Real Vampires: Glory and the Pirates by Bartlett, Gerry (red white royal blue TXT) 📕

tub and gathering clothes for my man to wear made it easier for me to ignore the memories that kept haunting me.

“Gloriana, what’s wrong?” Jeremiah was leaning back in the tub, enjoying the warm water, one foot propped on the edge. He was obviously surprised I hadn’t made a game of bathing him or suggested that I join him.

I just shook my head. I didn’t want to go through that story again. The fight. The worry about Zarah’s body.

“Would you like one of your cigars?” I knew he enjoyed relaxing with one and had brought the box up from our bedchamber. “Let me light one for you.”

“Thank you. If I can’t have you in here with me, naked, I’ll take a cigar.” He smiled. “You are in a strange mood.” He inhaled as I held the taper to light it. “Still angry with me?”

“I tried to shape-shift while you were gone. I wanted to search for you myself. I would have gone with Valdez then.” I pulled up the stool and sat watching him. He was a beautiful man in my eyes, lying there in the tub drawing on that cigar. The smell was exotic and not entirely to my liking. The smoke blended with that from the fire in the fireplace. There was a slight wind coming through the arrow slit that made it swirl around his head and mine.

I sighed, strange mood indeed. I should be taking off my dress and climbing into the bath with him. Instead, I wanted to talk.

“You tried, but failed, or you wouldn’t have been left alone.” Jeremiah reached for my hand. “I’m sorry. I wish you could get past your fears.”

I squeezed his hand. “So do I! I tried so hard. I did what you said, exactly. But felt not even a tingle of a change starting. Am I not a true vampire? Is that the problem?”

“Don’t be silly. How could you be more of one?” He got up with a splash and threw the cigar into the fire. “I’d like to say it’s not important that you conquer this but we both know it is.” He grabbed a drying cloth and wrapped it around his waist. “Up on the battlements and fighting with a mortal woman who could have easily killed you? Shifting would have saved you.”

“I know!” I stood and threw myself into his arms. He was moist and cool and everything I wanted. I was so glad he was back. “I’ll try again. The witch…” I felt his muscles go taut.

“What about the witch?” He stared into my eyes.

“She offered me a potion. To help with the shifting.” I lowered my gaze.

“How in the hell could she help you?” He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. “Look at me, damn it. Did you take a witch’s potion, Gloriana? Tell me you didn’t risk such a thing.”

“She said it was a calming potion. After that horrible fight with Zarah, I felt…” I leaned against his damp chest. “I’m sorry, Jeremiah. I was weak, I took it. I wasn’t even trying to shift. I just wanted to be at ease. I’d had such an ordeal. I was shaking, upset.” I held onto him, waiting.

“What did it do to you?” He ran his hands up and down my back, comforting me. “Did it give you ease? Or do something else? Those bloody witches cannot be trusted. You know that.”

“I also know they can help, if they wish.” I’d had dealings with good witches and had learned you couldn’t judge them all by one bad example. It was the same with vampires. Zarah had called me a monster just because I had fangs. Was it true?

“You haven’t answered me. What did that potion do to you? You seem quiet, not yourself. Are you still feeling the effects of it? Did it poison you?” Jeremiah’s hands tightened on my waist. “Do we need to see the witch and threaten her until we get an antidote?”

“You know better than to threaten a witch, Jeremiah. They can be powerful enemies.” I pulled away from him and rubbed my forehead where I still ached. “The potion gave me visions. Nothing more.”

“What kind of visions?” Jeremiah grabbed another drying cloth and ran it over his hair. “That’s strange. It doesn’t sound calming to me.”

“First it did calm me, in a way. I felt boneless. I began to see pictures on the ceiling. They made no sense until I asked a question. I wanted to know where I came from. I’ve always wanted to know that. Right?”

“Yes, that’s true. What did you see?” He dropped the cloths and pulled on his britches.

“A palace of sorts. White, magnificent.” I handed him his shirt, sad to see his chest covered when he pulled it over his head. I knew he wanted to meet with Fergus and the soldiers in the castle. He had to assert his authority. We had little time together before duty called him. “There were two people on a throne. They wore golden crowns.”

“That’s wonderful, Gloriana!” He hugged me. “You must come from some kind of royalty. It doesn’t surprise me a bit.” He sat on the stool to pull on his boots. “Do you think it was true or just a dream? Though you have always been well-spoken, as if from a wealthy family or royalty.”

I didn’t tell him I had merely aped the speech of the actors in Shakespeare’s plays to learn to speak so well. “I have no idea what is true and what is not. I also saw colorful birds and warriors. The man and woman on the throne did seem to look like me. The woman had golden hair the color of mine.”

“She could have been your mother!” Jeremiah seemed determined to make the best of this. “Why not? I’ve heard of brews helping people remember things. Or to find lost items. I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before.” He pulled me into his arms.

“Wait. Are