“What happened between you and Szilagyi?” I asked to distract myself from the scariness of undead abilities. “Three hundred years later, you’re still trying to kill each other.”
That scent of smoke coming from Vlad increased. “The first time I was imprisoned, I was a boy and the Ottomans were my captors. The second time, I was a vampire and my jailer was the king of Hungary, who was mesmerized into imprisoning me by his uncle, Mihaly Szilagyi. My human allies were unable to free me and as my vampire sire was dead, Szilagyi could do with me what he wished without repercussions from the vampire world. He intended to break me and rule Wallachia through me as he ruled Hungary through his nephew, but”—cold smile—“I would not break. Szilagyi would’ve killed me if not for Mencheres. He was Tenoch’s most powerful progeny and declared me to be under his protection despite my protests that I’d rather die than be subject to a filthy Turk, as I considered Mencheres at the time. But since Szilagyi was afraid of Mencheres, he kept me alive. Years later, as a condition of my freedom, I married the king of Hungary’s pregnant cousin and claimed the child as mine. Szilagyi pretended to want my help in overthrowing the Ottomans, so he had the king of Hungary assist me in reclaiming Wallachia’s throne, but he’d secretly allied with the sultan.”
Vlad paused, a savage smile flitting across his face. “When it came time to war, the Church paid Hungary to join me in fighting the Turks. My armies went. Szilagyi convinced Hungary’s army to stay behind, but he never returned the money. Instead, he fabricated tales of my viciousness and spread them far and wide. My people suffered because of his lies and greed, and my reputation had been tarnished so badly that many allies abandoned me. When my brother ambushed me, I allowed my country to believe I’d been killed so that my son could rule. Then he was murdered shortly after he’d begun his reign. Two centuries later, I discovered Szilagyi had sent the assassin, and I trapped him at the Royal Court of Targoviste, where until today, I thought I’d burned him to death.”
I winced. There was bad blood, and then there were centuries old virulent hatred.
“Why would Szilagyi wait so long to come after you?” He clearly wasn’t the forgive-and-forget type.
Another smile that made me think of blood-coated knives instead of good humor. “After I believed him dead, I hunted down and exterminated every member of Szilagyi’s line, plus his friends and political allies. It would take centuries for him to build up enough support to mount a successful attack against me. If he came after me alone, he’d be slaughtered.”
Now that Szilagyi had finally made his move, neither he nor Vlad would stop until one of them was really dead this time.
“At least he can’t hear my thoughts when I link to him,” I said, trying to look on the bright side of this bleak situation.
Vlad’s gaze swung to me. “How?”
“Bones taught me that playing really annoying songs over and over in my head acted as a barrier against mind reading. I was supposed to use that on you, but then things changed.”
“Remind me to kill Bones next time I see him,” he bit off.
Being tricked by his enemy for so long had obviously pushed Vlad into new heights of rage. I didn’t think the blazing in the hearth was accidental, and he would shred that armrest into sawdust with his increasingly vicious tapping. All of this should have made me head quietly toward the door, but I stayed where I was, mulling these developments.
“Shrapnel, notify the guards to pick up Leila’s family and bring them here,” Vlad said, shocking me.
The massive bald vampire nodded and left. I gaped at Vlad. “My family? Why?”
“Szilagyi asked you to betray me. You refused,” he stated. “His next attempt to turn you to his side will involve taking the ones you love hostage. Hence, bring them here.”
“He can’t come after my family, he doesn’t even know my real name. He keeps calling me Frankie,” I sputtered.
Vlad’s look was jaded. “He’s already begun researching your identity. Even if your voltage meant you never used a credit card, everyone has a paper trail. That’s why I’ve had guards watching your father and sister since the day you arrived.”
“But how? You don’t even know my last name, let alone my family’s names!”
“Leila.” No emotion colored his voice. “Marty gave me your full name, your father’s name, your sister’s name, and their locations within ten minutes of my speaking to him.”
His words were like a punch to the stomach. Nausea rose, leaving a vile taste in my mouth. “You tortured it out of him.”
“No, I told him if he didn’t tell me what I wanted to know, I’d ask you next,” was his implacable reply.
I flashed back to Marty’s worried question when I’d first seen him. You really okay, Frankie? Vlad had used Marty’s love for me against him, making him believe any reticence on his part would result in me getting the same brutal treatment he had.
I didn’t need my psychic abilities to figure out why Vlad wanted to know all my family’s details, either. They were his insurance against me changing my mind about helping him. He would’ve used them against me just as ruthlessly as he’d used me against Marty. Rage mixed with the bile inside me. No wonder Vlad knew what move Szilagyi would make next. The two of them thought exactly alike.
Vlad would’ve heard every word of my mental accusation, but he said nothing, and his silence was damning confirmation. I got up, walked over to where he sat, and then slapped him across the face as hard as I could. Maximus looked like he was going to have a stroke, but nothing changed in Vlad’s expression except a bright red handprint that quickly faded.
I left the room without looking back, fury stiffening my spine, but my heart feeling like it had shattered within me. Marty had been right after all. The thought haunted me as I climbed the curving stone staircase. Once I’d finally reached my bedroom, I made sure to lock the door behind me.