wake from sleep from the voices again. They were close, but it was hard to hear them. They were still muffled from behind the door.

  “Look, I got a vampire.”

  “Will you look at that? Who would have known?”

  “Known what?”

  “I like your taste in vampires.”

  “Can I have the lock and key Mom?”

  “No, not yet Jeff. You can have patience. I need my vampire to become acquainted with yours, but I will need that to be done in the basement. Keep her away from him for a while, ok?”

  “All right, I’ll try my best.”

  “Now vampire, there is something I need you to do for me. It is a serious task that only you can perform.” Tetchra said to her vampire.

  “What does it involve?”

  “Let’s just say...things are going to get interesting around here.”

  The door clicked shut and my eyes opened slowly. Jeff sat on the floor, his eyes closed.

  I reached for my Dragon’s Soul around my neck, held it in one of my hands and felt its warmth, lulling me to sleep again. When I woke, my wrists were cold from the chains that bound them. I was in darkness, my back to the hardness of a wall. I called for anyone that could hear, but no one, nothing responded. I pulled on the chains confused, until I heard footsteps. Afraid to speak now that someone had heard me, I settled down. The figure stopped to light candles scattered around in the darkness. Each one had a different aroma, making it hard to breathe in, surfacing a lingering headache and dizziness to cloud my head. The figure came close, taking slow, loud steps and stopped just before me.

  “You will be mortal again.”

  “No! No, you can’t make me mortal!”

  “No? Not even a mortal with fangs?”

  The figure smiled and looked at me, the dim light shining on his face. “Lucian?”

  He smiled and held me in an embrace that nearly crushed me. I looked at him and smiled as he went to kiss me, but Pete’s voice filled my head.

  What are you doing?

  Lucian is alive. The bond between us is broken just as you promised years ago.

  “No.” Pete appeared from behind Lucian and let out a growl, as if materializing out of nowhere. “He works for Tetchra. He’s under control, I know he is.”

  “That’s not for you to conclude. He might not be under control at all,” I cried.

  Tetchra was there, grabbed hold of Pete and the darkness swallowed them up before I could warn him.

  “Pete! Lucian, help him!”

  “Why would I do that?”

  A low laugh echoed through the basement and he held up a small bottle filled with black liquid. It glowed slightly where the dim light did not reflect over it.

  “What is that?”

  “If you take an Eternal Mate’s blood and poison, bring it to a boil and feed it to his vampress, she will become a mortal. Temporarily, of course. It doesn’t really turn you into a mortal, but it does prevent reincarnation for a while.”

  He dangled the bottle in front of my face, the liquid swaying from side to side.

  “Being temporary, it may last only a couple of minutes, making a quick death vital.”

  “And if you aren’t killed by the end of the couple of minutes?”

  “Well, you would become immortal again, in the sense that you will have the ability to reincarnate. I will assure that impossibility to you though, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

  He put the bottle to his mouth, pulling off the cork with his teeth and tilted my chin up.

  “This should hurt you more than it hurts me.”

  “What are you doing to my vampire?” Jeff came running over. Lucian turned, knocked him to the ground in one swift movement and looked back at me. He pressed the small bottle to my lips, held my chin and forced it down.

  “Step two,” he mumbled taking the sword from under his cape.

  I pulled my legs off the ground, tucking my knees beneath my chin and kicked out toward his hands, sending the sword across the room.

  He dove after it, but Jeff was already on his feet, the sword in his hands. He forced it upward, slicing across Lucian’s chest but not deep enough to do any damage. I slid down against the wall and screamed.

  * * * * *

  “How muc
h longer Serpentine? I am so tired of walking.”

  “Just a little longer…there!”

  “What? What is it?”

  “Well, you want information about vampires, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well this is a library. It has all sorts of information. I am sure you can find a book on vampires there.”

  “Will you watch Hickory for me while I’m gone?”

  “I will.”

  Fitzray walked into the library. It was quiet inside, with only a few people searching for books. There were shelves filled with old books from the carpet to the ceiling. A ladder was on a track to access the high books. He browsed through the shelves looking over Greek Mythology to fantasy stories and then found a big book with detailed pictures and descriptions of all kinds of creatures. Although vampires were not mythical or fantasized creatures, that subject was still close by. He read about different phoenixes and dragons and several stories about vampires, but found another creature that caught his eye. It was a glass swan, the species type was unknown, and the only one on record was called Phantilla.

  “She was known for being allies with the vampires and aided in several wars. She was last seen helping dragons escape from Earth before they were slaughtered for their scales. Some say that she holds great power over the stars and many suspect that she is a star herself. No one can say for sure where she has gone or if she will ever appear again,” Fitzray read to himself.

  He did not know how fast the time passed while reading in the library and he rushed out to find Serpentine and Hickory just where he had left them.

  “I found out there is a swan made of glass. Her name is Phantilla. People think she is a star, like an actual star.”

  “Did you find anything about vampires in there?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Did you find out who your parents are?”

  “No. There weren’t any family trees in those books.”

  “We will just have to find that information elsewhere.”

  “Where are we going to go now Serpentine?”

  “Wherever the road leads.”

  They stopped walking at the sight of a wolf in their path. It was big and snarled at them; its hairs on its back stood on end.

  “Nice wolf. I…I am Fitzray.”

  “Fitzray?” The wolf inquired, surprised.

  The boy nodded nervously. The wolf began to change into a figure – a girl.

  “Werewolf,” Serpentine said uneasily.

  “My name is Prusaious. Do not be afraid, I can get you to your mother and father. I know who they are.”

  “How can we trust you?”

  “What if I brought another vampire with me? Would that make you feel better?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Calvin!” The werewolf girl cried.

  A vampire with striking orange eyes came over in a hurry. He opened his mouth in astonishment.

  “Fitzray.” He smiled. “I am Calvin. I bet you don’t remember me. I knew you in your past life.”

  “Past life?” Fitzray asked with confusion.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

  “Yeah, me either.” The werewolf girl chimed. “Come on. Let’s get you back to Catastrophe.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 35 – Torn

  “C

  henille? Chenille, Baby, wake up.”

  My eyes opened and I hissed. “Stay back, I’m warning you!”

  I sank back. It was Pete, just Pete. He sat hunched on the middle compartment between two front seats, his head in his hands. I looked around. I was in a car, positioned uncomfortably on the back seats.

  “What happened to me? Am I a mortal?”

  He shushed me and sat in the small space between the front and back seats. “You are going to be ok. You are going to be ok.” He said it more to himself then to me.

  “What happened?”

  “We got away,” he whispered.

  “Lucian…What did you do to Lucian?” I sat up in alarm.

  “Nothing, nothing, relax.” He pressed me down into my uncomfortable position again.

  “Listen to me. I am going to take you somewhere where you can rest and get better.”

  “Get better? What’s wrong with me?”

  “You are just really, really weak. But you are going to get stronger. We just have to take it easy.”

  He kissed my cheek. His face was wet. My breathing began to quicken as I thought of the worst. I ran my hand against his face and held it to the light emitted by the headlights of a passing car. I caught my breath. There was not any black liquid on my fingertips. He was not bleeding. Just to calm my thoughts I heard the pounding of rain on the car roof and sighed.

  “Why are you so shaken? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong.”

  He slid into the front seat, grasped the steering wheel and began to drive.

  “How did you get me out of there? How did you find me?”

  “I heard you scream and I came and got you.”

  “What did you do to Lucian?”

  He didn’t answer. “What-,” I began.

  “This looks like a nice place.”

  He pulled up to a hotel. I did not even bother to read the sign. The rain blocked everything from view anyway. The car stopped and he got out, opening my door. He pressed me to his chest, carried me to the entrance and stumbled to the front desk.

  “Room for two,” he said quickly.

  The woman eyed him suspiciously and nodded to me. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “She is very tired.”

  “Room forty-five. Here are your keys.”

  He walked around the hotel, searching for the room and at last, he found it.

  “Here we go. Here,” he placed me on the bed, and locked the door.

  I sat up and flicked on the lamp beside me. Pete took off his cape in a rush, turned his back to me and sidestepped to the bathroom.

  “You ok?”

  “Yeah, fine.”

  I got up, not convinced by his words and peered through the open doorway. His shirt was a tattered wet mess on the floor. His back was to me.

  “Get back to bed baby.”

  “Are you ok?” I asked again.

  “I am fine. Now go, I’ll be right there.”

  I walked over to him and stood at his side. He put a hand to my arm and moved me over so I stood in front of him, my back to his chest. I looked up to him and he gave me a smile.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  I stepped back and felt something wet seep through my shirt and turned. His chest was a mass of bloody scratches, some deeper than others oozing black blood.

  “What happened?”

  “It’s not bad,” he said quietly.

  “Not bad?”

  “Considering I wasn’t the one with the sword, I think so.”

  “What happened?” I breathed.

  “Don’t worry about it. Just go back to bed and I’ll get cleaned up.”

  “Oh I feel so weak,” I sat down on the toilet seat cover and looked up at him. “You will have to carry me.”

  He smiled. “Fine.”

  I put up a hand. “You should get cleaned up first,” I insisted, wanting to see his scratches.

  He turned on the faucet and I watched quietly. He ran his hands beneath the water and turned, gathered me up in his arms and practically threw me onto the bed.

  “Don’t move,” he teased.

  He walked back into the bathroom, stayed there for several minutes and came back out. Without the bloody mess, I could see every scratch and its depth, each one worse than the last.

  “They look really bad.”

  “It’s nothing, just a couple of scratches.”

  I ran my fingers over them slowly. “You should heal them.”

  “It will take too much energy, besides, they’re not that deep.”

  “So tell me.”

&nb
sp; “Tell you what?”

  “Tell me what you did to Lucian.”

  “You won’t leave me alone about that.”

  “Nope. You’re going to hear my voice in your dreams.”

  “I didn’t kill him. I just scratched him up as bad as he scratched me. Fair?”

  “You wanted to kill him, didn’t you? You didn’t want to see him ever again.”

  “That’s right, but I didn’t kill him.”

  “He’s not the same Lucian I knew.”

  “Of course he’s not. He has been bound by the lock and key.” He looked at me more sternly. “Remember when I told you how bad things would turn out if my book fell into the wrong hands?”

  “You didn’t tell me. You threatened me that if I didn’t give it back you would bite me.”

  “Still, I had a reason for doing that.”

  “How are your scratches doing?”

  “Don’t even feel them,” he whispered.

  “It feels so nice to have a vacation from being royalty, don’t you agree?”

  He was quiet. I could only feel him breathing on my neck.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah, really nice.”

  He kissed me, careful not to let any poison set on his lips so I would not be any weaker than I was.

  “Good night baby,” he whispered, but I had not heard, I was already in a deep sleep.

  * * * * *

  “We are going to rest here for the night.” Prusaious said quietly.

  Fitzray followed her to a small house. He was so tired he could barely stay awake. There were people in the house, all crowded around a table talking hushed to each other. They stopped as he entered and all looked from him to Prusaious and back.

  “The Prince of Catastrophe,” someone whispered.

  “Come to me child.” Fitzray looked up at the woman who spoke to him from across the table. She wore a mask. A heavy black cape hung over her shoulders.

  “Who are you?”

  The woman took the mask from her face and set it on the table.

  “I am Verna, your great-great grandmother. I knew I would have the honor of meeting you one day.”

  “You know my parents?” His eyes lit up.

  She laughed quietly. “Yes, I do. And I will bring you to them, on Catastrophe.”

  “How will we get there?”

  “We will send for our dragons and fly across! We will do so soon, but quietly. No one can know we have gone. No one can know you are with us.”