“And this
Quintas will know who has taken Emryl?”
“I know WHO
has taken him,” Zhivvah snarled angrily, “But where they have taken him and how
to convince them to surrender him… that is where our difficulty lies.”
“So I have
to stay here by myself again?”
“Oh, no,
dear. Quintas is not Septimus. Only you will be able to convince Quintas to
help us.”
“Is Quintas
a vampire? Like you guys?”
“Quintas is
a vampire,” Zhivvah confirmed. “But he is not like Septimus or like us. He is his
own sort.”
“Will he
eat me?”
“Perhaps,”
Zhivvah said with a shrug, “it depends on his mood. Sometimes he can be more
violent than even Septimus… but unlike Septimus, he can have moments of
decency. It all depends.”
My mouth
must have literally dropped open at the idea that Zhivvah actually wanted me to
meet this Quintas guy. There was no way I would do it and I couldn’t believe
she would actually ask me to do it.
“Don’t look
so alarmed.”
“Don’t look
alarmed?” I screeched. “I just want to go home! I don’t belong in this world.
You want me to meet some guy that is just as likely to kill me as he is to talk
to me and you tell me not to be alarmed?”
“You just
need to plead your case, child, and we’ll go from there.”
“And what
if he decides to kill me after I plead my case?” I ranted.
“Neither
Tavian or I will let that happen. Come now, it will be alright.”
“When?” I
asked nervously. “Where is he?”
“He’ll be
coming to us. Septimus is intrigued and has promised to relay our dilemma and
inform Quintas that we need his help.”
“I thought
Septimus wouldn’t help us at all.”
“Septimus
would not restrain himself in feeding on you, of that I am sure. And while the
squabbles of human problems don’t interest him, he seems to have acquired a
certain fondness regarding me. And Tavian, being one of only a few half
vampires in the entire history of the universe, is also very interesting to
him. He is sort of a rich, eccentric uncle of sorts. He would do almost anything for Tavian. As
long as he doesn’t have to smell you or see you… helping a human in her plight
is viewed upon as indifference. To him it doesn’t matter one way or the other.
He’s talking to Quintas for us. Not you.
A million
new questions came in to my mind but the questions I wanted to ask didn’t seem
to matter. Like… how old of a vampire was Zhivvah? And if she was a vampire,
did that mean Tavian’s father was human? How old was he and what did it mean to
be just a half vampire? Did that mean he was only half cursed? But while I had
those questions in the back of my mind all I could think about, was meeting
Quintas.
“How old is
Quintas?”
“He’s
around 250 is all. But he’s very powerful or rather… influential. He commands
respect even from some of the ancients, such as Septimus. If he doesn’t kill you,
I’m sure you’ll like him very much.”
I didn’t
know if Zhivvah was trying to be funny or not. I was a bit taken aback and
didn’t know how to respond. I would like Quintas a whole lot more if he didn’t
kill me.
“Have you
eaten?” Zhivvah asked me.
I shook my
head, unable to speak. I hadn’t been able to eat or sleep. And I still wasn’t
sure how long I had been in my little prison. I wasn’t starting to feel very
tired but I had gone through a lot of emotions in the last little while and
whether the exhaustion was mental or physical I wasn’t sure. Most likely a
little of both.
“You should
eat and then if you can, get some rest. I too need some rest and then we’ll
just have to wait for Quintas.”
“Did
Septimus know if Emryl was alright?” I squeaked.
“Quintas
will know more,” Zhivvah assured me. “Is there anything else you require before
I leave you?”
“How long
have I been here?”
“Only about
six hours. Get some rest, dear.”
“Are you
going to lock me in here again?”
“For your
own safety,” Zhivvah said with an affirmative nod. “Eat and then rest,” she
ordered once again and then she was gone.
So even
though I fought it and really didn’t want to, I made my way to the little
kitchen and fixed myself a cheese sandwich, some tomato soup and an apple.
After eating, I realized I was very tired and I stumbled wearily to the bed and
collapsed on to it. I’d been fighting sleep and thought my mind would not allow
for me to relax enough to fall asleep but I was surprised that as soon as my
head hit the pillow, I was blessed with unconsciousness.
* * * * *
“Syd,” a
voice hissed. “Syd, wake up.”
“Emryl?” I
asked sleepily. “Emryl?”
“No,
sleepyhead, it’s me, Tavian. Wake up. Quintas is here.”
Everything
came back to me with stinging reality and suddenly I was wide awake. Quintas
was here. Quintas who may or may not just decide to kill me by sucking all of
my blood. Quintas, who may be the only chance we had to help Emryl. A lot was
resting on Quintas’ shoulders and how he would react to me. Bad enough, I thought
dismally to myself, to be in the company of two vampires but to find myself in
the presence of three of them was truly terrifying.
“How do I
look?” I asked running my fingers through my hair in the hope to straighten out
some of the tangles that I knew were there.
Tavian’s
face distorted somewhat and I was afraid he was going to laugh at me again. He
might have too, except he seemed to sense I was serious. “You look like a girl
that just woke up.” He said instead. “Quintas isn’t going to care. He thinks
all humans are wretched.” Then as an afterthought he added, “You look okay to
me, Syd. Don’t worry about it. Come on.”
Okay? I
thought. That wasn’t very reassuring but I didn’t have a change of clothes or
any way in which I could freshen up so I ran my fingers through my hair one
more time and then fearfully followed Tavian.
I could
hear laughing as we ascended the steps out of the basement and Tavian led me
through the kitchen to the living room.
Zhivvah’s head was thrown back in laughter and the male voice that
chortled happily next to her, was like music. He was a sculpture of perfection.
Both Zhivvah and Tavian were dark headed, but Quintas had blond hair. It was of
a rugged, casual cut. His face, I was sure, had been chiseled from a god. He had
a sturdy, square chin, and unlike Tavian’s dark brown eyes and Zhivvah’s black,
lightless eyes, Quintas had light blue eyes. They didn’t reflect light either,
just like Zhavvah’s but they sparkled with something else. He was dressed nicely but not extravagantly.
A blue shirt, red tie and black slacks. He looked like a regular business guy.
I would have never guessed he was a vampire. I had almost expected him to be
dressed in 19th century garb, complete with a long black cloak.
He stood
when I entered the room and I heard Zhivvah say, “This is the girl I’ve been
telling you about. This is Sydney Gerken.”
I was
mesmerized by him. He was gorgeous and as he approached me I found I was
actually weak in the knees.
“Miss
Gerken,” Quintas said smoothly. He took my hand in his and kissed it.
“Hello,” I
murmured shyly, trying not to shiver. Like Zhivvah, his skin was ice cold and I
shot of ice seemed to shoot through me.
“I’ve told
Quintas all about our little situation,” Zhivvah informed me. I was grateful
but a little confused. Zhivvah had told me that I was going to have to be the
one to convince him.
“Do you
know where Emryl is?” I asked pulling my hand away from his. I made my way over
to the Easy chair. Quintas waited until I had seated myself before he let
himself settle once again next to Zhivvah.
“I’ve heard
rumors,” he admitted.
“What kind
of rumors”
Quintas sat
back and studied me for a few minutes, while I studied him back. I wondered
what was going through his mind. The corners of his mouth twitched as if he was
struggling not to smile. “Zhivvah tells me you’ve read Payton’s blog.”
“What is
he? Some kind of legend?”
“To our
people, he is,” Quintas said seriously. “Before your friend Emryl, Payton got
closer to the truth than any other human before him.”
“Did the
same people who took Dr. Payton, take Emryl?”
“Yes.”
Quintas replied.
“Did they
kill him?”
Quintas hem
hawed for a second, staring at his icy fingers that he had clenched together.
“That is the curious thing. Not as rarely as you might believe, humans get
closer to the truth than our kind generally likes. It is dangerous you see.
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