by Bella Klaus
As Jonathan exchanged a few cryptic words with whoever was on the other side of the phone, tendrils of smoky magic drifted across the courtyard, seeming to close us in on all sides. I had been right. The vampire couple had already recovered from being burned and were surrounding us. The only reason they weren’t showing their faces was out of caution.
I glanced at the limo driver, who wouldn’t stop talking and making nonsensical threats and promises. The other vampires surrounding us still didn’t show themselves or move. What if they hadn’t completely recovered but had stationed themselves here for a reason?
“This is a trap,” I whispered.
“What do you mean?” he whispered back.
“I think they are keeping us here while their reinforcements arrive.”
“Blimey,” he muttered under his breath.
“We’ve got to move,” I said under my breath. “If they’re stalling, it means they can’t handle us on their own.”
“Good thinking.”
“That chattermouth driver seems like the weakest link,” I said. “Should we escape through him?”
“No.” Jonathan wrapped a hand around my bicep. “Best to barrel through one of the vampires I already hurt.”
“If he was powerful, he wouldn’t be driving a limousine,” I whispered.
He turned to me with wide eyes. “Are you sure?” Then he shook off the question. “Of course you would know about powerful vampires.”
I bristled at the implication that I’d been with several vampires and reminded myself that I was the target and I needed Jonathan’s help to get out of this service station alive. “So, the driver?”
He nodded. “You and I make a great team.”
I turned toward the driver. “This way.”
The limousine driver stretched out his arms, beckoning at me to come close. “You’ve changed your mind, then?” he said. “Leave the boy behind, love. There’s no space for him where we’re going.”
My lips formed a tight line. He must have overheard our conversation, so why was he encouraging me to come closer? It didn’t matter. Vampire society was built upon pedigree and then strength. Young vampires who showed promise were often adopted into powerful families, just like the situation where Valentine became the guardian of Kain. Even when injured and on the brink of death, a powerful vampire could keep fighting. That was why the pair who had approached us in the elevator had managed to survive such a brutal burning, and it was also why I was reluctant to confront either of them.
“Nice girl,” the limo driver crooned, using the tone one would employ on a cute kitten. “Pretty girl. Come, come, come.”
I clenched my teeth and glowered at the hulking oaf. Why didn’t he just shut the hell up and attack, so we could take him down?
Behind us, the fire door exploded into fragments of wood that struck my back. I spun to the side, keeping my back to the wall, the driver on my right, and the door on my left.
A dark-haired vampire sauntered out, clad in a tight-fitting red shirt and black pants that accentuated his muscular physique. My mouth fell open. It was Lazarus, the vampire prince who had recaptured me when I had escaped the mausoleum.
“Well, well, well,” he drawled with a wide smile. “What strange company you keep, Miss Griffin.”
Constantine appeared behind him, a grin plastered over his handsome blond features. Behind them emerged a pair of vampire males dressed in the black uniform of palace security guards.
Every ounce of blood drained from my face and surged into my frantic heart. If Lazarus and Constantine were nearby, that meant Ferdinand and Sylvester were also close. There was no need to ask how they got here so quickly. The palace employed a variety of supernatural races, including witches and wizards capable of performing enchantments that allowed people to travel across points on a map in an instant.
I clenched my teeth, silently cursing the couple Jonathan had burned. They probably couldn’t handle our fire so they decided to hand me over to the princes. In exchange, they’d enjoy an elevated status within vampire high society.
“What do you want?” My voice trembled, and Jonathan huddled close. Even he knew we were outnumbered and out-powered.
Lazarus’ lips curled into a smile. “Is that any way to speak to your new keepers?”
“Don’t come close.” I flared my magic across my hands. “We both have fire.”
Constantine chuckled. “There’s no need for threats. Not when you’re going to serve us.”
“As a cow?” I asked from between clenched teeth.
Lazarus tilted his head to the side. “I was going to say as bait to catch a preternatural, but if you’re offering…”
“Shut your bloodsucking mouth,” Jonathan snarled. “Mera was promised to me.”
My stomach plummeted, and I prayed to every deity imaginable that the wretched fool was just bluffing.
The vampire princes exchanged puzzled glances before one of the guards rushed forward, wrapped his hand around Jonathan’s neck, and slammed him against the wall. I clapped both hands over my mouth to stifle a cry and then held them out in front of me as protection.
“Stay away.”
In the blink of an eye, Lazarus appeared behind me and grabbed me by the waist. His large hands seized my wrists, holding them out in front of me. “You were saying?”
“I can set any part of my body on fire,” I snarled.
With a pained hiss, he jumped back and clutched his mouth. “So I see.”
My throat spasmed. What just happened? I hadn’t done anything. A gut-wrenching scream pierced my ears, and I spun to find the man who had attacked Jonathan writhing on the ground, covered in black flames. Jonathan ran to my side, raised both hands, and created a sphere of flames around us. The vampires surrounding us all stepped back.
“Are you alright?” I whispered
“Nothing I haven’t suffered before,” he muttered. “You must have had a few vampires in your class at the academy?”
“Yes.” I gulped.
My experience of bullies had differed from outright violence. Vampire girls like Ellora Vandamir tormented me with a constant stream of minor humiliations and witty barbs that made my later years at the academy torturous and chipped away at my self-worth. If it hadn’t been for Aunt Arianna’s faith that I could lead a productive life without the use of magic, I might have succumbed to selling my blood for money like many other Neutrals.
“How long can you keep this up?” I asked.
“Hopefully until help arrives,” he replied.
A large figure stuck his hand through the fiery sphere and screamed. Another threw a plank at our heads, which filled the inside with the stench of burned wood.
“Can you make ventilation holes?” I asked.
“What?”
“They’re trying to smoke us out.” I scooted to the side as a brick whizzed past my head.
Lazarus shouted that I wasn’t to be hurt, but he was just saving me for himself and his brothers. It was too late to try to burn out the curse. Valentine’s brothers didn’t just want me for my blood. They needed me to lure their older brother to them so they could put his body to rest, and they also wanted to kill me because I was the cause of Valentine’s death.
“You can’t stay here forever,” Constantine said from the other side of the fire. “Come quietly, and we’ll let your skinny companion leave.”
“They won’t,” Jonathan whispered.
I nodded. The sons of the man who had been brought back to life by Kresnik likely held a lot of hatred for our kind.
“Miss Griffin,” asked Lazarus. “Did you know your Aunt Arianna is currently awaiting execution with the rest of your coven?”
The words hit like a punch in the gut, and I let out a pained breath. “No!”
“It’s true,” said Constantine. “Apparently, everyone holds you responsible for the resurrection of our brother as a preternatural. Your enforcer friend argued that you were in possession of a firestone bracelet,
which may have temporarily tainted your blood, but everyone believes the fire came from you.”
“And therefore your closest associates harbored a fire mage,” said Lazarus.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“Because we can appear as witnesses to testify to the Supernatural Council that you don’t in fact have fire.”
“And they’ll release your aunt.”
“Don’t listen to them,” Jonathan whispered. “The Council already sentenced your coven to death.”
I stepped away from him, staring into his pasty face. “How do you know this?”
His features tightened with the expression people made when they’d mistakenly blurted something incriminating. Jonathan knew the Council had arrested Aunt Arianna and hadn’t told me because they weren’t fire users and weren’t useful to his cause.
“It’s not what you think.” His face twisted into a rictus of regret, his wide eyes begging me for another chance. “I wanted to tell you as soon as we reached the Flame.”
“Where I wouldn’t be able to escape and do anything to help them?” I said.
“We can secure the freedom of your aunt,” said Lazarus.
“And the others,” added Constantine.
Lazarus stepped close to our fiery sphere. “All you need to do is step out of those flames.”
My throat dried, and I pressed the heel of my palm into my aching chest. I didn’t trust the princes to do anything but keep me in the palace for their use, but I trusted them more than I trusted Jonathan. At least the princes’ intentions were clear, and I knew how much they would make me suffer if I left this sphere.
Jonathan’s eyes widened, and a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me out of the fire. The flames seared my skin and singed my hair, sending my nerve endings alight with pain. A scream tore from my lips. I kicked and thrashed at my abductor, but he wore a protective and padded suit.
Vampires surrounded me on all sides, blocking my view of Jonathan. I flared out my magic, sending out flames as long as my arms, making the vampires stay back, but the man holding me squeezed tighter and tighter, seeming to siphon my strength. After several moments, my flames puttered out, leaving me utterly defenseless.
Despair burned through my last hope like acid. I couldn’t see Jonathan through the crowd. He’d either fled, been arrested, or had his neck snapped. I was utterly alone and drained of magic. The man in the protective suit would probably hold me down and let the vampires take my blood.
Constantine was the first to approach, his pale eyes darkening with every step. He stretched out a warm hand and trailed his fingers down my neck. “I’ve been looking forward to tasting you.”
“Don’t worry.” Lazarus appeared behind us and grinned. “I’ll protect you from Ferdinand and Sylvester.”
The thought of the other two made my stomach plummet with dread. Sylvester had been in the attic the day Valentine had died and might have killed me if Captain Zella hadn’t arrived.
Constantine turned to his brother. “A mouthful each before we take her home?”
Lazarus chuckled. “How delightful.”
My blood roared in my ears, the sound only punctuated by the pounding of my heart. “Don’t do this. I’m the only person who can bring Valentine back to life.”
The brothers exchanged smirks, looking like they thought I was hilarious, lying to save myself.
“But I’m a fire user.” The words tumbled from my lips. “If you drink my blood and die, you’ll rise as a preternatural, too.”
Constantine turned to Lazarus. “Do you promise to cremate me in the event of my early demise?”
“Only if you promise the same for me, old boy,” replied Lazarus.
A shudder ran down my back. Why weren’t they taking me seriously? They’d seen my flames. They’d seen Valentine rise from the dead.
The vampires closed in on me with red eyes and fangs glistening in the artificial light. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the frenzy that would take place the moment one of them pierced my vein.
Someone’s hot breath fanned against my neck, just as a roar of outrage pierced the sky.
My abductor loosened his grip, lowering me to my feet.
A loud voice boomed, “Kneel to your king!”
Chapter Thirteen
Everything happened so quickly I had to blink several times to process that the voice filling the courtyard belonged to Valentine. A shockwave of power shot from straight above, making my insides ripple. If it hadn’t been for the man holding me hostage, I would have collapsed onto the ground.
“Kneel!” Valentine injected so much command in his voice that the man holding me disappeared from my back, leaving me exposed.
Even Lazarus and Constantine dropped to their knees. As I turned in a circle, looking for Valentine, another burst of power sent me toppling to one side. Before I could fall to the ground, strong arms wrapped around my back and beneath my legs and cradled me to a warm, hard chest. I stared up into Valentine’s furious red eyes.
Every muscle in my body trembled. I wasn’t sure if it was from relief or anticipation of a punishment for having escaped. My heart pounded loud enough to drown out the sounds of the traffic. There wasn’t a trace of warmth or amusement in those glowing eyes. Valentine stared down at me with the righteous fury of a man who had just retrieved a stolen possession. Anxiety rippled down my spine, and I licked my dry lips, wondering if I was about to be transported into an even more terrifying situation.
The vampire holding me wasn’t the man I loved. That vampire had died, leaving behind a warm husk that had imprisoned a dozen men. The vampire whose gaze seemed to penetrate my soul was a killer.
Someone moved at the far end of the courtyard, disturbing one of the large trash cans. Valentine’s gaze left mine, and he glowered at a man in black trying to escape. A familiar cold wind swept past us, lifting the man into the air before slamming him hard into the paving stones. I tore my gaze from the sight, hoping that the fallen man was a vampire or belonged to a supernatural race that benefitted from fast healing.
Burned debris lay among the kneeling vampires from where our attackers had flung trash into Jonathan’s sphere of black fire, but the man wasn’t anywhere in sight.
Instead, about a dozen vampires knelt with their heads bowed, visibly trembling and not daring to look at Valentine. I placed a hand on his chest, wondering if they were afraid he might start turning them into preternaturals, just as his brother had when under the influence of Kresnik.
“Hemera Griffin belongs to me,” he roared. “She is under my protection. Is. That. Understood?”
I trembled at the force of his words as every vampire, including the younger brothers who had wanted to destroy his body, nodded.
Fire crackled above the muffled sound of the traffic, and black flames looped around us. Jonathan raced through the kneeling vampires with a war cry. Behind him, a quartet of men wielding orange flames charged. Valentine raised a hand and blasted all five men through the courtyard with his wind, also knocking back some of the kneeling vampires.
Then, without a word, he launched us into the air. My stomach lurched, and I clenched my teeth at the sudden movement.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Just a little singed.” I placed my arms around his neck and peered out into the courtyard.
By now, all the vampires had risen to their feet and turned their faces to the sky. We were already several stories high, and Constantine pointed up at us, shouting words I couldn’t decipher through the roar of wind in my ears.
The man in the protective suit raised a glowing staff and shot blasts of light around us, but Valentine rose higher and out of reach.
As we travelled toward the hotel’s flat roof, a gust of wind swirled around us, making my teeth chatter.
Valentine leaned into me, rubbing the tip of his nose against the shell of my ear, sending sparks of sensation across my sensitive skin. I clenched
my stomach muscles, waiting for a reprimand, a threat, a declaration of ownership.
“You’re cold,” he said.
“Let’s just get out of here,” I murmured with a sigh.
We continued above the roadside complex that included the hotel, the Welcome Break and the massive gas station. When we passed another set of buildings containing several drive-thru restaurants, Valentine lowered us to a quiet spot at the back and set me on my feet.
“Wait here,” he said.
Before I could protest, he disappeared and reappeared holding a huge padded coat.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“You were cold.”
I inhaled a deep breath and shoved away the question. As far as misdeeds went, this was minor compared to what Macavity and I found in his basement. Besides, Valentine had just saved my life. He stared down at me with those glowing red eyes and held out the coat. I hesitated for a moment before nodding, and Valentine placed it over my shoulders and guided my arms into its holes.
“You saved me,” I murmured.
His brows drew together. “That surprises you?”
“No, but…” I shook off the thought. Of course Valentine would come after me, but after ordering me not to leave, I thought he would be furious instead of silent. “How did you find me?”
Valentine cupped my cheek with his large hand, warming the side of my face. “Your blood runs through my veins. It’s what keeps me moving and thinking and able to know wherever you are. There will never be a time when I won’t come for you.”
“I’m like a homing beacon, then?”
“You’re more like my home.” He scooped me into his arms and rose into the air. As we continued over the stretch of land that ran alongside the M25, his handsome features contorted with pain. “This is my fault.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I found Macavity injured, I feared that I would lose you forever.” He smoothed a strand of my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. “For years, you have been the woman I wanted to spend an eternity with, yet the moment I lost my heart, I toyed with you, frightened you away, and let you get taken.”
