Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (10 page)

              He shifted slightly and looked at me cautiously, already leaning away from me.

“
Exactly
like a mortal.” I rested my palm on his throat just to feel the beating of a pulse. He scrambled to his feet, practically throwing me off his lap. He obviously was not taking any chances. “How is that possible? A mortal vampire?”

“Yes, it’s rare but possible. And since I am one, I am a reject to both the vampires and the mortals.”

“I never thought that was possible.”

              He sat back down and sighed. “Me either.”

              The vampires around me began to nod off beside their dragons, as did my friends. I settled down before the fire and rested my head against Minx’s warm body. Lucian sat up and watched for any sign of Pete, his eyes heavy with fatigue.

“Lucian, Pete won’t wake up. Try to get some rest,” Prusaious mumbled in a lethargic voice.

              He had mumbled something back to her, but I was so tired I did not even register what transpired between them.

              Lucian looked back to me. “I know what you must be feeling. I know all about vampire poison, even though I don’t possess that much myself. It’s because of poison that I am a half-mortal.”

“How so?”

              His hand came to his forehead, his face darkened by the shadows, but I could see his uncertainty of where to start. “I was bit by someone I knew very well,” he paused to smile, “and someone you knew very well.”

              I glanced up at him puzzled and when my eyes blinked in astonishment, he nodded and laughed quietly. “Fitzray. It was an accident of course. When he told me of his father’s death I swore I wouldn’t tell anyone about it, but then Pete caught us by surprise and entered the room. He’d heard everything.”

“So what did you do?”

“It was Fitzray who made the first move. He accused Pete of their father’s death, which was confirmed as soon as Pete strolled into the room with a devious smile. He was laughing. Infuriated, Fitzray launched at him and since Pete was faster, he collided into me instead. He bit my hand, nearly bit off one of my fingers in the process.” He uttered an amused, tired chuckle. “It was all unintentional though, once he finally realized it was me. By then he had nearly beat me half to death.”

              I smiled. The image of Fitzray from my dream preoccupied my thoughts for a brief moment. “He was a good fighter, wasn’t he?”

“One of the best I’ve ever seen.”

“How did you become a half-mortal then?”

“Fitzray wasn’t done in his transformation becoming a vampire so his poison wasn’t fully developed. When he bit me, it wasn’t strong enough to kill me but it was enough to give me the appearance of a vampire. I have the blood of a vampire, and a little poison, but nothing more.”

              I sunk back against Minx, satisfied with his story.

“Do you miss him?”

“I don’t remember him much because of the poison,” I remarked softly.

“You will remember again, I will make sure of it.”

S
omething warm rubbed beneath my chin, waking me. It was Valiant in the form of a brilliant phoenix. He had dark ruby feathers on his head and body. His tail feathers looked like the train of a peacock, but instead they were light pink with yellow eyespots. Lucian grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

“We are leaving.”

“There is something in the palace I need to get,” I mumbled lethargically.

“Why didn’t you get it before?”

“I will be quick, I promise.”

              Before he could stop me, I was already at the palace door. I took the back steps up to the second floor. Then I slipped into the library. There was a knife on the small table, where it remained untouched since Pete last used it on the Bridge. I picked it up and hid it beneath my cape, my elbow knocking a book off the bookshelf. I picked up the black book, held it in my hands and fingered the bold silver lettering on its cover entitling
Vampires
. Curiously, I turned to the first page. It read-

             
All have heard stories, myths, and legends, but with careful research and examination, evidence shows that vampires are real creatures.

              I turned to the next page; the writing was by hand with ink splotches here and there, although the pages were in perfect shape. I closed the book and hid it beneath my cape as well, while quickly making my escape from the palace.

             
Why would Pete even have this book?

              Once outside, Minx came up to me and helped me onto his back hastily. We did not have much time.

“Let’s go to Catastrophe!”

              Minx moved to stand beside Lucian who already looked down at me from atop Jasper’s back.

“Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes, I have everything.”

“Did you wake Pete?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good. Follow me.”

              Valiant and Charlene flew over to me and took their spots atop Minx’s horns.

“Ready the dragons,” Lucian called.

              I stayed beside Lucian and watched as Pearl shrugged on her fur coat. She caught my glance and smiled. “What are you gawking at?”

“Pearl, stop your discourteous behavior!” Taj’ roared.

              Pearl looked down quickly. “I was just joking with her,” she sniffed.

“Leave her alone Pearl.”

“Yes Taj’.”

              Lucian studied me for a moment. “Are you ready to fly?”

“Yes. Take me home.”

“Ok let’s go! Start flying,” he ordered.

              Uneasily, I held onto Minx’s neck. He ran, lagging behind Jasper, being not nearly as fast. He extended his wings, braced them for flight and before I knew it, we were airborne. For a moment, I thought the thin skin that made up his fragile looking wings would fail to carry the tremendous weight of a dragon. The dragons all took off, each row at a time, and flew steadily behind us. After a few minutes of smooth flying, I knew we would be all right after all.

“I told you my plan would work!” Lucian chimed.

“You have to get home first,” Prusaious shouted back.

              I took out the black book and flipped to the next page with one arm tightly wrapped around Minx’s neck.

Chapter 1 - Identifying a Vampire

             
A vampire’s eye color can be red, gold, purple, black orange, green, etc. Their fangs, razor sharp canine teeth, can rip through flesh and bone and are a vampire’s greatest asset. Vampires mainly tend to feed on mortals. The most common site of a bite is at the base of the throat near the collarbones, near the middle of the throat, or on the left or right side of the neck. This ranges from below the ear to the shoulder. The marks left are roughly an inch or so apart. A vampire’s fangs will sink to desirable depth, which can cause paralysis.

Chapter 2 - Vampire Poison

              Vampire poison is created in the vampire’s fangs and will drip onto their lips to numb a wound. A male vampire has strong poison that may cause reactions to different vampires and humans. Only he has the ability to turn one into a vampire. A female vampire, or vampress, has weak poison that has little or no affect on victims and vampires.

“What are you reading?” Lucian inquired, snapping my attention away from the book.

“Oh, just a book I found.”

“What is it about?”

“Vampires.”

“Oh.” He quickly turned away, suddenly more interested in the vast space spread out before him.

              I turned back to the book and flipped through the pages, stopping at one chapter in particular that caught my eye.

Chapter 15 - Transformation

              Transforming into a vampire requires the poison of a male vampire. (See chapter 2). It is common that a vampire can bite a young boy by simply getting angry with them and suffer the consequence of a bite in the process. It would only take ten minutes or so for the poison to set in and react with human blood cells. With the poison mixed in, it gives the boy a craving for blood since poison destroys healthy cells. This is in all cases for vampires. This does not require a Blood Ceremony, for the poison would simply set and the boy would fall asleep for a few hours.

              Turning a girl into a vampress is a slightly more complicated process. A vampire may feed for hours at a time, but six hours of consistent feeding is ample time for the poison to set in to ensure transformation. A vampire would be well overfed after only a couple of hours and therefore must sustain himself another several hours to turn his victim into a vampress, thus must have a very good reason for it. A vampire can only turn one victim into a vampress. During the experience, she is likely to be awake during the process, but will forget it all the next day. It is even common for a new vampress to forget ever meeting the vampire that turned her. In some cases, a newly turned vampress can suffer memory loss, which, over time, will recover.

              The vampire would leave until she is fully conscious and then return to find her again. He would then complete the transformation with a Blood Ceremony. (See chapter 18). After the Ceremony, the vampire has total control over the relationship. With newly acquired power, a vampire is stronger and can kill any vampire or mortal that gets in the way of their relationship. The two vampires are Eternal Mates.

             
I closed the book and leaned against Minx.

“You should get some rest, it will be a while before we get to Catastrophe,” Lucian said.

“What will we do once we get to Catastrophe?”

“Yeah Lucian, what
will
we do once we get to Catastrophe?” Prusaious chimed.

“I want to take you to some places you may find familiar.”

“Why?”

“No not you! Chenille.”

              Prusaious crossed her arms and led her dragon banking to the right, away from us.

“Where will you take me?”

“Just a few places you should recognize.”

              Once we landed, I stood on the Bridge as the vampires and dragons parted in their separate directions, relieved to be standing on solid stone. My friends went about their business, trusting that I would be safe in Lucian’s hands for the short time he promised to look over me.

              He took me to a house where there was a marble tile floor with a huge fireplace and velvet covered chairs. He led me through the house and showed me every room, waiting for me to remember something, but I did not. He put a fire in the fireplace and closed his eyes.

“Lay down on the rug.”

              I obeyed, as usual, but not without hesitation.

“I want to try something.” He moved to sit beside me. “You fell into a river once and nearly drowned, but Fitzray had saved you. Then you met Charlene and found Valiant and cared for Minx.” He opened his eyes and smiled.

“How do you know that?”

“I knew Fitzray and I am part of his family so I have access to his memory, or, at least, the memory he had. I can tell you anything you need to know about him.”

              I closed my eyes. “We go way back.”

“You do. Now I want to try something…maybe I can share some of his memory with you.”

“How?”

“I am not sure if this will work…just stay still.”

              He slid his lips to mine in one swift movement and my head drifted off before I could think to move away. Lucian kept a warm hand to my forehead and shushed me quietly. I jerked up cautiously, afraid. Pete was the last to kiss me and inflicted too much damage in doing so. I was on my feet, breathing heavy with sudden panic, unable to tell if his expression was a threat to me or not. He stood up to take hold of my hand.

“You can trust me. I saved you from Pete. I took you home. That must count for something.”

              It was true, but suffering emotional and physical distress from another vampire made my stomach churn uncomfortably even staring at
his
promising face.

“All I want to do is help you.” He sighed. “Fitzray
is
a part of me in a way.”

              I sat back down keeping one hand on his wrist to keep a check on his pulse. The rhythmic throbbing was elevated slightly.

“Be still,” he ordered.

              I saw a man with black hair and green eyes, a wolf, and the two of us jumping off a building roof. I saw myself with a vampire I knew very well performing the Blood Ceremony with me…well, at least trying to attempt it. I saw Fitzray’s experiences, the ones he loved and hated. I saw Pete and their conflicts, their mother gasping her last breath, and their father dying beside Fitzray.

              I broke away from Lucian, my breath in gasps, unable to endure it anymore. The visions came over me so fast I was sure only a few short moments had passed.

“What…did you see?”

“Everything.”

“No, you didn’t see everything. I will show you
everything
.”

              He kissed me again and this time I was on the Bridge. I saw Pete and Fitzray. A knife slid through a dragon’s wing and the sound of my own scream rang out. The fear I felt, even now, watching it replay, was so real, like a loud beat in the heart of death. Fitzray’s body fell over the wall, the long howl of the black wolf rang out, and then Pete kissed me and I forgot everything.

“No!” I screamed and turned my head. “It can’t be true, Fitzray is dead! Pete killed him! I didn’t think it was true…I didn’t believe you when you told me. I didn’t know. I didn’t remember him.” I wanted to cry at the very thought.

“You remember?”

              I shook my head from the memories I wanted so desperately to forget.

“It’s all right,” Lucian whispered.

              He rested on his side beside me and watched me quietly.

“Perform the Ceremony with me,” I whispered.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have done that,” he replied doubtfully. “Besides, I couldn’t do that even if you wanted me to.”

“Yes! Yes you can!”

“No, I
can’t
.”

“Why?”

“Our love for each other does not run solemnly in our bones and therefore couldn’t be carried out. And I am more of a mortal.” He sounded panicked.

“It doesn’t matter-,”

“Yes it does. You see, I don’t have a taste for blood, and if you bit me…I could die.”

“I wouldn’t let you die. I wouldn’t kill you.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t do it intentionally,” he laughed nervously. “Why do you want a Ceremony anyway?”

“You can keep me safe. With a Ceremony, Pete wouldn’t be able to perform one and I would be safe from him for good. If Pete finds me, he will make me perform the Ceremony with him. I would rather perform the Ceremony with you.”

“Listen, all I can do now is keep you safe. I can’t guarantee anything. Besides, I’d rather not take the risk of performing a Ceremony if it means I can keep you safe for another day.”

              The heat of the fireplace took its toll and I rested beside Lucian. I was safe for now.

              Before I could settle into a deep sleep, Lucian stood up, swiftly grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. Dazed as I was, he guided me outdoors where the moon still sat in the sky. He took me through the woods and spoke nothing as I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself.

“Lu…where are you taking me? It’s late.”

“It is a surprise,” he said.

              I thought he was about to start the Ceremony itself but quickly thought otherwise, considering the conversation we had earlier. My feet soon crunched over pure white sand and I could hear the crash of waves that sent salty sprays of water to the stars.

“If you told me we were going to the beach I would have brought a bathing suit or something.”