Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
When I reached Santiago De Compostela, the air was still. The soft touch of twilight brought me back to earth.
Lingering on the steps of my home, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. When I opened the door and entered the foyer, the reek of blood assailed me and stole my breath away.
I ascended the staircase with dizzying speed.
Miguel lay face down outside my bedroom door, and a knife emblazoned with the senatorial crest protruded from his back. The man who’d treated me like a son was now dead.
I opened my bedroom door and teetered on the verge of collapse, tears blurring my vision. Upon the bed lay Annabelle and our eldest son, Eduardo.
I settled beside their motionless bodies, gazing at their mottled skin. I looked around for Jacob, fearing I’d find his small lifeless body, but I couldn’t see him.
I hugged Annabelle. She lay like a rag doll in my arms. I ran my fingers through her spiraling curls. I reached for my son, and then pulled back, unable to bring myself to touch his cold, lifeless hand. I leaned over him and my tears dropped onto his pale cheek.
Shaking, I tried to make sense of what I saw and what I felt. I wanted to turn back the clock. I’d gone to save my sister and Salvador and had left my family here, vulnerable.
I removed Annabelle’s necklace and opened the dangling locket. Inside, our portraits were captured perfectly. My breath left me as the ache in my chest wrenched my heart so badly that I felt it could kill me.
I wanted it to.
On the bedside table rested an open book and an empty cup. The window was open, the lace curtains billowing in the breeze.
Time lost all meaning and, somehow, I found myself outside.
Staring back at the house, my mind seemed to splinter as a numbness severed the pain.
A breeze whirled dead leaves around me and they settled at my feet.
I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing out here, lingering before a mound of earth, my fingernails filthy.
Whatever had tried to entangle me over the last two days had found its way in, but surrender brought little relief. My sense of smell was heightened, enhancing my awareness, sharpening my perception. My vision and hearing were keener.
Voices carried from the house, and I followed the ruckus, meandering back the way I’d come.
Twenty or so soldiers sat talking around the kitchen table, which was laden with plates stacked high with food and numerous empty bottles of wine. The murderers were having a midnight feast.
Again I heard that terrible chatter of voices, the strange illusion that more men were speaking than were present.
For a fleeting moment, I considered the diabolical notion that I wasn’t only hearing their conversations but also their thoughts, as voices crossed over, clashing with each other, making no sense.
Movement in the corner of the room caught my eye.
God, no…
Jacob, my one-year-old son, played on the floor and he was filthy.
I had to get to him before the madness got to me.
Strolling past the soldiers, I was vaguely aware that they leaped to their feet and drew their swords.
I reached Jacob, planting a kiss on his forehead, and then I carried him over to the pantry where I plopped him in and shut the door.
I turned to face the men. The living nightmare was caused not by their screams, but their silence – ending every dream, proving they were always doomed to fade. Their next moments were never meant to be, these monstrous villains – each were ended by my punishing hands.
Revenge came like fire, fierce and exacting, and it was only in the sting of completion that I found any kind of peace.
The claret tasted off.
I sat back, resting my feet on the kitchen table, taking a moment to consider if the grapes had soured before the wine had been corked, or if the fermenting process had gone askew. The wine’s consistency was too thick and its flavor unlike any vintage I’d ever had.
Ask Miguel about it.
He’s dead…
Sunaria suddenly appeared and sat opposite me, wearing a long, black gown that gathered at her waist and clung to her figure. Her revealing dress was overlaid by a sweeping, hooded cloak, pulled back, the lining a burgundy velvet.
Jacob now played at my feet with milk-stained lips. He dropped a cup onto the floor and then smiled up at me, proud of the noise, and then did it again.
The odd-tasting wine refreshed me, nevertheless. “Would you like a glass?” I grinned at Sunaria. “Perhaps white would be better?”
She didn’t blink. “Take a breath, Daumia.”
I took another sip.
“Do you know what day it is?” she asked.
I beamed at her. “Your beauty, it mocks me.”
She smiled down at Jacob, who was tugging on my shoelaces. I focused on him and my gaze caught the scarlet circle of dried blood on the floor nearby.
Slaughtered men were everywhere.
This is not wine that I’m drinking.
I bolted up.
Flashes of images came to mind, a sense of sharing their secrets, the darkest intimacies, and a dusky memory of attacking each man like a crazed animal.
The glass slipped from my fingers and smashed, splattering remnants of blood that mingled with the glass splinters.
I struggled to slow my breathing, control my panic, and hold back a cry.
Stifled by the putrid air I sucked in, I found my voice. “All of them?”
She nodded.
“But how?”
“You know you’re in denial.”
“What happened?”
She raised her hand to quiet me.
I stared at her. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, clearly, there is something not right.”
She sighed. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Dear God, Jacob.” I picked him up and carried him down the corridor, covering his eyes as we passed another dead soldier. The man had bolted, and I’d caught him. I remembered now.
Sunaria followed us into the living room. Here, some normalcy, though it offered no comfort. I placed Jacob down and allowed him to crawl on the rug.
“If we’re leaving, it will have to be soon.” Sunaria glanced out the window.
“You think more soldiers will come?”
“If there are any left, yes.” She drew the curtains and turned to face me. You’re more magnificent than I imagined you’d be.
I felt a wave of dismay, realizing her thoughts had seeped into mine. “Your voice is in my head.”
“It’s the mind gift.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“We can hear each other’s thoughts.”
If it were true, it would explain the awful babbling of the soldiers. I don’t understand.
She gave me a knowing smile. “In time, you will.”
“What’s happening to me?”
“You’re in the midst of transition.”
“I’ve gone mad?”
She shook her head.
I ran my fingers through my hair and paced. “Is there a cure?”
She gave me an incredulous stare.
I tried to keep up with my racing thoughts. “This fogginess—”
“It’s different for everyone. For you, some memory loss.”
“I feel drunk.”
“It’ll pass.”
“You’re the daughter of the woman from the mausoleum?”
“I am the woman from the mausoleum.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It obviously is. I am Sunaria.”
“Sunaria,” I whispered.
She gave me a smile.
“Then it was you who rescued me in that carriage outside the senator’s?” I studied her face for the truth.
She nodded.
It was so difficult to believe.
“Why don’t you age?” I brushed my fingertips across my smooth jaw, where stubble should be.
She peeked out of the window. “You have the potential to live for an eternity.”
I arched an eyebrow.
She met my gaze. “Unless the sun—”
“How long before I can face it?”
She knelt close to Jacob and picked up a stuffed toy rabbit that she’d found on the floor. It had been Eduardo’s.
I held back tears. “Can you bring my son back? My wife?”
“It doesn’t work like that.” She waved the floppy, well-loved rabbit before Jacob.
“Don’t.”
“But he likes it.”
“I’m not asking you. Now step back.”
She looked up at me. “I saved you.”
“Is that what you call this?”
“You’re still here because of me.”
“But my family isn’t.”
“I was watching over you, not them.” She stood and turned away.
“Why didn’t you show yourself?”
She sighed. “I can’t interfere with your first steps.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
She sat down on the sofa, her movement so swift that it verged on supernatural.
“I don’t want this,” I murmured.
“You’d be dead otherwise.”
“Turn me back.”
She stared at me for a long time with a painful brightness in her eyes. “I can’t.” She leaned back against a cushion. “Once a vampire—”
“Don’t call me that.” I glanced at my stained shirt. “What if I can’t learn to control it?” And then I stared at Jacob, fearing he’d one day recall seeing his father covered in blood, or worse, what if I ended up hurting him.
She waved a hand in the air. “I’ll teach you.”
It was as though she’d reached out and touched me, even though she still sat a few feet away.
“You have a lot of confidence, don’t you?” I fought my desire.
Come to me willingly, she seemed to say and then broke the silence with that purr in her voice. “I’ll show you the way.” She rose so effortlessly that even Jacob stopped what he was doing and looked up.
“Dear God.” I leaned against the back of a chair.
“He can’t help you.”
“Maybe he can.”
“Already you have an aversion to holy artifacts.” Sunaria pointed to the Bible resting on a side table.
I approached the book and placed my hand on the time-worn cover. Anxiousness twinned with guilt, but nothing else.
Sunaria gazed at me intently. “Perhaps you’re one of the few.”
“How convenient.”
“Myth tells of those of us who are drawn to the Church, even serve it.”
“You contradict yourself.” I stepped back. “How can I trust you?”
“I came here to help you. I’ve already saved your life.”
“Hell was unleashed under this roof, and I wasn’t here to stop it.”
Her gaze burned through me. “Don’t look at me like that. I had nothing to do with this.”
“Convenient though,” I said, “my family dead. You’ve been pursuing me.”
“Watching over you.”
“Stalking me like prey.”
“You’re a hard man to keep track of. I’m here because you’re out of control.”
“No, it’s for something else.”
“You were destined to die young. A free will existence that was faulty from the beginning.”
“You offered no guidance,” I shouted. “No advice.”
“Your stubborn ways—”
“Your demonic ways.”
She suddenly appeared right in front of me, close enough to touch. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that.”
Her gaze lingered on my lips, and I found myself staring at her mouth.
Her scent stirred my desire. My breathing became so heavy, I feared I wouldn’t be able to control myself and act out my carnal urges.
I had to force myself not to punish her with a kiss, and I fought the strongest urge to drag her out into the corridor and take her by force.
Her fingertips traced over my lips, as though she dared me to do what I wanted.
“Get out,” I snapped, stepping back.
“I risked everything for you.”
“I don’t want you near me or my son.”
She slapped me and the force of her assault jolted my head back. Jacob looked stunned.
“This thing was done to me,” she said, her voice cold. “No one asked me if I wanted it.”
“I don’t recall a conversation where you asked for my permission.”
“You agreed to this.”
“Half-dead, hanging by a thread!”
“You said yes.”
“Well, perhaps if I’d known what was actually being asked of me, I wouldn’t have.”
“And what of him?” She pointed to Jacob. “I could have turned you sooner. But I waited, let you have a life.”
“How considerate.”
“You have no idea what I’ve risked in turning you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m being hunted by those who hate our kind.”
“Perhaps you’d better be going, then.”
She turned and started to walk away.
“Close the door on the way out,” I rasped.
Jacob wailed. Sunaria dropped a small object at his feet, and he stopped crying.
“How am I supposed to take care of him?” I whispered.
She paused and looked back at me. “Be his father.”
I sighed. “I have to get to my sister.”
“She’s safe.”
“You know where she is?”
“I’ll show you. She gave me something to give to you that will prove she’s safe.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
Sunaria stepped closer. “Because you belong to me.”
“The hell I do.” I stared into those perfect, almond-shaped eyes of hers, so very close to surrendering to the spell she’d cast. “When they come for you, I’ll tell them where you are.”
She gave me a bitter smile. “I’ve watched over you all your life.”
I pointed to the door.
“This is not how I saw our reunion. You were supposed to run into my arms, tell me that I’ve haunted your dreams.”
“Those would be nightmares. I want my life back!”
“Without me, you would have no life. I love you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Sunaria turned away from me, and suddenly she was gone.
Jacob was distracted by the metal box she had given him. I eased it out of his hands and pried it open, immediately recognizing Salvador’s medal, the crest of his old regiment emblazoned upon it.
My thoughts turned to Alicia.
I’d just managed to sabotage any chance of finding her.
I started to follow Sunaria, but as I walked by the mirror hanging above the fireplace, a terrified moan escaped my lips.