In Love With a Vampire

Chapter Forty-Seven

“Diana…”

What?

“Diana.”

“No man, Cedric…Ced-ric.”

Sorokin was too stunned, too awed for him to indulge Cedric’s stupidity. He brought his hands to his eyes and rubbed them even though he knew that vampires had heightened sight features. The figure on the other side of the road remained the same. Sorokin was certain, the creature on the other side of the road with feral hair and haggard clothes was Diana.

Sorokin sucked in air through his teeth and let out a laugh, a laugh laced with sadness. Sorokin thought he would never see her again yet there she was. Memories of him begging for her life, pleading on her behalf flooded into his mind. Sorokin could still see her curled in a ball, trembling, wailing like a wounded animal about to be finished off by its predator.

Diana had been banished into the human realm for a senseless crime but a crime nonetheless. The alternative had been the dungeon and dungeon meant, well, death. In exchange for Diana’s mercy, Sorokin had joined the palace guards sworn to protect the present and incoming generations of vampires. Somehow he had stood out and had been appointed Donna’s trainer.

For a moment, for a fleeting moment, Sorokin had been able to forget his sorrows. For a moment, he had buried his resentment against the palace and the higher caste. What had he done? How could he have let Diana wound up like this? Without sparing a thought, Sorokin began to walk, enchanted by a ghost he thought he would never lay eyes on. He was aware of the automobiles, and he did hear the screeching noises they produced followed by gasps and screams from their navigators. But, he did not care. All he wanted to do was reach Diana, hold her in his arms, and whisper a heartfelt apology in her ear.

Stuck in a trance, Sorokin kept his eyes steady on Diana while crossing the busy road. Her gaze was unwavering, her expression

unreadable. Sorokin was certain that she had seen him. Why were there no tears? Why did she not run away or run towards him? Was she in shock? Was that why she was unmoving-

Sorokin felt himself being shoved. The force caused his body to jerk forward, sending him towards a cemented pavement. He rapidly blinked, the spell broken, and swiftly stood to examine what had happened. Juno was in the middle of the road, lying on his back with his legs…Sorokin cringed at the sight, Juno’s legs were both broken. Before Sorokin could attempt to help, Cedric made a beeline for Juno all the while shouting at drivers and waving his arms for them to stop. Sorokin smiled when he heard Sorokin ask whether they were all blind.

“…Can’t y’all see that a man has been hit here? Where are the police? Where’s the ambulance?”

Sorokin appreciated Cedric’s level-headedness. He was still trying to keep up the act, the act that they too were humans. Certain that Cedric had everything under control, Sorokin twisted and turned, trying to spot Diana. His heart sank when all he saw were ordinary-looking humans, busy tapping away at their gadgets. Had it all been in his head? Admittedly, Sorokin had always imagined running into Diana during the great vampire war. He always imagined that they would reunite.

“Would you stop doing that?”

“If I stop doing this, these hooligans will start asking questions, if they start asking questions, then they will be onto us, do you want us to be on their radar?”

“That doesn’t mean that you have to put your hand on my hip!”

“Where am I s’ppossed to put it? You’re huge!”

“Exactly! No one is buying that you are supporting my weight!”

Without warning, Sorokin burst out in laughter. He laughed so hard, he had to put his arm around his stomach as he doubled over in laughter.

“Is this hilarious to you? Your recklessness could have exposed us…You are meant to be our leader out here.”

Sorokin slowly straightened his frame and wiped a stray tear from his eye. The words had come from Juno; he wished they had come from Cedric, that way he would not feel guilty.

“I am sorry…I placed both of you in danger because I thought I saw-"

Once again, Sorokin shifted his body weight trying to spot Diana’s familiar features. Nothing. Had it all been a figment of his imagination? Mere wishful thinking?

“What now?”

“Now you let go of me you little weasel.”

Cedric pulled his arm away and Juno, finally free tested out his healed legs by tapping them rapidly on the pavement.

“Oh, the perks of being a vampire.”

“Yeah, a vampire drinking human blood. Ain’t no way I would have healed that fast. I would still be lying there, screaming about my broken legs.”

Juno, suddenly embarrassed, remained quiet. Sorokin eyed the large vampire and wondered what secret he was hiding up his sleeve. How did a palace guard have access to human blood?

“So, what now? No one picked up the phone and there has been no reply to a message that I sent. How do we locate Mistress Donna without bringing attention to ourselves?”

Sorokin let out a frustrated sigh. He knew who Donna was staying with, their names at least but who should they ask? How big was this Scanton? Should they just find a place to wait until someone reached out to them through the gadget?

You are stalling.

Sorokin agreed with his conscience. Day after day, lying on his bed, Sorokin had imagined his reunion with Donna. If he closed his eyes right now, he could still feel her in his arms, he could still taste her lips. How would she react when she saw him? Would she still be mad at him? Had she thought about him since her arrival here? Did she still feel the same way about him or had things changed?

Sorokin decided that none of it really mattered. The beast realm was in danger, he had a duty to his kind and he was going to see it through no matter what.

“Let’s start asking around. Someone must know something about Lorine and Peter.”

“Who the hell are they?”

“The humans harboring Donna.”

Juno and Cedric bobbed their heads noncommittally, none of them looked too pleased with the idea but what choice did they really have? If they didn’t find Donna and help her with her mission, whatever it was, the humans could attack the beast realm and win. There was also the matter of the rebellion. If Donna did not return home with a victory soon, vampires from the lower castes would tear down that barricade and enter the human realm, where they would violently meet their deaths.

Finding Donna was imminent.

“Where do we start?”

“How about over here?”

Sorokin had been looking at Juno and Cedric the entire time and none of their mouths had moved. Wait, did he suddenly have the power to read minds? And if so, why would their inner voices sound feminine?

“Over here So’…”

Sorokin had not been imagining her after all. Inside a shop, sat Diana. She was seated next to a clear window, watching them with a smile on her face.