The Immortal Compromise (The Mortal One Series Book 3) (9 page)

He stared.

“Bathroom?” I asked again.

He closed the door.

Either he didn’t understand me or he didn’t care that I had been holding it in for so long that it was all I could think about.

Embarrassed by what I was about to do, I placed the tray on the stool and then went to the farthest corner of the basement. I slid my pants down, squatted, and let out a sigh of relief. I looked at the puddle, but couldn’t do anything about it. It was gross, but they left me no choice. Perhaps if they were going to put mortals down here again in the future, they would think about some modern plumbing.

The tray had the most basic food, but I was grateful for what it was. A simple sandwich and a glass of water. No idea what the meat was. It was chewy and had a strange taste to it, but I tried to ignore it and swallow it down. The bread was fresh and so it helped to disguise the other flavor. A little mustard could have been the saving grace to the sandwich, but I wasn’t going to press my luck by knocking on the door to ask for any.

Chapter 12

“YOUR SOVEREIGN HAS arrived.”

I didn’t know who said it because they were around the corner, but I breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that Nico had finally arrived.

The man who likely made the introduction walked around the corner. Nico and Olivier were right behind him. What was Olivier doing here? He should be in Paris, looking out for everything and it made me nervous that both of them came to wherever it was in Germany where I was just to try and bring me back home.

“Nico!” I said to him, standing up to greet him.

He came over and hugged me, wrapping his arms tight around me. “Shhh. We will get this straightened out and get you home as quickly as we can.”

“Why is Olivier here?” I whispered. “Who is overseeing Paris?”

“He was required to be here as well. Costin sent Violante to Paris to assist with keeping order until we can return.”

I pulled out of his grasp. “Really?”

He shook his head. “Please. Let’s not do this right now. We need to show a united front and return to Paris.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

“Have you been treated well?” He asked, looking around the dark surroundings.

“No, as you can see.”

“What is that horrible smell?” Nico said, his nose scrunching up.

“They did not provide me with everything that a mortal needs,” I was unable to look at him as I spoke.

“Where is Wenzel?” Nico said, turning to Dempsey.

“He will be down in a moment to meet your acquaintance.”

“I have a better idea. Why don’t you bring us all upstairs to wait for him? That way, we don’t have to be in this unpleasant room.”

Dempsey stumbled over himself. “Well, my sovereign asked for you all to wait for him down here.”

“We do not find these accommodations to be pleasing,” Olivier said, moving towards him with his shoulders squared.

“Right, umm, this way then,” Dempsey said, all but running up the stairs.

Olivier made a signal to us and Nico and I followed him up the stairs and out of that dungeon-like room I prayed I would never have to see again. The stairs were carved out of natural stone and there was a thin metal railing. It all looked foreign because they had dragged me down the stairs when I had arrived. Being able to walk up the stairs on my own accord was a nice change of pace, not to mention more lights.

Dempsey brought us to a large room that was furnished with dark wood. A large bookcase lined the far wall and there were thick curtains hanging across the window that opened up to show off a stunning view of the river, along with a pedestrian bridge in the background. It was gorgeous and I would much rather be walking over it than sitting in here with a bunch of vampires.

We sat, waiting for Wenzel to make his appearance. I wanted to tell Nico and Olivier about what I knew about the sovereign and how I suspected that he may be from a different bloodline than we were accustomed to knowing. I hoped they knew more than me, because I didn’t trust my thoughts and had no idea of any other vampires in the castle that could potentially hear me as well.

No one spoke. Olivier looked around and I could tell he was reading through the titles of books in the bookshelf. Nico sat perfectly still. He had his serious face on and I could tell he was listening for any clues around the castle to let him know if there were any potential threats.

“Are you okay?” Nico finally said, turning to me.

I nodded.

“You are very quiet,” he said.

“Where are we?”

“Wurzburg.”

“I don’t know what to think about everything.”

It was Nico’s turn to nod. He kept things as simple as possible to avoid me oversharing where there were others who could here. “We will talk on the way home.”

“Okay. Is Gregorio okay?”

“He is,” Olivier said, sitting forward on the couch. “Dempsey, is it?” He turned to the man standing in the corner of the room.

Dempsey nodded. “Yes, sir?”

“It has been a long night for us. Why don’t you get your sovereign in here to discuss whatever it is that he wants to discuss with us so we can return home,” Olivier said.

Dempsey’s eyes grew large and he walked out of the room quickly. He wasn’t out of the room for long before Wenzel walked in, commanding the space with his sheer size. He wore a long sleeved button down shirt that was rolled up to the elbows, showing off the bulk of muscles in his forearms. It was likely done for an intimidation factor, and it was working, at least on me.

Nico stood, extending his hand. “Niccolò, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

“We don’t need to waste time with niceties. We all know who everyone is here,” he said, pulling a chair up in front of the sofa where the three of us had been seated. Nico sat back down.

“Okay,” Nico said. “Why is that you took Dylan out of Berlin?”

“I thought that would be obvious. If I took your pet, it would get you and your second in command down here,” Wenzel said.

Nico’s jaw locked. “Why not simply request our presence?”

“You are quite protective of your pet.”

“She is my wife.”

Wenzel smiled. “Yes, she said something of that. You have not turned her yet?”

“She has asked to wait a little longer.”

“And you let her call the shots? You don’t sound like a very strong sovereign,” Wenzel said.

Olivier stood up.

Before he could say anything, Wenzel stood up and flashed his fangs.

I froze. Wenzel’s fangs were not like the vampire fangs I have seen in the past. There were two rows of fangs and they were dripping with spit. He snarled at Olivier and his lips rose up, exposing his pink gums.

Nico
. It was the only thing I could think of. I needed to make sure that I wasn’t the only one who saw this horrific display.

Dempsey’s comment suddenly played in my head. That’s what he was talking about when he said about all the teeth. Seeing something like that coming at my neck would have me terrified to the core. I was suddenly very thankful I went to Italy for my search for vampires instead of Germany.

Nico reached over and placed a hand on mine.

Olivier took a step back, almost tripping over himself. He flashed his fangs as well, but it didn’t have the same effect.

Wenzel let out another snarl and saliva oozed out of the corner of his mouth. “Back off.”

“You first,” Olivier said.

“I am not looking to start a territorial war,” Wenzel said.

How he could even talk with a mouth full of teeth and fangs like that was amazing. I watched in silent horror as his face transformed back to normal. He sat down and motioned for Olivier to do the same.

“Very well,” Nico said. “We are here now. What can we do for you Wenzel?”

“I would like to know what the hell is going on in Paris.”

From what I had heard from Nico and Olivier, there were rumors floating around the vampire circles throughout Europe about what had actually taken place in Paris. No one knew exactly what happened and that was the way that Nico, Olivier, and even Costin wanted to keep it. The less that the vampires knew, the better it would be for everyone.

Henri was his friend.
I sent the message to Nico before he spoke to ensure he understood the situation a little more.

Nico glanced at me quickly and then turned his attention to Wenzel. “There was an unfortunate incident with Henri and the sovereignty went to Olivier, who gave it up to Costin.”

“Costin, the sovereign of Toscana?” Wenzel interrupted. He casually wiped the corner of his mouth with the side of his sleeve.

Nico nodded. “Correct. It was a temporary position. Once everything was under control, it was given to me, so I moved from Florence to Paris to become the sovereign. I have been in the position for less than a month.”

Wenzel studied Nico for what seemed like eternity. “You are not lying.”

“No.”

“What was this unfortunate incident with Henri?”

I saw Nico tense, but didn’t know if anyone else picked up on it.

“Zombies killed him because he had killed their necromancer,” Nico said.

“Good God,” Wenzel said. “I have not seen zombies in more than a hundred years. It shocks me that I have not heard these stories.”

I stared forward, unsure of what my part was in all of this. I was tired and craved my bed more than anything right now. Wenzel terrified me. My initial instinct about him was right. Olivier would know what bloodline he comes from. I had no desire to be here any longer and was over the whole kidnapping incident. I didn’t want any of us to say or do something that would set Wenzel off again. I didn’t want to see those fangs ever again, especially anywhere near me.

“Why are you waiting?” Wenzel asked, turning to me.

“Excuse me?” I asked, looking over to him.

“For immortality. Why wait?”

“Oh. I, umm, I guess I just want to make sure I have experienced all I want to of my mortality,” I said.

“You should not wait long. It is not safe for humans to be around us.”

I glanced at Dempsey, who stood in the corner. He met my stare and looked as terrified as I felt.

“Okay,” I said, not sure if I should take what he said to me as some kind of threat.

“Why didn’t you want the sovereignty?” Wenzel asked, turning to Olivier.

Olivier leaned forward. “I have no desire to be in a leadership position. Costin and Niccolò are much better at it than I am.”

“So you are the muscle?” Wenzel asked.

Olivier stiffened. “If that is the best name for it, okay.”

“You don’t lie,” Wenzel said.

Olivier looked bored. “I have no reason to.”

“The two of you are not like most vampires. Most vampires lie.” He stood up and brought the chair back to where it was along the wall. “You may leave.”

“Really?” I asked, standing up before I had a chance to think about my actions.

Nico stood up as well and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Do you have any more questions for us?”

Wenzel shook his head. “No, we are done here.”

“I am going to ask one more time. I will also leave you with my contact information should you feel the need to ask more. Kidnapping my pet and my wife is not an acceptable means of requesting my presence,” Nico said.

Olivier stood up and stood at Nico’s right side. His arms were crossed and he looked fierce.

“I understand and I will not kidnap your pet again. Call your man back, however. I do not like the feeling of being threatened in my own home.” He was staring at Olivier as he spoke.

Nico took a step forward and pressed his hand against Olivier’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said softly. Olivier uncrossed his arms, but still maintained a stiff posture.

“It was nice to meet all of you,” Wenzel said and left the room without saying anything more.

Nico stared at me and I shrugged.
Nice to meet all of you?
  That was one way to close out the conversation. It was a shame I couldn’t say the same of him. It was not nice to meet him. I could have lived a very happy life without ever meeting Wenzel’s acquaintance. The three of us stood in the room for a few moments, wondering what our next move should be.

Dempsey walked out from the corner of the room. “I will show you out.” He said, walking towards the front door with the three of us following behind him.

As we walked out the door, Dempsey and I locked eyes. He looked terrified and jealous at the same time. I understood perfectly. He was the pet of a monster, while I was the pet of a level-headed vampire that didn’t chew at my neck with two rows of fangs.

I waved to him and followed the men to the SUV that was parked in the long driveway. The large wooden door of the castle closed behind us.

“Nico,” I said.

“Not yet,” Nico said. “Get in the car.”