Rau didn’t hear a word of it.
The realm pulled him farther and farther into the darkness, until the air rippled… and he vanished.
In his place stood an easel covered with a black sheet.
Pulling back, Finn tucked his chin to his chest. “Is that it?”
Shaking my head, I inched my way closer. “Looking at it in Micah terms, this being a mirror realm it would make sense. Every reflection is equal. To see something, you must offer something. To let us see this, it swallowed Rau.”
Vlad’s chest shook with a menacing growl.
“I didn’t say I liked it. Simply stating what happened.” With shivers of warning skittering down my spine, I caught the fabric between my index and middle fingers and tugged it free. It fell to the ground in a whispered warning. What lived beneath knocked the air from my lungs and tossed my stomach into an angry lurch.
“God in Heaven.” Finn slumped to his knees, shoulders curling in a series of dry heaves.
The monstrosity before us momentarily stunned Vlad from his rage. Black eyes narrowing, he fought to make sense of what he was seeing.
There is no describing pure evil. No words can adequately convey what it’s like to gaze upon the vilest traits of mankind.
Every rotten deed Dorian committed.
Every sin he indulged in.
All his horrible thoughts and deplorable actions.
It was depicted in every line and brush stroke of the hunched and shriveled being painted onto the canvas.
Unable to look at it a moment longer, I snatched the fabric off the floor and tossed it back over the horrifying artwork. “We have to take this and go. Now.”
Vlad’s eyes burned a deep crimson. “I’m not leaving without Rau.”
“Then we came here for nothing,” I barked back. “The mirror allowed us to see this—to borrow this—with Rau as our collateral. We’ll get him back when we return the painting. But to take it, we have to pay the price.”
“No.” Rooting himself where he stood, Vlad shook his head. “You have no way to know that. Explain to me how stepping out of here without my son will return him to me. I’ve lost far too many decades with him because of my own narrow-minded foolishness. Do not ask me to make such a mistake again.”
My eyebrows raised, needing him to truly hear me. “And I never would. If I thought there was any other way, I’d do it. But it’s a world of reflections, Vlad. You have to show something to get something. We trap Dorian inside of this painting, deliver it back here, and Rau will be returned to us.”
“You cannot possibly know that to be true.” Vlad’s jaw clenched tight, the tendons of his neck bulging.
“You’re right, I can’t. Because I’ve never been trapped in a mirror realm before!” Realizing I was screaming, I battled my way back to a more calm and collected tone. “I don’t know anything for certain, except that right now Dorian is winning. He has complete control. This painting is the only weakness we know he has. This is our Excalibur. It holds so much value, he created this entire place to protect it. I have no definite answers, but I have hope. Right now, that’s all we have to go on.”
“And if we fail?” Finn didn’t ask the question sarcastically, but with his voice rising and falling in tremors of fear after gazing upon Dorian’s truth.
Careful to keep the painting covered, I eased it off its easel. “Then Rau will be safer here than any of the rest of us.”
One final glance at the hall of nothingness, and Vlad pulled out the syringe of sulfur Micah armed him with. “If you’re wrong about this, I’ll never forgive you.”
Adjusting my hold on the portrait, I balanced the bottom of its frame on my hip. “If I’m wrong, and thousands of people die, I’ll hate me right along with you. That said, you don’t need the syringe. Now that I’ve accepted I am the Dragon there’s no need for it.”
Dissipating into a cloud of rolling shadows, I followed the pull and allowed the mirror to spit us back out into the foyer of the manor. Our trio solidified in a tangle of limbs, but thankfully our cargo came through unscathed.
The instant I got my feet under me, a prickle of unease on the back of my neck warned that something was wrong. The coppery scent of blood filled the air. Micah’s lab coat was in a heap on the floor. Natalie’s carefully positioned tripod laid on its side with one leg snapped in half from the fall. A bloody handprint smeared the wall leading into the dining room.
“Find Batdog. Make sure he’s okay.” Leaving Finn to jog up the stairs in search of my pup, Vlad and I crept closer to the ominous handprint. “Mics? Natalie?”
Silence.
“Micah?” Nostrils twitching, I let the scent of blood lead me to its source.
I heard her before I saw her.
A pained whimper.
A choked rasp.
Natalie was slumped behind the dining room table, hands curled into claws as if she dragged herself there. Skidding to my knees beside her, I rolled her over as gently as I could. The front of her blouse was slicked with gore from the deep gash drilled into her gut. A pool of crimson stretched out wide around her.
Vlad was at my side in a blink checking for a pulse while I applied pressure to the wound. “She’s still alive, but barely.”
“I-I don’t know if I can heal her,” I stammered, feeling useless with powers I had yet to understand. “Vampires drank my blood and became human. I don’t know if it would do anything for her at all. You have to do it.”
“I will, my Queen.” With a tender touch, he pulled Natalie from my arms and situated her upper body across his lap. Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he bit down until beads of black burst from his skin. “There now, drink.”
One of Natalie’s shaking hands rose, closing around his offered wrist. Instead of bringing it to her lips, her panicked gaze swiveled my way. “Th-The—”
“Shh.” Reaching out, I brushed blood-crusted strands of hair away from her face. “Don’t try to talk. You need to drink.”
Managing a weak shake of her head, she tried again. “The… tape. W-Watch the tape.”
Exhausted from her efforts, Natalie’s head fell slack as her eyes rolled back.
“Damn it!” Bringing his wrist to his mouth a second time, Vlad opened the wound wider until his blood flowed free. Parting Natalie’s lips with his thumb, he let his blood stream into her mouth in hopes it would be enough. “She was willing to die over whatever is on that tape. We need to find out why.”
Rising on legs that threatened to buckle beneath me, I returned to the foyer with blood squishing underfoot. There, I found Batdog lounging on the stairs looking happy as ever. The same could not be said for Finn. Perched on the edge of a step, he sat with his head cradled between his hands. The camcorder was propped up beside him with its playback screen open.
“How bad is it?”
Sniffing back an uncharacteristic show of emotion, Finn picked up the camera and offered it to me. “We should have hidden in the mirror realm. All of us.”
With the warmth of the battery pack cradled in my palm, I braced myself… and hit play.
Chapter Seventeen
Vinx
A bright blue screen.
A crackle of static.
Screen sideways from the camera being knocked over, a designer men’s loafer was the first thing to appear. Scooping the camera off the floor, Dorian’s face came into focus.
“Vinx, Vinx, Vinx.” With a shake of his head, he clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I’m disappointed in you. After I carefully laid out all the pieces of this puzzle, you tried to cheat and carve out your own. Sadly, this little attempt of yours will all be for naught. I can’t have one of my star players skirting the rules. Soon, I will tell you where to find me and you will deliver my painting unharmed and by my exact command. Then, our game can resume without our leading
lady playing dirty. Now, I know how that naughty little mind of yours works. You think you have a choice in this matter. That somehow you can leverage this and gain the upper hand. Perhaps you need a reminder of who it is you’re up against?”
The camera jostled before settling on Micah. On her knees with her hands cuffed behind her back, blood-tinged tears zigzagged over her cheeks. “Vinx, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
After propping the camera back up on its tripod, Dorian sauntered straight for her. Light gleamed off something metallic in his hand.
Catching sight of it, Micah’s eyes bulged. Her head whipped from side to side as if she could somehow deny the reality crushing down on her. “No, please! Not that! Not again!”
Dorian popped the cap off one of the same syringes of sulfur Mics had been using to prep me for the mirror realm. “Oh, that’s right. You have gotten a taste of my serum once before. Fantastic. That means I don’t have to warn you this is going to sting.” Seizing her braids in a vicious fist, he wrenched her head to the side.
Micah dropped fang and emitted a menacing hiss as the medication was plunged into her vein.
Releasing his hold, Dorian tossed the needle aside. “While we give that a chance to take hold, a public service announcement for you, Vincenza Larow-Draculesti. Later today, I will make it known exactly where you can find me and your friend here. You will bring me my painting, or face consequences your feeble little mind cannot begin to comprehend. Make no mistake, there is no Plan B here. You give me what’s mine, or I will show you the magnitude of depravity I can manage without being tethered to something as bothersome as a soul.”
Behind him, Micah gnashed her teeth and snapped at the air as the sulfur overtook her.
At the sound of her teeth clicking together, Dorian raised a brow in her direction. “Look at that, it seems it’s time for the show and tell portion of our program. Stay tuned, this is where it gets fun.”
He disappeared from the camera for an instant, then returned dragging a beaten and bruised Natalie behind him by the collar of her shirt. Depositing her in a heap on the floor, he nudged her with the side of his shoe. “Get on your feet.”
Natalie placed one hand on the floor to steady herself, then rose on visibly shaking legs.
Plunging his hands into the pockets of his trousers, he paced behind Micah. “Tell me, miss, do you believe all the claims of my power and prestige?”
“I have no reason to doubt it.” True to her reporter persona, Natalie wisely chose a diplomatic response.
“Very good. And I can also assume you’ve seen what sulfur does in the bloodstream of a vampire?”
Natalie glanced to Micah, where foam frothed at the corners of her lips. “I have.”
“Wonderful.” Shoulders squared, Dorian met her gaze head-on. “Then if you would be so kind as to pick up the dagger I left on the floor behind you and stab yourself with it, we can expedite this whole process.”
“W-What?”
“Let me clarify; either you stab yourself in the stomach and gamble that your friends will make it back in time to save you before you bleed out, or I let your friend here rip you to shreds. Your choice.”
“Please don’t do this,” Natalie pleaded in a barely audible whisper.
Dorian’s lips parted with a pop. “I’m afraid I must insist. It should also be noted that time is wasting. At the very least you should pick up the dagger. It’s silver, might help you fight her off for a moment or two.”
Afraid to turn her back to him, Natalie risked a quick glance. Finding the item right where he said it would be, she squatted down to snatch it off the floor. Gripping it with both hands, she held it out in front of her in the only line of defense she had.
“Very good. Now, will you be taking your chance on Micah here or self-mutilation?”
Natalie’s chin quivered, her stance wobbling from one missing shoe. “I can’t… please.”
“Many people underestimate what they’re capable of in the face of unspeakable odds. Perhaps you need a bit more motivation.” Dorian bent down behind Micah. With a soft click, one of her cuffs snapped open, allowing her to lunge at Natalie.
A scream tore from Natalie’s lungs, her shoulder blades slamming into the wall behind her.
Dorian held tight to the other end of Micah’s cuff, holding her back like his own rabid beastie. “Tick-tock! Tick-tock! What’s it going to be? My hold isn’t that great, and she seems to love the smell of you! Make a decision or I’m making it for you. Time is running out.”
Worked into a frenzy by his taunts, all I could do was watch in horror as Natalie flipped the dagger in her palm and plunged it into her own gut. Dorian pulled Micah back, allowing Natalie center stage as she dropped to her knees with blood bubbling on her lips.
“Wise decision,” he mused. “That said, I would suggest you use what energy you have left to run. I have another job for our friend here, and you don’t want to be anywhere near it.”
Slipping in her own pooling blood, Natalie slapped a hand to the wall and pushed herself toward the dining room.
“That’s right! Scurry off! Hide if you can. The creature will be coming off her leash, but not for you.” Once more, Dorian stared directly into the camera. “I can’t venture through my mirror realm and risk you sneaky little devils further ruining my fun. Which means Micah here is going to have to blaze us a trail out of here… right through your sea of followers. Too bad you made them mortal. Otherwise they may have stood a chance.”
Opening the front door, he freed Micah from her remaining cuff and turned her loose.
Bloodcurdling screams could be heard in the distance.
Crouching down with his hands on his knees, Dorian stabbed into my bruised heart. “There will be no easy way out of this, Vincenza. The trumpets of war will blast, or all those you love will die. I’ll see you soon.”
With a swipe of his hand, he knocked the camera to the ground.
Chapter Eighteen
Carter
It didn’t take long for us to realize we were fighting a losing battle. Our plans to maim or wound, instead of killing the drugged vampires was quickly replaced by the basic need to survive. My team and I huddled in a tight formation with our backs together, moving as one unit in our push toward the door. UV bullets rained all around. Every shot landed caused another explosion of ash, the stench of scorched flesh assaulted my nostrils.
My eyes burned.
My fangs ached.
Still, I pressed on.
There was no other choice.
The ravenous undead swarmed, moving in cresting waves over those who fell before them.
We were giving far better than we got, until I heard the words that made my stilled heart seize.
“Fuck! I’m out of ammo,” Jax yelped, and flipped his weapon into a hand-over-hand grip to swing it like a bat at any vamp that got too close.
“I will be soon, too!” Bree screamed to be heard over the fresh spray of bullets she unleashed. “We need to make a push to the door, and we need to do it now!”
Elodie—in her full Vinx façade—swung her UV blade with trained expertise. Whipping and twirling it, she cleared us a path through the chaos.
I saw the door, and the human faces peering out through the small square window to wave us in. A small bud of hope swelled in my chest. If fate had taught me anything, it should have been to dread such a foolish emotion.
Bree lined up a shot at a male vamp galloping for her with his teeth bared, and her gun… clicked.
She was out.
“Shit!” Following Jax’s lead, she swung the gun’s barrel with all she had.
The vamp caught it and tossed it aside as easy as batting a fly.
Whipping around, I tried to line up my own shot. But it was too late. He was on her, tearing open her throat. As the smell of her blood filled the ai
r, the sulfur-doped vamps were worked up into a frenzy of bloodlust. Losing the hesitation that comes with self-preservation, they charged us in a tidal wave of all-consuming hunger.
All I could see was fangs.
Rancid breath burned against my cheeks.
Pushing and shoving my way through the ravenous undead, I was hunting for a way out when a single voice rang out from somewhere in the melee.
“Your blood! Use your blood! Let them bite you!” It was Bree shrieking, sounding far stronger than I would have imagined for someone whose jugular had just been pierced. “I can’t explain it, but it reverses the sulfur! Do you hear me? Our blood is the cure!”
No, not our blood. That of those who had fed off Vinx. She was the answer. From the very beginning, it had always been her.
Flinging the strap of my rifle over one shoulder, I pulled the collar of my shirt aside and offered a taste of her salvation to the poor souls that needed it most.
Chapter Nineteen
Vinx
Three were dead.
Five more injured.
Walking down the rows of tents, I passed out blankets and water to any who needed them. I’ll admit it was a sorry excuse for help considering Finn and Vlad were opening their veins to heal those they could. They were bleeding for our cause, while I was tasked with keeping up morale. The way I saw it, I was the worst possible person for that job. I was the reason they were here. That made what happened to them my responsibility. My hands were painted with the blood of those we lost.
Not that I saw an ounce of judgement on any of their faces. As I passed, they reached for my hands, brushed my arms, found solace in a simple touch. Somehow that made the guilt of this all a million times worse.
I failed them.
It wouldn’t happen again.
Leaves crunched behind me. I turned to find Vlad approaching with his head down as he wiped his hands on a gore-covered handkerchief no amount of bleach could ever save. “The injured have been healed. Finn is wondering what sort of burial we want for the dead. In my time, bodies were burned in tribute, but I’m aware those methods have changed.”
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