“Are there places like this wherever your people live?”
“Yes. Every country throughout the world has a similar Fortress, and each one is ruled by a Master Vampire.”
“And your father ordered you here to mate with another vampire?”
“Yes. And to take my place on the Council, something I have resisted for three hundred years.”
“That empty chair. It’s for you, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“I noticed that the men all bear a striking resemblance to your father.”
“They are my brothers.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, though we do not all have the same mother.”
“What does the Council do?”
“They judge those who have broken our laws, and execute them, if necessary.”
Elena went cold inside. Were they going to execute Drake for marrying her? Surely not! Surely the members of the Council wouldn’t pass a sentence of death on their own brother. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe, as if she had tumbled into a nightmare from which there was no escape.
“Is that what you wish?” Drake asked, stroking her hair.
“What?”
“To escape? To be free of me?”
She chewed on her thumbnail. Did she want that? Did she want to leave Drake and never see him again? Go back to her old life with her uncle? If she left Drake, he would be free to marry the woman Rodin had chosen for him and there would be no need for him to suffer anymore. She shook her head. How could she leave him? “I don’t know.”
“If it is your desire, Rodin will erase your memories of this place and everything that happened since the night we met. It will be as if none of it ever happened.”
“And if I stay?”
“You would be wiser to go.”
She tried to see his face in the darkness. “Is that what you want?”
“I am only thinking of what is best for you.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No. You are the only thing in my life that matters. But there is no place for you here. And even if there were, you would not be happy living among us, knowing what is going on.” He took a deep breath and released it in a heavy sigh. “If Rodin offers you the chance to leave, you should take it.”
It wasn’t a decision Elena was ready to make, so she changed the subject. “Is this where you come to feed?”
“No. I hunted in the city.” He laughed softly. “It is another of my sins.”
“Why didn’t you come here? Where is this place?”
“The Fortress is located high in the Southern Carpathian Mountains. A veil hides it from mortal eyes, though there are those, mostly people with paranormal powers of one kind or another, who have penetrated the veil from time to time.”
She started to ask what happened to those people, then decided she didn’t want to know.
“Do all the Fortresses keep people to feed on?”
“No. Most of our kind prey on the general populace of whatever country they call home.”
“Are all the vampires united?” That was a scary thought.
He shook his head. “There are always those who lust for power. Rodin has had to defend his territory on numerous occasions. There are rumors that the ruler of the Hungarian Fortress wants to take over Rodin’s domain.”
Elena frowned. How could vampires go to war with each other without the mortal world being aware of it? In this age of cell phones and digital cameras, it seemed impossible.
“Master Vampires fight one on one,” Drake said, answering her unspoken question. “Winner take all.”
“What does that mean, winner take all?”
“The victor takes the loser’s Fortress and everything that goes with it. All those who lived there are forced to leave and seek shelter elsewhere.”
“And they always leave, without a fight?”“Master Vampires possess an enormous amount of power. There are not many who have the courage or the strength to challenge them.”
“So, do all the vampires in your father’s command or whatever you call it live in the Fortress?”
“No. Usually only those of his own blood, and those who are in need of healing or rest stay here, although all the Carpathian vampires are welcome to visit. You are cold,” he said, drawing her body closer to his. “You should go below.”
She clutched his arm. “I don’t want to leave you.” Who knew when, or if, she would be allowed to see him again? Smothering a yawn with her hand, she laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, her mind reeling with the events of the day, the things she had learned.
Sensing her distress, Drake let his mind brush hers, willing her to relax. A moment later, she was asleep.
Lifting her into his arms, Drake cradled her to his chest. He stroked her hair, caressed her cheek. In spite of the darkness, he could see her clearly. He had been certain that, given a choice to stay or go, she would leave this place. He had spoken truly when he’d told her it would be wiser for her to leave. He had no idea how long Rodin would keep him locked up, wouldn’t put it past his sire to threaten Elena’s life in order to get Drake to end his marriage so that he might wed and bed Katiya. And even though Drake was certain Rodin wouldn’t harm Elena, he wasn’t willing to risk her safety or her life to prove it.
“Ah, sweet wife, what am I to do with you?” he murmured, although the greater question might be, what would become of her if Rodin refused to let her go?
He glanced up as a chill wind eddied through the crack in the roof. Come morning, the light of the sun would penetrate that narrow slit. The fire of it, the feel of it dancing over his skin, would be excruciating beyond anything he had ever known.
There wasn’t much in this life he feared, but being trapped in the sun, dying inch by slow inch . . . He shuddered at the thought.
How long would Rodin keep him locked in this accursed place? A day? Two?
How long would it take for the sun to burn away his flesh and steal his strength until nothing remained but a pile of charred ashes?
Chapter 14
Elena woke slowly, a sense of dread making her reluctant to open her eyes. She heard whispered voices, the shuffling of many feet.
Squinting through half-opened lids, she saw a dozen faces staring down at her. Startled, she jackknifed into a sitting position, her gaze flitting wildly around the room. A moment’s disorientation quickly turned to panic. Where was she? Before the question was fully formed, she knew.
She was in one of the dormitories.
With the sheep.
“You’re new, aren’t you?” asked a girl with curly brown hair and slanted brown eyes.
Elena nodded.
“It’s time for morning meal,” the girl said.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You must eat. It is the rule,” the girl said with an airy wave of her hand. “Come along.”
Elena shook her head. How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in Drake’s arms.
“You’ll be punished if you don’t eat.” A look of fear shadowed the girl’s eyes when a bell rang. “We must hurry! We’ll be late!”
Spurred by the trepidation in the girl’s eyes, Elena sprang out of bed. She didn’t know what kind of punishment vampires meted out, but she was certain it was something awful.
She followed the line of women down a high-ceilinged corridor. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the dining hall, all conversation ceased.
Elena took a seat near the back. She didn’t belong here. There had to be a mistake. She glanced anxiously around the room, searching for Liliana, before realizing that the vampires were most likely resting at this time of the day.
Four large men patrolled the dining hall. Elena studied them, trying to determine whether they were human or vampire. Common sense told her they were human, but they were curiously lifeless, their movements almost puppetlike. They spoke in monotones, their eyes blank, their faces showing no emotion whatsoever.
Although she had declared she wasn’t hungry, Elena ate everything she was served, surprised at how good it was. And then she grimaced. Of course, it only made sense that the vampires would take good care of their food supply.
When breakfast was over, two of the hulking men herded the women downstairs into a large rectangularshaped room with stark white walls and a stone floor. A large hearth provided warmth.
Once the women were all inside, the doors were closed and locked. The girl who had spoken to Elena earlier told her that the men had their own place to spend the day.
There were books in the room, easels and paints, yarn and thread and a half dozen looms, a potter’s wheel, several chess sets, iPods with ear phones, as well as a largescreen TV and what looked like every movie ever made. Elena frowned. The TV was the first sign she had seen that there was electricity in the Fortress.
The women spread out quickly, each finding a task or a pastime to her liking.
Feeling as though she were caught in a horrible nightmare, Elena watched the women. They all seemed happy, perfectly content to be locked away in this dreadful place. She overheard snatches of conversation—two girls talking about men they hoped to mate with, one girl whispering to another that she thought she was with child, several other young women talking about which vampires they hoped would come for them that night.
“I’m hoping for Cullin,” a pretty brunette said with a sigh. “He’s so handsome and his bite is so tender.”
“You can have Cullin, Marta. I want Dallin,” a tiny redhead said, a quiver in her voice. “He only takes a little and then he’s gone.”
“Dallin and Elnora, sitting in a tree . . .” Marta chanted, and burst into giggles.
“I don’t care who it is,” remarked another with a toss of her head. “As long as it isn’t Vardin.”
All the women within hearing distance nodded in agreement.
Eventually, boredom had Elena picking up a copy of Jane Eyre. She carried it to an overstuffed chair in the corner and sat down, one leg curled beneath her. She tried to read, but somehow, the fictional problems of Jane and Mr. Rochester paled when compared to the very real problems that beset her. Elena wasn’t being kept in an attic, but in a very real prison. There were similarities, of course. Mr. Rochester couldn’t marry Jane because he already had a wife. Drake couldn’t marry the woman his father had chosen for him for the same reason. He already had a wife. Mr. Rochester’s wife, who was quite insane, perished in a fire. If she had to stay here much longer, Elena thought she, too, might go insane.