Immortal Confessions (19 page)

To thwart that fate, I led Danial and my men
down that road. I camped directly in the midst of the region where
the attacks had taken place, and when the others slept, I stayed
awake, my sword in my hand, so that I might get the credit for
slaying whatever monster lurked here.

That night, a vampire attacked.

He had to have been old, and also crazy.
Where he came from, I couldn’t even guess. What mattered was he
killed everyone brutally within minutes, save Danial and me. It was
only because I’d bitten him back as he was savaging me that I’d
turned, and not died.

I still wasn’t sure why Danial had turned. I
didn’t see him drink any blood. There had been blood all over both
of us from fighting, so I had always assumed he gotten some of the
vampire’s blood into his body through a wound, unlikely though that
seemed.

After we discovered we had changed, we had
words over what to do. He went back to our village, while I struck
off on my own. I heard less than a year later that he’d died.

Two hundred years later, I still felt guilt
over leading my trusting brother into the figurative lion’s den. I
hadn’t been quick enough to save him. That I hadn’t been able to
save myself was no consolation. Would he forgive me?

The monk took me to a rough door, knocked,
and then left me there without a word.

I waited there for a while, debating on
whether or not to call out his name. I could sense there was a
vampire within, but not if it was Danial. I said nothing, deciding
that whoever was inside already knew I was here.

Finally, the door opened. I looked into sad
dark eyes that were no less beautiful for the fact they belonged to
a man.

“Why did you come?” Danial said softly. “What
do you want, Dev?”

I would like to say I hugged him, or I fell
to my knees, and asked him to forgive me. But I was still the older
brother. I fell back into that role almost automatically.

“I came to rescue you from your walls of cold
stone,” I said almost merrily. “I came to ask you to rejoin the
world.”

“I do not want to be in the world,” Danial
said, turning away. “I am seeking salvation. There is still much
penance to do, for all I’ve done.”

He tried to close the door, but I put my foot
in it.

“Wait,” I said seductively. “Hear me out. I
have discovered more of our kind in Europe, Danial. There is a
system of vampires that rule the others, and—”

“I care nothing about ruling others,” Danial
said flatly. “I never have, Devlin. And most likely, there is some
requirement for being of noble birth to join the ruling class.
There always is.”

“You are of noble birth,” I said stridently.
“Forget that we do not have the same mother, my brother, that is
not an issue, not anymore! The only issue is willingness to act,
and the desire to want to make things better for the others of our
kind that are being hurt by those callous few who have power over
them.”

I could see I had Danial’s attention now. But
how to keep it? I’d never understood him in mortal life, and I
understood him less as vampire. I mean, c’mon, who wanted to be
here amidst celibate men and cold stone when they could be between
the warm thighs of a human woman, tasting her blood? It seemed a
no-brainer.

“Dev, I am content here—”

“Come with me back to France,” I pleaded. “We
can have a good life. My setup is a good one. You’ll like my men.
You won’t believe it, but I have a werewolf, a werebat, and a demon
working for me—”

“Werebats?” Danial said in confusion. “Are
you kidding me, Dev?”

“No,” I said, laughing. “It’s true! And we’ll
get you an Oathed One of your very own, brother. If Eva wasn’t
already taken, I’d offer you her. But then, she isn’t your type
anyway, she’s got blond hair—”

“Oathed One?” Danial said, tilting his head.
“What is that?”

“A vampire wife, kind of,” I said with pride.
“Though mine is human, not vampire. Anna is wonderful. I’ve told
her about you, and she wants to meet you—”

“Then I must go to see her,” Danial said
smoothly, standing up. “I do have manners, after all.” His face
creased into a faint smile. “To think you have finally married
after all these years.”

“Wonderful!” I said, clapping him on the
back. “Do you need to pack anything?”

“I have nothing,” Danial said, still managing
to make that statement seem as if he had everything that mattered.
“I took a vow of poverty when I came here years ago, and I had
little enough then.” He gave a bitter smile, moving only one side
of his face. “There was not much to give up.”

“Then let’s go,” I said, grinning widely.
“For the night is wasting!”

“Give me a few moments in private, please,”
Danial said, opening the door for me. “I will need to tell the
monks I am leaving. I’ll meet you outside shortly.”

“Of course.” I left, and he quickly shut the
door behind me.

The few moments I waited for him with Rip
were closer to an hour, long enough I worried he’d changed his
mind. I told myself this was normal. He’d been here for years, he
likely had friends here to say goodbye to.

All of a sudden, the scent of Danial’s
approach came to me on the night air with the soft tread of his
feet. As soon as he drew near, Rip teleported us home.

* * * *

When I returned with my brother, Levi was
waiting for us. I introduced Danial, who shook Levi’s hand.

“I see the resemblance,” Levi said, looking
from Danial to me. “It is very good to meet you, Danial. Devlin,
Anna waits for you in the sitting room.”

“And it is good to meet you, Levi,” Danial
said cordially. “I hope to speak to you further. But I do not mean
to keep you from your duties.”

Levi nodded, understanding at once. “I’ll
give you time to catch up. Call me if you need anything.” He strode
out.

“He seems very capable,” Danial said as he
watched him leave. He turned to me. “He’s a were, isn’t he?”

“Werewolf,” I said, nodding. “There are a few
in the city. Mostly there are just the werebats, as I told you.
Their leader is Uther. He’ll be stopping by later.”

“I do not need to meet everyone dressed in my
monk’s rags,” Danial said with that same bitter smile. “I do not
want to be seen as your poor country relative, even if that is
truth.”

“Nonsense,” I said quickly. “Levi was told if
you returned with me to put in a call to the tailor. He will be
here tomorrow night. Tonight, if you like, I’d be happy for you to
take some of my clothes.”

“And a hot bath,” Danial said wistfully. “I
bathed in the stream in the warmer months, but it has been ages
since I had a hot bath.”

I was already calling Levi back, telling him
to find the housekeeper and boil the hot water. A half hour later,
Danial sank into a steaming tub in my master bathroom. The cry he
made as he was swallowed by the bathwater was almost pain, there
was so much pleasure and relief within it.

“Take your time bathing,” I said happily. “I
will be below with Anna. Help yourself to whatever clothes you like
from my closet.”

Danial nodded, then quietly said “Thank you,
brother.”

I wanted to cry. I wanted to kneel down
beside him and tell him how happy I was to hear his voice again, to
see him move, to have him be alive. I wanted to squeeze him in my
arms and ask him to forgive me. Instead, I just said, “You’re
welcome.”

I went to Anna’s sitting room in a daze. She
was waiting there nervously for me, dressed in her finest gown of
blue silk, sapphires in her hair.

“He is here, Anna,” I whispered urgently. “He
is alive!”

She hugged me fiercely. “Dev, I’m so happy
for you. I know what it means to you to have found him alive after
all these years.”

“I don’t know what to say to him,” I said
nervously. “I don’t know how to start. I’m so worried that our
relationship will be as it was before, where everything is
strained.”

“It will not be like that,” Anna assured me.
“He would not have come back with you if he didn’t want to mend
fences.” She hugged me again. “This is the chance you never had
when you were young. Here, in this world, you are equals.”

“Yes,” I nodded, kissing her cheek. “We will
be brothers, finally.”

Levi entered, Uther following. “I was going
to tell you he was here, Devlin, but he insisted on following me
in.”

“I was not going to wait on the doorstep like
a stray dog for a scrap,” Uther rasped. “I’ve come to see this
brother of yours, Dev. Where is he?”

“Bathing and dressing,” I replied. “We must
give him some time. Can you return in a few hours to watch Anna,
Uther? Danial will likely need refreshment. We and Quentin will
meet, and likely be gone until dawn, Levi with us.” That begged a
thought: what had Danial been doing for blood in that
monastery?

“You are always asking someone to watch me,”
Anna said grumpily. “I can take care of myself, Devlin, inside
these walls, especially as Eva will be with me.”

“You are my treasure, Love,” I said tenderly.
“My most precious treasure. I will not leave you here
unprotected.”

“Of course I can come back in a few hours,”
Uther said, nodding. “It’s only a few miles’ flap.” He strode
out.

Minutes passed like hours as we waited for
Danial. It became apparent almost immediately that I was too
nervous to sit waiting. I was torn between taking care of some of
my most pressing management matters at Fontainebleau, and stealing
Anna away for some tension release in the guest bedroom. As luck
had it, the housekeeper walked in at that moment carrying a
squalling L’Amour.

“She chased one of them mice across my hot
stove,” she said crossly. “Burnt her feet clear up.”

Anna was already cradling the cat, whose hair
was singed on her underside and on her tail. “I’ll get some salve.”
She carried the growling cat from the room, murmuring comfort to
it.

So much for pleasure. I turned to Levi.
“Come, let us handle some of the paperwork. We might as well put my
nervous energy to use.”

Two hours passed. Anna returned to say that
L’Amour was lying in her bed in our room. “The oozing stopped, but
she’s still hurting. She tears off the bandages almost as soon as I
finish putting them on.”

I sighed. “I’ll contact Rene, and get some of
that blue healing paste. We need more for ourselves anyway.”

Anna bit her lip and nodded, dropping her
eyes.

“Am I interrupting anything?” a sensuous
voice asked.

We all turned. Danial stood in the doorway, a
Danial I had never seen before in my life. All of our human years
he had been dressed as he was in the monastery, or in farming
clothes, or those last few days, in guard’s uniform. His hair and
body had always been dirty, or at least untended, because of the
hard work he’d always toiled at.

I had never known all he could be. He was the
perfect picture of a man, his shoulder length hair dark and glossy,
his skin pale, his dark eyes a forest pool at twilight. He was
wearing my plainest suit, one of a rick oak brown. It fit him
almost perfectly.

“Am I so terrible a sight to behold?” Danial
murmured, gliding closer to us. “I thought I looked rather good in
your mirror, Dev.”

“Apologies,” Levi said, clapping him on the
shoulder. “I feel as if I’ve looked into a dark mirror of Devlin.
The resemblance that was hinted at is now uncanny.”

“A resemblance you will need to be careful
of,” Uther said dangerously, striding into the room. He shut the
door behind him. “The fewer who know the better. Devlin is in a
position of some power, Danial. Someone might use you to get to
him, or vice versa. It would be better if he is introduced as your
friend.”

Danial nodded. Then he reached into the
pocket of the suit, brought out a leather thong, and tied back his
hair. “Is that better?”

Uther studied him, and then nodded.
“Surprisingly, yes. Really, there is little physically of your
faces that is the same about you two. Most of the similarity is in
your build, and the way you move, and talk. You should keep your
hair as short as possible.”

“The talking can be explained away in terms
of being made at the same time, in the same region,” Danial said
firmly. “Moving can be explained the same way; our age.”

“That will also bring trouble,” Uther rasped.
“You are as old as he is. Louis may have left you alone until now,
Dev. But now that Danial is here, he will not. It will be only a
short time until he learns of Danial.”

“Who is Louis?” Danial said quickly. “One of
those vampires who rule territories?”

“France itself,” Uther muttered.

Something like relief passed over Danial’s
face. “I had thought a different vampire still ruled here. Tell me,
when did the change take place?”

“Louis ascended some time ago,” Quentin said
sarcastically, as he sauntered in. “Have you been living in the
sticks, that you are so unaware of the matters of the world you
inhabit?”

Danial turned and bared his fangs instantly.
“I have, actually. But I would not expect a fop like you to
understand my motives.”

“Quentin, this is my brother, Danial,” I
growled. “Danial, meet Quentin, my second in command.”

Danial shot me a surprised look. “Your
second? He cannot be even a hundred.”

“He is the oldest save me alive in this
department,” I replied. Then I snorted. “Or he was, until this
night.”

Danial nodded, then moved toward Quentin. “By
the law, I challenge you, sir.”

Quentin backed up a step. “I want no quarrel
with you, Danial. You wish my title, then it’s yours. I am happy to
handle my affairs and leave the fighting to those more
capable.”

Danial nodded once. “Indeed. You’re
sure?”

“Quite sure,” Quentin said with a smile.
“It’s a relief, actually. I’m happy to make your acquaintance.” He
held out his hand.