Chapter 62

Vlad looked at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his cravat. After almost draining 4 volunteers… the only reason he didn't completely drain them was because he didn't want Viktor on his ass for killing humans… he finally felt normal again. When the stupid bitch cursed him, any time he ate, the blood would turn to fire in his veins, burning himself from the inside out.

After experiencing the excruciating pain over and over again, he gave up trying to eat. He could only lay in bed and dream about how he would punish that little gypsy. It wasn't his fault that she had the wrong eye color for someone in her family. Anyone would have believed that she was lying through her teeth about her heritage.

And Viktor, finally growing a pair, would not dare to contradict someone that he was interested in.

Allowing his butler, Sebastien, to help him into his own tuxedo jacket, he did up the buttons on his waist and after another quick glance at the mirror, left his room to meet up with Pandora in the formal drawing room.

"Well now, don't you look so much better," Pandora purred, adjusting the fit of her gloves around her wrists.

"And I feel much better too. I guess thanks are in order then," said Vlad as he took a seat in the leather chair across from the one that Pandora chose.

"No thanks are needed," she replied as she folded her hands in her lap, looking as graceful as any queen. "I am so sorry that my darling daughter has done something like that to you. I really don't know how I managed to raise her."

"Hardly your fault," Vlad reassured her, "She is clearly not one with strong ties to your bloodline. I just don't know how she managed to live this long."

Pandora quickly looked over at the vampire in front of her, trying to get a read on him. His statement setting off alarm bells. He didn't know how she managed to live this long? "Yes," she said, her voice soft and comforting and completely contradicting the sharp look in her eyes. "She must be using some type of dark magic to keep herself alive. Truly a disgrace to her Gypsy heritage."

"That wouldn't surprise me," replied Vlad as he motioned for Sebastien to serve some tea and snacks to Pandora and a glass of his favorite type for himself. Bowing, Sebastien left the drawing room to fulfill his task. "It was just revealed that the House Gypsy has been dabbling in black magic for God only knows how long," he continued, leaning against the back of his chair and crossing his legs.

After getting himself more comfortable, he looked at Pandora. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Whatever do you mean by that?" She replied, a slight smile on her face. "Do we have business?"

"I believe so," said Vlad, not at all put off by her statement. "You cured me of my curse for a reason, I would like you to tell me what that is. And spell it out. After all these centuries, my brain sometimes forgets things. I don't want to be considered an oath breaker again."

Pandora simply chuckled and nodded at Sebastien as he re-entered the room with a small trolly of snacks and tea… and a glass of what looked like thick, red wine. "One sugar, please," she said, not bothering to look at him. "I know I shouldn't but I can't really suppress this sweet tooth I seem to be born with," she chuckled as if she had to provide an excuse for wanting one sugar in her tea.

Vlad humored her with a chuckle of his own. "You are so beautiful, one sugar will only make you sweeter," he said with a purr of his own. "Now, about this deal that I agreed to," he continued, refusing to take the hint and dropping the subject.

"There is no deal," Pandora reassured him. "I am simply worried about the… dark path… my daughter seems to have gone down in recent years. All I am asking is if you hear anything about her… or even from her, you simply keep me informed. A mother's work is never done… even if the child does not appreciate the sacrifices she has made."

Vlad nodded his head as he took the wine glass from Sebastien and took a sip. Feeling the warm blood flowing down his throat, he sighed in pleasure. "So true… once a mother, always a mother. It must be so frustrating to love a daughter as deeply as you do and not be able to contact her for fear of being subjected to her disdainment."

Pandora put a sad look on her face and hummed in agreement. Her life was so much harder when Natalia was granted immortality while her own children had to suffer through grisly deaths. Was it not enough of a punishment for her to be required to look after and raise the child? Did she really have to sit back and watch as she claimed Gypsy heritage?

That girl was nothing more than an orphan that her husband found abandoned in the woods near their camp. She did not deserve to be a daughter of the Queen, and yet, her husband insisted. If it was not because she knew for a fact that her husband would never be able to have an affair, she would have thought the spawn was his child.

And the way that Nicholas was around that… thing… as if she was the one sun in his life… it was ridiculous! She should have been subjected to that type of worship from her own son. Not some stray picked up off the streets.

Realizing that her thoughts were spinning out of control, Pandora pulled herself back together and took a brief look over at Vlad to see if he caught her lack of control. Seeing that he was fully engrossed in his glass of blood, she took a sip of her own tea. She would fix the mistake that her husband made. And if not, she would enjoy torturing the spawn until her own death put an end to her fun.