The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises (24 page)

"That's just it, Ash. That's my problem," he
said softly, and then bit on his lower lip. "It's been too
long."

"For what?" I inquired.

"You and I," he replied.

"Oh no," I said and shook my head, stepping
back away from him. "Oh, Julian. I don't need this right now."

"But I do," he replied and walked over to me
quickly. I stepped back, just as he got close enough for me to feel
the body heat from him. "I was wrong, very wrong."

"About what?"

"The way I feel about you," he replied. I
closed my eyes, as a way to tell him that this was not what I
wanted to hear, but he used it as an opportunity to touch me. His
hand touched my shoulder, and then one touched my cheek. I looked
at him, feeling his flesh so close to mine and I remembered how we
used to be, then I backed away. "Ashley."

"No, Julian," I whispered. "What about
Quinn?"

"What about him? He doesn't know what he
needs, what you need. I do," Julian said.

"And what, pray tell, do I need? And if you
say protecting I’m going to kick you in the face," I told him. He
smiled at me and then shook his head.

"You need love, you need security," he said
to me. I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. Peace on Earth, good will
towards men, and a large bank account," I said and smiled at him.
"You know what I really need Julian? It's Jack. It's my son that
matters right now."

"Can I be honest with you?" He asked.

"You always are."

"I love you, almost more than my heart can
take," he whispered to me.

"Jules, I never said I stopped loving you," I
told him, but he shook his head.

"That's not it," he replied. "If after this
is over, after you have your son back. If you can't choose between
Quinn and me, I'm going to leave."

"I cannot believe that you are doing this to
me. Of all the rotten things in the world to say to me at this
moment Julian! Oh, I wish I had a hammer," I replied, starting to
get upset. He looked at me confused as to why I might need a
hammer. "I'd use it to knock some sense into your brain."

"What did you come here for, Ash? What did
you want to say to me?"

"All I wanted to know was what you're
connection to Cleo is and how come she now looks at me in total
disgust," I replied and stepped back to the door. "But, none of
that matters now. Just to make it clear, when I get my son back you
won't have to leave, because I will."

I started to walk away, but he grabbed my
arm, pulled me to him and then kissed me hard on the lips. He had
the back of my upper arms and I couldn't get away. He backed away
and I looked up at him, with a blank look.

"She doesn't look at you in disgust; she's
just trying to figure out what your connection is with me. She's
concerned about my health and she thinks that you are a threat," he
whispered to me.

"A threat," I smiled at him. "To who?"

"To her. She thinks that you're out to have
all three of us." He smiled bravely.

"I'm not out to have all three of you," I
told him then backed away from him. "I already do."

I turned and left him standing there, totally
confused by what just went on too. I was unable to think of
anything else but simply walking. I walked right to my room and
slammed the door shut. This was not good, not what I needed.

That night, at eight o'clock, I stepped out
of the house dressed in black. My black turtleneck clung to my top
while the tight black jeans hugged the rest of me. I wore black
boots, but they made no noise as they touched the floor, and I
pulled on my thigh-length black leather coat. My hair was down and
my eyes seemed to be glowing silver in the light.

Michael stepped up to me and looked me in the
face. "You look like pure evil."

"I feel it, it grows in my heart," I
whispered to him, strong but in a pleading sense, wanting it to
stop, but also planning to use it as a weapon.

"Are you ready for this?" He questioned me. I
shook my head, and then walked down to the car. "Are you sure you
don't want Quinn and Julian to be there?"

"No," I said and snapped my head around to
look at him. "They must not know. Promise me, Mike, that you won't
tell them."

"I can't promise that, Ash. You and I are
connected and if you begin to get yourself in trouble, then we're
coming to get you," he replied. I smiled at him.

"Oh, I'll be getting myself into trouble, all
right. I'm just not sure about getting out," I replied and walked
over to the driver's side door of Michael's Jaguar.

"Be careful, Ash," he whispered to me, and I
smiled as his voice reached my ear.

"I will," I replied and got into the car. The
engine purred like a kitten and I took off down the long, winding
driveway that lead to the main road. Victor's Rhode Island house
was only an hour away, but that's a long time when you're so
anxious to get there.

I walked up to the front door of his house
and felt the power rush at me. I stepped across the threshold and
looked around the room as I stood there. People stopped and started
to turn to look at me. I smiled inwardly at this, knowing that it
was the power that they could feel that they were so curious about.
The power that was coming from what they thought was a mere
mortal.

I started to walk through the crowd; they
began parting as I stepped by them, like the Red Sea opening up for
Moses and his followers, except that I was far from the saint that
Moses was. As I drew closer to the center of the room, I felt David
close by. I turned to my left and stared directly at his face. He
smiled, evilly at me, and then nodded as I walked over.

"Good evening, David," I said to him, my
voice almost an uncaring monotone.

"So, where are your merry men, Robin Hood?"
He asked me sarcastically.

"At home. You really didn't think that I'd
bring them here, did you?" I questioned. He nodded and I smiled.
"And risk the possible chance of not being the one to rip out
Victor's heart?"

"You never change, still feeling mighty and
powerful." He giggled to himself. "Tell me, Ash, is there any
doubts in that feeble mind of yours that you might not walk out of
here tonight?"

"Not once ounce," I said softly and looped my
arm through his. "Shall we begin?"

"By all means," he whispered at me and walked
me over to a door. We stepped through, after a rather large man
held it opened for us. In this next room, there were almost a dozen
people and in the middle of all of them was Victor mingling.

"Hello," he said and smiled at me as if our
past meeting had never occurred. I nodded to him and let go of
David. "Did you not bring my fledglings?"

"No, I decided to leave them at home," I
replied.

"You must have a lot of faith in your God to
step into the home of a vampire without your bodyguards," he
laughed.

"My belief in almost any God disappeared the
moment they allowed a creature like you to take my son," I replied,
straight faced. He nodded and pointed towards a table.

"Shall we?" He asked. He escorted me to this
table and we sat down together. "So, why did you come?"

"Why did you invite me?"

"Did you come for your son?"

"You know the answer to that," I replied and
smiled. "Do you really need me to answer it?"

"No, I guess not." He took the large glass of
wine and took a sip of the red liquid. "So, shall we discuss the
terms of his surrender?"

"There are no terms," I replied. He looked at
me with interest. "Either you give him back to me peacefully and I
spare you the pain of a long death, or you don't and I just take
him and you suffer for eternity."

"Well, now. The question that remains here
is, do you feel that you have the power to back up your
threats?"

"I have the power at my disposal, yes."

"May I see some of this power?"

"No."

"And you don't seem to find this an unfair
advantage on your part."

"No. I haven't seen your power; why should I
show you mine?" I retorted and stood up. "Are we going to sit here
all night and chitchat?"

"Well, I was finding it quite enjoyable, but
if you're so anxious to end your life, I won't wait any longer," he
said and snapped his fingers. Two large men grabbed me around my
upper arms and I smiled at Victor. "I didn't think that you would
walk away so easily."

"I'm just as anxious about this as you are,"
I replied to him, and then smiled as the two men dragged me
away.

I was put into a cell and beaten just as I
was the last time that I had run into Victor, by the two large men.
When they left, I dragged my beaten and bloody body over to the
corner of the cell and curled up against the wall. I wanted
desperately to close my eyes, to let the pain and the darkness take
over, but in the back of my mind there was a small voice. A young
child's voice urging me to go on, to stay strong and I knew that it
was Jack.

I turned over and looked at the moon outside
my cell window and smiled, thinking about holding my young son
again, then I concentrated on the moon and on Michael. I whispered
his name and prayed that he heard me.

I could almost see him when he did, looking
up suddenly, from the bloody neck of some young girl that he had
lured into his room, probably thinking that I was behind him,
whispering in his ear. He would drop the girl, stand up and look
around the room, red eyed and drooling from the red liquid still in
his mouth. He would realize that he was still alone and he would
search his thoughts and find me. When he did, I could feel the
emotions raging off from him as my mind whispered bits and pieces
of the conversation between Victor and me.

How bad are you
? His sweet voice
whispered to me. I laughed at him and then sighed.

Not as bad as last time, because I can
heal
, I replied. I felt his growing animosity towards Victor
and I smiled to myself.

I’m telling the others
.

No
!

Why not
?

I don’t want them to get involved
, I
whispered to him.

Then, why did you contact me
?

It’s too quiet in here; I had to hear
someone yelling at me
, I sarcastically replied. He smiled and
then touched my mind gently with his and sighed, quite loud
mentally.

We’re coming to get you
.

I asked you not too
.

That doesn’t mean I agreed to it
, he
whispered at me then broke the connection for a moment and softly
spoke to me.
If he were my son, would you tell me
?

I was shocked at this, but I knew the reason
that he wanted to know. We had never told anyone else about out
little affair, except Lauren, and even then after that, I told her
that it was all a lie, though I believe that Julian somehow
knew.

If he were your son, Michael, I would have
told you to begin with
, I replied and then closed my eyes.
I
hurt, badly
.
I can’t do this anymore. If you come, you
come
.
If not, then I’ll see you when this is over. I love
you
.

I love you, too, Ash
, he said softly,
and then the connection broke for the rest of the night.

I watched the sunrise for a split second
before I scurried the best I could to the other side of the cell,
away from the rays, then I slowly watched the hours pass with the
position of the sun in the sky. As twilight approached, the door
opened and large man half-dragged me out of the cell by my arms. I
was still weak, still healing, and I had no way to defend
myself.

He brought me up this long corridor and then
outside to the yard. In the middle of this was a large bonfire,
with two poles six feet apart in front of its flames.

This man brought me to these poles and
grabbed the ropes that hung from them. He put one around each wrist
and tightened it, then walked over and turned a lever that pulled
the rope tightly, stretching out my arms so that I had no choice
but to stand. This is where I stood for two hours before I heard
the voices begin to surround me. I opened my eyes and looked at the
growing number of people here. Amongst the crowd, I could feel
familiar people, they're energies seemed to flow to me, but no one
else seemed to notice.

I would let this distract me, for I had
somewhat thought of a plan. I watched as Victor walked out, dressed
in his usual black attire, and then was followed closely by my
husband and David. Victor walked up to me and grabbed me by the
chin.

"Aren't you excited? This is what you've been
waiting for." He smiled at me and then I looked into his eyes. He
had no idea that I was immortal, or inmortal, in between a vampire
and a mortal.

"I'm ecstatic," I replied and looked deep
into the eyes.

"When this is over, I intend to make you my
bride," he whispered to me. I smiled evilly.

"When this is over, I intend to be burning
your heart on the end of a wooden stake," I whispered back at him.
He smirked, then nodded and let me go.

"Fellow vampires, behold!" He said loudly and
spun around, like the ringmaster at a circus with his arms open
wide. I waited patiently for him to say 'step right up', but it
didn't happen. "The hour of our victory is upon us, for tonight,
prophecy will be denied. We have, in our grasp, the future of this
planet, where vampires will rule with iron fist."

"We have no need to fear the mortals anymore
for their Queen; the bearer of their prince of peace is in our
hands." He turned and pointed up at me. I smiled down at him and
then looked over at David and Jack. I bowed my head and waited for
the moment that I could unleash the anger in my heart. "And, the
Prince of the Vampires at our side." I looked up quickly as Victor
brought out Jack, who seemed to walk out on his own, as big as a
two-year-old boy would be, although he was not even yet a year. His
blond hair was long and fell into curls at the back of his neck and
his eyes seemed to glow like two silver stars, and when he smiled,
I could see his long teeth.