by Loni Lynne
"What the hell is with you?" Kurren gasped as they headed for the main entry foyer.
"I don't know. I was going to ask you."
"And you think I would know anything? I'm like a mushroom, kept in the dark and fed shit."
Another group of Vamier's friends met them at the door, blocking their path. Looking at each other they nodded. They had this down now.
"I've got this," Marilyn said with a cocky nod of her head.
As each one came at her they disintegrated on cue. All except one. He towered over her, an equal to Kurren in height, but scrawnier in build. He laughed, baring those hideous snaggle toothed fangs. She tried touching him again, and he only pushed her backwards as her hand remained in the center of his chest.
"Kurren…I don't think it's going to work on Giganto here."
Kurren was a step ahead of her and removed the giant vampire's head with one swift motion.
"You could have done that to start with," Marilyn grouched.
He shrugged. "You said you had this. You were doing fine."
"Come on. Let's get out of here and go meet up with Draylon."
Luckily, they didn't encounter anymore of Aiden's friends and family as they made their way to the wooded outskirts of Vamier's fortress.
Crouching down out of sight of possible cameras or sensors, they waited for Draylon to meet up with them.
"What time did he say he'd be here?"
"Five minutes ago. We gave ourselves an extra ten minutes just in case we encountered difficulties."
They waited in silence as the minute hand ticked by. There was no sound, no movement in the rustling of the shrubs and scrub trees around them.
"How many minutes now?" Marilyn asked.
Kurren sighed. "He should've been here by now." He looked around. "We need to go."
"No." She seethed. "We'll wait a few more minutes."
"Draylon said…"
"I don't care. I say we stay just a few more." She narrowed her eyes on Kurren and tried to relax. "Please…just a few more minutes."
Kurren studied her for a moment. "Okay. But only a few. It's not going to take long for Aiden to figure out you're missing and have every one of his fiends out here combing these woods."
They waited, and waited. Where the hell was Draylon? Was he okay? Had he gotten captured? Was he still looking for her?
The sound of alarms and commands being yelled into the night broke out.
"Shit! Damn it. I told you we needed to leave."
"But Draylon…"
"He can take care of himself. We need to get you out of here, now!"
Chapter Seventeen
Draylon woke up chained to a chair with anchor chains. Someone knew of his strength. It would take him awhile to break free from these. His head hurt and he felt groggy.
"So what do you know about Marilyn Reddlin? What is so important that Rick has you keeping track of her safety every damn minute?"
He knew the voice. Aiden Vamier.
"Where…where is she?" Draylon asked. His words sounded slurred to him. He'd been drugged.
"Your friend has her now, but not for long. We're combing the area for them as we speak. Now tell me about Marilyn Reddlin."
"I don't know…what you are talking about." Draylon gasped wearily, trying his damnedest to stay awake, alert.
A fist came out of his peripheral vision and punched him so hard his head snapped sharply to the left.
"I don't want him unconscious, Gerlich, I need him to answer questions," Aiden reprimanded.
"Now I'm going to ask you again, Draylon…what is so important about Marilyn Reddlin that Rick would send his favorite pet Zmeu to keep her safe?"
Shit. How did Aiden find out about him? Only a very few people knew his true identity, and he found it difficult to believe Nonni or Rick would have revealed it, not to Aiden.
"Yes, I figured it out. Miss Reddlin informed me that she'd heard that one Zmeu had made it out of the desecration. That Zamolxis' young prophet had nursed him back to health. My brother, having been the prophet…and you, always at his beck and call, I just put two and two together and came up with you.
"All these centuries and I never knew. There you were, hiding in plain sight. And yet, you never came to seek vengeance on me."
"Zamolxis forbid me from doing so. He said it would only make you a martyr for your own people."
"Whatever. It's all past history now. But what has me so perplexed is this Marilyn Reddlin. I know you know something about her…"
"If I did, do you think I'd tell you?" Draylon spat on the ground near Aiden's Italian loafer clad feet.
Aiden sighed. "I really don't have time for you or this…I can find out on my own." He turned to Gerlich. "Take him away. Put him somewhere out of my hair."
Draylon wasn't worried. There weren't many places he couldn't get out of.
Gerlich dragged him down the corridor by the chain around his neck. Draylon fought for every breath. If he could just get enough energy and mental capacity he could shift into his original form and fuck up Gerlich's world to hell and back.
But whatever he'd been drugged with was something even he couldn't fight through. They stopped and Gerlich hung his chain up against a rock wall, leaving Draylon's feet barely touching the ground. Draylon refused to struggle. It would only cause him to lose his footing and hang himself.
But that wasn't the plan, either. Gerlich removed a disk in the floor the size of a manhole cover and pushed it to the side. Taking the heavy chain from the wall, he fed it down into the hole in the rock floor.
Draylon felt the pull of gravity as the chain dropped rapidly into the darkness below. He tried to fight for a grasp on something, but there was nothing for him to hold onto. He screamed as he fell into the dark hole ending up in the bottom of a torturous, medieval chamber known as an oubliette.
He could hear Gerlich laughing above from the narrow rim. Okay, so this could be the one place he couldn't get out of.
The trip to Dacia wasn't what she expected. It wasn't a town or a village, it wasn't even on the map. They made their way into the Hoia Forest by Kurren's Jeep 4x4 until they came upon a circular clearing with strange curved trees standing sentry around it. No other vegetation grew.
Kurren stopped the Jeep and got out. Coming around the passenger side he helped her down from the seat.
"What is this place? I'm getting a weird vibe…"
"This is the portal to Dacia."
"What do you mean by portal?" Marilyn followed Kurren, taking his hand as he led her across the empty patch of earth.
Tingling sensation coursed through her like a live energy fluctuation. Nausea threatened her stomach and her head throbbed from terrible pressure, worse than any migraine she'd ever experienced.
"You'll be okay in a minute."
Kurren continued to walk on until they reached the other side of the forest. Either her vision was playing tricks on her, or they were walking through a mist and into another world. The trees were thicker here, more dense than they'd been a few moments ago.
Pulling her through the mist towards him, Kurren led her to the edge of a cliff. A huge expanse of land as far and wide as the eye could see met her in a twinkling of lights.
Kurren waved his hand, encompassing the view before her. "Welcome to Dacia."
"What actually is Dacia?"
"Dacia is a portal in time and space. Zamolxis created this utopia for his loyal followers. We are allowed to come and go, merge and join the mortal world but here, this is our sanctuary. Those mortals who've traversed through its portal usually find themselves unable to return or deeply mentally incapacitated."
"What about me? Will I be able to return?"
Kurren turned to her but the silent, uncertain look he gave her wasn't hopeful.
"I don't really know. You are different. Draylon told me you've come to realize you are a shifter. That means you are probably, somehow one of us."
&
nbsp; "But you don't know how." Marilyn already knew that. There was so much she needed to know, so many uncertainties. All in a fraction of time her life had been swept into a cataclysm of the unknown that not even the immortals knew what to do about.
"I'm hoping that once Rick meets you, he'll be able to give us a better understanding of what you are and your purpose among us."
"You're taking me to Rick Delvante's?"
"Draylon insisted it was the safest place for you. But it's quite a journey, even from here. We'll head to our house where you can recover for a few days."
"Something tells me I'm not safe anywhere," Marilyn mumbled.
"You may be right. But I'll do everything in my power to try to protect you."
"Thank you, Kurren."
Rick Delvante still didn't have any information as to Diane Reddlin's whereabouts. He'd contacted every embassy, train station, airport and underground connection he knew in Europe, and the last known address had been a hotel in Cluj. But no one had seen her in weeks. She'd left some of her luggage and hadn't returned but didn't leave a message or any indication of where she might have headed off to.
He'd been searching every avenue he had out in the real world but came up empty. Weary and frustrated, he sat behind his desk trying to figure out what to do next. Looking at his watch, he wondered if Draylon had any luck getting Marilyn out of Aiden's house. He usually called when he'd accomplished a task.
Damn. Was it really three o'clock in the morning? Draylon had left at nine. Something wasn't right. His phone rang. Thank the gods!
"Draylon, where are you? Did you find her?" He spoke rapidly into the phone.
"I don't know where your Zmeu pet is, dearest brother. But you will suffer for sending your buffoons into my domain and killing half of my staff!"
"Aiden, what are you talking about?"
"You sent in your wolf pack to steal the girl and annihilate my people. I have piles of ash everywhere from my corridors to my main entrance."
Rick sat back and pinched the bridge of his nose. This didn't bode well. Neither clan was allowed to kill the other inside of their personal space. Vamier wasn't allowed to kill inside of Dacia and Delvante was not allowed to kill inside of Vamier territory. Still, there was the stipulation of Marilyn in play.
"What about Marilyn? Where is she?"
"Not so fast…I want to know what your fascination is with her."
"None of your damn business."
"I'm making it my business. She knows too much about Dacian history, making things a bit uncomfortable. No human should have the kind of knowledge she does. Oh and you can thank her for letting me know that one of the Zmei did survive after all. All these years and he was right under my nose. You were clever in keeping him hidden, brother. I would have killed him sooner had I known."
"What do you mean, killed him sooner? Where's Draylon? What have you done with him?"
"I left him to rot in his own lonely grave. He could have died quickly with the rest of his beastly family instead…but thanks to you, he'll die broken and alone…and a most lengthy death."
"You sonofabitch!"
"No, you are the son of the bitch."
Frustrated, Rick hung up on Aiden's sadistic laughter. Teeth clenched tightly, it was the only thing keeping his form from emerging. Fighting the urge to run, Rick calmed enough to try to think things through. The only thoughts were those of how he should've killed his brother years ago when he had the chance.
Kurren led her through the forests of Dacia. An untouched paradise compared to the real world. For all its natural beauty, it could have been the Eden the Bible spoke of. There were clean, clear streams and wild, natural habitats for many woodland creatures.
"We are never without food and share to provide for our brethren animals. We take only enough to sustain, not for sport," Kurren explained as a herd of deer scampered off across the open valley. "Our people learned long ago when we nearly annihilated our entire food source that we needed to find alternatives."
"Humans could learn a great deal from the Dacians."
"We have a few who are part of the World Conservation Program with the United Nations, but it doesn't mean we are heard." He turned to her as they continued walking. "How are you feeling now?"
"Better. The queasiness has subsided."
"It gets easier the more you do it. It's the time portal. It messes with the natural equilibrium in the inner ear canal."
"So are there other Dacians who prefer the mortal world to Dacia?"
"Those who do need to come home to Dacia every few years to live. Then they must go to a new destination because…"
"…they never age. It would cause people to wonder."
"Exactly."
"What about Draylon? He can live in the real world for quite awhile it seems."
"No. He travels a bit when needed but his home in the Austrian Alps is much like Dacia. It's a time portal in which all time, as mortals know it, stands still. His confidante, Donovan stays there most of the time."
"Donovan?" Marilyn remembered the name. An image of an older man dressed in coat and tails…in a mountain fortress. "Eskardel!"
"What?"
"Eskardel…what's it mean?" She asked.
"Eskardel was the home of the ancient Zmei, a cavern deep inside the Carpathian Mountains in which they lived. It was a sacred place and only the most honored of the Dacia clans were allowed entrance. Rumor has it if a Zmeu were to seduce a young woman and take her to Eskardel, it was only because she was his true mate."
Marilyn's mind conjured up the dreams she'd been having. "What were Zmei?"
"They were shape-shifters…"
"I know that. But what was their true form?"
Kurren's brow wrinkled. "Balour. What you would call dragons."
"Dragons with gem stones in their foreheads?"
"Some say, yes. It was supposed to be a third eye…the eye of the gods." Kurren smiled. "Why do you ask?"
She smiled back and shrugged as they continued their trek. But Marilyn knew. Her dreams were finally beginning to make sense and the funny thing about it…she was okay with them.
"This is your house?" Marilyn gasped as they came upon the huge A-framed log house.
"Well, Therron—or Ron and I share it. We kind of have our own wing."
"It's absolutely beautiful."
"Thank you." They walked up onto the wrap around deck and walked in through the Dutch doors. "Ron, we have company. Make sure you're decent," he called out.
"We're in here, Ren," Ron yelled back.
Marilyn followed Kerren through the mud room to the huge kitchen and into the massive sunk-in living room.
"Marilyn!"
"Mom?" Marilyn ran to her mother who embraced her in a hug and then stood back to look at her, holding her face, touching her hair.
"You look fabulous! What did you do? Where have you been? I've been so worried…"
"I'm fine Mom. I came looking for you—"
"No time. No time for all this…pshaw!"
They both turned to see Nonni sitting in her chair, waving her crooked cane at them.
"Sit," she ordered. "Much to do and little time."
They all sat down, Marilyn holding her mother's hand, their fingers clasped. It was odd to see her mother in a man's flannel top and sweatpants. Her hair was down, the natural face of her mother, sans cosmetics, glowed. This wasn't the same woman she'd known all of her life. Where was the tailored business suit, the severe knot of hair at the base of her head and power red lipstick that made Diane Reddlin the business demon she'd been known for?
"All is going as the gods have foreseen," Nonni stated.
"Then the gods must like crazy—you have no idea what I've been through." Marilyn snorted.
Nonni whacked her upside the head with her cane.
"Owww! What was that for?"
"You are impertinent. The gods chose the time, the place and the way
for things to be followed." The old lady glared at her. "You have the medallion still?"
Marilyn touched her shirt, feeling the bronze piece on the silver chain securely around her neck. She nodded.
"That is good. It is your talisman. Your destiny."
"What medallion are you talking about?" Diane asked.
Marilyn took it out from beneath her collar.
Both men sat closer to look and said a few choice curse words.
"Where did you get that?" her mother asked.
"For my twenty-first birthday, I was sent a package, no return address, but there was a letter inside. The sender was a friend of my father's and this was a special Dacian artifact he'd found and would want me to have. I was told to keep it a secret because there were those who shouldn't know of its whereabouts."
"What is it?" Diane looked around the room.
"It's half of the Dacian code. The gods gave it to the Dacians as a token of unity among the Dacians and the Zmei. They were considered to be immortal warrior brethren. A circle of peace and continuity among the two clans," Ron explained breathlessly.
"The code was broken by Zamolxis when Vamier desecrated the original Eskardel, 'Home of the Zmei.' The broken medallion symbolized what the Dacians call, "The Great Divide" when the Dacian clan was split in two," Ren continued.
"It happened over a thousand years ago, back before your Christ was born," Nonni countered. "The gods foretold of a time when the two pieces would be united and a new order would begin…that time has come."
"No." Ren stood up. "It was also foretold that if the two pieces were ever joined the world as we know it would end!"
Nonni shrugged. "Our world ends every once in awhile. We just don't know it."
"Can you be so lackadaisical in your belief of the gods that you'd take a chance on an apocalyptic turn of events?"
"The gods have spoken." Nonni glared at Ren. "That is the way. That is all you need to know."
"Where do I fit in?" Marilyn asked. So she held the medallion, what did it mean?