Paranormal Realities Box Set (34 page)

Gethin’s wails pierced the air.

After tossing down the sword, the prince
snapped his fingers and two ghouls stepped forward. At the inclination of the
prince’s head they each untied and then picked up a leg. The legs continued to
kick and move as if still attached to a living being. No blood or other
substance came from the severed limbs or from Gethin. Indeed, a layer of skin
had already formed over the stumps.

Two more ghoul soldiers untied the
wizard, lifted him, and held him suspended by his arms between them. Gethin’s
cries waned to snivels and hiccups.

“Do not worry my friend.” The prince
slapped Gethin on the shoulder. “We will place your legs in a safe place. You
will be able to earn their re-attachment with loyal service.”

“Thank you, Highness,” the wizard said,
bowing his head.

If Prince Leopold treated his friends
like this, what would happen to us?

At that moment the whole mews seemed to
rock. Gradually, I realized the movement wasn't an earthquake. Instead, Juliette’s
cube in the stall beside us shook, clattering against the wood of the cart. Its
vibrations reverberated throughout the building at an accelerating rate.

Rom grabbed me and threw me to the
ground, shielding my body with his, just as the cube exploded. The substance
that had enveloped Juliette shattered and shards flew in every direction,
sending a cold blast of air with the pieces.

Glancing around Rom’s arm, I couldn't see
Juliette. What had happened to her in the explosion? In horror I wondered whether
the shards covering Rom and me included little Juliette bits as well?

Rom slowly stood, shaking off the pieces
covering him. He offered me his hand. Taking it, I rose on shaking legs and saw
the prince and his guard also rising from the ground.

“Juliette,” Billy screamed and ran for
the stall.

Relief almost brought me to my knees as I
saw Juliette lying on the cart. At least she had not been blown apart.

When Billy reached the cart he hopped up and
crawled to her side. He stroked her hair gently for a moment.

“Juliette?” he said tentatively.

After what seemed an eternity, she moved
and sat up. Billy threw his arms around her and began to rain kisses on her
face.

“Billy,” she breathed in a weak voice.

“Well,” said the prince. “It seems you
have yet again failed me, Gethin.”

“Forgive me, Highness,” the wizard
wailed. “The pain of my injuries made sustaining the spell impossible.”

“So you are saying this is my fault?”
Prince Leopold bellowed. He gave a disgusted wave. “Take him away. Out of my
sight.”

As the ghouls carried Gethin out, the
prince turned to us. “So what am I to do with all of you?” Prince Leopold
strolled to Rom and tapped him. “Perhaps I should do you a favor and take off
this infected arm.”

“No,” I shouted pushing forward. “If you
want to go through the portal, don’t hurt anyone else.”

* * * * *

“I know you’re furious with me, your
Highness.” I closed the door of the library behind me, leaving Rom and the
others in the hall. The prince marched to the fireplace.

“You incited my wizard to a treasonous
act,” he drawled stalking to the fireplace. He paced before finally turning
from the fire towards me. “I should kill you for what you’ve done, but it would
be a waste of healthy food stock.”

Trying to ignore the spike of fear that
penetrated my heart, I squared my shoulders.

“Why are you angry?” I asked in what I
hoped was a calm voice. “You wouldn't respect me as a chess player if I didn’t
try to take the queen when given the chance.”

At this, Prince Leopold's frown cleared
and despite his efforts he smiled.

“Kizzy, you do disarm me.” He threw his
head back and gave a loud hearty laugh. “You are absolutely right. You had to
try to take Miss Juliette.” He swept over to the chessboard and sat down in
front of it. “But now, since I took your bishop, personified in poor Gethin,
what move will you make?”

“I’ll let you drink my blood.” I met his
eyes with perfect frankness. “That’s my move.”

The prince licked his lips and almost
immediately his hand came up to hide the gesture as if he were ashamed of his
involuntary response to my words.

“Intriguing my dear,” he said. “Do go
on.”

“If it's my blood that opens the portal
as you say then, with my blood inside you, you'll be a key also.”

The prince’s eyes narrowed and he leaped
from the chair. He paced about the room for a few moments before speaking. “Why
would you do this?” He asked finally.

“In exchange for your agreement that
you'll let us all go back to our world...and a few other minor terms.”

“Why do you think I would allow that even
if I made such an agreement?”

“Because I believe His Royal Highness,
the Prince Leopold, is a monarch with integrity. I'll trust your word,” I
replied.

My words seemed to affect him profoundly.
He liked my trust more than he wanted me to know.

“But why would I need to make such an
agreement?” the prince asked. “Perhaps I should take your blood by force.”

“You could, but remember the prophecy? 'A
key that is stolen shall never open the lock.' If you steal my blood, it won’t
open the portal.”

There was a knock on the door, followed
by Eugene’s entry.

“What is it?” The prince demanded.

“Miss Taylor’s friend, Mr. Calixo, is
creating a disturbance.”

“Why do you bother me with this?”

“He wishes to come in here.” Eugene cast
a meekly downturned gaze at his notebook.

“All right. Send him in.”

Now it was my turn to scowl. Rom wouldn’t
be happy with my proposal.

Before the prince’s words had stopped
reverberating, Rom barged through the half-opened door and came to my side.

“What do you do?” he asked me.

“Kizzy has made me a most intriguing
offer,” the prince answered for me. “She suggests donating her own blood to
me.”

“I understand not.” Rom's gaze darted from
me to Prince Leopold. Gradually realization dawned. “You will allow him to bite
you?”

“Ummm.”

“Ummm means yes?” Rom asked.

“Yes,” said the prince with a sly smile.

Rom charged at Prince Leopold grabbing
him by the neck and backing him against the mantle. With an easy motion the
prince raised a hand and knocked Rom’s arm aside. He pushed Rom’s shoulders
with his palms. From the minimal effort the prince exerted I would have
expected Rom not to move at all, but instead he flew back six feet as if attached
to a stunt man’s rigging and smashed into a shelf on the opposite wall. The
shelf broke and shifted sending its books falling to the floor.

“Now see what you’ve done?” The prince
strolled to the corner and grasped the bellpull for the servants.

Rom slid to the ground and with one eye
still on the prince I ran to him and kneeled down.

“Are you okay?” I pushed the hair out of
his eyes.

“I will recover.” Rom put one hand to his
head and clutched at his back with the other.

“Don’t do something so stupid again,” I
snapped. “The prince has superhuman vampire powers. Remember?”

“Now I do.” He grabbed my hand. “You
cannot give him your blood,” Rom insisted.

“Trust me,” I said. “I know what I’m
doing.”

I hoped I did know because we only had
two hours, twenty minutes, three seconds left.

* * * * *

Surprisingly quickly, Rom and I were
loaded into a royal carriage drawn by two of those vampire horses. Our carriage
rolled along as part of a caravan. I hoped Juliette and Billy rode in one of
the others.

We soon arrived at the foot of Tower
Bridge and waited, trapped inside for what seemed an interminable time.
Finally, with only one hour, two minutes, six seconds left, a ghoul guard
opened the carriage door.

A path into the north tower was spread
out before us lined by the prince’s guard, each holding a lantern. My eyes were
drawn to the walkway overhead where another row of lanterns burned.

Rom and I climbed out of our carriage as
Juliette and Billy emerged from another and joined us on the path.

“Are we finally going home?” Billy asked.

“I hope so,” I replied as we proceeded
into the tower.

At the foot of the three hundred stairs
to the top, Billy stopped.

“We’re gonna have to climb up?” Billy
complained. “Why can’t we take the elevator?”

“Why don’t you go right ahead,” I
drawled. “If you make it to the top, we’ll see you there.”

“It's okay, Billy.” Juliette grasped his
hand and pulled him to the stairs. “Come on.”

At the top, Prince Leopold and an
entourage of extravagantly dressed vampires were clustered around the door to
the south tower, the door that would become the portal to the vortex and
hopefully our way home. In addition to the vampires, Eugene stood nervously
fidgeting. I was shocked to see the wizard Gethin wearing a miserable
expression as he sat in a cane wheelchair.

At the sight of us, the prince broke into
a wide grin and spread his arms wide.

“Kizzy,” he said. “We are prepared to
open the door to the new world. Make me the key.”

“There is just one last thing,” I said.

“Ah yes.” The prince snapped his fingers
at Eugene. The majordomo stepped forward and handed me my messenger bag.
Flipping back the flap, I noted the Downy Woundwort plants still inside. After
closing the bag, I placed its strap over my shoulder and across my chest.

With my heart beating fast, I took a long
breath in and then blew it out.

“I’m ready.”

I walked to Prince Leopold and held out
my left arm. The pale blue vein on the inside of my elbow stood out
prominently, a river of blood rushing through me even as the river water rushed
under us.

“No, Kizzy,” Rom shouted and dashed
forward.

Two ghouls immediately grabbed him, but
Rom’s strength carried all three of them toward me.

“Rom, stop,” I cried.

Two more ghoul guards piled on and this
time dragged him to a halt.

“It appears your ghoul bitten boyfriend
cannot contain himself,” the prince observed. “Bind his hands,” the prince
ordered and a ghoul guard nodded. Another guard brought out a rope.

“Don’t.” I held up a hand.

“The freedom of Mr. Calixo’s hands was
not a part of our bargain, Kizzy.”

Rom’s arms were forced behind him and
tied together. The ghoul on the right held Rom’s rope tightly, not allowing him
to move.

“Are you going to carry through with your
part?” the prince asked.

“Yes,” I answered, holding out my arm again.
“Go for it.”

My stance was defiant and I fixed my face
into a calm mask. But my outward bravado was at serious odds with the inward
quaking. What the hell was I doing? Letting a vampire bite me? Hadn’t I seen
his promo video? He could kill me faster than Juliette could throw up a
fattening dessert.

Prince Leopold approached me with a
little boy “I’m about to open a Christmas present” expression. After rubbing
his hands together he grasped my arm like an ear of corn. I had to look away.
This is just like giving blood at the Red Cross, I chanted to myself. A little
pinch wouldn't be bad would it? But the pinch wasn’t little. Not a pinch at
all, more like an ice pick piercing my arm.

But if it weren't for the pain in my arm,
the slurping and sucking sounds I heard would probably have made me faint. I
felt relatively okay for about a minute or so. After that I began to see blue,
white and green lights flicking behind my eyelids and perspiration broke out on
my forehead.

“Stop.” My voice sounded weak to my ears.
“Stop, Prince.”

The slurping and sucking continued.
Turning my head toward my arm, I pried open my eyes and took in the sight of
the prince’s head bent over my arm. Two rivulets of blood ran down my white
skin and dripped to the walkway. The image before my eyes wavered and tilted. I
knew I was about to lose consciousness. If that happened, I knew I’d be dead.

“The blood…can't be stolen,” I choked
out. “Remember…prophecy.”

The ice pick teeth withdrew gradually and
Prince Leopold's head lifted. He wore an expression of ecstasy with his eyes
closed tight, his mouth in a feline smile. His lower face dripped with red.

“Your blood,” he murmured, his tongue
swiping at his lips. “Intoxicating.” He licked the two puncture wounds on my arm
and the oozing from them slowed. The prince released me and I covered the
punctures with pressure. After a few seconds, when I lifted my hand, the
bleeding had stopped. Still, I was left with a palm full of blood.