The girl closed the door, but left it opened a crack. Elizabeth walked over and slammed the door. She pressed her ear against the door, waiting until she heard the maid’s footsteps echo down the hallway. Facing Buckingham, she asked, “What are you going on about, Your Grace?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. I know you were just with the king. Surely, he told you what’s happening across the Channel with Louis’s court. Now all the immortal vampires are in an uproar. They have no choice but to join us, since we can control any of the witch finders that might be sent to London.” Buckingham didn’t trouble to hide his pleasure.
“What did you do to Obadiah?”
With a veiled expression, Buckingham said, “He’s been taken care of.”
“They’ll bring other witch finders to destroy us.”
“You forget, my dear, we psychic vampires control the abyss for our protection. When we descend into the abyss, no one can harm us. We need not fear more witch finders.”
Buckingham strolled across the room and stood in front of Elizabeth, looking down at her. She remained perfectly still. He let his eyes sweep up and down her body before he raised his hands and clasped them around her slender neck.
Elizabeth shivered at his icy touch. She tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip until she let out a cry of pain. When she started to choke and gasp for breath, he dropped his hands to his sides, panting heavily. He stared at his hands as if they belonged to someone else. He couldn’t have killed her by choking her, so she wondered if he’d just meant to frighten her. Ashamed it had worked, she slipped away from him, putting a rosewood settee between them.
“Why have you come here? What is it you want from me, Buckingham?” Fear made her voice harsh.
“If you don’t agree to cooperate in making Charles a vampire, then you leave me no choice but to remove you from the situation. He’s so desperate for a male heir, he’ll agree to almost anything now.”
She felt her teeth elongate. She shoved the settee out of the way, stepping near him and pointing her finger in his face. “Don’t threaten me, Buckingham, or touch me again either, or else you’ll be mighty sorry.”
Buckingham blinked in surprise. He backed up, lifting his hands, palms outward. “Don’t let’s do anything foolish. I’ll stay out of your way, so long as you keep out of mine.”
“We’re in perfect agreement then. Let’s begin now, shall we?” She gestured for him to leave, and then spun around in dismissal.
Even after Buckingham left, the faint scent of rotting sulfur filled her antechamber. Elizabeth wasted no more time. She pulled the bell for the coachman, gave him orders before clattering down the marble staircase, and racing to the courtyard, arriving even before all her trunks were brought down. She stood tapping her foot, watching the servants pile her luggage onto the carriage. She scrambled inside before anyone could assist her. “To the Boar’s Head Inn,” she said.
Traveling down the cobbled streets, she struggled to gain control of her feelings. She looked out the window and noticed the streets, usually bustling, were oddly silent and deserted. A cold, hard moon shone down, while the eaves of the buildings dripped water, but thankfully, the rain had stopped.
What were the vampires to do if Charles turned against them? She felt a stab of pain at the thought of his betrayal. When the carriage arrived, she ordered the driver, “Take my belongings to my rooms, please. She drew her shoulders back and flexed her fingers, preparing herself for whatever she might find at the tavern.
Chapter 27
Elizabeth entered the inn and spotted Darius leaning against the mantle of the fireplace in the great hall. She rushed over and he wrapped her in his arms, nearly lifting her off the floor.
“Thank God, you made it. I was so worried. The meeting between the remaining vampires and the shape-shifters is going to start at half-past twelve.”
“Dare the shape-shifters join us?” She touched his arm.
He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing the palm, before saying, “That’s why we’re having it at the Boar’s Head instead of the George and Dragon, so we can throw off the demons.”
“Will the wolves be safe?”
“Julian is furious Lance helped you rescue Sir Michael, especially since Lance refuses to tell Julian where Michael is hiding. The shape-shifter, with his preternatural animal senses, knows Julian will unleash all the demon vampires and control much of humankind. The wolves want no part of the psychic demons now.”
“Will Julian kill the wolves?” She didn’t take her eyes off him.
“I don’t think anything can kill a werewolf except a silver bullet.”
“Still, the demons will be set free and destroy the entire world. Buckingham wants nothing more than to make Charles a vampire. After what happened in France, I don’t think the king wants any part of it, but Buckingham keeps tempting him with the promise the Stuarts will rule until the end of time, if only he agrees to become a vampire. It’s only a matter of time before Charles weakens.”
Darius shuddered. “The world would be bad enough under an eternal Stuart rule, but with all the demons unleashed, it will be worse on earth than in the bowels of hell. So you heard what’s happened across the Channel?”
“I was there when Charles got the message from King Louis.”
He cupped her face between his hands with his eyes fixed on her. “I’m going to protect you, Elizabeth. I’ll not fail you again. Everything is going to be all right. You believe me, don’t you?”
She leaned into him, allowing his mouth to open hers, feeling the swirl of the tip of his tongue inside her mouth, probing him with her own tongue. Her heart pounded, and she felt his heartbeat matching her own. Yes, she believed him. She could hear their blood thrum together, pulsing loudly.
After what seemed an eternity, or perhaps an instant, Elizabeth pulled away from him. “I trust you, but it’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”
Darius frowned. “This is a battle between good and evil, and only one can win, so yes, it’s going to be very bad.”
“If the psychic vampire demons win, what will happen to us?”
He gently stroked her cheek. “They won’t win. We’ll never allow such a thing to happen.”
“The psychic demons are so powerful.” Elizabeth bowed her head.
With his forefinger beneath her chin, he tilted her head upward. “In the balance between good and evil, evil has never won out, nor will it, now or ever.”
“I’m sorry, Darius, but what if I’m not strong enough, or good enough to fight this battle? What if I fail you when you need me most?”
His hand grasped her wrist hard. “You have the most courage and are the strongest woman I know. You have an indomitable will that few have. Never let me hear you say you’re not strong enough. Even without a soul, you have a purity of spirit no human can match.”
“Charles sent me away from the palace. He says none of us are safe after what King Louis’s mistress has done, and we must all leave London.”
“If the rumors are true, and Louis’s mistress actually sacrificed a baby in satanic rites, then no vampire is safe from the wrath of the humans. Now Charles has made you leave, this changes everything.” Darius wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer. In his arms, she felt a wild yearning and passion to stay by his side forever.
She stared into his pure gray eyes, watching them gleam in the firelight. A thrill coursed through her body when he nuzzled the side of her neck with his full lips.
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you, but I’m afraid you’ll have to escape to Transylvania with the others and stay there for awhile,” he said.
She pulled back in the circle of his arms, breaking away from him. “Have you forgotten Christmas is only two days away? I can’t leave until I regain my soul.”
“The weather is uncommonly mild for this time of year.” Darius spoke as though she’d not spoken. “If we can find a captain willing to sail now, we’ll send all the vampires in wagons
to Southampton, from there, they can sail to Constanta in Transylvania. Even if they have to wait until spring, they’ll be safer in Southampton than here.”
“Much good I’ll be to you if I’m sailing away on a ship,” she said. “Haven’t you been listening to what I said?”
Darius frowned. “Of course I haven’t forgotten your greatest desire. It’s what I long for most, too.” He clasped her cold hands between his own, hands so warm they actually broke through her icy chill. “My life was a meaningless existence until you came along. You must let me protect you, because without you, my life means nothing.”
“I thought you said you believed me to be brave? It doesn’t sound like you believe in me, or you’d not be insisting I run away to Transylvania.”
“Didn’t you say you were afraid you weren’t strong enough to face Julian? Since Charles isn’t willing to protect you, you’re not safe anywhere. I can’t protect you if I’m fighting Julian’s demons, and there’s no one I trust to look out for you now that John is dead.”
She jutted out her chin. “I’m not the helpless creature you seem to think. I’ve dealt with Julian and his demons, I’ve dealt with Buckingham, and I’ve dealt with shape-shifters. I can take care of myself.”
“Didn’t you just tell me you were scared?”
“Of course I’m frightened. Only an idiot wouldn’t be scared, but I’m not leaving London without you. I’m going to fight to regain my soul and help you defeat the psychic vampire demons.”
“I’ve always known how brave you are, and I certainly didn’t mean for you to think I thought you helpless. It’s just that . . .”
Before he finished his sentence, a pack of wolves came snapping and growling through the back entrance of the kitchen. Beth stormed in behind them, brandishing a wooden spoon and looking angrier than the wolves.
“I’ve shown a great deal of patience with you and your set of unnatural creatures, my lord, but I’ve got no toleration for them miserable beasts charging into my establishment, what with their dreadful gamy smell and their yelping and growling. It’s lucky for you all my normal guests are upstairs and sound asleep, or there would be trouble, I can tell you that.”
“Forgive us, Beth.” Darius made a gesture toward Lance, and he transformed himself into a human, snatching a white tablecloth from one of the wooden tables and tying it around his shoulder in the style of a Greek toga. Lance then made a signal to his pack. They lay down by the fire, heads resting on their paws, appearing poised and waiting further instructions.
“Saints preserve us,” Beth said, pulling her apron over her head and dashing out of the great hall.
Darius nodded to Lance. “I’m glad you made it here before the vampires. I’d like to be certain we can count on your allegiance to us in our battle against the psychic demons.”
Lance stalked toward Darius. He spoke with an animal-like ferocity. “Listen, Your Lordship, we shape-shifters are in allegiance only to ourselves. We’ve agreed to stand beside you vampires because the psychic demons are quite mad and a threat to everyone.”
“That’s true,” Darius said, “but we must be prepared. We have to know we can count on all the shape-shifters because the vampires must leave London right away. That leaves only me and Elizabeth to defend against the demons, unless your pack agrees to fight alongside us.”
Lance gave Elizabeth a questioning stare, his topaz eyes seeming to drill a hole through her. “Are you quite sure that My Lady can stand up against the psychic vampire demons. They’re a vicious lot, they are.”
She tossed her hair away from her face and stood more erect. “I’m well aware of the danger. You needn’t have a care about me, Lance. I’ve dealt with Julian and his minions before.”
He raised his long, thick fingers in front of his face and bowed. “My apologies, My Lady, but I thought you looked a bit delicate and slight for this kind of work.”
Angered by Lance’s slightly mocking tone, Elizabeth said, “I’m more capable than you think.”
Darius’s voice hardened around the edges when he said, “Her Ladyship’s strength or weakness need not concern you.”
“Neither of you need worry on my account.” Eager to change the subject, she said, “What about the rest of your pack, Lance? Why don’t they ever turn human?”
Lance’s mocking look collapsed, and his shoulders sagged. “Our pack is only half the size it was before the Great Plague struck London back in ’65. Twelve of our pack caught the plague when they were in human form. They suffered horribly, and couldn’t die like humans, but they didn’t heal from the plague either. I had to shoot them with silver bullets.”
Elizabeth held out her hand and touched his arm. “I’m sorry for what happened to your pack.”
He shrugged. “It had to be done, but the rest of the wolves vowed never to turn human again. I’m not even sure they can shape shift now.”
The pack of wolves got to their feet, as of one accord. Growls escaped their throats. Flecks of foaming spittle formed at their mouths, while their eyes gleamed golden in the firelight.
Elizabeth wondered what had caused such a reaction. She looked toward the entryway, waiting for what might happen next. No matter what took place between the immortal vampires and the psychic vampire demons, she would be by Darius’s side in battle.
Chapter 28
Godfrey entered the great hall along with the gravediggers, Digby and Greaves. “What hey, it smells like a bloody zoo in here,” Godfrey said. The wolves in the pack started snapping and snarling once again.
Lance made a quick gesture behind his back, and the wolves sank down, watching the immortal vampires closely. “Yes, the stench of rotting corpses is much better,” Lance said.
“Listen, we don’t smell like no psychic vampires.” He paused and sniffed under his arms, “Maybe a little musty is all.” Godfrey pulled back his bony shoulders and strutted toward Lance, who still wore the toga he’d made from the tablecloth. “Who do you think you are, anyway? Julius Caesar? Have a care, werewolf, remember the Ides of March.”
“We’re shape-shifters, not werewolves.” Lance glowered at Godfrey.
“A thousand pardons for calling you a wolf,” Godfrey said. “Just because you happen to be one,” he muttered.
Darius stepped forward. “We don’t have time for petty bickering.” When the vampire and shape-shifter ceased arguing, the rest of the vampires glided into the great hall, sitting toward the back of the room. Darius escorted Elizabeth to the lectern and motioned her to sit beside him.
The only sound to be heard was the exclamation of welcome Elizabeth gave Amelia, who walked up to Elizabeth. “Darling, are you all right?” Elizabeth stood and kissed her cheek.
“I’m ever so much better now I’ve seen you,” Amelia said. Instead of the bright colors she usually wore, she had draped herself completely in black from head to toe. She looked like a marble statue. Her aquamarine eyes, instead of their usual sparkling light, were flat and dull, her mouth pinched and white.
Darius watched both women, observing how quickly Elizabeth responded to Amelia’s look of devastation by wrapping her arms around her friend and rocking her like a young infant. “It will be all right, I promise you,” he heard Elizabeth say.
Moved by Elizabeth’s selfless compassion for Amelia, he thought what a wonderful mother she’d make. He’d been alive for over eight hundred years, and the thought of a having a child with a woman he loved had never crossed his mind, not until now. Elizabeth was the only woman he’d ever wanted to live with forever.
“All right then, since the love feast is over, can we get on with the business at hand?” Godfrey’s mouth curled downward.
“I’d appreciate it if you and your brutes,” Darius motioned toward Digby and Greaves, “sit down and listen.” He gave Godfrey a withering look. The wolves in the pack growled restively. The three men sat down abruptly onto the front wooden bench.
Godfrey’s chin sunk down upon his chest and he appeared thoroug
hly chastised by Darius. After some minutes, he did find the courage to raise his head up and say, “So what does the great demon slayer have planned for us?”
Darius moved behind the lectern, and the vampires kept their hypnotic eyes fixed on him, listening to him in that uncanny way vampires had. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the disaster across the channel. King Louis’s jaded aristocrats have been praying to Satan. It’s obvious the psychic vampire demons have infiltrated the highborn in Paris.”
“What has that to do with us?” one vampire shouted out.
“It should be obvious the fury and fear will be carried over to London,” Darius said, his eyes hard and cold with challenge.
This time Digby ventured to speak. “We needn’t run away in fear. The psychic demons will protect us. Their leader, Julian, saved me and Greaves from being burned by the witch finder. The great demon slayer, Darius, did nothing for us. He stood back, willing to let us burn.”
Darius blushed furiously, glancing at Elizabeth, ashamed for her to hear this accusation questioning his courage. “That’s what Julian wants you to believe. I had every intention of saving you and Greaves. He’s tricked you into thinking he’ll protect the immortal vampires. It’s all rubbish, because Julian only cares about unleashing the demon forces and ruling the entire world. Can you want that for England? Can you want that for the world?”
“There are only twenty-six of us vampires left in London. Darius forbids us to make more vampires, so what are we to do?” Godfrey held out his arms in supplication to the crowd, but his face wrinkled up into an expression that looked far more demoniacal than pathetic.
With another look in Elizabeth’s direction, Darius noticed her squirming in her seat, before she leapt up. Her voice trembled a little, but she made herself heard above the noise of the crowd. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I trust Darius to look out for the immortal vampires. Who in their right mind would choose to become a rotting corpse damned to hell the way all psychic demons are?”
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