by Tinnean
“No. And this isn’t your room.”
“What?”
The vampyr who stood in the doorway couldn’t have been more than fourteen, but he was already as tall as me. He wore torn jeans and a sweatshirt that read “Save Ferris.” Although he was backlit by the light in the hallway and I couldn’t see the color of his eyes, I could still tell he had blond hair. Something about the shape of his face struck me as familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
He scowled at me. “I said—”
“I heard what you said. What I want to know is how can this not be my room? And what are you doing in my house?”
“I’m not in your house. You’re in mine. Adam brought you here. Look, if you don’t believe me, go ahead and take a look around.”
“Okay. But stay there. You’re not invited in! Mina, keep him out!”
He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t let her size fool you. She’s a killer,” I warned.
“I’m sure.” He was laughing at her!
Now would be a good time for Mina to do her Hound of the Baskervilles thing, but she just sat in front of him and yawned. Shoot.
“Of course this is my house,” I groused under my breath. How could Adam bring me anywhere without me being aware of it? I went to the closet and pulled open the doors. “Uh….” There were clothes in there, but they weren’t mine.
“Check out the bathroom.”
I opened the bathroom door and came to an abrupt halt. I blinked and blinked again. What the…. It was enormous. Instead of the tub/shower combination, this contained a huge jetted tub, and the shower had a separate enclosure. Nothing was the same, not even the lack of a mirror above the dual sinks on the vanity.
I looked over my shoulder into my bedroom. I looked back into the bathroom.
And I groaned. Was I having another nightmare?
Mina came to me and tugged on my sweatpants. I’d been sure Adam had taken them off, but could that have been part of that nightmare?
“Hold on a second.” I felt along the doorjamb, found the light switch, and pressed it. No window shielded by shutters. No door on the other side of the closet, leading to the dining room—the door where the vampyr stood opened on another wall entirely, and I’d been too groggy to realize it. “Oh crap! We’re not in Kansas anymore, pup!”
“Oh, that’s really funny.” Although I could tell from the way he said it the vampyr didn’t really think so.
“Where are we?” I expected more snarky attitude, but he gave me a straight answer.
“This is Grandfather’s citadel.”
That told me nothing. “Who’s your grandfather?”
“Alexandru Mondragon.”
“The rege?” My jaw dropped. He didn’t look old enough to be a grandpa.
“Are you satisfied?”
“Not exactly. Why am I here?”
“Duke Adam brought you here for your protection.”
“Huh?”
“Apparently someone tried to get at you through your subconscious.”
I thought of the nightmare. “Who?”
He shrugged. “The Duque de Málaga would be the most likely candidate, but everyone knows how badly he was injured when he tried to enter your house. Grandfather did that, you know.” The kid’s pride was obvious.
“So if it’s not de Vivar—”
“Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to cut this conversation short. I… I need you.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m not in love with you and I’m not going to feed you.”
That seemed to distract him. “That’s weird. How come?”
“I’m not in the mood?”
“No, I mean how come you’re not in love with me? It would be a heck of a lot easier if you were,” he muttered. “Then I could make you do what I needed you to do.”
“Oh yeah?” I scowled at him—that pissed me off—but he just scowled back at me.
“I thought all sabors had to fall in love with whichever vampyr came to them.”
“I guess you can say I’m not your average sabor. Now if that’s settled, I’m going back to bed.”
“No!” He grabbed my arm. I yanked it free, and Mina was suddenly on her feet, her jaws parted, and now she sounded like the hound of the Baskervilles. The young vampyr turned even paler than his normal skin tone and backed away. “I… I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to overstep the bounds. But I do need your help. If Grandfather were here, he could deal with this, but he’s away.”
“What’s going on?”
“Some weeks ago, a saborese was brought to us almost drained. Grandfather had no choice but to turn him, but he’s not doing well, and without Grandfather here to feed him….”
“Why come to me?” I was getting a bad feeling about this.
“You’re a sabor.”
“And…?”
“I heard Aunt Terese talking with the older vampyrs, and the consensus seemed to be without a sabor’s intervention, Daniel wouldn’t survive moonrise.”
“Why me?” We answered together: “Because I’m here.” “Because you’re here.”
“Does he have his talisman?”
His hand went to the spot above his heart where the talisman hung. “How do you know about this?”
“I’m psychic.”
His eyes grew huge, and I wanted to smack him upside the head.
“How do you think I know? Adam told me!”
“Oh.” He worried his lip. “Will you come?”
“Where?”
“Daniel’s room is just down the hall.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Let him feed from you?”
My stomach began churning. “I can’t—”
“Please.”
“What is he to you? You said he’s a vampyr now, so you can’t feed from him. Can you?”
The kid pokered up. “He’s…. Why should he be anything to me?”
“You seem awfully desperate to get me to feed someone who doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“I…. He’s… I don’t have to answer that!”
“Okay, fine.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I won’t promise anything, though.”
“Thank you!” He started to reach for my arm, but Mina’s warning growl made him think better of it. “Daniel’s chamber is this way.”
Would Adam be mad at me for doing this? Would it strike him as a betrayal? I followed the kid down the hallway. I’d seen pictures of castles, and this looked like one. Was this why it was so chilly? I wished I had a pair of socks on. My feet were cold.
“What’s your name?” I couldn’t keep thinking of him as “the kid.”
“Ioan Mic.”
“I’m Tyrell Small.”
“I know. Grandfather talks about you quite a bit. So does Uncle Adam. He’s not really my uncle. He’s more like my cousin.” He stopped rambling as we came to a door with a huge metal lock; he took a key from his pocket.
“Why’s he locked in?” If Ioan said anything about this Daniel being violent, I was so out of there.
He put the key in the lock and turned it before meeting my gaze. His eyes were unbelievably blue. “I was afraid he’d take off. He’s miserable and all he wants is to die.”
That shocked me. I remembered what had happened to Uncle Phil, and he hadn’t taken the easy way out. The notion a saborese would actually court death wasn’t something I wanted to consider.
I followed Ioan into the room. The saborese/vampyr was spread out on the bed, his hands cuffed to the headboard and his feet to the footboard. He raised his head. Another blond, but he had gray eyes. His face was lined with pain and despair, and he looked older than I imagined he really was. There was no color in his cheeks, and his lips were so pale they looked bloodless.
“Ioan…. Who’s this?” He bared his fangs… or tried to. They wouldn’t drop, and I wondered if he’d be able to feed from me if I agreed to it. Added to that, he had a serious case of anemia going on—his gums were almost
white.
“I’m Ty,” I said. “I understand you’re not feeling too good.” I thought about how my blood had helped keep Rául going until Adam could give him some of his own blood. Would it do the same thing for Daniel?
“That’s an understatement.” He laughed bitterly. “Why are you keeping me alive? Undead? Jesus, what the fuck kind of terminology do you use?”
I didn’t bother trying to give him an answer. Just thinking about it gave me a headache. “Can you tell me how this happened?”
“I’ll be damned if I know. I was out walking my dog—Oh God, Crusher! My poor dog! He was just a mutt.” Daniel met my gaze, his eyes filled with tears. I didn’t think less of him for grieving for his dog. It would break my heart if anything happened to Mina. “Just a little stray I’d adopted from the Humane Society, but he had so much heart.”
And that, more than anything, was what persuaded me to help. I couldn’t pat his shoulder to offer some comfort, and I regretted that.
The chain that attached the cuff on his right wrist to the headboard rattled as he tried to bring his hand to his face. When he realized he couldn’t, he turned his head away instead, trying to dry his eyes on his shoulder.
“So what happened next?” I asked, hoping to get his mind on something else.
He took a deep, shuddering breath. “All of a sudden this… this thing with red eyes leaped out of the shadows and stood in front of us.”
“An adepţi?” I asked Ioan in an undertone.
“No.” He seemed surprised I knew the word. “It was a vampyr, one of de Vivar’s.”
“Why hasn’t he been stopped?” I didn’t make any effort to conceal how pissed I was about that. First the little Dragomir sabor, then his father and brother, and then the whole family screwed up because of de Vivar.
“Aunt Terese wouldn’t hear of it.”
Well, she couldn’t do anything after the fact.
Daniel hadn’t paid any attention to our whispered remarks. “Crusher tried to prevent it from taking me, but it was useless. The thing just snapped his neck and threw him aside like a piece of garbage.” He rubbed his cheek against his shoulder. “I was brought to a cemetery… it must have been abandoned, because it didn’t look as if anyone had bothered with the upkeep in forever. I kept trying to struggle, but I could have been a two-year-old for all the impression I made on that thing.” He finally looked back at us. “And then it dragged me into a mausoleum, and there was another one there. It looked me up and down and licked its lips, talking to the other one in Spanish.”
Ioan and I exchanged glances. “De Vivar,” I mouthed, and he nodded.
“It twisted my head to the side and bit me.” Daniel turned even paler, if that was possible. “It hurt so fucking much.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Ioan’s hands were clenched into fists. “There was no need for him to make it painful for Daniel.”
“No,” I agreed.
“When it was done, it gave me to the other thing—called it Miguel. It told Miguel it wanted me again and not to drain me, but…. And… and Miguel touched me. I was afraid he was going to….” Daniel looked sick, and I thought I’d better give him something else to think about.
“I’ll make you a deal, Daniel. You let me try something, and if it doesn’t work… if you’re not feeling better….” I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll take care of you myself.”
“You? You’re as much a kid as Ioan.”
“I’m eighteen! And a half.”
“See? What adult adds the half?”
I ignored that as beneath me and looked around the room. There were no windows here, so I couldn’t expose him to sunlight. And if there had been a window, could I do that? I didn’t know how painful it would be, and I wasn’t a sadist… I didn’t want to hurt him.
I wished I could talk to Adam about this. If Daniel wanted to check out, would I also need to cut off his head and stuff his mouth with garlic?
“What does it take to drive a stake into someone’s heart?” Or to cut your own throat? I wondered absently. I’d determined to do that if I was ever taken by de Vivar. I shuddered, recalling what the vampyr in the rest area parking lot had looked like when Ekaterina staked him.
“You can’t do that!” Ioan was horrified, but it was up to Daniel. If he was that unhappy as a vampyr, well, I’d do whatever needed to be done.
“Do we have a deal?” I asked Daniel.
“Do I have any choice?”
“Sure you do. Shut up, Ioan. Daniel, if you don’t want my help, just say so. You and vampyr boy can hash this out, and I’ll go back to bed. I had a pretty miserable day, and my night isn’t turning out much better.”
“Vampyr boy?” Ioan sounded indignant. “I’m the rege’s grandson!”
It was his turn to be ignored as I waiting for Daniel to come to a decision.
“What do I do?” His concession was grudging at best, and I wanted to walk out of the room, but I could understand what he was feeling, kind of, and so I cut him some slack.
Okay, I could do this. I swallowed and then swallowed again, trying to center myself. I closed my hand around my half of the mizpah and the vial of holy water and held them out of the way. “You see this birthmark?” I turned my head and waited for him to acknowledge it. “Okay, you’re going to lick it about five or ten times. Long, leisurely licks. Thorough. Get it good and wet, and don’t tell me how gross that sounds. Then drop your fangs and slide them into where you licked. Nowhere else, understand? And no matter what, don’t touch me!”
“I promise. Can I… can I have one of my hands freed?”
Oh, this was a really bad idea. I stooped, caught up Mina, and whispered, “If he looks like he’s going to savage me, please stop him.”
She bumped her head against my chin and gave a soft yip, and I took that to mean she wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I put her down and straightened. I was Adam’s sabor. I wasn’t going to embarrass him.
“Uh… Ty, are you in love with him?” Ioan asked. He unfastened Daniel’s left hand and helped him sit up.
“No.” But I hadn’t loved the rege or Rául, either.
“Why would he love me? He’s a guy!”
“So am I,” Ioan whispered. Either Daniel didn’t hear him, or he pretended he didn’t.
“Weren’t you informed as to what to expect now you’re a vampyr?”
He hunched a shoulder. “I guess I never felt well enough to pay attention.”
Well, I couldn’t object to that, considering how many details I’d missed when Adam told me about my Înger Păzitor. “Let’s get this done. Ioan can give you the skinny later.” I sat beside Daniel, and he angled his body toward me, sort of enveloping me, but he kept his promise and didn’t touch me.
“How much do I take?” He sounded nervous, and I felt a little better. If he’d gotten all cocky on me, I’d have been gone with the wind.
“Just don’t let me pass out.” I pulled the neckline of my sweatshirt out of the way and kept a grip on the mizpah and the vial.
Daniel began running his tongue over my birthmark, and it did nothing for me, which was odd. Even Raymond had made me feel pretty good, in spite of the fact he’d only been cleaning up my shin.
“Okay, whenever you’re ready.” Vampyr spit had an anesthetic quality, but I braced myself for pain just the same.
There was nothing, though, just the tugging of his lips as he worked my throat.
“Uh… you’re not supposed to be giving me a hickey, Daniel.”
He mumbled something but didn’t stop sucking.
It was when I got a little light-headed that I realized he was actually feeding from me. Adam never hurt me, but I always felt it when he penetrated me. Was that what made me climax so hard for him?
“Enough! Enough!” I was afraid Daniel wasn’t going to stop, but he did.
“You’re still bleeding. What do I do now?”
“Seal the punctures.”
“How?” But I didn’t have to t
ell him, because he leaned forward and licked at the last drops that oozed out.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him after he drew back.
“Better.” Both of him stared at me, and I had to shake my head to get my eyes to focus. “But I always felt kind of okay after the other guy gave me some blood. And then a day or so later….” He buried his face in his freed palm.
“No, you’ll see.” Ioan stroked his shoulder but made no attempt to cuff his left hand. “Feeding from a sabor is guaranteed to cure what ails you! Thank you, Ty.”
“You’re welcome. I have to eat something.” Would a Burger King or Pizza Hut be nearby?
“The kitchen is on the lower level.” He kept fussing over Daniel.
“You’ve got a kitchen?” I tucked the mizpah and vial of holy water back into my sweatshirt.
“For the servants. They’re normals.”
“Okay.” Did vampyrs put ads for them in the newspapers? My mind boggled at the thought of how it would be phrased:
Help Wanted. Housekeeper, male or female, to keep castle for a vampyr king who only partakes of bagged blood. Must have no objection to working nights. Perks consist of free days and an excellent benefit package including six weeks’ vacation, comprehensive health care, and a 401(k). References required. Send inquiries to Duke Adam Dasani, equerry to Alexandru Mondragon, rege. P.O. Box 52697.
My eyes felt like they were about to cross.
“Ty.”
I jumped. “Yes, Daniel?”
“I won’t thank you just yet, but no matter what happens, I appreciate what you just did for me.”
“That’s my job.” I looked from him to Ioan. “Fill him in, okay, Ioan? Come on, Mina. We’re not needed here.” I opened the door, stepped out into the wide corridor, and looked down at the tiles that covered the floor. My toes curled from their chill. “I’ve gotta get some socks.”
We went back to the room I’d woken up in. It did look a lot like my room, although the bed was larger… probably queen-size. Well, it wasn’t important. I rummaged around in this closet’s organizer. The clothes were more or less dressy, and that included the socks. There were no sweat socks at all, so I settled for a pair of black silk socks. They felt good, and I wiggled my toes in them.
But there were no Nikes or shoes of any kind in my size.