Blood Martinis: The Gypsy Vampire's Curse

Ch. 10 ... Juggling Tunes

“We need wheels,”Vincent the vampire said.

With a habit of losing her keys, Kate remembered the spare behind the back wheel on the driver's side of her town car.“Over here,”she yelled. She pulled the little magnetic box off the inside of the frame, and took the key out. Then unlocked the doors with the automatic button, started the engine and they pulled out of the drive.

Kilian put a finger up to stop Dylan's fervent argument.“Did you hear that?”he asked.

With a look that understood he was repeating mistakes, Dylan rushed out the rooftop door.“She's gone,”he yelled down the steps.

“Sounds about right,”Kilian scoffed. They ran down the stairs, the hall, the other stairs and out of the front door, but it was too late.

Kate and Vincent drove for miles before either started to relax. She didn't know where they were going, but knew anywhere apart from here sounded nice. Glancing over at him in his leather biker jacket with black V-neck t-shirt and dark jeans, she noticed he was quite handsome for a killer. The shade of his green eyes was similar to hers… but his severely arched eyebrows, angular jaw and cheekbones, gave his face a predatory appearance. His straight brown hair combed forward and slightly side parted, obscured his age. He could have been eighteen or thirty; she couldn't tell. She pulled the car over to the side of the road.

“Can we let her go?”Dylan asked, knowing what part of him had let this happen.

“What are you, new? She knows where the kennels are,”Kilian snapped.“Besides, we can't just let her kill people.”

“No, I can't let her do that,”he said, reminding himself.

“It's a bit late for not at all,”Kilian said, rubbing it in.“Now it's just a numbers game- how many will she kill before we catch up? Those bodies are on you, brother.”

“How could I have known she'd figure out that jump wouldn't kill her?”Dylan admitted.

“That's a good point. She was never brave. Either she tried to kill herself, or maybe she had help. That vampire could have returned,”Kilian pointed out.

“If so, she'll be a lot more dangerous and could get a lot further,”Dylan said.

“Then we need to get packed,”Kilian said.“No sense in going now. In the car they will have gotten too far to track. We'll need to wait till sunlight when the crows or the news can lead us to the bodies they've dropped.”

“What are you doing?”Vincent asked.“Get back on the road.”

“Who are you?”Kate asked.“Why do you keep coming after me?”

“That’s a conversation for another time, child,” he said.

“Please, I can't wrap my head around this,”she said.“I need to know what's going on, what this is all about.”

“My name is Vincent. I work for the King of the Roma,”he said.“I'm one of the Royal Assassins. When he found out you were still alive, he sent me to fix it. Does that make things any clearer?”

“No. Why didn't you kill me?”she asked.

“I'm still thinking about it,”he snapped.“Now, drive. You don't want your boyfriend catching up.”She got back on the road, and they drove in silence for a minute.

“Why didn't you do it?”she asked.

“I didn't expect you'd be this much hassle,”he said.“When I get a hit I don't get explanations, I just get orders. I was told to kill a girl with your name, it wasn't until I saw your mother's picture at your apartment that I realised it was you. You're too much of a coincidence not to be involved in a prophecy,”he joked.

“What prophecy?”she asked.

“An old one. A Royal New Blood, outside the clans and the feuds, is meant to change the laws of nature, rule it all, that sort of buzz. But there never is a Royal New Blood, because whenever a child is born to a royal a ritual is performed to eradicate the child's soul and replace it with that of one of the elders. That's why your mother is dead; that woman was fierce. When the council of elders denied her plea to let you live, she and your father stole you away in the night. I chased them for three years, while you started wildfires, storms and earthquakes with your powers.”

“What powers?”she asked.

“Every Royal is born with incredible magic but, babies, they don't have the mental capacity to control it. It's why the ritual is necessary.”

“What happened to my mother?”she asked.

“I think she got tired of running,”he said.“As I caught up to them, she bound her magic with yours so neither power could survive the loss of the other. I lost you at that point, but I followed her back to Mother Russia. Wielding the power of your combined force, she rained hellfire down on the castle and everyone in it. It still wasn't enough to defeat the royal children. After several hours, and the death of many members of the council, she was overcome, captured and… beheaded,”he said, glancing over to gauge her reaction.

“Beheaded?”she repeated.

“Yes. It was gory,”he said, then added,“and unnecessary. They deserve to pay for what they did to her.”He suddenly went silent, as if whatever he was thinking about was too much for him.“They need to be overthrown.”

“But I thought you worked for them?”she asked.

“Not by choice,”he said.

Kilian and Dylan went back inside to tell Bennet and Brianna the plan. Bennet agreed to go with them, and Brianna to stay behind to mind the estate. That night they showed her where the blood bags were stored in the shed, told her how often to feed the vampires, showed her where the keys to the kennels were just in case, but warned her not to let them loose. The boys packed weapons and clothes into Kilian's jeep. Bennet kissed his wife goodbye, but neither of them felt it.

“It'll be light out soon, we should stop for the day. Pull into the hotel there,”Vincent said, pointing.

Kate did as she was told. He told her they couldn't use his credit card or else the king would know their location, so she used hers. She ordered two adjoining rooms, and they went up to sleep. Apparently, vampires didn't need to sleep, but it helped pass the time and the dreams were crazy- heightened like every other sense. She laid down, resting her head on a too soft pillow, and closed her eyes.

She felt like she was swimming; pushing the water slowly through her fingers. Sparks cascading down like falling stars or dying fireflies. They were everywhere she turned. Kate looked down to see an ocean floor alight in the most brilliant neon colours- a purple and green coral reef speckled with flamboyantly costumed creatures. A green chain catshark rested on a bed of sand surrounded by orange tentacled burrowing anemones. Hot pink blue-eyed triplefin blennies guarded nests in small depressions along the steep edge of the reef. Rainbowed jellyfish fought against the current of sparks to rise toward her like paper lanterns in a night sky. A yellow false moray eel was half hidden in another crevice, scoping the open water for unassuming prey. Instead, a red bioluminescent anglerfish crossed its line of sight. A monstrous thing. It must not have looked appealing, Kate thought, as the eel seemed to barely register its passing. Suddenly, a wave overtook her. It threw her toward the rocky beach. Cold water chilling her to the bone. The rocks rushed toward her and her fear shot up like a rocket.

She opened her eyes, back in the hotel suite. Walked to the adjoining door and, just before she knocked to see if Vincent was awake, heard a young man's voice on the other side.“Do you always bring men here instead of home?”the voice flirted.

“You think you're not special?”she heard Vincent's voice reply. It sounded like someone jumped onto the bed.

“Well I do charge by the hour, if that's what you mean,”he said. She knew she shouldn't, but she opened the door just a crack. She saw Vincent move between the young man's legs on the bed. The boy had his shirt off, and his groin was bulging. He looked to be about twenty years old, with short dark red hair and a thin farm-hardened body. He was leaning up on his elbows, looking at Vincent with a cheeky smile.

Vincent turned his head slightly. Kate worried he would catch her watching, but he didn't. He just paused there, as if acknowledging her presence, and then returned to gaze at his guest. He put his hands on the boy's hips and effortlessly flipped him over. One of Vincent's hands moved up his soon-to-be lover's chest, pulling him up till the young man's back leaned against his own stomach. His hand then stopped around his neck, while the other moved to unzip the boy's trousers. He reached inside and grabbed him. Kate caught herself holding her breath, and gasped. Although they both seemed willing, something about this reminded her of what Kilian had done. Maybe it was just the proximity in time.

Vincent breathed on the young man's neck and he groaned in ecstasy. Kate, unaware of herself, traced her own fingers down her stomach. She thought he was going to pull the boy's trousers off, but he didn't. Instead, Vincent's hand on the boy's throat moved up to cover his mouth, then he whipped his head like a serpent toward the boy's neck. She could hear the boy try to scream as Vincent's teeth sank in. She suddenly felt incredibly ill, and shut the door. A few moments later the boy's muffled screams silenced, she heard him fall to the bed, and Vincent came to knock on their adjoining door that she now was sat against with her knees up to her chest.

“Come on out, kitten,”he purred,“nothing to be afraid of.”

“That's not what it looked like,”she said.

“Oh, him? Don't worry about him, I've compelled him to forget. He'll be fine in the morning,”he said. “Plenty of time before the maid comes around to find him here. That said, we ought to make a move on.”

“I don't want to go anywhere with you,”she said.

“This is the life, child,”he said.“It's nothing for you to be afraid or ashamed of. I gave this boy his money, and as far as he'll recall nothing at all happened to him. It's the easiest night's work he's probably had.”

After she opened the door to see his face, wanting to believe what his words were telling her, she let him lead her out of the rooms by the hand. As she looked at the boy, lying stomach down and wide-eyed on the bed with a small pool of blood around his neck, she tried to hear his heart beat but figured the sadness she felt was stopping her from zeroing in on the pulse of food. Vincent insisted on driving the car, and she was too weary to protest. He promised her that tomorrow would be a better day.