Wanderlust (31 page)

We walked a long while--more than 130 steps--before I heard the creak of a door opening. Alexei urged me to watch my step on the way through. I could feel the tile beneath my feet, and our footsteps echoed as we walked down a long corridor. Finally, I heard the flick of a switch and then felt a tugging sensation as the bag was pulled from my head.

I gasped in horror at the display set out before me. A honeymoon suite. The room was filled with hundreds of burning candles, and rose petals covered the floor. There was a table and two chairs to one side of the room, with a bottle of what appeared to be chilled blood set in an ice bucket beside one of the chairs--presumably to quench my thirst and celebrate our union once Alexei had made me his undead bride. I shivered at the thought.

The centerpiece to the room, however, was the most terrifying part--a heart-shaped bed covered in red satin sheets and even more rose petals stood at the ready for us to consummate our union. Gross. I forced back the bile that rose in my throat at the thought. I didn’t think it would sit well with Alexei if I were to vomit all over the room.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his tone upbeat and hopeful.

In an effort to maintain his current calm, I forced myself to nod. All the while, all I could imagine was Balthazar bursting into the room to take down Alexei. Maybe he would wait until the deed was done, though. Why bother saving me? Besides, if Balthazar really hated Chaseyn as much as he said, he must know the thing that would hurt him most would be letting Alexei have his way with me. Again, the bile rose in my throat. I wracked my brain for ways to stall the inevitable. Conversation seemed my only hope.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how did you find me?” I asked, wondering how closely he had been tracking me the past few weeks.

“I received an anonymous note that you had been kidnapped,” he said. “To be honest, I had been taking a bit of a break from my quest to make you my bride. I wanted to give you some time to come around to the idea before we had a chance to meet again. But, the note piqued my interest, and I simply could not resist the temptation.”

“I haven’t heard from that geriatric brute in years--decades even,” he said, eyes looking to the sky as though he were trying to recall precisely the last time he had been in contact with Balthazar.

“Not so fast,” said a deeper voice from somewhere to my right. Before I could take another step, a big, burly hand grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“You did? I don’t think so,” Chaseyn said, stepping out of the shadows so that he was face-to-face with the only father figure he had ever known--his real father standing just feet away.

While there was no denying Balthazar’s physical prowess, Chaseyn was nearly as tall and perhaps better defined. He was statuesque by comparison. And, while it was clear that Chaseyn was his father’s son based on appearance, the comparison ended there. Chaseyn had a softness in his features, whereas Alexei had been hardened by his evil ways.

“I knew you wanted to take this trip with Addie, but I needed to know that you would be safe,” Chaseyn turned to me to say. “I didn’t want to worry you with the details, so I had some of my friends checking in with me a couple of times a day. Alexei has been hiding out here for weeks now. The minute you went missing, I sent him that note. He has so many contacts on this part of the continent that I knew it wouldn’t take him long to track you down, and eventually bring you here. I’ve been waiting here for hours.”

I wanted so desperately to reach out to him, but Balthazar had my arms twisted firmly behind my back. It was only then that I noticed the dull ache in the spot where his thumbs were digging into my wrists.

“Clever, Chaseyn. You have matured over the years,” Balthazar quipped, clapping his hands to applaud Chaseyn’s actions. “But, I believe I’m still the winner of this round.”

“How so?” Chaseyn asked.

Alexei stood silently observing the scene, as though he was waiting for just the right moment to strike. I wished Balthazar and Chaseyn would pay closer attention to him. They were too focused on each other, and I feared Alexei would manage to sink his teeth into me one last time before they even realized he was still in the room.

“Well, that saves me some trouble,” Chaseyn smiled. It was hard to hear him talking like a calculating killer, but there was something sexy about his confidence despite being surrounded by two much more powerful vampires.

“What’s your plan, Balty? Why did you bring us here?” Chaseyn finally asked.

“It’s time to put an end to your father’s recklessness,” he said. “I knew he would come in search of Lia if he knew she was unguarded. I needed her for bait.”

“But, why me? Why did you bring me here?”

“I’m so sick and tired of your self-righteousness, Chaseyn. It’s because of you that Mina left me so many years ago--your hard-partying tore us apart. And now, you go on like you’re some kind of hero because you’re only half vampire--like you’re better than the rest of us. I can’t stand it any more.”

“So, good ahead. Make your move,” Chaseyn challenged, extending his arms wide at his sides, inviting Balthazar to tangle with him.

“That’s not how I see this going down,” Balthazar laughed.

Alexei seemed oblivious to the goings on around him, and he remained perfectly poised in the corner of the room. I sensed something bad was about to happen, and I hoped Chaseyn’s sixth sense would kick in. Hopefully, he would be able to hone in on what I was feeling and make it right before it went too wrong.

“Really, Balty? Then, why don’t you enlighten me? Tell me your plan,” Chaseyn demanded.

Alexei chose that exact moment to make his move, and he lunged forward with the speed of a cheetah. Just then, Balthazar freed me from his grip, giving me a hard push in Alexei’s general direction. I stumbled to the floor, and Chaseyn jumped between his father and me.

“Let the games begin,” Balthazar shouted from across the room, he was rubbing his hands together in anticipation, his head bobbing with laughter.

“You won’t win, old man,” Chaseyn said to his father.

“I’m twice your age and a full-blooded vampire,” Alexei chirped. “We both know this can only end one way.”

Though the setting had changed, the events unfolding before me brought back memories of a similar tussle just a few months ago. Frost was about to sink her teeth into me for a third time, and Alexei was scuffling with Chaseyn to keep from interfering with the process. This time, Chaseyn would have to fight to the finish if he had any hope of saving me from this monster.

Arms and legs tangled in a blur, and I struggled to keep my eyes focused on the action. Their movements were so quick and they looked so similar that it was hard to tell them apart. At one point, Alexei slammed Chaseyn against the stone wall so hard that several blocks tumbled to the ground. Chaseyn retaliated by tossing his father across the room, where he landed atop the dining table. All the while, Balthazar watched with a smile on his face.

As they continued their violent dance, I crawled across the floor to grab one of the splintered legs from the broken table. I was wrapping my hand around one of the larger pieces when I felt it slip from my grip. Instantly, I assumed Balthazar had pried his eyes from the fight so that he could keep me from helping my love, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I squealed at the sight of my savior, who held a long lean finger to her mouth to shush me. The last thing I wanted to do was blow her cover--she had been unnoticed, as of yet.

With a stealth that would make a NASCAR driver jealous, Mina jumped to her feet and leaped across the room, shoving Chaseyn aside with one hand as the other one drove the stake straight into the soft spot between Alexei’s ribs. When the wood connected with his heart, Alexei crumbled to the ground. Chaseyn removed a knife from a strap on his thigh, which Mina took from him. She did the dirty work for her son, and cut off her former husband’s head.

It was over. The curse could never be fulfilled, and I no longer had to worry about ever becoming a vampire.

Chapter 41 - Mina

Chaseyn ran to me, and I took solace in his arms. It felt so good to be near him, knowing nothing could come between us ever again. He planted about a dozen kisses on my head and face before the sound of a deep baritone broke the silence.

“Mina, my love,” Balthazar said, beaming at the sight of the raven-haired beauty who was doing whatever it was that a vampire did to “finish off” another vampire. I had chose to focus my attention elsewhere, like on my reunion with Chaseyn. “You’re here. I knew you would come.”

“Balthazar,” she replied, exhaling loudly as she did. There was such warmth in her tone.

“Come to me,” he ordered. “Be one with me.”

Mina did as Balthazar instructed, and she made her way slowly toward him. I looked up to Chaseyn, silently urging him to stop her. How could he let his own mother go to this man knowing that he had been planning to kill Chaseyn if Alexei didn’t do it first.

Mina slipped into Balthazar’s outstretched arms, and he wrapped them tightly around her. A tear came to my eye when I noticed how perfectly she fit into him, reminding me how perfectly my body melded with Chaseyn’s. I knew then how she must feel and how difficult it would be to turn her back on the man she so clearly love. My mind was deeply focused on that thought when
it
happened. Mina reached into the back pocket of her slim-fitting jeans and pulled out a small sliver of wood. She reached around Balthazar’s back under the guise of pulling him tighter into their embrace, and then, she drove the stake in from behind.

Balthazar gasped and grabbed at his chest in shock more than pain.

“Don’t do this,” he begged. “I love you. We can make this work.”

Then, he fell to the floor silent. Chaseyn grabbed the knife from the floor beside Alexei and made his way toward Balthazar’s body. He raised his arms high above his head and was just about to bring them down, when Mina let out a subtle gasp. Chaseyn ran to her side.

“I’ll go see if I can find a coffin that we can transport him in,” Mina said. “Once we have decided a suitable punishment or rehabilitation treatment, we can remove the stake.”

Chaseyn simply bowed his head. I knew it hurt him that his mother refused to put an end the man that had planned to end his life, but he also understood what it meant to love someone with all that he was. If there was a way for him and Balthazar to resolve their issues, I knew Chaseyn would do it. He loved Mina that much.

Chapter 42 - Return

The fight had taken the better part of the night, and the clean up took the rest. It was the crack of dawn, and the sun was starting to peek through the night sky. Chaseyn and Mina were exhausted from the fight, but vampires--even half-vampires--could go much longer without rest than any human, and I was dead tired.

“Where are we anyway?” I asked as I climbed into the passenger seat of the brand new Dodge Charger Chaseyn had rented.

“Romania,” he said. “The minute the phone went dead that day, I found a way to send Alexei that telegram, and then I got on the next plane to Bucharest. As soon as I landed I could sense your presence--thanks to your bracelet. But, I just couldn‘t pinpoint your exact location. So, I came straight here.”

“What is this place anyway?” I asked.

“We’re at Alexei’s ancestral home. I knew he would bring you back here. He was always a traditionalist, and he would want to make you his bride in the comfort of his own surroundings,” Chaseyn explained.

“How long was I gone?”

“Just shy of three days,” he said. “You didn’t know?”

“Unh unh,” I shook my head. “Chip…or maybe Andrien…knocked me out in Prague. When I came to, I was in the basement of a dark tower, and Balthazar was there. There was no way for me to know how much time had passed.”