Epilogue One

The car drove down the road, music playing on the radio, snacks and drinks in the console between them. The lights broke the night darkness. Carrie had the window open, one arm pushed out, her hand waving in the wind.

It had been nearly a week and neither of them had heard from or seen Solomon or Helga. They discussed what could possibly be going on but without letting herself be exposed to Helga’s mind, Carrie wasn’t able to explore where the old witch was or what she was planning.

“Where are we going, Radu? Another church you built?”

They were going to hide the sword, place it somewhere that could not be found until it was needed. Once they were finished with this task, they could return to Peles Castle, where Ali, Anatolie, and Raven were waiting for them.

“Yes, it’s the only option I have.”

“Can’t we keep it with us? Then we can use it whenever we need to.” She glanced at him. “I mean, you can use it whenever you want. I wouldn’t be able to handle that power. I saw what it did to those vampires. That’s probably why Solomon and Helga have left us alone.”

“They are regrouping,” Radu said. “They’ll be back. I just don’t know when. Or where.”

“We’ll be in Peles Castle. They know that. Don’t you think they would know that?”

“The spell that your friend has on that castle is strong. He is the invincible one, right?”

“I guess you could say that, yes.” Carrie thought about Anatolie. A strong, courageous man who would have done well fighting alongside them against their enemies if he wasn’t charged with the task of protecting so many innocent lives. “He’s a good man.”

“That he is.”

“So are you, my prince.” She smiled at him.

He smiled back at her. “Thank you, my princess.”

Carrie giggled. If she married Radu, would that make her a princess for real? She didn’t say anything about that. She didn’t want to mention something like that when they were still in the process of figuring each other out. She enjoyed their time together. She knew her love for him was strong and binding. What had started out as a vampire needing witch’s blood to recover from a long and damaging hibernation had turned into something lasting and powerful.

The street lights lit up the sides of the road as they passed cottages and small houses placed a fair distance away from each other. She admired the little houses, staring in the lit windows. She had just enough time to see someone sitting on a couch watching tv, a couple sitting in two chairs, talking to each other animatedly, an empty living room with bright pictures on the walls and tall fancy lamps. She wondered what it was like to live in a little house like that, to live a normal life without the threat of vampires or witches hunting you down every minute of the day.

She let her hand ride on the waves of the wind, not bothering to press him about what church they were going to or how long it would take. She just enjoyed spending time with him. She never wanted to leave his side.

“Did you ever wonder what it was like to live like these people do?” she asked in a quiet voice. “Look at them, so peaceful. They don’t know what danger lurks in the darkness.”

“Or the light,” Radu put in. He looked at her. “I was human once. So were you.”

“But for you, it was 700 years ago. You didn’t live in a time when there was television and telephones and electricity and all the luxuries we have now.”

Radu was quiet for a moment. He placed one hand over his mouth, his elbow resting on the windowsill. “I suppose you are right about that,” he said after a moment. “But it was a more peaceful time, too.”

Carrie snorted. He looked at her. She gave him a narrow look, pursing her lips. “If it was a more peaceful time, Radu, you wouldn’t be a vampire now.”

“I meant that vampires and witches weren’t fighting each other.”

She shook her head. “No, they were too busy fighting off the humans.”

Radu grunted. “Yes. True.”

They were quiet for a few minutes before Carrie spoke again. “I wonder about it. I do remember some of that lifestyle, going to school like a normal child, having a bed time, watching cartoons. But my childhood is the only time I can think of that I wasn’t learning to be a powerful witch and, more recently, defending myself and my loved ones from evil people.”

“It’s a shame that we had to meet the way we did,” Radu’s voice was soft. “But I am glad we met. Are you glad?”

“Yes, very glad. Of course I am. I… I love you. I don’t want to be without you.”

He glanced at her with a gentle grin on his handsome young face. “I feel the same way, my dear. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when the car suddenly jerked to the side and they heard a loud popping sound, followed by the sound of rubber slapping against the ground. Carrie got the car under control and brought it to a stop.

Radu looked at her with amusement on his face. “I think we just blew a tire.”

Carrie laughed. “And here I was just talking about living life doing normal things and we’ve blown a tire. Is that a sign of some kind?”

“If it is, I don’t know what it means.”

They both laughed. Radu got out of the car and went to inspect the blown tire. She got out after a moment or two, thinking that they should stay together in case the blown tire was a result of Helga or Solomon or something else coming up against them.

But it was only a blown tire. She watched as he replaced the tire, looking to the left and the right down the deserted street before picking the car up and setting it on a jack. He unscrewed the bolts with his bare hands, as if they hadn’t been put on with an air tool. He had the whole thing changed over in moments.

“Well, I guess I should have just stayed in the car,” she said. “You sure didn’t need my help.”

He grinned at her, lifting the car off the jack. “Pull that jack out of there, would you?” he asked.

She leaned down and pulled the jack out so he could set the car back down. “See?” he said. “You helped.”

She giggled. “Oh, I feel so much better now.”

They got back in the car and Carrie drove in the direction Radu had originally instructed her to go. Carrie was quiet for a moment.

“Do you think things like that happen on purpose?” she asked. “I mean, the way that tire blew…”

“You can’t expect that every negative thing that happens to you is a result of Helga’s shenanigans, my love. Or Solomon’s either. Sometimes things just happen.”

“But that was so random, happening just after I mentioned that it would be strange to live a normal life.”

“Well, for us, the lives we lead are normal. Who’s to say those people really have the peace and tranquility it looks like they have? Here we are, this is the street.”

Radu indicated for her to turn from the well-lit street onto a dirt road flanked on both sides by a long chain-link fence. She drove slower, not wanting to kick up too much dirt under them. The land around them suddenly became quite barren. There were only a few trees, no bushes or foliage of any other kind, just long rows of dirt, dirt and more dirt.

It looked to Carrie like they’d entered the desert. This was not the Romania she knew.

“This church,” Radu said quietly, “is one of the most famous and historic churches in Romania. That’s because I built it 600 years ago and have been hiring people under the name of several corporations to keep it maintained. It’s one of the oldest in the entire country.”

She raised her eyebrows. “If that’s the case, why are we bringing the sword here? Aren’t there a lot of people who come to visit?”

He shook his head. “No visitors are allowed here. The place is too historic to take that kind of chance.”

“All right then,” Carrie hated to be a nosey parker but she had questions about this whole operation. “If no one is allowed here, who is guarding it? With no visitors, it can’t be a working church, which means no priest or reverend. Do you have bodyguards watching it?”

He grinned. “Wait and see, my dear.”

She looked at him with curious eyes. “Okay,” she replied.

The car rolled quietly down the street until they were in front of the looming church. Carrie got out cautiously, looking around her. She watched with surprise as Radu opened the back seat and pulled out the sword, sheath and all, strapping it around his waist. He looked at her. “I don’t need to strap it on. I just know I won’t have it for much longer and don’t know when the next time I’ll get my hands on it will be. The power, Carrie, it can be really overwhelming.”

“I know,” she replied. “You’ve told me. I mean, I guess I can imagine. I’ve never experienced it myself.”

He went up to the front door, beckoning her to follow. She didn’t understand his casual nature but had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

He pushed open the doors and held one open for her. She pushed the other one, cautiously looking around the front entrance of the church. It was empty but for the pews stretching from one side to the other and the altar at the front. There were no crosses, so signs or symbols that it was a church other than the fact that it obviously was one.

“These look like new pews,” Carrie remarked as she walked down the middle aisle toward the altar.

“Radu!” she heard the sound of an excited young voice come from her right side. She spun to see a boy of about fifteen coming from the wings behind the altar. He spotted her and lifted one hand to wave. “Hello! You must be Carrie. Radu has told us about you. It’s good to meet you. Elena, come on out!”

Carrie turned when a sound behind her met her ears. A woman who looked only slightly older than the boy, about eighteen, was smiling at her, approaching slowly. Her movements were fluid, like a cat. She held out her hand. “Elena,” she said. “It’s good to meet you, Carrie. This is Joseph.”

“You guard this church?” Carrie asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. She looked at Radu, who was giving her an amused look.

“All this time you’ve spent with me,” he said, shaking his head. “And you don’t know a vampire when you see one?”

Carrie looked at Joseph and Elena through new eyes. “Oh! I should have realized.”

After a moment of smiles and talking, more children came out from behind the wings, through the front door and several side doors that led to offices and other rooms. Carrie was overwhelmed by how many children there were.

“How did this happen, Radu?” she asked, her eyes sympathetic as she looked around.

He gave her a half-smile that showed no amusement. “These children were turned too young. They were left, abandoned by their parents and loved ones because of what they had become. So they came here. It’s a sanctuary for them.”