Duet in Blood (17 page)

Part of that Brotherhood? No way, José!

Joseph gazed at me silently for a long moment as we stood in the tiny cell that had been his prison since the day the ‘uglies’ had brought him here. I reached out to touch his face, and he grasped my hand, kissing my palm then pressing it to his cheek.

“Oh God,” I moaned, moving into his embrace and kissing his neck. “This is bad, isn’t it, Joseph?”

“I’m afraid it is, my love,” he whispered. “Do you have any understanding as to what has happened, or is it all too bizarre for you to fully comprehend?”

“Most of the time I think I must be dreaming or something—that this can’t really be happening. But then I remembered a conversation I had with Marcus. A conversation he DUET IN BLOOD

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erased from my mind until this moment. He said you were going to risk telling me the truth about yourself, and what he had revealed to me would make it easier for me to understand.”

“And has it?” he asked, tightening his arms about me.

“I know you and Marcus are vampires,” I said, still not quite believing I could say the words. “Jean-Claude too, and…Roger. God, Joseph, when he bared his fangs at Angelo, I nearly peed myself! But that hasn’t changed the way I feel about you. I love you, Joseph, and if I can help get you out of this mess, I will.”

He kissed me long and sweetly, and despite the pickle we were in, I felt a hot rush of desire sweep through my body. I could tell by the way Joseph pulled me into his crotch that he felt it too, but then his arms released me and he stepped back a little, his eyes fixed on mine.

“I have to explain some things to you, Micah.” His voice was hoarse with emotion.

“Come sit here by me.” He took my hand and led me to a tiny bench that made us sit close together, our thighs touching. He put an arm about me and held me close.

“You are right about me. I am a vampire, but there is more you should know. You said on our first meeting you thought I was in my twenties. You were almost correct, for I was twenty-six years of age when I was changed, but that was almost five hundred years ago.”

My mouth fell open, and I gaped at him like a dummy for a full five seconds. “You can’t be,” I finally gasped. “How is that possible? You don’t look a day over twenty-six.”

Although, I thought, it would kinda explain a lot—like his very proper use of English, for instance. But that gorgeous face and body, his skin unlined and smooth as silk. How could he be as old as he’d just claimed?

“Vampire blood is very powerful,” he said, answering my thoughts. “It keeps us young in appearance, as long as it is supplemented by…by the blood of others.”

“You mean humans, don’t you?”

“Preferably human blood, yes. But Micah…” He gripped my hand as he continued. “A person cannot die from a vampire’s bite, nor can he or she be changed by it. That transition is much more involved. Most humans never realise they have given their blood, for we are able to erase it from their memory.”

“Angelo bit me,” I said, rubbing my neck. “I guess he wanted me to remember it.”

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“Angelo is not a vampire. He is a creation of the Master Gragon. Once, Angelo was a very beautiful young man—a tender, compassionate and loving human being. When I was a slave to the Brotherhood, many years ago, he tended to me after they…well, after they had enjoyed me.”

“Oh, my God.” I stared at him in horror. “You mean, they abused you?”

“Yes. I was their slave for many, many years.”

“Years!” The feeling of horror intensified. “But how could you survive such a terrible thing as that? I just can’t imagine what that must have been like!”

“And it’s best that you cannot, Micah. I will not dwell on it, except to say if not for Angelo, it would have been ten times the hell I endured. But of course, they had other plans for him, so they took him away and changed him into what he now is.”

“What is he exactly?”

“He is a demon…a demon created by Gragon and fed vampire blood to keep him

strong. He has learned the art of shape-shifting from the wizards. He can appear as young and handsome for short periods of time, but it strains his power to do so.”

“He didn’t look too good when we got here,” I said, remembering how he’d seemed to have aged during our flight here.

“Angelo is not an immortal. He will die eventually, although his lifespan is many times that of a human. When he exerts a lot of power, like when he flew to Los Angeles to abduct you, his power drains from him and he needs blood to sustain him.”

“Why did he bite me? Just out of spite?”

“No…and this is the hardest part of what I must tell you.” He turned to face me, holding me close, kissing my lips and cheeks so tenderly, I came close to tears. “Micah, what he did must be reversed, or you will be lost to me.”

My heart jumped with apprehension. “What do you mean?”

“He has contaminated your blood. It will induce a coma within a very short time. When that happens, they will either leave you in that comatose state forever, or they will begin to change you, just as Angelo was changed.”

“Jesus…” My head sank onto his shoulder. He stroked my hair gently and kissed my forehead.

“There is a remedy, Micah.”

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“Oh, thank God.” I looked up into his beautiful eyes. They were filled with tears and sadness. “Wh..what is it, exactly?” I stammered.

“I must drink your blood, and you must drink from me.”

I know I went as white as a sheet. I felt the blood drain from my face, and I started to tremble in his arms.

“When I drink from you,” he continued gently, “the power of my vampire blood will negate the contamination from Angelo’s poisonous bite. Then you must drink my blood to regain your strength.”

“And I’ll be a vampire,” I said, sounding strange to my own ears.

“No, but you will feel differently from before. Our blood will bind us to one another just as Ron is bound to Jean-Claude and Roger to Marcus. We will be inseparable for as long as you live—if you so wish it.”

“Well, that sounds all right.” I managed to smile at him. “I like that part.”

“Micah, our troubles do not end there. What Angelo and Gragon do not know is that I have already informed Marcus of our location. I had to when I found out they were bringing you here. He sent Roger to warn you, but unfortunately, he arrived too late.”

“Yeah, Roger and Ron tried hard to stop that freak, but I guess he was just too strong.”

“Marcus is waiting for my signal to attack, but he knows what Angelo has done to you and will wait until you have decided what course you will take.”

“There is only one choice for me,” I said, with a deal more bravado than I felt. “We will be bound in blood, forever—if we live through the next few hours.”

He smiled and kissed me again. “I will try to be gentle,” he whispered.

I clung to him, my whole body trembling with the anticipation of what was to happen.

His lips caressed the skin on my neck where Angelo’s teeth had punctured me, then I flinched as his sharp fangs broke through my flesh and into the vein that carried my lifeblood.

I moaned softly. I felt my blood being sucked into his mouth, and strangely, it no longer hurt. His arms tightened around me, and I strained against him as my body pulsed with desire for him. My hands tore at the white tunic he wore, ripping it from his shoulders. I seemed to have lost control as I crushed him to me, wanting only to be a part of him, to have him inside me, to be inside him, to have him here always like this.

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“Joseph,” I whispered, my neck arching as I was caught in a sexual ecstasy like no other I had ever experienced.

Panting, he pulled back from me, licking at the wound on my neck. His saliva acted as a balm, closing the puncture marks and wiping away the bruising. Still lost in a sensual haze, my hand strayed between his legs. He was as hard as I was.

We smiled at one another, then he bit deeply into his own wrist. He held it up to me, and I stared, fascinated, at the dark red blood that welled from the wound. I was suddenly very thirsty.

“Drink, my love. Drink and be made whole.” He pulled me into his arms so that my back rested against his chest. I took his hand and brought his wrist close to my lips. My tongue flicked at his blood, taking some on the point of my tongue and savouring it. Then my mouth closed over the wound, and I sucked, long and deep, relishing the sweetness as it poured over my tongue and down my throat. I felt it being absorbed into my tissues, once more filling me with a sexual desire that threatened to take control of my senses. He stroked my hair and crooned to me as I sucked.

Could anything—even sex—bring us closer together than this? Would there ever be

anything to compare with what I was feeling now?

“Enough, my love…” I heard his lovely voice as if from far away, and it was with some reluctance that I released his hand. He licked at the last vestiges of his own blood, then he kissed me, and as our tongues swirled together, it was as though we had tasted the elixir of immortality.

Our rapture was rudely interrupted as the cell door burst open, and Heckel and Jeckel stood leering at us with ugly expressions on their uglier faces. Angelo looked terrible again. I guess the evil in him was seeping through his pores.

“Angelo…” Joseph really sounded concerned. “What is happening to you?”

He glared at us. “My power is becoming even greater, in preparation for the battle to come.”

Well, if that’s what power does to you, let me stay a wimp.

His eyes swept over our flushed faces and torn tunics. He smirked. “So, the mortal chose the losing side.”

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“You’re the loser,” I told him, amazed at my nerve. This guy could zap me anytime he wanted to. “I would rather have Joseph and Marcus as friends than enemies. Too bad you made the wrong choice.”

The old guy in black snorted. “See what a little vampire blood will do? Arrogance will be the downfall of your people, Joseph. And now, to secure your part in this, you will reveal our location to Marcus—or we will kill your pretty friend.”

Joseph smiled at him. “I have already revealed your location, Gragon. And your trap has been reversed. Marcus and his friends are all around you.”

Angelo’s face dissolved into a mask of such intense hatred, I thought he was going to zap us right there and then. I grabbed at Joseph’s arm, but the sound of shouts and screams from outside made both Angelo and Gragon run from the cell, locking the door behind them.

“What now?” I asked. “Are we stuck in here?”

“Not at all.” He strode to the door and opened it—just like that. “That’s why they had to chain me in here,” he said. “Come on, let’s go!”

We ran into the passageway, the shouts and sounds of angry roaring getting louder as we approached the big hall I’d first been taken to. The scene we came upon was like a vision from hell. Everywhere, vampires and wizards struggled in hand-to-hand fighting. Swords, knives, and axes flashed in the light shed from the giant chandelier above them.
No guns?
I wondered at this old world weaponry.

“Guns are useless against us,” Joseph said, reading my mind. “A lethal blow from a sharp blade can disable however—especially if the head is removed.”

I didn’t want to think about that, and I didn’t have time to think about anything at all as we were set upon by two really awful looking wizards. No wonder these guys were always angry—they were butt ugly! Joseph slugged one of them on the jaw, and he went down in a flurry of black cloak, but the other one grabbed me by the hair and held a knife to my throat.

“Master Gragon wants you,” he croaked. “Come with me now, or I will kill this one”

For a moment, Joseph looked about him, searching the hall for a sign of Marcus. It was difficult to tell in the middle of all the confusion just which side was winning the fight. I knew that if Joseph gave in to the wizard’s demands, he wouldn’t be able to find Marcus and fight by his side. Just as he nodded and prepared to follow the creep holding me, I stomped down hard on the wizard’s foot. He howled with pain, and Joseph dived on him, knocking DUET IN BLOOD

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him away from me and slamming him up against the wall. Joseph punched him hard on the face, breaking his nose.

Instead of blood, slimy brown stuff poured out of his flattened nostrils—yuck. Joseph punched him again, and he went down in a heap.

“Come on…” Joseph grabbed my arm, but just as we ran into the hall, a beam of light shot from somewhere high up on the wall. One of the vampires screamed as the light hit him, then he burst into flames. I saw another vampire leap on him, trying to extinguish the flames, but the beam of light hit him, and he too began to burn.

Joseph looked up to where the beam emanated. Cursing, he pulled me back into the empty passageway. “Stay here,” he said, panting slightly. “They have conjured up some fiendish weapon. I must stop it.” He took off, running so fast he was almost a blur. I followed as fast as I could. I was not going to be left alone with that bunch of murderers.

He bounded up a flight of stairs towards a wooden door, which he busted open so

hard, it almost came off its hinges. But as I ran into the room behind him, I gasped with shock. Angelo held him at bay with a wickedly sharp looking sword, while Gragon

controlled some kind of machine that was killing the vampires below.

Gragon turned and grinned at us. “Well done, Joseph,” he cackled. “You brought them straight into our trap. The beam that is generated here is simulated sunlight—the perfect death-ray for vampires. Look Joseph, your friends are in disarray. They know they are powerless against us. Soon, they will be begging for mercy. Shall we be merciful, Angelo?”

He let out a high-pitched scream of glee. “Oh, look, there’s Marcus. I have him in my sights, Angelo!”