by Sharon Page
Before Heath could answer, the windows in the bedchamber behind them exploded. Fragments of glass flew past them, glinting like diamonds. She twisted to see. And a black mass, like a thick fluid, poured in the window. The black shape broke apart suddenly, just as it had in her house, and became hundreds of small bats. Their wings flashed through the air, their noise became a deafening squeal.
It’s the council. Heath spoke tersely in her thoughts.
Sarah, she cried. You must take me to Sarah.
That’s exactly where I am going. We must get Sarah and get out of here—
“And go where?” She shrieked aloud. “This was our safe place. This house was supposed to be impossible to be attacked.” Then words slipped out, ones she never should have said. “You promised.”
Heath whirled her down the hallway and into a large moonlit room, where she gaped in astonishment at the scene before her. Long tables filled the room, and a dozen vampires were racing through it. Spread out on the tables were weapons—swords and crossbows and quivers of arrows. One by one, each vampire snatched up a weapon.
Heath pressed her back against a wall. Stay there. I’ll get armed, then take you to Sarah.
She felt so guilty for what she’d said. But there was no doubt she would be captured and dragged back to the council. She would be assaulted on that altar and killed. Then what would happen to Sarah?
Vomit churned in her throat thinking about it. This wasn’t Heath’s fault. But she was not going to stand back. She was going to fight for her own life and Sarah’s.
Crash!
The window shattered at the end of the long room and the bats flew in. The vampires lifted their weapons, turned toward the advancing bats, and fired. But the black mass of bats swirled around one of the vampires, a man who stood close to the window. They engulfed him and no one dared to fire. But when the bats soared up, dust floated down from the air, and the vampire was gone.
Dimitri stood by the table, a crossbow in his hands. He threw it down, lifted his hands, and barked out an incantation. A brilliant flash of gold light shot from his palms and engulfed the whirling bats. The tiny creatures let out a scream that rippled through the room, then they flapped their wings wildly and retreated through the window.
“They’ll return,” Heath growled.
Dimitri lowered his hands. He looked to Heath, who had grabbed up a crossbow. “You’re correct. They will attack from somewhere else. And you need a different weapon.”
Dimitri’s black eyes looked more soulless than before. Grim. Resigned. And Vivienne understood. Dimitri didn’t believe this battle could be won.
There was one way to save everyone. To save Sarah.
She stalked away from the wall to the two men. “Those creatures want me. They are here to take me. If I go with them, they won’t hurt anyone else. They won’t hurt Sarah—”
“No!” Both Heath and Dimitri shouted the word at once.
She grasped a crossbow. She’d never used a weapon in her life. But all her years of fighting for survival were worthless if she could not do this now. “If I go outside, won’t they follow me? Won’t it protect everyone else? If we lure them away from the house, that will keep everyone else safe. Maybe then I could—I could run.” Where? How?
But Heath moved so he was directly behind her. “It’s too dangerous. You can’t outrun them. The house is the safest place. They have to come in here to fight.”
Heath was only thinking of protecting her. He wasn’t thinking of everyone else. If it was true, it meant he had sacrificed the nobility he’d wanted to claim. Over her.
Feminine screams came then, obliterating her argument. Sarah. Vivienne ran blindly for the door, but Heath caught up to her. A vampire woman lay on the floor of the hallway writhing in pain while the bats tore at her body.
Vivienne stopped in her tracks, too numb to move. Then something sharp prodded her leg through the breeches. The crossbow. She jerked up the heavy weapon, but Heath stepped in front of her.
He carried a huge sword; he must have taken it from the room at lightning speed, then run to catch her. He swiped it in a ruthless arc just above the fallen woman’s body. The bats flapped their wings madly, trying to escape. Some were caught by the blade, cut into pieces.
Nausea crawled up her throat. She moved to the fallen woman, but the victim jerked wildly, then suddenly dissolved into dust.
Vivienne reeled back. Bearing the weight of the crossbow, on legs that had frozen with terror, she would have fallen. But Heath pulled her against his warm body. And they ran.
More bats flew in through the shattered windows. It was like someone had spilled black ink in the air, and it was pouring everywhere. It was like a nightmare. “What are these things?” she managed to gasp to Heath.
“A form of demon. Enslaved by the council, who use them for reconnaissance.”
“And to collect succubi?” The words came out bitter and sharp. And two vampires already had been destroyed because of her.
A mass of bats was flying up the hallway toward them. The front ones stopped, flapped their wings, and the tiny bodies started to wriggle and stretch. Then they transformed into black shapes like humans, but with the broad wings of a bat. White claws protruded from the wings.
She froze. One of the creatures jumped into the air and flew at her.
Heath’s sword arced cleanly through it. Black fluid spurted out, but Heath had pulled her back with his free hand, and the demon dropped before her eyes.
The second demon flew at them, then the third, and more did. Her heart gave a hiccup of icy fear. There was no way to fight so many of these monsters.
Heath pushed her back. “Stay against the wall.” Then he charged forward, with Dimitri on his heels. Their swords cleaved the demons now whirling toward them, but so many bats came in Heath and Dimitri finally had to retreat. Chest heaving, Heath leaned back against the wall beside her.
Stomach churning, she saw inky blood spattered on Heath’s face. Dimitri wore the same amount of horrible black spray. He held a six-foot-long broad sword in one hand. And even as he turned to her, he swung it, slicing a new advancing demon in half.
She couldn’t just stand here. She fumbled, trying to load an arrow from her quiver. It fell to the floor. She ducked down to retrieve it, but Heath grabbed her arm, pulled her up. Ignore it, he shouted in her head. Just stay back.
He swung his sword behind him without even looking. Her heart lurched as he beheaded another monster and somehow managed not to hit Dimitri. Then Heath shoved her toward Dimitri. Take care of her. There must be a leader somewhere in the mass. If I can get to him, I can throw them into confusion.
“A leader?” she gasped. “You mean one of those creatures is in charge?”
To her horror, Heath plunged into the group of transforming bats, swinging his sword from left to right. He was carving a path through the bats.
She had to get to Sarah. What kind of mother was she that she wouldn’t charge through the demons and risk everything? She loaded the crossbow. This arrow stayed in, and she ran forward.
Dimitri grasped her shoulder and jerked her back. He paused to kill another demon, then he turned his eerily dark eyes to her. “If you want to escape the council’s army, the only way for you to do it is to seek refuge with your father. He’s so powerful, Adder and the others would never dare attack.”
That was madness. “But—but my father is our enemy.”
“Yes,” Dimitri said. “But he needs you. He would not hurt you.”
Ahead she saw Heath working his way back to them, cutting his way through the transforming bats. Other vampires had joined them in the fight. She heard screams and cries and harsh sounds echoing through the house. There were battles everywhere.
Two shrieking demons swooped at Heath. Vivienne hefted the crossbow but her arms began to fail as she pulled the trigger. The complex pulleys moved swiftly. The arrow whistled. Her shot went through one of the demon’s legs.
It looked down.
In the next instant, its head was gone.
“Your father won’t want the council to have you. It’s in his best interests to protect you, Miss Dare. We can hold them off long enough for you and Heath to escape—”
“I’m not leaving without my daughter.”
“Of course. Take her, too. Go to your father. These demons are tenacious but not intelligent. In the heat of battle it could take them an hour to discover you’ve gone.”
An hour. To reach her father. And he was hardly going to offer them safety. He wanted to destroy Heath. He wanted to make use of her.
“What will he do to Heath? To Sarah? To me?”
She expected no answer from Dimitri. But he snapped. “You are a very intelligent woman, Miss Dare. You know he will not hurt you; you will have time to outsmart him. But if you stay here, you will be captured and taken back to the council.”
“And they will take Sarah, too,” she whispered in fear.
“Possibly. Or they will want to break you, force you to plunge you into fear and madness so you lose the will to fight. These demons could be here to take you—and kill your daughter.”
Black goo sprayed Heath and he cursed. There was nothing worse than the stinking of the bodily fluids of your opponent. But he had to carve his way through these demons like a sculptor through marble.
Then he saw Vivi turn stark white and sway on her feet. Her legs collapsed beneath her. Dimitri tossed his sword to his left hand to grasp her around the waist.
With a snarl of fury, Heath sliced through five flapping demons with one stroke. He launched to Vivi’s side, turning a somersault in the air. “What happened to her?” he snapped at Dimitri.
Vivi grabbed his arm. Color flooded back. “We have to get Sarah out of here. The demons want her.”
“How do you know?”
“Dimitri believes it to be so,” she cried. “I have to get to Sarah. We have to run.”
At Sarah’s name, the mass of bats in the hallway paused as though they were listening. Then they all turned and raced up the hallway toward Heath, Vivienne, and Dimitri. She was right. Adder had taught his demon bats the name of their prey and now, recognizing it, they were attacking.
“What the hell do they want with her daughter?” he barked at Dimitri. He held his sword up, at the ready for the onslaught of the flying beasts.
“They want to hurt the young Miss Dare to break her mother’s spirit and make her rage and grieve. They need to heighten Vivienne’s emotions. Adder will know he can’t make her feel lust. But he can make her hate. That will heighten her power and then he can draw her strength out of her. She’s a weapon, Heath. A powerful one.”
As he spoke, Dimitri beheaded demons with one swing of his sword after another. Heath worked at his side, doing the same. “If we run, that will put Vivi and Sarah out in the open and at risk from both Nikolai and the council.” Heath’s eyes narrowed. “What is it you really want, Dimitri?”
A feral grin split Dimitri’s swarthy face. “The truth? I’d like to see both Nikolai and the council destroyed. You and Vivienne could defeat them. I’m tired of battles amongst the vampires. If I’m going to live forever, I want to spend my time in orgies, not battles.”
He stared at Dimitri. He and Vivienne defeat them? The older vampire was completely serious. But before he could ask how in blazes they could do it, shrieking filled Heath’s ears, drowning out all other sound. More demons flew at them. He swung his sword, felling one after another. But even a vampire couldn’t slice through thousands of demons. His body was starting to tire.
“Take Vivienne and run,” Dimitri shouted. “We’ll keep fighting to give you time to escape. I told her to go to her father. Nikolai is the only vampire strong enough to protect her.”
It was the truth. It was danger for Vivienne. But whatever her father was plotting, he would protect her, if only because it suited his plan. Heath gave a curt nod. But there were hundreds of demons coming and no way to get through them.
Dimitri shouted to other vampires. “Come here.” Then Heath heard Dimitri’s voice in his head. Retreat, then grab Miss Dare and run for her daughter. Get them out of the house through the underground passage.
Vivienne reached Sarah’s bedchamber with Heath. Of course, he charged in first. Vivienne rushed to his side, her crossbow armed, her finger on the trigger. Then she froze in horror.
Bats filled the room from wall to wall, swooping around the ceiling. Julian stood in front Sarah, who was pressed against the wall beside a wardrobe. The young vampire swung an iron poker desperately, bringing down one small black body after another. Heath swung his sword and killed dozens of the creatures.
“Heath, there are too many,” Vivi screamed.
Julian fell, covered by the tiny winged animals. They clawed at his body. His flesh was being ripped open.
Shrieking desperately, Sarah ran out from the wardrobe, desperately trying to reach Julian.
“No, stay back,” Vivienne shouted.
And Julian yelled, “For Christ’s sake, forget me. Get her out of here.”
Heath ran through the bats and they whirled at him, biting and slashing, until blood soaked into his shirt and ran down his face. Vivienne fired one arrow after another, taking care not to hit either man, but her shots were not even frightening the bats.
Heath grabbed Sarah, tossed her over his shoulder, and ran back toward Vivienne and the door. But Sarah beat her fists on Heath’s back, kicking wildly. “Julian!” she screeched. “Save Julian.”
Suddenly Heath reached Vivi’s side, and he put Sarah down. Vivienne grabbed her daughter and tried to pull her out of the room. Julian was covered with bats, just like the vampire woman had been. Vivi was trying to spare Sarah the horrific sight.
Heath tried to drive the bats off Julian with his sword, but then he ran back toward them. His face was stark white. “We have to run.”
Nausea roiled in Vivienne’s stomach. Dear heaven, not Julian …
“No,” Sarah screamed, but Heath swept her up again. Vivienne almost lost her balance as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the door.
Behind them, they heard Julian’s howl of pain.
She had never seen Heath so angry. His boots slammed into the door again and again, until he tore a hole through a two-inch slab of solid oak. Splinters flew everywhere.
She understood his fury, but it scared her. It made her feel small inside.
It brought out every moment she had lived in fear, when she’d thought a man might kill her drunken mother and then turn on her. Instinct told her to back away, but this was Heath, and he needed her to break through to him. “Stop it!” she shouted. “You don’t need to do that.”
He spun around. Silver flashed in his eyes as he looked from Sarah to her. “You are correct,” he said softly. And he opened the door.
She gripped Sarah’s arm tightly and helped her daughter walk. Sarah’s face was sheet white. Tears poured down Sarah’s cheeks, but she made no sound, not even a sob. She stared blankly ahead. It was as though she was in a trance.
Vivienne’s heart felt like a cube of ice: small, cold, easily crushed. She had no idea what to do. Did she really want to try to snap through Sarah’s shock? Or was this blank state protecting her from the horror she’d just seen? Would Sarah ever survive losing Julian almost right in front of her eyes?
A dark passage stretched before them, and when Sarah wouldn’t take another step, Heath swept her up into his arms. “Here, little one. I’ll take you.”
Vivi, I’m sorry. I killed the leader of the bats, but it didn’t stop them. And if I hadn’t wasted time on that, I could have saved Julian.
You tried, Heath. And you saved my daughter. I will admire you for eternity for that.
Heath had been wrong when he’d told her a demon like he did not dare to love, Vivienne thought. He might be a vampire, cursed to be a demon, but he was capable of a love that stunned her with its depth and strength.
She had to hol
d on to Heath’s bloodstained shirt to find her way through the inky-black passage. The door he had broken through had been a second one in the dark tunnel. The first had been in the basement of Dimitri’s house, and was a barrier of four-inch-thick iron. Heath had bolted that thick, heavy door behind them. The oak door had been locked, and admittedly they’d had no other way through it.
“You—you don’t have to go to my father.” The words came out breathlessly. Ahead Vivienne could see nothing, but she could tell the cobblestone floor of the tunnel was sloping down. They were descending. Into the bowels of hell, she thought, her heart sick.
He walked faster. “I have to ensure you two are safe.”
“I will make sure my father doesn’t hurt you—” She broke off, breathing hard.
“I’m not afraid of him. I want to confront him. I want you and Sarah to be safe, and free, and to be able to live without fear.” He slowed his long strides so she could catch up to him. “I’m not afraid of your father, Vivi. I’m afraid of myself. Your life and Sarah’s life depend on me. And I’ve failed at that before.”
“You haven’t failed. You saved both of us tonight! Heath, you have to accept how good and strong and noble you are.”
But she knew it was for those very reasons he could not leave the guilt and pain of his wife and daughter’s deaths behind.
Suddenly Heath stopped walking. He put Sarah down, then stepped back from her and Vivienne. He clapped his hand to his head and let out a fierce grunt of pain.
Vivienne rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his chest. “What’s happening? What’s wrong?”
He pushed her away and dropped to his knees. The skin of his face rippled and his body flexed and jerked beneath his clothes. “Are you shape shifting?” she cried.
He shook his head. Then with a howl of sheer agony that made her spine go rigid, he whipped his head back. His fangs shot out. His features seemed to turn to liquid and move around on his face.
“This is what happened before,” he gasped. “When Nikolai gave me a taste of what his curse meant, what I would become. I’m transforming into a demon.”