first, perhaps save the best for last. “Tell me about the Dark Ones then. What happened next… with them?”
Ramsey blew out a short, derisive breath and rotated the toothpick to the other side of his mouth, using only his teeth. “The followers of Jaegar did four things pretty consistently: They murdered as many males from the house of Jadon as they could; they fed on humans, openly and indiscriminately, like the earth was an endless buffet table—which caused dozens of human vampire-hunting societies to emerge—they repeatedly burned in the sun because they forgot they were immune; and they reproduced like rabbits, raping human women with the ferocity of locusts devouring stalks in a field of grass. According to the history, Prince Jaegar wanted to wipe all of Prince Jadon’s progeny from the earth as quickly as possible, but his own followers were too crazed, too out of control to manage… or organize.”
Tiffany shuddered all the way down to her toes. She rubbed her forehead in consternation and frowned. “So, what did the house of Jadon do? How did they survive?”
Ramsey rolled his shoulders in a slow, languid stretch. “Well, as you know, both tribes were banished from their homeland, from our homeland , so they slowly migrated to North America—”
“Why North America?” She immediately regretted this second interruption—she and Ramsey were not that familiar with each other, not by a long shot. “Sorry,” she whispered.
He smiled.
And it was a genuine smile…
“Well, I think part of it was the fact that the newly made vampires could fly, so they were able to travel the world in a way they had never done before, and they were drawn to the Rocky Mountains because of the vast similarities with the Transylvanian Alps. They were drawn to an isolated, mostly uninhabited continent . Not to mention, the wizard Fabien had already been here a time or two— think Ciopori and Vanya . I happen to believe the gods were already lining things up, knowing what the future would hold, making sure Marquis would one day be close to Ciopori. Basically, the followers of Jadon came first, and then Prince Jaegar’s loyalists followed.”
Tiffany nodded, feeling herself drawn in by the history. “Whatever happened to the wizard Fabien?”
Ramsey shrugged. “No one knows. Apparently, he took the princesses across the sea, placed them in an enchanted sleep to be awakened later by Prince Jadon, and no one ever heard from him again. Perhaps he traded his life for the power and magic he needed… nobody really knows.”
“And the princes?” Tiffany asked. She just had to know. “Whatever happened to them?”
Once again, Ramsey shrugged. “Same deal. Nobody knows for sure. Legend has it that they died in an epic battle back in Romania, that both warriors, both vampires , beheaded each other at the same exact moment, but no one has ever found their tombs.”
Tiffany clenched and unclenched her fists several times, trying to wring out her hands, release some tension. “ Shit ,” she murmured. What else could she say? “And the house of Jadon? How did it survive?”
Ramsey bit down on the toothpick, hard . “One word: Napolean.”
Tiffany braced her palms on the edge of her seat, angling her body even further forward, riveted by the tale. “Napolean?”
At this point, Ramsey pushed away from the wall, sauntered to the open armchair, and took a languorous seat. He placed both booted feet up on the ottoman and leaned back, once again crossing his arms in front of his chest. “When Jadon’s followers first got to North America, they were dealing with all the same crap as the house of Jaegar—they were also consumed by bloodlust and learning how to feed for the first time without inflicting wholesale slaughter, and while many of the males came directly to the Rocky Mountains, a lot more scattered from one end of the continent to the other. Over time, as more and more humans migrated to the New World, they
Ramsey blew out a short, derisive breath and rotated the toothpick to the other side of his mouth, using only his teeth. “The followers of Jaegar did four things pretty consistently: They murdered as many males from the house of Jadon as they could; they fed on humans, openly and indiscriminately, like the earth was an endless buffet table—which caused dozens of human vampire-hunting societies to emerge—they repeatedly burned in the sun because they forgot they were immune; and they reproduced like rabbits, raping human women with the ferocity of locusts devouring stalks in a field of grass. According to the history, Prince Jaegar wanted to wipe all of Prince Jadon’s progeny from the earth as quickly as possible, but his own followers were too crazed, too out of control to manage… or organize.”
Tiffany shuddered all the way down to her toes. She rubbed her forehead in consternation and frowned. “So, what did the house of Jadon do? How did they survive?”
Ramsey rolled his shoulders in a slow, languid stretch. “Well, as you know, both tribes were banished from their homeland, from our homeland , so they slowly migrated to North America—”
“Why North America?” She immediately regretted this second interruption—she and Ramsey were not that familiar with each other, not by a long shot. “Sorry,” she whispered.
He smiled.
And it was a genuine smile…
“Well, I think part of it was the fact that the newly made vampires could fly, so they were able to travel the world in a way they had never done before, and they were drawn to the Rocky Mountains because of the vast similarities with the Transylvanian Alps. They were drawn to an isolated, mostly uninhabited continent . Not to mention, the wizard Fabien had already been here a time or two— think Ciopori and Vanya . I happen to believe the gods were already lining things up, knowing what the future would hold, making sure Marquis would one day be close to Ciopori. Basically, the followers of Jadon came first, and then Prince Jaegar’s loyalists followed.”
Tiffany nodded, feeling herself drawn in by the history. “Whatever happened to the wizard Fabien?”
Ramsey shrugged. “No one knows. Apparently, he took the princesses across the sea, placed them in an enchanted sleep to be awakened later by Prince Jadon, and no one ever heard from him again. Perhaps he traded his life for the power and magic he needed… nobody really knows.”
“And the princes?” Tiffany asked. She just had to know. “Whatever happened to them?”
Once again, Ramsey shrugged. “Same deal. Nobody knows for sure. Legend has it that they died in an epic battle back in Romania, that both warriors, both vampires , beheaded each other at the same exact moment, but no one has ever found their tombs.”
Tiffany clenched and unclenched her fists several times, trying to wring out her hands, release some tension. “ Shit ,” she murmured. What else could she say? “And the house of Jadon? How did it survive?”
Ramsey bit down on the toothpick, hard . “One word: Napolean.”
Tiffany braced her palms on the edge of her seat, angling her body even further forward, riveted by the tale. “Napolean?”
At this point, Ramsey pushed away from the wall, sauntered to the open armchair, and took a languorous seat. He placed both booted feet up on the ottoman and leaned back, once again crossing his arms in front of his chest. “When Jadon’s followers first got to North America, they were dealing with all the same crap as the house of Jaegar—they were also consumed by bloodlust and learning how to feed for the first time without inflicting wholesale slaughter, and while many of the males came directly to the Rocky Mountains, a lot more scattered from one end of the continent to the other. Over time, as more and more humans migrated to the New World, they
Similar Books
