“We did indeed.” His pearly white grin came nowhere near reaching those vacant black eyes. “For the babies. Not once did you think to mention your friend here. Even so, I will gladly hand her over… right after you hear me out.”
Vinx’s tongue flicked over the tip of one bone crushing fang. “You never get even remotely tired of hearing yourself talk, do you?”
Dorian pulled his chin to his chest, shocked by the mere thought of that. “Of course not. Have you heard me? It’s like warm molasses.”
Vlad threw an arm in front of Vinx to block her from launching herself at the arrogant immortal. “I believe you had a point, Dorian. Spare us all by getting to it.”
Dorian’s chest expanded with a deep inhale. “You never did have any sense of fun, old friend. Very well. If you’ll indulge me in a bit of a tutorial? Did any amongst you know that something called a convex mirror is used in streetlights? These reflectors diverge the rays of light over a larger area. I’m sure this seems like mindless trivia to any of you unfamiliar with my special relationship to mirrors. Those of you who do, probably feel the hair on the back of your necks rising right about now. I’m sure you’re trying to find subtle ways to count how many lights surround you in this parking lot alone. Don’t worry. You soon shall see. I must say, it was foolishly brazen of you to think having one person stationed in my realm would be enough to hold back my hordes. If he has any sense at all, he hid. If not, I’m sure my soldiers made short work of him.” His gaze shifted my way, his smile widening with madness. “Again, I thank you for your assistance, Mr. Westerly. You provided a perfect distraction. I simply couldn’t have done it without you.”
As he spoke, the air stirred. A current of trepidation crackled all around. Soldiers appeared out of nowhere, pouring forth from the unknown. In a blink, we were grossly outnumbered.
Jaws snapped.
Weapons were drawn.
Faces blanched.
The countdown to the end had begun, and every being present could hear the seconds tick closer to a bloody conclusion.
Positioned across from her, I watched Vinx rise to full height. A rash of scales seeped over the surface of her skin, her breath heaving from her nostrils in puffs of smoke. “I knew you were up to something, Dorian. But I never imagined it would be this stupid.”
“Yes, I suppose from where you’re standing it does seem that way. After all, the body count will be astronomical.” Flipping a lock of raven hair from his forehead, he shoved Micah forward. Thomas and Elodie caught her as she stumbled, drawing her tight into their huddle. “Still, there’s a very simple way out of all of this. Hand me my portrait—carefully covered and intact—and I’ll call off my troops. The game board will reset, and we will all live to fight another day.”
Top lip twitching with disgust, Natalie took a bold step forward. “We aren’t giving you a thing, you sadistic fuck. We stand with the Dragon Queen, and you are nothing compared to her.”
Holding up one hand to steady his salivating troops, Dorian’s shoulders shook with a chuckle. “I suppose in the broad scheme of things that’s true. I’m neither human nor vampire. But, neither is your queen. Not fully anyway. I wonder which she counts as her true kind. The humans? Or vampires? What an intriguing question to pursue. Tell us, Madame Draculesti, if I were to tell you I will only target one, which would you save?”
Apprehension lapped at the sea of bodies; humans and Nosferatu alike nervously eased away from one another.
Eyes narrowing, a crocodile deadly grin seeped across Dorian’s features. “Isn’t that interesting. They stand together, until a question of loyalty is posed. It is quite a dilemma. Your vampires would be grossly outnumbered and losing them would cost you a crucial asset. But sacrificing the humans would sway the loyalty of your mass of followers. Whichever will you choose, Your Highness?”
Roiling smoke billowed in a wreath around Vinx’s head with each breath. When she opened her mouth to speak, an inhumane growl rumbled out. Whoever was talking, it sure as hell wasn’t Vincenza. “She and I are one now. My Queen accepted me in a way no man ever could. I told you once, Dorian Gray, and I say it again; if ever there comes a day that another being will defeat me, it won’t be you. It will never be you.”
Dorian bristled. His face morphed with hate. “It will be me. I will see you bow, before I severe your head from your shoulders, you infernal beast!”
Falling into a low crouch, Vlad’s lips twitched into a snarl. “You will not threaten my wife!”
Dorian dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Alligatus argentum!”
A silver chain materialized around Vlad’s throat, forcing him to the ground. Clawing at the ties, the vampire king fought for freedom from his burning restraints.
“This isn’t about you anymore,” Dorian spat, his face reddening with rage. “You were never adequate! You were never a worthy adversary. But her? She is the challenge I’ve been waiting for. The one I will take the ultimate pleasure in breaking!”
I watched in slow motion as Vinx scanned the crowd.
I saw the peaceful calm wash over her.
And… I knew what it meant.
She was preparing to take them all on.
To scorch her enemy from the Earth. By herself.
I thought I would do anything for my queen, but I was wrong.
I wouldn’t stand back and watch her die.
Her people needed her here.
I… needed her here.
The world was a better place with her in it.
With that truth branded on my heart, I closed the space between us and reached for the portrait. “It’s over, Vincenza. Hand it to me, and I’ll make sure he gets it.”
Her yellow, reptilian eyes flicked from my face to the covered canvas and back again.
Dorian smoothed his hands over the front of his suit coat. “At least one among you has an ounce of sense.”
“What are you doing?” she asked as my hand closed around the corner of the frame.
Leaning closer, my voice dropped to a hushed whisper. “Weren’t you the one who told me sometimes you have to go down with the ship? To sink it, before it crashes into those you love?”
A blink and her eyes cleared to their normal deep mahogany. “No, not like this.”
“It’s over,” I soothed, offering her a tender smile. “Help me end it.”
Her forehead creased with sorrow, but she let me ease the painting from her hold.
Keeping my gaze locked on hers, I reached out through our telepathic bond and gave her a nod of encouragement. “He doesn’t know what your blood can do. Let them come… and burn it to the ground.”
“Our people can never thank you enough. And I will never forgive you.” A lone tear slipped down Vincenza’s cheek unchecked.
Tapping into the strength of the Dragon, she called upon the fire within her, focused her gaze… and ignited the edge of the canvas.
“No!” Dorian shrieked, the skin of his hands blistering as the flames spread. “Kill them! Kill them all.”
His soldiers sprinted in on the attack, any of those with Vinx’s blood in their systems racing to intercept them. Our people didn’t fight back. They didn’t have to. One taste of the truth and Dorian’s thrall would be broken.
Flames licked up my arms, my muscles working overtime to regenerate as layer after layer of tissue burned away. Smoke burning my eyes, I stumbled forward blindly.
To my surprise, it was Dorian who caught the edge of the frame, magnetically drawn to it after the charred cover blew away.
Stare transfixed, his lips parted in a haunting croak not his own. “Peer into the painting. Face what you’ve done.”
Tendrils of ancient magic stretched from within, lassoing the immortal with power far older and stronger than his. Dorian fought against it, flailing and writhing to be free. Fearing he would succeed, I
released the frame with one blackened hand and caught hold of his wrist. I could feel the pull of the portrait drawing us in, and gripped Dorian tighter still. I wouldn’t fail. I owed it to Vinx to see this through.
Even as my arms disappeared into the canvas—scorching heat crushing into me from all sides—she was my only thought. Forcing my gaze up, I found Vlad through billowing smoke.
“Take care of our girl,” I rasped, and the world went black.
Epilogue
The Dragon Queen
“Lord and Lady Draculesti, we thank you both for meeting with us today.” United States U.N. ambassador Richard Branstad’s bushy mustache twitched back into a grin.
With one elbow on the polished walnut table, my free hand brushed away a fuzzy from the front of my stark white pant suit. “Let’s just hope this visit doesn’t end with another arrest. That didn’t work out well for you.”
While his face remained impassive, Vlad’s hand gave my knee a quick squeeze.
UK ambassador Katherine Price offered us a tight-lipped smile that came nowhere near reaching her Botoxed eyes. “We wouldn’t dream of that. Not when the world owes you a debt of gratitude for freeing us from the power and pull of DG Enterprises. Thanks to you, order has been restored and lives can return to normal.”
Lives. That telling word was exactly why we were there.
Ever the stoic soldier, Vlad met her stare directly. “It was our honor. After all, this world belongs to us all and must be protected.”
“Yet we no longer have to be separated by a great divide, thanks to the blood of Lady Draculesti.” Jang Zhun, the Chinese representative, spoke directly to Vlad without so much as glancing my way.
“Are you suggesting we hook my wife up like a dairy cow and let vampires feed off of her, until there are none of our kind left? Is that the brand of archaic torture you’re suggesting?” As he posed the question, Vlad’s fangs lengthened. A slight curl of his lip allowed the ambassador a glimpse of them gleaming under the lights.
Paling, Zhun fell silent.
“Once again, we’re getting off topic.” Gwynn Sparrow, the Australian delegate, drummed her fingernails against the tabletop. “Madame Draculesti agreed to return mortality to those vampires who desired it. What we are proposing is, for all others to register as an added protective measure to the NPI Bill you’ve been lobbying for.”
“Not all of us believe that is a fair thing to ask,” Matthew Gerald, the South African delegate, scoffed.
My chair squeaked as I swiveled it in Delegate Sparrow’s direction. “Register? Like sex-offenders?”
Sparrow’s hands trembled, yet she fought to maintain her composure. “We’re making no claims against your kind. That said, we do have public safety to think about. Look at how many lives have been taken by Nosferatu creatures. Even you are included amongst those with blood on their hands.”
Russian representative, Andrii Benzily, held up both hands to pump the brakes on the spiraling conversation. “We agreed those past situations would not impact this decision now that it is public knowledge the vampires were being drugged and manipulated by Dorian Gray.”
“That’s right,” I interjected, crossing my legs under the table. “Dorian was pulling the strings on everything like we were his marionette puppets. And the word you were looking for, Delegate Sparrow, was people. Not Nosferatu creatures, but people. We are a collective voice, movement, and culture you have tried to force back into the shadows for years. That ends now. We won’t sign your register. And, before you suggest it, we sure as hell won’t be tagged or tracked like animals.”
Zhun leaned forward, hatred stabbing from his glare. “And what makes you think we will allow your bill to pass without these concessions? What assurance do we have that you won’t escalate this into the same kind of war Gray was angling for?”
“How do any of these other countries know you won’t drop a bomb on them?” I countered. “Or that Russia won’t meddle in an election? Or the US won’t unleash something worse than the Kardashians? These are risks we all take when we coexist. As to why you would allow it, that’s simple… because you need us.”
Unhappy murmurs buzzed through the room.
Feeling they needed a bit more convincing, I pushed on with utter confidence. “DG Enterprises grew into the monster it was right beneath your noses. Dorian had the money to invest, and he wove himself deep into the basic fabrics that hold our society together. We had no idea what he was plotting until he revealed himself.” Leaning forward, I locked eyes with them one by one to ensure my message sank in. “What makes you think he’s the only monster like that there is? Creatures that go bump in the night are real, but we aren’t the most villainous monsters out there. When your nightmares come alive, you need us in your corner to make sure your delicate bubble of safety doesn’t pop. At the end of the day, we’re the best fucking weapon you’ve got.” Pushing my chair back, I rose to my feet. “This conversation is over. When you realize I’m right, you know where to find us.”
“What about Dorian Gray?” Gerald’s voice broke with audible fear. “How do we know he’s truly gone?”
Rising to full height beside me, Vlad smoothed a hand down the front of his suit coat. “Dorian is trapped within his scorched painting, held there by our brave friend who sacrificed himself for us all. What remains of the portrait now hangs in Castle Dracul. You’re more than welcome to come and see it at any time. The magi swear if you stare long enough, you can see it move.”
“And the mirror realm?” Branstad pressed.
Collecting my trench coat from the back of my chair, Vlad held it in place while I slid my arms into the sleeves. “My son was spat back out in the foyer of Lockwood Manor when the mirror realm imploded. As far as we can figure, it was directly connected to Dorian’s presence here. When the tie to his power was severed, the realm ceased to exist.”
“And we’re to trust the word of Vlad the Impaler and his so-called Dragon Queen?” Sparrow snorted in contempt.
Hooking my arm with Vlad’s, I rolled my shoulders and let a rash of blood red scales spread up my neck and over my cheeks. “We have owned up to who and what we are from the second we walked in here. Accept us, or don’t. Either way, we’re done hiding.”
About the Author
Stacey Rourke is the award-winning author of works that span genres. She lives in Florida with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.
Connect with her at:
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Amazon Author Page
or on Twitter or instagram @rourkewrites
If you enjoyed The VEILED SERIEs, pick up these other titles by Stacey Rourke:
The Gryphon Series
The Conduit
Embrace
Sacrifice
Ascension
Descent
Inferno
Revelation
The Legends Saga
Crane
Raven
Steam
Reel Romance
Adapted for Film
Turn Tables
TS901 Chronicles (co-written with Tish Thawer)
TS901: Anomaly
Coming Soon: TS901: Dominion
Veiled Series
Veiled
Vlad
Vendetta
The Journals of Octavia Hollows
Wake the Dead
Dead Man’s Hand
Caught Dead
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Dead Ringer
Dead as a Doornail
The Unfortunate Soul Chronicles
Rise of the Sea Witch
Entombed in Glass
&nb
sp; Pursuing Madness
The Archive of the Five
The Apocalypse Five
Coming Soon: Rogue Five
Coming Soon: Freedom Five
The Veiled Series Collection Page 52
