Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As I strolled along one of the darker corridors within the senatorial residence, I wondered if Felipe had developed his sea legs yet. Although only a day had passed since he’d set sail, I imagined he regretted ever getting on that boat.
I rubbed my wrists. The stark memory of the chains that Sunaria had used caused my hardness to swell.
But I had work to do.
Felipe’s desk remained the same as when he’d left it.
Papers were strewn across the table, and a half-written letter lay abandoned.
Remembering what the architect had conveyed through his blood when I’d taken his life, I shoved the bookcase back and found the secret doorway, eager to discover what lay on the other side.
Standing within the dark chamber, I reached into my coat pocket and withdrew the forged waxed stamp, with King Ferdinand’s royal seal engraved in the silver base.
I placed it upon a worn tabletop. Beside it I lay a parchment covered with the same signature practiced over and over again, proof that someone had studied the flick of the wrist of the flamboyant F of Ferdinand.
I examined several of the wooden boxes stacked high against the far wall. Inside one of them was a collection of coins, an embellished cross, and a Catholic communion chalice. Shoved in with them was a warrant stating that failure to pay taxes would result in even more items being confiscated.
In another of the boxes was a collection of tatty documents.
Felipe had not only taken possessions from the Church, but also local residents’ legal rights to their property.
Those who’d struggled to pay tariffs to the Crown had been evicted from their homes.
The victims would know better than to complain.
Even the local bishop had not escaped Felipe’s greed. A ledger written in scratchy ink indicated that Felipe had taken fifty percent of the Church’s donations.
I withdrew and pushed the bookcase back.
Then I froze.
The door handle turned, and a young soldier entered. With my hands and feet firmly wedged in between the ceiling’s ornate molding, I held my breath.
Amused, I watched him stroll around the room checking for an intruder.
He never looked up.
Using the night for cover, I flew out of the room leaving him with a story to tell that no one would believe.
Making my way with blinding speed toward Sunaria, I felt reassured that this time she’d chosen a homey estate for us.
“But I’ve become rather accustomed to mausoleums,” I said to her later, giving her a wry smile.
“Those places are for emergencies only.” She flicked a stray hair away from her face.
Inside the modest house, I felt relaxed for the first time in weeks.
This home, built on the outskirts of town, provided an austere air, the dark furniture and simple décor extraordinarily formal.
No feminine touch here. I strolled through the lower rooms getting my bearings, enjoying the opportunity to spy on another’s life.
So much was revealed by the extreme tidiness.
On the maple desk, the feather pen had been aligned perfectly with the paper, proving the owner’s penchant for orderliness, even the way the logs had been stacked neatly in the fireplace bordered on obsessive.
“Where’s the owner?” I asked.
“Out of town on business.” Sunaria was dressed in a long, red gown, accentuating her curves.
She was a perfect, erotic vision, and yet even with her back to me, I knew she was aware of my response.
She seemingly warmed her hands in front of the fireplace, her long, dark locks tumbling over her shoulders.
A reflection from the orange flames danced over her as I admired her from the doorway.
We were minutes from Miranda’s place and knowing that we were close to Jacob provided some comfort. I’d declined the invitation to stay with her and Alicia, especially with my nocturnal lifestyle being what it was – and keeping Sunaria away from Miranda was a wise decision.
So much had happened that I’d found little time to consider my new life until now. Thoughts of Jacob kept me focused. I couldn’t go back, but I had hope for the future, my son’s future, and the elusive promise of his happiness.
Having not fed in a while, fatigue was setting in, and my hands shook slightly.
The guilt after each kill weighed so heavily upon my conscience that I wondered if I’d ever get used to it.
Hunger seemed a good alternative to the dread that followed the act of satiating it. I’d never want this for Miranda.
Sunaria turned to face me. “You were thinking of her.”
“Miranda? Not in that way.”
“Remember I hear your every thought.”
“Then you know I’m being honest.” I approached her, concentrating on shutting her out of my mind.
“What are you doing?” She faced the hearth again.
I slid my hands down her arms and grasped her wrists, clutching them behind her back and tightening my grip. “Don’t be angry with me for wanting privacy.”
She leaned back into me.
“For the first time, I’ll be able to understand how a woman really thinks.” I chuckled to myself.
“You don’t get to hear mine.”
“Ah.” I let her go. “This vampire Order, is it safe to assume they’ve lost track of you?”
“No.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and hugged her.
“As your elder, I have a right to know your mind,” she said.
Silence, the best answer.
“If you obey me,” she continued, “you’ll escape punishment and will be well rewarded.”
The thought of her rummaging around in my mind made me uncomfortable.
“Like the reward I have for you upstairs.” She turned to face me.
Her mind was inaccessible as she grasped my hand and led me out. Her expression was full of excitement.
We ascended the narrow stairway.
When we reached the top, she lifted herself up onto her toes and leaned in to kiss me, pressing her red, full lips against mine. She tasted lusciously sweet.
We burst into the room.
There, wearing nothing but a jeweled choker, lay a young, pale blonde on the chaise lounge.
Above the fireplace hung a portrait of an older gentleman and this very girl, who now wrapped an arm around Sunaria and relaxed against her.
The banker had married her youth and she his money, it seemed, and now she lay in Sunaria’s arms. I wondered if business had really taken her husband out of town. Sunaria gestured that she wanted me to join them.
Twenty or so plush, tasseled burgundy pillows were strewn over the carpet. This room had been prepared.
But I wasn’t.
“Daumia,” Sunaria beckoned.
“I’ve never liked surprises,” I muttered.
Sunaria’s smile faded.
Whatever Sunaria had told the girl, it wasn’t the truth. So lulled by what had been done to her before I’d arrived, she seemed exceptionally passive.
I gave Sunaria a long stare, then turned and walked out.
Imagining what they were up to, I lay on the living room rug staring up at the ceiling.
A lifetime lay ahead of trapping and devouring, and it caused an awful dread to spread inside me.
There had to be another way, or a cure. As an eternal being, I had the unending possibility of finding a way back.
Fear of what I didn’t know scared me. I’d become like a legend, documented by those who’d encountered our kind and lived.
And I yearned to learn everything about the creature I’d become. Never had I needed anyone like I needed Sunaria. Perhaps that’s why, uncharacteristically, I’d left the hunter alone with the victim.
After several minutes, Sunaria rejoined me.
“I wasn’t sure whether you wanted me to fuck her or drink from her,” I snapped.
Sunaria lay down beside me.
I frowned. “How old is she, for God’s sake?”
“What does it matter?”
I couldn’t look at her. “This is not who I am.”
“Get used to it.”
“Never.”
“Says he who fed on twenty men back in Santiago.”
I turned away from her.
She grabbed my arm. “You have to let go of your past.”
“The past is who I am.”
“No, it holds you back. Remember it, but don’t live in it.”
“What of my humanity?” I pulled away from her.
“You’re not human now.”
I let out a sigh. “What happened to her husband?”
“I told you. He’s away.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Don’t speak to me like that.”
“What are we, Sunaria? Lovers?”
“We are not equals.” With a superior expression, she reached up and grasped my chin, letting her long fingernails dig into my skin. “You dare to defy me.”
I shoved away her hand. “You left me under the earth for days.”
“And if you don’t shut up, I’ll put you back there.”
“I’ve had enough,” I said, leaping to my feet.
“I own you. I control you.”
“I’m leaving.”
I headed for the door, but when I reached for the handle to open it, a strange sense of powerlessness came over me. I knew it was Sunaria’s hypnotic power that held me. I struggled against her. “Please—” It was impossible to resist her. “No.” I slumped to my knees.
Locks of Sunaria’s hair fell over my face.
Her lips met mine in a smoldering kiss and passion exploded.
It was a desire like nothing I’d ever experienced.
Her thoughts were inside my mind. She controlled me, holding me down.
Sending her panicked thoughts, I begged her to release me.
Yet my increasing hardness begged her to take me.
Her will was forcing me to be obedient but intermingled with my anger was a desire for this powerful union.
“Now,” she said, her expression changing from that of a seductress to my mistress, “go back upstairs.”
Back in the bedroom with the pallid, naked girl, I still felt strangely controlled by Sunaria as I whisked our sleeping victim up into my arms, my touch stirring her.
She stared up in a daze that turned quickly to panic.
There was an initial struggle until fear stilled her.
The sweet taste of cinnamon flooded my mouth, quickly followed by a tingling in my throat.
Sunaria stood watching us, her arms folded.
Too fired up to pull away, wanting nothing more than to drain her and to save her, I peered up at my mistress.