by C. L. Quinn
Sarah held the sugar-covered pastry up to him and he took a bite.
After eating enough comfort food to satisfy even the voracious appetites of a vampire, both Sarah and Nikolai gave in to the exhaustion that had been plaguing them all night.
“Why don’t we get some rest?” she suggested.
“God, yes. Everything on my body hurts, inside and out. And my heart hurts. Sleep sounds like heaven.”
Nodding, Sarah slipped off the sofa and closed the bathroom door behind her. Twenty minutes later, teeth cleaned, face washed, she stared into the mirror for several long moments.
“Back to normal day-to-day,” she told the pale face that stared back at her with haunted eyes. After she’d changed into a long tee shirt, Sarah came out of the bathroom to find Nikolai stretched out on the sofa. He looked every bit as whipped as she did.
Killing the last light, other than a bright blue night light in the corner of the room, she said, “Good night, Nik.”
“Sleep well, Sarah,” he answered with a yawn.
Sliding beneath her sheet, she tried to will herself into blessed unconsciousness, but sleep eluded her. She could hear Nikolai’s soft breathing and knew that he was trying to do the same thing. She needed solace where there was none to be found.
Sarah pushed up onto her elbows. “Nikolai, would you just hold me tonight?”
“Da,” he said, and with the simplest word in the world, that solace came. He slid in beside her and pulled her close. Now, with loving arms around them, Sarah and Nikolai finally fell into restful, dreamless sleep.
Persistent knocking slowly brought Sarah up from wonderful oblivion. She tried to ignore it and stay asleep but it was relentless. Still half-asleep, she tried to slide from her bed, but something was holding her there. What in the…?
Awareness struck at once that someone was in bed with her and that someone was at the door.
It was Nikolai’s arm stretched across her, so Sarah gently picked it up and laid it aside, hurried to the door, unlocked it, and peeked out.
“Tamesine?” she said, shocked, total wakefulness finally hitting her.
“Hi, little one. You are a tough human to find.”
Tamesine swept in, Eillia and Park following her, as Sarah stepped back. Her eyes shot even wider when Xavier, who had been waiting against the wall out of sight, faced her.
“It’s a party, my Sarah.”
Sarah finally found her voice. “Xavier, what are you guys doing here?”
Eillia scanned the room to see if they were alone, but the man in the bed, now waking, clearly showed that they weren’t. “It is the Russian scientist,” she commented. “I think we’ve found our source.”
Taking Sarah’s hand, Tamesine led her to the sofa to sit beside her. “Sarah, our conversation worried me. I knew that you were in trouble. So here we are, powerful vampires, come to help. Are you two okay? What have you been involved with, Sarah? We need to know what happened up on that mountaintop.”
Sarah stood and walked into the kitchen to switch on a light over the counter. They were going to need coffee.
“It’s finished. I thank you all for your concern, but I actually was able to achieve what I needed to do, thanks to your advice.”
“While I’m thrilled to hear that, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to let us know what happened. Sarah, what you said, that you knew an amulet didn’t die with the vampire, you couldn’t have known that. We need to know why you do.”
“It was because of me.”
Nikolai interrupted Sarah before she could respond. “Sarah was helping me.”
The four vampires turned their attention to the large man who lifted out of Sarah’s bed easily. He wore loose-fitting jeans that sagged everywhere.
Eillia stared at him. “Nikolai, you look markedly bigger than the last time that I saw you just three months ago. And I can read…something…”
She walked over to him and touched his hand, then moved her fingers up his arm. “There’s a residual.”
Her eyes opened wider and they shot to her vampire companions. “He’s had first blood magic.”
“What?” Tamesine stood, her eyes moving between Sarah and Nikolai. “That isn’t possible. My friends, we need to have a discussion.”
Sarah nodded. “Okay. I actually agree with you. But let me get some coffee going and order up some food. You guys have to be hungry. I’m guessing it’s just now night and you haven’t had first meal.”
“That is correct, lassie.”
Xavier took a seat on a stool near the counter barely big enough for one buttock. “Sarah, ya look bad, and I’m not bein’ insensitive. Are ya okay?”
“Thank you, Xavier, I am. Or I will be. You’ll find out what I mean in a few minutes when Nikolai and I tell you what we’ve experienced. Let me just say that I don’t think any of you have ever heard of anything like this before.”
“Intriguing. Scary. Okay, I tell you what. Xavier and I will go get food and drink, you guys get dressed if you want to.”
Park grabbed Xavier’s arm and they were gone.
Half an hour later, the vampires and two humans sat on the sofa, a wicker rocking chair and on the rug beside the sofa.
“I think it best that I begin,” Nikolai said. Sitting on the floor, his knees drawn up, he hesitated.
Impatient, Eillia got things started. “So you are the one Sarah had to help with a first blood amulet. That makes no sense, you aren’t even vampire, let alone first blood.”
“That will reveal itself with my tale. It’s quite illuminating about your world and the afterlife.”
Park’s eyebrows lifted. “Afterlife?”
“Da. Okay, it happened right after I returned to Lake Baikal. You are all aware of the ancient vampire gravesite I uncovered beneath the frozen lake this past winter?”
Xavier snorted. “Aye. Most miserable place I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit.”
“I see that in my absence, you haven’t enrolled in any sensitivity training classes,” Sarah commented.
“Ya see why I need ya back, now, lass. Nobody else dare say anythin’ like that to me.”
She smiled. As much as she’d wanted her human life, she had missed this vampire that she’d served for many decades. “Nik, continue.”
“One weekend night, all the other workers were gone, I’d turned off the lights, and started to leave. Something bright caught my eye and I looked back to see a glow in the corner of the cave. One of the dead amulets was alive. I tried to get it free of the ice when the floor of the cave gave way and I fell into a chamber deep beneath. I was badly injured, sure that I would die right there. For some reason, all I could focus on was that amulet, which had fallen through with me. I crawled over and put the amulet around my neck. I knew they held power, and although it likely couldn’t help, I was desperate. Once it was in place, it did something amazing. The thing transported me to your spiritual plane.”
Everyone was silent until Eillia spoke. “It cannot do that.”
“Perhaps not under ordinary circumstances. I came to know that it did not do so alone. It turned out, the universe had a plan for me.”
“Oh, I cannot wait to hear this, the hair is standing up on my arms.” Park leaned in. “Continue.”
“While there, I met a man, an ancient first blood. The spirit amulet that I wore had been his, when he was alive, six thousand years ago.”
“What the hell? Are you saying that you met a first blood from that group that lived before our clan? Nikolai, are you saying that you were taken to the spiritual plane to meet a long-dead vampire?” Eillia was visibly shaken.
“Not just to meet him, but to discover a plan by the universe to return this extraordinary vampire to the living world.”
Everyone was so shocked and mesmerized by the story unfolding that they didn’t speak or move. Nikolai noticed their disbelief and rapt attention. He continued.
“Simply, I was dying. My body was torn to pieces by the fall, my wo
unds not survivable. Mies, that’s the vampire, would enter my body, his first blood magics would enter as well, and repair the body. We believe that the intention of the powers-that-be were that when the body was repaired, Mies would take ownership of the body and my lifeforce would be forced out. They didn’t take into account that Mies was an honorable man and could not do that. So, my friends, you will have to tell me if you’ve ever encountered anything like this before, but Mies and I shared this newly changed first blood vampire body for three months. Shared, mind and body.”
Dead silence met his question. Eventually, Xavier stood, pinching his bum. “That seat is so inadequate for a vampire it isn’t possible to overemphasize it. Let me say, though, that I have never in a thousand years heard anythin’ like that.”
Tamesine sighed. “Never. I can’t even imagine it. Nikolai, the vampire, Mies, what happened to him? Eillia said there is only a remnant of the magic now.”
“He is gone. Returned to the spirit realm, I hope. He was a fine man, as great a man as I will ever know. Sharing this body and mind were difficult, but now that I am alone, I miss him. It has only been a day, but I feel empty, I guess, is the word that seems to fit most. Lonely, perhaps, because we had become accustomed to sharing our thoughts and ideas, our plans. We couldn’t have stayed like that, we both knew it, but having him gone isn’t very good either.”
Park came to Nikolai, her palms against his cheeks.
“You will be fine. Look at me, Nikolai.” She was reading him, he knew, Olivia had filled him in on each vampire’s unique skill and hers was an empathic connection much like Eillia’s. “You are stronger than you can imagine. I have a request. When you return home, could I have you stop by my lab and let me take some samples and do some simple tests? If this has never happened before, I would really like to document it.”
“Uh, sure. I will do that, in the name of science.”
“Splendid.”
Tamesine cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention back to the subject. “What happened on the mountain? Sarah, everything went all right?”
“It did,” Sarah answered. “I used your idea to help Mies tap into the power of the earth and sky so that he could untangle the two lifeforces and lift himself from Nikolai’s body. He was determined to be the one to go. If the powers of the universe had known what we were doing, it may have gone differently. It’s why he insisted that we did not include any first blood in the ritual.”
“The power that can be created with a spirit amulet and universal access is tremendous. It can be dangerous in the wrong hands. You should have called me, Sarah.” Tamesine wasn’t letting this go.
“It turned out okay. Mies is gone and Nikolai has his body and his life back. It’s all right.”
“It might not have been, you realize that?”
“We all did. But we had to do it anyway. Mies and Nikolai deserved nothing less.”
“You were all very lucky. I’m glad it went okay, and I hope there is no unforeseen fallout.”
“What kind of fallout?”
“Anything you can imagine. Sometimes magic has a price and consequences must be faced. But with this unique situation, I really wouldn’t hazard a guess. In the end, I pray that everything is okay and we can all go home.”
Nikolai caught Park’s attention. “I will need some time before I come to you, Ms. Park. There is someone in this city that I need to see.”
Sarah smiled. Naji was going to get her man back. It pleased her to know that they could be together. For now, she refused to even think about her own life ahead.
Park clapped her hands together gently.
“Why don’t we all go out for a nice dinner before we leave Boston? I’ve been to New York but never here before.”
Sarah was ready to put all of this behind her. Later, when she was alone, truly alone, she knew the worst would come. For now, though, she was grateful for the company of old friends.
The evening was a much-needed distraction, a chance to catch up with her life from France. Xavier, Sarah freely admitted, was a hot-tempered alpha male who loved women and found them exasperating all at once. He also had the heart of a gentleman. She had loved him from the time she was a little girl with a big crush on him.
The vampire women were from widely diverse backgrounds, yet they came together as one of the most unbeatable forces on earth. That they’d flown around the world to help her, a simple human, meant so much to Sarah.
It was a wonderful visit. When the taxi pulled back up outside of Sarah’s apartment, everyone got out to say a final farewell. As they parted, hugs and kisses went all around, even the normally standoff-ish Xavier gave Sarah a long hug and an even longer gaze.
“I’m gonna miss ya worse than ever now, lass,” he told her.
“We’ll keep in touch, I promise. I’ve missed you a great deal, and everyone at the mansion. I promise that once I get my life sorted, I’ll be back to visit.” She knew that if she ever needed him again, he’d be there in an instant.
Tamesine had been leaning against the taxi as Xavier said goodbye. She gave Sarah one last quick hug. “You call me if something like this ever, oh, shit, I hope not, but if you need me, for any reason, call, okay?”
Her eyes went to Nikolai.
He touched her hand lightly. “We’re going to stay in touch.” He looked toward Park. “Right, Park?”
“Very right, Nikolai. I need to monitor you as your body returns to normal and see if there are any lasting echoes of the magic or the first blood physical enhancements.”
“I will comply. I will stop on my way to Russia in a few weeks. Have a safe journey.”
After another brief hesitation, Xavier coughed. “We’d better go, ladies. We’re burnin’ through the dark.”
Park nodded and took a seat beside Xavier as the other two women got into the private taxi with two backseats facing each other much like a limousine would have. The car pulled away from the curb, leaving the two humans alone finally.
Nikolai escorted Sarah back into the building. Slowly, because they were both still spent, they trudged up the stairs, one and then the next, then the next, then the next. At one point, Sarah realized that she was counting them.
“Oh, I don’t know if I can make it, Nik,” she sighed, grateful for his hand on her back to help push her forward.
“If I were Mies, I would swing you up into my massive arms and have you in bed in a fraction of a second.”
“We must make the adjustments again. I’d made the switch to living like a normal human, but I’d never had vampire abilities. I can’t even imagine how hard it is going to be for you after living like a first blood for three months.”
“It is okay. I am ready to be Nikolai Zalesky again. There is a certain woman I would like to properly introduce myself to.”
Sarah smiled and dropped back to take his arm, but then leaned into him. “Would you like me to set up a date?”
“No. I think this time, it is I who will set up everything. I like the idea of it being just Naji and me.”
“Good luck, then, my friend. You don’t need it, though, because I already know that she’s crazy about you.”
“We will see. For now, let me try this.”
Nikolai lifted Sarah into his arms and carried her up the last four stairs to place her on the landing. Laughing, she kept her arms tight around his neck.
“Don’t try this with Naji.”
Nikolai nodded, grinning. “She is an armload of woman.”
“She’s much larger than I am.”
“I know. Perfect for a six foot two Russian, I think.”
After they entered the apartment, Sarah opened a bottle of white wine and led him to the sofa. “One last night of commiseration, and then we go our separate ways. We’ll get back to our lives, but remain in touch, yeah?”
“As we have decided, we are forever part of each other.”
“Forever. Who knows what will happen anyway? You may end up here in Boston.”
“Bridges, Nik. We cross them when we come to them.”
“You are wise, little doctor.”
Sarah’s eyes misted and she looked away.
“I’m sorry, Sarah. I remember now that was what Mies liked to call you.”
“It’s all right. I’m all right. Shall we get some rest?”
Too tired to undress, Sarah and Nikolai crawled back into her bed and curled up together. Tonight, Sarah had turned out all of the lights including the night light. Its eerie glow had freaked her out last night when she woke, sweating and confused. She just wanted to sleep, that’s all, so she made the room as dark as she could.
Sleep, they did, and well. When the sun rose the next morning, they had a quiet breakfast, Sarah said good-bye and held Nikolai a little too long, then closed the door and turned to face her empty apartment.
“Well.” She said out loud. It was done. Nikolai would return to his life and she would return to hers. Mies was gone and no matter how painful it was, there was nothing else to be done.
Sarah sat on the sofa, the blinds drawn, the lights still out, her eyes closed, and tried to convince herself that everything was okay. When she couldn’t do it, she picked up the phone. “Lucy, hi, it’s Doctor Smith. Can you put me back on the schedule? I need to work. Tonight? Yeah, I can make that. Thank you, Lucy.”
Ending the phone call, she nodded to the darkness. Good. They had a call-off for tonight, and that was exactly what Sarah needed. “Get back to work, to the plan. Don’t deviate. It’s in the deviation that good plans go awry.”
She glanced at the clock. Six hours. Perhaps a little more rest, then a quick shower, and back to doing what she was trained to do. Back to her normal human life.
The hotel room was exactly as they’d left it. Nikolai wandered in, his fingers moving over the edge of a wine glass left on the bar, then across a plate still half full of the potato chips that Mies loved, over a zipper of the satchel he’d packed when they left Siberia, clothes still strewn where they’d dressed and paid little attention to tidiness over the days they’d been here.