Aris Rising: The Court of Vampires: AN INFINITY DIARIES NOVEL (30 page)

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Gentle rumblings of thunder could be heard in the distance and diminishing dark clouds barely blocked the light of the moon and stars. Gabriela sat, curling cat-like, in one of the chairs by the fire reading Shakespeare. Determined to memorize all his works, she treasured quiet time to study. She was hard at work on
Hamlet
as the clock ticked past midnight.

Behind the closed bedroom door, Sarah slept soundly in her fluffy white bed, lulled to sleep by the sound of the retreating storm. Silently, one of the French windows swung open. A shadow crept soundlessly over the windowsill and to her bedside. A strong sweet
smell filled the room as the figure opened a small glass phial and held it beneath the sleeping woman’s nose. Her breath grew shallow, her body limp. The shadow lifted her as if she were weightless. The dark apparition carried her out the window and down the wall, disappearing into the dark garden below.

#

Sarah regained consciousness on the hard leather seat of a jeep as it bounced through ruts and ridges carved in what had once been a usable road. Her shoulders ached from her arms being secured behind her back and the cold metal of the handcuffs cut into her wrists. Light was barely visible through the black silk scarf tied around her eyes. Techno music reverberated through the cab.

“This is just a dream.” She told herself over and over. “A bad dream. I shouldn’t have had those anchovies.” After only a moment she had to face the hard realization she wasn’t dreaming. She had no idea where she was or who had kidnapped her. Or why. Her heart raced in her chest as she strained against her bonds.

“Stop that.” A low female voice snarled as a gloved hand cracked across her cheek. “If you cut yourself you’ll bleed and I assure you, you don’t want to bleed now.” Her Latin accent was thick.

Drugs clouded her mind and silent sobs of terror shook Sarah’s body. She managed to stutter single syllable words in between gasps for air, “Who are you? Where am I?”

“Shut up you stupid human.” Another stinging slap. Fear ran ice cold in Sarah’s veins and she curled into a tight ball on the seat. A familiar sweet smell permeated the air and before she could exhale, she was once again unconscious.

#

Gabriela paced frantically in front of the fireplace in the hotel suite. “How could I have let this happen?” If Immortals could cry, she would have wept. Richard reached for her hand, drawing her to sit on the sofa between he and Aris.

“You thought she was safe. Gabriela, we all thought she was safe. You did nothing wrong.” His hand caressed her shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. “What we need to do now is find her. Quickly.”

Standing, Aris resumed Gabriela’s pacing. “We know it was someone from the Spanish coven.” He turned to look at Richard as he spoke to him. “Was Sebastian sure De Flores is still in Spain?”

“Yes, and will you please sit down. Between the two of you, you will wear a hole in the carpet.” Aris dropped onto the sofa, leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees to rest his head in his hands.

“Sorry.” Lifting his head, he looked at his friend. “I know it is of no help if I lose my mind, but the hour we must wait for our flight to Spain is longer than all the centuries of my existence.” He was silent for a moment before he leaped to his feet once more, moving to stare out the window at the late afternoon light. “Why would they want her? What can she possibly be to them?”

“We can’t be sure, my friend. Could it be somehow the king found out about you? That you were a warrior and will train our army?”

“But how? Unless there is a traitor in the Catacombs, a spy for De Flores. And how would kidnapping Sarah change any of that?”

“Perhaps they plan to use her to lure you to Spain? If you were out of the way, their path to London would be clear.”

“That does make sense.” He crossed the room to sit again. “There does not seem to be any other plausible answer.”

A look of fear passed between Gabriela and Richard. Unfortunately, they both could think of another reason, but neither chose to bring it up to Aris.

#

In the vast room the only piece of furniture was a thin sleeping pallet. The cold stone floor and walls smelled musty and damp.
Sarah lay curled under several threadbare blankets to keep warm in what appeared to be a deserted medieval castle. She slept a great deal of the time, kept in a stupor by the drugs her captors put in the meager food allotment she received. She had no idea how long she had been confined. Days? Weeks?

Her sleeping eyes fluttered at the sound of the huge, heavy wooden door to her dungeon scraping against the stone floor as it swung open.

“Wake up. You must eat and clean yourself. Theresa will attend you shortly. Eat.” The handsome young man wheeled a cart carrying food in covered dishes. He wore jeans and a black short sleeved tee shirt even though the room was so cold Sarah could see her breath. His dark auburn hair was shoulder length and wild. She vaguely remembered him bringing her food at least once before. She was sure he wouldn’t hurt her or he already would have.

She knew she was being held captive in a cold miserable old castle somewhere far out in the country. In what country, she wasn’t sure. She tried to sit up but she was too shaky from the drugs to succeed. The young man reached to help her. His hands on her shoulders weren’t friendly, but they weren’t rough.

“Sit. Eat. You will feel better.” His voice was soft, but demanding. “Now.”

“Where am I?”

“I told you yesterday, that is something you are not to know.” His words were accented the same as the woman’s in the car.

“
Spanish? Italian?”
she thought.

“Who are you and why am I here?”

“More questions? Are all humans so full of questions?”

She lifted the lid on one of the dishes. Two fried eggs and a piece of dark bread looked back at her. “If you’re not human, what are you?”

He smiled a wicked smile. “You will find out soon enough.”

She didn’t need to wait. She already knew the answer. A vampire.

#

Gabriela read the map and gave Aris directions as he maneuvered the red rental car they had picked up at the Spanish airport through the deep ruts in the loose dirt and gravel. Richard leaned over the back of his mate’s seat to talk to his friend.

“Sebastian said to leave the car at the edge of the forest and go forward on foot. There are vampires that live in the forest and it will be easier to remain unseen if we travel without a vehicle. It should take less than an hour to reach the castle compound.”

“I do not like this, Richard. If they can sense us coming, they may kill her.”

“No Aris, they want her alive. She is their weapon against us. I am sure of that.”

“But what if you are wrong. What if they have her for some other reason. They must not harm her.” His foot pushed the accelerator closer to the floor and the car leapt forward, bouncing hard over a deep furrow.

#.

Sarah didn’t like the way Theresa looked at her as the young vampire peeled away her dirty clothes. She held them at arm’s length as she walked to the fire and tossed them in. “These cannot be saved.” Theresa resembled the young man who had brought her food. The same age, same coloring.
“Could they be brother and sister?”
she wondered.

There was no bathroom in the deserted keep so a huge copper tub was brought into the room and filled with steaming water. “
Why are they treating me so well,”
she wondered.
“Is Theresa the prep cook?”
She shuddered as she stepped into the warm, welcoming bath. Sinking to her neck, she closed her eyes, pretending she was at home in her own tub.

Her imagination was hard at work when Theresa spoke again. “Hurry up. You have a special audience today.”

“What?” Her eyes flew open. “Who is coming?” She hoped it would not be the woman who had slapped her during the torturous ride to the castle. She hoped it would be someone who would give her some information about where she was. “What do they want of me?”

Theresa smiled a wicked smile. “You will just have to wait to find out, won’t you?”

#

The woman who walked through the door was tall and lean. Her pitch black hair was clipped short and slicked off her face. She wore dark red lipstick; her vicious smile showed large straight white teeth. Her tailored black suit was made of the finest wool and her black stilettos clicked on the stone floor as she entered the chamber. She was as beautiful as the wicked queen in Snow White. Sarah was afraid, but she willed herself to be strong. She failed miserably. Her legs trembled where she stood.

“So human, are you frightened?” An evil smile lit her eyes.

Sarah tried to speak but her tongue wouldn’t cooperate. Her mind was clear. They hadn’t drugged her all day preparing her for her meeting. Words came into her mind, but they wouldn’t come out her mouth.

“I see, you are. You should be. I have plans for your future. You will regret what you did to me.” As she leaned close to Sarah, the stench of her breath made her prisoner’s stomach turn. “You will beg me to end it, but your agony will go on and on. And now human, I will leave you to ponder your prospects. And do not worry. You will not be lonely for long. I will return very, very soon to spend some quality time with you.” A sinister chuckle sounded deep in her throat as she crossed the room to leave. The huge door banged shut as Sarah moved to the window.

She was imprisoned in a high, narrow tower. A pile of sharp stones had fallen from the crumbling foundation creating a dangerous barrier between her and ground. The castle was nestled into a high mountain range and covered the entire top of a flattened hill. The hill was surrounded by a thick forest. She couldn’t see very far in the distance because of a dense fog creeping through the trees and up the hillside. She tugged at the bars separating her from her freedom. “I’ve got to find a way to get out of here.” She didn’t even realize she was speaking out loud as she repeated the phrase over and over again.

“S
o, you have been introduced to our Queen?”

It was early in the evening when the serving boy entered. Sarah was on her pallet beneath the blankets to get warm. She had spent the rest of the day after her audience examining the room. There were no cracks or crevices in any of the stones that she could see. She tried to pull up one that seemed a bit loose but she failed. It wouldn’t budge. She tried digging around the bars on the windows with her fingers but those stones, too, were immovable.

“I spoke to you, woman. Are you made mute with fear?” The serving boy brought her last meal of the day. Cold meat and one potato. “Why are you always balled up on your bed? Do you find solace there?”

“There’s no solace anywhere in this miserable place. I’m just cold.” She sat up. “Why does she hate me? What can I have done? I’ve never seen her before.” She wrapped one of the ragged blankets around her shoulders. “Why am I here? And, for God’s sake, why does she want to torture me?”

“Come, eat. You will need all of your strength for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Her voice was thin, hollow. “Oh, yes. Tomorrow.” As she reached for the plate of food, she thought, “
that means
somehow I have to get out of here tonight.”

#

They covered their car with brush and left it. Richard pointed the way as the three friends took off at a steady run deeper into the forest. Their feet flew over broken branches and leaves as if they were nonexistent. They ran in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. To Aris it seemed as if they ran in slow motion.

#

The sky was still pitch black when the door to her chamber slammed open crashing into the stone wall. The noise was loud enough to be an explosion. Sarah sat bolt upright instantly awake. She laid down for only a moment after she ate and must have fallen asleep.Her mind was groggy.

“Out of bed. Now.” The loud voice of the lead guard seemed to bounce off the unyielding walls. “I said now.”

She struggled to rise. Her mouth was dry and she realized there must have been drugs in her food again. The room was dark except for the light from the bright kerosene lanterns that two of the vampires carried. She stumbled as she crossed to the door. Hard, cold hands gripped her arm to keep her from falling. She wanted to cry out, but she was struck dumb with fear. The frost from her breath was visible as they made their way down the long corridor of the castle.

After what seemed an endless time spent winding through the maze of hallways they stopped before a huge ancient wooden door. Her captor leaned hard against it and it opened slowly into a cavernous dark chamber. Candle sconces provided the only light. She could see the back of a tall male figure standing in front of a tall window on the other side of the enormous room.

“On your knees.” The guard shoved her and she fell, bruising her bones on the stones of the floor. “Lower your head, human. You are before the King.” He pushed her down until her forehead touched
the floor. As she cowered on the cold stone the only sound was the footsteps of the guards as they left the room. Then all was silent. She fought for breath.

His words were spoken softly as the King moved to her side. “Lift your gaze to look at me.”

She was unmoving.

“I said look at me,” he demanded.