Let Them Eat Cake
Vlad’s First Appearance In The Series

Meeting Vlad...

“Здравствуйте!” A deep gravely voice said what sounded like “asdraswhicha.” Luke knew the man on the other end of the line just said hello in Russian. That was the extent of his understanding of the language.

“Vlachko! This is Luke (From Luke & Jezebel). I need your help.”

“Aha…you bloodsucking fiend. When don’t you need my help? You never call to say something sweet. Like Vlad you old coot, how’s it hanging?”

“Jesus, Vlad. Your mate has tainted your language. I don’t have much time. Maria is sick. She’s vomiting, has had no appetite for days and is doubled over in pain with muscle and stomach cramps. Before she collapsed in bed, her human servants said she was irritable and mean. Throwing things and verbally abusing them.”

Silence fell on the other end of the line, eventually broken with a weary sigh. “Maria would never do that to her little bookends.”

“I understand that. Vlad?”

“I am here, друг.”

Друг—friend. So, okay, he knew two words in Russian.

Vlad offered, “I have put my mate, Veronica on the line. I have told her of your problem.” There was a question in his voice.

Luke snorted. “Not my problem, Vlad. Maria has been spending time with a mortal. I am at the man’s house now. They had a lover’s spat and haven’t seen each other for two days and nights. He’s in worse shape than she is. Which brings me to my question…it’s the Oh-Shit Factor again, isn’t it? Somehow Maria managed to form a true vampire bond with a mortal?”

A very feminine voice filled the room. “At some point in our lives we were mortal. If you look at it that way it makes sense. Why would we only form a true bond with other vampires? Count Dracula and I met only a few days after I was turned, and my genetic code was still in transition. At the time, we had no idea what was happening to us. You know that…we discussed in great length how the Oh-Shit Factor reared its ugly head. We didn’t even realize vampire true bonds existed. Since then we’ve been searching through old texts, talking with many of the ancients, and trying to learn as much as we can. Yet all we have discovered about the bond is that it is extremely rare, only occurring every few hundred years.”

“Ronnie and I were joined almost two hundred years ago this month,” Vlad added in helpful concern.

His reminder was unnecessary. Luke had been at their wedding.

“Okay, so I assume somehow Maria and Justin formed a true bond,” Luke said in disgust.

Vlad interrupted him. “We really did learn more about the bond than how rare it is. Their connection isn’t fully formed yet, or they wouldn’t be sick. The sickness comes when you fight the bond. The male will need to dominate…to control. The bond takes several days, maybe even weeks to form if they don’t fight the sexual connection. If they give in to the sex, the bond is a slow melding of minds and souls as they reach out and merge.”

“And if they deny the sexual connection from the very beginning? Did they have a choice?” Luke demanded.

“Ouch. Instant bond with limitless hunger, you might as well lock yourself away with your mate for a month or so,” Vlad said.

“What if they initially gave in to the sexual connection, and then had a fight and separated?”

“The bond would have started to form slowly. Then the separation would trigger the sickness. I would imagine that the sickness would be more extreme since the mating had already started. As they fight the forming bond they’ll deteriorate, and without each other’s blood they will die. The craving can snap their minds as they go though the mental and physical abandonment. From now on, they will only be able to be apart for a few hours. Our research indicates that the stress of separation will kill them after just a few days. You need to get them in the same room, and let nature take its course.”

“You mean they will never be able to spend more than a few hours away from each other, or will it get better?” Luke asked in amazement.

“It gets worse,” Vlad started to reply, and Luke heard him huff in pain.

He smiled, knowing Veronica had elbowed him in the stomach.

Veronica picked up the explanation, “The attachment will grow stronger with time, not weaker. Eventually, they will have no desire to be apart, and a physical and emotional wrenching pain will nix the idea if they try it. Have Maria call me when she feels better, I’ll try and prepare her for what is coming.”

“Great. So, the solution is to take Justin to Maria and lock the door.” Luke ran his hands through his hair in agitation. It was just as he feared.

“That about covers it. You might want to clear out for a while. Move the bookends to a suite at a hotel and let Maria call them when it’s done. Otherwise they might try to interfere,” Vlad answered.

He added something Luke had already guessed. “You realize the mortal will be a vampire when this is done.”

Luke looked at Bill for the first time since the conversation started. He expected to see the old man’s face filled with worry and concern for his son. What he saw instead was gloating cheerfulness. Go figure.

He would never understand mortals.

He said goodbye to Vlad and Veronica, promising to call and let them know how things worked out.

Lord save him from ever experiencing the doubled-edged sword of a vampire’s true mate bond. He didn’t think he could live with the constant togetherness.

He picked up Justin as if he were a baby and headed out the door and down the stairs.

“Was that really Dracula?” Bill asked.

Luke couldn’t believe the man would ask that question after everything he heard.

“I don’t know. I don’t ask. I assume Dracula is Ronnie’s pet name for Vlad.” He stopped, thought for a moment and groaned. “Hell. For all I know he could be.”