Eleventh Grade Burns(37)

As they passed Eddie, Vlad noticed that he had paled in terror. He also noticed that there was a new scent on the air. Eddie had wet himself.

For some reason that made Vlad smile.





14


A FRIEND’S BETRAYAL

VLAD FLEW ACROSS THE BASEMENT AND TURNED, his vampire speed making him a blur in the dim light. He threw a roundhouse kick to knock the stake from Vikas’s hand. Vikas stepped back, just as fast, and Vlad missed. Vikas smiled, allowing Vlad a moment to catch his breath. “Much better today, Mahlyenki Dyavol. You’re no longer holding back.”

Vlad slipped his sweat-drenched T-shirt over his head and tossed it on the basement stairs. “Let’s go again.”

Vikas shook his head. “That is enough training for today. Now tell me what clouds your mind; what has brought this fury to your attacks?”

Vlad didn’t want to talk about it, but he knew Vikas wasn’t about to drop the subject. He sat on the steps and ran a frustrated hand through his slick hair. “You were right, okay? Joss isn’t going to walk away from Bathory without killing me.”

Vikas sighed and dropped the makeshift stake to the floor. He walked over to where Vlad sat, squeezed his shoulder, and took a seat beside him. “Do you recall our conversation in the hospital after you were staked?”

Vlad nodded. “You said you’d been betrayed by a friend too.”

Vikas was quiet for a while, then, in a gruff voice, he said, “I believe the time has come that I share with you my story of friendship and betrayal.”

He stood and moved up the steps. A heartbeat later, Vlad followed.

Vikas barked at Tristian, who was standing quietly in the kitchen. “Blood, Tristian. Warm. Then leave us.”

Tristian hurried to the freezer and collected bloodbags, and as he was pouring them into mugs, Vikas looked at Vlad, who stood there watching Vikas order his drudge around as though he was nothing. Vlad frowned and a glimpse of guilt crossed Vikas’s eyes. As Tristian sat the now-steaming mugs in front of them, Vikas spoke again, his voice much softer. “Bol’shoe spasibo, Tristian.”

Vlad took his seat across from Vikas and blew the steam from his mug before taking a sip. Vikas didn’t touch his, but the moment Tristian was out of the room, he said, “I have held many friendships over the centuries that I have lived, Mahlyenki Dyavol, and I have been betrayed by those friends more times than I can count. But few truly ripped at my soul. In truth, only one instance pained me in that way. I did not believe that I would ever forgive my friend. I did not believe I would let my friend live should I see him again. But time, as they say, heals all wounds, and my wounds mended long ago.”

Vikas took a deep breath and released it slowly. He met Vlad’s eyes, his irises a cool ice blue, and after a long, silent moment, said, “It was Otis, your uncle, that betrayed me in the worst way possible.”

Vlad almost choked on a mouthful of blood. He coughed, trying to keep it contained. Vikas handed him a towel and nodded. “Shocking, I know, to think that Otis, my dearest living friend, would be the cause of great pain. I almost killed him. I would have, but . . .”

Vlad dried his mouth and said, “But?”

He almost couldn’t believe that Otis had betrayed Vikas at one point. Vikas was the one man Otis knew he could count on. Their friendship seemed unbreakable.

Vikas looked away, staring into the contents of his mug. “But I didn’t.”

“What happened?”

“Your father was not the first vampire to love a human. Roughly two centuries ago, in Paris of all places, I met and fell deeply in love with a woman named Nadya. She was a good, Russian woman. Fair hair, hazel eyes. She was lovely, striking for a human, with a figure that—” Vikas’s lips spread into a smile and Vikas shook his head, realizing he was getting into the TMI area. “We shared an instant attraction for each other and, despite the laws, planned to marry the spring after she came into my life. But Otis discovered our love affair and reported my treachery to the nearest council president. It was decided that either Nadya would die and I would be punished, or she would have to be turned, reborn as a vampire. I wanted neither for her, as Nadya had made it clear that while she loved me with all my vampiric charms, she did not wish to undergo the change herself. So I refused to change her.”

Vikas paused to take a drink of his blood. His eyes found a window, and they lingered there for several moments.

Vlad’s voice finally broke the silence. “And?”