BloodGifted (43 page)

I remembered something. ‘Alec wait! I need to give her my phone number. The flat’s going to be empty for a few days.’

‘Good point.’

‘Mrs Henderson, listen carefully.’ He stared into her glazed eyes and repeated my mobile number. ‘Ring Miss Dan
tonville only if necessary. Now go and have a lie down.’

She nodded dumbly and he closed the door behind her.

‘All right! This time I agree with the mesmerisation.’

‘It has its merits.’ He leaned back against the door, arms
folded across his chest. ‘Sommers was here. They must have discharged him this morning.’

‘And he came straight here.’ I sighed, held out my
hand and opened my palm. ‘It’s my spare key. Matt had it. He left it on my dresser.’

Alec’s brow creased. ‘I noticed his scent when we arrived. I thought it must be the remnants of his blood on the doorframe. Damn!’ He looked thoughtfully at me. ‘Why come here? He could’ve sent it. And why your bedroom instead of the kitchen table?’

I shook my head. ‘Don’t know, but nothing else was touched,’ I said when I saw the questioning look in his eyes.

‘Mmmm…’ His lips drew together in a tight, disapproving line and he glanced at the window. ‘There’s no time f
or that now. We should get back so you can have a rest before tonight’s Pledging ceremony.’

The Pledging
. It was scheduled for midnight when all the Prefects from around the world would swear their loyalty to Alec and myself. It was binding on all the Brethren in their respective countries and the penalty for breaking the oath was death. Since the ceremony could take several hours, a nap beforehand would ensure I stayed awake and alert.

I placed the spare key back on my key ring. ‘If Matt’s got amnesia, how come he knows where I live?’

‘Detective Delaney probably told him.’

Detective Senior Constable Dave Delaney was in charge of the investigation into the break-in at my flat and the assault on Matt
and myself. He interviewed Alec and then later me, at the hospital. To Matt he was both mentor and friend.

‘Of course.’

It didn’t alleviate my uncomfortable realisation that Matt had been here without my knowledge. Had he hoped to regain some of his lost memory by coming somewhere he thought would be familiar? Why did he have to do it behind my back? Yet the fact he left the key behind was proof our relationship was truly over.

After locking the door securely, Alec and I headed out to his car for the drive back to my father’s old-Victorian gothic mansion in Vaucluse. Mrs Henderson wasn’t anywhere in sight.

She must be lying down after her cup of tea
, I thought. Salieri hissed at Alec as we strode past, then ran and hid in a nearby bush.

I took a long, last look at my unit as we drove away. Who knows when I’d be back here. Luc and Judy were
keen to have me stay with them and as long as rogue elements among the Brethren wanted to seize me for their own purposes, it was safer to remain with them.

As we drove through the wroug
ht-iron gates of Luc’s palatial residence in Fitzgerald Street, the LEDs that lined the gravel driveway lit our way to the front entrance. The house itself was dark. Apart from the porch light and the tiny twinkling bulbs on the Christmas wreath on the front door, everything was in darkness, except for a glow emanating from the top storey where the ballroom was located.

As we stepped into the hall, nobody seemed to be around. He flicked a switch and the place burst into light, illuminating the stencilled griffins and unicorns that ran the length of the plastered walls
, and the stuccoed ceiling with its moulded roses picked out in bold Victorian colours of red, blue and gold.

Luc’s hou
se was a relic of a grander era when riches found on the goldfields of Swan Hill and Bathurst were poured into the lavish houses of the nouveau riche. It was one of the few stately homes that the National Trust hadn’t been able to acquire. And Luc aimed to keep it that way.

Thankfully, he had it modernised where required.

Well, this is home for now,
I thought and inwardly sighed as Alec and I strolled hand-in-hand to the kitchen at the other end of the house, feeling less and less the independent twenty-first century woman I once believed myself to be.

Alec Munro
– Vampire,
Princeps
and together with Lucien Lebrettan, leader of the ‘Brethren’, a community of vampires living in Sydney. Originally a doctor, he had enlisted in the AIF soon after the death of his wife and child. He was later transformed by Lucien while serving in an army medical field hospital in northern France in 1918. He owns and manages a private hospital in Sydney dedicated to blood disease research.

Antonia Pulchra
- Daughter of Marcus Antonius Pulcher, twin sister to Lucius. First to carry the
Ingenii
mutation. Lived for 218 years. Mother of Paulus.

Appius
– Vampire, Roman soldier, part of the First Cohort of Frisians cavalry unit, stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester). Took his own life by walking out into the sun, soon after his transformation into vampire form by the Pictish witch, Eithne.

Barbara Norris
– Human, Detective Constable, partner of Detective Senior Constable, Dave Delaney.

Bloodgifted
– Term given to certain members of the Dantonville family who carry the cursed gene, giving them unnatural long life and youthfulness. Their blood alone provides vampires with superior strength and senses and the ability to tolerate the sun. They are much coveted by the Brethren community and were the epicentre of two previous rebellions; the first taking place in the tenth century, resulting in the deaths of tow of Luc’s men – Galen and Martius – and the other in the seventeenth century.

Cal – Calixtus
– Vampire, Roman soldier, First Frisian Cavalry Regiment, stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester), on Hadrian’s Wall, northern Britain. Cursed by a Pictish witch into vampire form. Widower. Bodyguard to the
Ingenii
. Friend to Alec Munro. Owns an Armagnac distillery in France.

Claudia Cardacci
– Human, doctor in the emergency department of RPA. Romantically interested in Matt Sommers.

Clement D’Antonville
- Fifteenth
Ingenii.
Killed in the First Rebellion in 1062.

Dave Delaney
– Human, Detective Senior Constable, friend and mentor of Matthew Sommers, in charge of the investigation into his assault.

Douglas Mason
– Vampire, surfer-boy transformed by Maris Quesnel. One of a group of vampires who took part in the Third Rebellion to eliminate the Principate. Killed by Alec Munro.

Elders
– Group of the world’s oldest vampires, who set the rules by which all blood- drinkers must abide, in order to keep their presence hidden from the human world. They have power over life and death in the Brethren community. They also officiate at every Coming-of-Age ceremony and induct the Princeps.

Eilene Dantonville
– Human, wife of John Dantonville. Her first child, a baby named Katie, died of SIDS at aged three months. She and John accepted the infant Laura in place of their deceased daughter, in order to help out Lucien and Judith.

Eithne
- Pictish witch and high priestess of the Caledonian goddess, Melusine who cursed Marcus Antonius Pulcher and his men for killing her people in the mid 3
rd
century, effectively turning him and his men into vampires. She used kidnapped Roman captives as human sacrifices in bloody religious rites.

Fils de salope
!
– French for, son-of-a-bitch!

Galen
- One of the soldiers of the First Frisian Cohort Cavalry Regiment stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester). Cursed into vampire form by the Pictish witch, Eithne. Bodyguard to the
Ingenii
. Killed by vampire hunters during the First Rebellion.

Gallia
– Human, wife of Marcus Antonius Pulcher and mother of Lucius and Antonia. Father was Roman, mother was a Gaul. Lucius inherited her fair hair and complexion. Gallia ran the family estate in Gaul while Marcus was campaigning in Britain. She loved Marcus and supported him after his transformation by the Pictish witch, Eithne.

Gaul
– Ancient Roman name for France.

Hades
– The place the ancient world believed all souls entered after death. It was divided into separate realms. The good went to Elysium - a type of paradise. The bad were sent to Tartarus – a place of torment.

Hadrian’s Wall
– Stone fortification wall in northern Britain that stretches from Newcastle in the east to Wallsend in the west. Built by the Romans in the second century to keep out the so-called barbarians from raiding Roman territory.

Ingenii
– Latin term meaning ‘Bloodgifted’.

Jake – Caius Justinius
  - Vampire, Roman soldier and physician attached to the First Frisian Cavalry Regiment, stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester) on Hadrian’s Wall, northern Britain. Cursed by a Pictish witch into becoming a vampire. Bodyguard to the
Ingenii
.  Friend of Alec Munro. Loves sports cars and racing horses.

Jean-Philippe Louis Auguste de Reynard
  - Vampire, and 18
th
century French nobleman who once fought for Napoleon. Lucien’s illegitimate son and Laura’s half- brother. His mother was the Duchess D’Orleans. He is also a well-known portrait artist. First met Laura in Italy where he fell in love with her, unaware he was her half-brother. Introduced himself to her by his second name, Philippe. Lucien broke up the relationship.

Jenny Callen
– Human, Laura’s best friend and work colleague in a primary school in Balmain. Lives near Laura.

John Dantonville
– Human, Laura’s foster-father and maternal uncle. Judith’s youngest brother; Eilene Dantonville’s husband. Took in Laura as a favour to Lucien and Judith, but came to love her as his own. His pet name for her is, ‘baby’.

Judith Dantonville
– Human, thirty-third
Ingenii.
Pressured into marrying first husband, William Allerdyce, by her father, Owen Dantonville to clear gambling debts. Only meant to be a business arrangement, he raped her on their wedding night. Met Lucien some time after and they became lovers. Later divorced and secretly married to him after giving birth to Laura.

Kwome
– One of the Elders. Originally king of the ancient kingdom of Benin. He was

transformed
by his teacher and mentor.

Lamia
– demon, vampire in ancient Roman mythology. Often represented as a young, beautiful female with the lower body half of a serpent. The lamia were believed to suck the blood of young men.

Laura Dantonville
- Part human/part vampire. Thirty-fourth and current serving
Ingenii
and Lucien and Judith’s biological daughter. Primary school teacher, former girlfriend of Detective Inspector Matthew Sommers, before meeting Alec Munro. She was raised by John and Eilene Dantonville, believing them to be her parents. Ignorant of her relationship to Jean-Philippe.

Lucien Lebrettan
– Vampire. Underwent the Change at puberty. Also known as ‘Luc’ to his friends. Born Lucius Antonius Pulcher, son of Marcus Antonius. First
Princeps
, and Alec Munro’s sire and friend. Laura Dantonville’s father. Secretly married to  her mother, Judith. Lucien Lebrettan is the Gallic version of his Roman name, and means ‘Lucius the Briton.’

Lugdunensis
– Area of southern France, with its capital at Lyon. Famed wine growing region.

Marcus Antonius
Pulcher
– Vampire, Roman legionary cavalry commander – Praefectus Equituum - stationed in Vindobala (Rudchester) in Britain in the mid 3rd century AD. Cursed by the witch Eithne and turned into a vampire. Father of Lucius and Antonia. Husband to Gallia. Left Britain after his transformation into a vampire and went into hiding in his villa in Gaul (France).

Marie Duchesne
– Human, nineteen-year-old waitress at her father’s, Café Duchesne in Picardy during WW1. Lover of Owen Dantonville and mother of his child. Died of influenza late 1919. Child raised by grandfather.

Maris Quesnel
- Vampire.18
th
century French noblewoman who’s family chateau in Maille Maille in northern France was burned down by local peasants during the Revolution. Saved by Sam and later transformed by him at her request. Former lover of Alec Munro. Together with Russell Brandt, she was one of the leaders of the Third Rebellion to eliminate the Principate. Unintentionally killed by Laura Dantonville.

Martius
– Vampire, Roman soldier in the First Frisian Cohort cavalry unit stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester). Cursed into vampire form by the Pictish witch, Eithne. Bodyguard to the
Ingenii
. Killed by vampire hunters during the First Rebellion

Matthew Sommers
– Human, Detective inspector. Laura’s boyfriend and rival with Alec Munro for Laura’s affections. Attacked and nearly killed by rogue vampires while trying to protect Laura.

Melander
– Human, Roman soldier of the First Frisian Cohort Cavalry Regiment stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester). Sent back as guard to Nepos who had been wounded in a surprise Pict attack. Killed by Calixtus during the early stages of his transformation.

Nepos
– Human, Roman soldier of the First Frisian Cohort Cavalry Regiment stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester). Seriously wounded in a surprise attack by Pictish raiders and sent back to the fort by his commander, Marcus Antonius Pulcher. Killed by Terens in the early stages of his transformation.

Owen Dantonville
– Human, doctor. Thirty-second
Ingenii
and Judith and John Dantonville’s father. Unintentionally shot Alec Munro in 1918, and then begged Lucien to transform him to avoid being hanged for murder. Father of Marie Duchesne’s child, born in France 1919. Married off his daughter, Judith, to William Allerdyce in payment of a gambling debt.

Picts
– Indigenous people of southern Scotland, before the arrival of the Scots. Thought to have been a Caledonian, Gaelic-speaking people.

Phil Sorensen
– Human, leading medical technician at Munro research Labs, Rozelle. Mid forties, married.

Prefectus Equituum
– Latin term meaning, Cavalry Commander. Literally, ‘Master of Horse.’

Princeps
– Latin term for First Citizen and the origin of the English word for Prince.

Pudens
– Vampire, Roman soldier in the First Frisian Cohort Cavalry Regiment stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester). Cursed into vampire form by the Pictish witch, Eithne. Took his own life by walking out into the sun.

Robert D’Antonville
– Human and twenty-sixth
Ingenii
. Survived the Second Rebellion in 1612. Well-known swordsman.

Russell Randt
- Vampire. Together with Maris, leader of the Third Rebellion to eliminate the Principate. Killed by Jean-Philippe. Formerly a Hollywood producer.

Sam – Sempronius
– Vampire, Roman soldier, First Frisian Cavalry Regiment. Stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester), northern Britain. Cursed by a Pictish witch into vampire form. Bodyguard to the
Ingenii
. Friend to Alec Munro. Former lover and sire of Maris Quesnel. Techno wiz and responsible for security.

Serpent Ring
– Ancient artefact created by Marcus Antonius Pulcher on the instructions of the Pictish witch, Eithne. It’s a rectangular gold ring in the shape of a Roman shield with the image of a serpent with blazing red eyes – symbol of Melusine, Caledonian goddess of vengeance. It renders the wearer invisible to vampire senses as well as burning the fingers of impostors, and shooting fire from the serpents’ eyes, destroying those who physically threaten either Princeps or Ingenii. In times of danger, the eyes turn black. Every fifty years the ring is passed down to the next
Ingenii.

Terens – Sextus Terentius
– Vampire, Tribune attached to the First Frisian Cavalry Regiment, stationed at Vindobala (Rudchester), northern Britain. Cursed by a Pictish witch into vampire form. Bodyguard to the
Ingenii
. One of Alec’s friends and part of Lucien’s cohort.