Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) (15 page)

“This place is amazing,” I said aloud, but I had meant to keep the thought inside my head.

“You think so?” Chaseyn said, a huge smile on his face. “I wasn’t sure you’d like it here.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said. Despite the fact a great deal of work was needed to bridge the gap between then and now, I was inspired by the landscape, the people…everything.

“I think so too,” he said. We rode the rest of the way to our destination in silence.

It was late when we finally pulled up to our hotel at the first stop on our whirlwind tour--Sinaia. I knew Chaseyn was slightly annoyed--he’d have made the drive in at least a third of the time Eli had, but I thought it was good for him to kick back and rest for awhile. He was forced to do nothing but that with someone else at the wheel.

The white façade of the bed and breakfast shone bright in the pale moonlight, giving it an eerie glow. The Villa Camelia was a rustic multi-room mansion with elaborately carved wood trim lining it’s archways--inside and out--and balconies. It was like something you read about in one of Grimm’s fairytales. Perhaps, like the gingerbread house Hansel and Gretel found in the woods, only more plaster of Paris and less cookie dough.

“Mr. Lear, we have you in room 304,” the woman at reception said as she handed him the key. “I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure we will,” I said, grabbing Chaseyn’s hand. Another woman walked us through an enormous common room to a wide, open staircase that spanned three floors with extra high ceilings. She called to another woman for assistance, but when it became clear they intended to carry our bags, Chaseyn and Eli refused. Instead, the women lead us to our respective rooms, and we made a plan to meet up in fifteen minutes, giving us just enough time to freshen up before foraging for food.

Our room was massive. There was a queen-sized bed in an alcove, with a large open space in the center of the room. A couch was pressed up against a wall, with a modest, but recently renovated, bathroom in the corner. A small TV sat on a wooden table opposite the bed.

But the focal point of the room were the glass doors that opened onto a wooden terrace. Our room was located in the dead center of the property, and it looked out onto the front gardens, which were covered with a light dusting of snow. It had to be the best room in the house, and I made a mental note to thank the woman at reception for giving it to us.

The inn was atop a small hill on a quiet street overlooking the twinkling holiday lights of the sleepy little town, and I basked in the serenity. Stunning. But cold. After he’d ditched our bags in the closet, Chaseyn came up behind and wrapped his arms around me. We stood in silence like that for fourteen minutes. We would have stayed that way forever if not for the knock on our door.

“Coming,” I shouted, grabbing my purse from the couch where I’d tossed it as I made a bee-line for the balcony when we’d first entered the room.

Once we’d joined up with Addie and Eli, we walked down the cobblestone hill that led to the old town. It was early evening, and most of the shops had close, but a few choice restaurants remained open. We walked up and down the main road several times, reading menus and peering inside each venue, before deciding on a steakhouse located inside a large log cabin decorated with Rocky Mountain paraphernalia. Addie and I had a good laugh at how we’d traveled all day and night only to return to our Colorado roots.

After dinner, we walked down a few of the side streets, taking in the culture and community before returning to our rooms. I left the glass doors open a crack, letting the brisk evening air cool our room while we slept. In the middle of the night, I had a change of heart, but I couldn’t say why. Something had made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, so I closed and locked the door. I had trouble sleeping after that, but I took comfort in the fact that Chaseyn never seemed to stir. If something was wrong, surely his sixth sense would kick into high gear. On the other hand, the more he slept, the more worried I became about his health. He seemed fine for now--the blood seemed to stave off the brunt of his sickness--but I knew it was only a matter of time. And I didn’t want that time to close in on us.

***

I had become accustom to waking up to Chaseyn spooning me these past few weeks, so this morning when I awoke alone in bed, I panicked. I threw back the covers and looked for him in every corner of the room. I even got to my knees and checked under the bed. Why he would be under the bed, I had no idea, but it was the only place in the room I hadn’t yet looked.

“Chaseyn?” I called out. “Are you in here?”

Silence. I don’t know what I had expected to hear--I was clearly alone. My first instinct was to grab my coat and run around town searching for him, but then logic kicked in. It’s not like someone had taken him from our bed in the night. Though I highly doubted it, in our crazy existence, that option couldn’t be completely ruled out. And he definitely hadn’t left me. We needed each other like we needed the blood running through our veins.

I needed to calm down. He had probably just risen early and gone for a walk around town. I opened the balcony and shivered violently when the cold air chilled my bare arms. A thick layer of fresh snow dusted the ground, and hoar frost clung to every tree. It was breathtaking, but I could only stand the cold for so long. I rubbed my arms feverishly and quickly scanned the garden for any sign of Chaseyn. Nothing.

When I could no longer take the chill, I rushed back inside and contemplated my next course of action. I pulled on a pair of black leggings and an oversized sweater, brushed my teeth, pulled my hair into a messy bun, and sat on the edge of the bed. I would wait there patiently until he returned.

No. I wouldn’t, I decided. My stomach growled loudly, so I decided to do something about it. Just because my boyfriend had abandoned me some time in the night didn’t mean I had to sit here and suffer. I stood up, grabbed a magazine from my bag, and made my way downstairs to the breakfast room.

When I had wended my way down the three flights of creaky stairs, past the common area that looked like it hadn’t been updated in over a century, through a long, carpeted hallway that smelled faintly of mildew, and past a dust-filled library, I found the entrance to the dining room. The heavy wood door was ornately carved with images of wolves, deer, and wild boar. I pushed firmly, and it slowly creaked open. I jumped at the sound of a man’s voice--I hadn’t expected anyone else to be there.

“You must be Ms. Jameson,” the young man said.

The man--or boy, rather--was dressed in black dress pants, a woven, white shirt, and a black vest. He carried a white tea towel in his right hand. I presumed he was a member of the wait staff and relaxed a little, perplexed, though, that he seemed to innately know who I was. I quickly glanced around the large room. Empty, save for a young couple talking quietly in a nearby corner.

“Please follow me,” he said and started walking swiftly across the room.

The aroma of fresh-baked bread wafted from the kitchen, and as we walked past the buffet table, my mouth began to water. There were silver serving dishes filled with sausage, eggs, cold meats, pastries, and so much more.

“Mr. Lear asked me to make sure you had the best seat in the restaurant,” the young man said as he pulled out my chair. He pulled the napkin from my water goblet and spread it across my lap before asking if I would like tea or coffee.

“I’ll have a coffee, but before you go, did you say you spoke with Chaseyn?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. He came in an hour or two ago. He was in a hurry to get somewhere, but he wanted to be sure we treated you especially well when you arrived,” he explained, patting his pocket. I knew he meant that Chaseyn had tipped him well to give me first-rate service.

“How did you know it was me?”

“He described you…we don’t have many guests with such a lovely hair color as yours,” he explained and turned to fetch my coffee.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing his forearm. “Did he happen to say when he would return?”

As if on cue, I felt the cold chill that always signaled his arrival. I had often heard about an electric energy that tingled between soul mates, but in our case, I could sense Chaseyn’s presence by the drop in temperature. No one else ever seemed to notice.

“I’ll go get your coffee now, if that’s alright with you, Ms. Jameson.”

The air wasn’t the only thing in the room that had chilled. So had the tone of the server’s voice. That’s when I realized I still had his arm in a death grip. I released my hold, and my cheeks flushed with embarrassment at how pathetically desperate I must have seemed.

“Yes, of course. Thank you,” I said. “My apologies.”

He simply nodded and dashed off as quickly as his legs would carry him away from me. By then, Chaseyn had taken the seat across from me, taking care not to block my view of the garden through the large window I was facing.

“Where were you?” I asked, reaching for Chaseyn’s hands. “I was so worried when I woke up and you weren’t there, spooning me. I would have gone with you, wherever you went.”

“It was early when I woke, and you looked so peaceful. It was so hard to leave your side, but I wanted to get a head start on our day,” he explained.

“What do you mean?”

“I know Addie has a plan for most of the day, so I thought I would head out early to see if I could track down the items on our list for this area,” he said. “Now, we can spend the whole day visiting all of the tourist sites without making any unnecessary stops.”

“And we won’t need to come up with any excuses for why we need to visit the apothecary,” I added. “You’re brilliant.”

“I know, love,” Chaseyn smiled his cocky grin, and I kicked him under the table. “Now get that cute little butt of yours up out of that seat and over to that buffet table.”

Chaseyn never said naughty lines like that, and I had to admit it was a huge turn on. I giggled and pushed back my chair. As I took my first step away from the table, I felt a slap across my butt, and my face heated as it turn fifty shades of red. I looked back at Chaseyn, who was still seated in his chair, a smug grin on his face. He winked and then stood to follow me to the buffet table. When he tried to wrap his arm around my shoulder, I slapped it away, but I secretly wanted him to wrap much more of himself around me.

***

When we returned to our seats with our plates piled high, Chaseyn explained to me where he’d been and what he’d learned. He had called Mina just before sunrise to let her we had arrived safely and were taking a few days to tour Romania with Eli and Addie. Mina and Balthazar were closing in on Alexei’s maker and had several clues as to where he lived. She was sure that by the time we caught up with them later in the week, they would have the location pegged.

“That’s great news,” I said excitedly and took a sip of orange juice. It was quite watery and a bit too tart. I tried not to make a sour face.

Chaseyn nodded his agreement, and I urged him to continue. I was eager to hear everything Mina had told him.

“Mom said your research was a huge help,” he added, and I couldn’t contain my smile. “Balthazar has collected most of what we need, but we’ll need to pick up a few things along the way.”

“Whatever we need to do, we’ll do it,” I said. “Let me take care of Addie.”

I had worked so hard for this moment--from the countless hours in the library to convincing Chaseyn this was the best hope we had to stay together in the only kind of forever I wanted--a mortal one.

“I’ve taken care of what we need from Sinaia, so we can enjoy the morning,” he said and pulled a vial of black powder from his pocket. “This is an iron sulfide from the mineral springs in Câinelui Valley. The springs have some sort of healing power that will act as a catalyst when the antidote enters my bloodstream.”

That was one of the ingredients Balthazar had helped decipher from the list of items I couldn’t identify. There were several obscure items, but when Chaseyn placed a second container on the table, I knew right away what it was. Ground Gentiana lutea, a species of the
gentian
flower, that could only be found in the
mountains
of central and southern
Europe
. The parts of the flower that grew underground and the fresh, above-ground parts are often used for medicinal purposes. Commonly known as bitterwort, the flower is typically used to treat chronic exhaustion disorders, fortifying a weak digestive system and stimulating appetite.

“This will eliminate the need for you to drink blood by increasing your energy levels and ensuring your body is prepared to digest a normal, balance diet,” I told Chaseyn.

“You really know your stuff,” he said, and I blushed as he brushed my jaw with his knuckles.

We’d just eaten the last of our meal when Eli and Addie stumbled through the door. The young man who had seated me earlier showed them to the table next to ours. They pulled their chairs together and started pawing at each other. Addie’s practically perfect hair was rumpled, and Eli was wearing the same clothes he had on at dinner last night. They both had deep bags under their eyes, and their lips were chapped and swollen.

“How’s about coming up for air and telling us what happened to the two of you,” Chaseyn chided.