VA 2 - Blood Jewel (21 page)

“The promise sounds intriguing and
we wouldn’t dream of missing out on a mind blowing experience,” I
said as I raised an eyebrow at the blonde vampiress.

“Excellent,
gentlemen. Unfortunately, duty calls and I have other guests to
tend to so I will speak with you a little later,” she said as she
seductively looked up at me through her long brown lashes.

She slithered on to visit with her
next guest and Sol said, “Wow, Michael Garrett, does your wife
realize you are a total babe magnet?” Sol laughed.

I glared at Sol and said, “Not one
word, Phillip Andrews. Is that understood?”

He laughed mischievously, a sound I
knew well, and I repeated, “I mean it, not one word. Are we
clear?”

“Clear as a bell, Michael” he
answered, but continued to laugh.

“One word to Chansey and it will
be your funeral. I’m not kidding you,” I threatened.

“I’ve got it, Bro.”

As we socialized and mingled
through the endless crowd of vampires, we made note of how all of
them seemed to be young, under 100 years old. As we quizzed the
vampires we met, there was one common denominator among all of
them-they were all in the dark about what the special presentation
would be.

The speculation among the guests
ranged anywhere from minimal to unrealistic expectations and I
worried about the reaction of so many enclosed vampires when
Avery’s blood was presented. Sol and I alone would be unable to
control a frenzy among them and I hoped the intake of the offered
blood during the wait for her appearance would prevent a
hysteria.

We finished our flutes of blood and
a waiter appeared immediately to my left offering a refill.
Gloriana returned to visit just as I was about to decline a second
glass, so I accepted the offered blood to prevent a red flag from
being hoisted.

Gloriana took another glass of
blood from the tray and said, “Vincent is about to reveal the
surprise, but I want you to meet him before he does if you haven’t
already.”

“No, we would very much like to
meet Vincent.”

“Wonderful.” She took my hand and
led me across the floor. “He’s over here.”

The touch of her hand on mine
stirred nausea in my gut and my instincts screamed for me to
recoil, but I couldn’t risk making her suspicious so I obediently
followed her toward her brother. Solomon walked closely behind me
per our agreement to not be separated, but she was obviously only
interested in introducing me.

Even if Jenn had not described
Vincent to a tee, I would have been able to pick him out of the
crowd because his arrogance was tangible. He looked up from his
conversation with a lovely red head as Gloriana and I approached
and said, “Well, dear sister, who do we have here?”

“This is Michael Garrett and
Phillip Andrews,” Gloriana introduced with a broad smile upon her
face.

He inspected each of us, no doubt
sizing up each of us, but appeared pleased with his sister’s catch
of the day. “Welcome to my humble home, gentlemen, and I must add
that the gods are smiling upon you tonight because you are most
certainly in for a treat like none you have ever
experienced.”

“We keep hearing about this
special treat and I must say that my curiosity is definitely
roused,” I said.

“Well, let us keep you in suspense
no longer,” he said so formally. Everything about him was
formal-the way he spoke, the way he carried himself and the way he
snapped his fingers to summon a pair of fledgelings. They
immediately appeared at his side and he instructed, “It is
time.”

Without further direction, the pair
was gone and Vincent turned his attention back to us. “It will only
be a moment, gentlemen. Come, sister, and bring your new friends.
Let us take our place at the front of the crowd.”

We were led by Gloriana and Vincent
through the maze of vampires and reached our destination in front
of what appeared to be some type of medieval looking throne. I was
not shocked to see that Vincent thought himself worthy of being
seated upon a throne and I laughed to myself at the ridiculousness
of his grandeur. As I fought against the urge to laugh aloud, he
began to speak for his loyal subjects to hear.

“Brothers and sisters, we have
come together tonight to celebrate a magnificent discovery and I
will be introducing you to a lovely young lady in a moment.” The
waiters began passing out small vials as Vincent spoke and Sol and
I knew what was contained within the tiny vessels.

I lifted my vial from the serving
tray and Gloriana ordered, “Don’t drink it yet.”

Solomon and I swapped looks with
one another and wondered how we were going to get out of drinking
the blood of The Blood Jewel. Standing next to the hostess during
the toast was not part of the plan.

Vincent held up the vial and
continued, “This is the most exceptional tasting blood you will
ever find and that I will guarantee. All other bloods pale in
comparison and the euphoria you will experience as a result of
consuming it will be like no other. Now, I would like to present
the donor of this delicacy. Please join me in welcoming my Blood
Jewel, Avery.”

17 Sweet
Avery

Everyone turned their attention in
the direction of twelve armed vampiric guards as they escorted a
young, human female into the banquet hall we occupied. She was
dressed in a deep red strapless ball gown and her long, blonde hair
flowed over her bare shoulders onto her upper back. She was
extremely pale because of her recent draining and afflicted with
dark circles under her pale golden brown eyes. She was a lovely
girl and I saw the family resemblance to Jenn, but her face was
void of emotion and I knew the look well. She had accepted her fate
of death.

The guards led her to the throne as
they surrounded her, ready to strike at the first sign of threat.
The incredibly heavy security was unexpected and it threw a whole
new wrench into our plan to rescue her.

Vincent went to stand at Avery’s
side and motioned for his sister to join him, making it possible to
pull off the deception of Sol and me drinking her blood. I was
relieved, because otherwise, I would have been forced to drink the
addicting substance or risk blowing our cover.

Vincent raised his vial into the
air and said, “Now, let us all partake of the precious Blood Jewel
together.” As he and his sister toasted their vials together, Sol
and I lifted ours as well and then pretended to consume Avery’s
blood.

Waiters with trays walked through
the crowd collecting the empty vials as the murmurs became louder
about the delightful taste of the blood.

I saw Gloriana work the crowd as
she inched her way closer to me and I dreaded the moment she
returned to my side. I could only think about how uncomfortable she
made me and I thought of how pissed Chansey would be about another
woman getting this close to me.

I lost sight of Gloriana and
searched the crowd for her. As I scanned the room in search of her,
I took notice of a bizarre expression on Vincent’s face. He watched
Solomon curiously and I immediately feared our motive had been
discovered, although I couldn’t guess the source.

I tensed when I heard Vincent call
out to Sol from where he sat at Avery’s side. “You there, was it
Phillip Andrews?”

Solomon was deeply distracted by
something and failed to hear Vincent’s summons, so I elbowed him.
“Vincent is speaking to you, Phillip.”

He slowly turned his attention to
me and said, “What?”

“Our host is calling you, so why
don’t you go see what he wants,” I gritted through my teeth, a
clear indication for him to get his ass in gear.

“Oh, sure, sure,” he stumbled out
then very cautiously walked to where Vincent lounged on the
ridiculously grand armrest of the throne where Avery was seated.
Solomon was silent, waiting to hear what it was that Vincent was up
to and I listened from across the room.

Vincent reached out and stroked
Avery’s cheek slowly as he said, “I couldn’t help but notice your
special interest in my sweet, sweet Avery.” He looked up at Sol and
asked, “Did you enjoy her blood?”

“I did. It was mesmerizing, just
as you promised,” Sol lied.

“I know it was everything I
promised it would be and more, but what did you think of it?”
Vincent persisted.

Sol looked from Vincent to Avery
and gazed at her angelic face as he softly answered, “She is
perfection like nothing I’ve ever known before now.”

“Her blood used to be better, if
you can believe that,” Vincent explained.

Sol had a puzzled look upon his
face, but turned back to look at Vincent curiously. What kind of
game was this fiend playing and why had he chosen Sol as his
puppet?

“I can’t imagine it being better,”
Sol complimented.

“You see, my sweet Avery has
become somewhat desensitized to us. We no longer frighten her and
she doesn’t produce the adrenalin high she once did. As you can
imagine, I want that sensational high again. As hard as I have
tried, I can’t seem to achieve it anymore,” he admitted.

He was baiting Solomon and I didn’t
know why. “I’m sorry, Vincent. I don’t understand what you
mean.”

“Phillip, I noticed the way you
looked at my Avery.” He placed two fingers under her chin and
lifted her face upward and stroked her carotid with his free hand
“You noticed too, didn’t you my sweet angel?”

Avery made no response and Vincent
continued, “Don’t you smell her fear and hear her fluttering heart,
Phillip? It’s been months since this has happened. She might as
well been dead to the world until she saw you in the crowd and then
her pathetic little human heart began to race. Now, adrenalin is
coursing in her blood and seeping from her skin. Isn’t it
magnificent?”

Solomon responded by saying, “She
is a splendid creature and you are very lucky to have such a rare
commodity.”

“Come closer to her, Phillip,”
Vincent ordered Sol. Sol’s expression didn’t hide his astonishment
of Vincent’s request, but he did what was asked of him and stepped
closer to Avery. Vincent motioned with his hand as he said,
“Closer, I want you to touch her, Phillip.”

“Okay, this is getting a little
too weird,” Sol replied as he began to back away and I prayed he
wasn’t about to blow our plan by not playing along with
Vincent.

Vincent rose from the armrest and
said, “I said for you to touch her, and you are a guest in my home,
so please show some respect for your generous host that shared her
blood with you tonight.”

Sol moved closer to Avery and
pressed the back of his hand to her cheek and slowly stroked down
her cheek.

“It is glorious what your touch
does to her,” Vincent said and broke the spellbound appearance upon
Solomon’s face. I had to give it to him, he was quite the actor. He
almost had me fooled.

“I’m glad you are pleased,” Sol
replied as he turned to walk away.

Vincent raised his voice as he
added, “Stop, we’re not done here. You’ve accomplished what no one
else could and I need to reward you for your
achievement.”

Sol stopped and turned back to
Vincent as he said, “I need no reward.”

Vincent motioned with his hand and
laughed as he stretched out in a threatening tone,
“Phillip...come...back.”

Sol hesitated for a moment and then
turned to walk back to Vincent and Avery.

“I have just one more request,”
Vincent whispered to Sol.

“What do you want?” Sol
questioned.

“Bite her,” he ordered and then
studied Sol’s face for a reaction. “I see you are questioning my
seriousness, but I am quite serious.” Vincent reached for Avery’s
carotid and caressed it with his thumb. “Bite her, now!”

Vincent’s face turned more devious
as he challenged Sol to try to defy him. I saw the struggle within
him as he wrestled with the command of our lunatic host. He was
sickened by the thought of harming this young girl we were here to
rescue, but also feared the certain addiction of her blood, as
promised by Jenn.

I waited for his response for an
eternity before he silently walked toward her, as only a predator
like us could, and slowly lifted her wrist toward his mouth. I knew
in this moment that he was freely sacrificing himself to save this
girl and I couldn’t say that I would do the same. Not only was he
was giving up years of sobriety for her; he was exposing himself to
the powerful addiction of her blood.

Just before Solomon was about to
take her wrist to his mouth, Vincent stopped him and I breathed a
sigh of relief until he added, “No, not like that. Stand up,
Avery.” Vincent took her hand when she stood and led her to a huge
gothic mirror on the wall. “Come join us, Phillip.”

My stomach lurched when I realized
he was not finished with Sol and there was more to this evil game
of his.

Solomon followed the two and then
said, “I don’t know what it is you want from me.”

“Stand here, behind her,” he
directed and Solomon took his place behind Avery and looked to
Vincent for further directions. “I want her to watch you in the
mirror as you drink from her neck.”