Immortal Confessions (14 page)

Anna looked at me tearfully for a long
moment, and then beamed. “I promise.”

* * * *

That night, I took Anna to our new home in a
rented carriage, another following us with her most necessary
things. Levi met us at the door, looking so happy I’d expected him
to be wagging his tail, if he had one. Eva was not in sight, of
which I was glad. Something told me Anna would be better off
meeting her after she and I were oathed.

“Mistress,” Levi said to Anna, bowing in
respect. “You are beautiful beyond compare. Please allow me to take
you to your rooms.”

“It is good to meet you,” Anna said
cordially. “Devlin has told me of you, Levi. If you wouldn’t mind,
I would like to begin putting things away. Please lead on.”

Levi took Anna’s possessions, groaning a
little under the weight of her bags, and then led her into the
mansion. When they were out of sight, I felt the brush of cool
fingers on my hand, and turned to find Eva.

“Do not touch me casually,” I told her in a
warning tone. “We are not lovers.”

“I’m sorry, Lord,” she said, cowering. “I did
not want to startle you. And I was taught never to speak
first—”

Enough already. “What is it?”

“Thank you, for allowing Levi to take care of
me,” she said delicately. “He is a good man, and I see he cares for
me.” She paused. “I will be a good mate to him, when the time
comes.”

“Good,” I said formally. “Now leave me.”

“Lord, I must ask, will you perform the
ceremony?”

That got my attention. “What ceremony?”

“The mating ceremony,” she answered. “You are
the Lord of this department, and so technically, you can do it. And
it seems fitting, as you are the one who brought us together.”

Apparently being a Vampire Lord had a lot
more responsibilities than I’d thought. “Sure. But you must prepare
the rest, as I’ll expect only to be told when to show up, and were
it is being held. And it must not interfere with my own
ceremony.”

“Levi said you had a woman,” Eva said
wistfully. “What is her name?”

“Anna,” I said gratingly. “She is here now,
and I expect you to respect her.”

“Of course,” she said, nodding. “I hope she
will be a friend.”

I had a sudden disquieting thought. “I’ve
heard Guy had other mistresses. Are any more of them here?” I’d not
asked Levi last night, and if Anna found other women here, there
would be hell to pay.

Eva gave me a sad look. “No. He went to them
mostly for blood, as he was trying not to kill me, because he loved
me. So far it was working, as we’d been together a year, and I felt
no ill signs—”

Oh, shit. “Tell me what you know of
this.”

She gave me an odd look. “Vampire blood is
toxic to humans, even though it heals. A small amount all at once
won’t hurt; a very little every once in a while won’t hurt. But a
large amount can kill a human. Worse, a little regularly will also
kill, given enough time.”

“Is this always the case?” I said
frantically. “Speak!”

“Almost always,” she said nervously. “Some
humans are more susceptible than others. Some humans can be bitten
and healed again and again, where others can’t handle more than a
few times. But it is said that there are rare humans that do not
feel any ill effects, no matter if they are bitten and healed for
years.”

Dear God, let Anna be one of those, please.
“How does one know?”

“You don’t, until the signs of illness
appear,” she said shrugging.

“What are they?”

“Tiredness, paleness, weakness, lack of
appetite, sometimes vomiting. It’s almost like ingesting
poison.”

“Can it be reversed?”

“Yes, if the person is not bitten again, if
there is no blood taken or given. But usually by then, the partners
love each other, and it is difficult to stop being together
completely. So usually, they try to draw out the times between
intimate moments, hoping to stave off the sickness.” She wiped a
tear away. “I do not know of a single couple who was able to stop
for very long, or one for whom the end result for the human wasn’t
death.”

I went to a nearby chair, and put my head in
my hands. “I cannot do that to her,” I whispered. “I cannot doom
her, just to keep her with me.”

“It is her choice,” Eva whispered softly,
kneeling in front of me, and resting her hands on my shoulders.
“And if she loves you, there is only that, or turning.”

I felt my blood freeze, and looked up at her.
“What do you mean?”

“The very old ones, the Rulers of countries
and continents, it is said they can make a human into vampire with
their blood. They are the only ones powerful enough.”

“What makes them different than us?” Oops.
“Than me?” I amended.

“They are over two hundred years old, all of
them,” she answered. “But there is something else there too,
something secret, besides age.”

I was over two hundred, yet I hadn’t been
able to turn Anna’s father. Maybe she counted age as just the time
a being been a vampire. But I was pretty close there too, I
thought. “How old was Guy?”

“About fifty. Most of the vampires in this
city are, or so Guy said.”

I felt a flash of pride. I was oldest, and
because of that, the most powerful. If I kept drinking human blood,
I’d no doubt be ruling a Country of my own one day. And why not,
France needed a strong leader—

“Lord, be careful,” Eva whispered. “The
Rulers of Countries, the older Vampire Lords, they are ruthless,
Guy said. He had to meet Samuel once, back when he first became
Lord here. He said it was the most terrifying encounter he ever
had.”

“He was likely terrified of his shadow,” I
said disparagingly. “So that’s not surprising. What is surprising
is that he was Lord so long.”

“But it is you who are Lord now,” Eva said
hollowly, getting up to leave. “Samuel will be summoning you to him
as this city’s new Lord before the year is out.”

I heard her footsteps recede, but I didn’t
think much about them. I had too much else on my mind.

Levi came back a few minutes later. “Your
lady is settled in her room.”

“Thank you, and the choker?”

“On order. It will be ready tomorrow
night.”

I gave him a surprised look. “Quentin said it
would take a week.”

“I paid double of your money, plus a bonus to
get it faster,” Levi replied. “They are working around the clock.
Because every hour your lady is not collared is very dangerous for
her, Lord.”

I nodded. “We are staying here tonight, and
tomorrow, until she is wearing the choker. When is Uther
coming?”

“He’ll be here any moment,” Levi said.

The doorbell rang a few moments later. Levi
opened it to admit the werebat and two of his men.

“Well?” he rasped, before he was inside.
“Where are the hunters?”

“They are here,” I said, helping Levi hand
the remains of the two hunters to Uther’s men. It wasn’t difficult,
as they were dead, wrapped in sackcloth and stinking. But this had
been easier to do that then have them alive and kicking.

“It is them,” Uther said, after checking the
faces. “And the head of Guy?”

“I drained him,” I said, shrugging. “The head
isn’t much to look at, but you can have it, if you desire.” I
handed him a sack.

Uther took it, looked inside, and then bared
his fangs in a big grin. “So you are Lord now. Good. Perhaps we can
get along.”

“I want more than that,” I said quickly. “I
wish us to be allies. Moreover, I want to hire some of your batmen
as my guards.”

Uther gave me a look of surprise, as did
Levi.

“The vampires will not stand for that,” Uther
said slowly. “And my batmen will also rebel, when I tell them they
must serve a vampire.”

“He’s right, Lord,” Levi added.

“I said ‘hire,’ not ‘make slaves of’,” I said
in exasperation. “It should be taken as a gesture of goodwill to
your people, that I’d trust them to protect me.”

“Why would you?” Uther said seriously. “Bats
have always hated vampires, and the feeling is mutual.”

“I hate no one but cowards and liars,” I said
staunchly. “I need guards I can trust, powerful guards. The
vampires in this city are weak, and most will not last out the
decade in these brutal times. I intend to endure. I need
partnerships to accomplish that. I need you and your men.”

“You are at least a hundred,” Uther intoned,
eyeing me. “I’d stake my wings on it. How is it you’ve lasted so
long and no one has heard of you until now?”

“I’ve been biding my time,” I said
arrogantly. “And it’s finally come. So are you with me?”

“I am,” Uther said, shaking my hand. “And my
bats will be, too.”

“Good,” I said. “Have them report to Levi,
when they come here. And you are invited to my oathing ceremony,
which will be held here tomorrow.”

“Not wasting any time, are you?” Uther said,
grinning. “But a cave without a female in it isn’t a home, I always
say.”

I laughed, marveling that I liked him
already. “I agree.”

“I’ll be here tomorrow evening,” he said,
turning to go. “I congratulate you.”

He left, his men following with the sack and
bodies.

“They're just going to carry them through
town?” I asked Levi. That seemed imprudent, with soldiers still
patrolling some streets.

“Uther and his men are also privy to what
areas are patrolled, and which are safe to travel freely. Even in
human form, they can move very quickly when they want to. They’ll
change on the outskirts, and fly off with them,” Levi said. “They
can carry far more than you’d think, in their bat forms.”

“Apparently.”

“Devlin?”

I turned to find Anna. “Yes?”

“You said to that, um, man we are to be
oathed tomorrow. Explain again what that means.”

“Think of it as husband and wife, save for
vampires,” I said soothingly. “Did you call for a seamstress,
Levi?”

“The city’s best and her team have arrived,”
Levi said, looking out the window. “They brought the whole shop
with them, it appears.”

I opened the door, and let them in. Soon,
Anna was standing on a footstool while a drove of woman measured
her, and a few more began cutting out swaths of white velvet.

“You should go,” the head seamstress said.
“It is bad luck to see the bride before her wedding.”

“Fair enough,” I said gallantly, blowing a
kiss to Anna. “I’ll return before dawn, Milady.”

I shut the door behind us, and turned to
Levi. “Take me somewhere nearby, so we may speak in private, but
can hear Anna if there was danger.”

Levi nodded, and took us to a neighboring
room. “This was the library, Lord. We should be able to talk freely
here.”

He lit a candle, and I took in the room.
There were books here, but they were covered in dust and cobwebs.
Rats had been to work, and there were large piles of shredded pages
in small heaps on shelves. A few squeaks indicated a growing family
behind the largest book, a Bible.

“Guy wasn’t much for reading,” Levi said
apologetically. “He preferred listening to music, or attending the
opera house.”

Guy was a music lover? “I wouldn’t have
guessed,” I said truthfully. “Did he employ someone to play for
him?”

Levi nodded reluctantly. “But the man
departed as soon as Guy was unable to pay for his services. He was
discharged last month.”

I kicked a fallen book in irritation. “Is
there nothing of value in this place?”

“There is the music room next door,” Levi
said hurriedly.

“Take me there.”

The music room was less of a disappointment.
There were various instruments, most with a layer of dust on them.
Curiously, there was also a grand piano that was not dusty at
all.

I lifted the keyboard, and pressed a few
keys. Clear and vibrant notes rang out to fade in the still
air.

“It’s in tune,” Levi said. “Guy liked it best
of all of these.”

“I cannot play,” I said, hitting a few more
keys. “I never learned.”

“I can teach you,” Levi said hesitantly. “I
am not accomplished, but I have studied hard to become
skillful.”

I gazed at him in wonder. “You are not what I
expected, Levi.”

He closed the keyboard gently. “I didn’t stay
with a coward for ten years because I liked guarding him. I did it
to be close to this.” He grinned. “There is a benefit to guarding a
man who almost never leaves his house.”

I let loose a laugh. “So I see. Be warned, I
intend to leave the house more than he did. Likely for the
foreseeable future, it will be most nights, all night.”

Levi’s face fell, though he smoothed it
quickly. “I am yours to command, Lord.”

“Yes,” I said seriously. “And your first
command is to teach me this instrument. We will begin tonight. I
will not have much time in the coming months, as I’ve said, but I
expect you to put aside an hour each night to instruct me.”

Levi nodded happily.

“Furthermore, your chief position from now on
is to be Anna’s guard. You are to stay with her at all times she is
not with me.” I let a faint smile crease my face. “As she will
likely go out rarely, I expect that will leave you a lot of time
for practice.”

“I will guard her with my life,” he said
resolutely. “But do you really trust the bats with your life?”

“I trust Uther,” I replied. “As for the rest,
we shall see.”

“What did you want to talk about privately?”
Levi asked. “It was not my taste in music.”

“The oath I spoke of to Anna earlier tonight.
What are the usual promises? What does the ceremony entail, other
than the placing of the choker about her throat?”

Levi shrugged. “From what I have heard,
little else. She tells you she is yours and no others, and you
accept her vow.”

“What do I promise her?”

“Whatever you want.”