Wulf's Redemption (Borne Vampires Book 3) (18 page)

“Send the girl away, Alexander. Ignore my warning
and I’ll enjoy making you suffer again.”

Again?

“Kai is a Slayer. She’ll not run from the likes of
you.”

“Then her death will be on you, her blood on your
hands.”

“Who are you?”

The woman giggled. “What fun we shall have, lover.
It will be like old times, when you were mine. You will be mine again, I
promise you this!”

No! It couldn’t be….

Alex focused on Kai’s whereabouts, easily finding
her since giving her his blood. At least she had the good sense to stay close
to the manor. He went to where she slept and stared at the slight disturbance
in the ground. Kai was a profiler; she could see things he couldn’t remember or
didn’t want to willingly. Besides, she needed to know the truth about him and
the Wolf of Magdeburg. He
wanted
her
to know everything.
Opening
the soil beside Kai’s grave, he floated down into it and did something he swore
he’d never to do again with another vampire and connected with Kai.

“Dream with me,”
he whispered to her before
he shut down.

Chapter Nine

January 27, 1819, in the Harz
Mountains,

“Bong … bong … bong….”

The twelfth hour.

Deep and resonant, the huge bells belonging to the
church announced midnight. Distance did not deter their persistence as the
metallic echoes reached where he and Breber stood at the edge of the doorway
leading inside the lodge.

The quiet followed afterward set Alex’s nerves on
edge, until a woman begun to sing a lullaby. Lilting and entrancing, her voice
was like a siren’s song, and he found he desired to enter the lodge. Shaking
his head, he broke the compulsion she was attempting to use on him. Breber
walked past him, his eyes glazed over. Alex stabbed his sword into the hard
ground and grabbed Breber’s arm and shook him hard until he blinked and was
able to focus on him.

Resolve stiffened Breber and he gave him the nod
to lead. Uneasy at what awaited them within, Alex tightened his grip on his ow pistol
and entered the cabin. Sitting before a fire blazing away in the pit dug into
the dirt floor, a woman sat on a wooden chair. A dirty blanket covered her body
and was drawn over her head. Breber aimed his pistol at her.

“Woman, drop the blanket, slowly rise to your
feet, and face us,” Breber commanded, keeping his eyes trained on her.

A giggle escaped her. Slowly, she stood and the
blanket slid to the floor, exposing her long, curling silver-blonde hair. She turned
around. He and Breber gasped. Blood dripped down Lisle’s delicate chin,
staining the front of her white night rail. In her pale arms, she held the
squirming infant close to her bosom. Her blue eyes twinkled in amusement at
their shock.

“Ah, gentlemen, you have finally found me out.”

Breber gazed upon her in confusion and horror.
“Lisle, you are responsible for taking the children?”

“Much more than that, dearest husband, so much
more.” The infant screamed at the top of its lung. Lisle snarled at it,
exposing her fangs. She leaned down to feed.

Alex was on her, snatching the baby out of her
arms as he shoved Lisle hard away from them. She screamed, falling backward
into the fire. Jumping away to a safe distance, he held the frightened babe to
his chest, shielding it within his arms as Lisle’s night rail caught fire.
Breber rushed to save her, halted by Alex’s restraining hand.

“No!
She is Damned. You cannot save her.”

Strands
of her long hair caught on fire, igniting in flashing sparks. From the other
side of the chamber the wall exploded, sending shards of broken wood and
plaster raining upon him and the humans. Aldric shot forward and grabbed Lisle,
dragging her outside. Alex thrust the child into Breber’s arms.

“Take
the babe to its mother and gather men and bring them back. Go!” he yelled,
shoving the stunned man out the door. “We need their aid!”

“Lisle
is-is a vampyre! A child-murdering vampyre! Why has your brother rescued her?”

Grim,
Alex replied, “I do not know. I will hold them here while you bring men back.
Then, we shall escort them back to Magdeburg and judge them.”

My own brother is involved!

The
wailing babe snapped Breber into action. “I shall strive to be swift!” He ran
out the lodge, cradling the infant close to his chest.

With
a heavy heart, Alex proceeded cautiously across the chamber, his pistol held
ready to fire. Peering out the destroyed wall, he carefully stepped outside and
found Aldric hovering protectively over the snarling, snapping monstrosity who
once resembled a beauteous lady. He stared in revulsion at the transformed
Lisle. Never in his life had he viewed a demon vampyre and was quite certain he
never wished to again.

Rows
upon rows of sharp teeth filled her mouth as her lower jaw extended. Drool
dripped down the front of her blood-soaked night rail. Half her head was burned
and blackened where the snow had quenched the flames. Fingers elongated and
curled like claws, Lisle snarled as she tried to strike him, stayed by Aldric’s
restraining hand. The awful, rotting smell of a corpse emanating from her, nearly
made him physically sick.

Lisle
was a monster, and his brother maintained his protective stance over her, why?

Alex demanded hoarsely, “What have you done, Aldric?”

Holding his hands out helplessly, Aldric pleaded
with him, “Please, Alex, you must understand. I … I am clueless how turning
Lisle made her a demon. She wanted so badly to be one of us. I could no longer
deny her passionate request.”

“You broke the First Law for her? For a woman who
cuckolded her husband with other men, myself included?”

Aldric’s chin jerked up defiantly. “Lisle loves
me, Alex. I want her to be with me forever.”

“Fourteen innocent children are dead because of
her, Aldric. She fed on them! Their torn and broken corpses are burning in yon
lodge! How can you love something vile as her?”

Tears rolled down Aldric’s cheeks. “I know what
she has done. Yet, I love her still.”

He had no choice. The growling creature at Aldric’s
feet had to be put out of her misery. Aiming for Lisle’s heart, he said with
grim determination, “Forgive me, brother. Lisle must die.”

“No!” Aldric screamed, running at him. Before he
could tackle him, a shadow leapt on top of his brother, sending Aldric sprawling
face first in the snow.

Searching for the cause, Alex drew back as a tall
man stepped forward, a long broadsword resting casually on his shoulder. Aiming
his pistol at the stranger, he demanded, “Who are you?”

“Easy, my lord, I am not your enemy. I hunt the woman
and am set to destroy her.”

“Are you a Slayer?”

“That I be, my lord.”

Lisle let out a guttural roar and jumped to her
feet, crouching into a defensive stance as the Slayer took the hilt of his
sword in both hands and advanced upon her. “No, Slayer,” she hissed at him,
slurring her words past a mouthful of teeth. “I leave the world on
my
own terms.” Lisle ran and dove inside the
burning lodge, her screams of pain deafening.

“That is the first time I’ve witnessed a demon
take its own life. Interesting.” The Slayer reached to take hold of Aldric by
the back of his coat. In a flash, Alex was beside him, pressing the muzzle of
his pistol against the side of his head, halting him.

“Touch my brother again and I promise I will blow
your brains out.” The Slayer slowly backed away. “Where are you attempting to
take him?”

“He
broke the First Law. He must be judged.”

“Then
Aldric shall be judged by his peers, not by a Slayer I’ve never met.”

“I
do not waste the Church’s time when I have evidence a vampyre has broken one of
our laws.”

“We
are taking my brother back to Wulf Manor where he will be tried by Archbishop
Arturo.”

The
Slayer glared at him, dropping into a fighting stance. “I don’t take orders
from a fledgling.”

“Really
do not care how you feel about me. I’m taking my brother back to Wulf Manor.”

The
vampyre made to rush him, skidding to a halt when the sound of rifles’ hammers
were drawn back to set to fire. Exiting the woods, Herrick and the gypsies
surrounded the Slayer.

“My
thanks, Herrick, for your timely appearance. Can you hold him till I get Aldric
home?”

“Aye,
my lord. Make haste. The big fellow is pretty steamed at being caught like a
novice by a passel of mere humans.”

The
Slayer snarled in response, exposing his fangs.

Holstering
his gun, Alex hefted the unconscious Aldric over his shoulder. He leapt in the
air, holding tight his brother, and sped faster than he’d ever flown in his
life. The Slayer would not wait long to give chase. Shots fired and shouts
warning him the Slayer had escaped the gypsies and the big brute wasn’t right
behind him. Faster and faster he flew until he saw the manor. Alex dropped out
of the sky and nearly dropped his brother, managed to gain his footing, and ran
up the steps. Kicking open the doors, he ignored the soldiers as they aimed
their rifles at him, making his way to his father’s study. There, the old
bastard sat with the Archbishop. Two guards were positioned behind the elderly
priest. They drew their swords and stood ready to defend the Archbishop.

“You
knew,” Alex accused his father, “didn’t you? That Lisle was Undead, and that
she had been created by Aldric.”

Calmly,
Ulrich sat back in his expensive, leather chair. “Honestly, I thought it was
you responsible for the mess the stupid bitch made.”

“Sorry,
Father,” Alex sneered, “to disappoint you. Your Grace, you are here to pass
judgment on us?”

“I am. Before we get to the judging part, I need
ask you and Aldric questions. Since you are holding your brother, did Aldric
convert Lisle Breber to vampirism?” The elderly priest solemnly clasped his
hands on the desk. There was shrewd intelligence in his faded eyes and
something else, perhaps sympathy for his and his brother’s plight.

“I am uncertain as I have also lain with Lisle Breber.”
The second the words left his mouth, Alex knew he’d given Ulrich what he wanted
to hear.

“There, Your Grace, is your proof! Both my sons
are Damned!” Ulrich moaned and laminated his loss. “Both my sons!”

To Alex’s surprise, the Archbishop commanded,
“Leave us, Ulrich.”

Ulrich sounded more like a petulant child than a
general, “Why? What have I done?”

“You are annoying me. The Slayer you arranged to murder
your own child stands in the foyer. Inform him to await
my
instructions.” Ulrich rose from his
chair, his eyes mere slits in his rage. Calmly, the priest warned, “Disobey me,
Ulrich, and I
will
judge you, instead
of your sons. Understood?”

Paling at the threat, Ulrich straightened his
shoulders and stormed out the study, refusing to look upon his sons. The door
slammed behind him. The Archbishop watched as he gently set his brother down on
the floor.

“I know what you are about, Alex. To incur doubt,
you seek to spare your brother’s life. I must be honest with you, the Elders
are very upset about the killing of the innocent babes, and so am I. Justice
must be met. The humans who lost their children deserve to have their loved
ones avenged.”

“Your Grace, justice has been served this night.
Lisle Breber is dead. She was directly responsible for the murders, admitted to
the killings by her own lips before Magistrate Breber and myself.”

“At least with her death, it solves one of the
problems brought before me. The issue of who is responsible for converting her stands.
I must know who turned her.” Lifting his hand before Alex could open his mouth
to reply, he cautioned, “I pray you think carefully upon your answer before
sharing it with me. Did Aldric turn Lisle?”

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. If he
answered yes, then Aldric would be slain, if he failed to reply, they both
would be put to death. His hesitation brought a great sigh of disappointment
from the elderly priest.

“Very well,” he said, rising to his feet. “Alexander,
relinquish your weapons to my men.” Once he handed them his gun and knife in
his boot, the priest ordered, “Stay here. I shall return shortly.” The guards
preceded the Archbishop. The priest quietly closed the door shut behind him.

Alex sat down beside Aldric, who opened his eyes. “Why,
Alex? Why did you not condemn me?”

“Because, you stupid fool, you are my brother. If
they cannot glean the truth out of us, they will be forced to drop the matter.”

“You think they will?”

“Archbishop Arturo is a good man and can be reasoned
with. I put my faith in him.”

An hour later, the return of the old priest was
met with false hope. He signaled his men to bind him and Aldric with shackles
and heavy iron chains. They were escorted out of the study and led to ballroom,
which had been transformed into a makeshift courtroom. Archbishop Arturo sat
behind a table placed for his use, and he was upset. Hope faded and Alex knew
their fate was sealed.

Archbishop Arturo sat back in his chair and said
in a loud voice, “Alexander and Aldric Wulf, you are hereby sentenced to face
the dawn. You will be taken out into the woods and exposed to the sun until your
bodies have turned to ash. May God have mercy upon you and your souls.”

Ulrich, accompanied by the Slayer, shouted over
the wailing of his grieving wife, “Why the sun? We have a Slayer who will
perform the deed of execution.”

Slamming his hands flat on the table, the
Archbishop snarled, “Hear me, Ulrich Wulf, for I say it only once, you are just
as guilty as the boys, here, of not adhering to the ways of a
true
Borne. I know your secrets and will
take them to my grave due to the sworn oath I took to bear witness to your
confessions.
I
judge Alex and Aldric as
I
see
fit. They will face the sun together, for all they ever had was each other.
Men, take the prisoners to the cells fashioned for their deaths.”

Twenty of the Archbishop’s men assembled in front of
Alex and his brother. The sun? They were to be burned alive, not beheaded mercifully?
Hatred surged inside him in violent waves, directed not at the priest but at
his father.

Alex sneered at Ulrich, “Well, old man, you
finally have your wish. Both your sons are officially condemned. I place a
curse on you and yonder bitch who gave birth to us. May nothing except pain
accommodate your long years walking the earth. Everything you touch will turn
to shit and nothing you do will aid your guilty conscience in false witnessing
against me and Aldric. Rot in your immortality, you fucking bastard!”