Your trial is set to take place in ten months’ time. A trial date for young Vladimir has not yet been discussed, but I do not think it will be long before the subject is breached. In the meantime, I will be relocating on a temporary basis to Bathory, so that you may enjoy your nephew’s company for a while longer. As none of us know what your fate will be post-trial, I think it would be best for you two to be close.
I look forward to tutoring Vladimir once again, and to seeing you when I arrive in the fall. Please secure lodgings for myself and my faithful drudge, Tristian.
Until we meet again… be well, my old friend.
In Brotherhood,
Vikas
Vlad read the letter again and again. The second and even the third time were barely enough to make it sink in. Otis was staying. And what’s more, they would be joined by Vikas in the fall. Vlad wouldn’t be the only vampire living in Bathory anymore. He’d have a family beyond anything that Nelly had ever been able to give him. He’d have people who really understood what it was to thirst for blood and hide your fangs in public. People who could relate to him in a way that no one else in town, not even Henry, could.
So what was with the hot ball of tension forming in Vlad’s stomach?
Vlad looked at Otis, who seemed to be waiting for his glance. “You’re staying?”
Otis nodded once, a look of uncertainty crossing his eyes. “If you want me to.”
As the initial shock wore off, Vlad couldn’t think of anything he’d want more. His vision blurred with tears, but he brushed them away with the back of his hand and cleared his throat. “It’s more than that, Otis. I don’t just want you to stay. I need you to stay.”
He glanced at Nelly as she left the room in search of tissues. “We need you to stay.”
Otis stepped closer to Vlad, putting a strong hand on his shoulder. His eyes brimmed with warmth and sincerity. “All that I have done to wrong you-not accepting you initially because of your mother’s human blood, leaving you to face D’Ablo alone, abandoning you when you needed my council most-I will make amends. That I promise you, Vladimir.”
Vlad nodded, overcome by emotion. He knew Otis would make it right, and he would finally have the comfort of his only living relative being close by. He released a shuddering breath and said, “ Thank you, Otis. For everything, but especially this.”
Otis embraced him tightly, then patted his back and let him go. Vlad had never felt so loved.
Otis smiled. “Don’t thank me yet. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
As Vlad raised his eyebrows, Otis set the Encyclopedia Vampyrica on the table and flipped it over. Then, with a small, moist cloth, Otis wiped the back cover, removing a glyph Vlad had not realized was there. Vlad flashed him a questioning glance, and Otis grimaced. “You have not been able to read any passages that contain the word Pravus. I confess, this is my doing. I hadn’t thought you were ready. I didn’t want your thoughts clouded by this fairy tale. But, after all you’ve been through and all you’ve learned, I feel you are in a position to decide for yourself what to believe in.”
Otis swallowed hard and held Vlad’s gaze. “Please… accept an old fool’s apology.”
Vlad shook his head. “ There’s no reason to apologize, Otis. You were protecting me. I get it.”
Otis relaxed visibly. “Why don’t we celebrate my new residency over a glass of O positive? Nelly can mull some later. For now, we drink.”
Vlad offered a one-shoulder shrug. “Actually… I’m not all that hungry.”
It hadn’t seemed like a remark worth Otis’s reaction, but nevertheless, his uncle furrowed his brow and leaned closer, as if they were about to share a dire secret. “Is there something you wish to share with me, Vladimir?”
“What do you mean?”
Otis wet his lips, as if searching for the right words. “Before I left you those months ago, you were famished at every turn. But now… you seem satiated somehow. Would you care to tell me why that is?”
Images flitted through Vlad’s mind, but he clamped down on them so that Otis wouldn’t see. They were pictures of darkness, blood, alleyways, and a beautiful goth girl named Snow.
And even though he knew that the best thing he could do was to confess his mistake to the one man who would truly understand, he kept his mouth and mind shut, pressing his lips firmly together before saying, “Nope. Nothing. I guess I just got a handle on it.”
Otis nodded slowly. And what Vlad saw in his uncle’s eyes tore at his insides.
Otis knew he was lying.
But there was no way Vlad could tell him the truth, that he’d fed from the source and liked what he tasted and how the blood had made him feel. After all of Vlad’s lecturing on why it was better to drink bagged blood, after his refusal to learn how to hunt, he just couldn’t tell Otis that not only had he fed from a person, but he’d been wrong in his stubbornness. Because Vlad didn’t feel like he’d been wrong. He still thought it was a bad idea to bite people. He still didn’t plan on feeding from the source. What he intended to do was apologize to Snow, and never, ever let it happen again.
Everything would go back to the way it was. It had to.
Otis nodded, seeming to silently agree with something he was thinking. Vlad seized the moment to change the subject, and fast. “I wanted to ask you something. About Henry.”
Otis folded his arms in front of him and leaned back against the counter. “Now that I’ve bitten him, you’re wondering if Henry is my drudge.”
Vlad furrowed his brow. “How’d you know?”
“Call it a guess.” Otis smiled, then shrugged. “It’s a fairly common concern amongst newer vampires. The answer is no. Only the first vampire to administer a bite can share that bond. To me, Henry is no different now than he was before.”
Vlad sighed in relief. He’d been fretting over just how to convince his uncle that Henry deserved his freedom. Not that the thought of releasing his drudge wasn’t a painful one. But he respected Henry, and if Henry wanted freedom, he certainly deserved it. Still, Vlad would miss their connection. “He wants me to release him, Otis. And I’m going to.”