I shrugged slightly. “I would think you of all people would understand that once I have made up my mind, I will not be deterred.”
Astir sipped his wine and stared at me thoughtfully. “What will you promise me if I do this for you?”
Tucking my hands behind my back I regarded the fallen one in silence. I was not about to make an offering to the creature, and knew if I held my tongue it would spur him into speaking. It would not take him long to disclose a vital bit of information I could use to bargain with him. I could already see the excitement in his eyes at the thought of somehow bringing me into his power.
“Well?” Astir’s eyes sparkled with delight. “What shall you offer me? Your loyalty? Perhaps a bit of your blood so I can take a little look into that mysterious mind of yours?”
“You’re drunk on the emotions filling the haven,” I noted.
The House of Gavril was enjoying a night of festivities in the haven. Obviously, Astir was glutted on the unfolding drama.
“I love it. It is intoxicating after starving for so many months. Only Glynis provided any substance. All her wonderfully complex emotions were delicious.”
“Is that why you were so anxious to guide her?”
“Are you suspicious of me?” He laughed, smirking a bit.
“Always.”
Astir inhaled deeply, as though drinking the air. “Ah, such a heady bouquet tonight. Lust, desire, passion, a tinge of anger, sorrow…”
“What is the one emotion that you can never truly find within the haven?” I asked him suddenly, catching him off guard.
“The purity of love,” he answered, peering at me over his wine glass. “It eludes me always. I can feel the pain, the despair, the desperation of the emotion, but never the bliss.”
“I will give you that bliss,” I offered.
“How?” he asked, intrigued.
“Are we agreed?” I asked, evading his question.
Astir stared at me intently, swirling the wine about in his crystal goblet. I knew he would be unable to resist. “Yes!”
“Once she is free, we shall share the bliss of our love with you. Agreed?”
“Yes!” Astir twirled about with delight, sloshing his wine over his robe. He did not seem to notice. With a swift motion, he charged me, struck the center of my chest, and tossed me back.
I landed in the snow as Astir’s form and his study vanished into the visage of the exterior of an old and crumbling castle.
Standing, I began the trek across the bridge that would lead me to the home of Count Vlad Dracula.
Letter from Father Ignatius to the Immortal Beloved of Vienna continued...
After the fallen angel delivered me to the door step of the castle, I realized quite quickly that the ward had fallen...
As I neared the doors that would lead into the sanctum of the castle, I was confronted by a pack of wolves hungrily devouring the bodies of several poor hunters who had lost their lives to the famished Brides of Dracula. They were tearing away at the frozen flesh and gnawing on the broken bones. Several growled as I approached, but I raised my hand. Unleashing a taste of my power, the leader cowered and the pack whimpered.
Stepping into the castle, I found more dead. Drained bodies were tossed about like discarded rubbish. I suspect that when the fortuneteller cursed Glynis’s ring, the broken connection between Vlad and Glynis resulted in the ward falling. Once the starved Brides realized they were free to leave, they had apparently frenzied as they restored themselves.
Walking down the vast hall, I thought of Glynis in this same castle with her family as she neared the hour of her death. I would not allow her to suffer again. The darkness was complete and only my keen vampire eyesight allowed me to walk through the castle toward the stairs that would lead to the chapel.
I was halfway down a narrow hallway when I sensed one of the Brides slithering through the shadows behind me. I did not hesitate in my step, but continued onward to my chosen destination. Reaching the hallway where silent statues of Vlad’s ancestors stood along the walls, I felt another Bride moving through the gloom before me.
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, my power lightly touching each one. Both were wholly restored to their full abilities. Opening my eyes, I strode swiftly toward the stairs that spiraled down to the crypt of Dracula. My cloak stirred up the dust as I walked and the pungent smell of decay assailed me.
Again, I forced myself not to think of Glynis trapped in this terrible place. My heart could not bear it and my mind had to be keen to perform the task at hand.
Plunging down the stairs, I felt the Brides flanking me as they crawled along the walls. They were hunting me and I found it rather amusing. Little did they know, I wanted them to follow.
I reached the old chapel and swept my gaze over a broken coffin nearly burned to cinders. Spider webs hung in tatters about from the arched ceiling above and candelabra and broken candles were scattered across the floor. I could not understand how Vlad had allowed his Brides to live in such conditions. Glynis had told me about the horrors of the castle and it pained me to think of her here. I vowed then and there that I would never allow her to live in such squalor ever again.
I approached the crypt with the name DRACULA carved over its entrance. I sensed the Brides growing closer. Their wicked laughter drifted through the darkness.
Boldly, I stepped into the crypt.
Vlad Dracula lay in his coffin just as Glynis had described him. He was a mere husk clad in royal robes, yet I could feel a thread of life still within him. As I moved to stand over him, I felt the absence of his power. I concluded his spirit was wandering again. It wouldn’t be for much longer.
I saw the dark haired Brides crawl through the doorway and along the walls, verging on me. They were not taking care to hide themselves any longer and their laughter filled the narrow space as they reached to ensnare me.
I instantly grabbed both and yanked them off the wall. They shrieked in surprise and fright. I slammed the taller one against the edge of the coffin, shattering her face as the fingers of my other hand sank into the throat of the smaller vampire with the curly hair. Both screamed in terror. I held them down on the ground by their necks as they struggled beneath me. Their long nails shredded my cloak as I easily ripped out their throats.
Blood splattered me, hot with the new life they had stolen earlier in the night, and I grabbed both by their hair. Holding them over the coffin, I watched their blood pour out onto their master. The warm blood steamed in the frosty air. I felt no remorse as they twisted in my grasp, their mouths open in silent screams.
The red vitae slithered over Vlad Dracula like writhing snakes before plunging between his dry lips into his gaping mouth. I watched as it began to renew him. His body began to expand as the blood renewed muscle and tissue. His flesh turned from ashen gray to a more lively peach tone. The long hair around his face began to grow dark and lush as his Brides’ hair turned silver and brittle. As the two Brides shriveled, he was renewed by their blood.
At last, he lay in perfect state in his coffin. Tossing the vampire women to the floor, I touched his forehead with my hand. My power poured out into his body, compelling him to return to life.
“Vlad Dracula, I summon thee,” I whispered.
I felt his presence rush into the crypt and flow over me like ice water. With a gasp, his green eyes fluttered open as his broad chest heaved. As his spirit firmly reattached itself to his renewed body, his eyes settled upon me.
“Rise,” I ordered.
Struggling to regain control of his limbs, he thrashed about until at last he was able to grip the side of the coffin. With great effort, he heaved himself upward.
“Ignatius, my brother,” he growled in a rasping voice. He surveyed the two emaciated vampire women crawling along the floor away from me. “What treachery is this?” He fastened his green eyes upon me with great malevolence.
“Cneajna did not obey you,” I said, holding out my hand to help him.
He ignored my offering and propelled himself out of the coffin to stand before me. His long hair swung about his face. The air rippled with his power as he tested his limitations. “Where is she?” he asked at last.
“In Buda. She attacked Glynis with the intent to kill her or to be killed. You may have sent her to retrieve Glynis, but instead she attempted to provoke Gavril and Ilinca into killing her. Glynis stands trial tomorrow night for killing you.”
“What?” Vlad’s voice was a roar.
“Cneajna claims that Glynis murdered you and stole your blood for your power. Gavril and Ilinca believe her because of your long absence from the city and Glynis’s open proclamation that she loves me.”
With a sneer, Vlad strode past me and into the chapel. He kicked his hapless Brides to the side as he passed them. “I should have known I could not trust that duplicitous, jealous woman!”
I trailed in his wake of power. It was a tangible wave of dark fury. It pressed against me once or twice, but I easily deflected it. Casting an angry look over his shoulder, he stopped.
“You came here to awaken me for what purpose?”
“You know the answer. Why ask?”
“Maybe because I wish to hear you grovel for the life of the woman that rightfully belongs to me.”