“More fantasy theatrics. Our hearts don’t beat, therefore they do not pump blood through our veins. Piercing the heart does nothing but cause us to lose consciousness until it heals, though we require blood before sunrise to ensure it does. It’s easier to let people think it will kill us. A safety mechanism, you might say.”
“So are you here to finish the job Lauren started?”
“What? No! Matt was under the orders of someone. That someone told him where to be and what to do, but the information was deliberately wrong. You may have been in danger if you’d known I was alive. Whoever was pulling Matt’s strings was simply playing with him. And me. This whole thing was a game. I wasn’t even sure if I was even the real target. It could’ve been you they were after.”
“There was someone there.” Alex looked up at him. “Right after you fell, a guy was there, ordering me to come away. That’s why Dougie wanted me to leave with you, wasn’t it?”
Dante considered this. “I suppose. Dougie could see something happening to me. He wanted you in the spotlight so no one could snatch you away in the commotion. He explained his interpretation of the night’s events and warned me to take care.”
Alex noted the way Dante finished the last sentence. So did Michelle and it was she who spoke up.
“His interpretation? What do you mean?”
“We have to leave tonight. All three of us.”
“Tonight? Where are we going?” Alex looked confused.
“The royal vampire clan of Sydney,” Dante replied.
“What?” Michelle snapped, her eyes wide.
“We have been summoned to appear before the King. Lauren too—she is there now.”
“No!” Michelle sounded panicked. “Dante, no, please! I refuse to step back into that place. Not after what he did to me.”
Dante closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Michelle. It’s not my choice. You won’t be alone this time, though. I promise you that.”
“Julian is going to be there?” Alex asked, putting it together. Even the sound of the vampire’s name brought a flame of anger to her.
“Prince Julian? Of course he is,” Michelle said softly, loathing in her tone. “Fucking hell.” She leaned forward in her chair both wrists on her forehead, defeated. Dante knew she realised there was no choice.
Alex clasped her hand. “Dante is right. You’re not gonna be alone this time.”
“Uh, excuse me, Ms Hensley?” A surgeon stood in the doorway, looking from Michelle to Alex.
“Yes, that’s me.” Alex jumped up. “How is he?”
“Are you the girlfriend?” he asked.
“Yes, well no. I mean I was, but…we aren’t together anymore.”
“I see. Is anyone of the immediate family here?”
Alex swallowed. “I, uh, called his mother but she isn’t here yet.”
The doctor sighed. “We saved him, he’s alive. But the damage to his spinal cord was severe. We have had to induce a coma. Now I don’t want to alarm anyone, as this is all preliminary until the wounds settle down and we can run some tests—”
“Doc, please just spit it out,” Alex said.
The doctor sighed heavily again. “Preliminary signs are that he won’t be able to walk again.”
Michelle drew a breath. Dante saw Alex gaping, stunned and lowered his eyes to the floor.
“I’m really sorry. Look, you might as well go home and get some rest. We can only let in immediate family right now. But maybe when the swelling is down…” The surgeon gave a look of apology once more and then turned and left the room.
Alex stood completely still, focussing on her breathing. “Can you heal him?” she asked Dante.
“I really don’t know. It generally can only heal external wounds like bite marks and cuts. There is no telling what vampire blood will do to him when in a coma. Right now it could leave him, for want of a better word, a zombie.”
Alex wiped a tear away. “When he wakes up?”
“Even then, I don’t know if it would heal anything but his more superficial wounds?”
“What if the only way to help him is to turn him? Would you do it?”
Dante stared at her. “No. Absolutely not.”
Alex gave him a cold glare. “What if I begged you? You fall to pieces when a woman begs, right?”
“Look, Alexandra. Morality aside, to the best of my knowledge, he would be a vampire without the ability to walk. Turning him would not save him; it would damn him. I should know.”
Alex continued to glare at Dante until she finally made a move for her bag.
“Alex?” Michelle asked.
“We are off to see the wizard, aren’t we? I have to get out of this place. I also want to meet this King and Prince Julian, now that I know who he is. I’ll shove my demanded presence up his undead arse too.”
*
The limousine pulled into the estate and Alex felt for the first time as if she were looking at something that fit her idea of something vampiric. The mansion was huge, looming. The backdrop of a very dark night against the brightness of its many lit windows gave it an intimidating aura. Three towers with pointed roofs stood stark against the night sky, the central one the largest. She could imagine vampires beneath those turrets, hanging upside-down like bats inside them, when the sun came up.
She and Michelle followed Dante toward the main doors. The bodyguard snickered as the group approached.
“Something funny, Raul?” Dante snapped.
Raul shook his head slowly. “Oh dear, aren’t we in trouble?”
Dante smiled…slowly. Raul burst through the main doors and smacked into a bookcase. It tilted before crashing down on top of him.
“I guess we are now,” Dante said, still standing in the doorway, wringing his hand. “I’ll just let myself in shall I?”
They entered the main hall and found it empty. There was
