by Unknown
“Aw come on,” I whined. “I came all the way to Romania and I don't get to see the vampire club? It probably has an awesome name and a sprinkler system that sprays blood over everyone.”
“It's called Bloody Kisses,” Blue gave a light laugh, “and I didn't notice a sprinkler system.”
“Nope, you're staying out here,” Trevor crossed his muscled forearms over his wide chest, distracting me for just a second until he went on. “In fact, I've changed my mind about you being here at all. Azrael, can you take her back to Pride Palace?”
“I'm a dragon,” I said with a growl. “Dra-gon. And he's the Angel of Death,” I pointed at Azrael. “You're a damn werewolf prince, he's the leader of the Norse gods,” I pointed to Odin, “they are all werelions,” I waved at my Intare, “and this is the freakin' Vampire God himself. He can make all those little bloodsuckers drop dead in a second if he wants... to...” I trailed off as I looked at Blue's guilty face. “Hey, why didn't you remind us of that?” I pointed an accusing finger at Blue. “You said that you killed Eztli's thugs by simply cutting off their magic. It shouldn't matter that there are three-hundred vamps in there if you can do that.”
“I don't want her hurt,” Blue sighed and fell back against the building with a huff. “I love her, Vervain and I took so much from her already. I can't walk in there and destroy this too.”
“But you can allow her to hurt my lions?” I asked gently. “You gotta help me out here, Blue. If you don't, I'll be forced to extremes in order to save my men.”
Blue's jaw clenched and he stared at the sidewalk.
“Look, all you'd have to do is walk in there and compel them to their knees. You don't have to kill them, right?” I tried to reason with him.
“It depends on how strong their minds are,” Blue shook his head. “How old they are. If she has some of her first children in there with her, I probably won't be able to influence them.”
“So kill one of them as an example and the rest will fall in line,” I shrugged.
“When did you become so numb to violence, little witch?” Blue asked sadly.
“I'm not numb, Blue,” I slid my hand into his and gave it a squeeze. “But I've learned not to balk at what needs to be done. She started this; she took me and then she took my boys. They're my family. I love every one of them and I will not let her hurt them. If I have to kill all of those vampires in there,” my voice lowered to a growl, “I will. Including her,” Blue pulled his hand away from me but I pushed my face up into his, my lioness rising inside me. “My sympathy for the love you once shared disintegrated when she abducted my lions. Eztli will either give me back what she stole or I will cut her into pieces and eat her evil heart!”
“Vervain!” Trevor snapped, but the Intare had gathered behind him and they growled at Trevor for his interference. Even Kirill did.
I glanced back to them and caught the scent of the hunt; the musk they exuded when we gathered to bring down our prey. They were ready for the fight. More than that, they wanted it. Not because they were savage or cynical but because six of our brothers had been taken and no one hurt a member of the Pride without bringing all of us down upon their heads. We were family; a vicious family with sharp teeth and claws. The wrong kind of family to mess with.
“What would you do if six of the Froekn were in there?” I snarled at Trevor and he winced.
“I love the Intare too, Minn Elska,” Trevor sighed. “I just don't think growling at Blue is going to help.”
I blinked and then looked back at Blue, where he stood stiffly in front of the white wall. His eyes were turbulent, his jaw clenched, but he gave a deep huff and his expression softened.
“I understand,” Blue said. “But please understand me when I say I cannot allow you to hurt her. I've just found her again, I will not lose her.”
“Then help us, Blue,” I let the rage dampen as I looked steadily at the Vampire God. “If you go in with us, you can minimize the damage. You can protect her.”
“Alright,” he sighed. “I'll help you, little witch. Just don't make me regret it.”
Chapter Forty
Bloody Kisses wasn't what I'd been expecting.
We crept down a narrow stairway after going through a nondescript door, and then came to a large, solid, metal barrier. Blue knocked and a panel slid open to reveal a suspicious face. The man started to say something in another language, probably Romanian, but I wouldn't know Romanian from Russian. Then Blue leaned in closer and the suspicion drifted out of the man's expression. The door opened.
“You'd think she'd put a vampire with a stronger mind in charge of guarding the door,” Blue huffed and his words made me pause.
I almost stopped him but after my big speech, I couldn't bring myself to. Blue went in and we followed but that nagging sense of unease chased me. There was something I was missing, something I should know.
Beneath the medieval ambiance of Bran, Eztli's vampire club was a different type of old world entirely. We'd gone from the middle ages to the Victorian era. Soft lamps lit a gilded glamour of velvet drapes, padded fainting couches, and luxurious silk carpets. Spindly-legged furniture was adorned with damask covered cushions and everything that could have fringe, did. An elegant wood bar took up one end of the room and a low dais the other.
Eztli reclined on a chaise lounge placed directly in the center of the dais. She was surrounded by an amount of men that would make even Scarlett O'Hara dizzy. There was a variety of heights, body types, and ethnicities but they were all beautiful and all lethal looking. Problem was, none of them were my lions, so they didn't hold my interest for more than a second. I immediately looked away to scan the room.
Between the dais and the bar, several sitting areas were arranged and a bunch of snooty looking vampires sashayed around them in modern clothing which kind of ruined the period effect. Slowly, they became aware that there were people other than vampires and vampire food among them, and we began to garner attention. A murmur started and it reached the dais before we could. Eztli's head lifted from the snack she'd been enjoying and her piercing gaze settled on us.
“Take them!” She shouted, pointing her finger imperiously in our direction.
“Said the evil vampire queen,” I muttered.
The vampires around us immediately closed in but Blue stepped forward and shouted, “Stop! I am your god, not her. Attack me and you will feel my wrath.”
He stared around at the frozen assemblage, like he was waiting for something. One of the men narrowed his eyes and shot forward, determined to call Blue's bluff. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't a bluff and the vampire's actions were exactly what Blue had been counting on. He waved a hand imperiously, an action which I believe was sorely for aesthetic purposes, and the vampire dropped to the floor. His body immediately began to rot and then disintegrate until there was nothing left but a disgusting smear on the carpet.
“Gross but effective,” Aidan noted.
“Anyone else wish to dispute my claims?” Blue lifted a brow as the entire gathering of vampires stared at him in horror. “My power sustains you. I am the source of your immortality and you live only at my leisure. A fact which seems to have been kept from you. I will forgive your ignorance but challenge me now and you will die.”
Several other vampires were either too arrogant or too stupid to believe Blue and they ran towards us, shrieking like harpies. Blue didn't bother with the hand gesture this time, he simply looked at them and they fell to the floor as if someone had flipped their off switches. The remaining vampires dropped to their knees and I gave Blue an impressed glance but as I did, I caught a glimpse of the dais out of the corner of my eye.
Eztli was arguing with one of her beautiful minions. She was gesticulating wildly in our direction as the guy shook his head violently. That horrible feeling had a hold of the back of my neck as my mind shuffled through possible ways this situation could go bad. Then I saw the little black box Eztli's guy was holding. There was a red button on it and
we all know no good can come from red buttons.
I was just about to warn my group that something bad was about to go down, when another of Eztli's men pulled aside a velvet curtain and revealed a door behind the dais. He opened it and all of the vampires on the dais pushed Eztli through.
“Huitzilopochtli!” Eztli screamed as she pointed towards the ceiling. “Run!”
She didn't have to say it twice. I didn't even look to see what she had pointed at, I just ran and everyone ran with me... straight towards the dais. As we reached the steps, my eyes met with those of the last vampire through the door, the vampire holding the little black box. He smiled viciously at me and pushed the red button.
Explosions shook the room and I glanced behind me to see the ceiling at the far end of the room come crashing down. The club entrance was blocked immediately, sending screeching vampires in our direction. Boom! Another explosion brought down more of the ceiling. Boom! They were getting closer, making their way across the room to us and our only option of escape.
We reached the door just before the last set of explosives went off. It was locked but that hardly mattered. Blue tore it off its hinges and then we were running down a dim corridor, chasing the scent of blood and jasmine.
Behind us, the few vampires who had managed to make it to the door in time, followed after us. I didn't notice how many there were and frankly, I didn't care. I needed to get my guys out of there because I was pretty sure those bombs had been rigged to bring down the whole building.
We ran out into an empty alley and followed it to an equally empty street. We didn't stop there but kept running down the street until we were a safe enough distance away. Then we stood together and watched as the entire building that had once housed Bloody Kisses, crumbled and crashed in upon itself in a cloud of cement and plaster.
“She would have killed us all,” one of the vampires whispered. “How could she?”
“Vengeance can make you do horrible things,” Blue didn't take his eyes of the destruction.
“What do we do now?” Another vampire asked.
“Live,” Blue said simply. “I hold no grudge against you. You may live. But don't think to make more of yourselves. I've been too generous with my power and that must stop.”
“Yes, sir,” the vampire agreed and the other two survivors nodded. “Thank you!”
“Thank you,” the other two mumbled as the three of them ran off into the shadows.
I barely paid attention to the exchange, my focus was on finding my lions. So even as the dust was settling, I scented the air, searching for Eztli, but she was gone. She must have traced away.
“Dang it!” I swore as I realized that I should have brought Torrent along.
I could have tracked Eztli through the Aether but I needed the help of my magical, all-seeing goggles and Torrent. Torr could travel through paths of Inter Realm (aka the Internet) which ran through the Aether and use them to wander the Aether as slowly as he wished. Normally, this wasn't something I desired to do. The Aether was a place best left unseen. It took a toll from everyone who passed through, usually a copy of a memory, and those memories just hung around, eternally playing, along with images and echoes of spells worked with the Aether's help. If you looked too long at the Aether, you were liable to go mad. However, if you were careful, and you had the right tools, you could follow someone through the Aether.
“We'll find her again,” Trevor laid a hand on my shoulder. “There a few more properties here that we can search. She must have the Intare somewhere close.”
His words sounded reasonable but why would proximity matter to someone who could trace? She could be keeping my lions in Brazil for all I knew. It would take her mere moments to trace there from Romania.
“Can all vampires trace?” I asked Blue.
“I don't know,” he admitted. “I taught Eztli the ability long before I changed her. I wanted her to be able to visit me in my territory. She must have taught others but how many is unknown to me.”
“I think it would be best to return to Asgard and use Odin's Santa TV to find her again,” I grumbled. “Hopefully she doesn't get smart enough to hide herself behind wards like she did my lions.”
“I will help you,” Blue turned away from the wreckage and walked over to me. “She's my first vampire, I'll be able to find her.”
“Wait, what?” I gaped at him. “You can track her?”
“As you can with your Intare,” Blue nodded.
“Then why didn't you go looking for her sooner?” I asked.
“I thought she hated me,” he shrugged. “I'm not the type of man to pursue a woman who doesn't want me.” I gave a horrible snort since that's pretty much what he had done to me, and he grimaced. “That was different, we were enemies.”
“That's not why you chased me,” I reminded him softly.
“I was obsessed,” he gave me an apologetic smile. “And insane.”
“But Eztli?” I asked with a lifted brow.
“That has always been about love,” he said firmly. “The women who came after her, have only been desperate attempts to replace her. She is the only true love I've ever known.”
“And now you know that she still loves you,” I concluded. “Those bombs may have been put there to kill you but at the last moment, she couldn't go through with it.”
As I said the words, I had an epiphany. The only reason I'd been able to return to my time was because I'd decided on the perfect plan to change the future. And part of that perfect plan had been to make sure that Blue didn't give up on Eztli, just as I wasn't meant to give up on Odin. I'd forgotten that it needed to be just so, that one misplaced step could have catastrophic consequences. I couldn't kill Eztli. The annoying lion-abductor had to live to be loved by Blue.
“Yes, she saved my life,” Blue yanked me out of my revelation. “And that means I must give chase.”
“It's a moral imperative,” I agreed, knowing that I needed to encourage him.
“And we will both get what we're after,” he laid a warm palm to my shoulder. “I can't let you harm her, little witch, but I won't let her harm you or yours either.”
“Good to know,” I grinned. “Now let's go find the Queen of the Damned.”
Chapter Forty-One
“Called it,” I said in a singsong tone as we stepped out of the Aether and into the French Quarter of New Orleans. “Queen of the Damned.”
“It's like she enjoys playing into the vampire stories,” Trevor said with bemusement.
“Or inspires them,” Aidan shared a suspicious look with me.
“Just stop,” Kirill sighed. “Zis is not like comparing Alice Liddel to Alice in Wonderland. She is not Dracula or Queen of Damned, she is Bram Stoker or Anne Rice. She is not inspiration for story, she is creator. Ze first vampire.”
“Yeah, you got a point there,” I conceded. “I hadn't thought of it like that. Here we are getting all creeped out that those fictional characters might have really existed, that she might have been the one to create them, when the truly creepy thing is that we're standing right next to her creator.”
“You think I'm creepy?” Blue lifted an onyx brow.
“No, not like that,” I grimaced. “In like a woo woo sort of way.”
“Woo woo?” Blue said each woo slowly and with the disdain of a British aristocrat.
“Woooo woooo,” I made ghostly sounds. “Like haunted house, dark and stormy night creepy.”
“Yes, that's what I thought you meant,” Blue frowned. “Vervain, you are three times a goddess, have three different animals inside you, and are a fairy queen. How can this situation possibly make you uneasy?”
“Not uneasy,” I huffed, “just kinda scary cool. Creepy. It's not about knowing these things exist, it's about reading stories your entire life and then discovering that they weren't fiction at all but embellished fact. It's not like meeting Bram Stoker,” I glanced at Kirill. “It's like meeting Bram Stoker and finding out that he is actually Dracula, creato
r and monster all in one.”
“She's not a monster,” Blue whispered.
“Blue,” I gave his hand a squeeze, “I know monsters and she is one but perhaps she can be saved. I know about that too.”
“Yes, you did a remarkable job of saving this monster,” Blue waved at himself.
“I saved you from insanity,” I clarified. “You took that clarity and used it to change your life. It was a joint effort.”
“Let's hope you can get through to Eztli like Vervain did with you,” Trevor said to Blue.
“Yes, let's,” Blue agreed as he made a gesture to halt our progression down the sidewalk. He looked over to me. “Eztli is in there but I don't know if your lions are with her.”
Blue was pointing to a beautiful, two-story, classic, double-gallery home; termed double gallery due to the stacked and covered verandas supported by regal columns. It boasted buttercup yellow walls with creamy white accents and iron details. A red brick foundation held it aloft, with little white steps leading up to it. A cement path led up to those steps, bisecting the lush garden which formed a buffer between the house and the street.
I stared hard at the house, sending my lion magic questing through it, but I couldn't feel any trace of my Intare. That didn't surprise me. Good wards didn't depend on distance to do their work for them. It wouldn't matter if my lions were standing two feet in front of me, if they were well warded, I couldn't sense them.
Then suddenly, a little glimmer of light flashed down a line to me and I jerked in surprise. It was Jared. I knew each vein of power connecting me to my Intare and that one was definitely Jared. I could practically see his laughing lime-green eyes and the swath of cinnamon hair that always fell into them. He was in there.
“Jared is inside that house,” I said excitedly.
“You felt him?” Trevor asked. “Can you feel the rest of them?”
“No, it was just a brief flare,” I frowned. “Somehow Jared broke past her wards for a moment.”
“Eztli is not a witch or a goddess,” Blue mused. “How would she have put wards in place?”