The Den of Shadows Quartet

by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

  Sarah flinched at the passion in Nissa’s voice. “I can’t let Nikolas live.”

  “Sarah, please —” Nissa broke off, as if knowing there was nothing she could say. The vampire disappeared, but Sarah would not allow her determination to waver.

  She threw out the rose Nikolas had sent with the invitation. Nissa had taken the card, but Sarah remembered the necessary information. The bash would be tonight, at 129 Ash Road. It wasn’t the same house she had found before, but considering his age and notoriety Sarah was not surprised that Nikolas had more than one.

  She wouldn’t miss this for the world.

  If Nissa was telling the truth, then Sarah would only be in danger from Nikolas … until she took him down. There was no need to endanger other hunters. If Nikolas knew who her allies were, he would alert the group immediately and the other hunters would not have even the scant protection that Nikolas’s marks gave to Sarah. How ironic, Sarah thought grimly. Nikolas’s marks would enable her to kill him.

  CHAPTER 17

  SARAH FELT A LITTLE GUILT as she lied to Adianna, telling her that she was going to hunt in the relatively safe city.

  She wore black jeans and a white tank top, and her jacket hid the bandages, as well as the knife on her left wrist. Her primary knife was on her back, and she had two slim silver daggers in her boots.

  Nikolas was playing with her, which meant he would give her a chance to fight. As soon as she had that chance, she would use it. This time there would be no hesitation.

  The house appeared dark as Sarah approached it. All the shades were down, but she could hear a haunting melody from inside, a mixture of pain and loneliness. The door opened just as she reached for the knob, and she was again confronted with the peculiar — and powerful — world of Nikolas.

  Black and white.

  The walls were black with a white design running across them, spiraling and plunging, the lines all slightly wrong, drawing the eye to seemingly impossible shapes. The other house she had seen had been crisp in its lack of color; the abstraction in this one made Sarah’s vision spin, so she turned to the vampire who had opened the door for her.

  Kaleo’s red shirt in the black-and-white interior of Nikolas’s house was a startling blot of color. Sarah tensed as she remembered her last encounter with him.

  “Sarah Vida, nice to see you again,” he said, his voice lilting with sarcasm as she met his black gaze without fear. “Nikolas told us to expect you. You can relax, take your jacket off, and make yourself at home. It’s only eleven.”

  “I don’t make myself at home in a place like this,” she answered, and he just laughed and reached over to close the door behind her.

  “Sarah, so good to see you.”

  She looked toward the voice, but her eyes took a moment to differentiate the figure there from the background.

  Nikolas was wearing white slacks and a black silk shirt, and his hair was tied back with a black ribbon. He had not yet fed tonight, and the skin that she could see was almost white, pearl-like. Black and white, colorless, he matched the room perfectly. Is that what his mind is like? she wondered. All sharp contrasts without color or emotion?

  “Welcome to my home, Sarah. Please, come away from the door. May I take your jacket?”

  This time it was her turn to laugh. “You can drop the act, Nikolas.”

  “There is no act, Sarah. Acting, like lying, is an art I have never perfected. Come into my parlor.”

  “Said the spider to the fly,” Sarah finished for him, and he smiled, taking her jacket.

  “I never kill until the hour, Sarah.”

  “Am I really supposed to believe that?” she asked skeptically.

  “I never lie.”

  He hung her jacket in the closet and turned his back to her, leading her deeper into the house. She wanted so much to put a knife into his back immediately but his next words discouraged her.

  “What about you, Sarah? I do not kill until midnight. As it is, I’m not sure that I plan to kill you at all. Do you have any rules for yourself, or should we forget all manners and throw ourselves on the mercy of chaos?”

  “You want me to wait until midnight to kill you?” she asked incredulously, and Nikolas turned back to face her.

  “If that’s what you plan to do tonight, then yes, I would like for you to wait until midnight to try. You are a guest here this time — you must abide by our rules.”

  “Hardly” She leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. Her right hand rested over the handle of the knife strapped to her left wrist, and she was comforted by the cool feel of silver beneath her fingertips.

  “Honor, Sarah,” Nikolas sighed. “Does the Vida line no longer teach its children honor? I invited you, and you accepted the invitation. It would be rather unsporting to spoil the game because you are impatient.”

  “I am never impatient.”

  “Just like you never shout out,” he answered. “And never cry, even when you make enemies of your friends. Yes, Nissa told me about your conversation,” he said before she could ask. “So, will you follow our rules?”

  “I can wait until midnight.”

  “Do I have your word on that?” he asked, his gaze intense.

  She did not answer immediately. When a Vida gave her word, she kept it, so Sarah was careful how she phrased her answer. “Unless you threaten me, I will wait until midnight to kill you. You have my word on that.”

  Nikolas smiled, and for an instant the expression reminded her of Christopher. “Very well, then. Enjoy the bash — you’ll probably never make it to another one.”

  CHAPTER 18

  BY ELEVEN-THIRTY, Sarah had been introduced to others, some humans, some vampires. She wondered just how much needed to be done before these killers would drop their social detachment and retaliate, and whether Nikolas even cared that his father’s murderer was among the guests.

  “Not until midnight.” Kaleo’s voice slipped through the noise of the room, a hint of laughter in his tone, and Sarah repressed a shiver. She glanced over to see a young woman gazing up at Kaleo with the intensity of love — or terror.

  “Midnight is only half an hour away,” she argued.

  “Is there some hurry, dear?” Kaleo bent his head to kiss his victim’s throat; she sighed, leaned her head back, and when he stood again she leaned against a wall, clearly disappointed.

  Sarah jumped when she felt hands on her shoulders. “I thought you never reacted,” Nikolas said, laughing.

  “I’m standing in a slaughterhouse where the cattle are begging to become hamburgers. I have a right to be jumpy.”

  “Ah.” Nikolas followed Sarah’s gaze. “Heather is Kaleo’s favorite. She has been frequenting these bashes for longer than I have been alive.”

  “God,” Sarah whispered, sickened. A blood bonded human did not age. This girl could remain alive, Kaleo’s personal prey, for thousands of years unless he tired of her and killed her. Or, Sarah thought, forming an instant hatred of the vampire, until I kill him.

  “Welcome to my world, Sarah,” Nikolas answered. “Why are you wearing these?” He reached to the bandages on her right arm as she pulled away. “Are you ashamed of what they hide?”

  “Ashamed?” she echoed, incredulous. “Should I be proud to show the world that you’ve sliced your name into my skin?”

  Nikolas laughed. “Look around you.”

  The comment was well placed. Sarah had already seen several humans with Nikolas’s marks on them. When he entered the room, they greeted him with adoration. While they were discreet in human society, in Nikolas’s own lair they wore tank shirts or sleeveless dresses, going out of their way to show off the marks.

  “I’d rather burn them off, personally,” she growled.

  “If you really want to, you can always do that later, though I’ve heard it’s painful,” Nikolas commented, apparently serious. “Of course, I don’t suppose you would mind a little more pain, would you?”

  Before she could react he gra
bbed her wrist, pulling her toward him sharply enough that she stumbled and needed to catch herself on the arm of a nearby couch.

  “I thought you played by the rules,” she hissed, snatching her other wrist away when he reached for it.

  “I do. I’m simply removing these,” Nikolas answered, carefully unwinding the bandage on the wrist he had a hold on.

  “Let me go.”

  He let go of her arms, but continued to undo the bandages until each of his marks was revealed.

  The sudden movement had opened one of the cuts on her shoulder, and he bent his head down to the wound. She felt the soft sensation of his lips on her skin and tried to pull away, but Nikolas grabbed her right arm and held her still.

  Pressing her left hand to his chest, with the tip of the spring-loaded knife only inches from his heart, she said, “I consider this a threat. Let me go, or I will kill you where you stand.”

  “You’re right,” Nikolas said, lifting his head and releasing her. The taste of her blood, stronger and sweeter than any human’s, had caused his expression to darken with bloodlust. “It isn’t midnight yet, is it?”

  CHAPTER 19

  “DAMN, Sarah.”

  She spun toward the familiar voice, and nearly swore when she recognized her sister. Kaleo, lounging against one of the walls, watched the confrontation with malicious pleasure — he must have let Adianna in.

  “You really have gotten yourself into trouble this time, haven’t you, little sister?” Adianna asked, sizing up the situation.

  “What are you doing here?” Sarah demanded, frustrated by her sister’s appearance. Adianna was going to get herself killed.

  “Touchy today, aren’t we?” Adianna responded.

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “I wanted to know what was up with you. I asked this” — she gestured to Nikolas — “thing’s brother, Christopher, and he told me you were here.”

  Sarah cringed inwardly. Adianna didn’t talk to vampires — if they had information she needed, she would force it from them. Sarah hoped Christopher was still alive.

  Evidently, Nikolas had the same thought, because Sarah saw instant hatred on his face. He stepped forward a pace and Adianna drew her knife.

  “Come any nearer, and you won’t be pleased with the results,” Adianna warned.

  “Tell you what,” Nikolas said slowly, glancing from Adianna to Sarah and then back. The other vampires had disappeared, leaving Nikolas alone with the two hunters and a scattered handful of groggy humans; Sarah could tell he was stalling for time. “Only Sarah is in my plan for tonight. I’ll let you leave safely, if you will do so now.”

  Adianna did not wait for him to continue but attacked instantly. No hesitation, no thought, just pure Vida skill.

  Nikolas dodged, but Adianna turned quickly, cutting into his side. Sarah had just drawn her knife to join the fray when something struck her from behind, sending her stumbling. More astonished than frightened, she twisted and detached the human who had attacked her, knocking the girl out with a small burst of power.

  A quick scan revealed two more humans on their feet and ready to fight if necessary, but Nikolas did not need the help. Sarah heard something in Adianna’s arm snap as the vampire slammed her back into the wall.

  “Nikolas, let her go!” Sarah shouted.

  “Why?” he asked, his hand over Adianna’s windpipe, ready to crush it.

  “Adianna isn’t involved in this — she only came because she heard I was here. Let her go.”

  “Christopher wouldn’t have told her where I was unless she hurt him,” Nikolas growled.

  Sarah advanced, careful to keep the humans from her back, and Nikolas’s grip on Adianna’s throat tightened. “The hour has fallen, Sarah — I could kill her before you could get near enough to hurt me, and you know it.”

  “Then how about I leave now, while you are busy with her?” Sarah bluffed. “It would ruin your plans for tonight, wouldn’t it?”

  Nikolas hesitated. “I suppose it would dent them a bit.”

  “Let her go, Nikolas.” Adianna was turning blue from Nikolas’s grip, and it took all of Sarah’s will not to attack.

  “You are in no place to make demands, Sarah, but I’ll make a deal with you anyway. Marguerite?”

  One of the humans answered. “Yes?”

  Sarah spared a glance and recognized the girl from SingleEarth. Nikolas’s marks on her dark skin looked like pearl inlays.

  It was not these designs, though, that sent dread down Sarah’s spine. There were two more on her left arm, which must have been tucked under the girl when she had been brought to SingleEarth: one was a teardrop, and the other was a second signature.

  Kristopher.

  “Sarah,” Nikolas said, “Give your knives — all of them — to Marguerite so she can bring them upstairs, and I will let your sister go safely.”

  She believed him. However warped, somewhere within Nikolas’s twisted mind was a sense of honor.

  Of course, if she relinquished all her weapons, Nikolas would probably kill her. And it was completely against Vida rules to surrender arms to any leech.

  “Fine,” she answered, drawing the first knife from her back.

  Nikolas loosened his grip on Adianna’s throat enough that she could breathe, and Adianna immediately said through her teeth, “Sarah, what are you doing?”

  She did not answer.

  Adianna had never broken the rules. She hadn’t befriended the vampires or made deals with them. She hadn’t revealed her powers to a human boy. Stronger and colder, Adianna was the one more likely to survive after this night, and so Sarah had to do what she could to help her. The Vida line had to go on, and Adianna was a better Vida than Sarah could ever be.

  It seemed to take a long time before Sarah had finished stripping herself of weapons, but it was all too soon that Nikolas asked Marguerite to bring them upstairs, and Sarah was left standing before the vampire unarmed. Nikolas pulled Adianna away from the wall and disappeared with her.

  He reappeared alone in an instant. With luck, he had simply put some distance between Adianna and this house. With less luck, she was somewhere in Europe, trying to find a phone to call Dominique to arrange a plane home.

  CHAPTER 20

  “NOW WHAT?” Sarah asked.

  “No fight, Sarah? No bold words?” he asked, stepping toward her. “Are your knives all that give you courage?”

  “My knives are necessary for me to kill your kind,” she answered. “But they aren’t my courage. I’m not begging for my life, either.”

  “You never will, will you?” he asked, as he took hold of her right arm. He bent his head down to the rose and licked away the thin line of blood that had gathered on the stem. Then his lips moved to her throat.

  Once again she started to pull away, but this time she had no knives to threaten with, and Nikolas’s grip was tightening. His fangs brushed across her throat and she braced herself for pain.

  He raised his head to look her in the eye.

  “It doesn’t hurt, Sarah,” he said, as if reading her mind. “And I’m not going to kill you. What are you afraid of?”

  The unknown, Sarah thought. What exactly did this creature have planned? But she didn’t ask, because she didn’t really want to know. “Just get on with it.”

  With his free hand he leaned her head back, his fingers running through her hair, strangely gentle.

  “Nikolas, let her go.”

  Nikolas raised his head, allowing Sarah just enough room to look to the speaker.

  “Christopher.” Nikolas’s eyes lit up as he whispered his brother’s name. “Care to join me?”

  “Let her go, or I will take her from you,” Christopher ordered, his voice unwavering.

  “You can’t,” Nikolas answered. “You could, physically — you know I wouldn’t fight you — but you can’t by law.” Nikolas gestured to the thin line of blood on his side where Adianna’s knife had pierced the skin. “Her sister drew blood.
I have claim on Adianna and her relations.”

  Blood claim was one of the few laws vampires regularly followed. In return for the blood Adianna had drawn from Nikolas, no other vampire was allowed to interfere if he wanted to harm her or anyone in her family.

  Christopher closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “Don’t hurt her.”

  “Whoever said I was going to hurt her?” He sounded so innocent, it made Sarah nervous.

  “I know you, Nikolas,” Christopher argued.

  “Once you did,” Nikolas said quietly, sadly. “We — not I, but we — were the most feared of our kind. Rome, Paris, New York — every city in the world was ours. What happened to Kristopher and Nikolas, who would hunt side by side, sharing the blood, dancing in the streets?”

  Nikolas gestured to the wounds on Sarah’s arms. “These marks were ours, not mine, and everyone knew it. Now, even the hunters have forgotten you. When was the last time I saw you place your mark on your prey?”

  “Marguerite,” Christopher answered, lost in memory. He stepped forward until he was standing in front of his brother. “She was the last.”

  “Why?” Nikolas asked, voice barely audible.

  “Let it go, Nikolas,” Christopher ordered, his voice shaking slightly “That was fifty years ago.”

  “I can see it in your eyes, Christopher,” Nikolas whispered to his brother. “You remember. Why did you leave me?”

  “I stopped killing, Nikolas —”

  “You stopped living!” Nikolas shouted, his emotion breaking any control he had. “I look at you, and all I see is pain. For you I tried to survive on anything but the blood of humans, but I couldn’t stand the pain. I couldn’t walk in the sunlight. I couldn’t stand to be near humans. One day I ran into a human girl on the street, and before I knew it she was dead in my arms. An innocent human girl, Christopher, who didn’t deserve to die.”