The Vengeance of the Vampire Bride (31 page)

Eyes flashing dangerously, she drew
away. “Adem will stay with you until this danger is passed.
Apparently,” she gave him a dark look, “he prefers your company and
Magda’s to his wife’s.” With the wave of her hands, she
vanished.

Twisting about in my chair, I said in a
gasp, “Wife?” as Magda echoed me.

Anger flushed his face and he nodded
curtly. “Yes, my wife. She lives in the haven.”

Without a word, Magda rushed from the
room, the door slamming behind her.

Standing up, I pointed an accusing
finger at Adem. “I care for you, but she is dear to my heart. Do
not hurt her!”

“I will explain it to her.”

“I may be a wanton woman, but Magda is
pure in heart and deed! Did you know Vlad killed her husband? That
she has mourned for him for years while remaining Vlad’s faithful
servant?”

“I do not want to cause her pain. I
have only recently spoken of my love to her. It is fresh and new.
It was not the time to tell her that I am cursed to immortality
because of a foolish pact I made with Astir long ago because I
could not allow my wife to die.”

“Explain it to me,” I
ordered.

“Saadat was dying. She had given birth
to a son that did not live beyond the first hour of his life. The
bleeding would not stop. I knew of Astir by reputation. It was said
that she was an angel of Allah. I carried Saadat to the place where
I was told Astir could hear my prayers. Astir did come and told me
that in her haven Saadat would never die, but she could never
leave. I begged to go with her, unable to bear life without her.
Astir vowed that if I swore my fealty to her, she would allow me
into the haven. I would also be immortal, but would be allowed to
leave the haven should Astir desire it.” Adem sat down heavily in
the chair I had perched upon earlier and rubbed his scarred face
with his hands. “That was many hundreds of years ago. Saadat and I
were happy for a portion of them, but the haven corrupted her
slowly. She gave herself up to the pleasures of the haven and
spurned me. I begged her to leave the haven with me, knowing that
to leave without Astir’s permission would mean both of our deaths.
I thought if we repented of our sin, Allah would forgive us. Saadat
refused to leave. A little of her love for me must have remained
for she never told Astir what I asked of her.”

“So you are just as lonely as I am.” I
touched his shoulder, my anger dissipating.

“I love Magda, countess, but we are
just as damned as you and your love are.”

“Go tell her, Adem. Tell her the
truth.” I felt drained and tired all at once. I needed some time to
be alone and gather my thoughts. It was plain to see that I had
been oblivious to quite a lot of what had been happening around
me.

Rising, he bowed quickly, then followed
after Magda. I fought the impulse to embrace him and attempt to
comfort him. From the set of his shoulders and expression, I could
see he was just as tormented as I.

When the door shut behind him, I fell
back into my chair. In silence, I pondered all I had
learned.

Chapter 20

The Journal of Countess
Dracula

October 3, 1820

The Dosza Palace

In the difficult emotional
aftermath of the evening, all thoughts of Vlad were swept
away.

Hungry, I summoned the
Baroness to my chamber. This time I took more blood than my
previous sips. She swooned as I fed and fell unconscious upon my
couch. I left her and sat alone in my bedroom, contemplating the
night’s events. I brooded in my misery, feeling trapped by Astir’s
words.

Later, when Adem returned
with Magda, he carried the Baroness to her room. Moody, I retired
early to bed. This act did not give me the comfort I yearned for. I
could smell Ignatius upon my bedclothes and the memory of his touch
filled me with great longing. Heartbroken, I cried myself to
sleep.

There was no dream this
time. No slow seduction in my bed. I awoke when I was slapped so
soundly my ears rung. Gasping, I could see the apparition of Vlad
Dracula over my bed. I barely had time to fully understand the
event that was unfolding when his phantom hand gripped me about the
throat and flung me across the room. My body struck the wall with
such violence the plaster broke and rained down around me. Clinging
to the wall with my power, I scurried up into the corner feeling my
cold blood seeping through my hair and down my spine. Frantically,
I searched the room for the attacking phantom.

Vlad’s misty form
materialized below me and seized my ankle. Wrenching me off the
wall, he tossed me over the canopy of the bed and I hurtled into my
vanity. It splintered into pieces beneath my body. My cosmetics
crashed to the floor and the powders billowed into the air like
mist, their sweet smell filling my nostrils.

The door to my room was
tossed open.

“Countess!” Adem cried out,
gripping a silver dagger in one hand.

Magda brushed past him and
gasped.

The shattered remains of my vanity bit
into my skin as I crawled out of the wreckage.

“It’s Vlad!” I warned them.

Magda’s face turned ashen as Adem
raised his dagger higher. Sweeping his eyes over the room, Adem
sought out my attacker, his body poised for battle. Magda rushed to
help me to my feet, her long hair falling around her stricken
face.

Vlad’s apparition appeared just before
Magda reached my side. She screamed as he blocked her way and fell
back in an attempt to evade him.

“Traitor!” he snarled at her. His
shadowy form dismissed her with a savage look, then gripped my
throat in both his hands. “Release me from my coffin and I will
forgive you!”

I had no need for breath, but I knew he
could rip my head from my shoulders. Frightened, I attempted to
fight him. My hands and feet passed through his spectral body like
vapor, but the hands about my throat felt like iron.

“Release me, Glynis!” Vlad’s voice
shouted. “Release me and I will forgive you!” His face was a dark
shadow, but his eyes were coals of fire.

Adem struck out at Vlad, his silver
blade slashing through his murky form. Vlad growled and struck my
guard savagely across the face. Adem was thrown back from the blow,
but he quickly recovered and rose to his feet. Again, he slashed at
the apparition, but his blade was useless against the specter. Vlad
laughed at Adem’s futile attempts before tossing him
away.

Hands tightening around my throat, Vlad
hissed at me, “Release me.”

Magda surged forward, her hand thrust
out before her. I suffered the rosary before I saw it dangling in
her fingers. The light emanating from it was like fire washing over
me and I screamed in pain. She slashed the cross through the
apparition of her former master and Vlad howled in agony before
vanishing.

Violently convulsing, I flung out my
hands toward the cross. I could feel its power burning my hands.
Magda was rooted in fear and did not immediately recognize my
distress.

It was Adem that snatched the cross and
threw it across the room. “It is hurting her, too!”

Immediately, I was released from its
power and lay panting on the floor.

“How was he here?” Magda cried out. “He
is not dead! How can his ghost attack us?”

“It’s his spirit. It is wandering the
earth and it has found her,” Adem answered grimly. He fell to the
floor beside me and swept me up into his arms. Smoothing my hair
back from my face with one hand, he reached out to Magda with the
other. She wrapped her arms about both of us and we clung to each
other.

“How?” Magda whispered.

“Black magicks.” I was trembling with
fright and the words came out in a choked sob.

Magda gasped. “Ignatius told me we must
find you a protective talisman, but I did not know why. Forgive me!
He told me to take you to a gypsy fortuneteller as soon as he was
gone.”

“Do not feel guilty, Magda,” I urged
her. “We were all a bit overwhelmed and not ourselves last
night.”

“I am not certain where we will find
someone who can help you,” Magda continued. “I suppose there may be
someone in Pesth.”

“I would not advise going to the
gypsies unless you are certain they are not charlatans.” Adem’s
voice was heavy with worry.

Trembling, I rubbed my hand over my
throat. It was painful to the touch. “I must do something. This was
the most powerful he has ever been when attacking me. Ignatius told
me he was afraid that Vlad was finding a way to feed from me. I
believe he is right. I must find a way to stop Vlad from taking any
more of my power. Should he rise...”

Magda pulled at her dark black hair and
wound it around her fingers nervously. Her expression was tormented
and tears slid over her cheeks. “We must do something, Adem. I
cannot bear it if he rises.”

“I agree. We must stop whatever he is
doing to the countess.” Adem’s strong, rough hand smoothed my hair
back from my face. “Countess, you must heal yourself.”

“Feed from me,” Magda
offered.

“Only a few sips.” I bent my head over
her wrist and bit into her willing flesh.

Adem stroked my hair as I fed. It was a
soothing sensation. I felt loved and cared for as Magda’s sweet
blood renewed me and healed my bruised throat. Licking her wound
then my lips, I sat back and peered into the gloom of my room. Vlad
did not dwell in the shadows, but I feared he would
return.

Suddenly, I remembered something Laura
had said. “Maria regularly consults with a fortuneteller! Laura
says she is quite impressive. Sir Stephan does not like that his
wife brings her into their home, but indulges her. Ever since
Laura’s younger brother died, Maria tries to speak to him from
beyond the grave.”

“Excellent!” Adem pressed me into
Magda’s arms and stood swiftly. “I will go there immediately and
have them summon the fortuneteller to their home. I do not want the
gypsies coming here. Gypsies sometimes serve the undead, but
oftentimes they hunt them.”

“Agreed! Please arrange for a
consultation tonight. If I do not act soon, I fear what Vlad may be
capable of!”

Adem nodded briskly, then turned and
strode out of the room.

Magda helped me to my feet and led me
over to the bed. My cosmetics smeared the floor and the room still
smelled of powder.

“Are you and Adem at peace?” I
dared.

“We are hoping to find it soon,” she
replied. She fussed with the paper twists in my hair and wiped the
powder from my face with the edge of her robe.

“Magda, if his wife no longer loves
him, does it really matter if he takes you as a lover?”

My maid smiled ruefully and rubbed my
cheek a little harder. “He is a man of honor. I have no doubt that
he loves me, but he still honors her.”

“Have you seen her?”

“Yes. I did not know who she was then.
She is beautiful. But she is also cruel. When I saw her she was in
the arms of another man and did not care that Adem was in her
presence.”

“The corruption of the haven,” I
murmured.

“Yes.” Magda finished cleaning my face
and tucked my hair back from my neck. I could see her relief that I
was healed. “I thought he would tear your head from your
shoulders.”

“As did I.”

“I am sorry I hurt you with my rosary.
I shall take it from the room.”

“Why did you bring it?” It wounded me
to think she was afraid of me and kept it for
protection.

“Now that I am no longer bound to Vlad,
I have returned to my church. I carry it with me to pray. I always
make sure to keep it from your sight.” She paused and her dark eyes
regarded me with worry. “Do you wish for me to no longer
attend?”

“No, no!” I shook my head adamantly.
“Please, continue. Pray for me. Perhaps God will hear your prayers
on my behalf.”

Smiling slightly, she touched my hands.
“I will. I promise. Should I stay with you?”

“Could you?” I yawned as I fell back on
my bed. “I must sleep. The sun makes me so very drowsy.”

“I will. If he returns, I will use the
rosary upon him again.” Her dark eyes flashed with defiance. “He
will not touch you.”

“Thank you, dearest Magda,” I whispered
as I closed my eyes.

Vlad did not return.

Later-

I was relieved to leave
the Dosza Palace behind as the carriage wove its way down the lane
toward Sir Stephan’s home. The Baroness was still sleeping when I
departed, which was fortunate since I had yet to decide what sort
of tale I should tell her about the destruction in my bedroom.
Meanwhile, Magda set about arranging the move to another suite. I
was saddened to leave my beautiful blue rooms, but Vlad’s attack
had destroyed its serene aura.

Dressed in a pale pink
dress with tiny red beads and thick ivory lace adorning the
petticoats, I felt a bit more poised than earlier. My mother always
said that a lady should dress her part despite how she was feeling.
I understand her wisdom now. Once I am properly coiffed and
dressed, I feel empowered to be Countess Dracula, even though the
name is loathsome.