Survive the Dawn (31 page)

Daciana
laughed then. “Yes, Leigh. Pissed off is putting it mildly. So you do remember him coming to you?”

“I remember. I knew he was lying when he told me to bring Sebastian back and all would be forgiven. He made sure I understood which side to be on. Tatiana felt I betrayed her.” Leigh laughed rudely. “Again with the human emotions. What is it with them?”

“I don’t know. Looking for the lost humanity,” she said absently. “Tatiana was a magnificent force.
Nicholae
had one advantage. He was completely without care or concern for anything or anyone. He butchered his way to the hierarchy. How he and Tatiana survived a thousand years, I don’t know. Now—”

“Now it’s just
Nicholae
. Sebastian is certainly a thorn in his side, she always has been. So had Tatiana. And I agree with him. Sebastian can’t obtain Tatiana’s power. She’ll have us living among them, sitting around the kitchen table waiting for dinner. Alex will be there with dinner all ready and—” She stopped and glanced around the room. “Alex?”

“You remember. Dr. Alex Taylor,”
Daciana
said and picked up the goblet. She stretched her tall form out on the couch and took a healthy drink. “The mortal who’s in love with Sebastian, and I fear she feels the same.”

Leigh looked as though she might pull her hair out. “If one more vampire says the word ‘love’…” She stopped and took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Chicago.” She opened her eyes and looked at
Daciana
. “I was in Chicago. Sebastian was there. The redheaded mortal was there. And Marcus Windham.”

“Yes, the last of that family, thank the gods. They were a nuisance for the past two hundred years. After Anastasia—”

“Stop saying that name.”

“—Sebastian had that ridiculous idea.”

Leigh put her hand up. “I’ve had enough. Class is over. I need sustenance.”

Daciana
grinned. “I thought you might.” She raised her hand and pointed to the doorway.

Leigh folded her arms across her chest and bared her fangs as a young woman stood in the doorway. “What have we here?”

“A gift from me to you,”
Daciana
said as she stood. She walked past the woman, who obediently lowered her head as
Daciana
passed. “Bon appétit.”

When
Daciana
had gone, Leigh beckoned the woman into the room. “And what is your name, my pet?” She put her arm around her and led her to the couch. “And you want to be my pet, do you not?”

The scared woman merely nodded. Leigh was back…

Chapter 28

The site where the ritual was to take place was empty. Sebastian stood in the clearing and noticed the area covered with fresh blood. She crouched down and lightly ran her fingers through the matted leaves. It was then she heard it. Her head shot up as she looked around the forest. The wind grew stronger and the trees swayed with the breeze. She thought she heard laughter mingled with the rustling of the woods.

You’re too late, vampire.

Sebastian narrowed her eyes and looked deep into the woods. She saw a fleeting glimpse of movement that was not from the tree limbs or the underbrush. The wind stopped just as quickly as it started, and the forest was still. She looked up to see the crescent moon drift by in the cloudless sky.

She instinctively reached up, pulled the amulet that hung around her neck, and held it tightly, making sure it was still in her possession.

Whatever voice she heard, it was correct—she was too late. Leigh had been resurrected.

“This is all I need now,” Sebastian said as she left the ritual site. “Leigh.”

“And she is not alone, Sebastian.”

Sebastian turned around to see
Kasandra
standing in the path. She had not changed in all these years. She reminded Sebastian so much of Tatiana. Her elegant posture, her independent spirit, and her beauty.

“
Kasandra
. It’s been a long time,” Sebastian said.

“Yes, it has.”
Kasandra
walked up to her and smiled. “You have not changed in the slightest, though much has changed around you.”

“Yes, much has,” Sebastian said. “I was too late.”

Kasandra
nodded. “Leigh is back, and she’s not well.”

Sebastian laughed at the absurd remark. “She never was,
Kasandra
.”

A smile flashed on
Kasandra’s
face. “This is true. She doesn’t remember what happened between you.
Nicholae
is filling her in as we speak. Did you—”

Sebastian nodded and pulled out the amulet from around her neck.
Kasandra
grinned then, but her smile faded. “
Nicholae
is about to find out then, he has just returned to the mansion.”

“He’s in for a surprise to be sure.”

“Come, let’s get away from here.”

Kasandra
led her back to the burnt-out shell of Tatiana’s mansion.

“Why are we here?” Sebastian asked as
Kasandra
walked through the rubble. “In Tatiana’s letter, you are to bring me—”

“Patience, Sebastian.”

Sebastian followed her to what was once the library. Huge timbers and remnants of concrete were all around them. “If you would just remove some of this,”
Kasandra
asked and pointed to the rubble.

“Why?”

Kasandra
raised an eyebrow as Sebastian scowled but obeyed and easily picked up the slabs of concrete and burnt timbers, tossing them out of her way. In a matter of minutes,
Kasandra
stopped her. “There, on the ground.”

Sebastian looked around and saw what looked like a door, perhaps a cellar door. “It was how Nina escaped. There is a passage from Tatiana’s rooms, through the mansion. It leads here. One can get out, but they need the key to get back in. Only Tatiana had that key. Now only you have it.”

“I have no key,
Kasandra
. Only this ring, and…” Her voice trailed off as she crouched down to examine the lock. She looked up to
Kasandra
, who nodded. Sebastian took the amulet from around her neck and looked at the imbedded engraving. She wiped the dirt and soot away from the lock on the trap door and placed the amulet into the lock. When she turned the amulet, the lock slid and the door opened.

Sebastian lifted the door and peered through the darkness to see a stone staircase. “Follow it, Sebastian.”

They descended the damp staircase. Once at the bottom, Sebastian saw a torch on the far wall. She took it and saw the flint rock sitting next to it. After striking it against the stone wall, the spark lit the torch. “Tatiana didn’t believe in electricity.” Sebastian continued down the dimly lit corridor. “Where are we going?”

“To the place Tatiana wanted to show you where the ancient ceremony was to take place for the transference of power from Tatiana to you.”

Kasandra
led the way now and stopped at the entrance of the room. “
Here.
”

Sebastian held the torch up as they walked in. There were torches on each wall, which she lit. Sebastian turned in all directions. “I’ve never been in this room.”

“And you never should until it was time. Unfortunately, we cannot stand on ceremony. Tatiana was so looking forward to transferring her power when the time came.” She laughed then. “Actually, she was looking forward to rubbing
Nicholae’s
nose in it more.”

Sebastian smiled slightly; she knew
Kasandra
was right. “So now what?”

She looked around the room and noticed the high-backed chair in the far corner. It was more a throne than a chair. She smiled as she remembered how she and Tatiana would sit in similar chairs upstairs in her mansion, holding court. Vampires and humans alike came to pay homage to her. Sebastian sat by her side, learning, reveling in the power and presence Tatiana had. She remembered one night in particular.

“Tatiana Messalina,” the young woman said with a bow. “You have honored me.”

Tatiana smiled and glanced at Sebastian. “It is my pleasure, my lady. Your family has assisted me many times throughout the centuries, and I have rewarded you with lands and titles, befitting such assistance. And you will continue as your ancestors have?”

Sebastian rose from her chair and stood in front of the woman. “Will you do as Tatiana bids?” she asked and put her hand under the woman’s chin to lift it to her gaze.

The woman swallowed and nodded. “Anything.”

Sebastian grinned and took the woman by the hand. “Then let us begin.” She glanced back at Tatiana, who rolled her eyes and waved her off.

“She is to be a familiar, Sebastian,” Tatiana called to her. “A human familiar.”

Sebastian bowed to Tatiana. “As you wish, Tatiana.”

Sebastian led the woman down the dark hallway. “W-where are you taking me?” the young woman asked.

Sebastian stopped at her bedroom door and opened it. “To places you have never been but want to go.”

The woman stopped and pulled against Sebastian. “I do not—”

“I have seen you in the village at night. What is your name?”

“Isabelle.”

Sebastian grinned at her defiant tone but saw the lust in the brown eyes, as well. “Isabelle, your words belie your eyes.”

Sebastian closed the door behind them and backed Isabelle to the bed. Without a word, Isabelle allowed Sebastian to untie the top of her dress and push it off her shoulders. Sebastian would have to fight not to turn this woman, not to sink her fangs deep into the soft white skin of Isabelle’s shoulder. The dress slipped to a heap at Isabelle’s feet. Her body trembled as Sebastian slowly unhooked her undergarments, setting her heaving breasts free.

When Sebastian lowered her head to kiss the hollow of her neck, Isabelle stopped her. “I hate you.”

Sebastian looked up and grinned. “At this moment? Yes, I’m sure you do.” She kissed Isabelle’s neck, her tongue slicing its way down between her breasts, and grinned when she heard Isabelle’s soft intake of breath. She nearly laughed when she felt Isabelle’s hands in her hair, pulling her closer.

“Do you still hate me?” Sebastian mumbled against her hard nipple; she raked her sharp teeth across it, eliciting a loud moan from Isabelle. With her left hand, Sebastian caressed the soft skin of her stomach and traveled lower. She slipped her fingers through Isabelle and raised an eyebrow when her fingers met Isabelle’s arousal. “Do you?”

“Yes,” she said as Sebastian laughed and pushed her against the pillows. She stood then and slowly disrobed. She watched as Isabelle’s eyes widened and her body shivered.

“Well then,” Sebastian said and parted Isabelle’s legs and slipped between them. “We have all night to work on that.”

“Sebastian—”

“Sebastian?”
Kasandra
called out to her, breaking her from her reverie. “What were you thinking?”

Sebastian smiled and shook her head. “Something from many centuries ago, when my existence was new, and I was a carefree vampire. If there is such a thing.”

Kasandra
nodded in agreement. “If there is, it’s surely Leigh.”

“One nightmare at a time. Let’s get this ceremony under way.”

“Yes,”
Kasandra
said. She pointed to the amulet. “This is the key.”