“Before Ruxandra killed the Old Priest,” he begins, slow but tense. “She demanded the secret of human immortality from him. He gave her a riddle. She didn’t waste another minute and killed him, expecting that the witch Magda or I would be able to easily decipher it. We weren’t. But now it turns out the Old Priest gave the same riddle to someone else before he died.” He pauses as worry rises in Tristan’s face.
“Someone else is trying to decipher his riddle, but instead of poring over it with scholars, they perform experiments on humans,” Vlad Dracula concludes. “We need to decipher it, and we need to do it soon.” He moves his chin in the general direction of the door. “And the man who can help us has just arrived. I was going to see him alone in the study.”
We follow his gaze to an elegant man with the air of a young professor who’s just stepped in through the grand doors. But instead of looking at Tristan and me, or even Lord Dracula, he spots the sexy blonde drinking champagne and chatting with Ruxandra. He glares at her like he could kill her.
“Lazarus,” I whisper as I identify my old friend. “Of course. He is a high caliber scholar. He could decipher the riddle.”
“Why is he looking at Irina like that?” Tristan demands, protective of the woman he’s worked with for ages, and who’s become like a sister to him.
“She was the one who turned him into a vampire many years ago,” Vlad Dracula explains. “He still hasn’t forgiven her for it. Trouble is, they’ll have to work together on this one. I just hope they don’t destroy each other in the process.”
THE END