CHAPTER 24
“How do you know who she is?” Dr. Murnau asked, frowning as he turned to her. “I never once mentioned your name. I didn’t want to risk your safety.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, mortal,” the man said from his place on the floor.
His deep voice was smooth and hypnotic; she kept her gaze over his shoulder because it would be too easy to fall under his spell.
“I don’t need to get my information from you.
I knew of her long before I came to your backwards little village. ”
“You’re The Count.” Her hands shook, but her voice was steady. Even though he could smell her fear, she wanted to appear strong.
“The mortal has a brain at least. Let me get a good look at you.”
Caroline turned to him, taking a big step towards the iron cage even though everything in her screamed not to, but the desire to obey was too strong.
He looked her up and down, his green eyes pierced her in such a way she wouldn’t have been surprised if he could see inside her.
They were such a sharp green, unlike anything she had ever seen on a human.
When she was a little girl, she had seen a wolf with eyes like that while playing in the garden at night.
Those eyes had her frozen in fear until her father scooped her up and brought her inside.
She asked him if he had seen the eyes, but he instead chided her for playing outside after dark.
His thick, shoulder-length hair was a rich chocolate brown and looked so luscious she wanted to run her hands through it.
His skin was flawless, without blemishes or scars, and the most even skin tone she had ever seen.
His striking green eyes were lined with thick lashes that fluttered as he looked her up and down.
His full pink lips pulled into a frown. He was an attractive man, but it was like admiring a painting.
“I suppose I can see your allure if I squint,” he finally said, with a hint of an accent she couldn’t place, but there was a familiar cruelty in his tone.
“I would rather you didn’t find me alluring.”
Dr. Murnau looked between them, his brow furrowed. “Do you know each other?”
“We have friends in common. Now I see being caught by this mortal was divine providence.”
“How did you catch him?” She asked, turning towards Dr. Murnau.
“I caught him next to a body, unfortunately. He was dazed, and I was able to get him in iron.”
“My mother would be so disappointed to know I succumbed to blood drunkenness. I’m sure you’re familiar with that, aren’t you, Caroline?”
She remembered the day she found Valeria with a fever when she hadn’t gotten fully in bed at dawn, but she wasn’t sure if it was blood drunkenness. Despite spending so much time with Valeria, she knew very little about vampires.
She turned to Dr. Murnau. “I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen blood drunkenness.”
“All of that time together and you still couldn’t get her to spill any secrets?” The Count shook his head. “I’ll have to reward her for not breaking all of my rules.”
Rage flashed through her, and she almost took a step towards the iron cage, but his eyes flashed with delight, so she stopped herself. Losing her temper wouldn’t do her any good. She would need all of her faculties if she wanted to best this devil.
“What are you? How are you able to be up right now?”
It was midday. No light permeated this basement, but that didn’t stop the truth that the sun was out.
She had seen what happens to vampires when dawn hit.
He shouldn’t be conscious right now, let alone taunting her.
The one thing Caroline knew for certain was that he was dangerous. Far more dangerous than Valeria.
“Is this what you want to do? Sit around and ask me questions?”
“Yes,” Caroline said without hesitation. There were things she needed to know, questions she had been too afraid to ask Valeria.
“I’ll answer your questions, but not his.”
“There’s no way I’m leaving her down here alone, you fiend,” Murnau said, striking the wooden stick against the iron bars again.
It was the most animated she had ever heard him, even if his aggressive loudness was likely to get them both killed.
“Then I suppose you’ll never get the answers you desire,” he sighed, stretching his long legs in front of them before crossing his ankles. They nearly reached the bars of the cage, which meant he would tower over her while standing.
“He’s held in iron, and I won’t get any closer to the cage. If he could get out, he would have already done so.”
“I don’t like it.”
“He has answers we need.”
Murnau sighed. “How can we even trust he’ll tell the truth?”
“What use is it for me to lie to mortals? If I don’t want to answer a question, I won’t, but it’s so much more fun to watch the hope bleed from your eyes when I confirm your darkest fears to be a reality.”
Murnau looked between them, and Caroline knew he didn’t like it. If he said no, she would find some way to sneak back in to speak with The Count. She couldn’t let this opportunity slip through her fingers. Murnau sighed, and the resolve in his eyes crumbled.
“Even if I said no, I don’t think that would stop you.”
She shook her head. “I would have picked the lock to the cellar if I had to.”
Lock picking was outside of her knowledge, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I’ll be upstairs, but I’m leaving the door open. You only have to scream, and I’ll be here in moments.”
Caroline nodded, and Dr. Murnau left her with his improvised weapon. She took it for his peace of mind, but knew that if The Count got out of his cage, there would be no stopping him. If he wanted her dead, she would be before she even had the chance to scream.
“What are you even The Count of? No one ever answered that question for me. Is it a title you gave yourself to feel special?”
He laughed, a soft sound that was at odds with his dangerous demeanor. “The title is real, but it means something different to my people.”
“And what people will that be?”
“Don’t make me regret thinking you’re intelligent. Vampires, of course.”
“Vampires have their own nobility?”
Her jaw dropped when he nodded, and he laughed again.
“There are all sorts of beings out there with full societies that your mind is too pathetic to comprehend. Humans are loud and plentiful since it takes almost nothing for you to breed. Not that I’m complaining because it is convenient.”
“A plentiful food source is important.” She hated thinking of humans like that, but she saw the cruel practicality.
“You’re not our only food source or even a favorite, but you are useful for a whole host of things,” he said, picking the dirt from under his fingernails before looking at her again. “Are these the questions you want to know? Because I will say, I’m a little disappointed.”
Caroline frowned. “Why are you disappointed?”
“I’ve heard of nothing but how wonderful and beautiful and capable and brave you are, and now that you’re here before me, you’re just chattering. Your minion caught a vampire, and you haven’t even asked me anything good.”
“He’s not my minion.” Frankly, she wasn’t sure what to ask. He claimed he wouldn’t lie to her, but she didn’t know why he would tell her anything. The one thing she knew was that forces bigger than herself were at work. “Did Mr. Andrews speak of me often? What did you do to him?”
“He spoke of you incessantly in the beginning, but it tapered off. Though he wasn’t the only one I had to hear about you from. Valeria would go on and on about you until it got to be quite annoying.”
Something warmed in her to know that Valeria spoke of her, but it didn’t matter. Not now that she had left. “What did you do to Edgar?”
“Nothing he didn’t want,” The Count shrugged.
“I think you fed on him until he nearly died.” A thought hit her that made a chill run down her spine. “Were you trying to make him into a vampire?”
The Count laughed, this time a hearty belly laugh.
“No, we didn’t even come close to draining him, and we certainly didn’t want to make him a vampire.
If I wanted him dead, I wouldn’t have returned him to you.
Really, it’s a kindness that most others wouldn’t have afforded you.
A little gratitude would be appreciated. ”
“You expect gratitude for not killing my fiancé when you’re nothing more than a parasite.”
“And chickens would say the very same about humans. We’re all creatures just trying to survive.”
“Is there a way to cure vampirism?” It was her deepest hope that she could save Valeria. That one day, they could be together in the sun again.
He snorted. “There’s no way to go back, but even if there were, no one would want to. Why would you ever want to be an inferior species?”
“How can you speak so callously about humans when you used to be one?”
He scoffed. “There are many offenses I’ll forgive, but thinking I have ever been human is the greatest. As if I could be prey.”
She furrowed her brow. All of what she knew was that vampires were humans who had been corrupted by evil, turned into vicious bloodsuckers. She knew Valeria used to be human, but now she wasn’t sure about the origins of vampires.
“Then what are you?” Or was it possible he was somehow something worse than a vampire?
The Count studied her for a few beats before a grin unfurled. “You didn’t speak to Valeria about this, did you? Oh, I might rethink her punishment after all.”
Her breath hitched, and it felt as if her heart stilled. She couldn’t imagine the depths of the cruelty of his punishments. Even though Valeria was no longer hers, she still wouldn’t wish anything half so terrible on her.
“Why would she need to be punished?”
“She didn’t do what she promised she would. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the worst crime, but vampires are petty by nature.”
“So you are a vampire?”
“I’ll take pity on how woefully unaware you are. Yes, I am a vampire. As is your precious Valeria, but where she was Made, I was Born. I know that means next to nothing to you, so I will tell you it means I am more powerful than you can imagine.”
“Perhaps you’re downplaying my imagination.”