“Leave us,” Vlad said to the maid.

She immediately obeyed.

I set my chin at a defiant angle.

Vlad rose slowly and walked to my bath. Reaching down, he grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. “Then if what you say is truth, you are a far more dangerous creature than I realized. And I must remind you that I am the most dangerous creature in this room.”

I tried to twist away from him, but he held me.

“I merely demand that you teach me to protect myself against all manner of dangers,” I said.

“You demand?” His voice was growing softer, crueler.

I knew what was going to happen next, but I truly could not help myself. “Yes, I demand. I demand that you treat me as the valuable property I am to you.”

This drew out a loud chuckle from him, then it died as quickly as it rose. I was flung across the room and hit the wall with such force I felt bones crack. Of course, they immediately began to heal.

Then he was upon me, striking me down, splitting my lips, crushing my nose. And yet I healed only for him to brutalize me again. The pain had me trembling, but I continued to try and rise to my feet no matter how many times he struck me down.

“I shall teach you what I deem suitable,” he hissed at me.

I raised a hand and he grabbed it, crushing it. I screamed and he laughed. Grabbing my hair, he dragged me across the room then used it to propel me onto the bed.

“You are my wife, my servant; you shall do as I say. Learn what I wish for you to learn. Do what I wish for you to do.”

My wounds were healing with vampiric efficiency. The pain was fading, but I knew more was coming. I lay on they bed, my red hair falling in a tangle over my eyes.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

Then he was on me and I knew I could not fight him. His lips were harsh and demanding against mine. His hands rough and bruising. I gave myself to him to placate him. To make him feel I was subservient. His servant. His wife. His slave. I moaned for him and gasped for him, but it meant nothing to me. This time I found no pleasure in his touch.

In the aftermath, he left me nude and bleeding on my bed. He dressed in silence as I lay healing the wounds he had inflicted upon me.

“I shall make time to teach you the sword and some of our powers,” he said to me.

Then he left the room.

Closing my eyes, I let the silent tears come and trembled with anger. How I missed my beloved Ignatius. How angry I was that Vlad’s touch had nearly erased my body’s memory of my true loves’ embrace.

Magda entered the room and came to me. She was sweet and kind, helping me up to rest in a chair wrapped in a blanket while she prepared a new bath for me.

I wept at her kindness and at my frustration that I could tell none of the gloriousness of my night. Of my great love for Ignatius and the freedom I had felt with him.

I only feel true release now as I write this. For the truth is in these pages and I have a testament to the wonder that is Ignatius. I shall hide this new journal away and keep the other where Vlad can find it. But this is my deepest secret. My most wonderful of treasures.

How I miss him...

Chapter 24

The Journal of Andrew Wright-

Buda, Hungary

12th of March, 1820

The sun was blazing in the skies over Buda when our weather-beaten carriage finally rolled into the courtyard of Sir Stephen’s mansion. Before the driver could even dismount, I shoved open the carriage door and leaped down onto the cobblestone drive. Stretching my body, which was quite sore from our journey, I glanced about at our new surroundings taking in the lush foliage, marble columns, and the imposing house before me.

“He lives fairly well, this Sir Stephen fellow,” the mumbling voice of my companion came from behind me.

“Yes, it is quite impressive,” I agreed. Realizing my dear friend’s older body most likely had suffered more than its share of trauma during our journey, I held out my hand to him. “Here, Doctor, let me help you down.”

Groaning as he forced his stiffened muscles into action, Dr. Emil Baum cautiously lowered one foot to the ground. “I think I shall never again be able to walk.”

“It was a rather awful journey,” I conceded. My red locks flopped into my eyes and I smoothed them back with my hand. “I shall be indebted to you forever for accompanying me all this way.”

“Your father was a good friend, Andrew. I had to come for his sake and for your dear sister,” Emil responded, his craggy face quite solemn. “Hmm, no one seems to be about.”

“I sent word ahead. I had expected a better reception than this.”

I was anxious and on the verge of losing my temper. My journey had started off pleasantly enough, but soon after leaving Munich, terrible storms had haunted our travels. We had been holed up in Austria for nearly a week as fierce storms made every mode of transportation impossible. After such difficulties, it was almost impossible to believe I was finally in the city of Buda. There had been many a time on this journey that I had wondered if I would ever survive to see my sister.

There was a sharp cry and I turned to see a beautiful woman with ivory skin and raven tresses staring at me. She had come from around the side of the house and she carried a basket laden with freshly cut flowers. The startled expression on her fine features dissipated as a wonderful smile graced her lips.

“Oh my! You look so much like your father! You really gave me such a fright! I thought your father had returned from the dead,” she exclaimed in a delightful, airy voice. Moving quickly toward us, she tucked her hair back behind her ears and smoothed her dress. “I am Maria Ramsay, Stephen’s wife. We were expecting you later this evening.”

I could not help but return her smile and kissed her hand in greeting. “It is lovely to meet you, dear lady. I am Andrew Wright and this is my companion, Dr. Emil Baum, our family physician. He has accompanied me to examine Glynis.”

“How very nice to meet you, Doctor Baum,” Maria said.

“It is my pleasure, I assure you,” Emil quickly answered, his dark eyes bright with merriment. He was obviously glad to be free of the confines of the carriage and be breathing in the fresh afternoon air.

The front doors opened and there was a flurry of activity as servants hurried out to help the driver with our luggage. I gazed into the coolness of the marble hall with longing. The sun was awfully hot on my head and shoulders, and I could feel beads of perspiration slithering down my back.

“Come in, come in! How rude of me not to see that you need to relax and refresh yourself. Come in and I shall get you something cool to drink,” Maria said invitingly as she hurried up the steps into her home.

“I think this is a rather nice place, Andrew,” Emil said under his breath to me as he followed our hostess. “Glynis is probably well taken care of in such a place.”

“I hope so,” I answered, my voice a little lighter than it had been in a long time. Yet, there was weariness in my bones that did not originate from the journey, but from that fateful moment when I had opened up the letter that had informed me that most of my family had perished.

Maria seated us in the cool serenity of a lovely parlor before hurrying off to gather refreshments. I sat in a high-backed chair and stared out the French doors at the lush velvet lawn that flowed down to what appeared to be the Danube. A cool breeze wafted through the windows into the room and Emil sighed with contentment.

“You could almost believe you were in England,” he decided.

“More like France. All the furnishings of the house appear to be imported from there. It is all the finest quality. The marble hall we entered through was exquisite in craftsmanship,” I answered.

“It is all very lovely and rather expensive. I thought Sir Frederick Ramsay lost all of his money in outlandish schemes. Was not their estate bought by your family?” Emil asked. His salt and pepper eyebrows rose upward on his high forehead.

I nodded. “Indeed. My great-grandfather was a very good businessman. The family rose up in status because of his dealings. He became very close to the Crown and that is how he was bestowed with his title. When Stephen’s family lost everything, my great-grandfather purchased their estate.”

Emil leaned forward attentively. “Edric told me something about that. He seemed amused with his title most of the time.”

“Well, I do come from a family of self-made men, so the title has never been of any real importance to us except for business connections. Beyond that, my family is not very English. We have quite a bit of Welsh and Scottish blood in our veins.” I pointed to my fiery red hair and smiled roguishly. “Thus the family’s infamous contrary temperament.”

The doctor laughed with amusement. “Yes, yes, your family is prone to…how shall I say it-”

“Bad tempers and stubbornness?”

“To put it mildly,” the doctor said conceded.

“Yes, yes. I am afraid Glynis and I both have our fair share of those qualities.” I grew a bit somber. “That is perhaps why she alone survived. She always was the strongest of the lot of us.”

“As are you, dear Andrew,” Emil assured me.

“I hope so, doctor. I fear I feel quite weak right now. I wish to be strong for her despite my own broken heart.”

“And you shall be,” Emil assured me, then glanced about. “So despite your family taking over their ancestral home, your father and Sir Stephen were good friends.”

“Amazingly enough, yes they were. Stephen used to come and stay at the estate on school breaks with my father. I have never heard of any sort of inference that they were anything other than fast friends.”

“Well, Stephen seems to have done well here.” Emil dug into his coat pocket for a handkerchief with which to wipe his brow. “And we must be grateful to him for taking care of Glynis.”

“Actually, Glynis is not here,” Maria said as she re-entered the parlor.

A servant girl followed close behind with a tray of delicate pastries and another with a tea service.

“I understood from a letter sent to me by Count Dracula that he was arranging to have Glynis moved from his country estate to your home in Buda,” I said, my brow furrowing. “It was insinuated in his letter that he felt she should be closer to good medical care.”

Maria nodded her head as she clasped her hands to her breast. “True true. Stephen told me Glynis was going to come and live with us here. But then something rather wonderful happened.”

“And what was that,” I said a tad impatiently.

“She married Count Dracula,” Maria exclaimed with delight.

“What?” I stood up sharply and before I realized what I was doing, I had taken hold of Maria’s shoulders. “What are you saying?”

Maria smiled up at me, patting my arm. “Calm down, dear sir. Your sister fell in love with Count Dracula and he asked her to be his wife. They were married nearly a month ago. They are at his home here in Buda right now as we speak.”

“I must go there immediately,” I said shortly.

I could not believe my ears. I had come to retrieve my sister and take her home if she was well enough. There was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to leave her with a man I had not even met. “This is impossible.” I turned on my heel to see a tall, extremely slender man with a bland face enter the parlor.

“Ah, Andrew, I am Stephen, your father’s friend. I only just now arrived home from my office. I am glad to see that you arrived safely.” Sir Stephen extended his hand to me.

I was far too upset to be cordial. “What is this about my sister marrying Vlad Dracula. There was no inkling whatsoever in any of her letters of impending nuptials.”

“It was unexpected, I admit, but it worked out rather well. She is happy with him as he is with her,” Stephen assured me.

“This is preposterous!” I declared.