Of Blood and Passion

by Pamela Palmer

  The ache in Arturo’s voice had her turning to him. “I have to save the ones I can.”

  “Let’s find Zack,” he said quietly.

  “No. Not now, not yet. The magic is failing and I won’t forsake everything, and everyone, for him. Not again.”

  Chapter 37

  They rode back to Neo’s, Micah in the lead, Kassius and Lukas bringing up the rear. Arturo and Quinn rode in the middle, sharing one mount. Arturo had not been willing to release her, even to ride.

  He brushed his jaw against her silken hair, the scent of sunshine filling his senses. Glamoured again, she didn’t look like herself, but she smelled as she always did and felt as perfect as always in his arms as she leaned bonelessly against him.

  She was tired, exhausted. But he knew she fought sleep, her mind and heart in turmoil. Her emotions pummeled him—the terrible grief, the fear for her brother, the crippling anger at her own failures. Worse, by far, were the moments when her emotions eased off, moments that were growing longer and longer. Because he knew what she was doing—slowly, brutally, trying to lock away her heart once more. She didn’t want to feel the terrible pain, he sensed that clearly, and he understood. But the only way she knew to escape it was to retreat back behind her walls, to stop caring. And that was the last thing he wanted for her, because behind those walls she would find only isolation and loneliness and a place where love would never reach. A place he could not go.

  “What do you think Cristoff will do with his newfound power?” Lukas asked. “Nerian was said to have subjugated a large part of the human world, but that was millennia ago. I’m not sure any vampire could manage that, not with the firepower humans possess these days.”

  None of them answered, for none of them had any idea. Cristoff had been the most powerful vampire in Vamp City before he came into the Black Wizard’s magic. The thought of what he might become had the ability to terrify.

  “Levenach is actually the one who gave Nerian all that power,” Quinn said sleepily. “And, Cristoff, for that matter.”

  Arturo slid his hand up and down her arm. “By creating Escalla?”

  “No.” Her fingers rested on his forearm. “The sword didn’t automatically convey the power to the wielder. Levenach added that tidbit out of spite.”

  Micah glanced back. “Did you learn that from the Black Wizard’s memories?”

  “No. At least, not when he and I shared a body. When Cristoff stabbed me, I was briefly transported back to the day Nerian stabbed the Black Wizard. I don’t know if it was memory or vision, but Levenach was there.”

  Arturo met Micah’s startled gaze. “We would hear this story, cara.”

  “Sure. Oddly enough, the two old wizards used to be friends. Levenach and Remus. But in his latter years, Remus, the Black Wizard, lost all patience with the human race, and much of his conscience. Some of the things that he did out of spite and annoyance were truly horrific. Levenach lost patience with Remus and decided he had to die. He enlisted the aid of Nerian, the Black Wizard’s trusted vampire friend, to stab him with the enchanted sword. The Black Wizard was furious, of course, especially when he realized it was Levenach who’d put Nerian up to it. Impaled on Escalla and dying, the Black Wizard cursed Levenach and his heirs, stripping them of all their magic. That so enraged Levenach that he uttered the counter curse that any vampire who stabbed Remus or one of his heirs with Escalla would acquire his incredible power. He guaranteed that any vampires who came into possession of Escalla would immediately begin searching for sorcerers to stab, hoping to steal that power.”

  “He wanted the Black Wizard’s line hunted to extinction,” Micah murmured. “And he’s come close to succeeding.”

  Quinn nodded, her hair brushing his chin. “They were just a couple of angry old men with far too much power.”

  Arturo looked at her curiously. “Did either of them reveal how to break the curse?”

  “Yes…I think? I remember Levenach saying that neither curse would break until Escalla was destroyed. The Black Wizard added that it would only happen by drinking the heart blood…and power, I think…of the one. I’m not sure what that means.”

  “Who’s the one?” Micah asked.

  “I don’t know,” Quinn said. “I hope to hell it’s not me. I don’t think it is. Levenach’s last words were, And the one will know.”

  Arturo’s hold on her tightened even as his brows drew together. The meaning was no more clear to him than it was to Quinn.

  They were almost to Neo’s when the ground began to shake, though not quite close enough to make it in time. As one, they pulled up. Arturo held his breath, praying none of them stood within a sunbeam when the light broke through.

  Quinn straightened in her seat, partly pulling away from him. “I’m trying to call up a bubble,” she said with frustration. “But I can’t do it!”

  Light suddenly exploded all around them. Arturo’s flesh began to sting, but, thankfully, none of the sunbeams stood within ten feet of their little group.

  “Damn,” Micah muttered. “They’re everywhere.”

  As far as the eye could see.

  “Hold on,” Arturo told Quinn, then dismounted to stand in the shadow of his mount. His friends did the same, leaving Quinn, alone, in the saddle. Without warning, she cried out, bending over as if she’d been stabbed all over again.

  Arturo lunged for her, fearing she’d been shot, or that her injury hadn’t healed. But before he could pull her off the horse, Lukas groaned, lifted his hands to his head and doubled over as if he, too, were in excruciating pain.

  In the next second, chaos erupted all around them. Vamp City all but disappeared. Arturo stared, stunned at finding himself suddenly standing in the lobby of a modern D.C. hotel, his companions and their mounts around him. The horses were quickly losing their nerve and he grabbed the reins of two of them as, all around him, humans screamed, falling to their knees, writhing on the floor, in as much pain as Quinn and Lukas.

  Mio Dio! Had the magic failed? Was Vamp City gone? But, no, neither Kassius nor Lukas was dead, though when he turned, he saw, with horror, that Kassius was trapped within the frame of a leather armchair as if he’d been welded inside of it.

  “Kass!” Micah had grabbed the reins of the other two mounts and had been struggling to calm them. Now his horrified gaze turned to Arturo. “He’s part of the chair.”

  “We have merged,” Kassius said through gritted teeth. “I can’t move.”

  As the horses became increasingly agitated, Arturo plucked Quinn off her mount and held her close against him. In his arms she was tense as iron, her suffering pummeling his mind and heart. Of all within his sight, only he and Micah appeared to be in no pain.

  Belatedly, it occurred to him that it was dark. Though it was still the middle of the day, there was no daylight filtering in from the windows, and no electricity lighting the hotel lobby. To a human’s eyes it would appear pitch dark.

  “Turo,” Quinn gasped. “He’s doing this. Cristoff.”

  And suddenly it was over. Without warning, they were back in Vamp City, the hotel, humans, and sunbeams gone.

  “What the hell?” Lukas gasped, straightening.

  In Arturo’s arms, Quinn went soft, the terrible tension leaving her body in a rush. The horses settled. Kassius fell to the ground, his lower body…crushed. Absolutely flattened.

  “Kass.” Micah ran for their friend.

  Quinn pulled from Arturo’s hold. “He needs blood.”

  “Cara.” She was not long recovered herself. But she went to Kassius, kneeling beside him and offered him her wrist.

  Kassius’s pained gaze met Arturo’s as he took Quinn’s proffered arm. “Don’t let me take too much.” Then he sank his fangs into her flesh.

  “I thought the magic had failed,” Micah said as they waited for Kassius to feed. “For a moment, I thought we were in the real world. But it was dark, and it shouldn’t have been.”

  “So what happened?” Lukas asked.

&n
bsp; “The two worlds merged,” Quinn told them from where she knelt beside Kassius, her wrist fastened to Kassius’s mouth. “This was Cristoff’s doing. I felt him, I felt his glee in the suffering.” She shook her head as if uncertain if her words made any sense.

  Arturo was all too afraid they did. He looked at Micah. “You didn’t feel any pain.”

  His friend’s eyes narrowed. “Neither did you.”

  “No. And unless I’m mistaken, neither did Kass, at least not until he merged with that chair. Somehow Cristoff protected his own.”

  Kassius’s body healed, quickly returning to its natural form.

  “Kass, that’s enough,” Arturo said, laying a hand on his friend’s arm. “We’ll get you back to Neo’s and find you more blood there.”

  His friend released Quinn’s wrist and tipped his head back with a shuddering sigh. “I won’t need more for awhile. The sorceress’s blood replenishes unlike any other.” His gaze found Quinn’s and he smiled. “Thank you.”

  Quinn returned the smile. “Any time.”

  Micah started to help Kassius to his feet, but Kass held him back and rose without assistance, if slowly. “You were correct. I felt no pain until the chair and I suddenly shared space.”

  “I sure as hell did,” Lukas muttered. “I haven’t felt anything like that since I was human.”

  Arturo reeled as the ramifications hit him. “If Cristoff can cause even a vampire agony, he’ll demand fealty from every single one. And he’ll get it.”

  Quinn’s gaze met his, her expression ominous. “He’s only been a sorcerer for a couple of hours and he’s already figured out how to pull the real D.C. into his world. Not just a copy, as Blackstone did. He’s more powerful than we can even begin to conceive. And far, far more dangerous.”

  Chapter 38

  Quinn gave a sigh of relief as they rode into Neo’s yard a short while later. She wanted her vampires safely inside where the sunbeams couldn’t hurt them. The beams had broken through once more on the way home, but not nearly as close as the first time. Her nerves wouldn’t take much more of this. Arturo and the others were taking their lives in their hands every time they walked outside during daytime, now.

  Of course, the magic could fail at any moment, and then most of them would be dead.

  As they neared the house, Quinn frowned at the sight of Sam and Neo in the yard, each aiming a gun at a naked man. A very tall, very buff, naked man. A male she recognized from Savin’s werewolf pack.

  She glanced at Arturo. “I need to talk to him.”

  “Caution,” Arturo said quietly. Then he dismounted and waited for her to do the same.

  “What’s going on?” Quinn asked as she approached the small, tense group, Arturo and Micah close behind her.

  To her surprise, the werewolf bowed to her. When he lifted his head, he was smiling. “We believed you dead, sorceress. Not even the Black Wizard survived Escalla. I am very glad we were wrong.”

  “How…?” She shook her head, clueless how news could have traveled so quickly in a land without cell phones. “It was close, but I made it through.” She turned to Sam and Neo. “Please drop your weapons. He’s one of Savin’s.”

  Neo met her gaze, his eyes wary. But, slowly he did as she asked and Sam followed.

  Quinn turned back to the werewolf. “If you thought me dead, why are you here?”

  “Savin bade me bring word to Arturo. Cristoff Gonzaga stands in the Focus, more than a hundred vampires guarding him. We have overheard the talk of his guards and believe that he is not attempting to renew the magic of Vamp City, but to create a new world of his own. One in which all will know pain.”

  Quinn’s mind swam with horror.

  “Dio,” Arturo breathed.

  Neo swore. “So that’s what happened. I felt like I’d been cleaved in two.”

  “Cristoff has acquired the magic of the Black Wizard,” she told them. “He has more power than we can conceive of, including the ability to create worlds.”

  They all fell silent as the ramifications of that hit them.

  “A world of pain,” Sam said, clearly stunned.

  “He’ll enslave thousands,” Neo muttered. “And every one of us, mortals and immortals alike, will serve him either with our loyalty or our agony.” He turned to the werewolf. “How close is he to succeeding?”

  “He has assured his faithful that when the midnight hour comes, so too shall his new world.” The male’s gaze turned to Quinn, then Arturo. “He must be stopped. He cannot be allowed to succeed. But the wolves cannot stop him alone.”

  “You will not have to,” Arturo assured him. “Though your help would be welcome.”

  The werewolf nodded. “The sorceress has the loyalty of both Savin’s pack and the Herewood.” He turned to her, that genuine smile lighting his eyes again. “All will rejoice at your survival.”

  “Thank you,” Quinn said.

  Arturo began to outline a plan. “We’ll need every possible fighter, but the vampires will be at risk until dusk. Watch for the armies amassing at the edges of the Crux a couple of hours before midnight. I’ll make sure all know you are allied with us.”

  The wolf nodded, then turned back to Quinn with a quick grin before he shifted back into wolf form and took off.

  Almost immediately, Quinn found herself enveloped in Neo’s hug. “We thought he’d killed you,” he breathed, pressing his cheek to hers.

  “I’m okay,” she assured him, returning the hug.

  As he released her, Sam took his place, hugging her tight. Finally, she faced them both, her chest aching. “I’m afraid I have terrible news.” But even as she said the words, she noticed the grief still thick in their eyes, a grief that couldn’t be for her, now that they knew she was all right.

  “Zack and Jason?” Sam asked tightly as if waiting for another blow.

  “We didn’t find them.” And clearly they hadn’t miraculously turned up back here. Her heart twisted. She hadn’t realized how much she’d hoped that might be true until that hope was dashed. “No. It’s Rinaldo.”

  “We know,” Sam told her. “Mukdalla felt his passing the moment it happened.”

  Quinn sighed, unaccountably relieved that she didn’t have to be the one to break the news to the woman she’d begun to consider a good friend. “I have to speak to her.”

  Arturo squeezed her shoulder and she let him pull her against his side. “I must go. We’ll round up all the warriors we can from the other kovenas, and it will take time.”

  Quinn turned in his arms, cupped his face with her hands, and kissed him soundly. “Be careful.”

  Arturo kissed her temple. “Sleep. You must sleep, amore mio. Neo, make certain she does.” With a last kiss, he turned and strode back to the horses, Micah beside him. Kassius and Lukas were still mounted.

  Quinn lifted her hand in a wave as the four took off, then walked with Neo back to the house while Sam remained on watch. She was exhausted, made even more tired by the thought of facing Mukdalla and her terrible grief. Quinn’s heart ached for her friend.

  “How’s Mukdalla doing?” she asked Neo.

  But before he could answer, the back door flew open revealing Mukdalla’s distinctive, broad shouldered form silhouetted by the light. The Trader woman rushed down the stairs and enveloped Quinn in a hug that nearly stole her breath.

  “Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness,” she crooned. “Oh my, Quinn. We thought you’d perished. One of Neo’s fae acquaintances stopped by only a short while ago with the terrible news that Cristoff had stabbed the sorceress.” She suddenly pushed Quinn to arm’s length, studying her. “You’re not even injured?”

  “I was. Bram performed surgery. And Arturo…” She didn’t want to get into all of it. “Arturo refused to let me die.”

  Mukdalla’s eyebrows shot up. “Did he turn you?”

  Quinn gaped at her. “Into a vampire?” She shot an apologetic look at Neo. “No offense.”

  He grinned at her. “None tak
en.”

  Quinn turned back to Mukdalla. “I’m still human, still a sorceress, though it appears that Cristoff stole most of my magic.” She grabbed the other woman’s shoulders. “Mukdalla… We were ambushed, completely outnumbered. Rinaldo fought valiantly, but…” Her voice caught. “He shouldn’t have been there. None of us should have been. If I’d renewed the magic when I had the chance…”

  Mukdalla gripped her hard in return. “Don’t ever blame yourself for this, Quinn Lennox. Never, ever. In war, there are always choices, often none of them good. My Rinaldo died in battle, protecting the sorceress. That you were captured anyway doesn’t take away an ounce of my pride in him. He died fighting for what he believed in, Quinn. That was always his wish.” Releasing Quinn’s shoulders, Mukdalla took her hand and pulled her toward the house. “Now, come. I’m not the only one who will be thrilled to see you alive.”

  As Quinn followed her into the kitchen, she noticed someone sitting at the small table, a petite dark-haired woman who even now was rising and flying around the table toward her.

  Lily.

  Chapter 39

  Quinn felt the tears running down her face as she fell into Lily’s arms, as much joy that the girl was here as bitter sorrow that Zack wasn’t. They clung to one another, both in tears, each unwilling to let the other go. Finally, Quinn pulled back, brushing away the moisture on her face with both hands.

  “I can’t believe this,” Quinn said, wiping her tear-stained hands on her jeans before gripping the younger woman’s hands. “How did you find Neo’s?”

  “A vampire brought me here.” She shook her head. “It’s a long story.”

  “I know. Aren’t they all?”

  “Is Zack really alive?” Lily’s eyes welled up all over again. “At least…he was? I thought… I know he was chosen for the Games.”

  “He was rescued from the Games. We were both set free, but he insisted on coming back to find you.” That might not be the whole truth—Zack had been ill from magic sickness. But at the time he’d believed he was going to die either way and had insisted on returning to Vamp City to see Lily one more time. He hadn’t believed himself capable of saving her. Not then.