BLOOD EMPIRE BURNING: BOOK SEVEN
NOTE: This is an unproofed sample.
CHAPTER ONE
Luke stared at the sheet music on the piano’s desk, the notes blurring into blotches on the page. He’d hoped disappearing into music would allow him some respite from the torment of watching the woman he loved die.
Roxi had come back to him, but if something didn’t change, she’d be leaving again, and this time there’d be no rescue for either of them. Taking in a deep breath, he let the weight of his forefinger depress the key, releasing the soft sound of a slightly out of tune note into the dim music room. He hadn’t pulled the heavy curtains back after wandering in, looking for a quiet place to avoid the activity of the rest of the cottage as people avoided venturing outside and the sting of snow mixed with sleet.
The room needed a good cleaning if he were going to use the piano more. He’d have to see if he could find his tuning tools, it had been a long time since he’d tuned the poor instrument.
“Luke?” Maggie’s soft voice sounded from behind him. She slid her hands over his shoulders, squeezing them. “Are you OK?”
He didn’t answer, keeping his eyes on the sheet music. When she gave another affectionate squeeze, he slumped slightly, letting his head droop. “No.”
“Still feeling weak from your encounter with the entity?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe? But that’s not it.” He swung his legs around, so he faced the pretty blond doctor. “I’ve watched everyone I’ve ever loved before die. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to go through it again, not like this.”
Maggie stepped between his legs and pulled him into her, cradling his head against her chest as she stroked his hair. “You have to be one of the strongest persons I’ve ever met. You’ve gone through so much and come through it. Wounded, definitely, but your humanity survived.” She pushed back and aimed his face toward hers before laying a kiss on his forehead. “I know this isn’t an easy thing to hear, but you’re strong enough. You’re going to have to be, for her…and for yourself. She has no one else in this world who cares about her as deeply as you do. No one she cares about as fully as she does you.”
He sighed and nodded. “I know.” He stood up and folded Maggie into his arms. “I’m going to go check on her.”
Maggie smiled sadly at him, caressing his cheek. He gave her hand a squeeze and departed the dusty music room to make his way up to his suite where Roxi rested. Careful to turn the doorknob quietly, he pushed the door open.
A tall black woman with a high-top fade turned her head toward the opening door. She closed the book she was reading and stood, joining Luke outside his suite.
“How is she doing, Patrice?” he asked.
“Doing alright, all things considered. I put a new bag on her IV. We talked for a while before she dozed off,” Patrice replied.
“Thank you. I’ll keep her company for a while. Why don’t you take some time off?” He reached out and patted her shoulder.
“Thanks, Luke. I think there’s a beer downstairs calling my name.” She lifted her book. “I just got to the juicy part, and I’m feeling a bit thirsty.”
Luke chuckled and stepped quietly into the room. The chair creaked under him as he let it take his weight.
“Hello, Luke,” Roxi said groggily, her eyes fluttering open.
“Sorry for waking you up.”
“That’s OK. I’d rather spend my time with you awake instead of haunting my own dreams. Besides, I need to visit the bathroom. If you’d help me get up…”
Luke stood and pulled the blankets back and helped her swing her legs off the bed and onto the floor, then gently pulled her to standing. He kept a firm hold on her as she wobbled. When she felt steady enough, she patted Luke on the cheek and shuffled toward the bathroom, using the IV stand as a third leg to help her move across the room.
He watched her, glad to see her mobile but ready to move if she looked like she was about to lose her balance. He wanted to carry her everywhere to help her save her strength, but he knew she needed to move on her own both to keep her strength up and not to make her feel like a burden. Still, his heart ached for her.
Once the door to the bathroom closed, he used the opportunity to freshen up the linens, grabbing a spare set of sheets, and stripped down the bed quickly. He dropped the last pillow into its case when the door opened. Roxi stood in the door frame, using it to hold herself up.
“You’re a handy fellow to have around.” Roxi gave him a wan smile and shuffled to the bed.
Luke moved out of her way so she could slide between the wall, chair, and the side of the bed she’d been using. Once she got her stand situated, she stuck her arms out toward Luke and pouted, a twinkle in her eye. He chuckled and shook his head. Kissing her pouty lower lip, he helped her back into the bed, then spread the duvet over her.
Patting the empty side of the bed next to her, she smiled wearily, her eyelids already drooping. He couldn’t imagine how exhausted she must be, yet she kept going. He’d give anything to take some of the burden from her, but with no solutions available, frustration and anger vied for dominance in his gut. But Roxi’s needs were paramount, so he kept them tightly contained. He pulled his t-shirt off, kicked off his slippers, and crawled under the duvet, laying flat on his back with his arm out so Roxi could roll over and snuggle into his side.
“You smell nice,” Roxi said, rubbing her hand over his chest. “How are you doing?”
“I’m alive. I’m glad to be here with you.” He kissed the top of her head, her messy black hair tickling his nose. “Maggie says you’re ready for some more solid food. They’re preparing a nice soup for dinner.”
“I’d rather have something solid like a steak or maybe a piece of pie. Or maybe both? A cottage pie? Or a really spicy curry.” Roxi sighed. “Though I doubt your pretty doctor will let me have one of those. I guess soup will have to do for an upgrade over broth.”
“I’ll run your request by her, though displaying an appetite is probably a good sign. Do you feel up for joining everyone in the solarium? It looks quite festive. Those who celebrate Christmas have decorated. It looks properly pagan with the tree and pine boughs.”
Roxi chuckled. “I’m not a Northern European pagan, but it’ll have to do in the absence of anything else. Besides, as long as they have twinkle lights, it’ll make me happy. I do like twinkle lights.”
“That they do.”
“Good. I’m dying to get out of this room. I think an adventure downstairs will do nicely.” She snuggled in tightly, giving him a squeeze.
He lay there quietly, stroking her wild hair. “Roxi. Can I ask you a question?”
“You may.” Her voice had a dream quality to it.
“Wh…where did you go when you left Portland?” He’d nearly asked why but ensured he said Portland. He’d thought about nothing else since she’d left him that note after they’d let their burning attraction spill into reality.
She didn’t answer, her breathing steady. He thought she might have fallen asleep until she took a deep breath.
“Armenia.” She exhaled noisily. “I tried to go back to the mountain, back to where it all started.”
A warm, wet drop fell on his chest. Lifting his head, he kissed the top of head and pulled her in tighter.
“I hoped…”
“That if you returned to the wanderer’s temple, he could help you? Heal you and fix your rudis?”
She nodded. “I couldn’t find it. I found the right mountain. It’s indelibly seared into my memory. I’d visited a few times throughout the years. But I couldn’t find an entrance. I thought I’d found a path that wound up the side of the mountain, but at some point, a rockslide had sheared off most of it at its highest points. The entire side of the mountain was covered in rubble. Either the entrance was destroyed, or I was being denied entry.”
“Is that why you headed to Halberg? To see if you could reach him via the shrine there?” An ember of anger rekindled in his chest as the feeling of Mithras turning his back on him flashed through his mind.
“I tried to find a few of the old spots along the way but had no luck.”
“Then you were hunted and ambushed by vampires.” He shook his head, pursing his lips as his jaw clenched.
“I don’t remember much clearly. Just vague flashes of terror and brutal fighting. When I finally recognized you in that castle ruin, that was the first clear moment my brain had in a while.” She sighed forlornly. “At least I get to be myself and with you at the end of it all.”
Her words cut him deeply. He wanted to counter her and say she wouldn’t die, but that wasn’t a promise he could make. He couldn’t rob her of the comfort of accepting the logical conclusion of the current path she was on. Forcing his jaw to unclench, he took a slow, deep breath and held it, then let it quietly slip from his lips, carrying his anger and frustration with it.
He needed to be present for her. Without a functioning rudis, there was no way for her to turn back the compulsion. And no amount of vitriol on his part could make the burnt and warped remnants of her old rudis functional. If he couldn’t stop her decline, he couldn’t deny her or himself the precious little time they had together. He cared for her, loved her too deeply to steal her peace and offer only anger in return. As her breathing steadied into the peaceful rhythm of slumber, he stroked her hair, soaking up her presence by his side. When she rolled over and off his arm, he slid out of bed and pulled the covers over her shoulders. Kissing his fingertips, he gently touched them against her cheek before slipping silently out of the room.
He nodded at but didn’t speak to people as he passed them down the stairs and in the halls, as he made his way to the bar by the entrance to his cottage. Flipping one switch on, he left the rest off so he could sit in the dim quiet of the empty, windowless room.
Once he was behind the bar, he poured himself a glass of pils and sat at one of the small tables in the back corner, brooding and sipping his beer. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there but when he put glass to lips and came up empty, he stood to get a another.
As he refilled his glass, Pablo poked his head in the door. “Mind if I join you, buddy?”
Luke thought about it for a moment, unsure if he wanted even his best friend to intrude upon his solitude. When he realized he did want Pablo’s company, he grabbed a second glass and filled it, sliding it over the bar toward Pablo. With a twitch of his head toward the table he’d just vacated, he retook his seat and waited for Pablo to get comfortable across from him.
They sat in silence, drinking their beers until Pablo cleared his throat lightly. “So, the crew said you looked pretty pissed when you came downstairs. Anything you want to talk about?”
Luke huffed, looking inward. The muscles of his face, neck, and shoulders were bunched up and tight. He took a moment to run a breathing exercise and untense his body. He took another sip then looked across the table, locking his gaze with the kind eyes of his friend.
“I didn’t come across nearly two thousand years of pain and loneliness to give up on Roxi now that we’ve found each other.”
Pablo reached across the table and gave Luke’s hand a squeeze. “I know. You’re not the type to give up. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
“I know. You’re a true friend, Pablo. I just wish I knew what I needed to do.” He shook his head and frowned.
“I mean, I don’t know much about your whole deal, but is begging your Mithras an option?”
“We’ve tried that before Roxi left Portland. We were ignored.” He narrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t even know if he heard us to ignore us.” He paused for a drink. “That’s why she left—to find the original temple where we were both given this mission, in the mountains of Armenia.”
“I take it she didn’t have any luck?”
Luke snorted. “No. She couldn’t find entrance to the temple. Then she tried locating any of the old holy spots that had once been shrines and temples. That’s why she went to Saarbrücken. Either Mithras wasn’t interested in listening, or the vampires pursuing her didn’t allow her enough time to properly seek him out.”
“Well, there are no vampires here and you have a temple across the yard…” Pablo gestured in the vague direction of the cliff that backed the property and held most Luke’s hidden infrastructure, including the temple.
Luke pursed his lips, shook his head, then sighed. “Yeah. I think it’s time I pay my respects to the Wander.”
Pablo leaned across the table, staring intensely into Luke’s eyes. “I don’t know what is between you and your god, but Roxi is worth it. You adore her, and she is smitten with you. You need to do whatever it takes to earn her life back.”
Luke nodded, first tentatively then more firmly. “Yeah. You’re right.” It had been a week since he’d rescued her and he didn’t know how much time she had left if he continued doing nothing. He drained the rest of the small glass of pils then set it down firmly on the table, the clack of glass on wood sounding loud in the empty room.
“What can I do to help?” Pablo asked.
“Refill our beers while I find a pad and a pen. I need to make a list for Émile.” Luke stood up and wandered through first floor of the house, looking for anything to write on. Finally, he took a small white board and marker off the wall in the kitchen and brought it back into the bar with him. Once he sat across from Pablo, he took a drink from the refilled beer and began writing a list of the supplies he’d need his caretaker to assemble in the few short days before the winter solstice, before the feast celebrating the birth of Mithras and the rebirth of the sun.
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Blood Empire Infiltrated will be out November 15, 2022!
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