Part 16 (1/2)
He reached for her, and she caught his arm and twisted it, and he was amazed, stunned by her strength. He was brought to his knees, rage and venom tearing from his lips.
She released him.
He rose, charging again.
She fought back.
And he flew....
And this time one of the three men who had remained on the boat strode toward him, picking him up, slamming him down again. He fought, finding some strength. He had once been a great warrior. A chieftain.
Once. He slammed into the side of the tree.
Stunned, he fell.
He landed hard upon the sand of the beach. He struggled up on an elbow and saw, amazed, that the survivors from the village still mingled there, no expressions on their faces. They were like sheep, unaware of the battle before them, or of the horror they had just faced.
Body parts lay about; the head of the white-haired old father of the first girl lay just by Lucian's elbow....
She was suddenly standing over him, her smile deepening.
”b.i.t.c.h, monster,” he told her.
She smiled. ”The blood was delicious, wasn't it?”
”No.”
She started to laugh, entirely entertained. ”It will seldom taste so sweet; she was young. Truly an innocent.”
She stared down at him.
Her lackey, the man who had come in on the fray to beat him for her, stood by her side. Tall, lean. His hair had a touch of red and was not too dark. His eyes were a light brown.
”Understand it. You are a monster, too, chieftain,” the lackey told him.
”No.”
Even his denial made him ill. The blood had been good. So good.
Water on the desert, meat to the starving. It had tasted sweeter than any mead, ale, or wine; it had filled him, warmed him, it had ... Oh, G.o.d . .
It had stopped the agony ripping at him, tearing at him. The unbearable pain ... ”Get up,” she told him.
”No.”
”You will do as I say.”
”I will never be your a.r.s.e-kissing slave, you witch. Such as him.”
He indicated the fellow at his side.
The man started forward, ready to tear into him again. She stopped him, just lifting her hand. ”But you will,” she told Lucian. She set her palm upon the chest of the other man. ”Darian is my right-hand man.
Touched by power. Protected ...”
Her fingers touched the locket she wore around her neck.
”Protected by my power,” she said. ”I will let you exist for now. Perhaps you will learn. We do not destroy one another. Such is written in the ancient laws. But, I am above the law, chieftain. I am the law. I made you; I will destroy you, if you learn too slowly.” Lucian knew what he had to do.
He rose and suddenly turned on one of the Vikings, seizing his sword. The lackey-Darian-panicked, thinking he meant to slay the woman. He dragged her back. Lucian thrust the weapon hard into his own stomach. Pain. Blinding pain. He fell to his knees. And heard her laughing again. ”Darian, get him up and back to the s.h.i.+p.” Again, he wasn't quite sure how he got there, but he was in the s.h.i.+p. He should have been dead. He wasn't. He should have bled to death. The wound was almost healed.
When she stood before him next, he was no longer in pain. Just exhausted. He couldn't move. ”What are you?”
She watched him a moment. ”I am everything. Your sun, your moon, your stars. I am your ruler; I am your G.o.d.”
”You are nothing to me.”
”You're stubborn, chieftain. But you do tempt me. I'll give you far more of a chance than most.” She shrugged. ”I believe you will learn in time. You must.” ”You make me vomit.”
She started to laugh again, that awful, deep, cruel and taunting sound. ”You l.u.s.t for me, and lie to yourself. You think you have a soul still, or such a thing as a heart. You do not. You will forget your little honey-haired bride-”
”Forget her? For you?” He found strength and spoke with a raging contempt, sitting up. ”Forget the sound of her laughter for the cackle of a witch?”
”We'll see.” She smiled again. ”You want to know what I am, chieftain? Some men call me lamia. That is the name they give creatures such as myself in the East. Among the Tartars and Huns and Gauls, my name is whispered, no more. Vampyr. But I am not just such.
I am the oldest, and the most powerful. I rule. I create, and I destroy.
Take care, chieftain, or I will tire of your whining. Believe me, I will destroy you.”
”You have already destroyed me.”
”I have given you strength, and life that can last forever.”
”I am a dead man.”
”Your hunger will keep you alive.” She left him.
The lackey suddenly knelt down beside him, sneering.
”She wants you now. You are a fool. But she will tire of you. And when she does, rest a.s.sured, I will destroy you.”
Pale streaks of day touched the sky.