A Union of Souls, Chapter Fifteen
Giselle Vasalle was ready.
For years she had waited and planned for this. For years she searched for the Book of Isiri, tracking the careers and discoveries of archeologists and museum curators. She combed through art and science magazines, she taught herself to use a computer to 'surf the net' and visit newsgroups. She was a woman with a plan and had been since that fateful day when she learned through one of her many dream-visions of the existence of the Book. And surely the dark powers wished her to have possession of it, or else they would never have sent the visions. The visions only came to warn her or to grant her some great power and knowledge. They were never ambiguous . . . and they were always hauntingly accurate.
Twice now her visions had saved Derrick from the hands of that rogue vampire Angel. Not that he was any sort of threat to them, their security or their safety. He had tried once to breach the security of Kristoph Cordovan's fortress. He had failed miserably and he had never made an attempt since. Kristoph and Derrick worried about him, but Giselle never did. She simply looked forward to the day that he could be put on a leash and turned into a plaything -- just like the others would be.
Someday soon. Very, very soon.
Staring out of the large bay window at the city sprawled beneath her, the witch sipped her wine, a slow, devious smile turning up the corners of her mouth. Fate and destiny had delivered not only the Book of Isiri into her hands, but the girl who would allow the spell to be worked to its full potential as well. The abilities that woman-child possessed were even more remarkable than the sorcerers who penned the Book could have ever guessed. They spoke from speculation; they spoke and wrote from a time when men still believed that the gods walked the earth. They did not know the truth that she did: the girl was very, very real.
Years of waiting had not disappointed her. Giving herself to the dark powers was indeed worth it. Tomorrow night, she would reap all that she had sown.
"There you are, Witch," her lover's voice came from behind her. Giselle tilted her neck obligingly, allowing him to place a delicate kiss on the bare skin there. "I thought that you would be down in the chamber, making the final arrangements."
"The final arrangements have already been made. You have nothing to do but relax and wait."
"Is that so?" His fingers trailed lightly down her arms, another kiss landing where her neck joined her shoulders. She closed her eyes and sighed, one hand reaching back to coil through his hair. It was so easy to fool them -- it was always easy to fool them. She had been playacting for so long that sometimes she almost believed that she truly did enjoy sharing his bed. "I have heard that the subject you were targeting has gone for help -- in the form of Angel."
"He's not a threat to you, Kristoph, he never has been." Giselle sipped her wine, twisting away from him as one finger snaked beneath the strap of her dress. "And whom did you hear that from? Your sentries? The ones that I sent to keep an eye on that little splinter that you call Angel. He'll be occupied. No need to worry about him."
"And the girl? How do you plan on getting to her?" Kristoph strolled over to the bar, oblivious to the glare of disgust that she directed at his back. "I've told you several times, Giselle, I don't like to get my hands dirty. Or the hands of my employees. With that lady cop on his side all the time --"
"If anyone is less of a concern than one lone vampire who thinks that he's a modern day John Wayne, it's that police officer. She's never come close to pinning anything on you and she never will. Your people -- and your lawyers -- are just too good." She was smiling at him in adoration by the time he turned, a glass of bourbon in one hand. "And don't worry about one little college girl. When the time is right, she will come to us. I promise you that.
"Then all of LA shall be yours." As she said the words, she almost believed them herself. If she had been forced to choose any other vocation, it would have been acting. She could lie with the best of them. Giselle had spent years molding Kristoph, winding him around her finger and binding him to her whims -- he simply was so enamoured of her that he had never realized it. They never did; men had a weakness, even those with demon blood -- and that weakness was woman. A woman who could use her charms and her wiles was a woman to be reckoned with.
Tomorrow night, when the moon rose full in the sky, it would be the moment of reckoning. The spell of Enslavement would be cast, giving ultimate power -- but not to Kristoph. By the time he knew what happened -- it would already be too late. He would be subject to her whims and at her mercy. They all would.
It was what she had been waiting for.
Returning to her side, he placed a kiss on her lips. "Then I shall put my faith in my beautiful Dark Witch. Shall we have dinner then?"
"Whatever you wish," Giselle whispered breathlessly. "I live only to serve you."
Her smile was one of genuine pleasure as she took his offered arm and they made their way to the waiting limousine. But it was not for the reason he believed.
It was because the arrogant fool took her at her word and his arrogance would be his undoing.