Page 13 of The Vampire Always Rises
“You just came out of bed,” Christian asked in an extremely stern tone, his eyes flickering over my negligee, “and discovered this man?”
“Yes. Well, not really. I mean, I did find him, but not here.” I decided it was safe enough to tell them the truth about that part of the evening. “I was dreaming about ... well, that’s really not important. I mean, it could be, but probably isn’t. So, I heard pounding and woke up, and someone was at your front door banging on it, and when I went down to answer it—I figured you guys must have gotten locked out somehow—a man was there with this guy. Oh. I just realized what that man meant.”
“I’m confused,” Allie said, moving over to pull the rug from where it was draped over the prone vampire. “Is there one Dark One, or two?”
“Two. Wait—I don’t know if the pounding man was a vampire or not. Do you think he was?” I asked Christian, since he seemed like the best source of information concerning potential vampires.
He looked momentarily startled. “I have no idea. So thereweretwo men?”
“Yes, poundy Pink Spiky Hair man, and the dead vampire.”
“Dead?” Allie make a little sound of horror.
“Oh, he’s not dead,” I reassured her. “I gave him some blood. He hasn’t woken up, but he’s most definitely not dead.”
“You fed him,” Christian said, making it a statement, moving over to gaze down at the man before the fire.
“Yes. It seemed like the thing to do. I read in one of your books that vampires can’t be killed unless you cut off their head, or they suffer some horrible injury, and since he didn’t seem to be hurt in any way, I figured he was just nearly dead. So I nicked my finger and got a little blood on his tongue and that seemed to do the job, because the next thing I knew, he was at my throat and ... well ...” I coughed again, and tried hard to look like the modest, pure woman that my father’s cult wanted me to be.
“I see.” There was a strangled note to Christian’s voice that smoothed itself out with his next words. “Then we have much to thank you for, Miss Keye. Who is this other man you mentioned? The one who was at my door?”
“I don’t know—he never told me his name, but he did say ...” I paused, closing my eyes to remember his words. “He told me not to tell his master that he had not killed this man, or the master would cut off his head. Spiky Pink’s head, that is. He had spiky pink hair, in case you are confused.”
“I know I am,” Allie said softly, her eyes on her vampire. “What do you think it means, Christian?”
He didn’t answer her. Instead, he turned to me, giving me a little bow. “You are no doubt cold and tired and wish to return to bed. I’ll have Allegra send up some cocoa to help compensate for your ... donation.”
“Oh, that’s OK, I feel fine,” I said, waving a hand around with airy indifference to the loss of blood. “I take it that the message meant something to you? Do you ... er ... know who this man is? Not that it matters to me, but you know, it’s always kind of nice to know the name of the man you just ... uh ...”
“Fed?” Allie asked.
“Yeah.” I smiled a brilliant smile, all the while calling myself names for almost telling them just exactly what had gone down here less than a half hour before.Just play it cool,I told myself.They’ll never know how shameless you are.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of,wafted gently through my mind, making me shake my head.
“Is there something wrong?” Allie asked, watching me closely.
“No. Not really. It’s just ...” I made a face. “Sometimes it’s hard to shed the dictates that have been pounded into you for years, even though you know they’re wrong. And that you’re an adult, and if you chose to do things adults do, that’s your right, and it doesn’t automatically mean that it’s sinful and you’re going to suffer a thousand torments for it.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again with a little half shake of her head. “I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about, but I’m going to guess it has something to do with the cult that Roxy said you were a part of.”
“Against my will,” I said quickly. “It wasn’t like I believed in the stuff they did. And then I had to stay because my dad was sick, and I didn’t want to leave him to Elder Wilhelm’s idea of homeopathic care. I got Papa to see proper doctors, even if he complained the whole time about seeing non-church people, and—”
“Regardless of your sacrifices, I’m sure you’ll feel better once you have had some rest,” Christian said, and without realizing it, I found myself marching up the stairs, heading for my bedroom.
But not before I heard Allie say, “This isn’t one of your Four Horsemen, is it?”
I listened intently even as my feet carried me upward.
“He was. The question is, will he survive whatever Victor’s Revelation has done to him?”
Chapter Four
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“Merrick.”
He frowned. He didn’t wish to come out of the floating black sea of unawareness that had held him in its tight embrace for what seemed like an eternity. It was rather pleasant there. He didn’t have to worry about anything.
