by Lyons, Rene
When he reached the hall, Julian strode to the hearth and pulled free the missive from the pocket of his slacks. Reading it one last time, he crumpled it in his fist before tossing in he flames. Such a damning piece of evidence was too dangerous to risk being left lying around for greedy eyes to chance upon.
He watched the flames lick at the white paper, charring and curling the edges. A cool smile played upon his lips as he contemplated the future. From the first time since he’d learned of the Daystar, Julian had been maneuvering all the pieces into place in order to take the power as his own. As he stared into the fire and watched the paper burn, he knew his patience and perseverance had paid off.
Only once the flames reduced the note to ash did Julian cross the hall and make his way out into the courtyard.
Julian stepped out into the crisp night. He longed for the days gone by. He ached for the time he’d been borne to. Much of the world had changed around him over the ages and yet he had remained the same. He’d watched the world go by, most nights feeling time drag over him as he craved more power and wealth.
Julian dragged in a breath, filling his dead lungs with air just to know what it was to breathe again. He looked at the crescent moon and bared his fangs in a vicious sneer. The moonlight on him made his skin crawl. He was eager for the time when he’d no longer be a prisoner of the dark.
He caught sight of the motley crew of vampires training on the lists. Unfortunately, they were the only renegades who’d stayed on with him after Daniel’s plan failed. Julian’s only hope, if he planned to succeed, was to use them as a buffer between him and whoever thought to stand between him and the Daystar.
The hunger came upon him in the form of a painful contraction of his gut and an instant dryness of his mouth. Too lazy to go off and hunt for his own food, Julian called to one of the vampires who watched the melee taking place in the lists.
The vampire, turned much too young, rushed toward him. Julian liked how the boy hurried to do his bidding. It reinforced his sense of power over these pathetic creatures. It also made his anticipation grow for the time when he held the entire world in the palms of his hands.
“I hunger.”
There wasn’t any need to say more. The boy, whose name Julian didn’t care to remember, would know what he meant.
“Aye, my lord.”
The boy sheathed his sword and gave Julian a quick bow before he raced across the courtyard toward the gatehouse. The rising of the ancient iron gate echoed across the courtyard. The boy, with his Scandinavian good looks, never found it a trial to procure female company. It was the reason Julian sent him to find him a victim to feed from.
After the boy was gone, the gate slammed back down, sectioning off the modern world from the castle, which seemed frozen in time. For a moment, Julian wished his lover were here. He realized his feelings for her came from being kindred spirits. Her appetite for destruction rivaled his own. Unfortunately, he’d have to end her once his plan came to fruition. He’d not share his power with anyone, not even with her. Of course, he’d lied to her. Made her believe she’d be his queen as he reigned over the world. If she believed otherwise, one word from her could destroy all he’d worked for.
Needing to escape the feel of the night on him, Julian returned inside the keep. Given his mood, he was eager for some sport. He’d play with his victim before he fed from and killed her. He’d wrest screams from the girl, and hopefully, she’d survive long enough to keep him amused for many nights to come.
Chapter Seven
Miraculously, Lex found the perfect way to buy Raphael’s silence. She bribed him with the box set of season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Go figure, a seven-hundred-year-old vampire had the hots for a tiny blond who kicked vamp butt. Who would have thought it? Certainly not her.
My life has defiantly taken a turn for the bizarre.
Once Lex had Raphael’s promise to keep her secret, she’d wrongly assumed she’d have a few days before she’d be forced to drop this information bomb on everyone. Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be.
She woke a mere two days later feeling like ninety miles of bad road. The source of what she felt centered on the rash-like spot on her stomach. Sweaty and nauseous, not to mention the pounding headache, Lex struggled to get out of bed. By the time she crawled to the bathroom she noticed the skin on her stomach was bleeding from where she’d gouged it in her sleep.
If that wasn’t a sign it was time to do something about the situation, Lex didn’t know what was.
Which was why she had risked leaving the safety of Seacrest Castle and was now driving down Route 371 on her way to Edessa, the sleepy town some twenty minutes away from Seacrest.
Though Lex was far from materialistic, even she had to admit driving was a dream in the silver BMW 645 Ci the Templars had gifted her with. Despite the cold, Lex had the driver’s window down. The crisp air was heaven on her heated body. Though she adored summer, even she appreciated the beauty of autumn in the Adirondacks. The sun shone in the clear sky. The air was rich with the aromas of earth and wood burning in the chimneys of the few houses she passed as she sped down the road.
The leaves were only now beginning to turn from summer’s vibrant green to autumn’s brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. It made for a beautiful feast of color. The stillness in this rural area of the world seemed almost otherworldly. As the power within her built, Lex became more in touch with her surroundings. She felt nature all around her.
It should have been a perfect day, one that reminded her of a time when she, Allie and Christian were kids. Instead, her brother was dead, her sister a vampire, and she was changing.
She left Seacrest with the intention of going to see Dr. Stuart, but after thinking better of it, Lex decided not to. Dr. Stuart, was an old friend of the family. She wasn’t up for the myriad of questions he’d force her to answer. She just wanted to get something to ease the itch and the burn then get back to Seacrest. It was bad enough she’d already have to face a virtual firing squad in the form of one irate sister and four furious Templars. Dealing with Dr. Stuart was the last thing she needed to add to her growing list of problems.
The hell she knew she was going to catch from the Templars made Lex run cold with fear. She cringed at the thought of those four enormous and intimidating males handing her ass to her for going to town alone. She wasn’t at the point yet where she was unmoved by their bluster as Allie was. Actually, her sister gave as good as she got. No—Lex was far from that point.
As much as Lex might wish she were as... ballsy... as her sister, the truth was, she didn’t posses even half of Allie’s courage. Lex ran when Allie would stand firm and fight. Lex shied away from the world whereas Allie took it by the horns and wrestled it to the ground. Her sister was the ideal companion for a man as fierce as a Templar vampire. No wonder Constantine held himself back from Lex. She was no match for such a man. She wished to God she were, but, honestly, she didn’t believe she possessed the strength to walk in their world.
Didn’t she? She didn’t know anymore. God, Lex was so confused about where she belonged and who she was.
Driving into Edessa, the epitome of what one thought of when they imagined a small town, she wondered if she even belonged here anymore. The stores were quaint and most were still family owned and operated. People said hello to one another when they passed on the sidewalk. Cars stopped and let pedestrians cross the street, no matter if they were in the crosswalk or not. Parking meters still cost ten cents. It didn’t get any more “small town” than this. It was as far removed from the world of the Templars as it could get. And yet, the two worlds ran parallel with each other.
By day Wayne County was small town and peaceful. By night creatures straight out of a nightmare crawled from the shadows to take over this rural area of the world.
After the bustle of Fort Lauderdale, Lex found she loved the laidback mountain life. She felt a connection to the earth here. It was as if time forgot this part of the world.
Somehow, as life went on around it, Damascus remained a hidden realm of tranquility. Not even the nocturnal population that gravitated toward this area had destroyed that.
The first four blocks of Main Street
were quiet, tree-lined streets. The huge turn-of-the-century Victorians added to the feel of old-world charm. Before the overpass, which marked the end of the residential area and the beginning of the ten blocks of stores, was Days Bakery. Allie used to bring her and Christian there almost every Sunday morning to get donuts still warm from the oven. She missed that morning tradition. If she ever had children of her own, she planned to revive it.
Lex parked her car in front of the pharmacy and dropped a dime in the meter. As soon as she stepped inside she had to take a moment to adjust her eyes to the dim and dusty interior.
Mr. Abbot, as always, stood behind the counter. Today he was busy filing away prescription forms in an old cardboard box. It wasn’t the most modern of filing systems but it seemed to work for him.
When he looked up and saw her, he greeted her with a huge smile. “Hello, Lexine. How nice to see you.” His rough voice rose over the fifties tunes playing on the small radio he kept on the counter. The thing had been in the same spot for as long as she could remember.
“Hi, Mr. Abbot.” Lex went to the counter. Her heart in her throat, she was terrified she’d lose her nerve to ask him about her stomach.
“How’s your sister? Haven’t seen her around for some time.”
Nathan Abbot was one of the few people in these parts who didn’t think Allie was crazy. “She’s been busy,” was the evasive reply Lex gave anyone who asked about Allie. “Can I ask a favor of you?”
He set aside his box, his bushy gray brows furrowing with concerned. “Of course, Lexine. Is everything alright?”
Lex stepped to the counter. “I need you to look at something for me and tell me what you think I should put on it.”
“If it’s something serious... ”
“Oh no, it’s not,” she lied. Hesitating for a moment, Lex lifted her shirt to reveal the raw skin. “See? It’s just a rash.”
Mr. Abbot came around the counter to get a better look at her stomach. He reached into the pocket on his blue and white-checkered button-down and pulled out a pair of thick glasses. Perching them on his nose, he got down on one knee and gave the area a long look. He made a sympathetic face and tsked when he saw the damage her scratching had done.
“This looks bad, Lexine. You should go see a doctor for it.”
“I’d rather not.”
Abbott stood and dropped his glasses back in his pocket. He heaved out a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t look infected, but you did scratch it something awful. I can give you a salve for it, but I’d feel better if you went to go see a doctor. I know Dr. Stuart is in today. Why don’t I give him a call and see if he can take a look at it.”
“No. Really, it’s not necessary,” Lex assured him, shaking her head. “Besides, I don’t have the time. I have to get home.”
Mr. Abbot let out another long, drawn out sigh and regarded her with a look that reminded her of one a displeased grandfather might level at a mischievous grandchild.
“Fine. I’ll give you something, but,” he added sternly, “you have to promise me you’ll let Dr. Stuart have a look at it if it gets any worse. Do you understand me, Lexine?”
She nodded vigorously and almost sagged in relief to be going home with something to ease the infernal itch and burn. “I will. I Promise.”
He went back around the counter and fished around through a shelf teaming with tubes of ointments and various bottles of medications. A few fell as he searched for the one he wanted. As he did that, Mr. Abbott shook his head as if in bafflement. “I’ll never understand you young people and your fascination with tattoos.”
In that moment Lex wouldn’t have been more surprised had Mr. Abbot sprouted wings and flown away.
“Tattoos?” Lex choked out. Her hand settled over what she had believed to have only been a rash, but now realized was so much more.
He peered her at with a frown. “Yes, tattoos. That one you got there looks to have a nasty irritation on it.
Whether it was his shocking observation or the energy that picked that exact moment to surge through her, Lex couldn’t be sure. All she knew was one moment she was about to take the tube of ointment from Mr. Abbot and the next she hit the floor in a faint.
* * *
Once Lex was back on her feet and had enough orange juice in her to fill a lake, Mr. Abbot finally let her leave. She walked out of the pharmacy in a state of shock.
Tattoo?
What the hell was she doing with a tattoo on her stomach? After she was in her car, Lex lifted her shirt. The wind was knocked out of her when she saw the faint mark under the torn skin, which looked like an S with a small dot above it and another below it. Surprisingly, it was rather pretty—plain, but pretty. Unfortunately Lex had absolutely no idea what it was doing on her stomach.
As much as she’d grown used to being surrounded by the supernatural, that didn’t stop her from being freaked by this. She didn’t mind when weird things went on around her. What she didn’t like was that they were now happening to her.
As she raced back to Seacrest, Lex dreaded what awaited her back at the castle. She wasn’t looking forward to facing a bunch of furious vampires. With her nerves at a breaking point, it aggravated the itch on her stomach. Steering down the narrow road, she forced herself not to tear into her skin in a vain attempt to ease the itch.
Instead, she kept her trembling hand gripped on the wheel as wave after wave of fear rolled over her. A million thoughts shot through her mind, each of which was worse than the last. She couldn’t think of a single explanation for the mark that didn’t involve her being forced to endure a lot of pain.
“What in the fuck were you thinking, woman?” Lex groaned when Constantine’s voice thundered in her head.
“I can explain... ”
Lex was ever grateful the sun hadn’t set, since the daylight would offer her a short reprieve from Constantine’s fury.
“The sun won’t burn in the sky forever.”
Or not.
Lex was fairly positive that as soon she stepped foot inside the keep Constantine was going to kill her. And not the vampire kind of dead where you still walked and talked. Oh no. He was going to kill her the dead kind of dead.
After she turned onto Stone Lane
, Lex slowed the car as she drove over the unpaved road. Her stomach flipped as she waited for Constantine to chew her out some more. When nothing else was forthcoming, she assumed he was too pissed to speak to her without wanting to wring her neck.
Not that she could blame him. She’d taken a foolish risk by leaving the castle alone. Renegades were known to have human henchmen. As the sole human among the Templars, it left her the most vulnerable.
As long as she was outside of the castle, she’d been a walking bulls-eye.
Lex’s car was equipped with a device that automatically opened the gate. Once she drove under the imposing portcullis, it slammed closed behind her. Funny, how she wasn’t reassured of her safety as she usually was when the gate closed behind her.
Though Seacrest appeared to be a medieval fortress, it was equipped with the latest home security system. Cameras watched her every move as she parked her car behind Lucian’s silver Maserati Spyder. Unused since the night he’d gone missing, the car had been returned to the castle by Sebastian and Raphael. They’d found it abandoned in The Gate’s parking lot the night after Lucian disappeared. The car was a sad reminder that one member of her new odd family was lost and alone out there.
Lex hadn’t even reached the door when it was pulled open by a very angry Anne, who wore a scowl that would make any Templar proud.
“I don’t even want to know how you managed to get past me.”
Lex flinched at Anne’s bellow. “I’m sorry I snuck past you like that but I had to go out and it couldn’t wait
.”
“Like hell it couldn’t.”
“Will you please get out of my head, Constantine?”
“No.”
“What in the world was so important that you would risk your life by leaving the castle?”
Anne was on her heels as Lex crossed the hall to the kitchen. “I wasn’t feeling well so I went to see Mr. Abbot.”
“The pharmacist?” Anne’s shout echoed in the mammoth kitchen. “Why not Dr. Stuart?”
Anne paled and pushed Lex down on one of the kitchen chairs. When she slapped a hand to her forehead, Lex pulled her head away. “I don’t have a fever. I have a—rash. Damn! I left the ointment Mr. Abbott gave me in the car.”
Lex stood.
“Leave the keep and I’ll nail your feet to the floor.”
She sat with a sigh. “You’ll do no such thing.”