Desire for you- ALPHA RYAN Book 1

ILAY

Dimitri really had nerves of steel. Not just a few, but whole bundles of them.

His series of questions were spread all over the field and served to confuse us, irritate us and ultimately give him what he actually wanted to know. However, I would not do him this favor today.

I insisted, insistently, that I had not yet found my companion. Dimitri was a sly one and even before we got here I thought he was going to ask me about it. However, having a companion with Ryan didn't occur to him. That would be a bit far-fetched, and the chances of having a common mate were zero for an ignorant person. Dimitri had no way of knowing that Ryan's companion had demon blood in her.

All I had to do now was make sure Ryan didn't screw up and stay serious.

Dimitri might look old and frail, but he could be very different.

Ryan looked at Dimitri uncertainly and finally opened the chest.

The heart was of value to Dimitri because he could only use it if a non-vampire got it for him. The distortion of this heart increased his strength. Dimitri's nature was special because he was cursed by a witch. He was with the witch Helena many years ago and cheated on her with another woman. He had to refuel his life energy with pure hearts in order to stay alive. As cruel as Helena was, he was cursed to never die, so he grew older and frailer if he wasn't nourished. Women could be nasty beasts when it came to their men.

I watched Dimitri as he examined the heart. I leaned forward and pushed the lid of the chest shut. "So Dimitri, are you going to tell us where Ragnol is now?" I raised my eyebrows.

Dimitri gave me a slightly angry look and seemed to be considering whether he wanted to join in. He finally exhaled deeply "I'll tell you where Ragnol is, but I want the heart first." he pretended to be in a bargaining position.

"You know I won't agree to your demand until I physically have Ragnol here in the room, right?"

"Don't you trust me, Ilay? After all, you're here to ask for my help, I'm not the one who needs help." he argued, smiling at me almost too kindly. But the smile was false.

"Non mi fido nemmeno di questo cane." (I don't trust anyone, not even this dog) I replied and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Ma tu sei qui per aiutarlo, non è vero? Cosa ti fa dubitare di lui? Ha qualcosa che tu vuoi? È una minaccia per te Ilay, perché non ne ha l'aspetto?" (but you're here to help him, aren't you? What makes you doubt him? Does he have something you want? Is he a threat to you Ilay, because he doesn't look like one...)

Dimitri looked amused and his Russian accent was hard to miss. A Russian in the realm of the Italians... Funny. Ryan just looked at us confused, he didn't seem to understand Italian.

"Cosa ci fa un russo in Italia, Dimitri?" (What is a Russian doing in Italy, Dimitri?)

Dimitri looked at me in surprise and laughed. I smiled at him.

"Giochiamo alla roulette russa, beviamo vino costoso e mangiamo il cuore di persone innocenti... Forza Ilay, prima tu. Fidati di me."

(We play Russian roulette, drink expensive wine and eat the hearts of innocent people... Come on Ilay, you first. Trust me.)

I joined in with Dimitri's laughter. Russian roulette, I guess he was really out for blood. However, he forgot that I was far superior to the races. I didn't want to start a damn war. That was the only thing that stopped me from grabbing him and torturing him to death. That damn witch had to curse him too, never to be able to die....

I nodded to Ryan, "Give him the fucking heart." I said, glaring at Dimitri, whose gaze was all greedy again.

I didn't know if that was a good idea.

Ryan looked at me uncertainly, 'Are you sure?

'Yes, do the damn thing. We have no other choice. Either he gets it first or it's war.' I sighed and watched Ryan hand the chest to Dimitri.

Dimitri took the chest and immediately took out the heart. He stared at it for a moment and looked at me "Tell me Ilay, did you kill the girl or was it your friend?"

I had to laugh. This was almost too much of a cheeky provocation "Do you really want to know Dimitri?" I looked at Ryan. Dimitri nodded "Well, this heart really is a beauty, I can even feel the positive energy that's left. Whose work was it?" Dimitri asked again.

"It was our joint work, now get to the point Dimitri, where's Ragnol? You have the damn heart." I said impatiently and glared at him.

"Why are you in such a hurry, my friend, do you feel so uncomfortable here?" Dimitri scowled at me and held the heart as if it were his most precious possession.

"My buddy here has a pack to run and I'm busy with the undead as well. I don't have time to deal with your nonsense and watching you eat isn't exactly a thing I want to do today."

Dimitri nodded, "I understand, my friend. Let us go to Ragnol then, but be warned. If you think I'm grumpy.... then you don't know Ragnol yet.

In fact, I didn't know Ragnol. I'd heard a lot about him, but in all these years, I'd never met him.

Dimitri grinned at us and bit into the heart with relish, as if it were an apple.

Ryan screwed up his face at the sight and gave me an irritated look. "Do we really have to watch this?" he asked, visibly disgusted by the scene Dimitri was giving us.

Dimitri laughed "Don't you eat meat puppy? We vampires are known for drinking blood and as a cursed vampire, I'm dependent on this fucking disgusting heart." Dimitri said and if you looked at him closely, he slowly got younger and younger.

Ryan's mouth fell open at the sight. Dimitri now looked like a thirty-year-old man. He had pitch-black short hair and his beard had also grown back into a modern three-day beard.

He squared his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Gorgeous... Damn, so good... You don't know how bad it is to be an old geezer vampire." He grinned devilishly at us, looking like a young version of Johnny Depp.

I glared at Ryan, 'I told you his looks were just a front.'

'I don't know what to say to all this anymore...'

"You must be thirsty how rude of me. NICOLA THE WINE!" Dimitri exclaimed.

"Oh no, it's all right, we really don't need wine..." said Ryan, his eyebrows raised.

Nicola, Dimitri's servant, came running up with a tray containing three glasses of wine. Dimitri apparently insisted on having a toast with us, because he nodded invitingly and grabbed a glass himself.

We both took a glass each, while Ryan just looked at the glass and didn't really touch it.

"Drink up, boy, you're going to need it when you meet Ragnol," Dimitri said, sipping his glass carefully. "Don't worry, it's not poisoned either," he added, grinning mischievously at me. Perhaps not poisoned, but possibly cursed?

"You got part of this deal, now tell us where Ragnol is." I don't know how many times I'd said that sentence today.

Dimitri nodded and looked at me "You really want to go to Ragnol... Do you know that Ragnol is in my prison?" Dimitri asked me, looking at me in surprise.

"In your prison?" I asked irritated and frowned.

Dimitri nodded: "Well, he tried to overthrow my kingdom... That was pure drama. My ex, Helena, helped me to put him away. That wasn't really easy."

"I thought Ragnol was working for you?" asked Ryan, confused.

"Yeah-he did until that day. Well, he doesn't work for me now." Dimitri stood up and paced around the room.

"I frankly don't know if he'll help you at all either..." He grinned knowingly at me and ran his fingers through his black hair.

I had to stop myself from calling him Johnny.

"You're seriously telling us that this murder was completely unnecessary and that Ragnol won't help us at all?" Ryan shot into the room and looked at Dimitri almost angrily.

In the end, Ryan was right. He had snatched the heart without making any approach to the subject.

Dimitri shook his head with a laugh "No puppy, I'm a man of my word. I will lead you to Ragnol. I can't guarantee you'll be successful," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh yes, only one of you is allowed in. Security precaution. You can discuss how you want to go about it," said Dimitri gleefully.

He waved us over, "Come on, we're going to pay our friend a visit." he said. Ryan and I looked at each other suspiciously and both got up to follow Dimitri. We followed him through the corridors of this huge monastery and walked down a spiral staircase made of solid stone.

I heard a piano playing in the background and looked at Dimitri in confusion, "Piano?" I asked, continuing to walk beside him.

He nodded, "I like it pragmatic. Oh boys, you don't know how good this heart has done me, now I finally have some peace and quiet for the next fifty years. My family doctor wanted to admit me to a geriatric trauma center the other day for a femur fracture after a fall down the stairs! Can you believe that, Ilay? A vampire in a geriatric trauma center." Dimitri laughed at himself and continued walking down the stairs.

"Tell me, how many floors is this?" I asked, looking around me. "If you want to know exactly, it's twenty floors that Helena conjured up especially for Ragnol." Dimitri explained. Apparently he really wanted to make sure that Ragnol couldn't escape from here.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally arrived at a massive steel door. It was enchanted and contained several huge sliding bolts that could only be opened by magic. "This is a high-security door. It's practically impossible to escape here." He looked at us proudly and picked up a small dagger. He cut his hand slightly and let his blood drip over a diamond.

'Which one of us is going in?' Ryan asked me.

'You'll go in, I'll hold the fort in case Dimitri thinks of anything stupid. We can still communicate with each other. The important thing is to ask Ragnol how we can wake her up again. Understood?' I instructed Ryan. Ryan looked at me and said nothing.

Dimitri looked at us "Well, one person is allowed in. Have you decided who it's going to be?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

Ryan nodded "I'll go." he said and stood in front of the door.

The bolts began to slide one by one and the three-meter-high steel door opened. A long corridor could be seen. "How do I get out of there?" Ryan finally asked.

Dimitri smiled at him "Clever dog, our code word is help and you shout it out loud when things get really hot. If you're lucky and catch Ragnol on the right foot, you can run back." Dimitri bit his lip and nodded towards the entrance "You've got a quarter of an hour. If you're not there by then... Good luck." he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Ryan nodded and walked into Ragnol's personal prison.

"This isn't a suicide mission you're organizing here, is it, Dimitri?" I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Excuse me? Not me Ilay... With all due respect, I would never do something like that." He smiled innocently at me as my expression hardened. "I hope so for your sake."

Now we just had to hope that Ryan would come back alive.