Dragging his fingers through the water, Ignatius knelt beside me gently bathing me. I sat in silence staring at the tiny waves lapping up against my breasts. Percy had died after giving us our gifts. He was clad in the same clothing from that fateful night. The carriage and the bodies of the mortals and horses had been found a short distance from the gate. As I had lived my life in the walls of the palace, enjoying making love to Ignatius, Percy had lay dead outside in the cold.
“I love you,” I finally answered.
Ignatius reached into the water and lifted me out, not minding that I instantly drenched him. Resting my head against his shoulder, I let him carry me to the bed. He set me down and began to dry my limbs.
“It is not your fault.”
“Vlad killed him because I loved him.”
“We do not know that Vlad killed him.”
“He did.”
Ignatius wrapped me in a towel and sat next to me on the bed. His fingers intertwined with mine. “I’m so sorry, Glynis. I know you and Laura loved Percy very much.”
“I sometimes felt like my father’s spirit was in him, watching me, making sure I was safe.” I felt tears slipping down my cheeks, but did not care. “At times, Percy would smile and I would know that I was loved and part of a family once more. And now he is gone.”
In silence, Ignatius touched the cameo about my throat I had refused to take off before my bath. “He is with you in other ways now.”
“Are you certain?”
Ignatius nodded. “I may no longer be a true priest, but I do believe that.”
The bubble of pain within me was so great I felt I could not contain it and I hunched over. Ignatius held me until I could cry no more. He wiped away all my tears and kissed me tenderly as I clung to him for comfort.
We were lying upon the bed, damp from my tears and bath, holding each other, when Katya burst through my bedroom door. “Come quick! Csilla is dying!”
I snatched up my robe and tied it about me as we rushed out. Adem joined us shortly before we entered Csilla’s bedroom.
For a moment I thought the baroness was already dead. Then I heard the soft rasp of her breathing and saw her hand move upon her chest. Her feverish eyes found me as I drew close to her. Slowly, she held out her hand to me. I took it. Her skin felt cool and I could feel the delicate bones. I had not realized how much she had wasted away in such a short time. The room reeked of illness, but her fever had given her eyes a brightness that was eerily beautiful.
“It is time,” she whispered with a smile. Her voice was raw, yet excited. “It’s time for us to truly be sisters.”
I could hear her heartbeat slowing as I had heard Laura’s fading just before her death. I did not answer her, but gazed at her face wondering how such beauty could hide such a dark soul. How callously she had sent me and my family off to our doom. How easily she had poisoned Laura out of jealous spite.
“Glynis?” Her voice rose, fear lacing it when I did not respond in the way she anticipated. “I am dying. I feel it.”
“I know.”
“It is time for us to be sisters, isn’t it?” Her smile was fading as she struggled to grip me with her other hand and draw me to her. “Glynis?”
I stared into her eyes as I disengaged myself from her grip. Standing, I stepped away from the bed. Katya stared at me, her lips slightly parted. Ignatius stood silently next to the door. Adem merely watched and waited.
“Glynis, please come to me and make me your Bride.” Csilla struggled to reach for me as the stuttering of her heart filled my ears. “Glynis!”
“Die, Csilla. Die knowing that there will be no immortality for you in this world,” I answered at last.
“No,” she cried, falling back upon her pillows. She flailed, panicking as death dragged her away from the world of the living.
Standing near her bed, my eyes fastened to her pale face, I watched. I felt no remorse. No joy. I felt nothing but emptiness within me. I could feel no pity. I had sapped her of life to the point of death, but the belladonna she had once given Laura was now stealing away the last bit of her life. It felt fitting as she struggled to hold onto the sliver of life she still possessed.
When her last breath rattled out of her throat, her terrified eyes fixed upon me, I smiled.
Later-
How foolish I was. Upon reflection I can see so clearly how it came to this one terrible moment when all was revealed. How could I have not seen the truth?
Ignatius and I left Adem to deal with the body of the dead Baroness and strolled to our room through the hallway illuminated with candlelight. The shadows slid along the walls like wraiths. I heard soft footsteps behind me and turned to see Katya hurrying along behind us.
“You let her die,” she said in awe.
“Yes.” I waited for her to chastise me, but instead she shrugged.
Ignatius gently pushed her past us. “Go see how Laura is doing. She was quite upset earlier. She takes comfort in you.”
Katya bobbed a little curtsey and obediently hurried away.
“Are you disappointed in me?” I asked Ignatius once she was descending the stairs.
“No, I am not,” he assured me.
Standing near the top of the staircase, I looked down to see Katya gently holding Laura as she cried. Magda stood just behind them and she looked up at me curiously.
“The baroness is dead,” I called out to her.
A small smile spread over her lips.
Ignatius took my hand and together we moved to continue to my room.
There was a booming crash against the front doors that echoed throughout the palace. Twisting about, I witnessed the doors shattering as one of Adem’s guards was cast through it. He struck the marble floor and slid all the way to the bottom of the staircase leaving a long swath of fresh blood in his wake.
Snow, ice and wind billowed through the open doorway as an enormous white wolf hurtled into the foyer. The wolf snarled, its sharp teeth bared as it stalked toward the three women huddled together below. Throwing back its head it howled before shaking the snow violently from its white fur. Before my eyes, the fur parted and fell into a long white cloak and gown as long golden hair spilled out and sapphire blue eyes were raised to gaze at me.
Princess Cneajna, my vampire mother and the Bride I had inadvertently usurped as Vlad’s favored wife, smiled wickedly up at me. “Whom shall I kill first?”
I broke free of my shock and hurtled over the railing with Ignatius close behind. Cneajna drew back her hand, her long rapier nails ready for the kill, and attacked Laura.
Blood splashed over me as I landed behind Cneajna. Grabbing her golden hair, I pulled her off her feet and hurled her across the grand foyer. I barely had time to cast a quick look in Laura’s direction before Cneajna was hurtling toward me. I briefly saw Laura holding the terribly wounded Katya in her arms as Magda tried to staunch the great flow of blood from the mortal’s girl neck.
Cneajna was nearly upon me when Ignatius appeared and delivered a brutal blow that sent her flying through the air to crash into a painting on the far end of the hall. As she slid to the floor, the painting was dislodged and tumbled over her.
“Help Katya,” I urged Ignatius as I ran at Cneajna. My mind was in a flurry as all the events of the last few days fell into place. As Cneajna hurled the painting away and charged toward me, I understood now that it had been her that killed Percy and waited for Csilla to die. She was the wolf of the nightmares.
Clad only in a robe, I had no weapons but my teeth and nails. I bared my fangs as she seized me and attempted to wrestle me to the floor. I managed to slip my foot behind hers and trip her as I shoved her. Falling to the marble floor, she let out a feral scream. She slashed at me and her nails sliced through the flesh of my calf. The pain staggered me. As I fell to my knees, I caught a glimpse of Ignatius licking the terrible wounds on Katya’s neck. I was certain that Katya had stepped before Laura to save her. I would not forget her loyalty.
Cneajna snagged my hair and yanked me backward onto the floor, twisting my legs painfully beneath me. I caught her neck with one hand as she tried to grip my head. The blood beneath us prevented her from acquiring a solid handhold. Slipping, she fell over me. I planted my knee in her stomach and thrust her off. She ripped a handful of my hair from my scalp, but it was better than losing my head.
As I rolled to my knees, I saw Adem racing into the foyer through the broken door. Snow and ice swirled around him as he drew his sword and rushed toward Cneajna. Before he could draw back his blade and decapitate her, Ignatius materialized before him and pushed Adem from the blond vampire.
“You cannot kill her!” Ignatius shouted. “The treaty stands!”
Cneajna rose and flung her hands outward.
Her power hit me like a hammer. My body was flung through the air like a leaf in the wind. I struck the great chandelier hanging over the foyer. Glass, wax and flames showered me as I fell to the floor below. Stunned, I struggled to regain my senses as I heard Laura and Magda screaming.
It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity before I managed to climb to my feet. I immediately surveyed the battle.
Magda was pinned to the wall by Adem’s body as he stood guard, sword drawn. To my surprise, fire was burning in the palm of Magda’s hand.
