Broken Heart 03 Because Your Vampire Said So by Michele Bardsley Page B

you?”
    Koschei
    Translated from the Memoirs of Ruadan
    After I was banished by my wife, I traveled by boat to a cold and barren place far from the land of Eire. As my new nature dictated, I drank the blood of mortal beings. In every village, I had to lie in wait for the unwary and take my sustenance by force. Soon, I gained a reputation as a strigoi mort—a vampire.
    Word spread quickly about the strigoi mort. Villagers and farmers begged their gods, their wise men, and their healers for protection, but though they laid herbs on their doorsills and curses around their houses, I was not affected. Superstition was not magic—I knew real magic.
    One night, I attacked a farmer, who fought so fiercely I let him go. Though I fled, I was relentlessly chased by terrified villagers. Forced to travel deeper and deeper into the craggy, snow-filled mountains, I subsisted on animal blood and slept in caves.
    Three days passed. On the fourth evening, I discovered a small village tucked into the mountainside. Cold and hungry, I managed to subdue a young woman long enough to drink what I needed. But she was the favorite wife of Koschei, the dark wizard.
    Koschei had a more fearsome reputation than even a strigoi mort. He was bone thin and wore only black robes. His hair was long and dark; his eyes as hard and green as jade. Through his magic and his psychic abilities, he coaxed from other villages food, entertainment, and companionship. Koschei had all that he needed to live a comfortable life, including many wives, concubines, and children.
    I was surprised to find myself at the mercy of a mere mortal. Koschei’s most powerful gift was the ability to glamour. Within moments, Koschei compelled me to tell all my secrets.
    Then Koschei revealed his own secret: He was dying. He told me that he feared that his village and his family were in jeopardy; that if he died, rival peoples would attack.
    “Give me immortal life and I will teach you my magic. I will show you how to draw a human to you, to drink, and to make him forget. “
    I agreed. What Koschei did not know was that I asked Morrigu for the ability to make others like me. She showed me the spells and the symbols for Turning. She gave me special instructions for the first six vampires I would Turn; these equals would rule the new vampire race with me.
    I warned Koschei that Turning into a deamhan fola was risky. But I could not persuade him from his goal. We agreed that he would teach me the magic first, should the transformation fail.
    Koschei spent every evening showing me the ways of the mind. He taught me how to alter his voice and how to create illusions. “People believe so easily,” he said. “Show them what they expect and they will not question you.”
    After I learned all that I could from Koschei, I performed the ritual of Turning. I was relieved when he awoke as deamhan fola.
    There was little time to celebrate his transformation. The next evening, his village was savagely attacked. Though Koschei and I combined our powers to fight the unknown invaders, nearly all of the villagers were slain and the buildings burned.
    We escaped with three of Koschei’s children deep into the mountains. Only Koschei’s daughter, Ina, who was barely seventeen, survived the night.
    While Koschei held vigil over his daughter, I returned to the village. I buried the dead and burned everything else to the ground. I also be-spelled the area so that neither human nor beast would enter what had once been a happy place.
    After the work was done and the spells cast, I returned to the cave.
    Koschei was readying to leave. He knew of a powerful healer in another village. “I will take Ina to her.”
    We agreed to meet in one year with the other five deamhan fola to create a ruling Council.
    Then Koschei and I parted ways.

Chapter 7
    “Patricia.”
    My name held a world of hurt. He reached one arm beseechingly toward me. I shook my head, my whole body going numb. I tossed the paper towel in