Aleksei decided to get a brainstorming session going to determine where Gillian had been taken and why. They all listened as Aleksei spoke of Gillian’s last appointment and the unexpected name that had come up.
“Csangal.” Osiris’s gold eyes glittered with suppressed rage. “That is a name I thought I would never hear again.”
“I thought there might be a mistake at first,” Aleksei said. “Helmut had spoken it to Daed, who conveyed it to me. Unfortunately it was correct.”
“The Wanderer has returned and we did not realize it.” Tanis spoke half to himself.
Aleksei’s head jerked toward Tanis. His brother hadn’t meant the comment as an insult by any means, but he felt very responsible for Gillian’s disappearance. None of them realized just how much. The agony in his expression was brief but so potent that it actually made his brother step back.
“I am aware of my failings as a Lord, Tanis. I should have realized what the brushes against my power were. I should have known that only a Vampire of equal or greater power could have caused them, even if they wished for secrecy. I should have acted on it instead of ignoring my unease.”
Aleksei raked his hand through his lush black hair, his eyes a steely gray. “I should have protected her, Tanis . . . I should have watched over her better, been more cognizant of the danger she was in and kept her safe. It is my fault that she is now in the hands of that monster. Just say it; we are all thinking it.”
Everyone shifted in the uncomfortable silence that followed Aleksei’s self-recriminations. Helmut, Gestalt therapist that he was, went to the tall Lord and squeezed his shoulder gently. The muscles were like granite under his hand. He suppressed a gasp as Aleksei turned to pin him with those magical silvery eyes. Maybe he and Gillian ought to write a very detailed journal article on Vampire emotive powers and how to avoid being scared shitless when dealing with a clearly anxious Lord.
“No one, not even Gillian, would blame you for this situation, Aleksei.” Helmut’s own blue eyes were kind, though his voice noticeably quivered a little. “From what I understand, you are new to your own level of power. You could not have easily identified a number of things you were experiencing.”
“I appreciate your candor, Helmut, but it does not excuse my responsibility,” Aleksei said quietly.
“No, it does not,” Osiris interjected.
All eyes turned to the Egyptian. “However, Dr. Gerhardt is correct. You cannot expect that you would have recognized every shift in the fabric of your environment so soon after your Ascension, nor have anticipated that Csangal . . . Dracula would have come here. What you must do, with our help, is determine the next best course of action. We will get her back.”
“If she has been harmed . . .” Aleksei said, beginning to pace.
“I do not believe she is injured or dead,” Isis spoke up, her voice clear and pure as silver bells. “He has a specific purpose for taking her; otherwise you would have found her here on your lands, Aleksei, drained or executed.”
“What purpose could she possibly serve, other than exercising control over me?” Aleksei frowned at her suggestion, but a small glimmer of hope was forming. If Gillian was indeed a hostage with a purpose, she may live awhile longer.
“I do not know,” Isis admitted, “but it is worth taking a little time to research any possibility. At least we would know in which direction to go.”
“I might have an idea.” Oscar cleared his throat and stepped forward, clearly uneasy.
Aleksei rounded on him like a Rottweiler on a steak. “You were that deeply in your Lord’s confidence that you know his future plans?”
“Not precisely,” Oscar divulged, paling a little. “But I know that while he was using my estate for a headquarters of sorts, he availed himself of my library quite extensively.”
“What the hell was he reading? ‘How to Be an Asshole’ manuals?” Kimber crossed her arms and squared off with the British Vampire.
“Research, poppet. He was always researching some ancient artifact, epic legend or another. He had a keen interest in ancient religions, their symbolism and various dogma . . . beyond that of your traditional pantheons, my Lords.” Oscar nodded in respect toward Osiris and Dionysus.
“Earlier than us or later?” Osiris asked.
“Earlier, much earlier. He was reading the Torah, I believe, when he was last at my humble home.”
“I don’t suppose your observations include what part of the Torah he was reading, do they?” Helmut was moving along the shelves of the castle’s vast library to find a copy of the Holy Book in question.
“No, I am afraid it would not have been healthy for me to be that inquisitive. One does not simply ask the Dark Prince to explain himself in any manner, and it never entered our conversations,” Oscar said, shrugging. Luis patted his shoulder in a comforting gesture.
“Surely he was not researching that tired old story about Vampires being descended from Cain,” Dionysus exclaimed.
“No . . . no, I think this is something else,” Helmut said distractedly, flipping through the pages of the Torah he had located.
“But Dracula did have an interest in who made him. Do you remember, Aleksei?” Tanis asked his brother.
The Romanian Lord’s brow furrowed. “Yes, I do remember him mentioning that in one of his rare contemplative moments when he was tormenting me about my Rebirth. He said that while I did not recognize my attackers, at least I had the mentoring I required to survive from my brother. He made it sound as though he had done me a favor, having ordered my execution.”
“None of us knows who created us or how we came to be, Aleksei,” Osiris spoke up.
At Aleksei’s perplexed look, he continued. “Neither Dionysus, myself or Dracula knows how we were Reborn. I have vague memories of walking in Egypt during midday, proudly surveying my lands, my workers and my flocks, but beyond that I have no memory of my life as a Daywalker.”
“Nor do I,” Dionysus stated. “There are hazy impressions of owning a vineyard . . . and being a wealthy, arrogant man. That I remember,” he said ruefully. “I know I was more interested in hedonistic pursuits and letting my staff tend my property. Other than that, I cannot remember how or where I lived.”
“Every other Vampire that I have personally known has been descended from the three of us. Now that you have joined our cluster, you will have an opportunity to bring others over and strengthen your own line.” Osiris watched Aleksei carefully as he said this.
“So there are truly no more than the four of us with a Lord’s power?” Aleksei ignored Osiris’s comment for the moment. He had no desire to think about that for the time being. Getting inside Dracula’s mind to determine his next move was bad enough.
“There may be others, but I have yet to encounter any. I remember hearing tales of a Line of Northmen near the beginning of the first millennium, but I have not heard of them in centuries,” Osiris said. “Even though our Lines rarely overlap intentionally. It would not be difficult for a true Ancient to conceal his presence, live in a more secluded area and not announce himself to the world.”
“With the Compact, there may be more who step forward.” Dionysus’s observation quieted the murmurings in the room.
“Aleksei, what belief system or religion did Dracula subscribe to?” Helmut said suddenly.
The tall Lord glanced at his brother for confirmation, then turned to Helmut. “I believe he was born Catholic; however, the Unitarian movement began here in the fifteenth century. He had been Reborn by that time, and as far as I know was more favorable toward the Unitarians than the Orthodox Church, but I cannot say for certain.”
“You are correct, my Lord.” Oscar nodded. “We had a discussion over religion at one point of time, after he read my book. He laughed at the idea of a man selling his soul to the devil. I found his thoughts rather heretical.”
“You are Catholic, then?” Aleksei asked, taking note of Oscar’s pretentious predilection. He had never asked to be called anything
but Aleksei.
“Not practicing, but I was raised Catholic, yes. Are you?”
“No. Tanis and I were raised in the Unitarian Church. We have a firm belief in the Almighty, but we do not subscribe to traditional Christianity.”
Helmut listened with interest, taking mental notes. As liberally minded as he and the IPPA’s professionals were, most Humans still thought of Paramortals as completely dissimilar to Humans. They forgot that even “magical” Beings frequently had religious beliefs that mirrored their own. It was one of the circumstances that Paramortal psychology dealt with every day.
“Let me keep looking, then.” Helmut sighed, turning back to the extensive shelves of books.
Everyone continued wracking their brains trying to figure out where Dracula had taken Gillian, and why. Daed was poring over Gillian’s notes for the fortieth time, trying to zoom in on the pattern in her sessions. He beckoned Helmut over when he could catch the psychologist’s eye. The rest of the group in the room barely glanced in their direction as they continued their own discussions.
“There has to be something here, Helmut. We’ve missed something. I’ve missed something. There’s a pattern to therapy, even a loose one. She had to be zeroing in on what his anxiety or paranoia was rooted in.”
Helmut slumped into the couch, the Torah balanced on his knee. “I know, Daed, but I’ve been over it countless times, just as you have. The best I can remember is that she was talking to him about what distressed him. Didn’t he say that he did not know his creator and because of it he killed someone? His family?”
“Yes!” Daed said elatedly. “Aleksei! Don’t Vampires rely on their progenitor to teach them?”
“Yes. Even if they are not closely bound, it is the responsibility of the Master or Lord to help his progeny gain control in the beginning,” Aleksei confirmed.
“Gill writes here that Csangal had a grudge toward his creator for causing him to kill his family.” Daed locked eyes with the Vampire when Aleksei laughed harshly at his statement.
“Is that what he told her?”
“Almost, but not quite a lie,” Osiris added in an acerbic tone.
“Yes, it says here that he killed his family by mistake because his creator did not remain with him. He wasn’t told to rest away from his home and village.”
“You have not read much on Romanian history, Helmut,” Aleksei said more patiently than he felt. “Vlad Dracula may indeed be angry with his creator, but his wife committed suicide, and killing his mistress was intentional, if that is what he was referring to. At the time, she was all the ‘family’ he had left, I assure you.”
“He murdered her?” Helmut was appalled.
“He did indeed,” Tanis responded. “Cold, deliberate murder.”
“Why?”
“Because she told him she was pregnant to cheer him up when he was in a particularly black mood.” Aleksei’s sarcastic response spoke volumes about what he really thought of Dracula and his disposition.
“Vampires can knock someone up?” That was from Kimber.
“Occasionally even a fossil can produce fruit.” Aleksei didn’t smile this time.
“Do Jenna and Gill know that?”
“Gillian is on the Pill,” Aleksei informed her.
“What about Jenna? Come to think of it, where is Jenna?” Kimber stood and walked toward the library door, peering down the hallway. “Tanis? Didn’t she come back with you?”
Tanis’s face reflected a recent blow to his emotions. “No, she did not. She said she wanted to get away from the ‘fanged freak show’ for a while. I left her in Cairo, at Osiris’s headquarters, as per her request. She will do what she will, go where she will, as I suspect you know from serving with her in the past.”
“Dude, I am sorry.” Kimber’s tone and expression said she really was. “Jen is a bit of a flake on a good day, and with all the excitement . . . like with Jack and everything . . . it doesn’t particularly surprise me. I’m sure she’ll pop back up at some point.”
“If she does, I will wish her well.” Tanis looked away. “We decided to go our own way in Egypt, just before Aleksei’s call. She mentioned us remaining friends but I am not sure how that is possible if she has no intention of returning.”
“Tanis, I am truly sorry,” Aleksei said privately to his brother. “I had no idea. You are hurting, yet here you are to support me in looking for Gillian. I apologize for not noticing your pain.”
“I am fine, truly. Having experienced two remarkable women after a very long dry spell, I consider myself fortunate indeed,” was Tanis’s reply.
Aleksei could detect no hidden anger from his brother, no regrets, no masking of any emotional trauma. “I thought you believed her to be ‘the one.’”
“At first, yes, I did. But as we spent more and more time together, it became apparent that we had different thoughts about our futures. She is young, Aleksei; young and flighty. She is not ready for anything I could offer her. I am not bitter; the experience was good for both of us. It helped me put things into perspective.”
His heart clenching in his chest, Aleksei had to ask, “Perspective? On . . . yourself and Gillian?”
Tanis looked at him askance. His brother was more sensitive than usual due to the stress of Gillian’s abduction. He would be diplomatic now and hit him over the head later.
“Good Lord, Aleksei, of course not. She and I are long past any possibility of a relationship. She loves you, and in time she will see that.”
Kimber impulsively hugged him, breaking his concentration with his brother. Smiling down at her, he returned the hug. “Now, let us get back to the half-truths that Dracula told our little sister.”
“What else is in the notes, Daedelus?” Anubis inquired, his curiosity piqued.
“Just some things about the atrocities of the Turks . . . some mention of his brother . . . about his concern over his appearance . . .”
That brought a laugh from the Vampires who knew the Dark Prince on a personal level. They explained to the others who hadn’t met him that Dracula was easily the most beautiful one of their species that any of them had ever seen.
“His concern was that he was attracting too many followers to him, instead of just the ones he personally chose,” Aleksei stated. “He is an egomaniac, a narcissist in the extreme. He blamed his victims for falling so easily under his spell and wished he was less lovely to make acquiring prey and acolytes more of an interesting challenge. Thus his theory that Humans were inferior to Vampires: they were so easily duped.”
“That’s remarkable.” Helmut’s voice was skeptical. “We had Perrin, who was terrified of how he looked, and now we have someone who wished for less striking features . . . Humans are not the only ones with fascinating idiosyncrasies.”
“Can we please focus?” Daed’s annoyed tone brought them all back to the immediate problem.
“He wants to find his creator . . . I wonder if it would be the same as our creator.” Osiris looked to Dionysus for his opinion.
“Possibly. Aleksei is really the only true Lord among any of us. We were all created by an unknown Being. He rose a full Lord, knowing his creator, but not knowing his power due to Dracula’s interference,” the Greek Lord said thoughtfully.
“Tanis is the Master who Turned me from death to Rebirth,” Aleksei pointed out for those who didn’t know. “I was dying by the road; he forced me to drink from him.
“I was riding alone at night. It was moonless, very dark, very cold. My Human eyes did not see them until they had me. I was bled out by several of Dracula’s Vampires and left to die. Tanis is the one who found me, gave me his blood and made certain that I rose with my mind intact. He is the one who taught me our customs; he kept me from losing hope.”
Osiris studied his friend for a moment. “That may be, but I suspect your power originated from within you, whereas Dionysus’s and mine came from an outside source. I was the first Lord of our breed; he is the second.
“Both Diony
sus and I know we did not sire Dracula by blood or seed, nor did any of our lineage. His is a separate Line altogether. Since we were created thousands of years before Dracula, perhaps we should concentrate our search on where our creator possibly came from. In doing so, we may also gain the answer that he seeks and find Gillian in the process.”
CHAPTER 6
CONUNDRUM , Gillian thought to herself. That was what this was. She was unrestrained and still armed; she could shoot out one of the sun- shielded windows in the opulently decorated, roomy cabin of the private plane she was currently aboard. It would certainly result in cabin depressurization, forcing a landing in the velvety blackness that surrounded the aircraft. Csangal would be in no real danger, but he would be pissed.
She could shoot herself. That would accomplish getting rid of the immediate hostage situation but would be vastly unproductive with regard to solving the mystery of why she’d been brought along in the first place, and end any hope of getting back to her friends in Romania. Plus, Aleksei would be pissed.
She could shoot Csangal. If she managed a lucky head shot, he would be dead but she would still be trapped in an aircraft with flunkies of various varieties obviously in his employment. They would most definitely be pissed if she killed their boss.
Therefore, going along with whatever the hell her rogue Vampire patient wanted so she could get to the bottom of this and still emerge among the living seemed like the most prudent thing to do. He hadn’t hurt her, but he had done a great job with mind control. She couldn’t remember leaving the Inn back in Sacele or getting on a plane or where their ultimate destination would be. Great. Now she was pissed. Delineating immediate avenues of escape and pondering her current situation wasn’t working at all.
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