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Stefan
No sooner do I say the words, that the sense of darkness increases. Almost as if there’s more of them. “You expecting Vlad early?” I ask, before I think better of it.
“Nu, why?” Mirabela’s tone is full-on suspicious now.
Well. Might as well out with it. “Because another one of you just arrived here.”
A breeze hits my face, presumably from her leaving in a rush to check. Meaning...I’m alone with Nicolae.
“Thank you, Nicolae,” I say. “For agreeing to this plan.”
He steps closer, and a moment later his hand grasps my forearm in solidarity. “No need to thank me. And call me Nico.”
I nod and return the grasp. He’s one of the few of them I’m comfortable with.
“Come, let me show you to a room. Hell knows we’ve got plenty of them.”
Interesting. So their new castle is an upgrade. I’d surmised as much, but it does make me wonder how they pulled it off.
I follow Nico’s footsteps, doing my best to orient myself. I sense him hesitating at first, then he seems to understand I’m not completely powerless and lets me orient myself. I allow my senses to guide me. (add more of how it works)
No sooner do we exit into some kind of antechamber (? Right word?), that I hear more voices.
“I had to come and tell you in person,” another female voice says. Her voice is deeper, yet fainter, than Mirabela and Elizabeta’s. It lacks the arrogance, sounding almost...human.
This must be the third sister, Violeta.
Confirming my suspicion, Nico says, “Violeta! What are you doing here?”
There’s an odd pause as she—presumably—takes me in. “Is this Stefan, Silviana’s brother?”
“I am.”
“Then you’ll need to hear this.” More footsteps as she approaches. “Marcus and I have been helping Nico and Tassa to find some more information to help with the curse. And, lately, with Silviana’s little problem.”
Little problem is an interesting euphemism for the god she’s got stuck in her head.
“And what did you find?”
“There’s rumors of a witch, in the woods. An oracle of sorts. She’s supposed to have answers to things that elude anyone, even other supernaturals.”
My heart starts hammering in my chest. I try to quiet my excitement, knowing it’s probably not a good idea to remind them how human I am—just in case they decide to whet their appetite.
“And you think this...oracle...can help Silviana?”
“Da,” Violeta says, and there’s a hint of a smile in her answer. “We’ve heard she lives in the Hoia Baciu woods, but the kids who told us about it warned that only those who seek answers should go.”
“I will. Gladly.”
“After the ball,” Mirabela says. “You want to see your sister, no?”
Impatience rankles at me, but I know she’s right.
“Thank you,” I say in Violeta’s direction. “This...is more than I’d expected.”
“We’re not all bad,” she whispers.
“Speak for yourself.” Ah. This must be the infamous Alex. Silviana’s told me all about his threatening antics. I’d wondered where he’d been hiding.
“Not now, Alex,” Nico mutters. Then touches my elbow, subtly turning me towards the stairs. “Let me show your room.”
Behind me, I can hear mutters, but they’re too low, pitched only for vampir ears. I’ve no doubt Alex is expressing his dislike of me to his siblings, though.
Nico leads me to a room upstairs. Similar to before, I use my senses and darkness to orient myself. I also walk close to the wall, using it to keep my balance, which avoids me some particularly nasty trips.
We emerge onto another landing, and I feel plush carpet beneath my feet. A few moments later, a door squeaks to the side, and I turn to it.
“It’s one of the guest chambers,” Nico says, “but it’ll be free even if some of the...guests...decide to stick around. The last thing I’d want is you to be bothered by them.”
I smirk. “You mean, serve as a snack for them?”
He chuckles. “Right.” There’s another beat of awkward silence. “I’m not sure if I should point out where everything is...?”
“I’ll be fine. Do you mind sending Silviana up here when she comes?”
“Of course. I’ll let you get settled. And, don’t worry about what to wear for the ball. Mirabela already sent one of our guards into town.”
Guards. He must mean what’s left of the Ardelean clan. The Draculs wiping out that particular clan created quite the noise, even in my part of the world.
Then another thing registers. “Town?”
“Da, we’re closer to X town now.”
“Hmm. Thank you.” I’d thought we were just in the middle of the woods, but I stand corrected.
A few beats later, Nico leaves. And I’m left alone with my thoughts.
I make my way slowly across the room, hands splayed out in front of me. A trickle of blood runs down my palm, coating the rug—fur?—under my feet. I take my shoes off to feel it better. Ah, yes, rug. Persian, by the feel of it. Interesting that they’re no longer shying away from their opulence.
Then again, I would imagine with a ball coming, they need to get everything set up at its best. After all, money is power. And power is money. And if the House of Dracul is to show the other vampir clans they’re back...they need to walk the walk, too.
*
Two hours pass. I only know the passing of time because I set my watch to buzz every thirty minutes. A few times, I hear raised voices below, before they drop down to murmurs. I come to the conclusions Silviana was right, and the siblings are dysfunctional as hell. But in their own way, there’s a camaraderie that binds them. Even Alex.
I’d half expected him to come and try to rip my throat out for daring to enter his new house. But, surprisingly, he doesn’t show up.
By the fourth watch buzz, I’m pretty familiar with the room, the corridor outside, and the en suite bathroom. A knock sounds on the door, and I call out, “Come in.” No way Alex would be knocking.
The door opens, followed by a delighted squeal. I turn, just in time for my sister to launch herself into my arms. Her hair tickles my nose, but I happily wrap my arms around her slight frame.
Then, frown when it feels so much frailer than before. I let her have her hug, and slowly push her away. Cup her cheeks, resting my forehead against hers. “Sorella, how are you?”
“I’m fine.” The tremble in her voice says otherwise.
Sure enough, tears seep past her lashes the moment after. I pull her back in my arms, holding her tight.
Long moments later, we sit on one of the divans by the window.
“They’ve really spoiled you,” Silviana says.
I laugh. “Is the room that amazing?”
“Uh, yeah!” She goes on to describe it at length, giving me details like the colors of everything (add this).
I let her do so, then tug her hand and place it on my chest. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing. I... Vlad is amazing. I just miss you. Miss being around people. But it’s hard.”
“How?”
“When I am, sometimes, he comes to the surface. Tries to take control of my magic. It...It’s hard, pushing him back. Vlad helps a lot. And that zmeu, Tytus, he came by again, reinforcing the shield in my head. Says he needs to do it at least twice a week going forward.”
I frown. “I don’t like this. The more he pokes around in your mind—”
“He’s careful.”
“But still.”
“I know.”
I take a deep breath. “Nico says they’ve been looking, that they haven’t stopped.”
“I figured as much. Vlad’s kept me up to date, and they’ve done so much more than I’d hoped.”
I don’t tell her about the oracle just yet. Not until I can get some more specifics out of Violeta or Nico. Instead, I add, “I’ve also found some scrolls in Liviu’s chambers, but the bastard hasn’t been gone long enough for me dig more. There’s hidden knowledge there, I know it is. I just need to break in again and see what else I can find.”
“Don’t risk it, please, Fane!”
“For you, I’ll risk anything.”
“How quaint.”
I jerk upright at the voice. Elizabeta.
Silviana jerks upright by my side, wariness filling her tone. “What do you want?”
There’s a rustle of something, and then Elizabeta’s voice sounds farther away. “From Mirabela.”
Silviana inches away from me. I hear a door closing, then more of that rustling. Eventually, she says, “It’s a suit. And, some casual clothes. Why are the vampires gifting you stuff?”
I sigh. “Because I said I’d spend the night, and attend the ball tomorrow. I nearly begged Liviu to let me come here under the pretext I’d spy, and return home with ‘information.’”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Poate. But I needed to know what’s going on, what they’re doing. And besides, Nico says there’s plenty of old vampiri at this ball. One of them might let some things slip, too.”
“Such as?”
“Connections. Maybe someone else knows about Zalmoxis, someone we don’t know.”
“Hmm.”
“I know, sorella, it sounds farfetched. But you’ve intertwined our fates with these vampiri the moment you fell in love with one. And I won’t have this get between us. I swear it. We’ll find a cure for you, and a way to get Zalmoxis out of your head.”
I can only hope I’m not wrong. Because I’ve never lied to my sister, and I don’t intend to now.
Elizabeta
Now there’s not just Tassa, but Silviana and her damned brother in our fancy new castle. How fantastic.
“What’s gotten up your butt?”
I whirl on Mirabela. “You know what. Why do we have so many humans around?”
She rolls her eyes. “You need to behave. Now’s not the time to throw a tantrum, when we’re going to have a castle filled with vampiri in less than twenty-four hours”
“And you think it’ll look good for us to show them we mingle with humans? We’ll be seen as weak!”
Lighting flashes in her eyes. “Don’t test me, sister dear. Nico and I are on the same page with this.”
“Not that long ago, you used to not be. What changed?”
“Our survival did. I’ll do anything for that.”
“Clearly.” I turn, but she grips my arm. “Mira, watch yourself.”
“No. You will.” She searches my face, then grins. Coldly. “Matter of fact, why don’t you accompany Stefan to the ball?”
“Fuck you. I’m not taking him anywhere. I’d rather be dead than be seen with him.”
The grip on my arm tightens. “Don’t play, Liza. There’s a time for that, and there’s a time for us to come together. This is it.” She moves closer, her blue eyes sparkling red. She’s been gone for so long, I’ve forgotten how dangerous it is to make her angry.
As if to remind me, the paintings on the walls shake. A vase nearby nearly topples over, but she catches with her free hand.
“I’m not going to repeat myself.”
“What’s the point? Why would me accompanying Stefan make any difference?”
She pauses, her lips pursing. “Some rumors might have spread about the curse. We can get ahead of them, rather than let them rule this ball. And show that for any concerned, the curse only makes us stronger. Not weaker.”
“Stronger?” I frown.
Behind her, Daniel flickers into appearance. “She means because showing up with Stefan means it’ll appear as though he’s on your side. With you.”
My eyes widen, and I meet Mira’s gaze. “I am not playing relationship pretend with that Dacian!”
She scoffs. “We all have to make sacrifices. This is yours.” Her eyes narrow. “Father would be disappointed if he saw what you became.”
I try to maintain my bravado, but it’s no use. The words sting. She’s always known which buttons to push.
I storm out of her grip, and into my room above. “How dare she? Like I’m a child, incapable of making my own choices!”
I pace, back and forth, back and forth. But Daniel’s there, watching me.
“Don’t you even say it.”
He laughs, getting on my nerves even more. “Why not? I think it’s a grand idea that you go to the ball.”
These peasants don’t seem to realize I’m royalty—well, I’ll show them in a way they can’t deny.
“Why? So you can laugh at me? Or so I can suffer, always at a distance? Never able to touch you, to be with you.” The mirth disappears from his expression. And it kills me. “Sorry.”
He shakes his head at my whispered mutter. “You know as well as I do that we had is long gone.”
“What we had never had a chance to become more.”
His expression softens further. “You’ll have to let me go eventually, Liza.”
“No.” I clench my fists. “I won’t. I need you.”
He floats closer to me. “I can’t be what you need me to be. You know that.”
“I don’t care.”
The door opens behind me, Alex entering. “I thought I heard you—”
“Nothing. Let’s get out of here.”
I push past him and he follows, albeit bemused. At least a hunt will ease my mind. And maybe the tightness in my chest. Because Daniel’s wrong. I need him. But for now, I need him out of my head—and a hunt will do that.