Darkness Embraced Part 19

"I know what you are," she said, "Epiphany does not."

The demon-creature turned the ful weight of its dense stare back to me.

"Eeepiphanyyy," it said, careful y enunciating each syl able, "that isss what you are cal ed?"

I sank to my knees. If showing respect would keep the creature from kil ing any of us, then I would do it for survival's sake. I averted my eyes, not because I was acknowledging its status above Renata, but because the endless black pools were utterly unnerving.

"Yes."

"You do not know what I am?"

I opened my mouth to say, "demon," and Cuinn's voice blared through my mind, Do not call it that!

I closed my mouth and tried truth instead. "No, I do not know what you are."

I sensed more than saw the creature's attention return to Renata.

"You do not teach them their hissstory?"

"Only the Eldest of us know. It has been long since your kind walked among us."

"Thisss isss true," the creature said in a voice that was almost thoughtful. "Tel your daughter what I am. Name me, vampire."

The fact that it had cal ed me daughter meant that it knew Renata was my Siren. I wondered if the demon was capable of tel ing such a thing just by looking at us.

"You are one of the Great Sires."

"That isss not my name," the creature's voice hissed like nails on gla.s.s. "I sssaid name me, vampire."

"It is not wise to speak your name."

The creature's long obsidian tail swept the floor in agitation. The spaded tip hit the wal with a heavy thump.

"Fairy talesss," it said, hissing. "Name me!"

I turned just in time to see Renata's head jerk upright. Her eyes blazed with power, like the deepest ocean and clearest summer sky meeting and melding.

"You are Dracule."

A spurt of satisfaction emitted from the dark being.

"Wa.s.ss that ssso hard?"

"Who summoned you, Great Sire?"

The creature was silent. I used the silence to my advantage.

Cuinn, do you know what the Dracule are?

Aye.

Tell me.

"Firssst, tel your daughter what I am."

A distant relative. Your Queen will explain.

Renata sat back on her heels, looking for al the world like she was relaxed, but I sensed the tension coming off her.

"The Dracule are our Sires, Epiphany. They are the oldest of our kind."

"It's a vampire?" I asked.

"It'sss?" the creature hissed, taking a threatening step toward me. "You cal me an it'sss?"

I realized that, for the first time in two centuries, I'd made one of the biggest political blunders I could've ever made at what was more than likely the most inopportune of moments.

My pulse leapt fiercely. I bowed my head.

"I meant no offense, Great Dracule."

I heard its tongue flick out, tasting the air. "You ssspeak truth, but there isss more."

"I did not mean to insult you." I sank a little lower into the bow, curving my body toward the floor. "Simply, instead of saying he or she, as I am not certain of your gender, I defaulted to it's. I give you my sincerest apologies and beg your forgiveness."

The creature made a sound somewhere between a hiss and grunt. It took a moment for me to realize that it was laughing.

"Would you like to sssee, vampire?"

I bolted upright. "What?"

The creature was walking toward me on its graceful y arched legs. The claws of its talon-like feet appeared very sharp indeed. I forced myself not to fidget or move away.

The Dracule stopped in front of me, leaving an arm's length of a s.p.a.ce between us. I did not like that it had moved so close.

"Would you like to sssee?"

If ye want to win its favor, say aye.

I wasn't entirely sure what I was saying yes to and prayed Cuinn had not led me astray.

"Yes."

One furred black shoulder raised. The leathery wing drew aside like a curtain. The creature turned its face to Renata and hissed.

"I did not sssay you could sssee."

I watched as Renata casual y averted her gaze.

The Dracule spoke my name, cal ing my attention back to it. I sat on my heels, refusing to look away, refusing to al ow myself to give in to the fear that sent my heart drumming against my ribcage. The other leathery wing rose and was drawn aside to reveal a surprisingly sleek and elegant body.

In truth, the Dracule were not such hideous things. They were a wild beauty, yes, and perhaps some would think them the things of nightmares, but as I looked at the Dracule, I did not see something that was monstrous.

The Dracule's body was covered in s.h.i.+ny black fur. The fur glistened like silk and looked soft to the touch in the flickering torchlight. My eyes dropped from a slim neck to the two mounds at its chest. It was hard to tel through the fur, but I was fairly certain the mounds were b.r.e.a.s.t.s. I looked lower, past the flat plains of a stomach, over the arched curve of its hips, and to the slope below.

There, at the Dracule's groin, was a smal furry node of flesh. It did not look male, though it did not look entirely female, either.

The Dracule ran an almost human hand down its stomach, lightly touching the top of the fur between its thighs. As it had five fingers and opposable thumbs, it was almost human. The sharp silver claws that unsheathed from the tips of those fingers were terribly contrary to human.

"You wonder what thisss isss?" the Dracule asked.

"Yes," I said, hastily adding, "Forgive my ignorance."

The Dracule sheathed its claws in a soundless move. It parted its legs slightly and pressed two fingers to the base of the little mound.

"It isss like yoursss, only more."

Does that mean it's female?

Aye, Cuinn said, sounding amused. ' T is a girl.

I held the Dracule's bottomless gaze and tried not to show the awkwardness I felt in regard to the situation. Beneath the awkwardness, I admit, was a fine thread of curiosity that I also tried not to reveal, having no idea what effect it would have on her.

"Thank you, Dracule," I murmured, inclining my head respectful y. "I do appreciate your forthrightness."

It was hard to tel by looking at her, but I sensed distantly that she was amused with me.

Renata broke the silence that fol owed my words by asking, "Who summoned you?"

The Dracule kept looking at me. The corners of her furred mouth raised in what I thought was a smile, albeit, a disconcerting one.

"Sssomeone clossse and not ssso clossse."

"You speak in riddle."

The Dracule looked at her then. "And you have not given me rea.s.sson to ssspeak otherwissse, vampire."

"What would make you speak otherwise, Dracule?"

Its ears swiveled and I realized it was thinking. The leathery wings snapped like a clap of thunder and I jumped. It settled those wings like a cloak around its body.

"Her."

Chapter Sixteen.

For the first time in my undead life, I was sincerely too frightened to speak. I heard Renata's voice, as if coming from the other end of the hal .

"You are implying that the joy of Epiphany's body would be worth the name of the one who summoned you?"

"No," the Dracule said. "The joy of your vampire'sss body wil be worth the protection of three I wa.s.ss sssummoned to take."

"You have already taken the soul of one of my vampires," she said and made it clear that she was not happy about that transgression. "Wil you trick her and only spare her two?"

"I wil ssspare her three."

The dimly lit hal way went unbelievably silent. I realized they were both staring at me. I met Renata's inquiring look.

"I do not know what to say."

"Yesss or no," the Dracule said.

Renata spoke to the tal creature. "On one condition, Dracule, as I know your kind are a bargaining lot. If Epiphany agrees to bed you, as her Queen, I am to be present."

"Fair enough." The Dracule raised her shoulders in an awkward version of a shrug. "It isss not like I could not have already taken her sssoul if that isss what I wanted."

"Why haven't you?" I asked.

The Dracule did not answer.

Renata's voice flowed through my mind, like something liquid and touchable.

Curiosity, she said, it has and will always be the Dracule's greatest virtue and greatest vice.

Stil , the Dracule did not answer.

You speak like one who has had experience, I thought.

Epiphany, if you agree, I do not advise letting it touch you between the legs with its hands.

I remembered the tiny silver claws that the Dracule had unsheathed and shuddered to think of the possibilities.

Guide me, I told her. What do you want me to do?

Her voice seemed to sigh in my mind. As much as I despise sharing, this seems the lesser of two evils. The Dracule are honorable, in a way, and they do love to barter. Once summoned, only a bargain of more worth will lead them astray of their original intent.

Can we trust her?

We do not have much of a choice. I would advise you to decline if I thought your little fox spirito was a match for one of the Greater Dracule.

Cuinn?

I didn't have to ask the question as he understood my thoughts.