Vermilion Kiss (14 page)

“Aren’t we supposed to be in Paris?” Sang asked sleepily.

Darius seemed very alert as he corralled everyone behind him and I saw his black aura surging around us in a cloak of whirling darkness.

“It appears that before we arrive in Paris, we have some visitors first,” he replied in a low tone.

Coming toward us through the crowd of people—who I now realized were all dazed and looked like drooling drones—was a curvaceous woman with short-cropped brunette hair, gray eyes, and a stern expression on her face.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Darius spoke with a slight bow of his head.

The woman answered coolly, “It should be me saying that, not you, Lord Darius. My master welcomes you and your party to her estate and is deeply sorry for the inconvenience the ghouls have caused you.”

Darius paused before replying. “I have already taken care of the ghouls for their insolence. They seem to have mistook me for my servant.” He combed a hand through his chocolate mane. “May I ask who your master is, although I might already know.”

The woman’s voice was very monotone. “Wolf. Her name is Wolf and she would be honored to have you stay for the night.”

“Request accepted.” Darius smirked. “Will you take us to her?”

The woman responded dryly, “Of course.”

We followed her out into the countryside, and after about ten minutes my legs were burning from lack of exercise. Caen and Sang hurried me along with gentle words of encouragement and Darius offered to carry me, to which I strictly said no.

It seemed like a couple hours trudging through fields of swaying wheat before we made it to a large, stone three-story house flourished with gigantic arching windows, double French-doors, and lavished with beds of various flowers ranging from all colors of the rainbow.

The woman beckoned us to the doors and let us inside, where we immediately came into a living room where a woman was lying on a red velvet couch. The heavy scent of lavender permeated the space between us as the woman knelt beside the couch and said quietly, “Master, the guests have arrived.”

The woman stirred and slowly sat upright, her long tresses of fiery red hair tumbling to her waist and messy from sleep. She yawned and stretched her limbs before opening deep, saturated royal-blue eyes, stood up, and padded on bare feet to Darius.

“My Lord.” She curtsied, the white silk dress that hung loosely to her body crinkling. “I welcome you to my estate. Please take a seat. Anywhere is fine.”

An urgent sense of trepidation and fear clawed at my stomach as I remembered where I’d heard her name before. When I went to the movies with my friend Dana, a man called Ty had attacked me and would’ve kidnapped me if it hadn’t been for Darius’s interference. In the end, I’d used a power I didn’t even know I had to disintegrate him into dust. He’d said that it was all for his master. Wolf.

Was this the same Wolf that Ty had spoken of? Or was it a different person altogether? My head throbbed with pain and Darius helped me to lie down onto a blue velvet couch while he, Sang, and Caen remained standing.

I watched as Wolf resumed her seat on the couch and crossed her legs. She was wearing fishnet stockings with garters.

Odd.

“My lord, I am so, so sorry for the troubles my subordinates have caused. Sometimes,” she chuckled, “I just can’t control them, you know?”

Darius scoffed. “What use would you have for servants if you cannot control them properly?” He shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “Why have you invited us here, Wolf? Was it so urgent that you had to manipulate a whole train of humans to get what you seek?”

She rolled her eyes. “I have a proposal for you, actually.”

“Go on.”

“You and Lily will join me in my meeting with a very powerful vampire about political matters and I will help you find the incubus you are after.”

How did she know about the incubus? How the hell did she know my name?

I was about to get up when Darius held up a hand, meaning “stop”, and sighed heavily. “I accept your offer. You have prepared rooms for us, am I right?”

“Yes, Katlyn will show you to your rooms. Dinner will be done in a few hours. We are having salmon with asparagus and sweet potatoes.”

Darius nodded and turned his attention to Katlyn. “Be a dear and see us to our rooms?”

She curtsied. “Yes, my lord.” And then led us through a maze of narrow corridors before stopping before a set of wooden doors and pointing to them. “This will be your lordship’s room. The three rooms after this your servants are permitted to use.”

As Darius opened the door, Katlyn scurried away. Sang said, “I guess Caen and I will go see what our rooms look like. Then I’ll dye my hair and we can go have supper.” He tried to sound happy but I could detect the sadness in his weary expression.

Darius sat on the bed and patted the area next to him for me to join. I did as he wanted and then he cleared his throat.

“My dear, please let me speak with you until dinner is ready.”

I reluctantly nodded. I knew what he wanted to talk about and I just wasn’t up for it. Not now.

Not about Rosalie. Please
.

“I do love Rosalie, Lily. I have loved for as long as I’ve lived. She was my wife. I cherished her more than anything else in the world. But time has passed and I’ve realized that although my love will never die, Rosalie has passed on. Now I love you. At first, I thought it was my lingering feelings for her, which it partly was, but as we grew to know each other more I began to notice that every time I stared at your blushing, angry face it made me feel warm inside and hopeful for a better future. It was hard for me accept it, but Rosalie is gone, has been gone for hundreds of years, and now that love that we shared, I now share with you.”

I swallowed hard. “But—but what about on the train? That was definitely her. She—she took over my body and spoke to you. How can you tell me those feelings haven’t been rekindled after seeing her again?”

He slid his gaze away from me. “She is dead, my dear. Although you share the same soul, she has been absent for many, many years. I have finally convinced myself that I love you and no other…that even if my some miracle she came back, I would still choose you over her.”

I retorted angrily, “You can’t just pretend she isn’t here! You saw firsthand how she possessed my body! How she spoke to you! I know you love me, but I’m still having a hard time believing it. After all, you did turn me into a vampire on whim!”

Darius’s features softened and he parted his lips slightly as he stared longingly into my eyes. “Some things are better left forgotten,” he murmured as his mouth crushed hard against mine and our tongues mingled together.

Just then, the door was pushed ajar and we broke apart as Sang marched into the room with Caen beside him.

“I’ve been knocking on the door for five minutes! Dinner’s ready and I really don’t wanna face Wolf alone with Caen! She’s scary!” he whined.

Darius gave me a reassuring smile and got up from the bed. “Shall we get going then?”

I took his outstretched hand and we were led by Sang and Caen into a grand room with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, red silk curtains covering the arched windows, and a large rectangular table in the center cluttered with plates of steaming fish and vegetables and wine.

Darius sat at the far end of the table and I sat to his right; while Sang took his left and Caen claimed the seat beside him. I heard a faint laughing and then Wolf strode into the room dressed only in a plush gray robe, her deep-red hair piled high into a bun. Katlyn was beside her and as she sat on the other end of the table, Katlyn took the seat to her right and Wolf trained her eyes solely on Darius and me.

Goosebumps broke out on my arms as I felt the weight of her gaze on me like a solid metal anvil tipping a scale.

“Eat, eat. Please. Everything is fresh,” she pressed happily.

Darius said, “What is your interest in Lily and me? And how do you know about our affair with the incubus?”

Wolf glowered. “I really didn’t want to get into this right now but I guess it can’t be helped.” She shrugged. “I know because I know the incubus personally. They should be coming here tonight to sleep…that’s when I will tell them about your “red-haired” Sang, and they will strike. Good plan, no?”

Sang interfered furiously. “Wait! If you know who the incubus is, surely you can just capture them yourself when they come!” He paused and added, “But then again I didn’t volunteer to dye my hair for nothing.”

Wolf clapped her hands together. “Then it’s settled! You’ll dye your hair after supper and then wait in bed for the incubus to come. In return for my services, I want Lily and Darius to attend a meeting with me in two days. Is that fair enough?”

Darius spoke calmly. “It is a deal then, Wolf. We shall accompany you to your meeting for letting us find this incubus so easily.”

“Deal.” Wolf announced with a wild smirk and began to eat her fish.

Darius took a sip of wine and then held his cup to my lips. “After supper we will return to our chamber, and you can have some of my blood,” he murmured.

I drank the wine as he wanted and then started on my asparagus as Sang and Caen fed each other like infatuated lovers. I would have to ask them more about why they were so attached to each other some other time. Right now though, the hunger inside me was throbbing crazily in anticipation of drinking Darius’s blood in a bit.

Wolf’s voice sliced through the silence. “Please be gentle with my incubus friend, okay?”

Darius responded, “Of course.”

“Thank you.”

Sang mumbled to himself. “I’ll kill him! I’ll fucking kill him for what he did to Hira!”

Caen shushed him. “She can hear you, you know.”

“So let her hear me. I don’t care.”

Wolf raised her voice. “I said to be gentle with my friend, didn’t I?”

Sang froze in terror. “Ye-yeah! I won’t hurt them, I promise!”

“Good boy.”

Soon I found myself excusing myself from the table and going with Darius to our room where he instantly fell onto the bed, his wavy hair fanning around him in a thick arc. His eyes were closed and he gestured with a hand for me to come closer.

“Drink, my dear. You will need the power for tonight.”

“What about you?” I asked as he suddenly broke out into a sweat and cringed as if in pain.

“I’ll be fine,” he panted. “This marks the beginning of my curse for the month.”

I crawled beside him and embraced him as his body shook with fever. “So you won’t be able to help us with the incubus?”

He panted, “I am sorry, Lily, but I cannot. It’s up to you, Sang, and Caen. Please take my blood before I sleep and promise me that if the incubus attacks you, you will show no hesitation.”

I answered shakily, “Yeah, I promise.” And then sank my fangs deep into his neck.

* * * *

After drinking a generous amount of Darius’s blood and making sure he was tucked soundly into bed, I changed into my baby-pink silk night robe and padded into Sang and Caen’s room. I heard bickering between the two inside the bathroom and with a suppressed laugh, I went inside to see Sang floundering in the tub as Caen scooped cups of water over his head.

“Lily!” he shrieked when he saw me. “Get this monster out of here! He’s pouring cold water over me.”

Caen barked, “Cold? This is warm water, you idiot!”

Sang flinched, “Warm, cold, same thing! Ugh, it feels so gross!” He shivered and Caen dumped one last cup of water over his head before telling Sang to get out.

“But—Lily will see me…” Sang protested.

I laughed. “I’ve seen you before. It’s nothing new.”

He hung his head. “It’s still embarrassing.”

Caen snapped, “Stop complaining and let me towel you off!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll get out now.” The water splashed against the sides of the tub as Sang got to his feet, stepped out, and let Caen dry him off.

His hair was now a rich saturated red that reminded me of Hira’s. His crimson eyes matched the color perfectly. Sang shrugged into a white cotton robe as Caen drained the tub. Sang stared at himself in the mirror, ran his hands slowly through his hair with a frown creasing his lips.

I skipped out of the bathroom and bounced onto the bed as Sang and Caen joined me and we all laid our heads on the pillows, me in the center, as Sang quivered nervously.

“Stop being nervous, Sang. You have Lily and me. Isn’t that more than enough?’

“I don’t know. You really think the incubus will come tonight?” Sang asked meekly.

Caen replied, “I have a strong feeling he will. If Wolf told him that she has a good-looking redhead over tonight, he may not be able to resist the temptation.” He licked his lips. “I know I’m having a hard time with it.”

Sang’s cheeks flushed red and he hid his face in the pillows. “Caen, not in front of Lily.”

The other vampire smirked mischievously. “And why not in front of Lily?”

Sang struggled for the right words. “Be—because, well…because…”

Caen settled his mismatched eyes on me. “Lily, where will you be sleeping tonight?”

I ruffled Sang’s wet mop of hair. “I haven’t really thought about it. Um, what about under Sang’s bed, so if the incubus comes I can quickly spring into action?”

Caen nodded. “You do that, then. I’ll go into the room next to this since there’s no possible way I can fit beneath the other bed.”

“Why don’t we wait until after all this shit with the incubus and then treat ourselves?” Sang suggested.

“All right. I’ll be over when I hear anything out of the ordinary.”

Caen slid off the bed, pecked Sang on the forehead, and left the room. I continued to pet Sang’s hair as his eyes fluttered drowsily.

“Lily,” he began. “I’m scared. I’m really scared.”

“Don’t be. I’ll be here, so you don’t have to worry.”

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”

“You don’t have to be sorry! I’ll do anything for you, you know? I love you. Now go to sleep and stop being so anxious. Think about how we’re going to save Hira.”

He yawned. “You’re right. This is for Hira, goddammit! And I love you, too.” His fingers laced with mine and his eyes widened. “Where’s Dari?”