Impatience nagged him and he couldn’t see how a levitation trick would help them get Elizabeth back. They only had so many hours in the night and sitting here watching Bridget float only wasted them.
“Clever trick, Bridget, but I don’t understand how it’s going to help us.”
Concentration broken, she dropped heavily to the carpeted floor, falling to her hands and knees, and the candles extinguished all at once.
Bridget sat back on her haunches, her long white hair almost brushing the floor behind her. She sighed. “I don’t think this will help her, I just wanted to prove to you I was capable of helping.”
“By doing what? Levitating Demitri out of the way?” He couldn’t help the sarcastic bite to his tone.
“No, Sebastian, of course not. I have other things I can do, but they take all of my energy and I figured I’d be better off saving it.”
“So what are you thinking?”
“I can create a veil which will protect Serenity from Demitri’s eyes.”
“What do you mean?”
Serenity interrupted, excited. “He won’t be able to see me! I’ll be able to walk into the club and take Elizabeth right back again.”
“The veil protects good from evil. Makes whatever is good invisible. Serenity will be invisible to Demitri.”
“And what about my eyes?” he asked. “Am I considered evil, Bridget? Will she be visible to me?”
Bridget struggled to meet his fierce gaze. “I’m not sure, Sebastian. I know you’re not evil, but you are a vampire and you do kill. There’s a good chance the veil will protect her from you as well.”
“Seriously? And what happens then? Do you really think Demitri will just let Elizabeth walk out of there? He’ll turn around and take her right back again.”
Serenity blurted, “He won’t be able to see her either. I can hold her close to my body so the veil will cover Elizabeth as well.”
His eyes narrowed, looking between the two women. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“You need to distract Demitri and the two other vampires somehow so I can steal Elizabeth away.”
Sebastian growled, his eyes burning. “I’ll need to fight them. There is no other way.”
“They can’t kill you, can they?” said Serenity. “You’ve told me enough times that one vampire can’t kill another.”
“No, they can’t kill me, but they can hold me prisoner. Keep me underground in the club and starve me until I have no strength.” He shook his head. “Not that it matters, of course. I’ll happily switch my own freedom for Elizabeth’s.” He thought for a moment. “Even if we’re able to take Elizabeth, we’ll still need to stop Demitri from coming after us.”
“What about silver?” said Serenity. “It worked with Madeline.”
Sebastian raised a hand. “Serenity, stop. First of all, Demitri is an ancient, older than even Madeline was. You won’t be able to trick him easily. Secondly, if you’re planning to try to kill him, you can’t tell me about it. If I’m involved knowingly in anyway, I won’t be able to help you.”
“Of course, sorry. But I don’t have any amazing plan for how to kill him. I wish I did. Right now, all I’m interested in is getting Elizabeth back.” Her voice quivered and she burst into tears.
In an instant, he was by her side, pulling her into his arms. “Hush. We can do this. We’ll get her back.”
“But what about you?” she cried. “I don’t want you to get hurt and I don’t want Demitri to exchange Elizabeth for you.”
“Don’t worry about me.” He gave a wry grin. “I’m old enough to look after myself.”
She sniffed. “You’re not older than Demitri.”
“No, I’m not. But you need to concentrate on getting Elizabeth away.”
“I could always wait until daylight,” she said between sniffs. “If the vampires will all be sleeping, maybe I can find Elizabeth before they wake. Perhaps there is no need for you to get involved.”
“I’m not letting you go in there alone, Serenity.”
Besides,” Bridget interrupted. “If they’ve got humans working the bar in the day—innocent humans who don’t know what they’ve got themselves involved with—the magic won’t work on them. You’ll be as visible to them as you are now and all that’s likely to happen is they’ll call the cops and have you arrested for breaking and entering.”
Serenity jumped to her feet. “Why don’t we call the cops ourselves? If the vampires will all be asleep in the day, we can send them in to get Elizabeth back.”
Bridget raised her eyebrows. “Do you really want that sort of scrutiny? You’ve been missing for two years and then you come back and someone takes your daughter? How are you going to explain such a thing?”
“Anyway,” Sebastian interrupted. “We’re not waiting another night before we do anything and I’m not going to let you go into the club alone. Demitri’s room is far beneath ground. His age, combined with how far below the surface he is, might mean he can rouse himself from sleep should he need to. I refuse to be asleep, trapped in some closet and hiding from the light while you put yourself in so much danger.”
“I don’t want to wait any longer either,” said Serenity. “Today has been hard enough. Whatever happens, we’re getting Elizabeth back tonight.” She turned to Bridget. “What if I bump into regular people?”
“They’ll just think you’re another clubber. If any of them are watchdogs for Demitri and the other vampires, I’m pretty sure they’ll fall on the side of ‘evil’ as far as the cosmic ratings go.”
Sebastian held up his hand. “Okay, so I think we’ve established that Serenity isn’t going to go on her own. What now? Night only has so many hours and poor Elizabeth is in the hands of Demitri and his minions.”
“I need to concentrate to create the spell, so neither of you can talk while I do it. And I’m going to need some of Serenity’s hair.”
Serenity raised her eyebrows. “I don’t suppose anyone thought to bring any scissors?”
Sebastian lifted one of her curls. “Hold still.”
She froze as he wrapped a lock of her hair around one finger. He held the strands with his other hand and gave a sharp pull. Under his strength, the hair fibers split with ease and Serenity gasped.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?”
She laughed, “Just an automatic reaction.”
Sebastian handed the lock of hair to Bridget. “How’s this?”
“Perfect,” she said. “Now listen to me. The veil will only last for an hour, maybe a little more, so you need to get Elizabeth before then. As soon as it wears off, the vampires will be able to see you again.”
“How will I know it’s working?” Serenity asked.
“You’ll feel it like energy around your skin. The hairs on your body will stand on end.”
Serenity nodded her understanding.
Bridget rummaged in her bag again and pulled out several clear pockets containing a variety of dried herbs. She dove back in and retrieved a small, black marble bowl.
Bridget lifted her head and caught sight of Serenity and Sebastian watching. “Now you know why I always carry such a big purse.”
Serenity flashed a nervous smile. “You’re like the modern day Mary Poppins.”
The older woman winked. “I prefer ‘Witches of Eastwick’. Now, let me focus.”
With concentration, she took a pinch out of one packet and a couple of pinches from another. She mixed in Serenity’s hair and then lit a candle using the same spell she’d done earlier.
“Let’s hope the smoke alarms aren’t too sensitive,” she said, and then set fire to the hair and herb combination with the candle. The hair hissed and shriveled. An acrid burning stink filled the room.
Sebastian glanced up at the white alarm attached to the ceiling above his head. A small red LED light flashed. Without another thought, he sprang up and tore the plastic device from its holdings.
He settled back on the edge of the bed and tossed the alarm, wires
torn from the base, onto the floor. “Problem solved.”
Serenity smiled and edged closer to him. He slipped his arm around her waist and together they watched Bridget, still knelt on the floor.
Bridget lowered her head as though in prayer while her concoction burned in the marble bowl.
She murmured her words but Sebastian’s keen hearing picked them up. He suspected Serenity would also be able to hear—after all, she had his blood running through her veins. Whether she understood them or not, he didn’t know.
“Hanc vela, hanc custodi, hanc ab oculis malorum protege.”
Automatically, his mind translated: Veil her, keep her, protect her from the sight of evil.
She repeated the words as the hair and herbs burned down to ashes.
His gaze flicked to Serenity who was watching Bridget in rapt awe.
This had better work, he thought. Or they were all out of options.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Are you ready?” Bridget asked Serenity.
Serenity gave the other woman a restrained smile. “As I’ll ever be.”
Bridget pressed a small, silky pouch containing the ashes of the hair and herbs into Serenity’s palm. “You’ll need this. When the time comes to activate the veil, split the bag over the top of your head. I’ll do the rest.”
“How will you know when I’ve done it?”
Her serious blue eyes rested on Serenity’s face. “I’ll know. Remember to split the bag at the last possible moment. The magic will only last an hour at the very most. If you use it too soon, you’ll run the risk of the effect running out at a critical moment.”
With her hand between their bodies, hidden from Sebastian’s view, Bridget pushed something else into Serenity’s jean pocket.
“What’s that?” asked Sebastian, his keen ears having heard the movement.
Bridget looked over Serenity’s shoulder toward him. “Just a little insurance policy.”
Serenity leaned in and planted a kiss on the other woman’s soft cheek. The scent of floral perfume washed over her.
“Thank you.”
Bridget shook her head. “Thank me when you’re both back here safely with Elizabeth by your side. Until that happens, I won’t have done a thing.”
Sebastian stepped forward and kissed her other cheek. “I owe you an apology, Bridget. I’m sorry for being such a sanctimonious asshole.”
“You weren’t,” she smiled. “At least no more than any other guy I’ve ever known.”
“Good to know I’ve not broken the mold.”
“Not even close.”
They stood smiling at each other. The tension that had been between them dissipated. They were both perfectly aware that without Bridget’s abilities and generosity with her time, they’d have no plan to go on.
Serenity took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. “Okay, let’s go. Elizabeth is on her own with that bastard and she’s probably terrified. She needs us.”
Sebastian’s strong fingers entwined with hers and she looked up into his chiseled, beautiful face.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
“Stay safe,” Bridget said.
Hand in hand, they walked out of the small room. They took the elevator down to the ground floor and crossed the lobby. A young woman sat behind the reception and she gave them a small smile as they left. Not wanting to appear rude, even though her heart was in her throat and she thought she might throw up from fear, Serenity returned the smile.
Would the receptionist remember her, she wondered. If all this went bad and Sebastian and Elizabeth vanished from society, would the cops track them down here, to this small, indeterminable hotel?
They stepped out onto the street. It was the middle of the night and the streets—while far from empty—were far quieter than the rush hour traffic she and Bridget had arrived in. Taxis swept past them. A young couple, huddled together against the cold, crossed to the other side of the street.
Unlike the other couple, Serenity and Sebastian walked upright and square -shouldered. The cold didn’t affect Sebastian and his blood had given Serenity some defense against the night’s chill.
Something occurred to Serenity. As they reached the corner of the alley where Demitri’s club was located, she pulled Sebastian to a halt. “I want something from you.”
He turned to her. “Anything.”
“Give me some more of your blood. I’ll never be any match for the vampires, but your blood will strengthen me and make me more alert. Surely, it can’t hurt.”
“What about Bridget’s magic? It’s a defense against evil. What if, with too much vampire blood in you, the spell doesn’t work?”
“It’ll just be just a drop or two,” she argued. “I won’t be a vampire. I won’t have killed anyone—at least no one who wasn’t asking for it. I don’t think it’ll affect the magic.”
“I wish we’d discussed this with Bridget.”
“You know she wouldn’t like it, but sometimes we need to make our own decisions.”
Sebastian stared at her, his green eyes studying her face.
“She knows her stuff when it comes to witchcraft,” continued Serenity. “But this is vampire business.”
Sebastian’s lips thinned and he gave a brisk nod, making a decision.
Without another word, Sebastian pulled his shirtsleeve up. His face morphed—his fangs running forward and his eyes flashing yellow. He lifted his naked wrist to his mouth, and bit.
With their eyes locked, Sebastian offered his bloodied wrist to Serenity. She took it, her mouth fastening over the puncture wound. Her tongue lapped out and she tasted the cool iron of his blood. Part of her wanted to be repulsed, her brain screaming ‘this is blood you’re drinking’, but nothing about Sebastian could ever repulse her.
The bite healed quickly, closing even while she drank, but she’d still been able to get a few drops. As they slid over her palate and down her throat, she felt their power radiate from her core, spreading over her limbs.
Serenity gasped and dropped his hand, doubling over at the waist. She put her hands on her thighs, trying to steady herself.
“Serenity?” Sebastian’s voice came, urgent with worry.
The sound of rushing blood swooshed in her ears, making his voice sound distant and faint. Though she stood still, the world seemed to turn in a slow, lazy swoop. Heat flooded her cheeks and, for a moment, she thought she might throw up, but then everything steadied again. The nausea left as quickly as it had appeared.
Serenity straightened and gave her head a slight shake. “Phew, head rush.”
His hand found the top of her arm. “Are you all right?”
She looked up into his concerned face. His dark eyebrows knitted together, his eyes taking on the faintest hint of gold, iridescent in the dim light.
Her muscles burned with strength and her heart beat faster. The warmth that had flared in her cheeks now spread throughout the rest of her body, creating a blanket against the cold. Details leapt out at her—the faintest cracks in the sidewalk beneath her feet, the hint of acrid smoke on the air where something burned in the distance, the scurry of a rat in a trashcan several blocks away.
Gradually, the heightened sensations began to fade. While she still felt stronger and more alert—more aware—than before, she also felt more human.
“I’m fine,” she said, offering him a smile, wanting to take the worried expression off his face. He studied her a little longer and seemed to accept her words.
His fingers trailed down her arm and stopped at her hand. “Are you ready for this?”
“I’m ready. I’m more worried about you than myself. You’ve got to take on Demitri and his two sidekicks. They’re not even going to know I’m there.”
“We hope they won’t know you’re there. After all, we haven’t exactly tested Bridget’s spell to be sure it even works.”
“It’ll work. She wouldn’t send us into this if she wasn’t one hundred percent confident in what she could do.
”
“I’m just frightened for you—for you and Elizabeth.”
“I guess that’s what it means to love someone, to have a family. You always fear for their safety more than your own.”
Sebastian smiled and dipped his head, covering her mouth with his cool, firm lips. Serenity allowed herself to close her eyes, to focus only on the sensation of Sebastian kissing her, of the connection, both physical and emotional between them. Reluctant to, but aware of the huge task ahead, they broke apart.
“We’re strong together,” he told her, looping his fingers through hers. “Our love for Elizabeth makes us stronger than Demitri and his crew. No matter how this ends, we’ll get through it. We’ll deal with the repercussions and we’ll come through it.”
Hand in hand, they jogged down the alley toward the entrance of the club. The steady thump of the music could still be heard, but otherwise everything was quiet and still. The double doors they’d waited at previously were closed. The club was clearly popular enough to reach capacity long before closing.
Though no one lurked in the passage or hung around outside the club, the hairs on the back of Serenity’s neck stood at attention, every sense afire for the slightest sound or movement. They needed to get inside without being seen.
Sebastian shoved on the closed doors. Right now, the entrance—while probably breaking every fire regulation in the book—was locked. “I guess Demitri is more paranoid than we gave him credit for.”
“He has good reason to be.”
Using his fierce strength, Sebastian pressed his shoulder against the solid wood. Not wanting to bring any unwanted attention, he gave the door one swift, sharp shove, breaking the lock and cracking the door from its frame.
His arm circled Serenity’s waist as he opened the door further and stepped inside the club. Together, they walked through the short corridor and out into the main room. The club was divided into two levels. Gyrating bodies, with arms held in the air and fists pumping in time with the music, filled the main dance floor. The second level was a gallery with a view of the first floor in its center. Here people leaned on the metal bar dividing the upper level from the drop onto the dance floor below. More people danced on this upper level, but most stood watching the dancers below or congregated in groups, talking and drinking.
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