Shen and I picked our way along the narrow path that led up to the area where Elsa had encountered Bruce. We had no idea what had happened to Elsa. She hadn’t checked out and her things were still in her room. We agreed that, wherever she was, she was probably fine. She’d expressed the need to be pampered. Perhaps she’d decided to take the night off and go to a spa. Whatever the reason for her absence, we decided to simply leave her for the night and continue the search on our own. Shen still had the spare vile of potion that she’d given him the first night we started the hunt. So, if we did find him, we were prepared. We just hoped the one vile would be enough. It would have been better to have Elsa’s vile as well, but we had no way to get into her room and, if we did, no idea where she’d hidden it from prying eyes.
Returning to the scene of Nandru’s demise created an emotional roller coaster for me. The
After several days with no sign of Dragomir, Osip felt it was safe to assume that he’d met his demise by that cursed werewolf. This was a disaster.He’d set out to bring back to Count Dracula his half-brother along with, if possible, the Tugurlan cousins. Instead, he’d managed to lead Dragomir right to his fate. Now the Count had two legitimate sons and one bastard son who were dead, as well as the commander, who happened to be one of the Count’s favored vampires, and he was still no closer to producing the Tugurlan cousins or his infant half-brother. This was very bad.He needed to think of a way around it all. He needed to save his station here and status back home. His mind whirled as he struggled for an idea.Nandru’s study felt stifling. He needed air. As he stepped out into the corridor he almost collided with Lucinda, who was carrying Nandru’s newborn son in her arms. Osip looked clos
Bruce stretched his leg muscles, hoping to relieve some of the pain that seemed to radiate clear to the marrow of his bones. When he’d agreed to allow me to give him a crash course in martial arts self-defense, he had no idea how physically challenging it would be.He always prided himself in his well preserved and athletic body. He’d been a valued player on his college football team and continued to play with a local group of Owego residents on weekends just for fun. He was also an adept and avid hunter. Even so, his body was screaming in shocked surprise at the number of muscles he possessed that hadn’t seen action; possibly ever.The floorboards of his cabin’s porch creaked under his weight as he paced back and forth; partially out of impatience while he waited for me to return with the newlyweds, and partially to keep his muscles from tightening up any more than they already were.Our good friends and my fellow escap
Tatyana smiled as she made her way down the alley to her efficiency apartment that was recessed in the back of the small, out of the way Las Vegas motel. It took some time for her to relax and settle in with Charles, but, after many restless and fearful nights, she finally felt like she and her infant brother could relax and begin to enjoy life.She was starting to trust people again. That was a luxury that she hadn’t known since her mother, Anouska, decided to leave Russia with her and her two siblings. Anouska had put her faith and trust in the wrong people to help them get to the United States safely and those people had placed Anouska, Tatyana, and Osip in the hands of that despicable mutant-vampire, Wadim.Tatyana scowled as she remembered the tortuous years she’d spent living in Wadim’s mutant-vampire den that was hidden behind a magic veil in the midst of Fremont Street. Nothing stuck more
Shen’s head throbbed as he merged with the crowd on Las Vegas Blvd while making his back to his hotel. He’d stepped out for a quick bite to eat at a nearby restaurant and was regretting his decision. The blazing sun was so hot that it scorched his bare head, intensifying the pulsing of the lump he’d received a few days earlier.He’d awoken, in the middle of the night, stretched out on his bed with no idea of how he’d gotten there. His pillow was spotted with blood that leaked through the make-shift bandage someone -he could only assume was Tatyana or Maggie- applied. He called room service for some aspirin and a strong drink and pulled himself to the bathroom to investigate his wounds. He suspected he had a concussion.His disappointment in his meeting with Tatyana was overshadowed by his desire to put as much space between himself and Las Vegas as he could. He booked a flight to New York and telephoned me to fill me in.
Tatyana piled into the airport shuttle with the other passengers. She was grateful for the opportunity to blend in with the group. Her flight from Las Vegas to San Diego was smooth and uneventful, but she didn’t dare relax until she and Charles were safely tucked away at Maggie’s Aunt Elsa’s house.Tatyana’s only exposure to the United States, since leaving Russia, had been Las Vegas. She was used to the glitter and excitement of the city and found San Diego to be bland in comparison. Finding nothing to hold her interest, she closed her eyes and buried her face in her sleeping brother’s neck while she cradled him close and tried to relax.****Maggie had listened intently to Tatyana’s tale of the chain of events that had led up to her discovering her and her newborn brother living in the abandoned car. Although she hadn’t known Maggie for very long, Tatyana trusted her. Riski
Elsa Prescott came from a long line of mystical priestesses. Her great, great, grandmother who was captured into slavery when she was a young woman held the secrets of their traditions close to her chest. She passed them down with careful accuracy to her children and grandchildren. Her daughters and granddaughters -respectful of the honor bestowed upon them- took great pains to maintain purity in everything they did. If the old woman could have worked next to her great, great, grandmother while preparing a tonic or potion, her great, great, grandmother would have been pleased to see that the contents, measurements, words, and movements remained original and precise.Elsa’s family name was Sekibo. When her great, great grandmother was forced to lay with her owner, the six children she bore him were given his surname and English first names. The following generations, both female and male, either by choice or by force, continued to mix with whites. By th
The sun was just coming up on the horizon as I paced the porch of my cousin’s cabin. I’d tried calling Bruce repeatedly to let him know that Shen wasn’t on the plane. Something was wrong. I wanted to grab Bruce and fly out immediately, but I wasn’t able to reach him on either his cell phone or his land line, so I drove back from the airport as fast as the speed limits allowed.At first, I wasn’t too concerned about my inability to reach Bruce on the phone, since the thick foliage of New York’s Southern Tier often impaired cell phone reception. Also, if Bruce was out and about, his land line would have been worthless. It wasn’t until I reached the cabin just as dawn was breaking and Bruce was nowhere to be found that concern set in. Where could he have gone?We had no time to spare. I went over Bruce and my last conversation in my mind. I hoped that he’d said something that would clue me in on where
Phoenix Arizona was three hours behind the east coast, so we’d only lost a few hours of daylight from our flight and the transfer time in Atlanta. Both Bruce and I were edgy about wandering around in places we weren’t familiar with after the sun had set. We weren’t afraid of being mugged or robbed, but had a real concern about running into a creature of the night; something we wouldn’t have dreamed of worrying about a few months ago.We were well equipped and prepared to handle vampires, but now we had to face werewolves. We didn’t have enough knowledge to deal with them. There were questions that needed to be answered, and answered quickly.Bruce’s arm was looking angry near the werewolf gash he’d received. Was it a typical wound infection, or was it something that would lead to a far greater problem? We just didn’t know. These were answers we needed, and needed now.The sizable tip that I