Aleron: Book One of Strigoi Series (Stringoi Series) (24 page)

“She left to find you. Mynea left to make you. She left to love you. Mynea realized what I’ve come to know decades ago. None of us will ever truly remain in Vlad’s favor for all eternity. In time, we want what
mortals want—absolute, exclusive, and unconditional love. Vlad has always given unconditional love. However, with a harem, absolute exclusivity is impossible. In her absence, Vlad began to again feel love, but this time for an immortal—at least as close to love as Vlad can get with a vampire. It’s truly a case of absence playing tricks on a longing heart.”

Pandora’s story was a window into our origin, into my origin. She revealed to me the reason why I existed. Vampires exist to bring death in order to live. We were God’s balance, if not the bacterium or virus, or war or famine, or unforeseen chance, or the slow passing of time; the vampire was the last bringer of oblivion, the last souls to mimic those of angels in everlasting life as the chosen few. It was then that I knew Mynea never truly loved me.

There were no lies or deception in Pandora’s words. She shared absolutely.

As for Vlad, I wouldn’t make the mistake of my predecessor.

CHAPTER 20

hat sunrise, Pandora and I slept together beneath the earth. She was familiar yet foreign to me, and the urge of desire burned within me. “Take me,” her mind often said to mine. However, I didn’t. She was indeed beautiful by mortal and immortal standards alike. She was graceful and angelic in her demeanor and countenance. Any mortal man would have fallen at her feet and answered her every demand without hesitancy. Her lush eyelashes fell softly over adolescent eyes that brilliantly shone. Her well-sculpted mouth was complemented by her nose and her full and succulently blushed cheeks. A worthy replacement she was, but Mynea she was not.

The next night would be the same as the previous ones. Pandora and I would talk, then hunt, then talk again. The coming of the sun would mark the time for our comfort. She wanted desperately to be held by my noticeably harder body. And I wanted to continue feeling her hair beneath my chin as we lay. I needed to smell her scent while I slept. I
needed her blood to calm my heart. I longed for her touch to remind me of what once belonged to me, two solitary creatures living together to soothe the other.

I knew then Pandora also sought what Vlad couldn’t provide. She needed me to love her. It would complete her betrayal of Mynea. The urge to share more than just a blood kiss grew as we continued to spend every waking moment together. Every dusk she would offer herself to me; I would refuse. As time passed, my refusals became a game to her, a challenge she welcomed.

Her passion began to awaken long-dormant feelings. Soon the very sight of her led to arousal. My dreams would be filled with visions of our embrace, my thoughts drowned by my desires and her persistence. And after several months, my lust took over me, and I was hers and she was mine.

Night after night we danced. And she loved with such intensity. Her lustful actions were fueled by her hatred of Mynea and magnified by the betrayal of her master. Our animalistic ritual became more and more frequent. We didn’t wait until we were in the confines of our various resting places. Often we would find dark corners just out of sight. Rooftops became a favorite. Under some moons we would dispose of an entire family and embrace each other in every room throughout the humble abodes they had resided in.

On more than a few occasions, our lust would precede our meal, and we’d get caught by our victims. A man and his lady for the evening returned from a night on the town to his home where death danced in the shadows, dismantling the elegant furnishings within without regard. The woman screamed and interrupted our tango. We took this as a request to join us. And join us they did, victims that Charon ferried across the River Styx into Tarturus, though this pair had no coinage to pay the ferryman. And thus we delivered them both, bloodless and lifeless.

It was a game of love, lust, hunger, and life. With every waking moon, Pandora and I grew closer. And as we did, my remaining humanity drifted further and further away. I no longer sought only the guilty; I sought the good and evildoers alike. I also thought of Mynea less and
less, though she would never leave my thoughts entirely. Pandora knew this. However, it didn’t deter her lust for me. And my lust for her grew equally with hers for me.

She didn’t lie in her desire to share all that she knew with me. “Aleron, you’ve yet to inquire about an important vampire ability. You’ve learned the basics of survival as an immortal and have come to respect your weaknesses while exploring your gifts. You’ve grown much stronger than I or Mynea could have imagined.”

I already knew what she was going to say next. There was only one blatant vampire ability I hadn’t inquired about. Until that moment, I had never cared about what she was referring to. I’d been perfectly fine with living with Mynea, then Eliza, and now Pandora. I felt no need to make another.

“My love, it’s your inherent nature. You won’t be truly fulfilled unless you make another, one with complete devotion to your life, one that will praise and protect you from all others. We vampires can be solitary creatures. However, we learn that survival calls for devoted companionship and protection from other immortals who may want to harm us. You know I won’t be here forever, Aleron. Just as well, our passion and desire to be together won’t be strong enough for an eternity. You know there’ll be a time when you’ll leave and claim what is yours. Before this can be done, you must embrace all of what you are. And you are a king! You are sovereign! Why else would you grow more powerful with every cycle of the moon? You have undeniable purpose, and to achieve its totality, you must protect yourself. You alone will not survive a millennium.”

Pandora spoke with sincerity. She spoke what she knew and understood to be true. She was grooming me for a future I couldn’t see at the time but one that she could see.

“There exists one such mortal who is already devoted to you, Aleron. You’ve already poisoned her thoughts and filled them with overwhelming feelings of lust and desire for you. You left her and promised to return to her. She still waits for you. Each day is agony for her. Every night she longs for her immortal prince to appear. You see, she was completely under Mynea’s spell, but it was never love. You, my dear, didn’t
cast a spell over her. She simply fell deeply in love on first sight of you, despite being within the arms of her powerful and beautiful mistress. When you shared your blood with her, you filled a void created by your presence. You knew this when you let her suck your blood and couldn’t stop the flow on your own. She did. She’s proven her strength, and now you must go to her and complete her transformation.”

“Where is she?”

“I’ll take you to her. Let us go now.”

Swiftly we left the wooded area and proceeded toward the Suez Canal. Pandora and I traveled so expeditiously that even the wind was undisturbed by our assault. People were but a blur. Voices were meshed sounds that resembled music. The water of the Suez felt cool beneath our feet, which barely grazed the surface of the majestic gulf.

I knew soon after our departure where we were going, to the Sinai Peninsula, the city of Sharm el-Sheikh. We closed in on a large home, which suffered from the passing of time and abandonment. The road leading to it had been overgrown with greenery, making it nearly impossible for humans to travel. It stood alone atop a badly eroded hill, a fitting place for a vampire. There was no need to use the front- or lower-level doors. Instead, we entered through one of the open windows on the second level. It wasn’t long before I could feel her presence. She slept in the room adjacent to the one we entered. Her thoughts and dreams reflected visions of me. Her sweet, inviting, yet silent voice called out to me. Did she know I was near? Could she sense my return to her, even in slumber? Or was this her nightly ritual and daily desire?

Pandora took my face in both of her palms. On tiptoe, she lifted her lips to mine and took comfort in stealing a kiss.

“Go to her, Aleron. She’s waited long enough.”

Before I entered her room, I could sense the essence of another woman. She was no longer in the home, but it wasn’t long ago that she had been standing in that very room.

“Pay no attention to your thoughts, Aleron. The one you sense is far away and was here under my command.”

I could tell no malice or falsities escaped her lips. The mortal was to watch over Eliza for the weeks Pandora and I danced.

I thought the door to open, and it happened. I walked in. Eliza was still asleep, moaning in full captivity of her surrealistic dream. Her body moved as if being caressed by some invisible specter. I drew closer to her bedside and spoke to her mind.
Eliza
.

Her eyes slowly opened, and I came into focus. They grew wide and twinkled with reserved excitement. Her smile began to replace the expression of disbelief.

“Aleron,” she said softly. “You came for me.”

I said nothing. I simply marveled at her beauty, knowing this would be the last time I looked upon her in this form. The cover fell as she reached for me, her naked body partially exposed and warm with life. I embraced her. Though my eyes were now closed, I knew Pandora was moving away from us. Slowly she withdrew, retreating to the adjacent room.

Eliza’s thoughts were full of questions, but she asked only a few. “Did you think of me, my prince? Did you think of me as I thought of you? I longed for you every moment. My dreams were consumed by your presence. I lived to slumber, for that was the only way you would come to me. And now you’re here. Did you think of me, my love?”

“Yes, I thought of you,” I replied while holding her to my chest. She broke free of my cradled hold and pulled herself up to my face. Her hands caressed the back of my neck as her eyes closed. She began kissing me, and I responded in kind. My frostbitten lips pressed ferociously against her warm mouth, her tongue frolicking within the confines of my chilled aperture, my tongue searching for her life. The hunger returned with voracity and focus. I could feel the heat pumping within her body. I lifted her completely off the bed and embraced her nakedness. She wanted me within her. She had waited and dreamt of this very moment every night since my departure. I could sense the moisture building between her legs. Desire and feelings for her never left my heart. They were simply passive until that night.

Take her, Aleron
, Pandora spoke to me in silence.
She’s yours
. I obliged her request and command.

I lifted Eliza and gently laid her on the soft fur on the floor next to the bed. Beds were for humans, and I was an animal. I knelt down and
spread her legs. She gave a gasp and raised her chin and closed her eyes. I could smell the succulence of blood.

Her menstruation was a delicacy to me. However disgusting that may be to humans, the daughters of men were delicate during that time and thus feel more passion when embraced. It was ecstasy for her and necessity for me, the perfect appetizer to our fleshy lust. My chilled, hard body was warmed up by the heat I stole from Eliza, the heat that she gave freely. I ravished her with a vampire’s insatiable appetency and beastly execution.

Eliza’s hands clawed at the fur as her arms splayed out. I tossed her onto her stomach as her back climbed into an arch of our covenant. I took her. She lay completely helpless, yet her desire was for more, and so I gave her more. Her neck invited the hunger within, the burning sensation of anticipation. Her life, I wanted. A birth, I will offer as payment. If I began to drink, I wouldn’t stop. She would surely die, and immortality would be but a dream for her. The orgasmic cry she gave fully awakened the monster within me. I bit into her neck and began extracting her soul. In full submission, she pressed her neck up toward my mouth. She wanted to feed me. I continued sucking and feverishly stroking her moist flesh. She was on fire, and I was quickly rekindling my own.

Her movements, suddenly, slowed to a crawl. She could no longer hold herself up to me. Her heart began to fade, and weakness replaced intensity. She was dying beneath me. I turned her over and looked at her. Her eyes were wide and fixed on me.