Read Online Zara's Curse (Empire of Fangs) by Andrew Domonkos - Free Book Online
Authors: Andrew Domonkos
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is what it is,” Twig said. “You know that I’m a born skeptic. But I have seen it. I know what they are and whatever you want to call it doesn’t really matter. All you need to know is it’s not something you want to be.”
“How long have you known about them?”
Twig turned his arm and inspected the damage. “I’ve known ever since my father told me.” He produced a pack of American Spirits from one of his pockets, and slid out a smoke and lit up.
“But your father is…insane. He was put in Whispering Pines,” Zara said, staring at the floor.
Twig leaned back on the couch, lit his cigarette, took a long drag, and blew a plume of smoke in the air. Usually, she would of spazzed on him for smoking in her place, but given the circumstances she didn’t much find it a priority.
“My father…was one of the leading Hematologists in the country,” Twig said after a few more drags. “Blood doctor. He was published in medical journals all over the world. They even considered him for a Nobel Prize at one point. Anyway, one day he had been sent a blood sample from some museum in New York. A sealed vial unearthed in Romania. He found things he shouldn’t have found in that sample. When he began to talk about blood that exploded in sunlight, that had seemingly magical properties, he was shunned by the scientific community and fired from his job. He became obsessed, started spending all his time working on some kind of cure for what he thought was a virus. But that wasn’t what made him go mad. They did something to him, those things…something to keep him quiet. They twisted his mind in the same way your new boyfriend has twisted yours. Eventually, they threw him in the crazy house. He refused to see me every time I visited.”
Zara took a deep breath and let the story set in. “You never talk about your dad. That’s horrible. But why didn’t you warn me about all this?” This was the first she had heard anything about Twig’s father.
He got up and walked over to the window and peered out. “Because I needed to get into that house. I needed to know where they kept him.”
“Kept who?”
“Him. Their father. Damon Caspari.”
“But why?” Zara asked.
“To destroy him,” Twig answered evenly.
“You want to kill him? Jesus! Do you realize how insane you sound?”
“Funny,” Twig said with a cynical chuckle, “I said the same thing to my own father before they hauled him away.”
“And this Damon person. Micah’s father…what’s his story?”
“In my father’s notes, he says that Damon Caspari was an orphan born in fifteenth century Hungary. He joined the military as a young man and from his exceptional ruthlessness on the battlefield quickly rose to power. During this rise, he served under one Vlad of Wallachia, aka Vlad the Impaler.”
Zara reeled. “Oh god. I’ve been reading about him.”
“Yeah,” Twig said with a sigh. “So anyway. During the war, the two men became friends and came to respect each other. It was then that my father thought that Vlad let Damon drink from his famous grail. A golden cup he used to leave unguarded in the center of the city to tempt any criminal stupid enough to touch it. And they became the first of their kind.”
“Let me guess, the Holy Grail?” Zara said sarcastically. The whole thing was too much to handle.
“Not quite. A different cup. Previously owned by a man known as Lazarus of Bethany. You know, the guy from the bible who rose from the dead?”
“Now you’re just messing with me,” Zara said, holding her head in her hands.
Twig continued undeterred by Zara’s disbelief. “And in time, with his newfound titles and lands, all Damon needed to complete his life was a family, and so he chose one. He
“How long have you known about them?”
Twig turned his arm and inspected the damage. “I’ve known ever since my father told me.” He produced a pack of American Spirits from one of his pockets, and slid out a smoke and lit up.
“But your father is…insane. He was put in Whispering Pines,” Zara said, staring at the floor.
Twig leaned back on the couch, lit his cigarette, took a long drag, and blew a plume of smoke in the air. Usually, she would of spazzed on him for smoking in her place, but given the circumstances she didn’t much find it a priority.
“My father…was one of the leading Hematologists in the country,” Twig said after a few more drags. “Blood doctor. He was published in medical journals all over the world. They even considered him for a Nobel Prize at one point. Anyway, one day he had been sent a blood sample from some museum in New York. A sealed vial unearthed in Romania. He found things he shouldn’t have found in that sample. When he began to talk about blood that exploded in sunlight, that had seemingly magical properties, he was shunned by the scientific community and fired from his job. He became obsessed, started spending all his time working on some kind of cure for what he thought was a virus. But that wasn’t what made him go mad. They did something to him, those things…something to keep him quiet. They twisted his mind in the same way your new boyfriend has twisted yours. Eventually, they threw him in the crazy house. He refused to see me every time I visited.”
Zara took a deep breath and let the story set in. “You never talk about your dad. That’s horrible. But why didn’t you warn me about all this?” This was the first she had heard anything about Twig’s father.
He got up and walked over to the window and peered out. “Because I needed to get into that house. I needed to know where they kept him.”
“Kept who?”
“Him. Their father. Damon Caspari.”
“But why?” Zara asked.
“To destroy him,” Twig answered evenly.
“You want to kill him? Jesus! Do you realize how insane you sound?”
“Funny,” Twig said with a cynical chuckle, “I said the same thing to my own father before they hauled him away.”
“And this Damon person. Micah’s father…what’s his story?”
“In my father’s notes, he says that Damon Caspari was an orphan born in fifteenth century Hungary. He joined the military as a young man and from his exceptional ruthlessness on the battlefield quickly rose to power. During this rise, he served under one Vlad of Wallachia, aka Vlad the Impaler.”
Zara reeled. “Oh god. I’ve been reading about him.”
“Yeah,” Twig said with a sigh. “So anyway. During the war, the two men became friends and came to respect each other. It was then that my father thought that Vlad let Damon drink from his famous grail. A golden cup he used to leave unguarded in the center of the city to tempt any criminal stupid enough to touch it. And they became the first of their kind.”
“Let me guess, the Holy Grail?” Zara said sarcastically. The whole thing was too much to handle.
“Not quite. A different cup. Previously owned by a man known as Lazarus of Bethany. You know, the guy from the bible who rose from the dead?”
“Now you’re just messing with me,” Zara said, holding her head in her hands.
Twig continued undeterred by Zara’s disbelief. “And in time, with his newfound titles and lands, all Damon needed to complete his life was a family, and so he chose one. He
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