CHAPTER FIVE

Ivona wondered about the man's sudden behavior. Her gaze fastened on his sweat-beaded brow. At that moment, it wasn't attraction she read in his expression, but fear.

Perhaps he was merely trying to mask his reaction to her story-she knew the details were repulsive-or perhaps he was bored. Whatever was wrong with him, he seemed ready to come unglued at the seams.

Trying to sooth his nerves, she shifted her stare to one of the others and lowered her voice to a soft whisper, nearly inaudible in the quiet room. "Impalement was by no means Prince Vlad's only method of torture. He frequently indulged in other horrific acts of brutality such as nailing hats to people's skulls, cutting off limbs, noses and ears, blinding, strangulation, mutilation of s.e.x organs, scalping, skinning alive, exposure to weather or wild animals, burning-the list is endless. No one was exempt from his cruelty. Men, women, children, peasants, and boyars alike all succ.u.mbed to his punishments."

No longer eased back against the pliable cushion of the leather armchair, Ivona sat perched on the edge of her seat, poised and ready to leap to her feet in one fluid motion.

The hairs on her arms bristled with anger. Her jaw hadbegun to widen and thicken as her teeth elongated in antic.i.p.ation of attack.

Ivona panted as she struggled for self-control. She was divulging unimportant tidbits of information and allowing The Evil to override her discipline once again. Forcing herself to relax back into her seat, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting the air escape her lips in a long, drawn out hiss. Then she smoothed her brow with both hands and gingerly ma.s.saged her aching temples.

"Enough with the unpleasantries of the past," she began with a smile. "Back to my beloved Dragomir."

Ivona took a long swig from the cup on the table beside her, downing the entire contents in one final gulp. When a drop of the coveted elixir escaped the corner of her mouth, she adroitly swiped the insolent bead from her cheek.

Instinctively, she placed her finger between her lips and noiselessly sucked the small drip from the end.

Then she calmly sat the empty chalice on the table. She felt alive and vibrant, her mood suddenly light and energetic as the fresh blood pulsated through her veins, reanimating her dead flesh with a fresh charge of life. Now she was ready to speak of her lover.

Lucian watched, mesmerized as a pale red flush moved across Ivona's face, not on top of, but rather under the surface, as though a wave of liquid rushed below her skinlike a fervent crimson tide. The eerie blush illuminated her porcelain skin with a soft pink hue, making her cold, translucent flesh appear radiant, full of life and vitality. Lime sparks of light flashed in her eyes, making them glow with the supernatural intensity of two blazing orbs. Her pupils became thin and elongated, like those of a cat, appearing as long black slits in the middle of her illuminated gaze.

The gloom around her seemed to grow more sinister, as though even the dim light of the room shrank back in fear from this unearthly creature that was completely at ease amongst the ominous shadows dancing along the walls. She appeared not to sit, but rather hover above her chair like a luminous apparition. Lucian had to wonder if her elegantly clad frame might not just simply lift into the air with the graceful manner of a weightless spirit and glide about the s.p.a.ce above his head.

The candles about the room flickered indecisively, seemingly as if they might all go out in one big poof, leaving its occupants in a pitch-black fissure of darkness. The intensity of her mystical stare culminated into a ferocious vortex, appearing to leap from the sockets in her skull while she studied each of the others around her as though contemplating a difficult choice. Then, just as quickly as it began, all paranormal activity suddenly waned, like the fading light of a dying flame.

Lucian tentatively glanced at the others, wondering if they'd just witnessed this bizarre phenomenon as well. His attention moved to the goblet in her had. What was in thatcup? Some deep part of him suspected the answer, but the other refused to believe.

The Chalice in the square... It appeared as though Ivona was not only some strange creature of the night, but a thief as well. Then her melodious voice shattered his thoughts and his gaze moved to her sensual mouth.

"From the moment I laid eyes on you." She paused, obviously catching her slip. "On...him, I knew I was lost.

He was so handsome, so strong, and he was by no means a novice in the ways of seduction."

She stared off across the room for a lengthy moment, her ruby lips curling into a warm, b.u.t.tery smile as she became lost in the romantic memories of her lover's courtship. Her eyes danced with tender dreaminess. Then she laughed, startling Lucian and the others with her sudden outburst of mirth.

"At first, I tried to resist his charms," she declared, her voice full of merriment. "But my Dragomir was very persistent." She wagged a long, shapely finger as though scolding her audience. "He refused to give up. Alas, I could not deny his advances for long. My heart was captured."

With a sentimental sigh, she placed her hand over her chest. Her dark lashes fluttered downward, veiling the pain that suddenly filled her loving gaze. "Al meu amator..." she whispered quietly, "...my love."

When she opened her eyes, they were cold and unreadable, all prior traces of grief and sorrow carefully concealed behind a guarded stare. "We began to meet in thesally port beneath Bran Castle. Due to the infrequent use of the pa.s.sage by others, our affair continued for months without discovery. It was there my Dragomir confessed his love and begged me to marry him. He wanted a family."

Lucian first felt a stab of jealousy, then one of sorrow.

Those were things never to come for Ivona and Dragomir.

He knew the tragic ending to her story; he knew what would happen to her beloved.

Grandfather...

Ivona glanced down at her hands, which lay motionless in her lap. A family with children was something she could never have now. Her heart had died the day she let The Evil take residence within her aching soul, and all joys afforded to mortals were lost-that was the price of immortality.

"We both knew it was too dangerous to continue seeing each other, even in secrecy. If Prince Vlad found out, I would have met the same fate as many other unchaste maidens. We also came to realize that we could not start a family under his rule. The man's wickedness had become uncontrollable."

Bitterness clouding her vision, Ivona's lids fluttered closed. "No one was safe as long as he was in power." Her insides had grown as cold as an artic wind. Then, after a long pause, "Not even his knights," she declared in a weak and tremulous whisper.Slowly, she opened her eyes, once more meeting the familiar and now strangely comforting gaze of the man across from her. "At that time, Matthias Corvinus was King of Hungary. He resided at Hunedoara Castle located at the end of the Zlasti River. It was there we decided to make our sanctuary. We could only pray King Corvinus would allow us take refuge within the safety of his rule."

Ivona stared at the flickering flame of a nearby candle, lost in the melancholic sadness of her painful memoirs. She fingered the golden medallion dangling between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s once again, lovingly stroking its meticulously engraved surface as though it were a faithful pet.

"Not long after we had composed a plan of escape, Prince Vlad decided to employ his army to provide him with another entertaining show of merciless impalings. On St. Bartholomew's Day, during an outdoor festival at Sibiu, Vlad had thousands of citizens arrested and impaled, claiming they were either treacherous bourgeoisie, or supporters of such. He had them-men, women, and infants-impaled on the fringes of a nearby forest like human banners, waiting to greet any newcomers entering the town."

Ivona's mouth curled downward into a sour frown. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head with abhorrence. "As had become custom, he had his dining table and lunch placed at close range, so he could enjoy his meal while watching the tortures firsthand. The blood of his victims was honey for his bread. He savored the taste oftheir escaping life, capturing their essence as though their dying souls were rightfully his to h.o.a.rd."

An electrifying shudder reverberated through her insides, sobering her thoughts. She envisioned the horrific scene with startling clarity. Five centuries had pa.s.sed since that dreadful day, and yet, she remembered it as if it had occurred only yesterday. Her bottom lip quivered as she struggled to contain her anguish.

So much death. So many innocents. I will never forget you, my love, or forgive your murderer.

As though feeling her misery, the candles' flames swayed in a sorrowful rhythm. Cascading rain on a nearby window refracted the ethereal glow, casting eerie ripples around the dim room like the reflection of water within a submerged ship. Only the occasional flash of lightning and crack of thunder interrupted the ghostly undulation.

"My beloved Dragomir," she sighed. "We had nearly escaped The Evil, but it had finally become more than he could bear. The merciless killing of innocent men, the senseless murders of women and children, he could not hold his tongue any more. I knew his heart was heavy with guilt, even before he was forced to partic.i.p.ate in this final horrific spectacle of wickedness."

Lucian clasped his hands together to still their shaking.

His breaths had quickened, bordering on hyperventilation.This version of Dragomir's role as a knight of Prince Vlad Dracul was starting to veer sharply from what he'd always been told-what he'd always been taught. Had his ancestors been wrong?

Since childhood, he'd spent every day cursing his tainted blood, begging G.o.d's forgiveness for the iniquity in his lineage. He'd kept himself separated from others, avoided emotional contact, all out of fear that some deep dark evil lingered within his soul and would ultimately destroy anything good he touched.

Anger clouded his mind. Had his whole history been a lie? What of those before him? How many men of his line had carried this burden? How many had gone to their graves after a lifetime of loneliness and self-loathing?

He thought of the pendant dangling beneath his shirt.

Pa.s.sed down through the generations, it wasn't an heirloom, but rather a curse. A male always carried it, kept it safe, kept it secret, but from what or whom?

Then his gaze met and locked with Ivona's, and he suddenly understood. From her.

She lifted the gold medallion to her lips and kissed it. "I forgive you, al meu amator," she whispered. "I forgive you."

A tiny shudder wracked her frame as she stroked her amulet once more before releasing it. The charm fell to her chest with an audible snap. Her mood seemingly veering sharply to anger, she glowered at the others about the room.

"The repugnant smell of death and cries for mercy must have permeated the air around him, saturating his everypore until he lost his senses. It wasn't until later, I overheard rumors that my strong, proud knight had fallen to his knees and vomited at the feet of one of the unfortunates who had been pitilessly skewered by his own hand. Upon witnessing Dragomir's weakness at the sight of death, Prince Vlad became angry and instructed his guards to impale him also."

Her curt voice seethed with growing rancor, stare blazed with fury as her features began to shift. Her brow thickened, drawing deep furrows along the bridge of her widening nose. Her mouth drew open into a hideous snarl, her strikingly white teeth suddenly looking more like deadly razorblades. And her eyes...no longer a mesmerizing mixture of copper and jade, had darkened until they became the blackest of night, two onyx spheres bulging from their sockets.

Lucian sat straight up in his chair, the muscles in his back stiffening in shock, the hairs on his neck standing in a salute of warning. Unable to tear his eyes away, he watched Ivona's transformation with horror. In a matter of seconds, her beautiful face had changed into that of a terrifying beast with elongated fangs, fiery eyes, and a ferocious temper.

"Because he'd been so faithful up until then," she ground out, her voice deep and unnatural, seemingly coming from the bowels of the tavern itself. "He was placed on a stake higher than the rest, so he wouldn't have to smell the refuse of his lowly, dying company."

Her fingernails dug into the innocent material of the leather armchair, puncturing its smooth surface in multiplespots. Her breaths were heavy and labored, almost like the panting of a feral dog. And her body seemed to be vibrating with barely controlled rage, bordering on the edge of a maniacal outburst.

Almost as quickly as it began, her temper suddenly vanished and her features shifted back to normal, leaving Lucian to wonder if he'd actually just witnessed the change, or if the dim candlelight had played a trick on his tired vision. Not wanting to make any sudden moves, he glanced at the others through lowered lashes. Many continued to stare in wide-eyed wonder, their mouths hanging open like gaping holes. Others had risen from their chairs and backed away in revulsion, their features contorted into masks of terror.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated," the bartender commanded. He quickly crossed the room and ushered the wandering flock back to their waiting chairs. "'Tis the trickery of light which taunts our senses." Glancing towards Ivona, "I a.s.sure you, there are no monsters among us," he added with a nervous chuckle.

Ivona beamed in return. It was a calming smile, laced with the hypnotic magic of an immortal, which Lucian had heard could put even a dying man at ease. "Yes," she began with a slow, seductive slur. "Weather such as this can be a bit...unnerving."

CHAPTER SIX

The patrons reluctantly filed back to their seats, their expressions riddled with uncertainty. "But I saw-" one brave soul began, sure it had been more than an unplanned parlor trick.

Leaning forward in her chair, Ivona clicked her tongue with disapproval as she trained her gaze on the young blonde who was inching toward the exit. "Imaginations can make for such wonderful adventures, and sometimes, dreadfully chilling excitement. But for now, I should like to continue my story, unless anyone else has an objection."

She mentally caressed the woman's mind into a state of near catatonia, smiling with approval when the girl started back toward her chair without further hesitation.

"Yes, please continue, Ms. Knight," the bartender hurriedly cut in before anyone else could protest.

Ivona nodded approval as the previously rebellious woman took her seat and stared back at her in silent compliance. Mortals are so easy to train, she concluded with a haughty sense of superiority.

"When I learned of my lover's fate, I had to see for myself. I could not accept that my Dragomir was gone, murdered at the hands of the monster we hailed as ourPrince. Under the shroud of darkness, I set out for Sibiu. I rode like a wild banshee, nearly driving my horse to its grave in a frenzy to reach my beloved."

Suffocating with the agony of the memory, Ivona gulped in large breaths of air. "It was true. He was..."

She exhaled soundly, pausing a moment to rein in her rampant thoughts. "Sometimes, it took days for someone to die, and death was by no means gentle or merciful. Many suffered beyond the boundaries of your meager comprehensions before they were accepted into the cold embrace of oblivion." She indicated the others around her with a wrinkle of her nose and disgusted swish of her hand.

"My Dragomir was a strong man. For three dawns, his pain endured without relent, and I was there with him upon his death."

Ivona drew an invisible pattern on the mutilated chair arm. "It was at that moment when I began my own descent into darkness. Prince Vlad claimed that blood was the life, and drinking the essence of your victim allowed you to absorb their strength. I intended to find out."

She scowled at the group, daring anyone to speak out against her proclaimed indiscretion-it was only the first of many to tell. "The hours pa.s.sed painstakingly slowly as my beloved's life force gradually slipped through my grasp, but I couldn't let him fade away, his presence to be forgotten like a distant memory. No, I had to preserve his essence and avenge his death. At the moment of his demise, I lifted his lifeless wrist to my lips and drank deeply from his spirit."Excitement coursed through her veins as the memory of his taste resurfaced. Ivona closed her eyes, savoring her beloved's flavor. He was her first forbidden drink, and his essence would forever remain in her tainted soul.

Tucking the precious memory away, she opened her eyes and leaned forward in her chair. "Sparked by the power within his blood, and driven by my own rampant need for revenge, I became an a.s.sa.s.sin of h.e.l.l. Unknowingly, I entered into a contract with the same beast that drove my Dragomir's slayer. The demon that reigned through Vlad now tainted my own body. I became a princess of terror, a queen of death and destruction, a knight of vengeance. It was on that dreadful morning, I began my transformation into what you see now."

Her mouth tasted the bitter flavor of loathing.

"Vampyre..." she hissed through clenched teeth. "Vlad was indeed correct in his warped line of reasoning, but it's more than desire for power that drives one to consume the essence of another. Before the birth of Christ, a traitor to G.o.d released a vaporous black leech, composed of the vilest elements imaginable, from the fiery realm of h.e.l.l itself. Named by a cleric many centuries before even Vlad's time, The Evil is an abomination that inhabits a mortal as a parasite does a lowly beast. It demands its host drink the life force from its peers, for human blood is its sustenance, its life."

Ivona paused, searching each face in her attentive crowd for a response to her startling confession. Either tooshocked by her declaration to question, or too limited in their thinking to believe, every member of the group merely stared back at her in mute silence, their eyes blank with uneventful expressions. She snorted with disgust. Fools.

"But once it occupies a carrier, it's trapped, until either death of the vessel or an intentional pa.s.sing is completed.

Once I saw the fiend for what it was, I vowed never to let it escape. Never to let it take over another as it had Vlad and use its carrier to wreak havoc and destruction upon the flesh of innocence. I swore on the grave of my beloved to keep this creature bound within me for eternity, and for nearly five centuries, I have succeeded."

Her eyes flashed, much like the sparks of lightning crackling outside, illuminating her face in an unnatural, iridescent glow. Then her features slowly melted back into an emotionless mask-an undead porcelain doll with flawless, alabaster skin and stunning, ruby lips. Her gaze casually swept the room, pausing briefly upon each face before moving to the next listener.

It was almost as if she'd visited each of their minds, secretly instilling some silent message into their thoughts.

Then she returned her attention to Lucian. Tucking her hands in her lap, she cleared all emotion from her expression, and merely...watched.A vaguely sensuous light pa.s.sed between them. She seemed to be waiting for something, some indication from him. He held his breath as her piercing stare penetrated his very soul, searching, probing for his most sacred of secrets.

Although every fiber of his being warned against her, he couldn't help but feel drawn by her entrancement.

The hidden chain around his neck shifted. Lucian felt it pull outward, seemingly trying to guide him across the room. Did he dare give in and rejoin the two talismans?

What would it cost him if he did?

Ivona's gaze dropped to his chest, ostensibly sensing something there. A pensive shimmer flickered briefly in the shadow of her eyes. The pendant grew warm once again, burning his skin.

Lifting a clenched fist to his mouth, he awkwardly cleared his throat. His arm pa.s.sed over the shrouded amulet; the motion cut into her line of vision. Ivona blinked and lifted her gaze to his.

Her eyes narrowed, seemingly knowing he hid something. A silent stare down ensued as she explored his thoughts. Careful not to give too much of himself away, Lucian waited for her silent interrogation to end. After several long moments, she shrugged her shoulders in mock resignation then lapsed back into her tale.

"But my transformation was not yet complete. No, Dragomir merely formed a pact between The Evil and me.

It would take Vlad's death to finish my crossing."An eerie glow sparkled in the depths of her eyes. "I was trapped between two worlds, part mortal, and part...something else. Driven by the unrelenting need for blood, I began preying upon my fellow Walachians. Using the darkness as a shroud, I slipped, undetected, through the nooks and crannies of the castle and neighboring towns, hunting at will and steadily moving in for my ultimate kill."

Her subtle mouth curled into a sinister smile, making her appearance seem almost ominous.

Then, Ivona's shoulders suddenly slumped, as though she carried an invisible burden. "But my beloved's retribution was not to be quick in coming. Soon after his death, the Turks attacked Walachia, forcing Prince Vlad to flee through the same secret tunnels Dragomir and I had used as our haven. Helped by a few remaining loyal Walachians, he made it safely to my hometown, then headed for Hunedoara and, he hoped, the sanctuary of King Corvinus, leaving Targoviste devastated in his wake."

Sadness swept across her face and she dropped her gaze to the floor. "Along the way, he burned villages and poisoned wells, making sure the pursuing Sultan Mehmed II and his men would have nothing to eat or drink. When the stouthearted Sultan reached the outskirts of Walachia's capital city, thousands of impaled Turkish captives confronted him. History books later termed it "The Forest of the Impaled." Even the otherwise impervious Sultan was sickened and turned back, leaving the hunt to be taken up by Vlad's own younger brother Radu."As though issuing a command, Ivona lifted her arm from the chair's rest and snapped her fingers. Almost instantly, a small silhouette separated from the darkness behind her. A young woman suddenly appeared at her side, materializing from the shadows as if by magic.

She was small and fragile, with delicate features, and innocent grace, seemingly in her late teens or perhaps early twenties. She wore her long, honey-colored hair parted on the side and pulled back at the nape of her neck in a lone ponytail. As though knowing her place, she kept her soft violet eyes appropriately averted from the shocked stares of her spectators.

With wordless heed, she quickly refilled the empty goblet sitting on the table beside her Master from a large, ornate bottle, and then melted back into the darkness like an ethereal shadow, leaving Lucian and the others to stare after her in amazement.

Evidently noticing the looks of bafflement and wonder upon the faces of her listeners, "She is my...protege," Ivona hurriedly explained, her expression expertly concealing any traces of emotion. Then as an afterthought, "She travels with me everywhere I go," she added.

Lucian could scarcely do anything else but gape in bewilderment. Where had that girl come from? Where did she go just now? Was she human? A slave?

So many questions a.s.sailed him. Despite his better judgment-which screamed at him to get the h.e.l.l out ofthere-he knew there was only one way to get all of the answers he sought, and only one being that could give them.