BloodGifted (5 page)

I nodded.

‘Laura dear, perhaps it’s time to consider… if you and Matt are in a sexual relationship—’

‘Aunt Judy!’

‘I’m just saying,
that now with your coming-of-age, nothing will stop you conceiving. The Pill doesn’t work on us, dear, and condoms aren’t always reliable.’

Oh crap!

‘Think carefully. Would you want any child of yours in this position?’

‘Is that why you never had children?’

She looked long and thoughtfully at me and for just a moment I it appeared as if she were on the verge of tears. But then she smiled, almost wistfully, and cupping my cheek with her hand said, ‘You’re like a daughter to me, Laura. I didn’t really miss out.’

I was touched and again reminded why
I loved her almost as much as my own mum.

‘Clever little mutation though, i
t skipped you and came via Dad.’ Our unusual gene usually passed from first-born to first-born, but it appeared my aunt wasn’t the carrier even though she was Dad’s older sister. Somehow, he inherited it instead and passed it onto me. Weird.

She didn’t say any more as we re-entered the house.

Mum waited for us on the back porch. Her hands gripped the wooden railing as if for support and it was impossible to miss the pained expression on her face. Her eyes darted from me to Aunt Judy then to the Serpent Ring on my hand.

‘Oh, Laura! You know.’
My mother’s lip trembled. ‘I’m so, so sorry. Having to keep the truth from you all these years… We promised not to reveal anything to you till the time came. And even then Judy was the only one who could properly explain it all to you.’

‘I
t’s all true, then! The vampires…’

‘Yes, my love. All of it.’

‘So, monsters really do exist!’ A tiny part of me still hoped it was nonsense.

With my mother’s words
, that dissipated like mist on a hot summer’s day and I hugged her till the tears stopped. My mind reeled with tonight’s revelations and it wasn’t over yet.

There was a pre-arranged meeting for me to keep and somehow I would have to persuade my detective boyfriend to stay behind while I went to keep a date with a vampire.
And he isn’t going to like it,
I thought.

Oh, this was going to be interesting!

‘Happy Birthday Laura,’ I muttered to myself.

Chapter 3

Servitude

ALEC

Luc had asked me to come over at seven. I assumed it had to do with the coming ceremony since Judith’s time as
Ingenii
has finally ended. After parking my car near the front porch of his Vaucluse mansion, I went up to his study on the first landing.

‘Come in, Alec,
’ he said as he sensed my presence in the house. Our hearing was such we could communicate in whispers, even up to several miles away.

A
t his desk, laptop open, eyes glued to the screen as he perused the various figures of his many investments, sat Lucien Lebrettan, Arch Elder of the Brethren, husband to the outgoing
Ingenii,
Judith Dantonville, and my sire. His skill with the real-estate market made him a millionaire many times over, especially as he owned some of the city’s most prestigious buildings. He was also a generous benefactor to various charities, including the hospital and medical research lab I had established.

‘How much are you worth now?’ I asked as I stretched out on
his dark green Chesterfield. It had been made to accommodate his six-foot-two frame. My legs just squeezed in as I had an extra inch on him.

‘About $755 million, I think.’

‘Not bad. Ever thought to buy yourself a decent place to live instead of this draughty, old mausoleum?’ I would have torn it down long ago to build something modern and less forbidding in appearance. Luc’s house was an old Victorian gothic mansion. It virtually screamed, “vampire!”

‘It’s big enough to house everyone.’

‘Luc, you have enough money to build whatever you want. Find a good architect to design one for you.’

‘I know,’ he chuckled, ‘but this place reminds me of home.’

I rolled my eyes. It had the features he needed—at least a dozen bedrooms with ensuites, a large eat-in kitchen for the human staff and visitors, a well-stocked wine cellar beneath the house, a library, a reception room, and a newly refurbished gymnasium, which his men used on a daily basis. And there was also a grand ballroom on the top floor which, as far as I know, had been used on only one occasion. I was sure most of the household forgot it was there. But overall, the place was a cliché.

Luc’s men o
ccupied four of those bedrooms—the former soldiers who made up Marcus Antonius’s third century military command. Of the original ten, only four were now left—Sextus Terentius who goes by the name Terens. He dropped Sextus when some of the men jokingly started calling him “Sexy Terry” for short; Calixtus, who now goes by the name, Cal; Sempronius, or Sam and Justinus. He prefers to be called Jake.

I never knew the others. Marcus said that two took their own lives. They had never adjusted to the change, while rampaging villagers killed the other two in
the time of the First Rebellion, about a thousand years ago. They burned down the house during their day sleep.

Luc lowered the lid of his laptop and reclined back in his leather chair.
‘Now, when was the last time you saw my little girl?’

‘Is that what you asked me here for? I though
t it was to arrange things for, the Ritual?’ It was only three days away and although it would follow the same pattern as the previous one, fifty years ago, this occasion was going to be special as the incoming
Ingenii
was Luc’s daughter.

‘I’ll get to that. What I want to know is, have you seen her lately?’

I turned my head to look at him. ‘No. Why should I?’

He pursed his lips. ‘That’s what I thought.’

My scalp began to prickle. Luc had something brewing and I had the distinct feeling I wasn’t going to like it. Nothing was ever straightforward when he was involved. ‘If it’s about Laura becoming the next
Ingenii
, we’ve already planned for that.’

‘Yes, yes, all that’s fine.’ He rubbed his chin with his hand again. I knew that sign. ‘I have a proposition for you.’

‘I knew it! Whatever it is, I’m not interested.’

‘Hear me out. It’s to your advantage.’

‘Last time you said that I ended up Princeps.’ Which essentially made me guardian to an
Ingenii
—Judith, daughter of Owen Dantonville, the man I hated.

He rose from behind the desk and stood in front of it. ‘
Laura has a boyfriend; he’s human, a policeman. I’d like you to draw her away from him.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Why should I do that?’

‘He’s unsuitable.’

‘
Luc, this isn’t the Middle Ages in case you’re forgetting what century we’re in. She can date whomever she wants.’
As long as it’s not me,
I thought.

‘She’s just come
-of-age and you know what that means. She mustn’t bear the human’s child.’

‘W
hat can I do about it?’

‘Seduce her and make su
re any child she bears is yours.’

It took a second or so before I burst out laughing
. Even knowing Luc as well as I did, his request took me by surprise. ‘You’re not serious!’

‘You
needn’t marry her. Only father a child together.’

I sat up. ‘You are serious!’
He said nothing, just stared straight at me. ‘Forget it! If you need someone to seduce your daughter, ask Terens. They don’t call him “Sexy Terry” for nothing.’

Terens had been
a junior officer, or Tribune, in Marcus Antonius’s Roman patrol. On most nights, when not on guardian duty or in bed with a woman—or two—he can be found in the gym working out alone or sparring with Sam. Terens is a deadly swordsman and I’ve heard that his skill with the blade is only surpassed by his prowess with the opposite sex.

‘
If Terens had any Pictish blood in him, believe me, I would have,’ Luc replied.

For a moment there
I was lost for words. But it was just too much and I laughed again. ‘And you think she’ll agree to it? Just like that!’ I snapped my fingers.

‘She doesn’t need to know about it.’

I shook my head. Luc had done a lot of questionable things in the past, but even for him this was low. ‘You’re that desperate to end the curse, you’d do this to your own daughter? You’re unbelievable!’

‘I’m doing it for her.’

‘Or for yourself?’
I looked him in the eyes trying to see beyond his hard exterior. I had no doubt he loved Laura, but this was a cold-blooded way to protect her and end the damned legacy.

‘They’re the same.’

‘No, Luc. This is going too far.’

‘Do this for me and I’ll cancel what’s left of your servitude time.’

It was the first time he’d brought it up in many years. ‘I’ve only got five years to go. I can wait.’

‘Unles
s I decide to increase the time,’ he said slowly.

He could do it, too.
I stood up and faced him. ‘You know, you can be a real bastard!’

I may be Princeps, but Luc was the power behind the th
rone. Newly made blood drinkers stayed in servitude to his or her maker for a century. It ensured they were fully trained and inducted into the Brethren community before being given their independence, for sires and dams were responsible for the actions of their juveniles. If deemed necessary, servitude time could be increased. Sometimes sires stuck to the maximum time as it provided them with free service. It was the closest thing to slavery in the Brethren world. Strictly, juveniles couldn’t be part of the eldership let alone Princeps, but Luc had somehow arranged it for me.

‘Alec, I wouldn’t ask this of you if there was any other way.’

‘You’re not
asking
me, you’re blackmailing me!’

‘Pedantics
!’ He waved his hand.

‘Call it whatever you want, it amounts to t
he same thing. You get your way even if it means alienating those closest to you.’ Our friendship had grown over the years and sometimes it was easy to forget he was my sire, except the times he took advantage of his position and strained the easy comradeship we usually enjoyed.

‘It’s a risk I’m willing to take.’

I went over to the window behind his desk and stared blindly out, trying to control my anger. Could I do this? If Laura bore my child and the curse were lifted there’d be a chance, just a mere chance, her blood could become normal and she’d have no need of a guardian. I’d be free.

‘Alec,
you and Laura can end this curse.’ He joined me and placed his hand on my shoulder. ‘She’s my only child. Do you think I like the idea of her being food for one of our kind? If it must be, then at least let it be you. And it must end here. I want my grandchildren to be free. You can ensure that.’

I turned to look at him.
‘I tolerated Judith for your sake even though I hated her father. Now you’re asking me to help produce another generation of them?’

‘It has to be you, Alec. You know the prophecy as well as I.
Only one born to the House of Antonius, born of light and darkness
,’ he quoted, ‘
who willingly fathers a child to one born of Prythin blood, of the House of Eithne, will end the curse.’

‘And you’re convinced she and I are the Destined Ones?’

You,’ he squeezed my shoulder, ‘are of Pictish blood, direct descendant of the witch Eithne who uttered the curse. Laura is the Child of Light and Darkness—
Ingenii
and vampire—direct descendant of Marcus Antonius Pulcher. What more can I say?’ He folded his arms and looked at me as if that settled everything.

As far as I was concerned
it didn’t. I had no intention of being a pawn in Luc’s chess game with destiny and being manoeuvred around a board like a helpless piece of ivory. And from where I stood, it appeared as if I was being skilfully played. Yet there was no denying the truth of my ancestry. Luc revealed it to me roughly the same time he explained his connection to the Dantonvilles, not long after he transformed me in 1918.

One evening he took me to the library in his house in
Les Vesinet, in Paris, and showed me Marcus’s sword. It hung prominently in the centre of the wall, surrounded by various pieces of military equipment—chain mail, leg greaves and helmet from which the horsehair plumes had long ago rotted away.

They were physical reminders of his Roman past and subsequent damnation. The long cavalry sword was still smeared with the witch’s blood, appearing as a dark stain against the rusting metal.

‘I smelled the witch’s blood in you the day you arrived at the military hospital,’ Luc had told me. It had been a stunning revelation and, at the time, I remember wondering whether he had changed me in order to end his family’s curse.

‘No!’ he’d replied. ‘You’re the first human I’ve done that to. I never wanted to condemn anyon
e to this type of existence. So I decided to keep an eye on you and keep you safe. I had no idea what else to do. Then when you were shot, it appeared fate had stepped in and made it for me.’

Since then, it had been a closed subject between us. Until now. I needed time to think this through, yet time was exactly what I didn’t have.
It was only three days till the Bloodgifted Ritual when the changeover was to officially take place.

‘I know you want to have th
e choice, Alec,’ Luc said. ‘But very few of us ever have that luxury. I didn’t. Please do this for me. Otherwise, my Laura will be with that human who is not of the witch’s blood. She’ll bear his children and the curse will continue into the next generation. I don’t care about myself, I’ve been this way for too long, but I want my descendants free.’

I tried to see it from Luc’s perspective
. He was a father and I, too, had been one for a short time—long ago. Had my son lived would I have done anything less? I really didn’t know.

I let out a deep breath
. ‘This is the last time, Luc. After this I’m under no further obligation to you, nor to the girl, nor to this entire family!’

He slapped me on the back. ‘Done!’

I shook my head at the absurdity of it. If any other vampire but Luc had changed me, I’d be sterile like the rest of the Brethren. But like his father, Marcus Antonius, Luc carried the same cursed, fertile gene which he then passed down to me through blood exchange.

‘Now,
when was the last time you fed? You look hungry.’

Once again, Luc got his own way and the matter was now closed.

‘It’s been a few days,’ I said resignedly. ‘You know Judith’s blood is waning and I normally top up at the hospital, but blood supplies are getting low and I don’t want to use up what there is.’

‘Mmmm, people aren’t donating blood as they used to. Never mind.’ He
bent and took a bottle of blood from the mini bar beneath his desk and handed it to me. ‘Drink it. It’s not
Ingenii
, but it’ll help stave off the worst of the hunger till Laura replaces Judith.’ He sat down at his desk again. ‘I’ve arranged for the two of you to meet at St Andrews Cathedral tonight at nine.’ He glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘Judy should be telling Laura all about it now and driving her directly there afterwards.’