Blood Born Read online

  “Luca Ambrus!” Ahron said brightly, though he was too frail for that voice to have the hearty ring he tried to inject. “How nice of you to call. Did you bring me a snack?” His eyes flicked hungrily over Luca’s shoulder at Chloe. “I just fed a week or so ago, or was it three weeks? Doesn’t matter. She looks like a tasty snack. Perhaps even dessert!”

  “This is Chloe,” Luca said. “We’re bonded, so she’s mine. Chloe, this is Ahron.”

  “Too bad,” the old man with the young face said breezily, as he opened the door wide. “Come in, all three of you.”

  For a moment Luca thought Ahron had suffered a mental slip, but suddenly he knew that wasn’t the case. The ancient seer saw not only Luca and Chloe, he also saw Chloe’s Warrior. Indikaiya was with them enough for her presence to be sensed.

  Chloe gave him a confused look, then hesitantly said, “I’m pleased to meet you,” to Ahron.

  “Are you?” Ahron stopped in his tracks, looking surprised. “How about that.”

  Luca hadn’t been here in more than ten years, but nothing had changed. Ten years was nothing to him; the short amount of time was even less to Ahron. The computer was newer, and the television had been upgraded to a flat screen. The leather couch and matching recliner were the same, as were the paintings on the walls, paintings from the old masters such as Michelangelo. Did the human world even know these paintings existed? Their worth was unimaginable.

  Ahron turned off his computer and sat in the recliner, moving slowly as if he were afraid he’d break if he sat too hard. “I suppose you’re here about the revolution. Isn’t it exciting?”

  “I suppose that’s one word for it,” Luca said. He and Chloe sat side by side on the sofa. Her eyes were wide and, after greeting Ahron, she’d all but glued her lips shut. Considering she’d punched him—he still hadn’t gotten over his shock—she must really be intimidated.

  “Vampires should’ve taken over centuries ago,” Ahron said with a wave of a delicate hand that was white as milk. “It’s the most logical progression of events. We’re stronger, we’re smarter. Humans are our food, for pity’s sake.”

  “I liked the hotel better,” Chloe whispered under her breath, her words so low they were obviously intended only for him. She had no idea how sensitive Ahron’s hearing was, how sensitive the old one was to all stimuli.

  Ahron responded with a wide grin, as he fixed his gaze on Chloe. “My, my. That’s twice you’ve spoken.” He looked back to Luca. “That’s very generous of you, letting her talk. But allowing such liberties can be a mistake, as I’m sure you know by now. She serves two purposes, and I suspect she’s adequate in both senses, but to allow her to speak to you as if she’s an equal …” His green eyes glowed and he spoke directly to Chloe. “I’ve seen women like you come and go many thousands of times since I became vampire. You’re very pretty, useful in your own way, but still, you are temporary. Don’t be offended; it’s your nature, like a flower is temporary.” His smile faded. “Some are more temporary than others. I remember … bah. I don’t know what I remember. I scare you, I see, and I should try not to scare you any more than someone would purposely frighten a child, but that is in my nature.”

  Like a switch, he turned his attention back to Luca. “I would offer to introduce you to someone I know who could lead you to the rebels, but you don’t want to join them, you want to destroy the movement. It wouldn’t be fair for me to interfere. I must remain impartial. Well, outwardly impartial, at least. The outcome of this clash is not set in stone. So little is, I have found. It’s maddening to see so much and not know what is meant to be and what is mere possibility. My mind is filled with possibilities, potential outcomes, all riding on the swing of a sword or the path of an arrow.”

  Rambling was Ahron’s stock-in-trade, but if you listened carefully enough, you could get his meaning. “Who is leading the rebels?” Luca asked. “How many are there?”

  “I cannot tell you who leads, as you would surely use that information against the rebels. Besides, she would be very unhappy with me if I were to tell, and I would miss her company. Though she does not call as she once did,” he mused. “Perhaps when the revolution is over and she is queen, she’ll come to me again. Even better, perhaps she will offer me a new and better home, one where I can see the sun if it pleases me. I would make a superb minister of … something. I’m certain she sees that for herself.”

  So. The leader was a woman. He wasn’t surprised; he’d always known the female Council members were far more dangerous than the males.

  “How many?” Ahron continued. “Too many, not enough, more every day. Who among us does not wish to be accepted and embraced for who we truly are? Who does not wish to claim that which is his or her right?” His eyes glowed bright again; he changed the subject as if he’d been yanked from one time to another. “Your mother was incredibly beautiful, when I made her one of us. She stayed beautiful for many years. Even when she was carrying you beneath her heart and her health was not at its best, she was beautiful. I wish I had given her a child, I wish I had created a powerful blood born, but it was your father, the ungrateful bastard, who got her with child.” A flash of hate altered his expression for a moment. “I was finished with her by that time, I did not care who she gave her body to, but you almost killed her coming into the world. She was never quite the same after that; beautiful women are often not the best of mothers, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “The rebels,” Luca said, trying to turn the seer’s mind back to the subject at hand.

  “Yes, yes, your questions. Who? I can’t say. I could, but I won’t. How many, eh, who can know? When does the strike begin in earnest?” Again, his eyes flashed. Chloe flinched, and Luca didn’t blame her. “Stop the Warriors, lift the spell, take the city. It’s a good plan. Take the government as our own, rule their army, their government, and their people. From there it will spread, one city, one state at a time.”

  “What spell?”

  “Soon I will need no invitation,” Ahron said with barely disguised glee. “The world will be my own. Every home, every one, will be open to me. The spell that keeps me out isn’t natural, it isn’t right. When the spell is broken, nothing will stop me.”

  A chill touched Luca’s bones. It had to be the sanctuary spell. The rebels must have a witch, either captured or paid, who was strong enough to break the spell. If the sanctuary spell was broken, Chloe would never again be safe, not even in her own home. There would be no place for any mortal to hide.

  Sticking close to Luca was never exactly a chore, but Chloe stayed especially close while they were in Ahron’s basement home.

  Luca and Sorin, even the creepy trio who’d shown up at the hotel, could easily pass as human, if they wanted. Ahron couldn’t. Nothing could disguise the kryptonite eyes, the skin that looked like milk glass, the fangs that were permanently extended. He’d actually been handsome once, she could see. He had the face of a man of around twenty, she’d guess, though what that translated to aeons ago, she couldn’t guess. His careful movements and white hair marked his age, and against the young face that age was really strange.

  Though he moved very carefully, like an old man, she had a suspicion that if he wanted to he could be very, very fast, which was all the more reason to stay close to Luca.

  Were there others like Ahron, hiding around the world? If the rebels won the world might be overrun with monsters like this one. She’d known for years that she could die at any moment, though she’d always had hope that death wouldn’t come too soon. In that respect, nothing had changed; it just might not be her heart that killed her.

  Ahron liked to talk, even though most of what he said was nonsense. He talked about television shows and movies, his blog—proof that anyone could have a presence on the Net if they wanted it—and those he had once known. Talk about name-dropping! Alexander, Caesar, Mozart, King Henry … more than one of them … as well as many names Chloe didn’t recognize. She got the sense they’d been no less important i