by Kayleigh Sky
“I need you to guard my suite and make sure no one enters.”
His long legs ate the corridor’s length, and Justin’s breath puffed behind him.
“But—”
“This is my command.” He turned. “I’ll be back soon. Not more than a half hour.”
“Where are you going? If we need to come look for you,” Justin added.
“You won’t.”
“I don’t feel comfortable with this. A king must keep his enforcers with him as warning.”
“I am not Qudim,” Zev said.
Justin blinked. A blink from Justin was like anyone else collapsing in a dead faint. No, Zev was not Qudim. He wasn’t even Qudim’s son. But he burned.
Burned for Emek. Mine.
“Wait here.”
He turned into another corridor, going back the way he’d come earlier. He crushed the bloody pawn in his fist. He had to see Emek. He had to make sure his enemies hadn’t gotten to him. Or maybe not his enemies, but somebody was using Emek. Zev wasn’t fool enough to trust him. Emek was a pawn. An enemy. And a weapon against Zev. Whoever was using him didn’t need him for much else anymore. He opened his fist, his palm smeared black with blood.
“You won’t get him,” he muttered.
His real enemy, the faceless one that hid in the dark and slithered out from under the rocks that had buried it, wasn’t going to win. He’d given too much, and he wasn’t giving Emek.
Asa.
I promise.
He’d meant that promise, but something had happened, something that had poisoned Asa’s mind. Zev had never gone to the labs. He’d had no need to. Who had? Solomon? Or was it somebody deeper? Darker? Somebody playing a malevolent game.
He rushed down the steps and into the stone corridor below the house.
Anin cast a shadow beside the dungeon door. He stepped away as Zev approached and faced him.
“Sire?”
“We’re going to my rooms. You and the prisoner.”
“Are we under attack?”
“Yes.”
“Who, majesty? Who would go against you?”
Zev laughed, a strange lightness lifting his heart. Counting his friends was easier than counting his enemies. “Who is with me?”
“I am, sire.”
Zev smiled into the young face. “I am honored.”
He opened the lockbox, and Anin stood back. The thud of the lock turning echoed in his chest. He pulled the door open, and his stomach dropped. No, this… He grabbed his head, pulling at his hair before he rushed into the cell. The heater still puffed warm air, and Asa’s blanket puddled on the floor. Behind him, Anin gasped.
“Sire, I-I…”
Think… think…
“They must have come when you accompanied me upstairs.”
“They?”
Friends or enemies?
Did Asa leave of his free will? And go where?
Pushing past Anin, Zev raced down the hall for the exit out back. Anin’s footsteps followed behind him. He turned a corner, ran down another hall, and up the stairs. The door resisted until he put his shoulder to it. Through the crack, the wind howled and the snow flurries stung.
Anin reached past, grabbed the edge of the door, and pulled it shut.
Zev spun, heat rising inside him and melting his already frozen flesh. “What are you doing?”
“Stopping you. You’ll freeze to death. And what if he’s not out there anyway?”
“We’ll search the house.”
“Let me. I can do it without looking like I’m doing it. He had help,” Anin added.
“Or no choice.” The edges of the pawn bit into Zev’s palm. “You have an hour. If you can’t find him, gather everyone into the salon. I will take an oath from every last vampire in this house if I have to, and I will kill whoever is against me or mine.”
And Asa is mine.
47
A Comfortable Place
Warm arms held him close, and he burrowed against a solid chest. A soft sound like a croon filled his ears.
Zev…
His palms caressed Asa’s back and stroked his hair. “Relax,” the husky voice rasped… like a whisper.
Were they safe?
The thought sped his heart up, and he struggled out of the dreamy comfort and opened his eyes. Wood beams slanted above him. He frowned as he stared, a faint memory stirring inside him. He’d been here before. He shivered, and rolled his head toward the fire burning beside him. A log fell, and the flames shot up. He wriggled closer. Where was he?
He yawned and fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the fire was low, glowing dark orange. Was he alone?
He sat up, pushing aside layers of blankets, and swept his gaze around a familiar room. A wall of glass looked out on the dark. Snowflakes swirled past the windows. This was the cabin Zev had brought him to.
But…
How did he get here? Zev?
“Hello?”
His croaking voice startled him. He cleared his throat and noticed the glass of water on the coffee table. He reached over. He was lying on the rug in front of the fireplace.
Weird.
Had he walked all this way? This far away from Zev?
He pushed the blankets all the way off and struggled to his knees. Great. Naked. Which meant he was stuck here unless he found his clothes.
He set the empty water glass down and climbed to his feet, pulling the blanket with him. His head hurt, and he rubbed at a sore spot behind his ear. There was a light on now in the kitchen, and one bled down the stairs from above. He turned and spotted his clothes draped over a chair by the fire. His coat was damp, but the rest had dried. How long had he been here? The sky was still black, no sign of dawn.
He dropped the blanket, pulled on his clothes, and grabbed a log off the pile on the corner of the hearth. He tossed it onto the grate and dragged the chair closer. Then, after adding another log, he climbed the stairs and stopped on the landing.
“Zev?”
Still nothing.
The light spilled from a bedroom near the top of the stairs. Not the one he’d been in with Zev. This one was smaller and cozy. A large four-poster bed took up much of the space. Blankets and sheets kicked to the foot. A hollow from somebody’s head in one of the pillows. Rustic wood furniture filled the rest of the space. He backed away and jumped at the sound of a voice from below. It reverberated like ripples on the air. “Come down here.”
He didn’t move for a moment, staring at the dark stairwell and the shadows flickering on the stretch of wall in front of him.
A familiar voice, though he couldn’t place it.
“I won’t hurt you.”
Steeling himself with a deep breath, he approached the stairs. Why wasn’t he brave like Isaac? Light-hearted and adventurous like Camiel?
Had he ever been brave?
He crept downstairs, hand on the railing, eyeing the shadows below. Light still came from the kitchen, and the glow of the fire still leaped on the walls. Nothing moved. A silver sheen stretched from the window to the corner of the coffee table and the edge of a glass that…
Asa darted his gaze from the glass to the chair. Somebody sat watching him through slitted eyes. Asa’s coat lay over the arm of the couch now.
He stepped down on the floor, circling in front of the wall of windows, keeping a space between him and the… vampire.
“Who are you?”
The vampire smiled, face still hidden in the shadow of the wingback chair. “The king’s servant. Who are you?”
“Emek.”
“Were you lost, Emek?”
He moved to the end of the couch and a roar filled his ears. Was this?... No… No, it was dark in here. His eyes were playing tricks…
The vampire stared at him, head tilted, a small smile still on his lips.
Beautiful.
Strong.
But he didn’t move. He sprawled in the chair, just watching, still smiling a smile that might split over bloody
fangs at any second. Asa closed his eyes, the memory of pain exploding inside him. He fisted the fabric of his T-shirt, dry now, but on the day of the train wreck his fingers had slipped through gouts of blood. Hot and sticky. Louise’s voice echoed in his head. “You better not fucking die. You can’t die. They’ll kill me.”
His laugh had brought up bubbles of blood.
He focused on the vampire again. “You were on the train?”
“Yes,” the creature said.
“What do you want with me?”
The vampire chuckled. “Are you in such high demand you think I want something from you?”
“Why am I here?”
The vampire pushed himself out of his chair and strolled toward the kitchen. He was barefoot, in only jeans and a sweatshirt, but a coat and scarf hung over a chair at the kitchen table.
“You brought yourself here. I heard you and brought you inside.”
“That’s impossible. I couldn’t have come this far.”
The vampire glanced back at him with another smile. “I have good hearing.”
“You heard me walking in the storm?”
He got no reply. The vampire took two glasses from a cupboard, poured something into them from the bottle on the counter, then returned. He was light on his feet and not in any hurry. He offered Asa a glass.
“Have a drink. Bourbon,” he added and took a swallow of his own.
Asa brought the glass to his nose. The hot fumes made his mouth water. He took a sip.
The vampire sat again, stretching his long legs out.
Banked. Like a banked fire. Smoldering under a harmless exterior.
“What is Isaac to you?”
Asa startled. “Isaac?”
“You called his name. His and the king’s. That’s what I heard.”
“A… coworker.”
The vampire pursed his lips slightly, then smiled again before he took a drink. “I thought you might be worried about him,” he said after a moment.
“I need to get back.”
“He’s alright,” the vampire said. “I checked on him. The lodge is secure. Locked, in fact. Why is that?”
Asa’s mouth fell open. He closed it with a click of his teeth. “How do you know that? And what do you mean you checked on him? The lodge is miles from here.”
“Not miles.” The vampire set his glass down. “Why leave if you thought your friend in danger?”
“Coworker.”
“Why leave?” The vampire’s voice had softened, and it sent a shiver through Asa’s body.
“I didn’t leave. I was trying to get back.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Somebody was murdered.”
“Who?”
“His name was Og.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed again, a frown creasing his forehead. “Og? Hm. Was it reported?”
“I guess so. The king’s detective and an enforcer took him into town, but they aren’t back yet. I can’t stay here.” He set his glass down and reached for his coat.
“You can’t leave. You barely survived getting here.”
Asa’s lips buzzed. He licked them. “I can do it. The storm’s letting up.”
“What do you think is happening there?”
“I don’t know.”
“You work for the king. What have you seen?”
“They… They are against him.” Why was he talking to this vampire? “Did you drug me?”
The vampire laughed. “Of course not.”
“A spell?”
“I’m not a witch,” the vampire murmured, but with the glow of the fire in his eyes, Asa didn’t believe him. “Who is in the house?”
“Vampires.”
Fangs appeared in the vampire’s smile. “Names, please.”
“Your own kind from your royal families. Sisters—I forgot their names. No. Alva is one. Princess Esseline went home, but her grandson is still there. March and Bronwen Wrythin. Camiel.”
The vampire’s eyes flashed. “Nezzarram? Interesting. Go on.”
“Um… Morjin.”
He fell silent and the vampire tipped his head. “No other families?”
“Princess Malia and her brother, but I heard they went with Princess Esseline. The rest are servants and the king’s cousin.”
“How many enforcers?”
“Not many. Six. Maybe seven.”
“Why weren’t you locked in the lodge with the others?”
“I… got lost.”
The vampire rose and approached him. “Zeveriah is my friend,” said the vampire. “I am his servant. I saved you and brought you here. I felt… another. Someone you fed.”
Asa’s eyes flew wide. “No, I—”
“Don’t lie.”
He didn’t have to lie. “I was… attacked.”
With a quickness that froze Asa with surprise, the vampire grabbed his hand and nipped the heel of his palm. It was over before he had time to react. The vampire released him, flames flaring in his eyes. “Solomon and…”
The frown on the creature’s face deepened.
Asa backed away. “What did you do to me… on the train?”
The glow in the vampire’s eyes deepened as he stepped closer. “I saved you. Why? Should I regret that?” His words came out through his fangs, sounding like hisses. “You called to me.”
Asa shook his head. “I wouldn’t. Not for something like you.”
“My mother was a witch—a powerful witch—and she told me I had a blood mate, and that my lover was not him. I knew that. But my lover was like my second soul, and I felt him through you. You are his fated.”
“No,” Asa whispered.
“I saved you for him.”
“I have to go.”
“What is Solomon to you?”
Asa swayed, shot a hand out, and grabbed onto the couch. “I just want to be free.”
The vampire grabbed him around the throat and lifted Asa onto his toes. The glisten of fangs mesmerized him. Long and curved and tattooed with… buildings. Like Zev’s but on both fangs.
“You idiot. Nobody with a soul is free.”
He tried to swallow against the burning in his throat. “I was… trying to… get away. I thought… if I could get… the necklaces…”
The grip on his neck eased. “What necklaces?”
“I don’t know. Solomon told me to seduce the king, get close to him, and find the necklaces, otherwise… otherwise… they’d kill him.”
“And you found these necklaces?”
“No, so… I was supposed to kill him, but I… can’t.”
“Murder is a stain you never wash off.”
“He murdered my father.”
The vampire shook his head. “Not Zev.”
“I gave him the formula for Synelix, and they… they came. They killed everybody.”
The vampire’s face changed, fading into one with bloody fangs, a chest heaving with exertion and… laughter coming from its throat. The creature had laughed at him.
“Well, well. Come here, little one.”
“We did not murder your father,” the vampire said. He lowered Asa to the ground.
We?
“Where is Solomon?” the vampire asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since we got here, but his people are everywhere. They have humans helping them.”
“You mean like you?” the vamp asked.
“I was trying to get to the lodge. To help.”
“You said Moss is there?”
Asa nodded. “And the enforcers.”
“And you were trying to get through this storm?”
“I had to. I’m not the one who wants to kill Zev.”
The vampire released him. “Come with me.”
He tossed Asa his coat and the cap and scarf that lay under it. A few minutes later, the vampire was bundled up too, his boots on. Asa stared out the window at the still-swirling snow.
“Don’t worr
y. We aren’t going that way.”
“What other way is there?”
“Just follow me.” He gazed down at Asa’s boots. “Good enough. Luckily, we aren’t going far.”
They passed through the kitchen and down a short hall to a mudroom off the back of the cabin. Half a dozen jackets and scarves hung from the wall. Outside, the wind blew wet snow, but the howling was gone. Asa held onto the back of the vampire’s jacket. Not many minutes later, they stopped.
The vampire turned and gripped Asa’s wrists. “We have to go down now. I’m going to lower you.”
Asa twisted his arms, grabbed on, and sucked in a startled breath as the ground disappeared beneath him. He sank into a blacker dark before he hit something solid, and the vampire thudded beside him. The dark smothered him like an inky blanket wrapped around him. Something clattered nearby, and then a light flared. He looked around at the rock that enclosed them.
“This way,” said the vamp.
The snug chamber led to a narrow crevice. The vampire slid into it, taking the lantern with him. Asa followed. It sloped down and didn’t widen. He scuttled sideways.
“Is this the portal?” Asa asked.
“Yes.”
“Zev said it’s dangerous.”
“It is. Most of it collapsed, but a few veins are still passable. This one goes under the lake to the lodge.”
The vampire’s light swept across the roof and walls. Iron beams stretched from wall to wall overhead.
“It won’t close on us, will it?”
The vampire chuckled. “Probably not tonight.”
Asa’s ears rang, the air in his lungs hot and stale, burning him as the walls brushed against his face. The floor leveled, boulders protruding into the space. He ducked under a larger one.
“Almost there,” the vampire said.
Asa’s sense of time had vanished. Was it thirty minutes or three hours? But the floor angled up again, and soon, the crack opened into another chamber with a set of steps leading to a stone platform. A metal door faced them.
The vampire turned and flashed his fangs. “I disappeared, and I need to stay disappeared. You never saw me.”
Asa frowned, seconds too late to escape the brush of fingers down his face and the curtain of darkness that fell over him.
48
In A Bind
