Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
ORPHEUS
I positioned Alex’s coffin in the corner of the lavishly decorated room within Belshazzar’s.
He climbed out disoriented and stumbled around, looking for clues that would reveal his whereabouts.
Alex heard the faint beat of music. He detected other vampires looming and caught the subtle aroma of blood.
Unsurprised to find the door locked, he searched for another exit but found none. He heard a key turn in the lock.
I entered.
Alex glared at me. “Your ruse almost got me killed.”
“Now why would I trap you then free you? What sense is there in that?” I gestured sincerely.
“Where is Jadeon?”
“With Ingrid.” I reached for the blood-filled decanter and poured us both a drink. I handed one of them to Alex.
He was hungry.
Alex sniffed the glass. Tentatively, he sipped. His eyes fixed on me. “How long do you intend to keep me here?”
“Is that the thanks I get?”
“Yes.”
“And to think there used to be a time when you couldn’t wait to see me.”
“Two hundred years ago,” Alex snapped.
“I brought you here so that you will not be alone.”
“I’m not.”
“I will not allow you to lock yourself up in that dark place, alone again while he wanders the world.”
“I do not believe you—”
“Alex, I admit I have at times been a little harsh, but you have always known my feelings for you. I would never hurt you. I adore you. You are everything in this world that is good and right. Perfection itself. There is a change in your circumstances, and I wish to extend to you my friendship, a home here with me.”
“Why should I want to be with you? You have killed my father, tormented us relentlessly—”
“It’s time you knew the truth. Your brother does not always tell you everything.
He keeps you in the dark on many things.
Remember how as young men he failed to tell you how he had become your father’s apprentice and how he was chosen over you?
He came to you a vampire and left you alone and vulnerable in order to find Catherine.
He still considered himself to be a Stone Master.
He visits Stonehenge and drinks from the innocent, reveling in the pleasure of slaughtering mortals.
He drinks from the pure and perfect—from angels—and you drink from the damned.
Do you see a pattern emerging here? Do you want proof? ”
“Jadeon has never drunk from the innocent,” Alex said, attempting to interpret my mind’s messages.
“While your brother travels the world, explores the pleasures and revels within them, I offer you the life you’ve always wanted. Let me take away your loneliness and fill you up with passion. We are powerful allies.”
Alex gazed at me. His world was falling apart. The fear of being alone terrified him.
“He never once returned to the castle in two hundred years. Does that not strike you as strange?”
“He was searching for Catherine—”
“Please, don’t let that old lie ruin another two hundred years of your life.”
“What?”
“Must I be the one to tell you?” I said.
“Tell me what?”
“Catherine told Jadeon that she wanted nothing to do with him . . .”
“He spoke with her? No, these are more lies and—”
“Dear God, he never told you?” I said.
“Told me what?”
“That he was so saddened she rejected him, he slept for one hundred of those years. All the time you were waiting for him, he slept comfortably in an ancient tomb. Oblivious to you or your needs.”
“No, he never . . .”
“If I had not sent my men, you would be ash.”
Alex staggered back. “I can’t think straight.”
“And I don’t expect you to. I want you to rest here. You are free to go anytime you want. See, the door is unlocked.”
“Daumia, I need more time. I need to talk to Jadeon.”
“It’s a cruel twist that you get arrested for the murders your brother committed.”
“I will never trust you.”
“Consider this. In my world, the pleasures will overwhelm you. Every day you will live in a vampiric bliss, and you will finally be rewarded for everything you are. No longer ridiculed by your brother, you will stand proudly alongside me.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“Jadeon will be fine. He will live as he plans to, making a new life with Ingrid while you make a new one with me.”
Alex stared off.
“Now come, I have a gift,” I said. “Let me show it to you.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Catherine wishes to speak with you,” I offered.
“Where are we going?”
“Down,” I said and guided him out of the room along a whitewashed corridor and toward the open elevator. I stepped into it and waited.
He hesitated. I pulled him in.
Alex leaned against the elevator wall, nervously rubbing his hands together.
I placed my hands over his to calm him. “Yes, I can hear your every thought,” I said. “So be careful what you wish for, as I may just go ahead and give it to you.”
“Haven’t you become bored of me yet, Daumia?” he said.
“No, and I never will.”
The lift stopped, and we strolled down another dimly lit corridor. We passed room after room, stopping finally at one of the many identical doors. We entered. Alex cringed at the young female sitting in the corner. The well-dressed woman appeared calm.
“No,” Alex said.
“No, she’s not for that,” I whispered. “I thought you might be thirsty. I feel your need and I’m concerned.”
Alex lowered his voice, self-conscious. “I don’t feed like this. I never drink from mortals . . . Daumia, why is she so calm?”
The woman responded to my gesture and drew toward Alex, gazing at him, smiling. In a seductive gesture, she pulled her hair back, revealing her neck, offering. He stared longingly at her perfect skin, her golden locks framing her carotid. He was captivated, the blood thirst thinking for him.
“Get out,” he warned her.
“He’s just shy,” I said.
Alex covered his face.
“I’m tempted to take her for myself.” I gestured to the chair and she sat down.
“Ah, succumb to it. Trust me. She is for you. Why would I offer you something dark? I think more of you than that. This way is so much more natural. It is more pleasurable. Do as your brother does. Her dreams and fantasies will become yours. Savoring her blood will be more than you ever imagined. Now drink slowly. She is fragile. See how she gives herself willingly.”
“She has no idea,” Alex said.
“She wants this.”
“I can’t.”
“She will never grow old, never suffer disappointment or pain. What a gift you give to her. A human form of immortality. Now do it.”
“Where is Catherine?” Alex said.
“She wants you strong first.”
“Catherine would never want me to drink from an innocent.”
“She’s changed, as have you. It’s time to evolve, Alex.” I patted his arm.
He gazed at the girl with hungry eyes.
“Gently,” I said.
I brought my hand up to Alex’s eyes and held it there.
Alex’s senses filled with her scent. The moment was perfect.
All three of us stood as if in a theatrical performance, waiting for the other.
The young female glanced at me questioningly.
I smiled at her, placing a finger over my mouth, instructing her to be quiet and admiring the vulnerable mortal who would soon be bled dry. Another life extinguished in a moment.
The blood thirst drove Alex on, his instincts lost to logic. My hand rested on his arm and he opened his eyes. I pressed my body against his, savoring the mood, fascinated by Alex who was mesmerized. He leaned against me, his breathing fast.
Alex oozed sensuality, but the fact that he was oblivious to this was part of his charm.
I sighed as I reveled in the unfolding of all his reckless drama.
A knock at the door broke the spell. Alex turned, facing the wall, crouching in the corner.
Head in hands, he sobbed. His suffering rose from the fear of being abandoned for another two centuries.
A dread knotted in his gut and taught him relentlessly.
He was terrified of choosing wrong, just as he was terrified of choosing right because either path could cost him everything.
There was no good choice left and he knew it.
“Yes?” I snapped to the ill-timed intrusion.
The door opened, and Marcus appeared. “Sorry to disturb you, sir.”
“What is it?” I said.
“May I have a word?”
“What?”
Marcus scowled. “He’s upstairs.”
“Jadeon is here?” Alex stood. “I must see him.”
“Soon, Alex, soon,” I said. “First though, you must eat.” I shooed Marcus away.
Alex shook his head.
“Get out,” I ordered the girl.
I turned to Alex. “I will not tolerate your disobedience—” I calmed myself. “Let me teach you how to appreciate this life I gave you.”
Alex followed me back to the elevator. The doors closed and the cart jolted. We descended into the depths of Belshazzar’s. Alex concentrated, attempting to read my mind.
“By the end of this night, you will never defy me again. If I am to teach you, then you must be willing to learn. You must trust me. I know what is best for you.”
“I hate you,” he whispered it.
I am one of the eldest of our kind. Royalty among vampires, and you will address me accordingly—I conveyed with wrath.
We stood before the dark wooden door finely engraved with Nepalese carvings. I opened the door, pushing Alex into the room. He made out three individuals dressed in black attire.
Alex realized the two women and one man had been waiting for him.
He detected immediately they were vampires, and though attractive, their outfits provided them with a sinister appearance.
He assessed the mood, taking in the décor.
A few candles provided some meager light.
The only furniture within the room was a bench.
Alex noticed the metal shackles secured upon the walls.
Alex stood his ground.
Swiftly, they shoved him into the corner. I offered him no reassurance.
At first, he was defiant, laughing as if mocking whatever game this was. Then his gaze shifted, sharp and intense, unlike anything I'd seen in him before. It was a stark, an electrified mix of love and hate directed at me, and to my surprise, it filled me with pride.
There is a time for pleasure, and it is now.
“How little you know me,” he whispered.
“Two centuries have given me rather a clear understanding of you, Alexander.” I addressed my leather-donned workers. “See to it by the time he leaves this room he is broken in.”
Alex made a break for the door. They overpowered him and dragged him back.
“Inform me when it is done,” I said. “Alex, the next time I command you to drink—or, for that matter, do anything—you will do it.”
I withdrew.