The Journal of Vincent Du Maurier (Book 1) (17 page)

“Hold your hands open,” I said.

Having regained my composure at the sight of
the powder, I took her hands gently in mine and blew the purple dust out over
the bloodless. Even before it settled to the ground, the swarm scattered, all
sixteen of them collapsing almost instantly, as death arrested them once again.

“Stay here,” I said.

“No!” She clutched my arm. “Not again.”

I was softer now, telling her I had to get
Helgado out of the rain. She let go and I flew up the hatch, barely reaching
him in time. Several bloodless had ascended the side of the building, using
each other as a ladder to get up. I swept him and the bags into my arms and
rushed back to Evelina. I sealed the hatch with an anchor I ripped from the
wall.

I am exhausted now, my only consolation the
girl safely beside me. The two of them are asleep and will most likely sleep through
the night. In the morning, we will try to make an escape.

21 November.
— We spent another day
inside, the rain not letting up until sometime this evening. The boy needed the
extra hours to recover and Evelina slept most of the day too. This unexpected
stay, however, has depleted our water supply and we will need more tomorrow. I
plan on leaving here in the morning whether the boy is ready or not. We cannot
stay here any longer, as the bloodless decay all around us, making the room
reek of infection. I do not want to risk Evelina getting ill. She needs a safe
place to rest.

I would be lying if I said it was easy to resist
finishing off the boy. I could take his map, the girl, and get the seeds with a
healthy fill of blood in me, but something keeps me from doing it. Someone. You—Byron—my
beloved, you are making me soft. It is all for you—this is my gift to
you. I promised you I would keep her safe and I vowed to save the living—human
and vampire. I miss you so.

Later.
— While Helgado slept,
Evelina spoke to me as if in a dream.
We
need to leave
. Her sad eyes haunted me. “In the morning,” I said.

She held my gaze.
You must feed
. “No, Evelina.”
You
must
. I must.
Yes, you must
. I
cannot protect you if I do not.
You must
.
Her head fell to the side and I could smell her skin.
You must
. Helgado stirred in his sleep. I am starved—weak.
You must
. They will die if I do not.
You must
. I am our only hope.
You must
. The blush of her skin
overwhelmed me; the nape of her neck begged for my puncture.
You must
. I will be gentle. Blood from
the vial is one thing, but taking it directly from her is quite another.
You must
. My spine tingled, the back of
my throat clenched, eager for her blood. I caressed the base of her neck,
bathed in the smell of her skin.
You must
.
I sunk my teeth in deep, closing my eyes as I pictured another, as I penetrated
her flesh with the daintiest of fangs—I would not dare let my iron rods out.
You must
. The blood crept down my
throat, as I lured it from the punctures at the base of her neck. The high was immediate,
almost crippling in its pleasure. I forced myself to control the thrill, as it
shot through every corner of my marbleized frame, touched every inch of my
insides and made my hair stand on end.
You
must … stop.
When her body went limp from my indulgence, I quit and held
her in my arms, pulling her to me, as she recovered from my feeding.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

I laid her on the ground beside the sleeping
Helgado and climbed out onto the roof to writhe in my ecstasy beneath the full
moon. I will savor the taste of both mother and child for eternity.

22 November.
— We left the winery
this morning. I walked the perimeter
before we set out, my senses fired, acutely aware of every single living organism
within a mile radius. I could hear the rats, as they scavenged in the weeds,
the birds, as they nested between the vines, and the worms that hid in the
earth from both of them. The rabbits would be awake, burrowing for their
breakfast and I would catch a few before we left. It was good to feel godly
again, potent and almighty.

Neither vampire nor bloodless were in the
vicinity and when I reached the back of the building, I discovered that the
tarred bodies lying inside had acted as a repellent. I flew to the fencerow to
retrieve my fresh game, catching three rabbits this time, each one bigger than
the next. I slung them on my belt after skinning them with my talons. I pulled
a couple of sticks from the hedges and brought them back with me to the winery,
plucking some grapes before heading in to get Evelina.

“What are those for?” She asked.

“Breakfast,” I said.

“No, the sticks?”

I handed her the grapes, noticing she had
pulled her collar up on her neck. “Repellent,” I said.

I wrapped the ends of the sticks in a cloth
dipped in the tar from the bodies in the storeroom. I gave one to each of them.
Helgado was faring better but his shoulder was still in a sling and his wounds
were swollen. Evelina steadied him on her arm when we left. They walked ahead
of me together. He had consulted the map before leaving the winery and was
convinced he could lead us to a well of fresh water from an Apennine stream. When
we arrived at the spring a few hours after we set out, they rested while I
filled the canteens.

“We’ll head out of the montane region,” he
said. “We have to head west toward the coast.”

Evelina looked tired. “How far?” She asked.

“Do you need me to carry you?”

She shook her head.

“Here,” he said. “Eat something.” He handed
her a strip of jerky but she refused.

“I’ll take the heart,” she said, pointing to
the naked rabbits on my belt.

I ripped one off and tore it open, digging
out the heart. It slipped from her grip when I handed it to her, but I was
swift enough to catch it up before it hit the ground.

“Whoa!” Helgado said. “How’d you do that?”

I had not meant for him to see my swiftness.

“What?” Evelina said.

“He was so fast,” he said. “Like lightning
speed or something.”

“What are you talking about?” She said,
stuffing the entire heart in her mouth. “You’re still a bit foggy. He just
caught it, that’s all.”

Although we have not spoken about my feeding,
I can see its effect on her. Her desire for the animal’s organs, the
blood—she is addicted to it now.

When we headed back on the road, Helgado walked
alongside me, keeping Evelina between us. “Uh,” he cleared his throat. “Thanks
for saving my life.”

“I will do anything to keep Evelina safe,” I
said.

“Ya,” he said. “I know, so, um, thanks for
that too.”

He showed gratitude as though she were his charge
to protect. He forgets she is mine—and always will be.

23 November.
— It has been another
full day of walking and Evelina is exhausted. We have stopped for the night not
far from the sea cliff. We have not come across another soul on our trek. The repellent
continues to work, and I am still satiated and strong. I have not needed to
expend too much energy as of yet. I carry the girl sometimes but the extra
weight is barely noticeable. The temptation, however, is another thing.

Tonight I sensed the ominous presence, that
energy the boy brought with him to the villa. Non-threatening, indistinct, it
seems to come only after the sun goes down. I am waiting for it to reveal
itself to me since it is so keen on following us.

We are on the ledge of a rock face bordering
the sea cliff. Our camp faces the water and is tucked under the rock overhang
that serves as our roof. A small opening lies in the rock behind us, but the
cavern is surely empty. When we arrived, it took some coaxing to convince
Evelina she was safe here. Helgado built her a fire and I offered to fetch her
a fresh catch.

“Don’t go,” she said softly. “Don’t leave
me.”

“I’ll keep you safe, Evie,” he said.

His effort is in vain, for she only feels
safe with me. Her attachment grows by the hour. As I carried her, she clutched at
me with both hands. She has a difficult time resisting my aura, and Byron would
not be happy with me for making her suffer the mild rejection she experiences
every time I leave her. “I promise to return before you wake,” I said.

Helgado used another Dilo seed for the
perimeter, though he protested. We are down to our last two. “If it makes her
feel safe,” I said. “You will do it.”

He did not bother to argue. He would not risk
looking stingy or careless. I watched him spray the purple powder on the
ground, the ledge and the surrounding rocks before I dove over the cliff into
the sea.

When I returned with a handful of grouper,
both of them were asleep and the fire had gone out.

24 November.
— Today was a more
memorable day than most and I will do my best to record it. At sunrise this
morning, the nomad’s arrival hit me with a blow to the gut.

“
Ce mai faci,
Du Maurier?”

Evelina and Helgado were still asleep when
Wallach greeted me on the cliff’s edge. I was not in the most viable position,
cornered as I was with two humans. I told him it had been a while or some
banality like that. We had never been companions and were barely acquaintances.
He was seeking Veronica, no doubt.

“Not her,” he said.

He has a gift for reading facial expressions
and gestures, even the slightest of ticks can tell him what someone is
thinking. “Then who?” I asked.

He stayed on the perimeter, hovering just outside
the powder. I moved toward him, trying to draw his eyes away from Evelina and
Helgado. When he looked at the two of them sleeping, I wagged my finger, assuring
him they were off limits. He breathed in deeply—I can only assume to take
in their aroma.

“Do not even let it cross your mind,” I said.
“They are mine.”

He grinned, but I could read expressions too
and knew he was slightly tortured by the impossibility of having them.

“I will not hesitate to take off your head,”
I said.

“
Mi-e sete,” he said. My
Romanian was rusty but he wanted blood,
though he did not look too starved. “I’ve eat-en already,”
he said. “But …
mi-e sete.”

He was thirsty, despite the blood he had
found in the mountains. Animal blood was sufficient for temporary survival, but
not as filling as human ichor.

“
Te rog,
” he said.
Pleeease!
It was not beneath him to beg.
He leered at Evelina’s swollen belly, I was sure he could smell the baby. Her
scent is potent.

“Nu,” I said, scowling and holding up a hand,
talons and all. He could certainly read that.

“Pardon.” His shoulders dropped and he
stopped leering. “Rangu told me about her,” he said.

“Have you seen him?” I asked.

“Da,” he said, picking at his teeth.

“Recently?”

“Nu,” he said. “
Unde
este Rangu
?”

He did not know about the vineyards. He could
not—he was not there, or I would have sensed him too. I debated telling
him about his partner. “I have not seen him since the catacombs at LaDenza,” I
said. “He was hungry and I offered him a blood substitute.”

“
Sânge fals
?” He marked his scorn with
a high-pitched laugh. “He’d sooner drink animal blood.”

“Like you?”

It was an insult to openly accuse a vampire
of drinking animal blood, but I could smell the family of chamois he had fed on
hours earlier.

“
Îmi pare rău,
” he said. “We can’t all
travel with our own personal blood sack.”

His volley from Romanian to English made me
dizzy. Each time he spoke, it was as if he switched personalities; the English
one refined, the Romanian brutish.

“I have not seen Rangu.” I settled on that,
knowing he would not believe me either way.

“Mincinos.” He repeated the accusation in a
low voice, spitting out the word rather than speaking it. His posture shifted
as though he made ready to pounce from his haunches. He was crazy to think I
would not tear him apart if he attacked. I thought Evelina was awake now, for how
could she not be? “Mincinos—mincinos—mincinos!”
Liar—liar—liar!

I stepped forward and pressed my hand up
against the seething Wallach. He was smaller than I but had far less to lose. “You
killed Rangu!” He screamed.

I told him that was ridiculous, but my expression
betrayed me. He swiped a taloned-hand across my face, nicking the edge of my
chin and neck. I threw my head back and leapt up before his second blow
scratched across my shins. I landed with a sweep that knocked him off his feet.
He sprang back up, kicking me with his heels, and hopped onto a nearby rock
after regaining his balance. He was agile, his diet of animal blood giving him
strength. But I was faster and stormed the rock he stood on, catching him by
the arm. With my talons gripping his wrist, I twirled him around, sending him
into a tailspin across the rock face and into its ridge. He slammed into the
ledge with the thrust of my force, his head dropping back and colliding with
the edge of the rock. The entire wall shook behind him.