Matilda and the Elders were gone when Nick transported me back to the river. “Where are they?” I said, my eyes darting in every direction.
Nick trumpeted his lips. “Damn, take it easy, will you? They never expected you to succeed. That old broad—Matilda—just gets off on intimidating people. She pulled that same shit on me when I was here. If I hadn’t been there to stop you, one of the others would have stepped up.”
“I’m proud of you, Celeste,” Tristan said, his shape slowly materializing through sparkling beads of water as he hovered above the river.
My breath caught when I saw him, my body aching at the sight of him, goosebumps forming despite pores oozing sweat. A sidelong glance at Nick confirmed his irritating grin and deflated my lust like a spent balloon.
I pushed past Nick just as a swath of darkness obliterated the sun, black ribbons in frenzied motion, descending upon us rapidly. Matilda was the first to transform into flesh and touch down, the Elders swooping behind her.
“Tristan of Tomisovara, I presume,” she bellowed. Her eyes pulsated from red to ebony as she glared at Nick with an intensity so terrifying I feared she might disintegrate him. “I shall forgive your recent rant, Nicholas, and attribute it to your inexhaustible idiocy. However, I suggest that both you and Tristan take your leave and take it now.” She waited until they vaporized within a sputtering fog, then took one look at me and smirked. “A kingdom, the crown jewels, the stars above endure, Celestine. But lovers?” She shook her head, erecting an index finger for emphasis. “Lovers come and go, no matter the vehemence with which they profess undying love and all that falls blissfully upon our ears. I suggest you take my words to heart and rid your mind of such trivial matters. For a treacherous road lies ahead for you, for all of us really, should the mortals discover your vampiric state. Perhaps Nostradamus has told you the story of Adelina?”
Nostradamus cleared his throat, and I noticed him duck sideways, seeking cover behind Socrates.
“I shall assume from your reluctance to answer the question that he has not!” She inhaled so deeply that her chain tunic expanded and clinked its objection. “Her extraordinary beauty often rendered men both motionless and speechless, mere hapless hounds frothing about the mouth. Despite Adelina’s determination to fend off the Romanian Warrior Stefan’s various attempts at seduction, she eventually failed, and Stefan’s infatuation grew, exponentially. The two were inseparable until the day Adelina grew tired of him, and, enraged, Stefan sought his revenge, sharing the secret to her powers with Emperor Leopold I. The emperor amassed his army, which ambushed her and took her prisoner as she slumbered within her coffer. Following days of ruthless interrogation, Leopold called for her head, afterward demanding his army burn her at the stake. Supplied with the names of her immortal comrades, the bloodthirsty army systematically hunted most down and destroyed them. So you see, Celestine, our secret shall never be safe with those outside the Realm. To compromise yourself is to endanger us all.”
Elizabeth timidly stepped forward and slipped an arm around my waist. “I am quite certain Celestine understands the consequences, Your Empress.”
Matilda soared our direction, creating a dust-filled and transitory whirlwind. “Are you now? Has my story of Adelina rendered the girl mute, thus incapable of vocalizing her own agreement?”
“I understand,” I said past a hollow laugh. “Haven’t I kept my parents’ secret for over twenty years?”
“Very well. See that you continue. Now, with all the unpleasantries out of the way, might I suggest we return to the palace and enjoy your celebration?”
Inside the palace, I first saw Bianca, the only mother I had ever really known. How could I possibly make up for all those horrible things I had said to her? She had sacrificed so much for Nick and me. Until we’d come along, she and Razvan had traveled the world unencumbered for centuries, most often while leading the Realm as they conquered packs of werewolves daring to hunt outside designated perimeters, or clans of rebellious vampires preying on mortals. But, sometimes, they roamed the earth simply for pleasure.
They’d met American presidents dating as far back as John Quincy Adams, physicist Albert Einstein, inventor Nikola Tesla, humanitarians Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, artist Frida Kahlo, author John Steinbeck, movie stars Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart, and entertainer Elvis Presley. Autographed private photographs documenting those extraordinary adventures graced an entire wall in my father’s study. My favorite remained the one of Ernst Hemingway with a death grip on a bottle of rum, red-nosed and revealing all his teeth as he fished from an austere boat off the coast of Cuba.
Her eyes met mine and she landed beside Nick and me with a whish and a delicate scent that always made me think of puppy breath, sun-warmed sand, and freshly blossomed lilac. Brilliant green one second and milky white the next, her eyes exposed her torment. She studied me for some time and then asked, “Do I have your forgiveness, Celestine?”
I stared at my hands, kneaded my knuckles, and culled the tears forming with long sequential blinks. “I’m the one who should ask forgiveness.”
“Nonsense. We shall have no such talk,” she said and opened her arms.
I went to her without hesitation and crumpled when she pulled me close.
“If you two are going to start all that gushy crap, I’m outta here,” Nick said, and I watched until I could no longer see his shirttail flapping behind him, the words Send help! My Family is Nuts screen-printed across the back.
Bianca rolled her eyes in Nick’s direction but laughed. “Oh, Celeste. The thought of losing you forever was far too much to bear,” she sputtered, kissing every inch of my face, now sandwiched between her palms.
“You did the right thing, Mom,” I whispered. “I see that now.”
She plucked a heart-shaped note from her bone-whaled corset. “I nearly forgot. Raina sends her love. She penned this delightful little memo with strict instructions I give this to her mummy straight away.”
I opened the letter carefully so as not to destroy the delicate handtied ribbons and bows littering the outside. “Who’s looking after her?” I asked, smiling as I read Raina’s clumsily crafted poem.
She shifted her weight, seemed hesitant. “You must realize our options were severely limited. What with an au pair totally out of the question and every available member of the Realm engaged in the destruction of those dreadful Harvesters, in one part of the world or another, I am afraid we had little recourse but to charge Fane with the task.”
I laughed . . . until my eyes met hers, and I realized she was deadly serious. “You’re joking.”
“In the beginning, he was quite resistant. To say that he threw a tantrum worthy of an overindulged child would be an understatement. One would think I had petitioned him to rake the oceans free of filth or slay a mutinous horde of foes. He can be quite theatrical, you know.” She covered a giggle with a hand resembling polished porcelain. “I must admit, I do find his expressive demeanor rather amusing at times.”
Thinking of Fane’s many transgressions, particularly the time he suddenly appeared in a moving elevator with an unsuspecting elderly neighbor of mine, I felt a scowl form. Fane was unicorns and rainbows, tornadoes and Armageddon, all wrapped up in one disturbing package.
Bianca suddenly chirped a laugh. “Darling, do you recall the times you discovered him in your bedroom, miming sexual instructions to that ineffectual ex-husband of yours?”
“I recall that I never told you about that.”
She cleared her throat, shifty eyes landing on everything but me. “We seem to have deviated from the subject of Raina.”
“How is she?” I heard the trepidation in my voice. “Please tell me that you do check in as often as possible.”
“Most certainly. And not only because Fane insists on some me-time, as he calls it. I have grown quite fond of the child, though I must confess I can sympathize with his need for retreat. I, too, have grown weary of daily interactions with the preschool’s dreadful headmistress.” She began to imitate the headmistress. “‘Raina refuses to account for the class’s missing toad but has apparently replaced the specimen with a creature we’ve yet to identify. Raina maintains she can fly and that she was born in a region no longer on any map. Raina insists she’s personally met Queen Victoria and’—with dramatic inflection, mind you—‘she continues to correct her instructor on matters of all things, including the young woman’s personal attire.’ I could go on. It is positively exhausting, Celeste. For the life of me, I do not know how you manage.”
I shook my head, hoping to clear it of so many frightening possibilities. “Seriously? You thought it would be a good idea to put Fane in charge?”
“Let it go, Celeste. You shall return home soon, and we can then put this all behind us. Perhaps we should join the others. I am told this evening’s entertainment was placed in Leonardo’s charge, and I must admit I am positively giddy at the prospect.”
The operetta sounds of Orpheus in the Underworld commanded our attention, and we gathered before a gilded stage. Aligned in a colorful row, high-kicking stilettoed ostriches segued seamlessly into a familiar musical number I remembered from Moulin Rouge. Rousing applause followed the chorus line through chartreuse curtains, from which appeared a massive tuxedoed bullfrog clutching an antiquated shotgun microphone as it belted out a tune in the style of Frank Sinatra. I managed to tear my eyes from the stage and discovered da Vinci sweating laser-focused concentration and Matilda rolling her eyes.
Tristan covered my hand with his. “Tearing myself away from you the other night wasn’t easy,” he whispered in my ear, his breath blowing warm and soft across my cheek. “But eternity is now ours, and I have not been this happy for centuries.”
Before I could respond, da Vinci’s orchestra, comprised of bawdy, animated orangutans, then began a heavy-handed rendition of “Night Train,” more commonly known as “The Stripper Song.” The draperies parted, revealing a set reminiscent of vaudevillian days, and a feathered-fan-wielding elephant gradually rose from a vampire trap beneath the stage. The whining sound of the gears straining against the weight disrupted the conductor’s concentration, and the gargantuan owl maestro puffed its downy cheeks, afterward stomping its mammoth batons in two with a crescendo-like flourish.
The African bush elephant appeared undaunted and proceeded to balance tremulously on one rear foot, afterward performing an impressive pirouette, while teasing the audience in grand burlesque style and occasionally offering an ingenious peek of what lay beyond her fans.
When the show was over, Elizabeth stared daggers at da Vinci and hissed, “Utterly disgraceful.”
“I, for one, find it most delightful,” Socrates said. “It so reminds me of the grand time had by all at this or that symposium. Memories most dear, I assure you.”
Razvan attempted to camouflage a grin. Bianca revealed a tight smile and pitter-pattered applause. Nick pitched coins of various denominations onto the stage floor and called for an encore. I just wanted to go home.
Matilda cut loose with a high-pitched whistle. Once all eyes were upon her, she said, “Quite vulgar but most impressive nonetheless, Leonardo. I tip my hat to you, sir. The Elders and I have pressing matters to discuss, dear Toroks. Therefore, we must bid you au revoir.”
“Look at him,” Nick said, tipping his head in Tristan’s direction as our family said their goodbyes to the Elders. “He can’t wait to get those pasty hands of his all over you. Notice how Dadcula’s giving him the evil eye?” he whispered in my ear. “Yeah, he knows exactly what Tristan is thinking about.”
I elbowed Nick hard, observing my father with strangled breath. His jaw clenched and his veins pulsated beneath nearly translucent skin. “Knock it off, Nick, and you know how much I hate it when you call Razvan Dadcula.”
He rubbed his arm and laughed. “Oh, shit,” he sputtered soon after. “You really have lover boy worked up. Look,” he said, wrenching my head in Tristan’s direction.
“Oh, no,” I muttered, the brilliant red glow surrounding Tristan intensifying. I’d seen this happen before but always behind closed doors.
“I hope somebody’s prepared you for what’s coming,” Nick whispered past a menacing grin. “Because you’re one of us now, he won’t go easy on you.” I scrunched my nose and wiggled out of his reach. It seemed nothing would ever separate my brother from all things immature.
Razvan cupped his fingers in our direction. Before Nick grabbed my hand and propelled me dizzyingly toward the Elders, he said, “I love you, Celeste. Call me selfish, but I’m glad things turned out the way they did. Now I don’t have to worry about planning your funeral someday or hiding from those crazy fuckers because I refused to let you die.” He handed me off to our father and then vaporized within a flaming orb.
Razvan’s eyes followed Nick. He shook his head, a suggestion of a smile playing around his mouth, and I sensed a melding of machismo and embarrassment. “We shall see you soon,” he said, when finally turning his attention to me. He pecked me on the cheek, in a manner befitting a king. “Safe travels, dearest daughter.”
Bianca pulled me close, a radiant smile stretching ear to ear. “I have given Fane strict instructions he put Raina to bed hours before sunrise,” she said with a mischievous wink. “Farewell, my darling. We’re off to New Jersey.”
I watched her drift higher, then higher still, and I stood there, unable to tear my eyes away, in awe of her butterfly-like grace, her ascent like a well-choreographed dance. A bloody tear slid down my cheek. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed her. How she had sacrificed so much for Nick and me.
Tristan swept the tear away with the back of his hand. “What is this? Now is the time for celebration, my love. A time to truly begin our life together.”
Matilda swooped before us, an angry breeze with a tumultuous air. “Are you quite done, Tristan of Tomisovara? Because the time has come for Celestine to bid her farewells.” She turned to me, lips straining against a smile. “I wish you the best of luck. Godspeed and out you go, Celeste of the Family Torok.”
Elizabeth approached me first. Were those tears I saw in her eyes? “Until we meet again, my dear, Celestine. Do not fear what lies ahead,” she said. “Regardless of the distance between us, one of us shall always assist you in your endeavors, when appropriate.”
Leonardo kissed me squarely on the mouth, his breath a mix of eucalyptus and sauerkraut. “I have entertained that very notion since you arrived.” He licked his lips and seemed to study the ceiling. “Though I must say, it was rather anticlimactic. Much ado about nothing,” he said with a wink.
“Do take care,” Socrates told me. “I warrant we shall see one another again—and sooner than I would like.”
I stared at the floor, gnawing my lip. “I’ll miss you all,” I sputtered, the words surprising me most of all. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“If I may,” Nostradamus began as he wedged himself between Tristan and me, “I should like to accompany my protégée home.”
Tristan begrudgingly took a step back. Nostradamus laced his arm through mine, and we soared into the night’s sky.