Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Underworld or it's characters, so don't sue. The other characters and subsequent storylines are mine, so don't infringe. Many Thanks.
Chapter Nineteen - Shadows and Spirits
Kraven crept to the door, as silent as a lion stalking its prey, and rested his elegant hand on the latch. The woman's scent was strong, even through the solid oak door. Her natural muskiness tinged with terror was intoxicating and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply of it, savoring the aroma as one would savor the first breath of a fine brandy. The surge of raw power and lust that coursed through him was almost overwhelming as he thought of how close he was to finally realizing his ambitions.
The woman's Corvinus blood would make her universally accepted as Queen of the coven. Especially now, with two of the elders gone and the third reduced to nothing more than a raving madman. Kraven knew it wouldn't take much to wheedle his way into a seat of power at her side. As her Sire, he would most assuredly be granted special privileges. After all, she would need guidance while assuming control over the coven and who better to guide her than he? Kraven almost laughed out loud with the pleasure of it. All the centuries of scheming and plotting and failed plans would be worth it, in the end, when he held the ultimate power within his grasp.
"Back away from the door."
Kraven paused and turned slowly towards the voice, cursing himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings. How had she found him?
"Just what are you planning this time, Kraven?" Erika hissed, her eyes glowing brightly in the dim hallway.
"Something that doesn't concern you." He made a dismissive sound low in his throat. "You shouldn't have followed me, Erika."
"You're wrong, you know. Everything you do concerns me." Erika brought her hand up and Kraven found himself staring at the wrong end of a very large gun. "I'm not going to let you ruin things for me again, Kraven. I will be Queen!"
Kraven's laughter was harsh and loud in the hushed hallway, "You? Queen? Did you really believe that I'd take a low born creature such as yourself as my wife?"
The gun shook in Erika's hand and she brought her other one up to help steady it. "All these years I've served you, Kraven. I've done everything you ever asked of me. I deserve the chance to rule far more than you do! I never turned my back on the coven and I never plotted with the filthy Lycan's against my own kind…like you did."
"So you believe the lies now, do you?" Kraven asked quietly, his head tilted to the side as he pondered her statement.
Erika shook her head, "You're the one that told lies, Kraven. To me and everyone else. Knowing that I unwittingly helped you destroy all that I once held dear sickens me."
Kraven was silent, racking his brain for a solution to this little dilemma. He was so close, dammit!
"Put the gun down, Erika, before you hurt yourself." He said the words dismissively. After all, it wasn't like the bullets would kill him, but he couldn't afford to be injured. Not now, when timing was everything.
"Not until you leave Ordoghaz." Erika answered, her pointed chin held high. "Without the human."
A tentative knocking on the door startled them both. Erika's finger tightened involuntarily on the trigger of the unfamiliar weapon, almost letting loose a hail of bullets. She quickly removed her shaking fingers from the trigger. Kraven's indrawn breath was nothing more than a hiss when he realized how close Erika had come to ruining everything.
"Hello? Is…is someone out there?" The woman's voice was childlike; plaintive and questioning, fearful and alone.
"Erika, that's enough of this foolishness." Kraven had taken advantage of her momentary lapse in concentration and sidled up next to her.
He knocked the gun from her hands and held her wrists in a cruel, viselike grip. "I order you to leave! Go back to Ireland and wait for me there. I'll send you word as soon as I've…"
"As soon as you've what? Turned the human into your Queen?" Now it was Erika's turn to laugh. The sound a brittle, maniacal twitter. "You really want her? Even knowing that she's spread her legs for a Lycan? For Christ's sake, Kraven. The woman is Lucian's whore!"
"And you're mine!" Kraven spat back at her, slamming her against the wall. "Now be a good girl and do as I say, or neither of us will get out of this place alive!"
"Please!" The woman's voice was a bit stronger this time, as was the tap she made against the door. "All I want is a light! It's so dark in here…"
The scent of rose water drifted towards them and Kraven stilled, his senses fully alert as he searched out the source of it. Voices tinkling with laughter sounded in the hallway, moving rapidly in their direction.
"Blood fucking hell!" Kraven hissed. He tossed Erika away from himself. "Well? Don't just stand there, you stupid cow! Run and hide!" Kraven took his own advice and ran down the hall on silent feet, away from the approaching voices.
"Yeah, you're good at that, aren't you, my love?" Erika muttered after his retreating figure. "Run and hide, indeed."
Erika grabbed the gun from where it had fallen and quickly slipped into another room a few doors down, across the hall from the woman's. She left the door open a crack, peering through the tiny slit as six Vampyre women that she vaguely recognized drew up outside the woman's door. They were carrying an assortment food and bathing necessities, including steaming buckets of rose scented water.
"I heard that she fought Eston's team like a wild animal!" said a mousy looking creature, a worried frown creasing her brow.
"Do you want to go back and tell the Master that you're too frightened of the human to prepare her for the ceremony?" asked an elderly woman, her ample bosom heaving beneath the weight of a copper tub. The younger one gave a quick, nervous shake of her head.
"I doubt she'll fight us anyway, once she sees what we've brought her. What woman doesn't enjoy a hot, cleansing bath? She's been through a lot lately, being kept prisoner by the Lycan's. There's no telling what the beasts did to her." The old woman clucked her tongue in a motherly fashion, standing aside as another woman cautiously opened the solid door.
Erika's lip curled back from her fangs as she watched the women enter the room. Then she crept silently from her hiding spot and set off to find Kraven.
"Oh you poor dear! How long have you been sitting here in the dark?"
Olivia shielded her eyes against the bright blaze of candlelight. She blinked a few times, searching for the owner of the kind voice. A group of women, of varying shapes, sizes and age, had surrounded her. Olivia was glad to see that none of them seemed especially threatening. In fact, most looked as terrified as she herself felt.
"There, now." A grandmotherly woman exclaimed, a smile lighting up her plump, lined face. "Light always helps banish away fear, doesn't it? I'm so sorry we didn't get here sooner, dear. Things have been rather confused around here lately. I'm Magdalene."
"Are you…are you here to let me go?" Olivia asked tentatively.
Magdalene's brow creased, "Let you go? Why, whatever do you mean?"
"I need to get back home…"
Magdalene exchanged a worried glance with the other women, "But, sweetheart…You are home."
"No, you have it all wrong. I don't belong here." Olivia rubbed at her temples, trying to make sense of the old woman's words. She felt so disconnected after spending hours with only her fears as company. "I need to get back to him, to Lucian. Please…you have to help me!"
The women shuffled their feet nervously, looking anywhere but at Olivia. Magdalene approached the young woman and placed her gnarled hands gently on the petite, shaking shoulders. "Mistress Olivia. You've been through a terrible ordeal, I know it, but you must listen to me. You're safe now. We'll not let those filthy Lycan's put their hands on you again."
Olivia shrugged off the old woman's hands and backed away as the realization sunk in. They all looked so normal, like any other women she might pass on the street, but they weren't like her. They weren't human.
"You're one of them, aren't you? All of you! You're Bloods…" She came up against the chilly stone wall and hugged her arms with shaking hands. "What do you want from me? Why did you take me from him?"
"Mistress…"
"I'm not your Mistress! Quit calling me that. I need to leave this place…" Olivia laughed hysterically, "What am I saying? I don't even know where I am! Even if I did, I wouldn't know how to find him." Tears pooled in her eyes and the stricken faces of the Vampyre's blurred.
Magdalene squared her shoulders and, with a flick of her wrist, sent the other women scurrying from the room. When she spoke, her voice was smooth and low, meant to stave off the younger woman's fears.
"Heed my words, Olivia. Whether you want to be here or not is beside the point. You have been brought here during a most dreadful time. The coven is in dire straights and must be saved. You are the only one that can do it. You, Olivia, are our last hope. You are a Corvinus.…and the Corvinus' do not consort with Lycans."
"Times change." Olivia answered simply. Magdalene's words had dragged a small sliver of her former self out of hiding. "And this Corvinus does more than just consort with Lycans. She loves one."
"Hush!" Terror filled Magdalene's eyes as she glanced quickly from Olivia to the door. Her voice was no more than a whisper when she next spoke. "Do not speak of such things in this house. It can only lead to death!"
"Then I choose death." Olivia's chin came up. "I don't know what your Master wants with me, but I'll not give in to his demands. I love Lucian and if that means my death, then so be it."
Magdalene rushed to the open door and peered into the corridor. Olivia steeled herself, for what was to come, fully expecting the woman to raise a hue and cry. She was shocked, then, when Magdalene turned to her with relief etched into her features.
"You were lucky this time. The corridor is empty of eyes and ears." Magdalene shook her head, "What is it about that man that can turn the most intelligent woman into nothing more than a simpering fool?"
"What?" Olivia asked stupidly, not sure that she'd heard the woman right.
"Lucian! Damn him…he can never leave well enough alone, can he? Always stirring up trouble in the name of love." Magdalene sighed and began to pace the room. "I remember him from long ago, of course and though you look nothing like Sonja, your spirit is the same as hers. I can see why he was attracted to you." She stopped her pacing and turned resolutely to Olivia. "Listen to me. There is nothing he can do for you now. Markus wants you and Markus will have you, come hell or high water."
"No…"
"Yes!" Magdalene's words were emphatic now. "Listen to me, girl. I was there before. I saw what they did to Lucian and his unlawful bride. If it were possible for someone to die of a broken heart, he would have perished with Sonja that day. If you truly love him, then ask yourself this: Do you think Lucian would survive the death of another beloved? Do you want him to suffer through that again? I tell you, in all the centuries I've lived, I've never seen a man love a woman as deeply as he loved his Sonja. It's a miracle that Lucian has survived this long. Do you really want to be the death of him? Because if you die, Olivia, then Lucian will as well. I feel it in my very soul. No one could survive that kind of pain twice in one lifetime."
Olivia's skin prickled as though Sonja's spirit had brushed up against her in passing. It seemed like the long-dead Vampyre Princess was begging Olivia to think carefully before making her choice.
Would he try to rescue her? Was Lucian, even now, hunting for her? Would he place Olivia's life over the safety of his clan? He had spent centuries trying to lift his people up from obscurity. Would he forfeit all that he'd worked for because of her? She knew the strength of his spirit and she couldn't believe that he would do that. No matter how much he loved her.
Should she sacrifice her life in the name of their love, as Sonja had done? By doing that, Olivia could save Lucian the pain of knowing that she was alive, yet no longer his to hold and cherish.
Or should she allow herself to become the bride of a monster? Just the thought of anyone else touching her the way Lucian had was enough to turn her stomach into a ball of ice, but maybe she could then bring an end to the war, giving the Lycan's a chance to live in a way that they'd never known, but had always deserved.
Which choice would cause Lucian less pain?
And could she find strength enough within herself to make it?
