Entanglements (36 page)

I sat down on the edge and Rom joined me.

“What are we going to do?” I gazed down at my hands as they twisted in my lap. “There doesn’t seem any way out of this mess. I told you it would be another fool’s errand. I’m a failure again and it looks like we'll be stuck in this nightmare world forever.”

Rom stilled my hands with his. He placed a finger on my jaw lifting my gaze to his. “You're not a failure. You have found the poultice for my arm. You have found Juliette and Billy. The rest shall come.”

“Do you still find me delightful?” I asked jokingly.

“Even more so as you are dressed tonight,” he said with seriousness in his tone and an earnest gaze.

Reaching a hand up I placed it at his nape and drew Rom’s head toward mine. Our mouths met. This being only my second French kiss I think I did a pretty good job of looping and twining my tongue with his and not slobbering or anything.

Rom deepened the kiss and pulled me onto his lap, on top of his strong thighs, so that we were chest to chest. My breasts, made ample by the efforts of the bustier top of the dress, flattened against his hard muscles. His hands caressed my bare shoulders and then down to the small of my back. His touch sent sparks shooting off behind my closed eyes. My hands clutched at his hair then over his shoulders.

I found forgetfulness and comfort in his arms. And there were other feelings zipping inside me that I still wasn’t brave enough to try to analyze. I would think of nothing but Rom’s mouth, his chest, his thighs, his hands and…his lips.

“Ahem,” a voice came from somewhere nearby, interrupting our interlude. “I’m sorry,” the voice said and I recognized it belonged to Eugene.

Rom and I pulled apart and I jumped off his lap. Standing, Rom placed an arm over my shoulder protectively.

“I hesitate to interrupt, but you should be aware the fish in that fountain are carnivorous and have been known to jump. So…”

“Thanks, for the warning. " I tried not to sound embarrassed. After all why should I care that a ghoul saw me kissing Rom. I took Rom’s hand. “We’ll just go back and, er, dance.”

In the ballroom, Rom proved he could waltz almost as well as the prince. With my hand on his shoulder and his hand around my waist, and our other hands tightly clasped, I almost lost myself in the movement, the glitter of the room, and the music. However, I noticed the cart carrying my stepsister had been removed from the ballroom.

 
"Juliette is gone. But Prince Leopold is still here.” I inclined my head toward the refreshments area. I saw him tear into a piece of something—I didn’t want to think what—as we danced by.

In another corner Billy, between two guards, hovered nervously and I wondered how he'd persuaded them to let him return. I saw Rom notice him too.

“Maybe Billy saw where they took her,” I said.

Before Rom could respond, the tune ended. The wizard, Gethin, stepped forward and tapped Rom’s back.

“May I have the next dance with the lady?” Gethin asked.

Rom didn’t seem pleased but he gave a small bow and moved to the perimeter. Gethin placed his hand at my waist. As the music began, he swung me into step and promptly trod on my foot.

“Ow,” I cried.

“Forgive me,” Gethin squeaked. “I’m not a very good dancer.”

“In that case, why am I being given this honor?”

“”I wanted to warn you not to trust the prince."

Really? That information was hardly newsworthy.

“The prince will seek to use you. Your life will become a hellish torture." Just as he said the word "torture" he stepped on my foot again.

Grimacing, I restrained a groan. “Sounds like personal experience.”

“I saved his life. Yet he repaid me by making me his slave. The vampires are the only aristocrats here,” he groused, my toes crunching under his foot yet again.

“You seem to have a pretty important position here,” I noted.

“Important?” His lips bent into a sour twist. “I’ve made all this possible and am given no recompense. Look at the clothes I have to wear,” He leaned back to show me his outfit. This caused me to stumble over him before we started the dance again. “One hundred and thirty years of serving him,” Gethin said. “Haven’t I paid enough?”

Personally, given how my feet had suffered during this dance, I didn’t think so.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked, praying the song would end soon.

“Because you want to escape,” he said. “And so do I. If you vow to take me through the portal with you, I will help you and your friends.”

After the debacle with Amy, I wondered whether his request was genuine. On the other hand, wanting to get out of this nightmare dimension made sense to me.

“I have no choice but to agree." If this guy could create a whole different world for Juliette, he could surely get us out of here.

“Meet me in the stables in two hours. I shall be there with your stepsister.”

“Can you also get a message to someone on the outside?” I asked.

“Certainly.” Gethin grinned. “You need only tell me who and I will send it by locater spell.”

As the song ended, I told him the content of the message and its recipient. He bowed to me and trotted happily away as Rom approached.

“What was that?” Rom asked.

“Plan B,” I replied before explaining my conversation with Gethin. “We need to get Billy before we meet the wizard,” I stated.

“Mayhap we should leave him in this dimension.”

As much as I disliked the jerk, I couldn't agree. I didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death not even Billy

“No, we can't do that. Namia the ghoul, Billy's counter-part, is in my world. We can't leave her there.”

Rom nodded with a rueful grimace.

“We also need to find the stables.”

“Leave these tasks in my care,” he said and then headed for the double doors through which Juliette’s cart had entered.

As Rom slipped out, the lights dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd. A billowing white screen floated down from the ceiling before hovering above the crowd. A kind of movie began to play.

I observed Gethin in the corner wielding a wand with a sour twisted expression and assumed he had produced this marvel.

Wow, our school AV department would have gotten a thrill from this.

A royal crest and the words “One hundred twenty-five years of excellence” flitted across the screen. The images changed cutting from one to another, all of them pictures of Prince Leopold doing what I assumed were his tasks as a monarch. Sitting at a desk, riding in a carriage, shaking hands with his subjects...the sequence was set to a musical background. Heck this was some kind of corporate ra ra promo film and the prince was the corporation.

The prince's voice interjected itself as the narrator. “One hundred fifty eight years ago, I was born the eighth child of the queen of this realm.” Cut to a cute baby picture...awwww.

Rom re-entered the room and weaved his way through the crowd—many vampires casting him avaricious glances—to reach me. He nodded and I took that to mean he’d accomplished his tasks.

“Billy will meet us in your room,” he whispered.

The film continued. “In 1870,” the prince narrated. “I was tragically struck down and almost perished.” Cut to a pathetic photo of him lying in a bed. “But tragedy turned to triumph and I arose from this sick bed a better, stronger, more intelligent being; I arose super-human, an immortal.”

No credit was given to Gethin. I bet he loved that.

Cut to several clips of Prince Leopold being all vampirey including some grisly biting and limb tearing. Ewww.

“At first I fought my manifest vampiric destiny.” An image of the prince looking conflicted and angsty played across the screen. “But I came to embrace my fate and chose to make myself the successor to my mother’s crown.” The screen filled with successive clips of the prince meting out horrific deaths to his siblings—his siblings being identified with captioning for those who didn’t recognize them.

Helpful.

These clips were followed by one of him tearing at the throat of an old woman. I didn’t need a caption to identify this victim.

“He killed—” Rom began.

“Yeah,” I swallowed a nausea lump. “His mother.”

“And my reign has been filled with magnificent accomplishments.” Scenes of invasions of the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East played. “But our best years are yet to come,” the prince as narrator intoned. “I, as your absolute ruler, will pursue new frontiers of colonization, new worlds of opportunity for my royal subjects to enjoy. New universes filled with prey to conquer.” These words were accompanied by images of humans being chased, captured and herded into holding pens.

At that moment, bile rose in my throat so hard I couldn’t swallow it down. Thankfully, I didn’t vomit all over Rom. The vampire to my left wasn’t so lucky.

* * * * *

“Why is your realm known as Dorcha?” I asked the prince as I moved my King’s pawn one space forward on the chessboard.

 
“The British Empire of the Dorcha. Dorcha means dark in Gaelic. My little joke.” He chuckled as he moved his rook’s pawn forward.

I swept my queen up the board.

“Very bold move, Kizzy,” the prince observed before returning to his story. “Gradually one accepts what one is and even revels in it. Hopefully with humor.”

“Yeah, I saw that in your documentary earlier,” I drawled. “Very humorous.”

“I heard you suffered some distress during the showing.” the prince cast a critical eye at me.

“Excitement of the dancing,” I assured him. “I found the documentary fascinating.”

“Good.” the prince gave an approving nod and a smile. “Then you must understand me better. That is excellent.”

“You know I want to get Juliette and leave this place,” I said. When the prince started to reply, I held up a hand. “Not that you haven’t been a most gracious host, but everyone wants to go home from vacation eventually.”

This seemed to satisfy him. “True. And I must tell you it is my fervent desire that you leave unharmed.” At my doubtful gaze he continued. “You do not believe me but I admire you, Kizzy. Your courage, your valor, your commitment to your people.”

“I wish to leave and you wish me to leave unharmed,” I said. “So we are in agreement.”

“Well,” He placed tented fingers beneath his chin. “It’s not quite that simple. As you saw earlier, I must explore new territory. My subjects demand it. Our very survival requires it. Therefore, I need you to open the portal to your world in order for me and mine to enter.”

I didn't have an answer for that.

“We have seen humans from your world enter before,” he continued. “But never could I discover the location of this doorway.” The prince’s voice rose with seeming excitement as he went on. “Now that I know with certainty that it is Tower Bridge and that you are the key that was foretold by the prophecy...You must see that I have an obligation to use it. To use you.”

He moved another pawn.

“Not such a good deal for me,” I pointed out.

“That need not be true. In exchange I could give you jewels, gold, all the riches you wish to take back with you when you go.” He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes gleaming. “Furthermore, I pledge to you that your sister will be returned unharmed. In fact, I would pledge further that neither you nor any of more of your friends and family would fall prey to my subjects once you return to your world.”