“She will cut through them.”
This time, Alexandra didn’t argue. One more glance at Markus struggling to break free of the raven’s hold, and the slayer nodded and turned on heel, calling over her shoulder as she did, “Remember, you are Dracule. Kill him, kill yourself.”
I reached down in to the water, tracking in my mind the arc I’d watched the hanger sword fly. Its handle practically leapt into my hand, and I shot up, getting a quick feel for the weight of the short sword in my grasp. A relinquished hood didn’t have the power of a righteous one, but if I didn’t do something, my cousin was going to die. Alone or not, I had to act.
Ayşe, we could really use you down here.
“You’ll let my cousin up now.”
His muscles, his strength, his abilities: nothing helped Markus to free himself. The vampire was too strong.
“This hood is an intruder,” Timur purred, not threatened or even concerned in the slightest. “I couldn’t possibly let him live. And since you can’t kill me, I—”
As the blade bit into his flesh, the cloth of his shirt severed and blood rolled down his elbow. Timur shrank backward, his hand clasping over rent flesh. I put myself between him and Markus, fretting at the sound of my cousin trying to clear his lungs.
“I can come pretty close to killing you without actually doing the deed.”
“Pretty little wolfsretter.” Even as the blood flowed down Timur’s arm and dripped into the water, the wound began to knit itself together. “A shame that you’re born of a supernatural line already. You would have made such a glorious Raven. You have an innate taste for blood.”
“You’re really going to love this then.”
The water slowed me, but my arms remembered motions engrained from years of training. I lunged, forward and to the right, using the momentum to drive a strike into the vampire’s shoulder. Instead of take the blow, Timur’s speed, unhindered by the deluge, cleared him from my path. That was fine; it was further away from Markus.
“Your blow was a fluke.” Timur shifted again, taking an advantage of several feet up the corridor, toward the direction Alexandra had run. “Unfortunately, playtime is over. I have work to do. Just because we’re going to kill the slayers doesn’t mean we can’t salvage their blood first.”
Kill the slayers? Caleb! “I’ll die before I let you hurt them.”
“That’s not completely off the table,” Timur returned.
The hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and all at once, I knew we weren’t alone.
“Hey, Markus? You good back there?”
“Yup. What do you need?”
I held his weapon up. “Something good for shooting down a Raven.”
“I can do that.”
The vampire turned, but I’d already hurled the hanger sword with all my might in his direction. Under my cousin’s influence, the metal liquified, bending and twisting in midair. Within moments, what had been a sword grew long, cylindrical. The arrow caught Timur in the back, right under his left shoulder blade.
When he pivoted to us again, a drop of blood dripped from the arrow tip that stuck out of his chest. “Did you really think your tinker toys was going to stop me?”
“Not at all.” Markus grinned. “But it distracted you long enough for her to get here.
When a werewolf’s growl rumbled through the air, the exhilaration had me on cloud nine. The Pera Pack alpha leapt, clearing over Markus and I as we crouched down.
For one terrifying moment, I saw it: fear. It sunk into the cracks of Timur’s arrogance, seeping into the vein. Long, ebony fangs took the vampire at the throat, cutting off his screams. Soon, his body disappeared beneath the water, only his hands and flailing feet breaking the surface. Red waves washed from the tumult, painting a crimson sheen over the water. When his severed head floated to the surface, the tension left my body.
Ayşe shifted back to her huey form. “How did you do that?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t think I’d be able to throw hard enough for the arrow to go all the way through his body.”
The shewolf shook her head. “No, not that. I mean, how did you call to me?”
I blinked away the confusion, even as we reached the end of the hall where Alexandra was cutting the chains off the last of the male slayers. “I didn’t.”
Inside the room, a dozen men in varying states of health and wearing only t-shirts and Bermuda shorts stared at me, the red-cloaked hood beside me, and a green-eyed women with wild black hair and more than a little nude. Those shorts alone had me wanting kill Timur all over again. Unkempt facial hair hid their expressions, but two things became clear right away: they were young, and they were overall healthy. I looked around, expecting to find a dungeon straight out of a Hollywood movie, but it looked more like a partially flooded Ikea showroom. Clinical, spa-like even.
The slayer must have read the confusion in my face. “The water level can be controlled. It’s only raised when the doors open and someone comes down here.”
“Then why don’t they just use their solaria to melt the chains?” Markus asked.
“Because they were never awakened.”
I peeked around the group of men, looking for owner of the voice I knew so well. A moment later, he emerged. With bags under his eyes and his shirt stained with blood, there was still no doubt, this was my slayer. I crossed to him, throwing my arms around him.
“Caleb.” His name drew guilt to my tongue. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I... Are you okay?”
“I am now.” His hands threaded my hair, pulling my head to his shoulder. “I was so scared I’d killed you. God, I wanted to tell you when you showed up in the harem, but I knew if I showed them how much I really loved you, they’d know I’d been playing them.”
“Killed me?” I looked up into his eyes. “What do you mean, killed me?”
“When we were leaving Hagia Sophia, the night the Ravens took me. The second I cleared the exit, I saw them. I pulled my solarium from the church, but I didn’t know you were running after me. It hit you. I saw you disappear. I saw you burn into dust.”
“Burn into dust? I didn’t burn into...”
No. No way, it was impossible.
“I didn’t give myself to the flame,” I said. “I didn’t let the fire take me. I took it.”
His face scrunched up in confusion. “Give yourself to the flame? What does that mean?”
“We’ll have to talk about it later.” Wrapping my hand around his, I pulled him from the room. “I have to save Tobias. He’s still here somewhere.”
“I’ll help.”
A red cape dashed into my periphery vision. “Geri! Come on!”
Caleb pushed me behind him. “Who in the hell are you?”
Markus guffawed. “Calm down, Helsing, I’m one of the good guys.”
“There are more vampires approaching.” At the top of the stairs, Alexandra pushed the last of her clan through the door. “And Vlad is still nearby, but I don’t know where. He must be smoke. They’re always harder to sense when they’re smoke. We have to get to the boat. He can’t chase us over water, but my people have never had to face vampires in battle. We’ve lost the skill.”
Caleb took Alexandra by the hand. “Just follow my instructions. Geri, if you’re going to get the wolves out, you don’t have much time.”
I nodded. “Then we better get going.”
THIRTY-FOUR
I ignored the thrill that ran through me. It sparked too many questions, and confusion would only slow me down. Later, I’d concern myself with how I could feel the tug of dawn kindling in my veins, though even without too much effort, I’d begun to understand what had happened to me that night at Hagia Sophia. I just didn’t know how it had happened.
Alexandra sparked a ball of sunlight on her outstretched hand, at the ready in case one of the vampires infesting the front of the house reached the back before the slayers were clear. “The sun rises in a few minutes. We’ll be safe outside
, but in the house, we’re still at Vlad’s mercy.”
“But Vlad is outside, injured,” Markus said.
Ayşe shook his head. “Trust me, he’s not. He’s in the house.”
Looking for us, no doubt. “Thank you, Alexandra. Caleb?”
“Yes?” He took my hand in his. I pushed down the need to rebuff his feelings; apparently, he’d thought our argument at Hagia Sophia had been no more than a passing lover’s quarrel.
“The others have been imprisoned for who knows how long,” I said. “They may be weak. Help them. A boat is coming as soon as we fire the flare. Please, don’t let anyone drown.”
“But I won’t leave—”
My cousin cut him off. “I’ll make sure she gets out, lover boy. Just do what she says, there isn’t time for debating.”
The slayer hesitated only a second, until the features of his face shifted into resolve. Caleb leaned in, kissing me hard, as though for the first time. Or perhaps the last.
“Hurry,” he said. “We need to talk.”
“I will.”
THE FIRST TIME I WAS in the house, I dismissed the silver and gold that interplayed in Vlad’s décor as emblems of vanity, trophies of a vampire who considered himself a sultan. But hadn’t he himself said his actions were rarely for a single purpose? A silver grate may be just vanity, but it could also hold back a wolf trying to escape.
I pointed at the fireplace, and to the shinning grate. “Markus, can you reclaim the silver?”
“Glady.”
My cousin extended his arms, beckoning the metal. It obeyed readily, liquifying, flowing through the air to wrap itself around his chest, his belt. As soon as he’d finished the task, I turned to Ayşe.
“I can go first.”
The alpha shook her head. “No, Serhan might attack you, not knowing we are working together. And if your wolf attacks him, we’ll have too much chaos on our hands. Let me go first.”
As Markus had said to Caleb only moments before, there wasn’t time for debate. I nodded and stepped aside. The shewolf shifted, flesh giving way to fur and tooth to fang. The lithe creature disappeared down a hole easily big enough to pass a small sofa through.
Markus waved me on. “Someone needs to stay up here to pull you all up. There’s no way your huey arms could handle the load.”
My back straightened. “I’m not a huey.”
“Relinquished isn’t much better.”
I put my finger on one of the gleaming sheets melded to his forearm, “I’m not relinquished either.” The metal under Markus’s influence refused to obey my command, but it still vibrated in response to my call. “Though apparently I need to figure out the whole commanding silver thing.”
Markus gazed at me, wide-eyed. “How is that—”
“Possible?” I said, cutting him off. I put my sword on the ground in front of the grate as I turned to shimmy the bottom half of my body down. “We’ll have to worry about that later. Take those cords from the curtain, use them for rope. Throw me my sword as soon as I’m in and clear.”
“Will do.”
With only the light that came from the portal above, my eyes took a few moments to adjust to the dim space. As the dark took on definition, I caught sight of Ayşe licking Serhan’s ear. In his wolf, the Pera packling’s frame heaved, his breaths congested. Around one of his ankles, a silver clasped had burned his flesh completely away, exposing bone. My sword made quick work of the chain. Markus would have to coax the metal from his wound once we cleared the room.
And there, on the far side of the room... was Tobias.
I ran over to where he sat, on the ground, inspecting him for the worse. Like Serhan, a silver manacle cuffed the werewolf, connecting to a chain that kept him from moving too far. Bubbled skin seemed to be the worse of his damage, and as I ran a finger under the metal band I figured out why. Tobias’s hair, oily and grimy, at first concealed the self-injury. Several handfuls of hair had been ripped from his head, which he must have used to create as good a barrier as he could manage between his skin and the silver.
The naked man crossed his arms and leaned back against the brick wall of the chamber. “Took you long enough.”
Was he serious? Now? He was going to give me lip now? After I made sure he was safe, he was going to be in so much trouble.
I yelled up to Markus. “Pass down the curtain cord, Serhan’s in really bad shape.” Then, crouching down to Tobias, I ran my hands over the manacle, trying to get the silver to heed my command. It obeyed, thank god, losing definition and melting away. “I’m so sorry that I had to put together a coalition to invade the Raven’s stronghold, and that you were inconvenienced. I hope you didn’t—”
But before I could say just what I hoped he didn’t, Tobias drew me into his lap, threw his arms around me, and pressed his lips to mine.
His lips... so tender, so firm, so demanding. He waxed and waned the pressure, pulling me closer. If I had broken the moment by mumbling into his mouth, he might not have ever let me go.
“You can’t even let me kiss you without being contrary, can you?”
Serhan yipped from above as he cleared the tunnel, probably from the shock of having the metal leeched from his blood. Ayşe turned, tilting her lupine head in confusion at discovering our intimate position.
She wasn’t the only one confused, though. “How?”
The wolf turned sheepish, averting his eyes, looking everywhere except at me. “It doesn’t matter.”
The Pera Pack alpha barked before taking her turn to make her way out. Tobias held up a finger, the international sign for “one second, please.”
“It does too matter.” My hand flew to my mouth. “Oh, my god. They gave it to you, didn’t they?”
“It’s not just because of the serum.” He didn’t try to quell my fears. “There’s been something between us for a while. We both knew it. We both felt it. We’ve been connected for... God, maybe since we met.”
“But you’re mated!” I said again. “It’s impossible. You can’t...”
“I can. I do.” He finally looked at me again, but instead of remorse, daring filled his gaze. “Believe me, I’ve tried not to. But since we kissed the first time, I can’t deny what I feel.”
“Since twenty seconds ago?”
His hand ran through his patchwork hair. “Shite, you don’t remember the night in Paradise, do you? You never talked about it, so I assumed you were too embarrassed. And believe me, I’ve had nights of guilt, thinking I’m somehow being unfaithful to Kara by loving you. I’ve tried to stop. But I can’t. I love you, Geri. Whether or not it should be possible, it’s true. And I didn’t need serum to realize it. I only needed the fear that I’d lost you.”
“The night in Paradise?” Memories cast themselves on the back my eyelids. The full moon. He took on his human, even then. He kissed me. “You were human on a full moon. You... Cody exiled you.”
“No, he didn’t. I asked to be released. I wanted the chance to be an alpha again. I wanted to free myself, free you, from Paradise.”
“But who is your beta?”
But it wasn’t Tobias who answered. It was Vlad. “Now that is the most interesting part of this all.”
We turned to find him standing at the exit, his body solidifying from a cloud of smoke.
“Markus, run!” I shouted, even as Tobias shifted me behind him.
“Try to lay a hand on her, vampire, and I will rip you to shreds.”
Vlad chuckled. “I have no intention of harming a single hair on her pretty little head. Offer me a thousand unmated alpha wolves, each holding a bar of solid gold, and they still wouldn’t be as valuable to me as she is.”
Tobias stood straighter. “That makes two of us.”
The vampire ignored the statement, and set about pacing through the room. “Earlier tonight, when I tasted your blood, your secret revealed itself, Miss Kline. How you and your whole cursed race kept something like this hidden for so long is beyond me, but now I realize: you we
ren’t hiding it all. You don’t know. If you had, you never would have let me bite you. You would have killed yourself first.”
“I’m still wondering if that wasn’t the right thing to do in hindsight.” I eyeballed my sword where I’d dropped it when Tobias embraced me, halfway between us and the only means of exit.
“I have become a legend among men, but creatures like you? You are the legend I longed to find,” Vlad continued as though I’d said nothing. “I honestly didn’t think one could ever come to be, given how strict your hood matrons are on the mating and breeding of their bloodlines. Hood begets hood, isn’t that a favorite idiom of theirs?”
“And cryptic vampire begets cryptic vampire,” Tobias mumbled. “You’ve already killed too many people I love, demon. You got something you need to tell Geri, do it now. I’ll be ripping out your throat in about twenty seconds.”
Vlad halted, leaning forward as he spoke, like he was trying to provoke a dog tied on a leash. “They never killed the baby.”
The sharp turn threw me for a loop. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Die Verräterin,” Vlad said. “The Betrayer: so called because she broke the most sacred of hood laws and mated a wolf, bearing his child. Oh, I don’t doubt that Gerwalta Faust and her wolf did fry on silver spits, but it seems even the heartless harpy matrons could still be melted by the coquettish curls of a tiny, helpless little cub mongrel. It lived, and you, Gerwalta Kline, are not only the Betrayer’s namesake, you are her direct descendant.” He paused, his eyes kept locked into mine. “Isn’t that true, Father?”
THIRTY-FIVE
Igor seemed more shadow than solid, or maybe it was the aspect of light that was changing. Above, dawn tickled the horizon. If only Tobias and I could get by and out of the house, the sun would assure our escape.
“Geri, Tobias, are you unharmed?”
“Oh, father, they are my guests! They have been well treated, I promise. Now, do not change the subject!” Vlad rebuked. “You were always one who believed confession was good for the soul. Confess now. Confess the truth about this hood that you’ve helped keep hidden.”
Ravening Hood Page 23
