Page 88 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species

A light slap on her butt yanked her out of her thoughts. The vampire muttered in his strange language. Was it her imagination, or was his bony hand resting a bit too comfortably there?

The ground beneath the vampire’s feet inclined upwards, and her breathing eased. Was that a drum? Could there be an exit nearby?

She wanted to cheer when she spotted an actual exit at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps the vampire was setting her free? Maybe he’d already released the others a safe distance away and was bringing her to them?

They emerged under a star-lit sky, on a field illuminated by a bonfire blazing in the middle. Around it, at least forty pale, gaunt vampires sat on the grass, some drinking from wooden cups, while others danced to the wild rhythm of a massive drum.

Nyavolski, Helena, Viktor, and Alex were bound to a wooden pillar sticking out from the ground. Their wrists and ankles were tied, and a thick rope looped around their waists. Beside them was an open sarcophagus, though Amelia couldn’t see if it held a mummy.

Before she could make eye contact with any of them, the vampire dropped her to the ground, his gaze unnervingly affectionate.

“Shogjankotrunaastaakitno,” he said. At least, that was what it sounded like.

She straightened herself. “I want to talk to someone who speaks Bulgarian or English! As a last resort – German.”

The vampire smiled and pinched her cheek.

32

The vampires, draped in white sacks, danced and shouted in harmony with the drum, their movements illuminated by the fire’s reflection. Small hills encircled the meadow, with sombre forests stretching out into the dark, as far as the eye could perceive.

The Neanderthal had taken Amelia to a secluded corner of the field, all the time babbling in his ancient language and staring at her as if she were a rare exhibit. Thank goodness, the rogue hadn’t done anything more than shower her with loving stares and the occasional pinch on the cheek.

She inspected the off-white sack that served as his clothing. His snow-white bony limbs stuck out of his outfit’s sleeves and rim. Amelia’s attention seemed to have delighted him, because his face livened up. Was that… a blush?

He made another attempt to start a conversation. When Amelia only grimaced back, he frowned like a child whose toy was taken away. He scanned the other vampires, tapping his finger to his chin.

Then, he shoved a finger in Amelia’s face, which she read as ‘sit still until I return.’

That filled her with hope. He would probably leave her alone to bring a translator. The moment he did, she’d run back to the cave. Zacharia had to be close by. But instead of leaving her, the vampire lunged forward, grabbed her, and tossed her over his shoulder once more.

Oh, no…He carried her across the field.

Amelia’s eyes widened when her abductor’s hand landed on her backside once again. “Put me down, you fool!” Her words got lost in the vampires’ frenzy. The savages weren’t yelling because of her but as part of a tribe song.

When the Neanderthal set her down beside the bonfire, she faced another pale man with grey hair reaching to his waist. Around him, four female vampires knelt in a half-circle, their black eyes fixed on her, but Amelia couldn’t decipher their emotions.

The two men exchanged a few words in the foreign language before the long-haired one pierced Amelia with his gaze and asked in the South-eastern language, “What is your species, creature?”

Amelia clenched her teeth. “I’m a nymph.”

“Wonderful.” His pale-blue lips parted in a chilling smile to reveal canines that could have been sharpened on a whetstone. “Ban Ban tells me he found you in the temple, and you had no permission to be there. Our rules are quite explicit: anyone who enters the temple without an invitation from the Beduin tribe becomes its property. Since Ban Ban was the one to discover you, I will honour his wish to make you his wife.”

The drumbeats reverberated, seeming to punctuate his every word.

His wife.

The tribe’s property.

Ban Ban.

“You have arrived on a very special night, female creature,” the vampire said. “Tonight, we celebrate the Night of the Horned God. You will be privileged to witness the sacrificial rites alongside your new husband.”

Amelia’s body went rigid. “Sacrifices?”

“In honour of life, we offer the god living flesh.” The man gestured towards the pillar where Nyavolski, Helena, Alex, andViktor were bound. “And in honour of death, we shall present him with a dead body.”

The vampire clapped his hands. “Now, let us dress you appropriately!”