Captivated by Crimson
Nola Blair is a free-spirited artist who’s been offered a hefty sum to create a unique piece for a party at Elizabeth Bathory’s ruined castle. It’s an assignment she declined––twice. However, at the behest of her sister and her best friend, she finally gave in, choosing her career over her annoyance with the misogynist ass trying to secure her services.
Erzsebet Bathory has been trapped for centuries and would do anything to escape, including using her own son, Paul, to do her bidding. Soon she’ll be free and take her place among the ferals as their queen.
Andrik Kane had no idea his life would change when he saved Nola from a band of rogue vampires. Charged with the hunting of ferals and their creators, one broken rule and the blood of a beautiful brunette in distress ends up giving him more than he ever bargained for.
One wants her blood, the other wants her to be his. Who will decide Nola’s fate?
Nola Blair is a free-spirited artist who’s been offered a hefty sum to create a unique piece for a party at Elizabeth Bathory’s ruined castle. It’s an assignment she declined––twice. However, at the behest of her sister and her best friend, she finally gave in, choosing her career over her annoyance with the misogynist ass trying to secure her services.
Erzsebet Bathory has been trapped for centuries and would do anything to escape, including using her own son, Paul, to do her bidding. Soon she’ll be free and take her place among the ferals as their queen.
Andrik Kane had no idea his life would change when he saved Nola from a band of rogue vampires. Charged with the hunting of ferals and their creators, one broken rule and the blood of a beautiful brunette in distress ends up giving him more than he ever bargained for.
One wants her blood, the other wants her to be his. Who will decide Nola’s fate?
1614 ~ Erzsebet
Distant footsteps sound on the stone, but I can still hear them with perfect clarity. I know by the gait it is the male servant my captors left to feed and care for me––that is if being walled into a dungeon could be considered caring for someone. Twenty more steps, fifteen, ten, five…
“Mistress,” the voice called through the slit in the door, “your breakfast.”
I remain silent. Best they all assume me dead, for I will not beg for the scraps of food they slop on a plate––human food. They believe it will sustain me and prolong my suffering, but they are wrong.
When the footsteps fade to silence, I rise, the foul stench of copper and decay assaulting my senses as I sit up in my tattered bed. The rat I’d fed from last night drops to the floor with a thud, and I kick it towards the wall with a sigh of disgust. I used to feed from the blood of virgins––bathe in their blood and drink my fill until I was sated, and now I’m forced to eat vermin and waste away. My mind is sharp, but my body is weak. They will all pay for this, I think as I stare down at my pallid skin.
Looking out the small square opening they left to serve as a window, I am reminded that another day has dawned in this hell I’m forced to endure. Time should be irrelevant by now, but it is not. It has been four years since I’ve been locked away in this room. Four long years since my lover betrayed me––one thousand four hundred and fifty-two days to be exact. Rurik may have turned me into what I am, but he by no means made me who I am––that was all my doing. Soon, he and those who conspired against me will know my wrath. My mistake was to have trusted a man. I knew better. All men lie to get what they want. I smile at the thought, because I may have been fooled by Rurik’s affections, but he was the fool who made me into a vampire. Someday I shall be free, and when that day comes, I will hunt him down and take my place once again as queen. I will rule over the ferals. I will be their salvation.
As the sun’s rays spill into the room, I look up at my aging portrait. You will be beautiful again. This torture is only temporary. You just need to feed––gorge yourself on a human or two, and you’ll regain your strength. Dorotya always used to say the reflection of a woman could be seen through her eyes, but I always thought it was in the way she carried herself––the way she communicated. I always did like to maintain my sensibilities. I once ruled nations. I used to draft eloquent letters to my husband and children, but now I’m forced to document my life on these cold stone walls. I make sure to mark each dawn with a sigil. Each one adding to the spell I will soon unleash. I’ve kept track of time by using old bones to chisel each symbol. I’m certain the villagers and palatine hoped I’d have killed myself by now, but I’m an immortal queen.
My reign has only just begun.
Intrigued
(Part One)
Chapter One
Present Day
“Has she been located?” Thantos asked.
“Not yet, but we’re getting closer.” Andrik replied.
“Why does she continue to elude you?” Manya sang, in her friendly persona.
“Someone is helping her––hiding her, making it impossible for Reese to track her exact whereabouts.”
Manya hissed and Thantos threw up a hand to silence her tantrum that was certain to follow. “If Reese cannot track her, then it seems you are failing at your task, Brother.” Thantos chided.
“No, not failing,” Andrik said flatly, “just shifting priorities, considering the influx of ferals entering the East Coast. Their increased numbers have moved them to the front of my list.”
Thantos raised a brow in curiosity. “If you’re so sure it is she who is creating them, I’d think that would put her back at the front of your list.”
“We have to get their numbers under control first, and are hoping to use them to lead us to her,” Andrik replied calmly.
“Are you implying the ferals are keeping her safe?” Thantos asked.
Andrik arched a brow. “I imply nothing.”
“Incessant games,” Manya mumbled. “You two act like children.”
They both glared at her before turning their attention back to one another.
“I know of only one who can help us find Bathory,” Andrik asserted.
“Then maybe it’s time Thea came home to help you,” Thantos replied coolly.
“You’re done with her then? She’s given you what you needed?”
“She always does,” Thantos smirked, knowing how much it would agitate Andrik.
Andrik tamped down his emerging temper at the implication. He knew Thea was too smart to fall prey to Thantos’ charms, or at least he’d hope she was––for her own sake. Thea was like a daughter to him and the idea of her…he shut off that train of thought and refocused his attention to Manya who was unassumingly fiddling with her nails as her many personalities shifted over her delicate features.
Andrik didn’t fear her like others did––or rather, should––but when her other personas took over, blood would soon be shed to sate her budding rage. Nothing else would soothe the body that contained the Keres.
Manya and Thantos were the children of Nyx, the Greek Goddess of Night. Nyx was the child of Chaos, and his traits also imbued the children she bore. They loved discord, Manya more than the others.
“Your murderous side is showing, Manya. Settle,” Andrik warned.
Manya hissed. “I want Bathory now. Enough playing––find her!”
Andrik turned to leave but called out without looking back. “Send Thea home to me then, and I will find you Bathory.”
“Where are you?” Reese asked, her tone flat but carefree.
“Headed home,” Andrik replied into his phone.
“Well, now you’re heading to Boston.”
“Why?” Andrik huffed. “Never mind. On my way.”
“We have rooms at The Liberty. Thea and I will meet you in the bar, and we’ll explain then.”
“Understood.”
The line went dead and Andrik smiled, thankful that Thantos had released Thea as requested. He’d hoped for a little solitude before hunting again and had been on his way to the cottage he kept off the coast of Greece, but if Thea and Reese were already together, it had to be important.
Andrik arrived at the hotel shortly after he and Reese spoke. Not hard for someone like him––all of his kind evanesced, dissipating like vapor and reappearing wherever they desired. To the humans, they would appear as a glitch; a trick of the mind. The humans would simply dismiss it as if they’d mistakenly seen something else entirely and move on. Most humans didn’t believe in anything supernatural. If it wasn’t tangible, it didn’t really happen in their minds, and since people didn’t just ‘appear out of thin air,’ he and others passed without another thought.
Andrik reached for the handle, pulling open the front door to The Liberty and headed toward the bar. It was crowded, but it didn’t take long for him to spot Thea and Reese. They tended to stand out. Thea was a petite blonde with cobalt colored eyes and an air about her that radiated an electric energy. People were drawn to her and they were never disappointed with the warmth and kindness she exuded. Reese, however, was the polar opposite––standoffish and generally unapproachable except by those she knew or considered a friend.
Andrik scanned the bar inhabitants and confirmed they were all human and inwardly flinched. They gawked and stared at his six-foot-three frame, short-cut brown hair, and Gucci tailored suit as he made his way across the bar. Thea and Reese had the attention of half the patrons––men and women alike––and seemed to be enjoying it, but he was there to work. The girls stood to greet him, exchanging kisses from cheek to cheek as he pulled his cloaking glamour a little tighter. No one in this century even knew what his true face looked like, except for those close to him.
“How was your visit with Thantos and Manya?” Reese asked with a slight grin on her face as she reclaimed her seat. “You smell of bergamot and vanilla.” She winked as he settled in beside her.
“The usual. Manya, however, was more temperamental than normal.” Andrik paused as the waiter made his way over to their table and asked for his order.
“Scotch, neat,” he replied, quickly turning back to the girls. “So, why are we here?”
Reese picked up her beer and took a swig before responding. “There are too many ferals here for it to be a coincidence. Something’s up.”
“Do you know why the increase is here in Boston, specifically?” Andrik questioned as the waiter delivered his drink.
“I’ve yet to put my finger on it, but I’m getting closer. I just need a little more time,” Thea responded.
Andrik downed his scotch and set the glass back on the table. “So, there’s an influx here. We kill them quickly and move on.”
Reese scrunched her face. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s as simple as that. I called you here because Thea and I recently killed nine ferals hanging around the park.” Andrik cocked his head in confusion. “Yes, you heard me correctly. Nine, gathered in a pack, like wolves.”
“Impossible,” Andrik spat.
“Not impossible. The latest ferals are different than the ones we’ve dealt with before. These were stronger––more brazen,” Reese replied.
Andrik raised his glass towards the bar and waited for the bartender to acknowledge him. With a clipped nod, the man began pouring him another drink. “And what is your take on these new ferals?” Andrik asked Thea.
“I haven’t had the chance to read one yet. I was too busy killing the ones that attacked us.”
The waiter set a new scotch on the table, along with another beer and an old fashioned––Thea’s drink of choice this century. Andrik waited as he cleared the empty glasses.
He knew Thea would be able to tell him everything they needed to know, but only if he could bring a live feral to her. Thea was given additional gifts by Thantos on the day she was turned from human to vampire. He blessed her with clairsentience and psychometry, so not only could she read people and their auras, but if she touched a person or an object, she could gather information about it or their history. However, based on what Reese was saying, capturing one alive could prove challenging.
Ferals had only been bold enough to hunt in packs during the sixteenth century, when Rurik ruled. Rurik, however, has been dead for a very long time, and the only other person who knew and followed his ways was also contained.
“Where did you go, Andrik?” Thea asked.
“The past,” he sighed. “I just can’t understand how she could be doing any of this. She’s been trapped in the painting I imprisoned her in since the sixteen-hundreds.”
“Maybe she’s not. Maybe she found a way out,” Reese said as she lifted her beer. “I have a theory.”
Andrik raised his hands in the air. “Please, enlighten me.”
“Bathory was a child of dark magic, which is how she escaped her initial prison, was it not?” Andrik nodded.
“Dorotya could’ve taught her something to make it possible to leave the mirror.”
“No! Her prison and her punishment are linked through me. My blood binds her to that painting,” Andrik snapped. “Erzsebet cannot leave it without me knowing it. She may only view the world from the inside out.”
Andrik thought back to the day he imprisoned Erzsebet and scowled. He should’ve just killed her, but instead he took pity on her as she pleaded for her life and the life of her children. Erzsebet begged on her knees for another way.
“Lock me and my children away until Rurik is found and eliminated. I am no threat to you. I’ve tried many times to leave and seek sanctuary with the ancients but was trapped. Please, Andrik, spare me now so that I may plead my case with Thantos and Manya in hopes of them turning me into a pure-blood. I was turned against my will, my girls forced to be by Rurik’s side as his playthings, and my son here, treated like a dog. I beg of you. Show us mercy.”
He had believed her, thought her claims were true, until he confronted Rurik who only laughed in his face. “That treacherous bitch would say anything to save herself. She and her witch, Dorotya, have played you for a fool.”
“I am no fool and both of you will die this night. She is my captive and thoroughly confined. She will meet her end as soon as I eliminate you,” Andrik seethed.
“And where did you confine her?”
Andrik didn’t answer, but moved forward with his sword raised.
“Know this, I may die this night, but my vision of the Sanguine becoming extinct will live on. Erzsebet despises me, but she suffers from a greater blood lust than even I, and she, too, believes ferals are destined to rule.”
Andrik’s blade struck, taking Rurik’s lies with him. He waited until he was nothing more than ashes blowing in the wind before he evanesced back to Čachtice to find the painting of Erzsebet gone. He thought he’d accounted for all contingencies, but as he stood staring at the blank wall, he knew he was wrong––again.
It was then he vowed to embrace his duty. No feral would be given a second chance; once turned, Andrik would be their death. The only thing that gave him any comfort in this moment, was the fact Erzsebet would never be free to kill humans again.
Reese continued speaking, pulling him from his thoughts. “But what if they figured out another way. What if they charmed it to allow people in, then all she’d need to do was turn them and send them back out into the world. Like you said, she is trapped, but clearly they are not.”
“That would also explain why it’s been so hard to find her,” Andrik replied with a tick in his jaw. “They’re protecting their queen. But still, who could be helping her? We’ve taken out all the clan leaders and her children are long since dead.”
“That’s why it’s so important I get my hands on one of the ferals,” Thea sighed. “Next time we make a kill, we try and keep one alive, okay? If I can lay hands on one of them, maybe we’ll get lucky, and I will see all we need to know.”
“We’re never that lucky.” Andrik grinned, amused at Thea’s talk of killing anything herself. “When we make a kill? How long has it been since you actually got your hands dirty, Thea?”
“A while, but it was like riding a bike.”
He laughed out loud. “For all the bikes you’ve ridden.”
“Hey,” Thea snapped.
Reese joined in the laughter. “You gotta admit, that was funny.”
“You cannot deny I killed at least four the other night,” Thea said to Reese.
“No, you did,” Reese replied with her hands in the air. “I’m not discounting the kills, I’m merely questioning how you went about it.” Reese grinned as she looked at Andrik. “What is that quote, ‘Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.’”
Andrik laughed. Reese was his warrior, but Thea was the brains behind their brawn. They made it possible for her to remain the lady she preferred to be, instead of the vicious vampire she chose to hide. They were all dark creatures at their cellular level, but they were also given a sympathetic quality that allowed them to appear more human. The key to their success in living amongst the humans was to balance their darkness with compassion.
“You should’ve seen her, Andrik. Her favorite pink skirt was covered in blood, guts, and ashes. It was a mess and then she broke one of her Manolo Blahnik heels.”
“But they did die painful deaths so it was worth it,” Thea interjected.
Andrik reached into his pocket and pulled out a money clip bulging with cash. He flipped through the bills, pulling out a handful of hundreds. “Here,” he tossed them in her direction, “see if you can find something to replace them.”
“Andrik,” Thea said as she looked around, covering the cash with her hand. “I don’t need your money and stop flashing this around.” Thea folded the bills and handed them discretely back to him. “Besides, I’d gladly ruin a pair of shoes and a skirt if it will finally put us on the path to dispatching Erzsebet once and for all.”
Reese lifted her drink in the air. “Cheers to that. I’m really sick of chasing that bitch’s playthings.”
The three of them ordered more drinks and added some food to the mix as they continued to discuss Bathory’s missing painting and the increasing feral colony. They had to make a plan, because if not, the humans were going to be the ones to suffer, and that put their entire vampire community at risk. It wasn’t hard to figure out what Erzsebet was planning. If she was capable of increasing their numbers, she could force a coup, and in turn force the council to react––a war between the ferals and the blood bonded vampires would be inevitable. Just like before. This was what Rurik wanted when he ruled, and since Rurik created the animal Erzsebet became, the line of treachery was obvious and easy to follow.
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