The Bathory Curse (28 page)

“You knew?” Mihail asked.

“Of course; like you could actually hide it, but
continue,” Nea settled down, waiting, a smile stretched across her
face.

“We are having a baby!” Stasi exclaimed. Her face
fell as her mother froze, arm dropping away from her daughter.

“What?” Nea asked, frozen, torn between joy and
worry. Mihail quickly explained what had happened with Phoebe and
how Stasi was almost four weeks pregnant. Nea walked over the
window, collecting her thoughts before she spoke.

“You are happy with this? This is what you want?”
she asked, her reflection pale against the glass.

“Yes, we are and we want you to be too,” Stasi said,
walking over to Mihail and wrapping her arms around his waist.

“This will help you too, Mother, the Titan admitted
it, it shall be a granddaughter.”

“Who isn’t a granddaughter,” Nea finished for him, a
tiny spark of hope in her chest. Then fear filled her and she spun
around, eyes wide.

“You both must leave, at once,” she stated, Stasi
jumped and Mihail frowned, but Ruxandra nodded at her
grandmother.

“I shall start the preparations immediately.”
Ruxandra turned and hurried off.

“What? What do you mean leave?” Stasi went to Nea
and took her hands.

“You cannot stay in England as long as Costica is
here. The baby will not be safe; you both will not be safe, if he
hears even the whisper of this…” Terror was filling every inch of
Nea. She called for Sabine, the only real form of telepathy Stregas
could do, and the red head appeared within minutes. She was naked,
a sheet wrapped around her, frowning.

“This had better be a real emergency Nea, I was
getting…” She trailed off at the look in her friend’s eyes,
securing the sheet like a toga she demanded, “What has
happened?”

Nea quickly explained.

“Congratulations, my darlings!” Sabine was joyous,
she hugged and kissed both Mihail and Stasi, who felt a little
awkward at the state of undress their aunt was in.

“They must leave,” Nea told her.

“Of course they must. You shall take them, I will go
back to Whitby and deal with Costica, make sure he knows you shall
be back,” Sabine decided.

“Are you sure?” Nea asked.

“Yes, we shall take our week at leisure and I shall
return and inform everyone that your sister is sick and you will be
back as soon as you can. I will make sure Costica knows this as
truth, he won’t harm anyone because you need more time.”

“Where will we go?” Stasi asked.

“Is this really necessary?” Mihail sounded angry and
frustrated.

“Yes, my loves, it will be better the farther away
you are. I am so happy for you.” Nea took both their hands, beaming
at them, “but I cannot do what I must if I have to worry about
you.”

“Where are you taking us?” Stasi asked again, feeling
better knowing her mother was happy at their news.

“America. I would take you home to Hungary or
Transylvania, but I do not know if that is far enough or safe
enough. Antal is in America, he can help,” Nea told them.

“You should have Imre accompany them as well,”
Sabine suggested.

“I would, but I have Imre doing something important
for me right now,” Nea said, regret in her voice, he was her most
dangerous Strigoi, but she needed him here to help deal with
Costica.

“Now that we have a plan, if you don’t mind, I am
going back to my recreation and hope my lover didn’t take offense.
Your call was so panicked I just up and left.” Sabine laughed and
in a blur was gone. She had gotten old enough, with enough power
that her speed of travel was almost like she disappeared in one
place and appeared in another. Even Nea wasn’t that fast.

“I am sure Ruxandra planned a brilliant celebration
for such wonderful news, let us not think about Costica or anything
else, but food, family and joy for a time,” Nea announced, taming
her anxiety, knowing her children needed her love and praise more
than her worry.

Chapter 17

The weeks seemed to fly by for Nea. She settled
Stasi and Mihail in a beautiful town home in New York City,
allowing Bendis to furnish it with various staff, including a
midwife, just in case. Their possessions arrived a week after them
by boat and Ruxandra began the task of setting up a brand new
household. Nea heard very little of what was happening in Whitby,
trusting Sabine to keep it all under control until she could get
back.

She planned and attended their wedding, it was a
lovely quiet ceremony, Stasi wore white lace and there were flowers
everywhere. She was a bit angry that Vlad had decided not to
attend. His search for the relic taking precedence.

Nea didn’t want to leave her children, especially
now that Stasi was expecting, but Stasi had reassured her that
there was no way the issues with Costica in Whitby could take the
18 months she had left to be pregnant.

True to her word, Nea had petitioned Bendis to send
Renata home for a week and Renata came to the house in New York
after she was done with her vacation. She seemed more uplifted and
positive than the last time Nea had seen her. Nea didn’t understand
most of what the other woman said, but understood that Renata now
had a plan to deal with Costica and was eager to be back in the
thick of things.

So it was exactly three weeks after she left that
Nea and Renata wound up back in the cottage in Whitby, being filled
in by a rather somber Sabine.

“I am glad you are here Nea, I have tried my best to
keep everything under control, but things have been hectic these
past three weeks,” Sabine said, lounging in the parlor, looking
drained.

“You should go feed now that I am here.” Nea sat by
her best friend, a tad alarmed.

“I will, though I don’t want to be gone long.”

“What’s been going on here, why didn’t you tell me
things weren’t good?”

“Because I thought I could handle it. Costica has
become very aggravated, convinced you were not coming back, he has
done things I didn’t think he would. However, I am sure together we
can fix them.” Sabine admitted, stubborn as always.

“Tell me.”

“First off, I was never able to perform the ceremony
for Lucy, they dug her up two weeks ago after rumors of a “Bloofer
Lady” began circulating through town: a young woman was killing
children.”

“We knew she would rise as a revenant. Why couldn’t
you get to her first?” Nea shook her head, sadly.

“I was late by less than an hour, Marina and I were
too busy cleaning up after Costica, he killed a couple in town and
made it look like Dracula. People were beginning to become
hysterical, it was a diversion. When I reached the cemetery they
had dug her up, cut off her head and put a stake through her heart.
It was gruesome, so much blood everywhere.” Sabine sighed.

“Now her soul will wander as a shade forever, the
damn fools.” Nea cursed.

“We tried to get poor Renfield out of the
Sanatorium, as he is blood linked with Dracula and was providing
them information…Your husband decided to simply kill the poor
man…What you see in that monster is beyond me.”

“He killed him?” Nea wished she could be more
shocked, or care more…but she had survived much worst as Vlad’s
wife than the killing of one imbecile.

“Yes. What did you expect from a vampire? Then when
Mina and Jonathan came back married the boy brought foolish and
ridiculous tales from Transylvania and now they are all convinced
of the vampire nonsense and have absolute certainty it is your
husband causing the problems.”

“Lovely, what did Vlad say?”

“He is mainly annoyed, apparently he brought a bunch
of soil from his castle, something about sleeping better on
Transylvanian earth. That little band of idiots have been running
around England finding them and destroying them. He also figured
out Costica found that sword, or whatever, before him.”

“That is unfortunate, but I do not doubt Vlad will
get it back. However, if those mortals are not careful he will kill
them all, like insects.” Nea stood and began to gather her
coat.

“Where are you going?” Sabine asked, standing.

“To see Vlad, he should probably leave England for
the time being until we know what else Costica has up his
sleeve.”

“They are all staying at the asylum with Jack, they
tried to get me to come with them for safety but I refused. I
wouldn’t worry about your husband, a few days before he killed
Renfield, that crazy bug eater invited Dracula into the asylum and
your old squeeze laid fang on Mina so that he would know what they
were doing.” Sabine yawned.

“Not a bad idea.” Nea mused.

“Well, now the little trollop is playing it up like
she’s been infected and Dracula is in love or obsessed with her or
some such nonsense, the men have rallied around her, even more
obsessed with killing him.” Sabine finished.

“Just one more reason for me to go see him.” Nea
finished putting on her outer wear, a navy blue asymmetrical
jacket. Nea was tired of this era’s fashions. She also wore a white
tailored shirtwaist bodice and black ankle length skirt. Her black
hair was in a high knot on her head, some of her hair curled around
her face.

“Let us know if anything changes, I am going to pop
over to France for the afternoon, feed and be back.” Sabine rubbed
her eyes and was gone.

“Should I even bother to have cook make supper?”
Marina asked as Nea was going out the door.

“Yes, something that keeps well, we must keep up
appearances.” Nea instructed, pulling on white gloves.

“I have an idea about Costica, but it needs the
right environment to actually work.” Renata halted her before she
could leave.

“What kind of environment?” Nea asked, anxious to go
see Vlad at Carfax.

“A battle of some sort. Killing him will be easiest
if it is in a situation where he is already going to die.”

“Imre will be here with the news I asked him for,
speak to him about this,” Nea suggested, knowing between the two
they might be able to come up with a plan. Imre had been following
Costica for over a month, gathering intelligence, he had also gone
looking for Ion on an information quest.

Nea left in a blur, using her preternatural speed to
reach the doors of the dark crumbling Carfax within ten minutes.
Purfleet was quiet when she passed through, people were busy eating
and enjoying a Sunday afternoon at church or with loved ones.
Seward’s Asylum was lit up and she could hear music and the low
burble of many voices as she passed, but she cared not for any of
them.

She knew she set off his wards when she came onto
the property and decided knocking was a better idea than bursting
in on a centuries old vampire. Her heart beat loudly in her chest,
as it always did when Vlad was near. She had come to Carfax often
when she first was in Whitby, never had he been there or answered
her summons, but he did so now.

“Cneajna.” His voice was deep as he opened the door
and ushered her inside.

“I am sorry I was gone so long, there was much to
accomplish.” She looked around, the inside was a bit drafty, and
cobwebs hung in the corners as did several bat colonies. Every flat
surface was covered in dripping candles, their light cast dubious
shadows against the walls, but illuminated the room enough for her
to see, cobwebs aside, it was clean. There was a new table and
chairs in the middle of the room  a fire was going in one
corner near a deep red velvet divan.

“I understand, Mihail was quite excited when he came
to see me with his announcement. I was sorry to miss the nuptials.”
Vlad walked farther into the room.

“Yes, he and Stasi are very excited.” She sat down
in front of the fire place, happy with it’s warmth.

“It is a good match; Bathory and Dracul blood, are
very strong.” He sat next to her, the light flickering over his
features.

“Sabine says you have been keeping an eye on our
friends at the Sanatorium.” Nea frowned at him, he was being very
distant with her for some reason. His black cloak hugged his body
like a security blanket.

“Yes, they are fools, they seek to have me run back
to Transylvania with my tail between my legs.” He laughed and it
was a decadent thing.

“I think it’s a good idea. If you lure them to
Transylvania we can get rid of Costica once and for all.”

“He is a nuisance, and spends little time alone or I
would have killed him already, but you told me not to fuel their
fire, not to draw any more attention to myself. He has the
Rhomphaia, I know he thinks to use it against me.” Vlad raised an
eyebrow, his eyes intense.

“How did he get it? How did he know you were looking
for it.?”

“I have not been quiet in my search, I didn’t feel I
had any reason to keep it a secret, who could go up against me? I
believe he must have searched Carfax before I even knew it was here
last. Or maybe he planted that rumor himself and has had it for
longer. I still do not think he is a good reason to flee, I will
not be made out to be a coward.”

“Yes, but in our homeland things are much
different.” And she missed home, something dreadful, “we are on our
own ground, we have better weapons. You could never be a
coward.”

“You wish to use my brides against them, the
gypsies.” He caught on fast.

“And the terrain.” She smiled, he sat back,
contemplating.

“Vlad you haven’t touched me since I got here,
what’s wrong?” He might have been a man of little words, but
physical affection had never been an issue. She wanted him to touch
her, she knew she shouldn’t…but it happened so rarely part of her
looked forward to their brief encounters.

“I am ashamed.” He finally admitted after moments of
silence.

“Of what?”

“You asked me to release my brides and I will do so
once you break the curse, I swore to myself I would not taste their
flesh again. I know since that fairy,” he said the word with
disgust, “you have slept with no one else. I wanted to prove I was
worthy of your word to come back to me.”