Paper Flower Consortium – Intrigue Among Vampires Preview
Intro- Loretta's Theme Plays
Beloved Initiates and other listeners,
Tonight, we shall hear a preview of a new book focused on my and Pascaline’s history entitled Intrigue Among Vampires. Before I begin, I shall tell you that I feared reading what modern people called spoilers until I realized that if you are listening, you must be aware that Pascaline and I both faced Death to become vampires so that is not really a spoiler which is why I shall read Chapter 20.
However, I shall warn long time listeners that I may seem different. You see in today’s parlance I was not a young woman at all, but a teenaged girl, certain that I understood the world and what it meant to be a vampire.
So let me bring you back to 1686 in Intrigue Among Vampires, Chapter 20
From the Journal of Loretta de Banquier
6th of January
Cher Journal,
Though no one felt like observing the holidays, we were forced to celebrate Christmas, New Year and Epiphany with the villagers. Now, the celebrations have concluded, and the village is quiet. Pascaline will die before the sunrise. I am afraid for my sister. And so jealous!
Pascaline
Moisture creeps up my back as I lay upon cold, thick snow and rest my head on the wet ground. I shiver.
Loretta kneels beside my prone figure and holds my hand. “I love you, Calette.”
“And I love you. Five years and a few months isn’t long.”
Agata opens the lacing on my stomacher and unties my chemise, exposing my breast. She cuts open the flesh and drinks from my heart.
I know a thirst without end as blood is drawn from my body. My heart slows. My muscles stiffen and cramp as I grow colder.
Agata cuts open the skin over her heart and bids me to drink.
I gulp the salty, coppery liquid. My lips become sticky with it. I swallow again and again. I want more. I want all of it.
“She is ready,” Agata says.
Seeing the blade that will kill me, I freeze.
Without a word, Jakub slices open the artery on my neck.
Time slows. I scream as a knot forms in my calf. I don’t expect such physical agony in the change. My lungs flutter as I draw in my last breath as a human woman. My heart feels stationary, then shutters and beats harder. I hear cries of my people under a king who did not care if they lived or died. I want to save them all.
Far away, I see beyond Agata into a long bloodline. I see the dark pit of the vampire who created her and the Roman man beyond him, and another woman, and another man. An old song that my nurse once sang came into my memory. I feel as light as the girl I had once been.
Loretta sings the song in the darkness, leading me back to her. Jakub hums with her, though he is a beat behind. I sense the pressure of cold fingers as Agata gently washes blood away from my breasts and lips.
Agata taps my shoulders. “Come back, my daughter in blood. My named Firstborn, Pascaline de Banquier. Legitimate Daughter of Jakub Christian Banquier, Count of Limousin, and his wife, Countess Agata.”
With Agata’s hand in mine, I rise. I wobble on my feet. My muscles ache. Agata gives me another cup of her blood, and Jakub offers a cup of his.
My muscles tighten again. When I take my first unneeded breath, I am strong. Strong enough for my vengeance. I want to gallop like a colt. I want to feel wind in my hair. I identify Loretta’s rapid heartbeat and pulse and am frightened of the wanton urge to taste the sweet, vital blood rushing through my sister’s veins.
“Agata is correct, Loretta. Some changes are…strange.”
“You’ve become strong, my daughter. Do you sense mental changes?”
I pinch my brow. “I don’t think so, Maman. How do you control bloodlust? I feel…I feel…”
“A vampire’s life is one of control, my daughter. It becomes habitual. Get a rabbit if you need more blood for the night. Loretta, remain in my room until your sister learns to control herself around humans.”
“Why must I wait, Maman?” Loretta asks. “Please, change me now.”
Agata pats her hand. “You must wait.”
“The years no doubt seem long to you,” Jakub says, “but in the centuries of your existence, these years are nothing.”
The elder vampires speak in good sense to my sister. She trusts them; I do not.
“It isn’t fair,” Loretta says.
“None of that now, ma petite.” Agata puts her arm around my sister’s shoulder and draws her close. “Let us discuss gowns, ribbons, and other things you need to meet this fashionable King Louis.”
I watch them go.
My heart weeps for Celeste, but my eyes are dry. Little Celeste and I will never see each other again, but she will find her father, who loved her more than life. I will never go to Heaven, not because I am an immortal, but because I will be killing whoever I meet in my former Paris townhouse. In that I feel utter delight.
***
I hoped you enjoyed the preview. Of course, Agata and Jakub were correct in not transforming me at this time, but that's a story for another night. Good night beloved Initiates and Sleep the Sleep of the dead…
Intrigue Among Vampires written by Elizabeth Guizzetti is available now – on Ebook at Amazon, on Hardback and Paperback it is available to order from your favorite bookstore. The amazing intro and outro music was written by Evan Witt and you can learn more about his work at www.wittynotes.com
Outro- Loretta's Theme Plays
VO: Thanks for Listening
