Fortress of Blood (Mina Murray Book 2)

by L. D. Goffigan

  When we reached the altar, Gabriel stepped back and Jonathan grasped my hands firmly in his. The others filed in, taking their seats in the pews and crowding the aisles, reverently silent. Jonathan and I held each other’s eyes as the chaplain began the ceremony. Our vows were brief and when the chaplain declared us man and wife, Jonathan pulled me close, resting his forehead against mine.

  “Mina Harker,” he whispered tremulously. “My darling. My life.”

  He leaned down to kiss me, but froze, and abruptly jerked back from me. I watched in stunned horror as the whites of his eyes turned completely black. His hands shot out to wrap around my throat, squeezing with tremendous force, and amidst terrified screams and shouts, I slipped from consciousness.

  10

  A Dangerous Idea

  “He tried to kill her!”

  Abe’s furious words roused me from my sleep, and I opened my eyes. I was lying in the same bedroom where Jonathan had recovered after his collapse. The door was closed, but I could hear Abe’s voice clearly from the kitchen.

  “If you had not stopped him—” Abe continued, his voice rising in anger.

  “He stopped himself,” Gabriel interjected. “That’s why he asked to be placed under guard. You saw how horrified he was at what he’d done. The transformation has altered his mind.”

  I groggily sat up, their words igniting my memories of what happened the night before. I was still wearing my makeshift wedding dress, and the wildflowers were still wound throughout my hair. I recalled the church decorated with candles and wildflowers, Jonathan’s hazel eyes shining with love, those same eyes turning black, and . . .

  My hands flew to my throat at the memory. It seemed like something out of a nightmare, but the bruising around my throat confirmed that what happened was terrifyingly real.

  “We need to separate Jonathan and Mina until we kill Vlad and Ilona, but they are not to be a part of this,” Abe was saying now. “We can find them safe places to hide when we return to London. The three of us and whoever else is willing to help, can then focus on killing those creatures.”

  I abruptly got out of bed at his words, crossing the room to yank open the door and marching out. Gabriel and Abe were facing off in the center of the small kitchen, while Seward warily leaned against the table behind them. They all turned to faced me as I entered the room.

  “I heard everything. What happened last night changes nothing, Abe,” I said sharply, glaring at him. “I will not stand aside while you finish the fight I started. Surely, you must know that? Where is Jonathan?”

  “He’s alone in another cottage, guarded by two vampires—by his own request. He fears he will try to harm you again,” Gabriel said gently, taking a concerned step towards me. “Do you remember what happened?”

  “Yes,” I said, with great difficulty, as I recalled Jonathan’s black eyes in the chapel. “But I know it was not Jonathan who harmed me. Not truly. It’s the transformation—and whatever Ilona’s done to his mind. We saw the same thing in Lucy Holmwood.”

  “Your husband,” Abe said, practically spitting the word as he advanced towards me, “did not merely harm you. He nearly strangled you to death, and barely stopped himself in time. It is not safe for you to be alone with him. If we do not get to Ilona soon—”

  “We will,” I interrupted sharply. “We’re leaving today, are we not? Once we meet up with the others, we can take the Orient Express back to England. That will get us to London quickly. Now, I want to see Jonathan.”

  “Mina, Jonathan’s not—” Seward began, shaking his head.

  “I will arm myself and fight him if I must, but I do not think that’ll be necessary. I brought him back to himself in the fortress. I can help keep his mind at ease. Isolating him is not going to help,” I said, turning to head towards the door. I wasn’t going to wait for their permission. “I’m going to see my husband.”

  Abe and Seward didn’t follow or try to stop me, but Gabriel hurried after me, reluctantly leading me towards a lone cottage on the far edge of the village square, where the vampire Nikolaus stood guard. He stiffened in surprise at my approach, but after a look from Gabriel, he stepped aside.

  “Take this. Please,” Gabriel said, removing one of my kukri knives from his pocket and handing it to me. I hesitated, but the look in his eyes broached no argument. I grudgingly took it before we both entered the cottage.

  My heart broke at the sight that greeted us. Jonathan sat on the scratched wooden floor of the barren cottage, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders drooped with misery. I turned, gesturing for Gabriel to leave us, and after a moment of hesitation, he obliged.

  “Stay away from me,” Jonathan said once we were alone, without looking up. “I fear I will hurt you again.”

  “I will do no such thing,” I said, taking a tentative step towards him. “We are husband and wife now. We’ll fight this together.”

  “I–I do not know what happened,” Jonathan said brokenly, finally looking up at me with anguished eyes. “I was fully myself, and so very happy. But the images she put in my mind of you and Van Helsing . . . I kept seeing them, and my hands—”

  “You must fight, Jonathan. Use that same strength you had in the fortress to hold on to your mind,” I urged, taking another step forward.

  He shot to his feet, backing away from me, holding out his hands to indicate that I should come no further.

  “I can sense everything now—even emotions. It is agony,” he said brokenly. “I can even sense your love for him.”

  “Have I not traveled across Europe to save you? Does that not prove the depth of my love for you?” I demanded, feeling the growing weight of despair in my chest. “Did I not marry you last night?”

  “I do not doubt your love for me,” Jonathan said, with a sad smile. “But I know you love him as well. I–I suspected it that night at the ball, but I can truly sense it now. Do you deny it?”

  I hesitated. I now knew that my love for Abe had never completely dissipated. Jonathan deserved my honesty.

  “No,” I said finally, and he blanched, but I boldly stepped forward until I was within reach of him, gripping his arms. “But our relationship has long been over. You are the one I married, Jonathan. You are the one I risked my life to save.”

  “I know,” Jonathan whispered, turning away from me and closing his eyes. He pressed his fingers to his lids, as if he wanted to physically suppress whatever he was seeing in his mind’s eye. “But I need you to stay away from me.”

  “Jonathan,” I pleaded, tears springing to my eyes. “This is not you. We vowed just last night to—”

  “I need you to stay away because I love you,” he said raggedly, still not looking at me. “I am not the same man I was. I will soon be a monster. I never should have made you marry me.”

  “You did not make me marry you!” I cried. “We were already engaged. I wanted to marry you! Don’t let what that monster has done to your mind control you. I will kill her, you will be healed, and we will live as husband and wife—as we intended before any of this happened.”

  “I need time,” Jonathan said, after a long pause, taking another step away from me. “Until—and if—you kill Ilona, and my mind returns to me, it is best that we remain apart. And . . . and I need Van Helsing to stay away from me as well.”

  I stared at him in disbelief, but by the rigidity of his body and the set of his jaw, I could tell that he meant every word. I tried to move closer to him, but he took several steps back until he was against the wall, holding up his hands to impede my approach.

  “Am I to be punished for having a past before you? For loving him before you?” I demanded incredulously. “We have just wed. I will not allow you to give up on us.”

  “You have no choice,” Jonathan said, meeting my eyes with a coldness that I had never seen in him before. “This is not a punishment. It is for your safety, Mina.”

  He abruptly moved past me, keeping his distance as he moved to the door to swing it open. I looke
d at him, pleading with my eyes, but his expression was rigid.

  Furious, I stalked past him to leave the cottage. I kept walking until I found another nearby empty cottage, entering and closing the door behind me.

  I slid to the floor, wrapping my arms around my body as I allowed my despair to take hold, and I began to weep.

  When we departed two hours later, I had managed to compose myself, and my face was a stoic mask as I rode out of the village alongside Gabriel, Abe, and Seward. Jonathan rode ahead with Nikolaus and Kudret, not sparing me a glance, and a stab of pain pierced me at his blatant disregard.

  After my row with Jonathan, Abe, Gabriel and Seward’s curious gazes followed me when I returned to the cottage to change and pack my bag; but I said nothing to them. Jonathan and I were married now, and I was determined to keep our discord between us. I could only hope that he would come to his senses during the journey back to London.

  We encountered nothing out of the ordinary during our short journey to Debrecen, but this made me feel unsettled. Since our violent departure from the fortress, there had been no new attacks, and I knew that Vlad had scores of followers in Transylvania. Where had they all gone?

  I set aside the disturbing thought as we arrived in Debrecen. With its colorful homes, baroque style buildings and medieval cobblestoned streets, it reminded me of a smaller and more intimate version of Budapest.

  We separated from the released humans once we were safely in the boundaries of the city. Some had family in Debrecen, while others were heading to Budapest and other nearby cities. Elisabeta gave me a warm embrace before departing with the others, and I urged her to be safe.

  The remaining group consisted of me, Gabriel, Abe, Seward, Jonathan, and four of our vampire allies—including Nikolaus and Kudret. We continued towards the stables near Debrecen’s central square, where we left our horses. Gabriel led us to Radu’s nearby home, which was a near replica of the one he owned in Budapest, with a yellow stucco façade and surrounded by tall iron gates.

  “Radu?” Gabriel called out as we entered, trailing him down the narrow entrance hall. “Anara?”

  He was met with silence, and dread stirred in the pit of my stomach. We followed Gabriel into the drawing room, where Anara, Szabina, and five more of our vampire allies that I recognized from Szabina’s village were gathered. The looks on their faces ranged from shock, to grief, to despair. Anara and Szabina were seated on two plush chairs opposite the fireplace, and they barely acknowledged us as we entered the room. My sense of dread increased when I noticed that Radu was not seated amongst them.

  “Anara?” Gabriel asked, his voice quivering. “Where . . . where is Radu?”

  When Anara looked up, I saw her eyes were filled with a sheen of blood tears. She did not need to speak for us to know of Radu’s fate.

  “No,” Gabriel whispered.

  Around me, the others gasped and let out strangled sobs of grief. Seward paled, and Abe leaned back heavily against the wall, burying his face in his hands.

  Though I had only known Radu briefly, my chest became heavy with my own grief for the creature who had displayed such kindness and empathy towards us. But beneath my grief, I felt a pang of guilt. If we had never come to him in Budapest, he would still be alive.

  “What happened?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “We were surrounded by Vlad’s followers in the great hall,” Szabina replied. “Radu saved us. He led Vlad and his followers out to the courtyard. He knew he was the main focus. We tried to go after him, but a group of ferals attacked us.”

  “I almost made it to him,” Anara spoke up, her voice strained, blood tears streaking down her face. “I managed to get to the courtyard, where Radu and Vlad were fighting. But before I could approach, that traitor Matyas held me down. He made me watch Radu and Vlad fight. I thought Radu would be able to overpower his son, but I underestimated how deep Vlad’s hatred runs for his father. I was helpless. I could do nothing,” Anara faltered, pressing her hand to her mouth. Szabina reached out to place her hand on Anara’s shoulder.

  At the mention of Matyas’ name, Gabriel and I exchanged a dark look as we realized that the creature who had killed our mother was still alive.

  “Vlad tore out Radu’s throat,” Szabina whispered with great difficulty. Anara buried her face in her hands, as if she were trying to block out the images of Szabina’s words. “Then he ripped out his heart while it still pumped.”

  “The pain in my father’s eyes,” Anara rasped, her voice heavy with tears. “As he looked at his own son . . . dying at his hands . . . I will never forget it. I screamed. I cannot recall what happened afterwards. I know Matyas released me, and Vlad fled the fortress, taking his remaining followers with him. We buried Radu at the fortress. After this is all over, and I kill his monstrous children, I will bury him next to his Ludmila. ”

  My own tears swelled, temporarily blurring my vision. I could tell that Radu had loved his son, even though he knew what a monster he was. What agony it must have been to die at his hands. He had not deserved such a death.

  “We captured several of his ferals to find out where Vlad went,” Szabina said. “But their minds are closed to us.”

  “We know where he is.”

  It was Jonathan who spoke up. He had been standing in the back of our group, hovering by the doorway, but he now moved to the front.

  “I am in the process of transformation. I am linked to Ilona through her blood. You can use me to track her. They are in London, I am quite certain of it.”

  “Then we must make haste,” Anara said, wiping at her eyes and shooting to her feet in a rapid move. “We must leave at once.”

  “We cannot be rash, Anara,” Szabina said gently. “We planned for the attack on the fortress, and still lost our leader and many of our own. Vlad and his sister know that we are after them. They will have many more of their followers in London.”

  “Then we assemble various groups,” Anara swiftly rejoined. “We can send a wire to allies of Radu to help us—I know they are still out there. They will join us.”

  “We can’t just go to London,” Seward said, frowning. “A group of bloody vampires entering the city en masse for a battle will cause such panic that—”

  “I do not care about the human population!” Anara cried. “They will soon all be very aware of our existence if Vlad even partially succeeds. It was only a matter of time before our war bled into your world.”

  “We do not have the numbers, nor do we have time to organize and recruit more allies,” Abe added, rubbing his temples.

  “Then what do you propose?” Anara demanded. “The longer we wait to attack, the more difficult it will be to locate them. They may not even remain in London.”

  In the space of silence that followed, an idea took root in my mind. It was a relatively simple solution, but terrifying and dangerous. The best ideas are the dangerous ones, Father had once told me. Always. Mister Darwin did not release On the Origin of Species for years because he knew it contained the most dangerous ideas. And look at what happened when he published it. He changed the world.

  My idea, though risky, could possibly save the world. I moved forward until I was in the center of the room.

  “We need to set a trap,” I said. “I agree that we should not confront them in London—too many human lives would be at risk. We need to lure them away from London rather than pursue them like we did before. Jonathan, you pointed out vacant estates in and around London to Vlad. Is there an estate outside of London where we can meet them? Somewhere relatively isolated?”

  “There is a vacant estate in Purfleet, called Carfax,” Jonathan said hesitantly, his features taut with worry. “But, Mina—”

  “How do you propose we lure them?” Anara interrupted, looking at me with incredulity.

  “We give them what they want. I’m the daughter of one of the last human members of the Order of the Dragon. Jonathan and I will convince them that we want to join their side. I’ll swear all
egiance to Vlad and vow to destroy the Order from within. When they come to us at the estate in Purfleet, we’ll kill them. Their followers will scatter and the newly infected will die with them.”

  “Mina,” Jonathan breathed, shaking his head. “That is not—”

  “It has to be us who set the trap, Jonathan. Ilona is obsessed with you. She’s already affected your mind once; it’s not without reason that you’ve fallen sway to her. And Vlad has to be obsessed with destroying the Order; they nearly succeeded in killing him once,” I said.

  “It will not work. You’ll never convince them of your defection,” Anara protested. “Vampires can sense deception. Vlad is responsible both directly and indirectly for the deaths of your parents. You won’t be able to conceal your hatred for him. The Order of the Dragon has disbanded. There has not been an organized meeting for years—it’s no longer a threat to Vlad.”

  “He thinks it is still a threat. When I confronted him in the fortress, he told me that the Order and I are too late to stop him. As . . . as for my deception,” I continued, bracing myself for the reaction to my next statement. “There’s a very simple way of convincing them I’m telling the truth.”

  “What is that?” Anara asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowed.

  “I undergo the transformation Jonathan is going through now,” I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. “I become vampire.”

  11

  The Blood

  The room erupted into a chorus of protests.

  “Mina, this is madness!” Abe shouted. “You cannot be serious. You do not know what effect such a transformation will have on you.”

  “You cannot put your life at such risk,” Jonathan agreed. “We will find another way.”

  “No, Mina,” Gabriel said furiously. “How can you even suggest such a thing?”