Morvicti Blood (A Morvicti Novel Book 1) (21 page)

She looked around at the world her daughter had created. She could not smile, but did feel a sense of pride.

Galene, known to the world as Gail Simmons, had been a celebrity in every sense of the word, familiar with the movers and shakers in the entertainment business in Europe and around the world. Her daughter had loved the limelight, serving the Morvicti as an award-winning actress. That role fit perfectly into her too-short life.

She’s really gone.

The duchess felt another tear roll down her cheek, despite the flood that had come before. Her husband had suggested they try to have another child, though they both knew how long it had taken them to conceive Galene. Bearing offspring for the Morvicti was difficult and rare.

She’d only become pregnant with Galene after the third and longest slumber of her life, fifty-five years. Although she dreaded going below, the thought of having a child made it worthwhile.

No one ever knew when—or even if—they would return from the healing unconscious state to the ground above. In the Lupei Bloodline there were members who continued to slumber after thousands of years. It was unknown why they hadn’t risen. Their bodies were healed, yet their minds remained in that everlasting night.

After losing Galene to the monster stalking the Morvicti, she craved the grave—not the one immortals returned to, but the one that would send her to oblivion forever.
The loss of my head. My sweet Galene, how can I go on without you? I wish it had been me instead of you.

The Imperial Morvicti Council, which her husband was one of nine, was using every resource at their disposal to locate the person responsible for Galene and Nadia’s murders. Even Octavian Drake, who held the highest position, had returned to London to head the search.

Some believed the killer was a halfblood. Others thought him human. And a smaller number thought the murderer might even be a Morvicti pure blood. Regardless, she did not care. Whoever had taken her sweet Galene away from her needed their head severed from their body.

It was blasphemy to think such thoughts, but she was a mother. She couldn’t help it. Nor did she care.

The Morvicti world was about immortality for the pure, whether sleeping or awake. It didn’t matter. But it mattered to her now. She wanted to die, to crawl into Galene’s casket, to stop the limitless ache she felt inside her.

If she had the courage she would find a way to cut off her own head.

A knock on the door startled her.

One of the servants, no doubt, returning to make sure I’m okay.
Her husband had remained in Romania. His grief nearly matched her own, though it presented itself in a much different way. He’d vowed to never step foot in London ever again.

Another knock.

“One moment, please.” She didn’t want to see anyone, craving the solitude that seemed to be the only thing that helped her through this nightmare. But regardless of her own personal feelings, she was Duchess of the noble Lupei Bloodline, wife to the highest in the clan. And with that title came duties to be seen to.

She brought out her compact and checked her face. Her eyes were swollen but that could not be helped. She reapplied her lipstick, straightened her hair, and headed for the door.

When she opened it, she saw a man wielding a knife.

“Hello, Duchess. I’m Jack.”

CHAPTER 36

4:26 PM

Enraged, Octavian grabbed Bathry by the collar. “Who of your bloodline allowed Jack to escape this place? You?”

“No, Majesty,” the man choked out. “That’s Jack the Ripper in that cell.”

“It is not. You are in charge here, Sir Bathry. You are responsible for this breach.”

Belisarius brought out his gun, pointing it at Bathry.

The man raised his hands to the ceiling. “There is no need for violence, my lords. I will cooperate with you fully. I want to clear this mistake up as much as you do.”

“Mistake? This is much more than a simple error.” Octavian glared at Bathry. “Three of the Morvicti are dead because of this
mistake
.”

“Three?” Bathry’s eyebrows shot up. “I only know of Nancy Black and Gail Simmons.”

Angry and full of grief, he turned to Bathry. “Add my brother Rom to the list. His body was found with his head severed this morning. Whether by your hand, or one of your brethren’s, this is your fault. You are the one in charge of this sanctuary, and now I will never be with my brother again.”

Bathry lowered his gaze. “Majesty, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“All empty words, Bathry.” Belisarius kept his weapon aimed at the weasel. “Octavian, what did you see up there? Was the cell empty?”

“No. There’s a staked body, but it isn’t Jack’s.”

“How can you know that, Majesty?” Bathry’s face tightened in what appeared to be a mask of confusion and fear. “The only ones who saw the monster in 1888 are still sleeping. Your grandmother and my father remain below ground, as do the rest of the other nobles.”

Octavian hated the lies, but the very fabric of Morvicti society was woven by secrets. He was no exception, having a myriad of his own. But this one could no longer remain hidden. “What you didn’t know, Sir Bathry, is that I also met the beast. A year before Jack attacked Mary Jane Kelly, I met him in Prague.”

“My lord?” Belisarius narrowed his eyes at his confession.

“You remember our second cousin Irina?”

“Of course I do.” Like all Morvicti, Belisarius had an eidetic memory. “Irina went missing in 1859 and her beheaded corpse was found in 1890, killed by human hunters.”

“Hunters didn’t kill Irina. Her son did.”

“Her son?” Belisarius’s eyes widened.

“Jack. The Ripper. Irina fell in love with a mortal. And against all odds they conceived. Irina knew the law demanded she reject her baby and turn him over to humans to bring up. But she feared The Brotherhood of Purity would find and kill him if she did.”

Belisarius sighed. “I had no clue, Octavian.”

“No one did. Irina fled with her infant son, vanishing from the eyes of our family. I found her and Jack twenty-nine years later in the City of a Hundred Spires. They were living a meager existence. Having pity on Irina, sympathizing with her desire to save her son, I kept silent to our bloodline.”

Bathry’s lips twisted into a smirk. “You broke our sacred law, Majesty? You should have reported your cousin to the Imperial Morvicti Council, and to your grandmother, the queen.”

“One more word from you and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.” Belisarius’s loyalty did not waver despite what he’d just heard.

“I am just stating the obvious, Poole,” Bathry said, calling Belisarius by his alias. “Your cousin conceived an abomination, and then embraced him. Forgive me, Majesty.” The bastard bowed. “But you must make amends for your sin of silence.”

“Why shouldn’t a mother remain with her son? Besides, the winds of change had begun to blow. The unjust law concerning the rejection of halfbloods was close to being overturned.”

“Until the murders in Whitechapel,” Bathry said with a hideous grin. “I can’t believe the blood of the most noble of the Morvicti flows in The Ripper’s veins.”

“Did you not hear me?” Belisarius aimed the gun between Bathry’s eyes. “I told you to shut up.”

Bathry nodded. “Now, Albert.”

Belisarius’s eyes went wide and then he slumped to the ground with a stake in his back.

We’ve been betrayed!
In a single fluid motion, Octavian drew his gun and fired on Albert, who was standing over Belisarius. The man groaned loudly, grabbing his chest and falling on top of Octavian’s cousin, the same stake he’d used to take down Belisarius now piercing his own traitorous body.

Full of fury, Octavian swung back around. But Bathry had already fled. He could hear the rat’s fading footsteps echoing off the sanctuary’s walls. Bathry was running full blast and would be up on the surface shortly.

You will not escape me for long, Bathry.

Octavian brought out his mobile phone, hoping against hope to get a signal, but the screen informed him there was none available down in these chambers. No chance of calling for aid from his family.

He shoved Albert off of Belisarius. The lowlife’s injuries were substantial enough to keep him immobile for the next few hours. But to make certain the bastard didn’t move again, he pulled the stake out of Belisarius and shoved it into the gaping wound in Albert’s stomach.

Belisarius choked; blood came out of his mouth.

“Stay with me, my friend.”

Belisarius tried to speak, but could not. His eyes were glazing over. If he did not receive blood soon, slumber would overtake him. Who knew how long he might remain underground to fully recover?

“I will not fail you.” Octavian stood, wondering how many in the Bathry Bloodline had been part of the plot to resurrect The Ripper. Albert had, and so had David Bathry. The latter was the leader of the clan—and most likely the kingpin behind the treachery.

The Ripper walked the streets of London again. The beast had killed two young ones and Rom, desecrating the Drake Bloodline Sanctuary. Jack could have killed Austin, too. Why he hadn’t was unknown. Still, the tragedy was David Bathry’s doing.

Hot rage pulsed through Octavian’s veins. He vowed silently to remove both The Ripper’s head and Bathry’s from their shoulders, and every other Bathry head that had played a part in the villainous act—even if that meant the entire bloodline would be eradicated.

But first, he needed to escape this place. Getting out of The Sanctuary of the Forgotten would be more difficult than getting inside. He needed to find the Bathry woman they had seen earlier providing blood to the inmates of the sanctuary. Thankfully, the stake had not hit Belisarius’s heart, and with her blood he would be back on his feet shortly. His cousin would need an hour, maybe more, to be strong enough to fight, but he might be able to walk sooner with a little help.

Pausing, he listened. He could hear the woman and guessed her to be about a hundred feet down the hallway from this room.

Though anxious to get to the life-giving blood the Bathry woman carried, he stepped out cautiously. When he found her, she was huddled in a corner, trembling.

“Majesty?” She stared at his gun. “Were those shots I heard from you?”

“They were.” Perhaps there were Bathrys still loyal to the Imperial Morvicti Council after all. “The head of your bloodline has betrayed the Morvicti.”

Two tears streamed down her cheeks. She lowered her gaze. “Your will is my duty, Your Majesty. Always.”

“Come with me. We have work to do.”

CHAPTER 37

4:54 PM

With her ears ringing from the blast, Angelique watched Austin grab the machine gun, hitting the guy in the face with the weapon’s butt, while simultaneously kicking the other man with the pistol in the groin. Both men fell to the floor.

Austin kept hold of the machine gun he’d taken from the first attacker. He picked up the Colt that had fallen from the other man’s hand. “Take this.”

She wrapped her fingers around the butt of the pistol. It felt strange to her. “Austin, I’ve never shot a gun.”

“And I hope you never have to.”

With her heart racing, she grabbed his hand, and they ran out of the room. She could hear yelling and more gunfire coming from different areas of the facility.

Another explosion went off, but farther from them.

They turned a corner and ran into another masked man. Before he could fire his weapon, Austin fired his, and the attacker slumped to the ground.

They kept running through the debris falling around them. As they passed the lifeless body of one of Michael’s agents, dread rolled through her.
Is Michael safe?

They came to an open door. Austin motioned for her to stay back. He rushed through it.

More gunfire.
Oh God. Please help us.

Silence.

Austin returned to the doorway. “Come on, Angelique.”

She ran to him. The area beyond was an underground car park. Three masked men were stretched out on the ground…bleeding and unmoving.

“Oh God, Austin.”

He ran between cars, peering inside them. He came to a black BMW. “Keys in this one. This is our ride out of here.”

She took a step his direction and one of the fallen gunmen grabbed her leg. She screamed and Austin fired several rounds into the man.

“Come on, Sis.”

They climbed inside and he peeled out of the space.

She looked back and saw more masked men spilling out of the doorway they’d just left. A couple of them bent down and poured a dark red liquid from plastic containers into the mouths of the three dead men on the ground. The other new arrivals fired at her and Austin, running to their cars.

Austin drove up a ramp.