Vampire Elite (21 page)

Did he really love Arianna? Her sister was an illusion now, but Simone was flesh and blood, still throbbing with her need for him. He must have been able to feel it; it would be impossible for him not to.
 

And he did. He took her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed her every fingertip. She thought she’d swoon with pleasure.
 

Then he said “have a nice trip home, Princess”—and turned away. Without looking back, he strode across the arena to meet the Legacy brothers who were waiting for him. Sargas laid a long, dark-blue velvet cape upon Antar’s shoulders and all five navigated though the crowd to the exit.
 

Simone stood completely alone on the now-empty dais, her torn gown half-fallen from her shoulders, hands dropped lifelessly at her sides, cheeks burning with shame and humiliation. Tears choked her; she gave up and let them flow. She didn’t care who noticed, didn’t care if they knew that at this moment she was the most miserable girl in the entire universe, rejected by the one she loved.

Awash in grief, she was unexpectedly disturbed by a powerful inner pull. Arianna was trying to communicate with her through the connection they’d opened earlier. Simone concentrated on what Arianna was trying to show her and was flooded with a kaleidoscope of images: a small, dim, windowless cell with a beat-up table and chair and a small cot, on which Arianna sat huddled, legs folded to her chest and arms wrapped around her knees. She was focusing all her attention on Simone, calling out for her help.
 

Simone watched as the image of Arianna shrank, and Simone’s vision zoomed out to Arianna’s surroundings. She clearly saw the building where Arianna was being kept, then the street where the building was located, then the village, the country, the continent.
Bolivia.
The pictures imprinted in Simone’s mind; she could reinvoke them whenever she wanted.
 

Her first impulse was to rush after Antar and tell him that she knew where Arianna was. She’d already started toward him, but then stopped herself. If she did that now, what would happen next?
 

She didn’t even need to think about what would happen; she’d seen it herself, hadn’t she? Antar would save Arianna and fly her back to the Legacy in his powerful arms, and she’d kiss him, and he’d revel in the feeling it gave him—and they would live happily ever after. Arianna would share Antar’s bed while Simone would forever be alone, dismissed and abandoned. The thought was too much to bear.
 

Hadn’t she sacrificed enough for her sister, taken care of her enough? It wasn’t Simone’s fault that Arianna was Queen of the Amiti and that so many found her so
desirable
. And ... Arianna would be okay. She’d looked miserable, but not as though she was in immediate danger.
 

Simone could help Arianna later, in a couple of days, once she’d followed up with Antar, made Antar hers. And let a little time pass to help Arianna and Antar forget this little incident with the kissing, and the healing and love and whatever else they had between them. Just a couple of days. No big deal.
 

Simone searched her mind and found the thread of her blood-bond with Arianna.
Don’t worry. I’m coming
, she told her sister.
 

And then she closed the connection. It winked out like a television being turned off.

A couple more days; that’s all she needed.
 

Yes. Just a couple of days.

Chapter 29

State Sucre, Venezuela
Two months later

Troubled, Theores stared out at the magnificent view beyond the sliding glass doors. The Royal pride was currently staying at a vast estate located in the higher reaches of Sucre State in Venezuela. They’d been invited to use it by a good friend of the King’s when Tor had expressed a desire to visit Venezuela. It would have made fantastic vacation lodging—it was loaded with amenities, including a full-time household staff and personal chef, and within range of four national parks with miles of undisturbed cloud forest and coral reefs. But this trip was business, not pleasure.
 

No, definitely not pleasure.
 

Something had gone seriously wrong. Two days ago. Elora had contacted Theores with the location where Arianna was being held. But when Odji and Anock had gone there to assess the situation, they’d found that the girl as well as Khay’s entire pride had disappeared without a trace. And Theores hadn’t heard from Elora since then, either.

What had happened? Had Elora had a change of heart at the last minute or had she been found out? Theores hated it when her plans didn’t come together. This one had looked so good in theory, but there’d been huge problems from the beginning. Tor had been gracious about it all, taking responsibility for what had happened to Simone, but that just made Theores feel worse. It had been her idea, after all.

Anock had engaged several of his Guardians to track the girl. So far, all they’d found was a gift-wrapped box addressed to Theores. Any gift left by Khay was bad news; the only question was
how
bad.
 

She sprang to her feet when Odji appeared in the doorway holding a box wrapped in pink paper and tied with lush silk ribbon. “What is it? Show me what you found. Wait—any chance it’s a bomb? Should I take it outside?”
 

He just shook his head and brought the package to her nose.
 

She inhaled and felt the insides of her nostrils curdle, the blood drain from her face. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

She was all too familiar with this type of “gift”: there were body parts in the box.
Dear Sekhmet,
please, do not let this be Arianna’s head
. “Open it.”
 

Odji set the box on the side table and, with surgical efficiency, removed the ribbon and paper, then used a small knife to cut the tape that sealed its edges. When he’d opened it, he stared silently at what was inside.
 

“What? What is it?”
 

“It’s a head, a female head.”
 

Theores’s heart stopped beating. “Whose head?”
 

“I can’t tell. It’s in a plastic bag, and what’s inside is pretty messy.”
 

“What color is the hair?” She could hear that her voice was calm, but inside she was shrieking
please, not red, not red, not red
...
 

“Brown. Long and brown.”
 

Relief flooded through Theores. Now there was just the small matter of finding the hopefully-still-alive Amiti Queen. She pulled the plastic bag with the head out of the box.
 

“What’s that?” Tor’s voice came from the doorway.
 

Startled, Theores dropped the bag. It hit the floor with a sickening thud. Staring down at it in horror, Theores could see Elora’s rotting face through the semiopaque, smeared plastic. And—the bag must have split open, because the room was suddenly flooded with the reek of decomposing flesh.
 

That was it. Gagging, Theores rushed to the bathroom and vomited.
Breathe, breathe, everything’s all right. Or at least it will be, at least Arianna’s still alive.
Quickly, she wiped her face with the dampened corner of a hand towel, rinsed her mouth, then went back into the room.
 

“Apparently it’s Elora’s head,” she replied as she returned to the room. Tor and Odji were staring at her. What—a girl couldn’t puke once in a while over a severed head in a plastic bag?
 

“Shit. Do we have anything other than a head?”
 

“Nothing,” Odji replied grimly. “I was out there with Anock earlier. He’s still there with some Guardians, but so far we haven’t found anything. It’s like they vanished into thin air.”

For a moment they all just looked at each other, then at the head that was still lying on the floor. Their plan had failed miserably, and the Queen was out of their grasp, held captive by Khay, who was revealing himself to be quite the sick maniac. Their chances of getting Arianna back alive were diminishing with every passing hour. And ... Theores wasn’t exactly known for her compassion, but even she felt bad that they’d thrown Simone’s half-sister to the wolves without anything good coming from it.
 

“Call Simone,” Tor suddenly said to Odji. “She’s blood-bonded with Arianna; she’ll be able to find her.”
 

Odji was back with Simone a few minutes later. She seemed distracted and depressed.
 

Tor noticed it, too. “Are you OK?” he asked, concern in his voice.
 

She nodded. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
 

“You look sad,” Theores said. “What’s wrong?”
 

“Nothing, really. I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.”
 

It was obvious that something was bothering her, but she didn’t want to talk about it.
 

“I need you to use your blood-bond to locate Arianna.” Well, wasn’t Tor cutting straight to the point.
 

“I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.”
 

“The only reason Sekhmi are ever unable to locate their blood-bonds is if they block us.” The King was watching Simone intently. “But Arianna would be extremely interested in you finding her. Where is she?”
 

“Listen to me, Simone,” Theores added. “We understand that you are protecting your blood-bond. But we swear that Arianna will not be harmed. She’ll be safe with us.”
 

“I told you already, I have no idea where she is. There’s some kind of shield blocking our connection. I’ve been trying to find her since the moment she disappeared. Don’t you think I would have told you if I knew where my sister was? If I do locate her, I’ll tell you right away. Can I go now?”
 

Theores was almost certain Simone was hiding something, but she knew that stubborn look Simone had on her face. They wouldn’t be getting anything more from her.
 

Tor sighed and nodded his permission for her to leave, then tracked her with his eyes as she disappeared behind the door. Then he turned back to Theores and Odji.
 

“I leave it to you to make her talk. Odji, tell Anock to let his people know and also post on the web that I am offering a very generous reward for Arianna’s safe return. Make it ten million US dollars.”
 

After Tor and Odji left the room, Theores opened the bottle of Argentine Malbec waiting for her on the side table and poured herself a glass. She took the bottle and the glass out to the balcony, where she sank into the deep cushions of a reclining chair set up in the shade of the overhanging roof. The wine was one of her favorites, and she savored it carefully, indulging in its spicy blackberry-chocolate flavor. She’d heard that Malbec grapes thrive in sun and heat, and when she drank it, she always imagined that she was drinking the sunlight itself.
 

The sun ... damn, nobody but her half-brother Leon knew how important the sun was in Theores’s life. She really needed to fix this situation with Arianna, and it had to happen fast. Her life now depended entirely upon this girl.

Chapter 30

Constantinople, Byzantine Empire—
Hedeby, Danish-German border, 980-1001
 

Over a thousand years ago, Theores lived in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire and Europe’s wealthiest and largest trading city. Constantinople boasted the easily accessible and spacious Golden Horn harbor, which teemed with all manner of tradesmen, merchants, and dealers. Theores’s grandfather had been one of them, a wealthy silk merchant.
 

Unfortunately, neither Theores nor her mother, Anna, had the opportunity to share in that wealth. Anna had been cast out of the family when she was seventeen and pregnant, one of many young girls who had lost their hearts and virginity to the warriors of the Varangian Guards.
 

The guards, numbering six thousand fearless, honorable and loyal warriors, had been a gift to the Emperor Basil II from Prince Vladimir of Kiev, and had quickly become favorites of the Emperor.
 

The Emperor was far from alone in his affection for his ferocious warriors, though. The women of Constantinople also fell under their spell and were happy to provide them with the warmth of both their hearths and their hearts. Anna’s parents housed one of the guards, and innocent Anna was besotted with the handsome warrior. She became his companion and they spent many cold evenings in her warm bed. Not being aware that vampires existed, Anna of course did not know that her beloved was a Sekhmi, and it would never have occurred to her that their offspring would be considered a half-blood low-caste vampire, a Nightwalker. Anna was simply content, looking forward to getting married and having a child.
 

All too soon, Anna’s fiancé was called back to service, and left her with some money and his promise to return. Anna’s pregnancy became obvious to her family and they disowned her, turning her out into the streets. Her older sister offered her a place to stay, where Anna gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
 

Despite being allowed to live under her sister’s roof, the whole family shunned Anna, blaming her for disgracing her family’s good name. Her life was miserable: she worked from early morning until late in the evening while enduring constant mistreatment and humiliation from her family. After eight years of abuse, Anna could bear it no longer and ran away with a sailor she met at the city market, leaving her young daughter behind.

By this time Theores was already being hired out to do gardening and housecleaning. The family had always mistreated her, beating her regularly for even the smallest indiscretion, and once her mother was gone, she bore the full brunt of their shame. When Anna abandoned her, Theores’s heart was broken; her mother had been the only joy in her life. Every night, Theores prayed for her mother’s return as she cried herself to sleep. One day, surprisingly, her prayers were answered—except that it was not her mother who came for her but her father. He had retired from the Emperor’s service, and had finally come to take Anna and their child to live with him. Devastated by Anna’s desertion of her child, he took Theores in his arms and carried her away, ignoring her aunt’s screams.