“That’s good.” Zoltan took a long drink of the mixture of synthetic blood and Chardonnay, then headed toward the table. “Shall we get started?”
“I brought a medicine kit,” Mikhail said. “Do you want a shot for the pain?”
“I’ll be fine.” Zoltan sat next to J.L. Wang.
J.L., aka Jin Long, had worked for the FBI before becoming a vampire. As an employee for MacKay S&I, he was in charge of security for the West Coast Coven, situated in his hometown of San Francisco. Recently he’d done some assignments in China, since he knew the language.
“We read Angus’s report,” J.L. said, “so we’re all up to date. Amazon women, hiding in a secret valley. Why? Are they scary looking?”
Zoltan shook his head. “Quite the contrary.”
“Did you figure out what Lord Liao wants from them?” Emma set the bottle of Blardonnay on the table along with her glass and took a seat.
Zoltan refilled his glass. “I believe so. The woman I’ve been seeing is Neona. She looks like she’s twenty-two, but she’s over two thousand years old. And her mother, the queen, is even older. I think she dates back to the Iron Age.”
A series of gasps went around the table.
“Holy crap,” Howard muttered. “And I thought you were old.”
Zoltan gave him a wry look. “They have a fountain of youth. Living Water, they call it. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe it’s a pool in a cave.”
“So Lord Liao wants the fountain of youth?” Elsa asked. “But he’s a vampire. He’s already immortal.”
“I think he’s trying to prove his worth to Master Han,” Zoltan explained. “If they take control of the Living Water, then they could wield a tremendous amount of power over the mortal world.”
J.L. nodded. “Han could make mortal governments bend to his will.”
“No wonder the women of Beyul-La are so distrusting,” Emma said. “Whoever controls the Living Water could potentially control the world.”
Mikhail leaned his elbows on the table. “We need to earn their trust. How many are there? Six?”
“Yes.” Zoltan took another long drink. “I’m trying to convince them I’m on their side. I have an advantage there, since my mother actually came from Beyul-La.”
Elsa gasped. “The mummy was one of the Amazon women?”
“What mummy?” Pamela asked.
“The mummy in the chapel is his mother,” Elsa whispered to Pam.
J.L. snorted. “His momma’s a mummy?”
Zoltan sighed. “As I was saying, I’m the son of one of the original founders of Beyul-La, so they’re reluctant to kill me like they would some other guy. They’ve existed for centuries with the mind-set that men cannot be trusted.”
Emma frowned. “We can’t change something that ingrained overnight.”
“I know.” Zoltan drank some more Blardonnay. “Two of the women would still like to kill me—the queen and Lydia. I think Lydia’s daughter, Tashi, could be open to change. And the two younger ones, Winifred and Freya, were born in the 1920s, so they missed the major man-hating events that the older ones went through. And they grew up with a loving father for a while, so we have a good chance of convincing those two that we’re good guys.”
“They’re the daughters of Frederic Chesterton?” Emma asked, and Zoltan nodded.
“That’s five of the women.” J.L. looked at Zoltan. “What about the sixth?”
Neona. Zoltan wasn’t sure how she felt about him. “I think she’s on my side.”
Howard’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t seem very confident. Is there a problem?”
Zoltan drank some more Blardonnay. It seemed to be helping with the pain. “They don’t trust men. They trust vampires even less.”
Pamela winced. “You haven’t told them you’re a vampire?”
“How did you explain being old enough to be the mummy’s son?” J.L. asked.
“They think my mother gave me some of the Living Water to drink.” Zoltan took another sip.
“Ah.” Pamela nodded. “That would explain it.”
Howard swallowed down some beer. “I wonder what would happen if a Vamp drank the Living Water.”
Zoltan finished his glass. “I wondered that, too. If it enables a Vamp to stay awake during the day—”
“Master Han would have a huge advantage over us.” J.L. grimaced. “He could kill us in our death-sleep.”
Pamela gasped. “This is terrible!”
Mikhail patted her shoulder. “Relax. We don’t know if the Living Water has any effect on a Vamp at all.”
Everyone at the table turned to look at Zoltan.
He swallowed hard. “You want me to try it?”
“We have to know what would happen,” Mikhail told him.
Zoltan frowned.
“Cheer up.” J.L. gave him a wry smile. “It’s not like the water could kill you.”
Zoltan shifted in his chair. The women would kill him if they caught him in their cave, drinking their precious water.
What else were they hiding? “I keep feeling like I’m missing something. Shouldn’t there be a . . . purpose for their long lives? Why live forever in secret?”
The others at the table were quiet as they pondered his question.
Zoltan thought back to what Neona had said. “She said the pact was binding forever.”
“What pact?” Mikhail asked. “With whom?”
Zoltan shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe they’re protecting someone?” Emma asked. “Or something?”
J.L. hit the table with the palm of his hand. “I know! The abominable snowman!”
Zoltan sat back. “What?”
The women at the table laughed, while Mikhail shook his head.
“I’m serious,” J.L. insisted. “It’s a Himalayan thing.”
“There’s no such thing as an abominable snowman,” Howard muttered.
“Says the were-bear,” J.L. smirked. “You might be related to him.”
Howard growled.
“I have to leave soon.” Zoltan glanced at his watch. “Emma, be ready to come when I call you. Maybe tomorrow night, or the next.”
She nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
“The neighboring valley has a cabin where Frederic Chesteron lived. I’ll try to get the women’s permission for us to use it as our headquarters.” Zoltan rose to his feet. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
While the others talked, he teleported up to his bedroom, cut the bandages off, and took a quick shower. Then he dressed, threw some clothes into a duffel bag, and teleported back to the kitchen. Everyone was still talking.
He stepped behind the counter and loaded a small ice chest with bottles of blood and ice.
Howard joined him. “What are you doing? You act like you’re moving to Beyul-La.”
“I have to gain their trust.”
Howard scowled at him. “Talk to them all you want, but when the sun rises, come back here. Do not do your death-sleep there.”
Zoltan closed the ice chest. “Neona tried hard to keep me alive. I think I can trust her.”
“You think you can? You’re going to risk your life on a hunch?” Howard removed a set of silver handcuffs from his jacket. “Don’t make me use these.”
Zoltan stepped back. If Howard managed to get a cuff on him, he’d be unable to teleport.
“Do I have to remind you how completely helpless you’ll be?” Howard continued. “If you must go, take me with you.”
“I can’t take you on my wedding night!”
The room hushed. Everyone stared at him.
Zoltan winced.
Emma stood. “Did you get married?”
“Not . . . really. It’s a . . . long story.” Zoltan remembered the wedding rings he’d admi
red at the jewelry store. He glanced at his watch. “Howard, tell Domokos to go to the jewelry store tomorrow and pay Janos whatever I owe him.”
With a groan, Howard raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or use these damned handcuffs.”
“I have to go.” Zoltan grabbed his duffel bag and the ice chest.
“If you get the slightest inkling of danger, teleport back here,” Howard warned him.
“I will. But if I hope to gain Neona’s trust, then I’ll have to trust her.” As Zoltan teleported, Tashi’s words echoed in his head. It was either a wedding or his funeral.
Chapter Fifteen
Human or monster? Neona asked herself for the hundredth time. He looked human. He kissed like a human. Bled like a human. Felt pain like a human. And he was the boy she’d healed all those centuries ago. A boy who had almost died trying to protect his mother.
He was the same noble person. He’d grown into the man who had tried to protect her when he’d thought her leopard was going to attack. The man who had taken an arrow in his back to keep her from being harmed. He was the man her heart still yearned for. Human.
But as soon as she convinced herself of that, the memory flashed across her mind. Fangs, sharp and lethal, erupting from his mouth. Monster.
She shuddered in spite of the hot water she was sitting in. Freddie and Freya had dragged her to their house to prepare her for what they called her wedding night. While filling the tub with hot water and flower petals, they’d teased her with bawdy jests. Freya had insisted on washing Neona’s hair with some soap she’d made from the local wildflowers that bloomed each spring.
“You’re so lucky,” Freya said as she rinsed Neona’s hair. “You’ve caught such a gorgeous man!”
Man or monster? Neona wondered again with a growing sense of panic. How could she spend the night with him?
“He’s very strong and handsome.” Freddie dug through the chest at the foot of her bed.
“And so devoted to you.” Freya sighed. “When I think about how he risked his life to come here to see you—”
“I know!” Freddie removed a pair of red silk slippers. “And then he refused to let her feel his pain.”
Freya sighed again. “What a gorgeous man!”
Or a gorgeous monster. Neona hugged her knees in the small wooden tub.
A knock sounded on the door, and Tashi slipped inside. “He says he needs thirty minutes to rest.”
Freya snorted. “I wonder what for.”
“He said he gave Neona a watch.” Tashi looked around the room.
Neona motioned to her clothes piled on Freya’s bed. “In the pouch.”
Tashi and Freddie jumped at her clothes and searched through them.
“I found it!” Freddie pulled the watch out. “Good heavens! It’s beautiful!”
Tashi touched it reverently. “The cat sparkles.”
“There’s a cat?” Freya ran to look. “I love cats!” She took the watch from her sister. “I wish a man would give me presents like this.”
“There are presents for us, remember?” Freddie sat on the edge of her bed. “At our father’s cabin.”
“This is so exciting!” Freya admired the watch, then grinned at Neona. “You’re so lucky!”
Neona sighed. How could it be lucky to fall in love with a vampire? She hated to admit it, but that was what he had to be. It explained his fangs and his ability to move quickly. The red glowing eyes must have been real. Was that a sign of hunger? When she spent the night with him, would he see her as his bride? Or would she be the wedding feast?
Tashi sat on the bed next to Freddie. “Maybe we should accept Neona’s man. After all, he’s Dohna’s son. And he wants to help us defeat Lord Liao.”
Freya set the watch down on the bedside table. “I wonder if he has any friends. It’s so hard to find suitable men around here.”
Tashi shrugged. “I found one.”
Freddie grinned. “We thought you had.”
Tashi nodded. “I only get to see him once a month.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m tired of keeping it secret. And I’m so tired of going all the way to the village to see him. I wish I could live there. Or he could live here.”
Freddie winced. “The queen would never allow it.”
Tashi sighed. “I know.”
As Neona dragged a comb through her long, wet hair, she wondered if it was time for some changes in their world. Why did Tashi have to endure such a sad situation? Minerva had been miserable, too. So miserable she’d lost the will to live.
Neona bit her lip, knowing her thoughts were verging on mutiny. “If you love him, you should go live with him. What can the queen do to you? Kick you out? That would be exactly what you want.”
The other women gasped.
“But our sacred duty,” Freya whispered.
“It would continue. As long as the rest of us are here.” Neona gave Tashi a sympathetic look. “I don’t want you to be miserable.”
Tashi’s eyes glimmered with tears. “I thought about running away with him. After all, I had two sisters who could look after my mother and grandmother. But I never expected to lose them in battle. Grandmother, too. My mother is in so much pain. How can I leave her now?”
Neona nodded. It was almost three weeks now since the battle, but the emotional wounds were still raw for those who had survived.
Freya sniffed. “I wish that battle had never happened. How could we lose five of us?”
“I know!” Freddie jumped to her feet. “We’ve never lost anyone before. We’ve always been victorious!”
Tashi grimaced. “I’ve fought more battles than I can remember. We never had any trouble defeating the enemy.”
“We never fought a vampire before,” Freya muttered.
“True. We always fought mortal men.” Tashi shuddered. “That damned vampire.”
Freddie clenched her fists. “I hate vampires!”
Neona winced. How could she ever tell the other women that Zoltan was undead? Her mother was already looking for a reason to kill him. “Maybe some vampires are good. Like that Russell guy. He saved the queen’s life.”
Tashi tilted her head, considering. “I didn’t know what to make of him. It seems strange for a vampire to be good.”
Freya nodded. “It’s like calling the sky green or the grass blue.”
“But he did save my mother’s life,” Neona insisted. “And he promised to kill Lord Liao for us.”
Freddie shrugged. “If you can believe a promise from a vampire.”
With a sigh, Neona resumed her task of combing her hair. “It’s not just Lord Liao who’s the problem. His soldiers were different. Stronger and faster than any mortal men I’ve ever seen.”
Freddie nodded. “That’s true. There was something bizarre about them.”
Freya waved a hand in dismissal. “Let’s not talk about the battle anymore. We should be celebrating! Neona’s found a gorgeous man, and soon we’ll have a new baby girl!”
How could she spend the night with a vampire? With trembling hands, Neona struggled to get the comb through a tangle in her hair.
Tashi gave her a worried look. “I hope you don’t fall in love with him. You know what will happen once you’re pregnant . . .”
The comb slipped from Neona’s hand, dropping with a splash into the bathwater. She couldn’t bear to see Zoltan die. Even if he did have fangs. But there was an easy way to avoid his execution. If she never bedded him, she couldn’t get pregnant. The thought of bedding him was too frightening anyway. She’d seen how he reacted in a moment of intense pain. What if the same thing happened in a moment of intense pleasure? Would his fangs shoot out and rip into her neck?
“Let’s not think about the future,” Freya insisted. “It’s Neona’s first night with her mate. We need to ma
ke it perfect!”
Freddie returned to the trunk at the foot of her bed. “I think she should wear this.” She pulled out a white gown embroidered with pink flowers.
Tashi gasped. “I remember that! It was Calliope’s. She wore it to the ceremony she had with Frederic.”
Freddie lay the white gown on her bed. “Mother told us about it. Father refused to bed her until they exchanged vows.” She turned to Neona, her golden brown eyes bright with excitement. “We would be honored if you wore it.”
“Oh, yes!” Freya clasped her hands together. “Say you will, Neona. Our mother was so fond of you.”
Neona’s eyes filled with tears. She’d loved Calliope, too. As the two healers, they’d learned a great deal from each other. “I will.”
“Yes!” Freya jumped. “You’ll look like a real bride!”
Freddie grinned. “You must be so excited!”
Neona’s nerves tensed. Soon she would have to see Zoltan, and she didn’t know what to do or say to him.
Tashi picked up the watch. “We have fifteen minutes left.”
Panic ignited in Neona’s chest. Human or monster? How could she spend the night with him? At some point, he would get hungry, and she’d be the only one there. “Do you have any wine?”
With a laugh, Freddie grabbed a pitcher of rice wine. “Let’s have a drink!”
Freya found four earthenware cups and filled them all. “To Neona and her wedding night!”
Zoltan teleported to Neona’s house with three minutes to spare. One of the chests was mostly empty, Minerva’s he assumed. He stashed his duffel bag and small ice chest in there. Then he paced about the room, growing increasingly nervous. Would Neona accept him? He recalled the look of horror on her face when his fangs had popped out.
He needed to convince her he was safe. He glanced down at the new clothes he was wearing. In anticipation of proposing marriage, he’d dressed well, but now he realized the new clothes might frighten her. It would be better to look the same way he had when she’d last seen him. Shirtless with jeans.
With vampire speed, he pulled off his suit, tie, and dress shoes. He grabbed a pair of jeans from the duffel bag and put them on. Then he tossed the new clothes into the chest, making sure to retrieve the small black box from his coat pocket.