Heart of the Vampire (Vanderlind Castle) (19 page)

Chapter 28

By the time it was five o’clock, I had worked myself up into a state of insecurity and a bit of panic. I was insecure because Jessie had, after all, rejected me when I’d offered myself to him. But on the other hand, he was from a time when sex was something that usually didn’t happen until after marriage. Jessie was a gentleman, after all, and I had not been acting like a lady.

I was panicky because I was on the verge of facing my tribunal of vampires. When I thought about it, all of my instincts told me to jump out the window and flee into the countryside.
The only problem was I had no idea how I would survive. I tried to think it through. During the night, I could sleep in a stake-enforced box or something, kind of turning myself into a reverse vampire, but I was sure whoever had hired the Mob to snuff me out would keep paying the humans to hunt me down during daylight hours. I had to face the vampires. My only hope of not completely melting down before the tribunal was having Jessie at my side. If they separated us, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

I was so grateful when Margaret finally returned with some dinner on a tray. “I assumed you didn’t want lunch,” she told me as she set out the food. “Seeing that you’d breakfasted so late.”

“Margaret,” I called after her as she turned to leave the room, “would you sit with me for a while. I’m making myself nuts alone in here.”

“Oh, you poor thing
; you must be frightened sick,” she said, sounding very sympathetic.

I probably should have been solely worried about my own safety rather than spending half the day mooning over a fading photograph. But being found guilty by the Bishops felt so abstract. I couldn’t quite keep it in my brain. Potentially being rejected by a guy was something I was used to. I knew how those emotions functioned. But a vampire tribunal deciding my fate? No, it just felt too alien to me to think about for long. Still, I didn’t want Margaret to think I was a foolish little idiot. “Yes, it’s... stressful,” I told her. “Has there been any news today
?”

“Not that I’ve heard.” She started loading food on a plate. “The family has added extra security, but besides that
, everything has been quiet.” Looking up from what she was doing, she asked, “Do you like black pepper?”

“You’re not making that for me, are you?” I asked, springing to my feet. “I thought you were joining me for a snack.”

“Don’t be silly, Colette,” she said, setting the plate down on the table. “If I was to eat your meal and the Csorbos found out, I would be discharged immediately. And being fired by a vampire family is much worse than being fired by anyone else.”

“Can you at least sit with me for a little bit?” I asked in a small voice, sounding like a little girl. I hadn’t meant to potentially get her in trouble.

“Why don’t you start eating, and I’ll get your clothes ready for the tribunal. I’ll join you when I’m finished.”

“But I have my own clothes,” I insisted. I had packed my most respectable outfit for the occasion.

“That’s okay,” she told me. “Mr. Vanderlind has selected some clothes for you.”

More clothes? I had to wonder. In a way it felt good that Jessie was so willing to take care of me, but in a way it felt condescending, like he didn’t trust me to make any decisions on my own. Still, he probably knew better than I did what to wear to a vampire tribunal.

I wasn’t sure what I’d expected in terms of the outfit Jessie had selected. A business suit, perhaps? But it turned out to be a blue dress with sprigs of red and yellow flowers all over it, very Laura Ashley. The long sleeves were puffed at the shoulders, and there was a bit of lace at the collar. Margaret insisted on helping me get into it, and I was too afraid to say no for fear the Csorbos would fire her if I didn’t agree, and then God knows what would happen to her.

With the dress on
, I felt very prim and not at all like myself. Plus the style was all wrong for the season. November in Budapest was cold. I guessed Jessie was hoping to make me look as much like Colette as he could.

I hated it. I hated everything about it. I hated it so much
, it made my skin itch. I looked over at Margaret. “If I keep this thing on, I’m going to break out in hives,” I told her.

“Oh. No. It’s...” she floundered for some gentle words. “It’s very nice.”

“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “I’m not wearing this.”

“But Mr. Vanderlind,” she tried to protest.

“I don’t care what Jessie said. I’m not going to face a pack of judgmental vampires looking like an extra from
Little House on the Prairie
. I’m wearing my own clothes.”

I mean, it wasn’t like I was putting on a pair of torn jeans and a tank top. I had packed pretty much the same outfit that I’d worn to meet Jessie’s mother, but I’d substituted out the skirt for a pair of gray wool pants. Budapest was just a little too chilly in November for me to deal with a skirt.

While I was changing, Margaret fussed around me, fretting. “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I’ll tell Jessie that you tried very hard to get me to wear the dress, but that I flat out refused and insisted on my own clothes.”

A flash of relief passed over her face. “Thank you.
That would really be helpful.”

There was a knock at the door
, and Gloria stuck her head in. “The family is up. They’ve finished eating and are ready to go. Mr. Vanderlind wanted me to check that you are ready and have everything you need.”

My stomach did a flip thinking about the vampires feeding, but I ignored it. “I’m fine,” I said, grabbing my bag. “Tell him I’m ready.” Ready to face the vampire inquisition.

As I headed downstairs, I was surprised to see not just Jessie waiting for me, but Vilma, the Duke, and Madame Csorbo, plus a young vampire and a middle-aged vampiress that I didn’t recognize. “What’s going on?” I asked Jessie in a low voice.

“The roads aren’t safe
, so we’re going to fly there.” He jerked his head toward the other vampires. “This is our escort.”

“We need an escort?” I gulped. And Vilma was part of it? That sounded like a recipe for getting stabbed in the back. “What do you possibly think is going to happen?”

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he replied, his mouth forming a grim line. “We just know that there’s at least one vampire who really doesn’t want you to make it to the inquest, and he has the money to pay for a lot of hired guns.”

“So, mobsters?” I asked.

Jessie nodded, slipping an arm around my waist. At least soaring through the air would make it harder for anyone to stab me with a needle.

“And what about other vampires?” I wanted to know.
All I needed was both the Mob and the undead trying to get me.

“It’s unlikely,” he assured me. “Most are waiting to hear the ruling before siding with anyone.”

“Okay.” I nodded, trying to keep my lower lip from trembling. I had been in denial ever since Jessie told me we had to go to Budapest. I had wasted my time worrying about if he wanted me or if I was hurting my mom by lying to her about my dad. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was better that my brain had just decided not to give much thought to the inquest because there was really nothing I could do.

Jessie wrapped his other arm around me and held me tight. Whispering in my ear, he said, “I promise you
, I will not let anyone harm you. Even if things don’t go our way, I will keep you safe. I swear this with my life.”

Turning to our escort, Jessie said, “I guess we’d better get going.”

Madame Csorbo came forward and grabbed both my hands, as was her habit. “My dear,” she said. “Please do take the best care of yourself. My prayers are with you.” I guess it made sense that she would not be part of the escort. She was the only one in a dress.

Since we were flying, I was extra glad I had refuse
d to wear the Laura Ingalls dress. I didn’t need to moon half of Budapest on my way to face down a bunch of vampires. Jessie noticed my clothes as well. “Didn’t Margaret tell you I selected a dress for you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “She did. And I even tried it on
because she forced me to, but it was too awful. I felt all itchy and gross. I just couldn’t face the Bishops in that thing. I mean, seriously, what were you thinking?”

Jessie chuckled. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I forgot for a moment that you are a modern girl.”

We all headed outside and down the front steps. Madame Csorbo waved at us from the doorway. “Good luck,” she called, almost cheerfully.

“Ready?” Jessie asked,
addressing his compatriots. There were some nods in affirmation. Jessie swept me into his arms and lifted off into the air. The other vampires followed suit, surrounding us, one on each side.

The sun had gone down early because it was fall, but
with the partial moon and the lights from the city, it wasn’t pitch black out or anything. “What keeps people from noticing us?” I asked, the wind whipping around us. My pea coat wasn’t doing much in terms of keeping out the cold.

Jessie noticed me shivering and pulled me closer. “People just don’t look up that much when there isn’t a full moon. Especially in the cities. You’d be surprised.”

“If you say so,” I said with a shrug, wondering how often I looked up past the streetlights. Or at least how often I’d done it before I knew vampires existed.

Although I was cold and pretty darn scared, it was wonderful to see Budapest by air. America just doesn’t have the same architectural beauty as the old cities of Europe. I couldn’t help but look around and marvel as we flew.

It was only a few minutes before Jessie said, “Not too long now,” and we dropped lower in the sky. Then he called to the others, “Keep your eyes open.”

He no more than said it when there was a loud bang and we were knocked to the side as if someone had crashed into us with a Buick. “What was that?” I yelped.

“It’s nothing,” Jessie said with a grimace, but I couldn’t help but notice we were quickly losing more altitude.

“Where?” Vilma asked, obviously knowing more than I did about what had just happened.

“The bell tower,” was Jessie’s reply.

“Bell tower,” Vilma repeated to the other vampiress
, and the two women zoomed off toward a nearby church. The Duke and the other male vampire pulled in closer, practically flying shoulder to shoulder with Jessie.

Turning his attention back to me
, Jessie said, “I need you to hang on tight for a minute.”

I was already clinging to him, but his words made
me wrap my legs around his torso. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“Just keep your head down
.” Jessie grunted. He’d let go of me and was reaching around my back to massage his right shoulder with his left hand.

“What’s going on?” I repeated, getting desperate to know. I had to trust that if I fell, Jessie would catch me, but still, I was used to his arms holding me
firmly when we flew. Jessie let out a loud grunt, and I saw something small and gray fall away from his shoulder. “What was that?” I demanded.

“A bullet,” he said, returning his hands to my waist.

“A what?” I all but shouted.

“There’s no reason to get upset,” he assured me. “I’ve just been shot.”

Chapter 29

“You’ve been what?” I shrieked, squirming around, trying to get a look at Jessie’s shoulder.

“There’s someone in the bell tower with a rifle,” he said. “So I need you to keep your head down.” To emphasize the point, Jessie put his hand on top of my head and tried to tuck me to his chest.

“Someone’s shooting at us?” I was having trouble processing his words. “Why would someone be shooting at a bunch of vampires?” It didn’t make sense. A crossbow, maybe, but bullets were made out of lead.

“They’re not shooting at us,” he explained, exasperation filling his voice. “They’re shooting at you. So I need you to stop talking and get your head down. I can heal almost instantly. You can’t.”

“Oh!” I instantly hunched my head and pulled
up my legs, trying to curl into as tiny of a ball as possible.

Another shot rang out from off to the left, the bullet tearing at Jessie’s coat. “Damn it! This is camel hair,” he growled.

“The high rise?” the Duke asked, nodding toward a building that definitely had that brick, nineteen-fifties squareness to it.

“Yeah,” the other vampire agreed. “He’s on the roof. I’ll take him; you stay with the girl.”

“Just because I’m older, doesn’t mean I don’t want to still have fun,” the Duke complained, but it was too late because the other vampire had already peeled off, zooming toward the building.

I wondered how Jessie would feel if I actually threw up on his camel hair topcoat. “Are we almost there?” I whimpered.

Jessie kissed my temple. “Hold on, my love,” he breathed in my ear. Then he put on a burst of speed, diving low in the sky, sending the buildings whizzing by.

“Gi
ve a fellow a little warning,” the Duke called after him, flying hard on his heels.

We dropped out of the sky
, and before I could get my bearings, Jessie had set me on the pavement and was jerking open the door to a very modern-looking office building with lots of glass. The building could very well have doubled as a newer bank, but without the ATMs out front. The Duke was behind us, shielding me with his body. “Quick, get inside,” Jessie commanded, shoving me through the door.

I heard a loud pop, pop, pop
, and three bullet holes appeared in the glass just as the Duke pulled the door shut. I stumbled over my own feet and sat down hard. “Don’t worry,” Jessie said, scooping me back up. “Bulletproof.”

The next thing I knew
, we were in a well-lit lobby. A pretty woman sitting behind a desk looked up. “Yes?” she said, with a hint of a smile for Jessie. “May I help you?” The hail of bullets as we’d entered the building hadn’t rattled her at all.

“We have an eight o’clock appointment on the thirteenth floor,” Jessie replied.

The woman looked down at her computer screen. “Name?”

“Jessie Vanderlind and Colette Gibson.”

“Just sign in and you can go on up,” she told us. “The Bishops are expecting you.”

Jessie added his name to a clipboard sign
-in sheet then handed me the pen. “Colette,” he said, giving me a significant look.

Begrudgingly, I signed in as Colette Gibson. Jessie obviously had his reasons for forcing me to take on the name of my dead aunt.

As Jessie pushed the button and we waited for the elevator, the Duke approached the desk and gave his name. “Should we wait for him?” I asked.

“No.” Jessie shook his head. “We should be safe in here. You’re the only human in the building
, and no vampire is going to attack us right under the Bishops’ roof.”

“What will the vampires do to th
ose guys shooting at us?” I asked.

Jessie looked me in the eyes. “Do you really want the answer to that question?”

The light came on, a bell chimed, and the elevator doors opened. We stepped aboard, and Jessie pushed the button for the thirteenth floor. “The Bishops are on the thirteenth floor?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “They own the whole building. The thirteenth floor is just where the
y hold the inquests. Someone’s idea of a joke.”

I pawed through my bag for a brush, wishing I had tied
my hair back—if only I’d known we were going to fly. “This seems like a very strange place for a bunch of vampires to hold a trial,” I commented.

“Does it?” Jessie glanced around at the interior of the elevator. “Where did you think we’d h
old it? In a basement somewhere?”

“Or a crypt,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Okay, no more of that talk, Colette,” he said, putting his arm around me. “Just remember, you’re the reincarnation of Colette Gibson, and we’re madly in love.” Looking up at his handsome face and his ruffled black hair, I knew I could at least remember the second part.

The doors opened
, and we were in another lobby—just like in a medical building. We signed in again and took a seat on one of the brown leather sofas. Muzak was being piped in, and I thought maybe it was
The Girl from Ipanema
. “This reminds me of the elevator scene from
The Blues Brothers
,” I commented.

“What?” Jessie gave me a peculiar look.

“Never mind.” I shook my head. “I just watch too many eighties movies with my mom.”

The woman at the desk answered her phone after it buzzed. She looked over at us. “The Bishops will see you now. Conference room number three.” We got up
, and she directed us with, “It’s through the doors, down the hall, and to your left.”

Maybe it was just a delayed reaction from having been shot at, but suddenly my legs weren’t working very well. Or
maybe I suddenly realized that I was entering a room full of judgmental vampires and might never come out again. Either way, I had to clutch at Jessie’s arm to keep upright. I started trembling all over, and I was seeing spots behind my eyes.

“Aur
ora,” Jessie said in a very quiet voice, “you’re going to be all right.” He put his hand underneath my trembling chin and raised my head. “Look at me, Aurora. You have to trust me on this when I say, no matter what, you will be fine.” He was looking straight into my eyes. His eyes were so gray, like storm clouds in a dark sky, that I just had to believe him. I literally trusted him with my life.

Feeling steadier, I allowed him to lead me down the hall to conference room number three. Jessie reached up
, and as he was about to knock, the door opened. “Come in,” said a silver-haired man wearing a well-cut blue pinstripe suit. “It’s nice to see you, Jessie.” He extended his hand, and Jessie shook it.

“Same here, Winston,” Jessie said. “May I present my fiancée
, Miss Colette Gibson.” Then to me, he added, “Colette, this is Winston Hawthorn.”

“I’ve heard so much
about you,” Winston said, taking my hand in both of his. “And none of the praise has been exaggerated.” He looked my face over carefully and then added, mostly to himself, “So young and fresh.” I felt like a recently slaughtered slab of veal on display in a butcher’s window.

“H
ow do you do,” I said. It was the most old-fashioned thing I could think to say. If my life depended on being Colette, than I had damn well better try to be Colette.

“Come in.” Winston ushered us into the room. “We’re just waiting for a few more witnesses
, and we’ll be ready to get started.”

There was a long, rectangular table in the center of the room with a variety of vampires sitting around it. Most of them were dressed like bankers, but there were one or two dressed in leather, trying to convey to the world that, even though they were undead, they still knew how to rock. There was a whiteboard on one wall and an overhead projector in the corner. I felt like I’d accidentally stumbled into a stockholders meeting.

“Have a seat,” Winston said, motioning toward a couple of empty chairs on the opposite side of the table from where most of the vampires were sitting. Jessie pulled out my chair for me. I’d never really taken a seat in front of him before, so I didn’t know if this was his habit or if it was all part of the “You’re Colette,” routine.

Winston addressed me directly. “Do you speak any Hungarian?” he asked.

“No, I’m sorry, but I don’t,” I replied. “I only found out I had to come here a few days ago.”

“Do not worry yourself,” he said
, holding up a hand. “We can just as easily have the proceedings in English, if that would be a comfort to you.”

The idea of being on trial for my life
was bad enough; not being able to understand a word was twice as horrible. “That would be great,” I told him. “I’d really appreciate it.”

“
As you wish,” he replied. Then, turning to the room, he cleared his throat. “Everyone, you all know Jessie. And this is his lovely human, Colette Gibson,” Winston said, using game show hostess hands to show me off like a new car.

There were mumbled greeting
s from some of the Bishops. Jessie said hello to a few vampires by name. I had to sit there having them look me over, so I decided I might as well look back. None of them were exactly young, in the vampire sense. I was sure quite a few of them had been turned before their thirtieth birthdays, but they all appeared to have been vampires for a very long time. I was beginning to be able to gauge better who had been a vampire for a few decades and who had been a vampire for a couple of centuries. With the older ones, there was kind of a papery thinness to their flesh like with extreme vegans—when you meet them, all you want to do is jam a stick of butter in their mouths so that their skin doesn’t start blowing off like ash from a burning log. Plus there was something about their eyes. Vampires’ faces could still appear young, but it was hard to conceal hundreds of years of watching the world from their eyes.

At the far end of the table sat a vampire that looked both like a
teenage girl and a centenarian. Her hair was lustrous and a youthful color of blonde; her flesh wasn’t sagging like it does on old people, but there was something weird about her skin, something wrong. It was lumpy and a bit translucent, like the melting wax of a lit candle. I wondered about her. How old was she? I’d never seen a vampire that looked quite like her and, after the ball, I’d seen hundreds. If I had to guess, she was probably the head of the Bishops. In my mind, I thought of her as the mother of all vampires.

“Tell me,” said a vampiress who
was wearing a suit and had her hair pulled back in a severe bun. “What does it feel like to be human?” She turned to the rock-n-roll vampire next to her and added, “It’s been so long that I can barely remember anymore.”

I tried to think of an answer. How did it feel to be human? But the vampiress went on chatting to her neig
hbor, completely ignoring me. It was obvious she only wanted to hear herself ask the question.

The door opened again
, and in walked Madame Csorbo, the Duke, and three more vampires that I recognized from dinner. I shot a glance in Jessie’s direction, but he didn’t appear to be surprised or alarmed. Winston got up to greet them. He had a hushed conversation with Madame Csorbo, and then they all sat down in the remaining seats, leaving just one chair vacant.

“Shall we begin?” Winston asked, looking around the room. When no one protested, he turned to face us. “Jessie Vanderlind of the Vanderlind
family, you are accused of killing a vampire for the sake of a human. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty due to extenuating circumstances,” was
Jessie’s firm reply.

Winston turned his eyes to me. “Colette Gibson, human, you are accused of conspiring to kill a vampire for the sake of a human. How do you plead?”

I wanted to say, “Are you kidding?” Instead, I glanced at Jessie, causing him to reach over and take my hand, shaking his head with just the tiniest micromovement. I managed to pry the words, “Not guilty,” out of my lips.

“Please,” Winston said, turning back to Jessie. “In your own words, tell us what happened. How was Count Viktor Adami killed? Explain the extenuating circumstances.”

“It started at my maker’s day celebration,” Jessie began, getting to his feet. “Viktor took an unnatural interest in Colette. It wasn’t a feeding party, and I warned him that Colette was under my protection, but he refused to listen. When he became disrespectful, he was ejected from the house.” Jessie took a long breath and ran his fingers through his hair a few times. “Later in the evening, he returned to cause more trouble, and I’m afraid it came to blows, but he refused to listen to reason. After that, I just assumed he’d sobered up and felt a bit embarrassed. But it turned out he felt his honor had been slighted, and he planned to revenge himself upon me by killing Colette. When I stepped forward to protect her, he made it very clear that he was willing to fight to the death. It could have just as easily been me who was killed, and then Viktor would have killed Colette as well.” He cast a steady glare around the room. “But I doubt his actions would have brought him to trial if our fates had been reversed.”