Immortal Heat (The Guardians of Dacia Book 1) (20 page)

"Marilyn, calm down. I can explain everything when we get to Mike's, just let me get us there in one piece."

They took the county road to a gravel one leading further into the darkened forest. Mike braked and put his left blinker on to indicate they were turning. But there was no road. Mike's Dodge Ram had no problems with the dry rutted, two tire track dirt path meandering through more dense forest. But Tina's low riding, two-door coupe bounced along in a bone jarring dance among loose rock, bits of remaining foliage and low bed streams. Yeah, Vamier's goons would have their fangs knocked loose trying to get into this place.

Marilyn crossed her arms over her chest as her breasts bounced beneath the top edge of the blanket. Without any foundation support she would no doubt be exposed. It wouldn't bother him in the least.

The silent but deadly glare she sent him reminded him to curb his thoughts. How did one do that? He'd never had to. No one could read his thoughts…except her.

Thankfully they pulled up to a dark clearing where a simple styled log cabin stood beside a large garage separated from the cabin by a breezeway. The one story structure's length belied its plainness. Two rough hewn Adirondack chairs and a bench table were all that adorned the full, wrap-around porch. Two railroad lamps lit the sides of the door, but that was all the décor Mike had on the outside. It blended into the surrounding area and unless you knew what to look for, it was fairly well camouflaged into the night.

A door opened in the garage, lighting the night with its florescent ambiance. Mike drove into the building, and the floor of the garage lowered like an elevator shaft. A few moments later the floor came back up with Mike waving him inside. Draylon drove in and silently they too were lowered into the underground garage where Tina stood biting at a fingernail.

Draylon opened his door and maneuvered out of the tiny coupe. Marilyn did the same and went to her friend and hugged her.

"Nice place," Draylon complemented his friend. He'd never seen Mike's home but knew of some of the upgrades he'd installed as Mike built it over the years.

"Thanks."

Draylon looked around the massive room. The lift lowered vehicles below ground level and rose back up to camouflage the vehicles and make it look ordinary. But he knew it was nothing ordinary at all. Nothing about their kind could be in order to survive in a mortal world.

"The building materials I used are radar and satellite free, undetectable from the outside, if you were wondering."

Nodding, looking around, Draylon knew he would follow protocol. Mike followed orders, plain and simple. Six vehicles took up most of the garage area, a Hummer, a '68 Corvette, his Dodge Ram truck, a Dodge Charger and two motorcycles, a BMW touring bike and a Ducati 1098s.

Impressive. But he preferred sleek and pricy to Mike's power and speed. It wasn't that Draylon didn't like to race, he would just rather drive in style and comfort. The timing and age difference between them could make for their differences in taste.

Mike nodded towards the girls over in the corner talking low. How Draylon wished he could sense Marilyn's thoughts. Were they plotting an escape? Figuring out ways to neuter them? The gods only knew what went through women's heads sometimes. Yeah, they needed to get them to understand the situation and see reason before they got the wrong impression and tried something that would endanger everyone.

"Shall we, ladies?" Mike motioned them to follow as he led the way into his domain.

The underground level of the house was a cavernous rock and timber foundation dug into the side of the mountain. Sheer glass panels from floor to ceiling took in the grandeur of the valley below. They could see all the way to the city of Frederick with its twinkling of lights.

"I know what you're thinking Draylon, but the glass is one way only and tinted to protect the interior from the sunlight. I can see out but no one can see in. I designed a camouflage pattern for the exterior."

Mike's job as a secret government contractor working on behalf of Livedel gave him the freedom to experiment. He designed shelters, mobile Army support structures and weapons used in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Just as Draylon had developed pharmaceuticals over the past century and a half for not only the Delvante clans and defecting vampires from Vamier's clans, but also the United States Government and their Allies, Mike did the same with his company.

"Wow! It's so beautiful. " Tina stared out into the night. "You mean no one can see in at all?"

"Nope. Not even if they were standing on the narrow ledge out there." He motioned to the half foot of stone edging the glass was secured to. "I'm also a big believer of green energy. I've harnessed the sun's energy through various solar panels on my roof and have propane only for emergency."

Tina smiled up at his friend, admiring him for his environmental concerns. She wasn't always easy to read either, but moments like this, her mind was completely lax.

Draylon didn't miss the longing in his friend's eyes as they lingered just a little too long on the petite woman. His smile was short lived as he realized it could never be. Mike wouldn't allow it, not with someone as wholesome as Tina Johnston. But then she was a bit of a spitfire if her martial arts training back at the blood bank had proved anything.

"So, are we going to stand here discussing décor or are you going to tell us what the hell's going on and why we're here?"

Marilyn wasn't one to be forgotten. Straight-forwardness had crept into her personality since they'd first met. Any mild-mannered traits being replaced by Alpha female—this with the change shouldn't be a surprise. Eventually, the only thing to curb her dominance would be an Alpha male mate.

Draylon looked to Mike. Tina joined Marilyn in the power play, now that her curiosity of the scenery had been satisfied. Mike raised an eyebrow, crossing his muscled arms over his chest and gave a slight nod.

"Shall we sit?" Draylon suggested, trying to take the edge off of the thickness in the room. No one moved. "O…kay. We'll stand."

He wasn't sure where to start. Some things were difficult to explain. "How much do you remember of the past, Marilyn?" He figured if he had a starting point he could jump in from there.

She thought for a moment. He could see the pain and the turmoil of trying to remember bits and pieces of the past month or so. He just prayed to the gods she hadn't kept in mind
all
of the incidents they'd shared.

"I'm having difficulties in some areas, but I keep seeing flashes of scenarios that I'm not sure are dreams or real so please let me know which are which," Marilyn revealed.

Draylon nodded.

"I remember chocolate cake in a restaurant…you were sitting at the table across from me." She closed her eyes, deciphering the past. "You were in a leather duster jacket…wings…no—that doesn't make sense." Her brow furrowed and she shook her head. "There were blond groupies…that attacked. A car chase, an accident…you decapitating them."

So she did remember, but it was all in scattered moments and pieces. She struggled to put the puzzle together and make sense.

"Then we were in a house with an old woman…Nannie…Connie…Nonni! Her name was Nonni."

She stared at him, her mind opening. He could easily slip in right now and try blocking further thoughts, but it wouldn't help the situation. She looked down, remembering.

"…have you ever had tea with a witch…" she mumbled and looked back up at him. "You asked me that. I remember. And then two wolves who turned into men…naked men. A cart full of hay, we were traveling to a city where your friend fed me, and I got violently ill. And then a house, a large Tudor style mansion in the mountains, but it was more like a prison…"

Okay that was enough. If she tried to consider more of the situation, things could get dicey. With great stealth, Draylon meandered into her thoughts without her knowing and blocked the rest, hoping it would work this time.

After a moment he cautiously asked, "What else do you remember?"

She struggled but gave up and shook her head. "Waking up in my bedroom apartment."

Marilyn let out a deep exhale of breath and sat down, exhausted, in the soft leather conventional sofa. Finding memories could be taxing. "Did any of that actually happen? You were in most of the scenes I recalled."

"Yes…they happened." Draylon stated.

"But what about her? She turned into a wolf." Tina spoke up. "What is that all about?"

He looked to Mike for support, but his friend only grinned at him. This was all on him. Taking a deep breath, he decided to dive in and test the waters. The worst thing they could do would be to laugh at him and think he was a loon.

"Romania is a mystical land…always has been, even when we were known as Dacia, before the Romans conquered. Our people were all powerful. Other tribes and clans refused to cross the Danube into the dark forests of Dacia because of our magical supremacy above all others. Our prophet, Zamolxis led us into battles, terrorizing our foe. We were unstoppable, we were his immortal warriors."

"I've read about Dacian history. It's my main thesis," Marilyn replied. "I want to know the other stuff."

"In order to understand the other stuff you must understand our past," Draylon demanded. "Our present and future is all based on our past. We are immortal warriors. Our kind does not die the same as humans. We still live in our world of Dacia and yet have to live among the mortals as well."

"Why?" Tina asked sitting next to her friend, taking her hand in hers to soothe.

A light aura glowed from her, passing into Marilyn's hand. Draylon could see it plainly. He turned to Mike who didn't appear to notice. Draylon shook his head to clear his vision. Perhaps
he
was exhausted and hallucinated. When he looked back the light was gone.

Chapter Thirteen

"Why?" Tina repeated.

Marilyn could see the confusion and wariness in the man. The same she'd experienced only moments ago—and now felt a refreshing calm. God bless, Tina. She always had the ability to calm her when things seemed too much to take.

"We have learned it is easier to adapt to the mortal world than stay secluded in our own. Over the centuries we nearly annihilated our own kind by fighting among ourselves for dominance, too many alphas and not enough betas tend to lead to self-destruction of a species. We found ways to adapt and live within the norm, but we still must be very careful."

"Because of your immortality," Marilyn said.

"Yes. Every few decades we must 're-invent' ourselves, move to a new location and start over in society. We don't age so people would become suspicious as time goes by."

"So what are you actually?" Tina asked. "Are you a vampire?"

"No, he's not," Mike spoke up. "But I am."

Tina gasped and placed a hand to her throat.

"I'm not going to bite you. Even if I did, I would never let you remember me doing so," Mike soothed. "And I take less than normal lab work-ups for a physical, so it doesn't affect you physically."

"Still…a vampire?" Tina whispered.

"It's a long story. One I don't like to get into." Mike shook his head.

"So is he a Vamier vampire?" Marilyn questioned Draylon. She remembered the gang attacking in the airport, trying to bite her, as bits of memory began to tie in with the situation they were discussing.

"Originally, yes. But we were able to get to him in time and help him to adapt to a better way of life. Others are not so lucky."

"Who's Vamier?" Tina asked. "Wait. Isn't that the name of the professor you were going to work with for the semester or something?" Her brows knitted with confusion. "Vamier—he wouldn't be the owner of the Greater Baltimore Blood Bank, too, would he?"

"He does own the Baltimore blood bank and various others around the world," Draylon stated.

"Yes. Yes it was. Professor Aiden Vamier from Cluj-Napoca, Romania." Marilyn's recollection kicked in again. "Wait. He also owns the Greater Baltimore Blood Bank?" She looked from Draylon to Tina and back. "He's a vampire and you were warning me away from him."

"He wanted you. Not to work with but to capture," Draylon explained. "We still are not sure why."

"I did a paper on Dacian history and folklore. He was intrigued by it and sent for me to work with him. I was honored. He's the foremost expert on pre-Romanian history in the world."

"No doubt." Draylon scoffed. "He was there. Trust me, he could give you blow-by-blow accounts of what happened in the late B.C. of our country. But what you wouldn't get is the truth. You'd get his version of history."

"So what is the truth? There is very little beyond the Roman conquest…"

"Marilyn." Draylon sat down next to her in his blanket wrapped, half-naked body. It was difficult not to peruse the toned structure of his chest and abs, but the nasty silver streak of scar tissue always drew her interest. There was a story there. "You must understand, our history is much more than folklore and mythology. We are the ones who the myths and stories were told of. The villagers feared us for a reason. Their stories of boogie-men and evil spirits were handed down because of us. We are the true Dacians. We were the ones the Romans could not conquer. But we had destroyed ourselves before the Romans could."