Immanuel's Veins (14 page)

“I'm here to see you, not her. You have my man Alek and my charge Natasha Cantemir. All I ask is that you allow me to return them to their rightful place.”

The duke raised his arm slightly and held his palm out. Sofia moved to him, like a dark angel, gliding more than walking. I could not ignore her beauty, but she held no appeal to me because I had given my heart to another, however I might have denied it. Surely Sofia saw in me no return of her own affection.

She took his hand and he lifted it to his lips. Kissed it. Then released her and she stepped to one side.

“As I said, we will find your Alek and you may do what you like with him.”

“Find him? Bring him, if you don't mind. And Natasha.”

“Find him. As you can see, the castle has many rooms. Even more beneath us. He could be anywhere. Yes, Sofia?”

“Anywhere,” she purred.

“Any man who can speak a word and make his subjects vanish can surely speak another and bring them out. I have no desire to make a search for—”

“But I'm telling you, good sir, that this is the way it is here. I command only those loyal to me. Your man isn't in my charge. You'll have to find him. I would think that you, being a man who understands the value of knowledge, would appreciate the opportunity to know more about our”—he indicated the walls with one hand without removing his eyes from mine—“home.”

He made a good point. Only my uneasiness with the Russian's peculiar personality gave me pause, I reasoned. My anxiety wasn't born of any physical threat but of my own reaction to their demeanor. By
not
examining the castle I was indeed weakening my position to understand any true threat.

“Then I will accept your invitation.”

“Splendid. You will find that we are only a few men and women who love living and teaching others who are inclined to embrace life as we do. A lot of fun and many very late nights, but harmless to body or soul.”

“Forgive me if I reserve my judgment until I've recovered my man.”

“Of course. Sofia will be happy to show you whatever you want. My castle is yours.”

“Why her?”

“You would prefer my company to hers?”

To say yes would have been rather pathetic. Either way, he spared me the choice.

“I assure you she knows every nook and cranny of this place. I'm afraid I have business I must attend to. You could wait for me, an hour at the most—”

“She will do fine.”

“Splendid.” He hesitated. “Take your time.”

Then he left us, just Sofia and me, alone in the large hall that had only minutes ago been ripe with revelry.

Sofia glided up to me, took my hand without showing the slightest indication she'd been hurt by my comments, and led me toward the back of the hall. I wanted my hand back but would have felt foolish if I'd yanked it away. I had never been in such a discomforting position as I was in that castle that night.

“Madam, I find it difficult to think with my hand in yours,” I said as we reached the door.

Sofia stopped and turned into me as if she'd expected this. We were in the shadows. “Now listen to me, Toma Nicolescu,” she whispered, looking up at my face. “All of a thousand men peering at us now would beg to be in your position, my dear. Please, if you can pry it out of yourself, enjoy it.”

It was then that I felt my first shifting toward her. Not that I wanted to, mind you, but I could not deny the way she pulled at me. I didn't know what to say, because honestly, I did not want to hurt her feelings. She'd done nothing but show me affection.

“I love someone,” I said, then felt like a fool for saying it.

Sofia watched me for a moment, then reached up and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Yes, I know. Lucine. And she doesn't know it. Such a terrible pity, to be loved by such a beautiful man as you.”

“You know?”

“One look in your eyes the other night and I knew. So does Vlad.”

“So he intends to court her, then.”

“Vlad will do what Vlad does. He will win the world.”

I had already said far too much, enough to earn my head on a platter if this Russian ever reported my confession to Her Majesty. So I did not press the matter. But with Lucine brought back into my mind, I wanted to run from the Castle Castile, take Lucine in my arms, and vow my eternal love for her. Let Alek and Natasha find their own condemnation here.

For a moment I thought I might do just that. Maybe I should have. I have relived that moment a thousand times and wondered why I couldn't throw honor and duty and loyalty to the wind just once and rush to the woman I loved with all of my heart.

Sofia released my hand. “I like you, Toma. You would make a worthy adversary.” Then she walked through the door, and I followed.

The hall beyond was only seven paces in breadth, but the arched ceiling was so high I could barely see it in the shadows. All wood here, with a long line of candles burning along both walls, illuminating a treasure trove of appointments. Large oil paintings, brass candlesticks, chests filled with bolts of cloth and unusual artifacts and instruments meant for medicine and navigation, but much of it very old looking. Books. Many ancient volumes, stacked or opened on the tables.

Arching doors appeared halfway down on either side and one at the end. Sofia led me down the hall, past the two doors that remained closed.

“What is this place?”

“The way into the main chamber,” she said. “Or do you mean the paintings?”

“All of it. Did you bring it from Russia?”

“Impressed, yes? You should see Vlad's collection. Perhaps he'll show you. Truly impressive.”

“And the doors we just passed?”

She stopped, walked back to one of them, and swung it open. A dark storage room was filled with wood barrels.

“Oh, Alek,” she called lightly. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

I had to smile. And she returned it. Then she checked the other door, another storeroom, in the same manner. This time I allowed myself half a laugh. We headed back down the hall.

“May I ask you a question?” I asked, feeling far more at ease.

She spun around, cocked her head, and eyed me mischievously. “Don't tell me: you want to know why you're so drawn to me.”

“Well . . .”

“You do, don't you, Toma?”

What could I say?

“But you're the one asking the questions, not me. So I will answer that question and tell you why you find me so attractive.” She came back to me. “It's because I am, in some small way, you, Toma. I am what you long others to find in you.”

I was unprepared for this.

“No, don't feel uneasy with that,” she said softly. “I'm only saying that you want the power I have over you. And who wouldn't want to be able to draw others to themselves the way I draw you to me? I can give you that power, Toma. Vlad can. We all can.”

I could not answer. Perhaps she overestimated her effect on me, but I could hardly deny that I was in part drawn to her for this reason: where she showed boldness with me, I had shown only cowardice toward Lucine.

“Now ask me what you really wanted to ask,” she said, turning back down the hall. “I owe you any answer.”

“Natasha's bedsheets were bloody. Do you know why?”

She hesitated. “Stefan bit her lip. The cut must have opened. When humans are bitten, they bleed.”

“But was she bitten again?”

“My brother is a consuming lover. You'll have to ask him. Does it bother you?”

“Naturally. The sheets were wet with her blood! More than that, she was pale. And now she manages this stunning feat—this astounding tumble in the air—that not even I could do.”

“Ah, the aerial maneuvering. But even I could show you that, Toma. It's not that difficult with a little practice and rivers of motivation.”

“I'm not sure I follow.”

She turned, slid up to my ear, and whispered, “Love, my dear. Rivers of love.” Then she pulled back, winked, and threw open the door at the end of the hall.

I was going to ask if she meant Natasha's love for Stefan, when my eyes caught sight of the room beyond. Another great hall, like the one inside the entrance, only slightly smaller.

At least twenty of the Russians sat or stood about in silence, eyes fixed upon us. The sight of so many dark eyes looking at me made me stop in my tracks. Sofia slipped her arm around my back.

“Vlad has given him to me to love,” she said, and nearly as one they seemed to lose interest in me. “Don't worry, they are harmless lovers, not fighters.” She steered me to our right, taking my hand again. A cool hand now.

“How many live here?” I asked.

“Seventy-three.”

“So many? How is that possible? How can you even feed such a number?”

“With money you can do anything. We have our means, and thanks to Vlad, more money than anyone could spend in a lifetime.”

We crossed through the room, moved down a short hall, and came to a door made of wood that looked older than any of the others.

“Your man was with my sister the last time I saw him. Dasha. They've taken a bit of an interest in each other.” She pushed the door wide and we faced a flight of stairs chiseled from stone. It curved down and out of sight, lit by flickering orange light from below. “Watch your step.”

We descended into a round atrium brightly lit by two large torches. Between them was a single arched door, burned black. More tables, more books, more artifacts. The space was dry and smelled like cedarwood, a pleasing scent.

“Through here.” She opened the door.

I couldn't get over the quantity of relics I'd laid my eyes on in the last ten minutes alone. To say that the duke was wealthy would understate his value. But how had he managed to place all these treasures here since purchasing the castle only a few months earlier?

Inside the door, yet another round atrium, this one with six doors.

“This is a dungeon?” I asked.

“Heavens, no. We're in the subterranean levels. A system of tunnels that once provided harbor and escape for those who lived in the fortress. But it's been largely changed. The sixth tunnel”— she turned to the door on our right—“is a work of wonder.”

Sofia put one hand on the door's handle and paused. Then turned back.

“I should tell you, Toma. This is a place of temptation. Your man, Alek, isn't weak willed, as you know. But Dasha is even more alluring than I.”

My curiosity had grown with each step through the castle, and I knew that I had to see what Alek had gotten himself into, because she was right. Alek, however impetuous, knew his limits. For him to come up here at all was a surprise. For him to be up here without Natasha for whom he'd come—an even greater one.

“Then take me to Dasha,” I said.

She hesitated. “I fell in love with you the first time I set eyes on you, Toma. So I will tell you, do not let my sister get inside your head. She and I have that ability, you must know. She can call to people when they look into her eyes, like I can.”

I didn't know what to say.

“Stay close to me, Toma. Don't let her seduce you. That's for me.”

She kissed me on the cheek, opened the door, and stepped past it before I could object to her renewed assumption that I was interested or inclined to be seduced. Her direct manner and courage were hard to ignore.

We entered a tunnel of sorts, hewn from rock, the kind you might expect to find moss and worms living in, but it was bone dry and lined with cedarwood. The floor was polished marble, the same I'd seen in the great ballroom. All was brightly illuminated with thick orange candles that ran along each side. How they lit the many candles I'd seen since entering the castle was beyond me. They must have had an army of servants, though I had not seen a single one.

Light laughter reached us from farther in.

There was excitement in Sofia's voice as she grabbed my hand and urged me forward. “Let me show you. Remember, stay by me, yes? You are mine, not Dasha's. Don't let her get into your mind.”

“Sofia, you must not get the impression that I—”

She spun and placed a finger against my lips. “Later. They will hear.”

“Who—”

“Later.” Then she pulled me along.

We passed several doors and I thought I could hear murmuring voices behind some. But Sofia went farther until we came to twin doors on the right side. With only a pause at the doorway, she pushed her way in and stood at the entrance.

I peered over her shoulder at an expansive library. Thousands of volumes were neatly arranged on ancient cases that hugged the walls. A large crystal chandelier, brimming with white candles, lit the room, and below the lights, a grouping of stuffed sofas surrounded a low leather-covered table.

There was no one in the room that I could see, unless they hid in the shadows behind the bookcases.

Sofia walked in and immediately headed toward a door at the back of the library. But I stopped at the center and gazed about the room. It was most unusual to see such a place carved out of the rock below a fortress.

As in the halls upstairs, great paintings with ornately carved and gilded frames hung on all the walls not hidden by bookcases. Portraits, of both men and women, and by their dress I guessed those rendered had lived long ago. Most were handsome enough, but a few looked oddly disfigured to me.

The wall to my right was clear of bookcases, featuring instead one large writing desk with books stacked and open on its surface. Two lamps stood to either side of a single large painting directly above the desk. It too was a portrait, but not of any human.

This was an image of the same creature I'd seen carved in the dome of the ballroom, a large batlike being with the snout of a wolf and large wings folded around itself. What kind of strange religion or worship invoked such a being, I did not know, but it recalled stories I'd heard about deities in the Far East and in ancient times.