The Way of Escape (7 page)

As a Christian, I was supposed to put others before myself and serve those in need instead of living with a selfish consumption-driven mindset. Though I’d literally be a servant if I chose to live as a mortal, I would serve the men and women in captivity more by surrendering the human life I cherished and giving them freedom than I would by folding sheets and mopping floors.

I have to do this,
I decided.
I can’t stand by and do nothing when I have the ability to fight for and help the slaves. Even if the prophecy isn’t real, I’d have a voice in the coven. I would be the only person here on their side after Augustus leaves, but that’s better than the slaves not having anyone.

I took a moment to weigh my decision and let it sink in, and I felt peace for the first time since I awakened in that dingy cell. I turned off the ebook reader and walked through the bathroom to Augustus’ door, which he answered before my second knock.

“I’ll do it,” I announced, “but I have some questions.”

A smile dawned on his handsome face and I returned the grin with a genuine yet fatigued smile of my own as he stepped aside and let me enter his room.

“Ask me whatever you need to,” he said. “I will be completely honest with you.”

“What will happen when you turn me? Will I actually die like people do in movies?”

“Not exactly. When a human is changed, a vampire has to drink all of his blood and feed him vampire blood to begin the transformation. Of course, substantial blood loss can claim someone’s life, but the new vampire is only dead until the next sunset. Since you are a dhampir, you will only be exchanging a little blood. While you’ll fall into a deep sleep so your body can change, you won’t physically die as a human would.”

“That makes sense. Does it matter who changes me?”

“You will become a vampire no matter who you exchange blood with. However, there is an unbreakable bond between vampires and their makers. Part of that bond includes the inability to kill your maker and a strong desire to obey and please him.”

“How strong? Would I be forced to obey whoever changes me?”

“No, but you will want to. It’s a
very
strong bond.”

I nodded and mulled over this new information as Augustus continued.

“Emmanuel is excellent at using the sire bond to his advantage. A maker can tug on his offspring’s heartstrings as much or as little as he desires, and Emmanuel is a
virtuoso
at playing with his coven members’ hearts.”

“Did he turn everyone in the coven?”

“No, there are two or three members who were sired by different vampires, but they have pledged their allegiance to him by drinking from him soon after being changed by the other coven members. Being a new vampire’s first or second drink also inspires loyalty but to a lesser extent.”

“So even if someone else changed me, they’d probably manipulate me to please Emmanuel because of their connection or make me drink from him so he could control me.”

“Precisely,” he confirmed.

“What about you? You’re probably my best choice, but I need to know more about how you operate as a maker or whatever before I make that decision.”

“I don’t utilize the sire bond unless I’m in dire need of assistance or one of my progeny is doing something foolish.”

“What’s your definition of foolish?”

“One of my offspring, Christoph, was a Nazi sympathizer during World War II. When I learned that he had been working with one of Hitler’s generals and was planning to create a squad of vampire assassins, I used my influence to thwart his plan. I killed the vampires he’d created for that purpose and wiped the memories of the general and the other humans involved in the plan.”

“Nazi vampire assassins … That sounds frightening.”

“It would have been disastrous. Christoph thought that if the Nazis were victorious, they would allow vampires to come out into the open, but vampires are meant to flourish quietly in the dark, not to dominate in the light. If we exposed ourselves, humans would have united and hunted us with such fervor that they would have made the Salem Witch Trials look like a casual game of hide and seek. I didn’t want to put our race at risk because of one vampire’s foolish aspirations.”

“Isn’t that also why you’re anti-slavery? You don’t want humans to find out about you.”

“Yes, as a lord for The Vampire League, my job is to protect our kind by enforcing the laws that we’ve created,” Augustus reiterated. “That usually involves ensuring that my constituents are being as discreet as possible, and our discretion
always
benefits humans in the end.”

“As noble as that sounds, I don’t think that our interests would always match up,” I said. “Can I have your word that you won’t use your power over me to make me do something that goes against my beliefs?”

“I can’t give you my word that I won’t, but I can promise that I will only exert my influence when it is absolutely necessary. I have access to scores of loyal, fearsome vampires that I can call on, so the odds that I would ever need your assistance in any matter are very slim.”

I mulled over Augustus’ honest but not exactly desirable answer for a moment. If my assumptions about keeping my salvation and The Holy Spirit were correct, God’s influence would outweigh his. After all, who had a greater claim on my life than God did? He’d purchased my salvation with his Son’s life. Nothing trumped that.

“That caveat aside, I am still your best option,” he continued. “Emmanuel and his coven members would force you to commit acts of violence and perversion that would fill you with more self-loathing than you could ever imagine.”

“I know. You’d have to change me during the eclipse, right?”

“Yes.”

“What day is the eclipse?”

“October twentieth.”

“That’s in four days,” I realized. “I only have a few days left as a human.”

“And only a few days to plan our little
coup d’état,”
he pointed out. “I already have a plan in mind, but we would have to get the slaves to participate.”

“Spill.”

“Vampires traditionally celebrate by going outdoors during the height of the eclipse. It’s the one time we can go outside and feel a little sunlight on our skin without risking death. If the house is ablaze during this time, their only options would be roasting in the sun or burning in the house.”

“Couldn’t they just put out the fire?”

“Yes, but that’s why the fire extinguishers will have to be removed. In addition, we will use enough flammable materials to create a fire that they can’t extinguish with water alone. Direct sunlight also can be nearly paralyzing when vampires don’t wear protective clothing, so they’d be weaker and slower than humans.”

“If the house is on fire, where would we go to escape from the sunlight?”

“I will create a shelter for us to stay in until dusk. The vampires wouldn’t be terribly suspicious at our absence since most makers tend to lie with their progeny before and after exchanging blood. While Emmanuel does have some questionable practices, I don’t think he would deny us privacy if he believed that we would truly be intimate with one another.”

“What’s your plan for making him believe that,” I asked hesitantly. “Are we supposed to jump up and down on your bed and make obscene noises every night?”

Augustus chuckled and shook his head.

“No, our work will have to be more subtle. Besides, the rooms here are soundproof and Emmanuel doesn’t have any audio or visual surveillance equipment on the property. However, vampires have a very acute sense of smell. If he detects our scents on each other and sees that you’re becoming more comfortable around me, he may believe that you’ve developed a soft spot for me and that our fondness for one another has inspired a few private displays of affection that haven’t crossed that all-important line.”

That part of his plan sounded feasible, but I was still skeptical.

“How do you plan on making us smell like each other?”

“By sleeping in the same bed going forward,” he suggested. “If we shower before dawn and sleep in each other’s arms, then that will be enough. You storming off during the performance is the perfect prelude to us spending our first night together. Emmanuel saw that you were visibly distraught and that I came to your aid. It’s not terribly far-fetched that I would attempt to console you with something a little more intimate than words.”

“And if I act a little flustered when we eat together tomorrow night, then that would make it more believable. After all, what woman in my position wouldn’t be a little ashamed after falling off the purity wagon with a vampire?”

“Exactly,” Augustus said. “Now, dawn is approaching, so we should get ready for bed. You can shower first, and I’ll join you in bed shortly after I’ve done the same.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

Then, Augustus and I exchanged a smile and I went back into my room to get ready for bed, quietly questioning my decision to go along with his plan with every step I took.

♦              ♦              ♦

After I finished my shower, I pulled on the most modest nighttime attire I could find and finished my nightly bathroom routine. Once I was decent, I opened the door and stepped back into Augustus’ room. In the years before I became a Christian, I had done a lot more than simply share a bed with a man. I had stolen every base, made quite a few home runs, and hit one or two balls out of the park, but I still felt incredibly exposed in that moment. I smoothed down my shirt with trembling hands, and I wondered if my nerves were inspired by the fact that I was purposely facing a temptation that I wasn’t sure I could withstand, doing something I swore I’d never do again, or getting cozy with a vampire.

I can’t decide what’s scarier … Sharing a bed with someone who might stir up old urges or someone who drinks blood for sustenance.

As Augustus looked up from the book he was reading and rose from his desk, I realized that my anxiety came from something else. Yes, the vampire who stood before me was more attractive than any man I’d ever been with, but I didn’t want to sleep with him. I had firm, unshakable standards for what I wanted in a man — a husband to be exact — and he fell so laughably short of my requirements that I couldn’t see myself being truly tempted by him.

Augustus being a vampire didn’t even bother me as much as it originally had. Facing my own bloodthirsty nature somehow made him less frightening even though our motives and views were drastically different. Fangs aside, he was no better or worse than a crooked politician or a mob boss. While, I didn’t fully trust his moral compass, Augustus didn’t make my skin crawl like Emmanuel did.

What truly made my heart race and palms perspire was the fear that sleeping in such an intimate position would bring to mind memories that I sometimes hated myself for even having. I didn’t want lying beside Augustus to remind me of the nights I’d guilt tripped one night stands into sleeping over or relaxed in the arms of men who I thought I could trust with my heart. Spending the night in bed with Augustus could bring all of that back to mind with a vengeance. At best, sadness and shame would rear their ugly heads. At worst, I’d miss and crave the seemingly simpler days when I was too ignorant to know that physical pleasure in the wrong context could bring immeasurable emotional pain and displease God.

“Is something wrong, Clara,” he asked.

“I’m fine … I was just thinking.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Go ahead and take your shower.”

Augustus held my gaze for a moment before grabbing the charcoal hued pajamas he’d placed on his bed and walking into the bathroom. While he showered, I crawled under the covers and closed my eyes as I tried to chase away the haunting memories that threatened to resurface. I struggled to shut my brain off for several fruitless minutes before realizing that I needed to face and acknowledge my past instead of avoiding it.

I’d messed up too many times to count in my previous relationships, and those mistakes opened me up to temptations and regrets that I could have avoided if I’d been wiser. On the flip side, even wise, obedient women had struggles to deal with. Whether my past was full of sexual missteps and codependence or pride and self-righteousness, the result was still the same. I needed forgiveness and healing. Fortunately, God had already given me both through Jesus. Nothing could change that no matter how I might screw up … and I still wasn’t completely convinced that I wouldn’t wind up regretting our sleeping arrangements.

As I waited for my newfound ally to emerge from the bathroom, I tried to quiet my anxious mind by reviewing a few memory verses in my head. Eventually, Augustus finished getting ready and turned off the lights when he stepped into the bedroom. The vampire joined me under the covers, but he kept his distance as he broke the deafening silence.

“Is it alright if I put my arms around you,” he asked.

“Why?”

“Our scents will mingle better if there’s prolonged physical contact.”

“That’s fine,” I muttered. “Go ahead.”

Augustus must have detected the hint of hesitancy in my voice because he let a moment of stillness pass before he moved over and enveloped me in his arms. Because of his nocturnal nature, I’d expected his entire body to be cold, but only his hands were chilly. Feeling his cool hands versus his warm body reminded me of my mother of all people. Before her cancer diagnosis, she’d had a whole host of health issues … anemia and poor circulation being two of them. Every time she hugged or touched me, I teased her about her cold hands and she’d joke that people with cold hands had the warmest hearts.