“Very sick!” Maria exclaimed. “It came upon her the night of the first snow. She began to cough and then by morning she had a fever. It has worsened and the doctor is quite concerned. Laura suffered a terrible illness a few years ago and it has weakened her constitution.”

“You must help her.” Sir Stephan’s voice was terse.

“I am not a doctor. How can I help her?” I was confused by their words and frantic appearance.

Sir Stephan glanced warily at Adem and Enre. “Perhaps we should speak privately.”

“They want you to make her a vampire,” Adem said. “That is what they want. They’re afraid she will die.”

“What? She’s dying?” I gaped at Laura’s parents in shock.

“No, not yet, but she may.” Sir Stephan released me and sat down heavily in a chair.

“It’s my fault. I should have never taken her out that night. It was the snow that caused it. I know it!” Maria covered her face in despair.

“What does the doctor say?” I could not believe that Laura could be so ill. I had just seen her a few short days before and she had seemed fine.

“He says that there is fluid in her lungs. He believes it’s pneumonia.” Sir Stephan rubbed his highbrow with his ruddy fingers. “Our son died from pneumonia and Laura nearly died as well that same winter. We beg you to not let her die.”

I felt ill as I considered their words and the implication of the deed they wanted me to perform. I sought out Adem’s gaze and he only sighed in response. Enre stepped forward to claim my coat, hat and gloves as I stood in silence feeling the heavy gaze of Laura’s parents upon me. How could her parents wish for me to inflict upon her my condition? Did they not understand the terrible complications my new nature had wrought upon me? Not only did I have to feed on the living for sustenance, there was all manner of folk, supernatural and human, that would see me dead. I lived my life in a state of constant anxiety. How could I wish that upon Laura? Yet, how could I let her die? Furthermore, I did not even know how to make one of my own kind. That secret was not one Vlad had imparted to me.

“I wish to see her, please,” I said at last.

Maria wiped away her tears, nodding as she moved to the hall. She reached out her hand toward me, gesturing for me to follow. Glancing back at Sir Stephan, I was surprised to see such despair in his plain features.

The hallways were quite cold and the sound of the wind outside made me shiver. The cold does not affect me as it once did, but I find no comfort in it. We reached Laura’s room and when the door opened, a warm gush of air flowed out. It had a slightly medicinal tinge that somewhat covered the scent of illness.

It broke my heart to see Laura propped upon a pile of pillows, breathing shallowly as the air whistled in and out of her lungs. Her skin was covered in a thin layer of moisture and her hair was damp. Flushed with a fever, her heightened color frightened me.

A maid was in the room stoking the flames in the fireplace. She glanced at us briefly before returning to Laura’s side to tuck the blankets up around her throat.

“Countess Dracula brought Laura a medicinal tea. Please have it warmed.” Maria held out the pot, clearly dismissing the maid. The woman bobbed her head, took the tea, and departed. Adem calmly shut the door behind her.

Hurrying to Laura’s side, I felt angry and helpless. Clutching her very warm hand to my bosom, I leaned over her. “Laura. Laura, darling. Please wake up.”

Eyelashes fluttering, her eyes struggled to open as she rasped out my name. “Glynis!”

“I’m here!” I forced a smile, fighting the urge to weep.

Adem set a chair beside me, and I gratefully sank onto it.

“I’m sick,” she whispered, her dry lips barely moving.

“I know, but you will be better soon.” I smoothed her hair back from her face and nearly flinched as I felt the fever burning under my touch. There was a basin next to the bed filled with melting snow. Several clean cloths were folded beside it. I wrapped a clump of snow in one of the cloths and rested it against her forehead.

“I’m so cold.” She tried to shove my hand away, but I kept it firmly against her brow. The fever immediately began to melt the snow and rivulets of water trickled down into her lank hair.

“I know, darling. But it’s the fever. We must try to reduce it, so you can get better.” It pained me to listen to her tortured breathing. The soft whistle emanating from her lips frightened me with each breath.

“I loathe being sick.” Tears formed in her eyes as her body seized in a terrible fit of coughing.

Adem and Maria surged forward to her bedside as she violently coughed. Adem snatched up one of the cloths and held it to her mouth so she could expel the terrible substance in her lungs. Once she was done, he gently cleaned her mouth with the clean edge of the fabric before stepping back. Maria clutched Laura, rocking her tenderly as Laura clung to her.

When the tea Brice sent was brought to the door, Adem retrieved it. I quickly poured a cup for Laura. Together, we had to cajole Laura into sipping it. After a cup, her breathing seemed to quiet a bit. Together, Maria and I tried to cool her skin with the snow in attempt to bring down her fever. Our earlier discussion was forgotten as we toiled at her bedside, nursing the poor girl the best we could. It was several hours before Laura’s fever broke and her breathing became less ragged.

Exhausted, Maria sat at her daughter’s bedside holding her hand. In silence, her eyes beseeched me to perform a task I did not truly know how to accomplish. As I gazed at my sick and possibly dying friend, I wondered if I would make her into a vampire if I knew the secret of the transformation.

Chapter 25

The Journal of Countess Dracula

November 26, 1820

The Dosza Palace, Buda

I despise doctors. Loathe them. Detest them! How can he say that he can do nothing for Laura? I do not understand! He claims that the damage from her previous illnesses has weakened her chest and that he cannot help her beyond the treatments he has administered.

How is that possible?

Every night I sit at her bedside and listen to her struggle for breath. Even the tea Brice has been sending her has lost its potency. Surely there is some miracle of medicine that can save her. Are we not a modern society?

I find myself bereft of all hope in science as I watch over her. I wish I could pray to God, the Virgin, and Christ and beg for her life. Yet, I fear they no longer hear me. Instead, I am tortured by the truth that despite my new, cursed nature, I am helpless. I do not know how to give Laura the terrible gift Vlad forced upon me.

I have dispatched Adem on more than one occasion to demand that Astir tell me the secret of the vampire gift. Each time, he was rebuffed. I even sent a letter to Astir demanding he disclose the ritual, or I would approach Ilinca and Gavril. He did not rise to my bluff.

I am so desperate now, I am inclined to risk my life to save Laura’s, but then I remember Ignatius and I am torn.

What to do? What to do?

“I hate him,” I sobbed as the door shut behind the doctor. His departure was a relief for I could not stand to hear him drone on about Laura’s dire condition. He was granting us no hope. Over the last few nights I came to despise his very presence in Laura’s sickroom.

Maria sat in silence next to Laura’s sleeping form, her gaze riveted to her daughter’s face as she drew in each tortured breath.

Pacing back and forth, I struggled not to cry. I was angry, hopeless, and torn. Once again I considered going to Borbála’s home and demanding to see Ilinca. I was not convinced she would impart the secret of the vampire ritual, but I was at the end of my wits. I could not bear to see Laura suffering so.

“If only he had told you,” Maria said at last.

“He tells me nothing,” I snapped. “Nothing!”

“Stephan says that he won’t even answer his correspondence.” Maria let out a soft sob. Her eyes were terribly swollen and her face was doughy from all her weeping.

“Human life means very little to him unless it suits his needs.” My words were bitter ones. I knew far too intimately the truth of Vlad’s regard for mortals. Adem and I had agreed not to respond to Sir Stephan’s pleas to Vlad. The very nature of Vlad Dracula would be to ignore the situation since it did not necessarily affect his plans.

“Stephan said he will refuse to do any further business with him,” Maria dared to say.

I shrugged. “Vlad would find another solicitor and possibly kill Stephan and you.”

She bit her bottom lip, nodding. “That is what I told him.”

“I don’t want her to die, Maria.” I felt close to tears and moved to face the fireplace. The flames were high, making the room almost too warm.

After several long minutes, I heard Maria slide to her feet. “I need to tend to some matters. I shall return shortly.”

“I will watch over her,” I promised. I guessed that the mortal woman needed to use the privy. She had been at her daughter’s side for hours before I arrived.

The door closed very quietly behind her.

Sitting at Laura’s side, I took her limp hand in my own. It felt very hot and moist. Her fever had returned. With a soft cry, I began to weep. I could not repress myself any longer. I loved her so, but I felt worthless. I had thought of binding her to me as I had done with Magda, but Adem warned that the old and the sick sometimes died and became mindless creatures upon rising. He was convinced there was more to the vampire ritual, but he was not certain how it was performed.