Dangerous Love

by Stephanie Radcliff

  “If you don’t turn her,” he said, his voice a deep growl as he glared at her. His eyes turned crimson as well, fueled the by the anger he was feeling. He bared his teeth at her and said, “She will be killed.”

  The words elicited several responses from the group. A couple of them gave evil grins to each other while most of the others gasped in shock. Kári looked at her master in horror as she whispered, “Lord Brade…”

  Vayna guided the young woman behind her back as she gave him a steady, but furious look. She subtly reached under the desk and pressed a hidden button that lay there. If she had the ability to kill with one look, he would’ve been dead as she said, “If you do that…”

  “You’ll have to turn her now,” he said as he too stood up and pressed his hands upon the table. He thought he won. There was no way she’d get out of this now. It was either turn her or the human would be killed. He grinned maliciously as he turned his crimson gaze toward Sage and said, “Or you can let me turn her…”

  “You will not touch her. Not now, not ever,” she said as she stood up to her full height. She raised one arm and held it out to the side, her palm facing the floor as she spoke in a strong, clear tone, “You leave me with no choice. I, Vayna Chronos, also known as Pharaoh Sheba, ruler of Upper and Lower Memphis, Morning Star and Evening star declare you and any that side with you an enemy of the Vampire Nation, Lord Graylan Brade.”

  “I, Lord Graylan Brade, do hereby understand and acknowledge your declaration and return your declaration with one of my own,” he said as he stood up, his face twisted into a mask of fury as he spoke, “We, the Council of Eden will meet the House of Chronos head on at war! Staring right now. Get them!”

  Out of the 10 council members, only three reacted to his orders. Jesse, Tracie, and Erik all got up and advanced toward them. Kaunan and Kári shot up onto their feet, ready to defend their Pharaoh, but Frostflower held them back with a single look. He knew those three were no match when it came to their Pharaoh. Her eyes flickered to his and he nodded his head minutely in understanding.

  Moving faster than any of the other vampires expected, Vayna scooped up Sage and bolted for the nearest window. Tracie hissed and raced after her, trying to catch her before she could escape. Vayna was too fast for her and launched both her and Sage through the window. She was extremely thankful that the side the windows faced was over an alley way. Using her body to take most of the impact, she smashed through the mirror just as Tracie reached for her, Erik and Jesse on her heels.

  Even as they plummeted down toward the alley way, Vayna’s wings grew out of her back. She clutched Sage close to her as her wings caught on the air and slowed their descent. Flapping her wings, she landed just inside of the alley way entrance and looked back up at the building. Brade stood in the window, glaring down at her furiously. She made sure to pull her wings back in before taking off down the street, Sage still in her arms.

  Chapter 13

  Vayna moved as fast as her vampiric speed would allow her. She knew she should be more careful, especially with there being humans around, but she didn’t care. She didn’t have very much time to waste. Brade’s minions would be at her apartment sooner than she liked and she wanted to get there and be gone before then.

  She didn’t even break a sweat when she reached the door of her apartment and gently let Sage back down onto her feet. The cuts she sustained from the glass dripped with blood, but she ignored it. A few moments in the moonlight would take care of that. She ushered her human in the door and locked it behind her. Turning to Sage, she began to check her all over for cuts, stopping only when she felt satisfied that her human sustained nothing that couldn’t be healed.

  “I’m fine, Vayna,” Sage murmured softly as she cupped her vampire’s cheeks in her hands and gazed into her blue eyes. The worry in those eyes drained a little at that and she leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her lips.

  Vayna let the kiss go on for a few moments, simply enjoying the close contact with her human lover. This was why she did what she did. Why she finally stood up to the vampire council. It was all worth it for this single human in her arms that made life worth living for again. With a start she realized she hadn’t thought about taking her undead life since she met her. She wondered when it was that she stopped living for herself and started living for Sage… Pulling back, she murmured softly against her lips, ”We need to leave… they’ll be here soon.”

  “What do we need?” Sage said as she pulled away from her vampire and walked into the kitchen. Vayna began to list things off and she made a detour toward the bedroom. Most of what her vampire was saying was there anyway.

  “Clothes, suitcase, bathroom necessities, etc,” she replied as she strode over to the counter and pulled out a cooler. Opening her hidden freezer, she began to dump a few packets of the blood and some ice into it.

  Both women were so intent on what they were doing that the knock that resounded throughout the apartment startled them. They froze, not daring to move a muscle as they waited for several moments. Their hearts leaped into their chests when there was a knock on the door again and a voice along with it.

  “Vayna, open the door. It’s Kaunan. I know you’re there,” he said as he knocked again. He rested his forehead against the door as he spoke, “Look, I’m not here to hurt you or Sage. I want to talk. Some of the others are with me. We mean you no harm. We really do only want to talk.”

  Vayna cautiously walked over to the door as Sage appeared in the entrance to the hallway. She watched with her hands clasped in front of her chest as Vayna opened the door and looked at Kaunan as she said, “I won’t let you hurt her.”

  “We have no intention on hurting her, Vayna,” Kaunan said. He wore a serious look on his face that was the opposite of his playful nature as he gazed past her toward Sage. There was a sad look in his eyes as he said, “We’re not here to hurt either one of you. We’re taking your side in this.”

  Vayna gazed at him for a moment longer before moving aside and letting them in. Kaunan nodded his head as he padded into the apartment, followed by Frostflower, Kári, Mirie, Bryanna, Lucius, and… Vayna did a double take as Jeran gave her a wide grin and walked into the apartment like he owned it. He walked over to Sage and wrapped his arm around her as he said, “Don’t worry, little sister. We’ll make sure you and her Royal Pain in the Ass survive this.

  “Ha ha, very funny, Jeran,” Vayna said as she closed the door and rolled her eyes. Still, it brought a smile to her face as she locked the door and motioned everyone into the living room. She stood by one of the couches as Jeran and Sage joined her. The rest of the group stood awkwardly on the other side of the room as she looked at them.

  “Look, Miss Vayna,” Kári said as she took a step forward. There was a pleading look in her eyes as she tried to make the ancient vampire understand, “None of us agree with Lord Brade’s actions. Even if he was my master, it’s still very wrong.”

  “Was?”

  Kári shrank under the inquisitive gaze Vayna was giving her and looked down at the floor as she murmured, “I know I wasn’t anywhere near ready, but he is no longer my master. I am a fully fledged No-Life Queen now.”

  Vayna walked over and placed her hands on Kári’s shoulders as she said, “No, Kári. You have been more than ready. Brade was a fool for keeping you his Childe for so long. I am proud that you’ve finally become a full vampire. It’s been a long time coming for that.”

  Kári smiled shyly and nodded her head as she murmured a quiet thank you. She moved past her Pharaoh and walked over to Sage, introducing herself properly for the first time while Vayna gazed at the others with a slight frown. The only one she wasn’t sure about was Lucius and when she sent him a curious gaze, he merely shook his head and said, “I may not be too happy with humans, but there’s no way in hell I’ll turn against you, Vayna.”

  She nodded her head and looked around at the other vampires. They all murmured similar things to what he said. Except for Mirie, who wa
s still typing away on her cell phone, not paying attention to much of anything else. She didn’t pay too much attention to Mirie. She knew the seemingly young vampire would stick by her. Brade wasn’t a big favorite of the Gothic Lolita’s, and for that Vayna was grateful. Vayna gazed at them all and said, “Thank you for remaining with me, everyone. I greatly appreciate your support.”

  “You’re our Pharaoh, Vayna,” Kaunan said quietly, speaking for the entire group. He lifted his gaze up at her as he spoke, “Even if you don’t want to be, we still admire you in that way. We’ll do whatever it takes for you.”

  She nodded once again; feeling humbled as she walked over to Sage and pulled her into her arms and said, “We won’t be able to stay here. Brade will have his people on their way here any moment now.”

  “What supporters he can gather now, Lady Vayna,” Mirie spoke for the first time without looking up from her phone. She continued to type away at without even blinking an eyelid as she said, “I’ve sent out alerts to every vampire I could reach. Lord Brade is now being considered a criminal among vampires.”

  Vayna smiled at her as she said, “Thank you, Mirie. It’s appreciated.”

  The Lolita didn’t even bother responding to that, continuing to type away at her cell phone, ignoring the rest of the group around her. Or so it seemed to Sage. In reality, it was one of Mirie’s special abilities. She had the ability to ignore what was happening around her and yet still know every single word that was said even if she wasn’t listening. It came in handy when she was at group meetings like this. Vayna gazed at each one of them in turn as she said, “Let’s meet at the airport in an hour. I know where we can go so he won’t find us. At least, not for a while.”

  They all nodded their heads and filtered out of her apartment as they headed toward their respective homes to pack for the next day. They had no idea where they were going, but knowing Vayna it wasn’t going to be anywhere local. Once the room was emptied, Vayna turned to her human and sighed softly as she said, “Let’s finish packing. We’ll need to get out of here soon.”

  Chapter 14

  The hour went by fast for both the human and the vampire. Before they knew it, all of them were standing in the airport boarding a private jet. Mirie came in handy once again by securing a private airline for them to Romania. Nobody knew where they were going except for Vayna, but she didn’t say a word. They faintly suspected, but she didn’t give a single hint for them to go on. They boarded the plane and spent the time either discussing what happened or where they were going.

  Before they realized it, they were all climbing into two taxis that would take them down dusty country roads through the Romanian country side. They watched the scenery roll by, a couple of the vampires talking excitedly about how they never traveled to Romania before and how excited they were to be there. It seemed the problems with Brade were put in the back of their minds for a few moments.

  The taxis pulled to a stop in a little town located just on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains. It was a small farming town community that still used horses as the main form of transportation. Sage asked if they were going to be spending the night at the village, but Vayna shook her head no. They would be moving on. She managed to secure enough horses for all of them to use to ride up the mountain paths. It was early morning, a scant hour after midnight when they began their journey up the mountain side.

  The night was dark, far darker than any of them were used to but the only one having trouble seeing in the dark was Sage. All of the vampires had the ability to see in the dark. Fog floated around them and the noises of the country side filled their ears as they rode along the paths. Animal sounds and the sound of the wind brushing through the trees. Before long, they came to a huge gate that loomed like a sleeping giant above them. It was old and rusty and the hinges were falling off as it sat there. They gently eased it open and rode inside. The vampires from the council were all looking around excitedly as they chattered away. Sage looked up at the ruins of what used to be a magnificent castle and said, “Is this…?”

  “Yes, it is,” Vayna said with a nod as she slowly urged the horse to a stop. They both looked up at the darkened stone walls as she said, “Castle Dracula.”

  By the time they unpacked the horses and found some place to put them so they wouldn’t be harmed, the sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains. The vampires fled to the interior of the castle, taking shelter in the lower dungeons of the castle to rest for the day. Sage walked in casually as she enjoyed the warmth of the Romanian sun on her back. Vayna waited just inside the door of the castle for her and they made their way down the stairs with the rest of the vampires.

  They all stayed in one room, some sleeping on the floor while some sat against the wall and watched the others fall asleep. The castle made strange noises that made most of them nervous, but before long everyone was fully asleep. The day wore on, the heat of the sun making the castle warm up somewhat. Being made of stone, it didn’t warm up quite as much as a normal house was. It was still warmer than any of them expected, however.

  It was a little after 3 in the afternoon when Sage woke up out of a sound sleep. She sat up and looked around, wondering what it was that woke her. It was then that she felt a tug on her mind and a voice that seemed to whisper her name on the wind. Slipping out of the sleeping bag she was in, she carefully made her way through the snoring vampires and out of the room.

  The castle was quiet. Deathly quiet. She couldn’t hear a single thing, not the wind blowing in the trees, nor a mouse scrabbling down the hallway. There was nothing to hear. She made her way down the hallway to a door that was partially opened. She could remember going to sleep that morning and that door being closed. Unless one of the vampires got up and opened it… but she couldn’t remember ever hearing the door open throughout the day. She knew she would’ve heard it because it made a loud screeching noise when it was closed.

  Opening it fully, she frowned when she saw a set of spiral steps that circled down and out of sight. She could see a faint glimmer come up the stairs and she looked back behind her. Deciding that she could look into this without waking Vayna, she started down the steps carefully and cautiously. They were longer than she thought they would be and by the time she got to the end, she couldn’t even hear the vampires snores anymore. Looking around, she saw that the glimmer of light came from a torch on the wall. She frowned deeper, knowing no one was down there to leave a torch burning in the middle of the day. She pulled it off the wall and held it out in front of her.

  Sage…

  A voice whispered through the wind and she whipped her head around violently, trying to find the source of the voice. A tug on her mind urged her deeper into the hallway and she began to walk forward, heading toward a particular spot. Deeper and deeper through the castle she moved until at last she got to a large wooden door with a rusty old padlock on it, keeping whatever behind it from being looked at. A voice in the back of her mind whispered that it could’ve been to keep whatever was inside from looking out as well, but she ignored it as she reached out and tugged on the lock.

  It was so rusted from being there for so long that it fell off without much strength behind her tug. The door creaked open at her touch and she held the torch inside. It was dark, damp and smelled like rotting flesh. From what she could see, it looked like it was an old dungeon chamber used to torture victims. She took a few more cautious steps inside and looked around. A shocked gasp left her lips and she fumbled with the torch as she almost dropped it.

  She held it up again once she had a good grasp on it and shined it toward the back of the room. Chained to a wall was what looked like the corpse of a vampire. Its skin was dried and hugging its bones, its eyeless face grinning at her with the two large fangs protruding from its skull. The clothes were ripped and tattered, barely covering the body that it was supposed to. She took a few careful steps forward, looking at the corpse closely as she approached it.

  The corpse didn’t move. A part of h
er expected it to watch her movements, but it didn’t even lose a speck of dust as she bent down close to it and carefully reached out her finger. Something in the back of her mind said that this was a bad idea, but she just couldn’t seem to stop her finger from moving closer. It almost felt as if her body was moving on its own…

  “Really, Count?” a voice asked from behind her. She toppled backwards as the trance on her mind snapped like a twig and she scurried back, away from the corpse as confident footsteps brushed past her. She gazed in shock up at her vampire as Vayna moved closer and bent down toward the corpse. The ancient vampire shook her head as she said, “You couldn’t pick any other human to go after besides mine?”

  Sage watched as her vampire extended her hand and cut a slit in her palm, hissing at the pain as she held it near the corpse’s mouth. Her jaw dropped open when the corpse seemingly came alive and opened its mouth, the dried tongue sneaking out and lapping at her blood. It almost seemed as if time reversed itself and the tissues of the corpse slowly began to reform.

  The longer the corpse lapped at her vampire’s palm, the more alive it seemed to get. Hair and skin tissues reformed, muscle grew and lungs extended as it took its first breath of air. Eyes appeared behind sunken eye lids out of nowhere and the arms in the chains pulled on them, snapping them easily now that they were rusted beyond recognition. Shaky thin hands reached up and pulled Vayna’s palm closer as fangs sunk in and began to greedily drink.

  The ancient vampire hissed for a moment as her blood was taken from her. It was slightly painful and she forgot how it felt to have another one of her kind feeding off of her. It was mere seconds later when she was slipping a finger into the corpse’s now perfect mouth and gently prying the teeth out of her palm. She pulled her hand away and watched as the cut slowly stopped bleeding. That would take some time standing out in the moonlight to heal… It was worth it, though. For sitting before her was one of the noblest vampires she ever knew.