“It sounds to me that you were afraid.”
“Afraid?” Shawn scoffed.
“Why are you asking me questions when you already know the answers?”
The hermit took another scoop of the plants and threw them into the flames.
Love was not a requirement for the bond between mates. Sure, it often developed, but to happen so soon? He wasn’t ready. It had sneaked up on him and caught him wide open and unprepared. He’d accepted that they were mates. He’d said this much to Valentin. But he hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of it all until then. He’d asked forever of his lover and offered so little in return. And not a word about feelings.
“I love him, and I’m afraid to tell him. Afraid he wouldn’t want me.” Somehow, saying it out loud was less painful than thinking it.
The hermit seemed pleased with his answer.
“Am I too late?”
“No. But you could be.”
“Where can I find him? If you know, tell me, please.” He was begging and he couldn’t care less.
“Blood would lead you to him. And friends will stand by your side.”
“Can you be any less cryptic?”
“Be careful on your way back down. It’s slippery.”
“Please. I need to know.”
“You know everything you need to know.” The dismissal was clear. He lingered one more minute staring at the hermit, hoping the man might change his mind and tell him more, but when it became clear that it wasn’t the case, Shawn got to his feet and turned to leave. When he reached the exit he turned and threw back over his shoulder, “You didn’t ask me what I would do to get him back.”
“I already know that.”
“Oh?”
“Anything. You wouldn’t be standing here otherwise. You wouldn’t have reached this far.”
“Whole lot of good it did me,” he muttered.
“Didn’t it?” the hermit answered just as quietly.
Shawn hesitated on the last step. He debated with himself for a second and then bowed his head to the elder.
“Thank you.” He didn’t wait for an answer and stepped out into the night.
* * * *
Valentin had long lost track of time. The torture sessions alternated with interrogations. And neither were fun. De Nemours came only for interrogations, leaving Valentin in the wizard’s care the rest of the time. When it turned out they couldn’t break him, Raven had pulled out the heavy stuff. The devices he had there Valentin had only encountered in history books. He had bled so much it was astounding there was any still left in him. His jailers had tried feeding him, but no matter what kind of blood they gave him, he couldn’t keep it down. They tried anything, human, vampire, werewolf, nothing worked.
When the torture had finally ceased, Valentin was sure it was just a temporary thing, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Steps reverberated in the hallway and traces of power threading in the air signaled the arrival of not just De Nemours but another vampire as well. Oh joy. The fun continues.
The door opened and the master stepped inside, followed by a tall, hooded vampire.
“How are we doing here?”
“The same.” The wizard seemed confused, like he was finding the prospect of not being able to break Valentin unfathomable.
“We’ll take it from here.” The dismissal was clear. The caster hesitated but had to obey.
The room emptied but for Valentin and his two visitors. Valentin pulled tentatively at the chains binding him to the armchair. “I’d love to give you some privacy.” His tone was hopeful though the effect was ruined by the whistle the freshly missing front tooth was putting in his voice.
The second vampire removed his hood and Valentin growled. Shit! I’m seeing things. There’s no way. This cannot be.
The second vampire was an elder. They’d never been formally introduced, but he had seen him around his former sire and he knew just how formidable the man could be.
“Do you know who I am?” The voice was warm, hypnotic, and Valentin didn’t trust it one bit.
“I know what you are.”
“And what am I?”
“An elder. Part of the Council.” That would explain the presence of the wizard. De Nemours wouldn’t have dared breaking that particular rule if he didn’t have a Council member at his back.
“Very good.”
Valentin felt the pull of the voice and his mind sent out warning signals, just as his body strained to get closer.
“Yes.”
“Are you aware that now, when your sire is dead, you are up for grabs? That anyone out there could kill you just for the fun of it?”
“Yes,” Valentin answered in a daze, his focus entirely on the elder’s voice.
“You need a protector, a master. Would you like to belong to my house?”
It sounded good. The ideal offer. But a nagging voice in the back of Valentin’s head was screaming in warning. He opened his mouth to say yes, but it came out no.
The elder paused.
“I’m Wilhelm Adelmann.”
The name had Valentin trembling. He knew who Adelmann was. The Council’s executioner, a sadistic killer whose services were available to the highest bidder, if the rumors were correct.
“I’m powerful and my bloodline goes back almost all the way to the beginning. You won’t get a better offer.” This time his tone held a trace of a threat, but he had a point. An elder’s protection wasn’t something to sneeze about, and its refusal could have had dire consequences.
“And yet my answer is still no.”
The silence stretched out longer this time.
“I won’t beg you to join my line. This is a one-time deal.”
“I appreciate it. But I’d like to be on my own.” With Shawn. If he’s still alive—God, be alive! And if he’d have me.
“I see. In that case you are welcome to stay here until you feel better.”
“Here as in the dungeons?” Valentin looked around the cold, humid cell. “Thanks but no thanks. I would just go, if that’s okay.”
“Actually it’s not.”
“So, if you’re done bribing me, maybe you can tell me the real reason why I’m here.”
“I want The Immortal.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“You will give it to me.”
“I don’t have it. Never had. I’m not even sure it exists.”
“But it does. Yuri had it. He was your sire. You see where I’m going with that.”
“Yes, I do. But I still can’t help you.”
“You mean you won’t.”
“I really mean I can’t.”
“That’s not what I want to hear.”
“It’s the only answer I have.”
Adelmann’s eyes gleamed and the fangs flashed from under his upper lip.
“You’ll have to do better than that.”
“I’ve never seen it. I’ve heard stories of it, but I never thought it was real.”
The elder’s eyes turned to slits. Power swirled in the air. Valentin shifted in his seat as far as the chains allowed him to. Pissing off the Council assassin wouldn’t do at all.
“You need another session with Raven.”
“Oh, great.”
De Nemours stepped up and cleared his throat.
“Yes, Jacques?”
Jaques. That De Nemours.
“We might have a problem with that.”
Adelmann turned to look at De Nemours. The lord gestured at the skinny vampire.
“He won’t handle any more of Raven’s gift. He is too sick. Been puking his guts out for the last thirty-six hours.”
Valentin absorbed the information, his thoughts on Shawn, instead on his prospects at escaping.
“Why is he sick?”
“We don’t know. It’s some kind of substance.”
“How could you give him something if you don’t know how he would react to it?”
De Nemours looked offended by th
e comment.
“I haven’t. We don’t even know what it is. Our best guess is that he had it in him and it was dormant somehow.”
Dormant? Is he stupid? I’ve been puking my guts out for months now.
“I don’t care what it is. Make it happen. I need the stone and I need it tonight. The Council will be arriving tomorrow and without the rock all my efforts have been in vain.” An evil snarl curled his lips and malice clouded his eyes. “I want that Council dissolved. I want each and every single one of them dead. I want them to suffer.”
Holy mother of God! He wants to use the stone to take over the Council!
“Yes, master.” De Nemours bowed his head in deference.
“Try not to disappoint me.” The tone of his voice was clear. Do it or else. From the way De Nemours’s body shook, the meaning had not escaped him.
The elder marched out of the room without sparing any of them a second glance. The wizard stepped in and closed the door behind him.
“I don’t care what you do, but make him talk. Fast.”
“Oh, he’s talking all right. The problem is that nothing useful comes out of his mouth.”
The lord growled at him, and the caster took a hasty step back and tipped his head in submission.
“You have until the morning. Try not to kill him in process.” Valentin was all for that. Like the older vampire could read his mind, he turned around and smirked at the bound man. “We’ll save that for the day after tomorrow.”
Chapter 14
When Shawn reached Piatra Neamt, a quaint little town lying at the feet of the Ceahlau Mountain, he was still thinking about his conversation with the hermit. What had he meant by blood will lead me to him? He had to hand it to the man, he’d been right about everything else. Shawn would have done anything to get his mate back. And keep him. Hopefully Valentin wanted that, too, or Shawn’s life was going to be very lonely.
He went back to the motel room he’d checked in to when he’d reached the town and checked his messages. He’d hoped Andrei would get back to him, maybe with the location of Valentin. Any piece of information, no matter how small, would have been welcome. But there was none.
He shed his wet clothes and changed into fresh ones, noting absently that at this rate he was going to be out of clean clothes by the end of the week, and he found the shredded piece from Valentin’s sweater. He stared at it for the longest moment. Could it be that easy? Shawn rushed out of the room, raced down the stairs, and skidded to a stop at the front desk.
“I need a map.”
“Of the town, sir?” The young clerk behind the desk made it sound like it was something he couldn’t comprehend.
“No. Of the whole country, if you have one.”
The clerk searched through the stack of papers on his desk and came up with a battered road map.
“Would this be okay, sir?”
“It will do. Thanks. Put it on my tab, please.”
Shawn rushed back up the stairs and locked the door behind him. He swept his things from the small table and laid the opened map on top of it. He grabbed a chair and brought it closer.
“Now. How do I do this?”
He closed his eyes and took deep, relaxing breaths. He could feel his heartbeats steadying and a calm he wouldn’t dare hope to feel enveloped him. The piece of cloth felt alive in his hold, warm and familiar, and the map pulsed under his hands. Eyes still closed, he ran the material above the entire surface of the map, lingering over the places where he could feel it pulsing the stronger. He checked it again and again until the fabric sang to him.
He marked the spot and opened his eyes. The area was located between Rasnov and Brasov. If he remembered correctly, the place was filled with history and legends. Some of them were considered to be related to Vlad Dracul, the most famous alleged vampire in the world. Nothing more than a myth, Shawn was sure of that, but every legend carried some truth, so he wasn’t dismissing the possibility of a coven in the area.
He grabbed the phone on the nightstand and dialed Andrei.
“Come on. Pick up. Pick up! Damn it!”
On the fifth ring it went to voicemail. “Andrei, it’s Shawn. I think I know where Valentin is. Somewhere between Brasov and Rasnov. It’s not on the map, so I’m assuming it’s something very small. That’s all I’ve got, but I’m heading there right now. If you could talk with the packs in the area to let them know I will be coming, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Gotta go. Bye.”
He slammed the phone down and rushed around the room throwing back in the duffel whatever articles of clothing he’d taken out earlier.
* * * *
Over three hundred kilometers away, a black-haired man was pacing around an imposing-looking office, wearing a big scowl on his face and holding a cell phone at his ear.
“…I think I know where Valentin is…” Okay. Good. Please tell me you are staying put and waiting for me.
“…I’m heading there right now.” Of course you are, damn it! Why can’t you just wait and talk with me?
“…If you could talk with the packs in the area to let them know I will be coming, it would be greatly appreciated.” Oh, sure. Go right ahead, trespass on at least three pack territories, with no one to back you up or scout the area.
He strolled to the door and jerked it open.
“Alex! Robert! Get in here.”
The two men entered and found Andrei staring out the window, his body tense and mood foul.
“Robert, let everyone know we’re going to Brașov.”
Both men exchanged concerned looks.
“I’ve heard it’s lovely this time of the year,” said Robert tentatively.
“Yeah, too bad we won’t get to enjoy it.”
“So no skiing equipment, I take it.”
Andrei gave him an evil glare. “No. Just light clothing.” Ignoring their alpha’s obvious bad mood, they strolled across the room and slouched on the chairs facing the desk.
“Are we expecting trouble?” Alex pitched in.
“Nope. We’re looking for trouble.”
“It makes much more sense when you put it like that.”
“Alex.” Andrei growled out his name.
“I’m your second-in-command. If there’s something going on, I should know about it.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” The alpha’s shoulders hunched and a deep sigh escaped his chest. “Remember my friend Shawn?”
“The black jaguar you went to college with? That bastard Timothei’s stepkid?”
“That’s the one. He got into some trouble and he asked for my help.” He glanced at his friends and found them watching him intently. “His mate, go figure, is a vampire.” He paused for effect and dropped the bomb. “And a male.”
Robert’s brows shot up and Alex whistled low.
“Shawn’s gay?”
“It was news for me too. He only dated girls in college.”
“That’s what I thought. But why would that be a problem? If he is okay with it…”
“His mate was kidnapped.”
“Why?” Alex, always the one to cut to the chase, asked.
“From what Shawn said his mate had witnessed the murder of his coven.”
“Hey, I think I’ve heard something a coven being slaughtered. I didn’t pay it much thought. Somewhere in Russia if I’m not mistaking.”
Andrei kept talking, ignoring the interruption. “He fled, he was followed, and they caught up with them.”
He took his cell out and replayed the message.
Alex and Robert exchanged another look.
“Hum. Andrei? You sure this is a good idea?”
“No.”
“It could be a trap.”
“It could very well be. Just as it could very well be all true.”
“You could endanger the entire pack. Whoever slaughtered that coven, the whole coven, no less, must be very powerful.”
“Why do you want to do it?” Alex’s voice was soft. Andrei looked at him an
d found only understanding in his friend’s eyes.
“Because if the roles were reversed I’d like to have someone stepping up for me.”
Both of his friends understood Andrei’s turmoil, as they all hoped there was someone for each of them out there, and they trusted him implicitly. He’d been their alpha for over five years now, and he’d yet to make a single mistake.
“What would you have us do?”
“Alex, get on the phone and contact the packs in the Brasov area. If I remember correctly, there are three of them controlling those parts.”
“Yeah, I think it’s Alin Budescu’s pack, Mihai Sorescu’s and Dana Zamfir’s. Isn’t Alin a friend of yours?”
“Yeah, he is. Just try to reach them all and I will do the talking. Robert, let everyone know to get ready. We leave within the hour.”
* * * *
Shawn reached Brasov and headed for the nearest hotel. He badly needed a shower, a bite to eat, and a few hours of sleep. He stopped and picked up a couple of sandwiches and a Pepsi to wash them down and ate them so fast he didn’t even taste them. A five-minute shower, fresh clothes, the last ones he had, a dreamy glance at the bed, and he was out the door.
He hadn’t been to Brasov in years, and he was unfamiliar with the local packs, but he knew there weren’t any felines there. The best way to get the feel of the place was to find some of the preternatural locals, so he followed his nose to one of the bars who catered to the were-population.
Shawn stood at the entrance, checking out the place. It was the everyday kind of joint with pool tables and leather booths. Most of the clients were werewolves, and one after another stopped whatever it was doing to stare at the strange therian invading their territory. He squared his shoulders and strolled to the bar, followed by suspicious looks and whispers of the patrons. As long as there wasn’t any growling or dead silence, he figured he was safe.
“What can I get you?” the bartender, a tall werewolf in his thirties, asked with a grin.
“I could go for a tea, if you have any.”
The smile turned to a grin and green eyes gleamed mischievously. “What? No saucers of milk? Tuna cans?”
Oh great. Cat jokes. Shawn rolled his eyes, but he needed the man on his side so he let it slip.
Perfect Timing Page 15