Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) (17 page)

***

Made of white stone and brick, the massive structure was originally constructed in the fourteenth century but many additions and extensions had been added throughout history. The interior was cold--both literally and figuratively. It was sparsely furnished, and images of Dracula as he’d been portrayed in countless movies and books were displayed prominently through out the castle. Even though I knew the building held no true connection to vampire history other than the legend imagined by Bram Stoker, it still had an eerie feel.

“I don’t like it here,” I told Chaseyn when we were far enough from Addie and Eli for them to hear. Chaseyn looked at me quizzically. “I just don’t have a good feeling.”

“It’s giving me the creeps too,” Chaseyn said.

“I’ve got the chills, but not the good kind like you give me. Could it be another vampire?” I whispered.

“I feel it too, but I’m sure it’s just the humidity adding an extra bite to the freezing air,” Chaseyn replied. “Besides we’re being silly, love. There is no good reason for us to worry--not in these parts anyway.”

We latched on to a busload of American tourists who were following a guide throughout the castle, and I started to feel better. We listened as the guide talked about the architectural features of the castle, as well as both its fictional and non-fictional history. Just before the tour officially ended, the guide took us to the central courtyard and urged each one of us to toss a coin in the well. I wished for a long, healthy, happy future with Chaseyn, and I was sure he’d done the same.

“Ready to go?” Elis asked us all.

“I’m frozen,” Addie said. “Let’s get back to the car and blast the heat.”

When we were outside the castle gates, I grabbed the keys out of Chaseyn’s coat pocket and made a mad dash for the parking lot where we’d left the car, Addie hot on my heels. Chaseyn had forced me to start driving when we started college. He wanted to know I could get to Denver on my own if there was ever an emergency, and I was feeling like I could handle the slow, but steady, pace of the Romanian roadways.

I fumbled with the key fob, and it fell to the ground just outside the driver-side door. As I bent to pluck them from the mucky slush, I realized someone had beat me to the punch. A hand reached in front of me, grabbing hold of the University of Colorado keychain before I’d even made it halfway to the ground. From his polished black shoes and pinstriped dress pants, I knew instantly it was a stranger. Neither Chaseyn nor Eli would be caught dead in anything other than jeans. Chaseyn always wore boots--even in the summer--and Eli wouldn’t dream of sporting anything other than sneakers, much to Addie’s dismay. I bumped heads with the mystery person as I stood up.

“Watch it,” I chided, rubbing my forehead.

“My apologies, love,” the man said with a slick British accent that would make any girl weak in the knees. That’s when we made eye contact for the first time, and I was taken aback by his ocean-blue eyes. He was not as tall as Chaseyn or Eli but much taller than me, with broad shoulders, and his clothes looked like they cost more than my entire wardrobe…including the pricey pieces Chaseyn had bought me for school. With a mop of sandy brown hair and a light scruff covering his chin and cheeks, he looked like he’d stepped straight off the pages of
GQ Magazine
. When Addie did an obvious double take, I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the key thief’s good looks.

“Hey mate, no one calls my girl
love
but me,” Chaseyn said when he finally caught up to me. I could have sworn his accent seemed a lot thicker than it ever had before. Chaseyn tore the keys from the man’s hand and pressed the button on the fob that would open the doors. He pushed past the stranger. “Excuse me, we’ve got to go.”

“As I said, my apologies. I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” the man repeated, blowing on his bare hands to warm them. Despite his heavy wool coat and thick scarf, his cheeks and nose were red from the cold, and he was shivering from head to toe.

“It’s really no big deal,” Addie giggled. Eli grabbed her hand and pulled her into the backseat.

Chaseyn slipped behind the steering wheel, and I knew better than to mess with a man on a mission. I would just have to wait until our next stop to take over driving. Something had clearly upset Chaseyn, and I had a feeling it was something other than the fact that this stranger had used Chaseyn’s favorite endearment for me.

“I don’t suppose you’re heading to Brasov, are you?” the man asked just as I was about to close the door. I didn’t respond, but I paused long enough that he took my silence to me we were. He was right. “I know this is a lot to ask, especially seeing as we got off on the wrong foot and all, but you don’t suppose I could catch a ride with you.”

“No,” Chaseyn shouted over me. “Close the door, Cordelia.”

When I hesitated, he became more adamant. “Now.”

I did as he asked, but Eli wasn’t ready to leave well enough alone.

“Come on, man, buddy here says he didn’t mean any harm,” Eli reasoned. “Give the guy a break.”

I looked at him with puppy dog eyes, and Chasyen’s shoulders slumped.

“It’s not a good idea,” Chaseyn said.

“How can you tell?” Addie asked innocently.

“I just don‘t have a good feeling about this,” he explained.

That was all the signal I needed to know something was wrong. When Chaseyn had a gut feeling, it was more than just a hunch. It was as good as the gospel truth. I gave Chaseyn a knowing look and waited for Eli to clue in, but he never did.

“He seems like a good guy,” Eli said.

“Besides, you two are both way bigger than him,” Addie said. “If he tried to pull something, I’m sure you could take him down.”

“Unless he has a gun,” I muttered under my breath.

“Or worse,” Chaseyn added.

That’s when I noticed the cold chill and the same creepy feeling I’d felt back at the castle. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge, and goose bumps covered my arms. Suddenly, I understood Chaseyn’s reluctance. He knew something the rest of us hadn’t. The stranger was a vampire.

“Hey pal, hop in,” Eli said before I could stop him. He pushed open the door and hopped out of the backseat. “The girls can ride in back with me. It’ll be a bit cramped, but I don’t mind. And, you can ride up front with my bro.”

“Your
bro
?” the stranger asked. “You two don’t look much alike.”

“Quit the small talk, and just get inside,” Chaseyn said before anyone could say anything else.

Addie sat between Eli and me, so she reached her hand between the bucket seats and introduced herself to the vampire sitting in front of her.

“I’m Addie, and this is my boyfriend, Eli. Lia and I have been best friends since grade school, and the party pooper sitting next to you…that’s Lia’s fiance, Chaseyn.”

“Hi Addie, it’s nice to meet you all,” the stranger said, shaking her outstretched hand. “My name is James, and I can’t blame your friend for playing it safe. You never know who you might pick up on the side of the road, after all.”

“That’s right,” I agreed. “For all we know, you’re some sort of bloodthirsty mass murderer.”

I hoped that would alert Eli to the fact that he had invited a vampire into our vehicle, but he just laughed.

“Your
fiance
’s
a sharp one, isn’t she…Chaseyn, was it?” James said. There was no reason to pretend they didn’t know each other’s secret. And now, James knew I was in on it too.

We rode in silence a while, and I wondered what James was hoping to gain by tagging along with us. It seemed an impossible coincidence he had asked us for a ride when there were so many other people with much more comfortable cars who could have given him a ride.

A short drive later, we arrived in Brasov. We all piled out of the car and began walking toward Old Town. James followed suit.

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

“We’re just going to walk around a bit, grab something to eat, and then head to our hotel for the night,” Addie offered. I wanted to slap my hand across her mouth to hush her. Sometimes that girl just didn’t know when to stop.

“Where are you staying?”

“We’re driving to Sighisoara tonight,” she said. “We’re staying at a place with a deer head. No, wait, it’s called the House with Antler. It looked really cute on the website, and I think it’s pretty well known.”

“Oh, it is,” James assured. “I’ve stayed there before. If you don’t mind, perhaps I could drive through with you? I’d like to stay the night there as well.”

“That would be great,” Addie said. “Where is it exactly you’re headed?”

“I don’t like to limit myself to the confines of an itinerary,” James said. “I like to let the people I meet be my guide.”

“I’ll bet you do,” I said.

“The next day, we’re driving through the Borgo Pass, do you know it?” Addie asked James.

“Of course I do,” he replied. “That’s the route Jonathan Harker took on his way to meet Dracula.”

“Wow, you sure know a lot about Romania,” Addie chirped. She was totally smitten, and I was surprised Eli was putting up with it.

“Actually, we’re staying at some Dracula-themed hotel,” Eli said. “It’s in the middle of nowhere, I think, but it looks pretty cool.”

I wondered for a moment why Eli would think it was a good idea to share so much information with a complete stranger. Addie was far too friendly for her own good, but I had thought Eli would know better. I shot him a glare, but it seemed to go over his head.

“The Castel Dracula Hotel,” James said. “I know it well. In fact, I used to work there.”

“You did?” Addie asked, truly amazed at this piece of information.

“Yes, they have a crypt in the basement. They like to take tourists down there and tell them all about Dracula. When you least expect it, a vampires pop out of the coffin.”

“Let me guess...
you
were the vampire,” Chaseyn said, his tone dry as a desert.

“Right. How did you guess?” James questioned, but I heard the hint of teasing in his tone. Chaseyn chose to ignore him then.

The architecture of Brasov’s Old Town reminded me of a small German village. We wandered the streets a while, but aside from a few souvenir shops, there wasn’t much to see or do. James insisted on taking us to one of his favorite local diners for lunch. The food was set up like a buffet so you could view each dish. But instead of serving yourself, you had to tell the attendant your order. We loaded our plates with stew and potatoes, bread, and beef, and it cost no more than twenty dollars for all of us to eat--all of us, except James.

“You should eat something,” Addie urged. “We still have a long drive ahead, and who knows if we’ll find someplace to eat when we get there. It will be late, and most places will be closed, I’m sure.”

“I’m sure I’ll manage to find something to sink my teeth into,” James insisted, and if my eyes were right, he winked at me when he spoke the words.

“No one we know, I hope,” Chaseyn hissed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I knew his protective instinct had kicked in, and it worried me that he was concerned.

It was in that moment Eli realized what was going on. I knew because he kicked me under the table. His eyes opened wide, and he, too, wrapped his arm around Addie.

“You’re so funny, James,” Addie giggled at something James had said, but I hadn’t been paying attention. “Isn’t he funny you guys?’

“Just swell,” Chaseyn muttered.

***

Since Chaseyn was able to find what we needed for the antidote in Bran Village, we had no reason to stay in Brasov once we had done eating. It was late afternoon, and it would be a few more hours before we reached Sighisoara for the night.

For a fleeting moment, I wished Addie wasn’t with us so Chaseyn could break all the road rules and get us there faster. I mentally gave my wrist a slap--I was happy to have her here. Wasn’t I? If she hadn’t come, we wouldn’t have to suffer through all the pretense. We could just breeze from town to town grabbing the ingredients so we could meet up with Mina and make this nightmare go away all that much faster.

On the other hand, Mina hadn’t tracked down a blood relative yet, so we couldn’t produce the antidote anyway. Thanks to Addie, we were taking time to enjoy the beauty of this amazing nation.

Sighisoara was known for its well-preserved stonewall that surrounded the city center. It was rush hour when we reached the city limits, and we had to fight our way through traffic to get to our hotel in the heart of the Citadel.

“I hear this place is crawling with vampires,” James said as we pulled up out front of the House with Antler, the inn where we would be staying for the night.

“No,” Addie gasped. “I hope not.”

“It’s true. Vlad the Impaler was born here, and they say some of the people he turned into vampires still live in the Citadel,” James said.

“Is that true? Did he really do that?” Addie asked, concern--or was it fear--clear in her voice. “I thought that was all an old wives tale.”