The Vengeance of the Vampire Bride (25 page)

“He is a very enigmatic man.” I
fluttered my fan before my face, trying to hide my agitation.
“Besides, even if the Baroness joined us, tongues would still drip
with gossip.”

“She does seem a bit...lively.” Percy
grinned, flashing his white teeth. I knew from Csilla’s grousing
that Percy had rebuffed her advances on more than one
occasion.

“Yes, she is that. And more.” I sighed
a little, the ostrich feathers from my fan brushing my cheek
lightly.

“How did you come to know
her?”

“She is a dear friend of my
husband. When I first visited Buda, my family and I attended one of
her parties. My husband said it was there that he first saw me and
decided I must marry him.” I attempted to keep my anger from my
tone, but there must have been a sharp cut to my words for Percy
leaned toward me, his expression curious. I faltered for a moment,
then continued. “I never wanted to marry and I fought savagely with
my parents when they proposed we accept his invitation to visit his
country home.”

“Why would you not wish to
marry?” Percy’s countenance was perplexed by the concept.
“Certainly you wanted a husband to care for you.”

I pursed my lips slightly, averting my
face from his speculative gaze. At last, I said, “No. I did not. I
wanted to choose my own way in life and not be hindered by
marriage. I was adamant.”

“Yet, you are Countess
Dracula.”

“Yes, I am. My family was killed during
our journey to Vlad’s home.” My voice grew lower and slower as I
weighed each word carefully before stringing it into my story. “He
brought me into his home and cared for me as I recovered from the
tragedy of their deaths and my own wounds.”

“And you grew to love him.” Percy
grinned. “And therefore you did marry.”

“Yes,” I answered, the lie not coming
easily.

His smile diminished. “You did not
marry for love, did you? Was it gratitude?”

“Let us not fool ourselves. Not many
people actually marry for love, do they? They marry out of
obligation. We are told we must marry for it is right and proper
and therefore, we do. But how many truly marry for love?” I hated
the bitter taste in my mouth and the coldness in my soul, but I
knew my words were true. “Of all the marriages I witnessed during
my life, only one was for love: my father and mother. And they
suffered for it. Mother was Northern Italian and a scandal. She was
much younger than he was and a foreigner. He did not care, but
people were so cruel to her.”

“Now I understand your support of
Laura’s vow to never marry.”

I saw the sorrow in his face and
immediately regretted my angry outburst. “Forgive me, Percy. I
forgot. You did marry for love, didn’t you?”

“I did. I loved Abigail from the moment
I saw her. I wooed her and she did marry me.” His smile was
strangely bittersweet and it made my heart ache for him.

“Is it hard to be away from
her?”

“Very much so. Very hard.” He fell into
silence as our tea was brought to the table. I poured for both of
us, enjoying the rich fragrance of the freshly brewed tea. As he
scooped a spoonful of sugar into his cup, he appeared withdrawn and
thoughtful. He poured a bit of milk into his tea, a little sloshing
onto the saucer but he didn’t seem to notice. “I miss my wife. I
miss England. But the life I shared with her is now gone. She died
in childbirth.”

“Oh, Percy!” I clutched my hands
together beneath my chin, horrified by his words.

“I did marry for love,
Countess,” he said somberly. “And I lost her. I do understand your
sentiments. I have witnessed the bartering and trading of young
women my whole life, but I truly did love my wife. And I can never
return to her. She is gone. I find it sad and somewhat ironic that
I cannot see my beloved wife in this life, while you appear to hope
that your do not see your husband.”

“Do not think me a cruel
person!” I reached across the table on impulse and gripped his
hand. “Please, Percy. I do love. I love someone madly. With all my
heart. But it was my misfortune to meet him after my marriage.” The
words came pouring out of my mouth and though I knew I should be
cautious, I plunged onward. “I cannot be with the one I love
either. He is far away from here and I fear I should never see him
again. And though my husband has provided for me and I do believe
he loves me, I can never love him with a pure heart.”

Percy squeezed my hand gently before
releasing it. “I am not one to judge you. I cannot. I have
committed my share of sins in this life. I am saddened by the news
that your marriage is not all it should be.”

“I am not unhappy,” I assured him. And
it was the truth. With Vlad entombed, I was much happier now that I
did not live in fear of his violence and cruelty.

“But this is not the life you would
have chosen for yourself,” he finished for me.

“Yes. That is it exactly.”

“You are far too young to be so jaded.”
He stirred his tea with a delicate silver spoon, the steam swirling
about his hand.

“I am nineteen,” I said, a bit
defensively.

He laughed with amusement. “As I said,
far too young. Of course, I am an old man of forty-eight. I am old
enough to be your father.”

“Father was much older than you.” I
grinned at Percy. “He was almost sixty when he was...when he
died.”

“I suppose we could avoid scandal by
saying I am your uncle.”

Giggling, I pretended to sip my
tea.

Percy glanced about the cafe, observing
the other customers with some amusement. “I wonder what others
think of us as we sit here speaking in English. I see them stealing
glances our way.”

“Most likely that we are related and
tourists.”

His keen blue eyes returned to regard
me and he smiled slightly. “Most likely that is true. What does the
baroness think of my visits?”

“That I am bedding you, of course.” I
giggled and blushed slightly.

Percy chuckled and shook his head. “Of
course. Of course!”

“My father would be horrified by the
way I am speaking to you. I do apologize if I am too
blunt.”

“I find it rather refreshing. Abigail
tended to say exactly what she was thinking, with little
consideration if it was proper or not. I liked that about
her.”

“I think I would have liked her very,
very much.”

Percy turned his head to look across
the room once again. “I believe we are garnering some attention
though. Or perhaps it is you with your fabulous ruby hair,
aquamarine eyes, and pearl skin.”

“You sound like a merchant describing
his wares,” I admonished him.

Leaning one elbow on the table, he
inclined his head toward me. “There is a young woman in the far
corner who is completely enraptured by you. She has been watching
you for the last few minutes.”

“Are you certain it is not you that has
drawn her attention?”

“Oh, no. It is you.”

Turning my head, I gazed across the
room. Percy was not telling tales. A young woman was openly staring
at me from the table in the corner. Petite, graceful, and lovely,
she had thick dark brown hair drawn into a fashionable style and
large, heavily fringed eyes. My keen eyesight sharpened as I
studied her and she smiled ever so slightly. Shifting in her chair,
her green satin gown rustled around her ankles and her eyes gazed
steadily into mine. I was surprised to realize one was blue and the
other green.

With a start, I realized she was a
vampire. Her coloring was like Vlad’s, not pale and white like my
own, and the flush of her feeding gave her the illusion of
humanity.

Gracefully, she raised her teacup in a
salute.

“Do you know her?” Percy
asked.

My heart lurched with fear and I
struggled against my desire to flee. Now that I knew the vampire
was near, I could feel her power coursing around me. “No, I do
not.”

“She appears to know you.” Percy
returned her smile and gave her a small salute.

The vampire’s smile widened and she
laughed softly, turning to speak to her companion seated out of
sight.

“Perhaps she knows my husband,” I
answered. My mind was whirling with half-formed thoughts. My
immediate instinct was to flee, yet I was afraid that I would only
be endangering all of us. I stole another glance in the direction
of the vampire and saw that she was still chatting with her
companion and was no longer watching me. Astir had spoken of a
conflict that I should take care not to be drawn into. I wondered
if perhaps this vampire was connected to that intrigue.

“He is a popular man from all that I
have heard.” Percy sipped his tea, forgetting about the mysterious
woman.

I forced myself into idle chitchat. My
mind was barely able to concentrate upon our conversation. At last
I said, “I think we should go. I have a sudden headache. It’s quite
fierce.” I gestured to Adem and gathered my things.

Bewildered, Percy took care of our bill
as Adem strode over to our table.

“Countess, is there a problem?” Adem
swept his eyes over the cafe, his body tensed to defend
me.

“No, of course not. Just a headache.” I
could feel the vampire’s steady gaze upon me. If I dared to look in
her direction, I knew that her unusual eyes would be watching
me.

It took far too long for the carriage
to be brought around. I stood in the street clutching my lace shawl
about my shoulders, my nails threatening to tear through the fine
fabric. Percy was clearly mystified by my sudden illness while Adem
stood alert at my side.

“I apologize for cutting our evening
short,” I said as the carriage rolled to a stop before
me.

“I understand. I hope you will be
feeling better soon. I’m shall call on you in a few weeks. I have
business to attend to elsewhere and I am unsure of the date of my
return.”

“I shall miss you, Percy.”

He squeezed my hand gently before
helping me into the carriage. Stepping back, he allowed Adem to
follow me. His brow was creased with worry. His concern touched me
and I gave him a short wave before the carriage rolled forward and
he disappeared from view.

“What did you see?” Adem
asked.

I clenched my hands together in an
attempt to keep them from trembling. “A vampire.”

Adem sucked in a breath. “I
see.”

“Percy noticed her first. She was
watching me.”

“What did she look like?”

“Dark haired with eyes that did not
match. One was blue and the other green. Do you know of
her?”

Adem sat in silence, his shoulders
hunched. He exhaled a breath I did not realize he was holding and
shook his head in answer. “I will notify Astir and give him your
description.”

“I did as he said,” I
whispered.

“I know this. It is not a question of
your not being discreet. It is most likely by chance she saw you
tonight.” Sitting back, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Let us
hope it was by chance.”

“Do you know if she is one of the
powers that be that Astir spoke of?”

“I know very little,” Adem answered. “I
know there has been a terrible power struggle and that Vlad
negotiated to remove you and him from the fray. Astir told me that
much.”

“A power struggle between who?” I
wanted to scream with frustration, but reigned in my darker
emotions. Instead I set my gaze on Adem and willed him to
answer.

Immune to my power, he slightly smiled
as he shook his head. “Do as Astir said and do not tempt the fates.
It is best you know nothing, so should a time come when you are
confronted you will be truly innocent.”

I hurled my fan at him in anger and
slumped down in my seat. I watched the city slide by the window as
the carriage climbed up the hill toward the baroness’ palace. The
streets were not so crowded now and I felt the loneliness of my
position begin to weigh on me.

As the carriage turned a corner, I saw
a figure standing by the side of the road dressed in a fine green
gown with a glittering black shawl draped around her shoulders. The
vampire’s mismatched eyes glinted like an emerald and sapphire in
the moonlight, then the carriage turned down the lane and she
vanished from view.

Gasping, I drew my dagger from my small
purse. Adem immediately copied my action. Sliding to the edge of
his seat, his gaze raked over our surroundings
anxiously.

Be careful, little
one.

A female voice, low and
rich in tone, filled my mind. I felt her presence fill the carriage
and wash over me like cold water. I swooned as I saw her eyes in my
mind, sparkling like jewels. Her power surged around me and I cried
out. She was so powerful I felt paralyzed with fright and my desire
to fight rose up within me. Then I remembered Astir’s warning. I
forced my trembling hand to return my dagger to its hiding
place.

Adem witnessed this act and reluctantly
followed suit.