Paranormal Realities Box Set (32 page)

 
"Juliette is gone. But Prince Leopold is still here.” I
inclined my head toward the refreshments area. I saw him tear into a piece of
something—I didn’t want to think what—as we danced by.

In another corner Billy, between two
guards, hovered nervously and I wondered how he'd persuaded them to let him
return. I saw Rom notice him too.

“Maybe Billy saw where they took her,” I
said.

Before Rom could respond, the tune ended.
The wizard, Gethin, stepped forward and tapped Rom’s back.

“May I have the next dance with the
lady?” Gethin asked.

Rom didn’t seem pleased but he gave a
small bow and moved to the perimeter. Gethin placed his hand at my waist. As
the music began, he swung me into step and promptly trod on my foot.

“Ow,” I cried.

“Forgive me,” Gethin squeaked. “I’m not a
very good dancer.”

“In that case, why am I being given this
honor?”

“”I wanted to warn you not to trust the
prince."

Really? That information was hardly
newsworthy.

“The prince will seek to use you. Your
life will become a hellish torture." Just as he said the word
"torture" he stepped on my foot again.

Grimacing, I restrained a groan. “Sounds
like personal experience.”

“I saved his life. Yet he repaid me by
making me his slave. The vampires are the only aristocrats here,” he groused,
my toes crunching under his foot yet again.

“You seem to have a pretty important
position here,” I noted.

“Important?” His lips bent into a sour
twist. “I’ve made all this possible and am given no recompense. Look at the
clothes I have to wear,” He leaned back to show me his outfit. This caused me
to stumble over him before we started the dance again. “One hundred and thirty
years of serving him,” Gethin said. “Haven’t I paid enough?”

Personally, given how my feet had
suffered during this dance, I didn’t think so.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I
asked, praying the song would end soon.

“Because you want to escape,” he said.
“And so do I. If you vow to take me through the portal with you, I will help
you and your friends.”

After the debacle with Amy, I wondered
whether his request was genuine. On the other hand, wanting to get out of this
nightmare dimension made sense to me.

“I have no choice but to agree." If
this guy could create a whole different world for Juliette, he could surely get
us out of here.

“Meet me in the stables in two hours. I
shall be there with your stepsister.”

“Can you also get a message to someone on
the outside?” I asked.

“Certainly.” Gethin grinned. “You need
only tell me who and I will send it by locater spell.”

As the song ended, I told him the content
of the message and its recipient. He bowed to me and trotted happily away as
Rom approached.

“What was that?” Rom asked.

“Plan B,” I replied before explaining my
conversation with Gethin. “We need to get Billy before we meet the wizard,” I
stated.

“Mayhap we should leave him in this
dimension.”

As much as I disliked the jerk, I
couldn't agree. I didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death not even
Billy

“No, we can't do that. Namia the ghoul,
Billy's counter-part, is in my world. We can't leave her there.”

Rom nodded with a rueful grimace.

“We also need to find the stables.”

“Leave these tasks in my care,” he said
and then headed for the double doors through which Juliette’s cart had entered.

As Rom slipped out, the lights dimmed and
a hush fell over the crowd. A billowing white screen floated down from the
ceiling before hovering above the crowd. A kind of movie began to play.

I observed Gethin in the corner wielding
a wand with a sour twisted expression and assumed he had produced this marvel.

Wow, our school AV department would have
gotten a thrill from this.

A royal crest and the words “One hundred
twenty-five years of excellence” flitted across the screen. The images changed
cutting from one to another, all of them pictures of Prince Leopold doing what
I assumed were his tasks as a monarch. Sitting at a desk, riding in a carriage,
shaking hands with his subjects...the sequence was set to a musical background.
Heck this was some kind of corporate ra ra promo film and the prince was the
corporation.

The prince's voice interjected itself as
the narrator. “One hundred fifty eight years ago, I was born the eighth child
of the queen of this realm.” Cut to a cute baby picture...awwww.

Rom re-entered the room and weaved his way
through the crowd—many vampires casting him avaricious glances—to
reach me. He nodded and I took that to mean he’d accomplished his tasks.

“Billy will meet us in your room,” he
whispered.

The film continued. “In 1870,” the prince
narrated. “I was tragically struck down and almost perished.” Cut to a pathetic
photo of him lying in a bed. “But tragedy turned to triumph and I arose from
this sick bed a better, stronger, more intelligent being; I arose super-human,
an immortal.”

No credit was given to Gethin. I bet he
loved that.

Cut to several clips of Prince Leopold
being all vampirey including some grisly biting and limb tearing. Ewww.

“At first I fought my manifest vampiric
destiny.” An image of the prince looking conflicted and angsty played across
the screen. “But I came to embrace my fate and chose to make myself the
successor to my mother’s crown.” The screen filled with successive clips of the
prince meting out horrific deaths to his siblings—his siblings being
identified with captioning for those who didn’t recognize them.

Helpful.

These clips were followed by one of him
tearing at the throat of an old woman. I didn’t need a caption to identify this
victim.

“He killed—” Rom began.

“Yeah,” I swallowed a nausea lump. “His
mother.”

“And my reign has been filled with
magnificent accomplishments.” Scenes of invasions of the U.S., Europe, Asia,
and the Middle East played. “But our best years are yet to come,” the prince as
narrator intoned. “I, as your absolute ruler, will pursue new frontiers of
colonization, new worlds of opportunity for my royal subjects to enjoy. New
universes filled with prey to conquer.” These words were accompanied by images
of humans being chased, captured and herded into holding pens.

At that moment, bile rose in my throat so
hard I couldn’t swallow it down. Thankfully, I didn’t vomit all over Rom. The
vampire to my left wasn’t so lucky.

* * * * *

“Why is your realm known as Dorcha?” I
asked the prince as I moved my King’s pawn one space forward on the chessboard.

 
“The British Empire of the Dorcha. Dorcha means dark in
Gaelic. My little joke.” He chuckled as he moved his rook’s pawn forward.

I swept my queen up the board.

“Very bold move, Kizzy,” the prince
observed before returning to his story. “Gradually one accepts what one is and
even revels in it. Hopefully with humor.”

“Yeah, I saw that in your documentary
earlier,” I drawled. “Very humorous.”

“I heard you suffered some distress
during the showing.” the prince cast a critical eye at me.

“Excitement of the dancing,” I assured
him. “I found the documentary fascinating.”

“Good.” the prince gave an approving nod
and a smile. “Then you must understand me better. That is excellent.”

“You know I want to get Juliette and
leave this place,” I said. When the prince started to reply, I held up a hand.
“Not that you haven’t been a most gracious host, but everyone wants to go home
from vacation eventually.”

This seemed to satisfy him. “True. And I
must tell you it is my fervent desire that you leave unharmed.” At my doubtful
gaze he continued. “You do not believe me but I admire you, Kizzy. Your
courage, your valor, your commitment to your people.”

“I wish to leave and you wish me to leave
unharmed,” I said. “So we are in agreement.”

“Well,” He placed tented fingers beneath his
chin. “It’s not quite that simple. As you saw earlier, I must explore new
territory. My subjects demand it. Our very survival requires it. Therefore, I
need you to open the portal to your world in order for me and mine to enter.”

I didn't have an answer for that.

“We have seen humans from your world
enter before,” he continued. “But never could I discover the location of this
doorway.” The prince’s voice rose with seeming excitement as he went on. “Now
that I know with certainty that it is Tower Bridge and that you are the key
that was foretold by the prophecy...You must see that I have an obligation to
use it. To use you.”

He moved another pawn.

“Not such a good deal for me,” I pointed
out.

“That need not be true. In exchange I
could give you jewels, gold, all the riches you wish to take back with you when
you go.” He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes gleaming. “Furthermore, I
pledge to you that your sister will be returned unharmed. In fact, I would
pledge further that neither you nor any of more of your friends and family
would fall prey to my subjects once you return to your world.”

The room fell silent but for the ticking
of the grandfather clock in the corner of the library. After a few moments, my
silence produced an irritated huff from the prince.

“Perhaps,” the prince said, rising, “if
you accompany me on a charitable mission I am about to attend to, you will
understand just how dire our situation is here in Dorcha.”

“Ummm.” Crap. Prince Leopold wanted me to
leave the palace with him. So much for the rendezvous with Gethin...and our
escape...and reaching the portal in time... “Your highness, I am very tired.
Perhaps tomorrow?”

The prince stared at me with narrowed
eyes. “This will not take long, Come.” His voice, although soft, held a hint of
menace.

At an impatient wave of his hand, I stood
and followed him. Outside the library Eugene waited like a sentry. The prince
strode by him without pause.

“The royal carriage awaits you,
Highness.” Eugene scurried to keep up.

I had to move my feet double time not to
get left behind as well.

“What of tonight's recipients of the
Prince's Trust Beneficence Society?” Prince Leopold asked.

“They are gathered at the East End
location you specified.”

“Excellent.” The prince trotted down the
magnificent staircase Rom and I had climbed earlier and into the entry hall.

A closed carriage, black with intricate
gilded filigree at its edges and along its top, pulled by four huge horses,
awaited us in the courtyard.

A ghoul liveryman assisted us up the
steps and inside where the interior was luxuriously appointed. The minute my
butt hit the leather seats, the horses were off at a dash. As the carriage left
the palace grounds and began moving along the mall, I noticed a group lining
the route. They cheered as we passed.

Prince Leopold waved to one side.

“The subjects I'm taking you to see are
among the most miserable of the realm.” He turned and directed his wave to the
opposite side. “They are illegitimate.”

“I don't understand.”

“They are bastard children of the
aristocracy.”

“Vampires can have children?” I asked,
confused.

“After a fashion,” he said with a wry
smile. “A vampire is considered illegitimate if created without royal
sanction.”

“I see.” I didn't see at all but it
seemed like the thing to say.

“The requirement of royal sanction is
part of my efforts to keep down population growth and therefore prevent
famine.”

The carriage turned off the mall and I
gripped the side to keep from falling against the prince opposite me.

“However, accidents apparently will
happen and bastard vampires are created despite my best efforts,” the prince
noted. “Nevertheless, be assured that violators of the royal edict were
punished.”

I had no doubt of that.

After a few more turns, the coachman brought
the carriage to a halt and the door opened. Prince Leopold hopped out. My
emergence was a bit more hesitant.

The surroundings I found myself in were
grubby. This was by far the poorest neighborhood I'd seen in this dimension.
The buildings appeared to be crumbling around their inhabitants and the smells
turned my stomach.

A group of rag-wearing vampires numbering
about twenty huddled together in front of a church. They applauded as the
prince passed. We entered the church building where we found about fifty more
equally pathetic undead. I took in one male who appeared so gaunt he seemed
about to collapse in on himself.