by Alicia Rades
There was only one other easy solution. Follow Valkas and wait for Caleb to bring Jenna back to his room.
One of the vamps was headed my way, so I crept back down the hall and crouched behind a long, decorative table. I held my breath as the vamp continued past the large sitting room with the grand piano in it.
As soon as I heard his footsteps fade, I was back on my feet, peeking out into the wider hallway. It was deserted, so I took my chance and hurried down it. My heart slammed against my rib cage, but not because I was scared. If anything, I was excited. I was going to see my sister again. These vampires were going to die at my hand. This was a freaking thrill ride!
When I reached the foyer, the sound of footsteps in the hall above the grand staircase met my ears. I glanced around quickly, but the foyer was empty. The only decorations were mirrors and paintings on the walls, unlike the rest of the chateau, where there was a sofa, table, dresser, or some other piece of furniture every few feet. I rushed into the corner beneath the stairs and held my breath, praying that whomever it was wouldn’t see me through the darkness.
Who was I kidding? It was sure to be a vampire. If he took one look at where I stood, he wouldn’t miss me. I held my dagger up, poised for attack if it came to that.
The man’s footsteps pounded down the stairs above my head. When he reached the bottom, he slipped his motorcycle helmet back on and exited out the front doors.
I remained frozen in the corner, forcing my breathing to slow and listening to the sounds around me. The building was eerily quiet. Taking my chance, I rushed out of the shadows and hurried up the stairs with light footsteps.
When I reached the top, I found a maze of hallways, all veering off in different directions. I had no way of knowing which way I’d find Valkas. So I took a wild guess. I started down the hallway to my left, passing by door after door. Something told me Valkas’s room would be a bit over the top and easy to spot, so I skipped all the plain doors and headed to the pair of double doors at the end of the hall. I pressed my ear to it and heard muffled voices inside.
“Lord Valkas does not like to be woken in the middle of the day,” a gruff voice said.
Definitely not Valkas’s. The way he spoke, it didn’t even sound like Valkas was in the room, but I continued listening to be sure.
“This incident will reflect poorly on all of us,” Gruff Voice continued.
“Yes, of course, sir,” another man replied.
“This never should’ve happened in the first place,” Gruff Voice said. “If you men down at the boathouse were paying the slightest bit of attention, it wouldn’t have.” He spoke in such a harsh tone that it made me flinch. “See to it that it doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes, sir. It won’t.”
“Excuse me a moment,” Gruff Voice interrupted.
Silence followed for several seconds. I had no idea what was going on behind that door. Then the sound of the floor creaking just on the other side met my ear.
I leapt away instantly and took the first hiding place I could find—a large, decorative vase situated in the corner of the hall. I shrank to my raven form and hugged the wall, holding my breath. My dagger had fallen from my hand and lay at my feet.
I heard the door swing open. In the reflection from one of the mirrors on the wall, I saw a man stick his head out the door and glance around. Something in his features hinted at old age, but his skin had been smoothed out, and there wasn’t a gray hair on his head. Freaking vampire curse turning them all into the most beautiful versions of themselves. It was like cosmetics on steroids.
He narrowed his silver eyes and pursed his lips, looking so angry it rivaled Valkas’s terrifying features. The man gave me chills.
He stood there for what felt like a full minute, frozen in the doorway. If it weren’t for his eyes scanning the hall, I might’ve mistaken him for a statue. He sniffed the air.
He can’t smell me, I told myself as reassurance. It was true that he couldn’t smell me the way he could smell humans, but perhaps he could sense me in other ways? The metallic smell of my dagger? The scent of laundry detergent on my clothes? Perhaps he could even sense the shift in the air when I breathed.
Usually by now I would’ve already staked the vamp through the heart, not giving him enough time to assess my presence, but I wasn’t about to alert the whole house I was here. Killing him would be reckless and stupid and… fun.
He stepped out into the hall. I could see his polished black shoe from where I crouched behind the vase.
He doesn’t see you. He’ll give up, I told myself.
But I was a liar. Because he’d already seen me, and his hand was headed straight for me.
Instinct took over. I shifted just before his fingers touched my feathers. In a quick motion, I threw my hands upward to connect with his wrist as I ducked out of the way. I used my strength against his agility, following the momentum of his hand upward. And then I yanked down, causing him to flip through the air and land with a hard thud on the floor.
I reached for my dagger. Before I had my fingers around the handle, he’d already leapt to his feet. His knee swung upward, connecting with my nose. Pain shot out through my face, which turned out to be a blessing. He caught sight of the blood trickling down my face and paused momentarily. Hunger burned in his eyes.
It was just enough time for me to kick my leg out beneath him and knock him back on his ass. Before he could react, I was on top of him, shoving my dagger through his heart. He crumbled into a pile of ash beneath me.
I didn’t even have a moment to relish in my victory. A split second later, the second guy was in the doorway. This man was younger than the last, though he had the same good looks. A moment of shock crossed his silver eyes.
I leapt to my feet and sprang on him. He reeled backward and slammed into one of the bookshelves in the room. He spread his arms out to catch himself. His fingers curled around one of the thick books, and he hurled it at me. The thick, pointed corner smashed just above my right eyebrow, making me see red.
I cursed under my breath, clutching my forehead, which was warm and sticky from blood. All he did was smirk.
“That freaking hurt, jackhole,” I snapped at him.
“I’ve got plenty more where that came from.” He wiggled his eyebrows and lifted another book. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
“Seriously?” I asked, totally unamused. “We’re going to talk this out?”
He hurled the second book at me, but I ducked. It soared over my head and crashed into a shelf on the other side of the room.
I sprang back to my feet. “Hey, now. We don’t want to wake everyone.”
“Then tell me who you are,” he demanded.
“So you can kill me?” I shrugged. “Nah, I’m not really one for talking.”
He cracked his knuckles. “Have it your way.”
He dove toward me. His shoulder smashed into my abdomen, and his arms curled around my middle. I didn’t even try to dodge out of the way. I let him take me to the ground.
As his fingers clamped around my throat, I swung my dagger downward into his back. His eyes went wide, and he inhaled a sharp breath, then… nothing. His clothes fell on top of me as his body turned to ash.
I squeezed my eyes shut and closed my mouth to keep from getting it in my face. I felt the ash rain down on my skin, but I shook it off.
After I sat up, I used the guy’s suit to wipe the blood from my face. Outside the door, I grabbed Gruff Voice’s clothes, cleaned up as much ash from both of them as I could, and shoved their clothes into a drawer in the desk across the room. Surely, I didn’t have long before someone noticed the two were missing, but I didn’t need someone walking in on the evidence and launching a search party before I got Jenna out of here.
Once completed, I hurried out of the library and down the hall. When I reached the top of the balcony where I’d started, I decided to try the hall to the right. It was identical to the last, only mirrored. I got the stran
gest sense of déjà vu.
When I reached the pair of double doors on the end, they were open a crack. I tiptoed forward and peeked inside.
At first, I saw nothing but an empty four-poster bed. Thin red fabric draped across the canopy, and the sheets were crumpled up in the middle, as if the owner had just gotten out of bed.
Then I saw him. The blond hair, the broad shoulders… it was definitely Valkas. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as he paced around the room. He looked distressed as he raked his fingers through his hair, then curled his hands into fists at his sides. Just looking at him made my insides burn with rage. All I could think about were all the people he’d killed when he’d rampaged across the States eight years ago. All the people he’d changed into vampires and the ones that they’d killed and enslaved in turn. How he’d forced Elizabeth to cast the spell that changed him. He was a monster then, and he was a monster now.
But worse than all of that, he’d ordered his men to kidnap my sister. And I’d be damned if he didn’t pay for that.
He was alone. No one was around. All that stood between me and him was a thin wooden door. All it took was one move, one stab through the heart.
Now was my time, before Caleb returned with the girls. I could hardly believe this was happening. All I had to do was slip inside and kill him. This would all be over soon.
Valkas sat on the bed with his back to the door. He reached for an unlit candle on the nightstand and tilted it to the one that was burning.
Now! Do it now!
I didn’t second guess the little voice in my head. I pushed on the door, and it swung easily under my weight just enough for me to slip inside. I felt like a ninja as I tiptoed across the floor. My footsteps were so quiet across the carpet that Valkas didn’t notice me. He was too preoccupied lighting his candles.
My heart pummeled against my rib cage as I lifted my dagger, careful not to make a noise. I held my breath so tightly it felt like my lungs might explode. But I barely noticed, because I was on Valkas’s island, in his chateau, in his bedroom, and I was half a second away from killing him.
The world would rejoice. I didn’t even care if anyone recognized me for what I’d done. All I cared about was getting rid of the vampires once and for all.
Goodbye, filthy vamps! No one will miss you.
I thrust my blade downward.
But my hand never made it to his back. Valkas whirled around and caught my wrist without half an inch to spare. My heart leapt into my throat. He yanked on me so hard it felt like my arm was going to rip off, spun me around, and pinned me to the bed.
Holy hell! Vamps were fast, but I’d never seen one move that fast! I probably had freaking whiplash from the bastard.
“Mm…” He straddled me, pressing my hips into the bed and leaning in so closely that I could smell the copper on his breath. “What’s this?”
Hell! What have I done?
My mind instantly flickered to Venn. Maybe he'd been right.
Valkas’s eyes roamed over me, and he inhaled deeply. Pleasure crossed his expression, and I thought I might throw up in his face. I tried to struggle out of his hold, but the vamp was holding on tight. He was even stronger than Ryland. He squeezed my wrist so tightly I knew it would bruise, but I didn’t drop the dagger. I only curled my fingers around it tighter.
“A shifter?” he asked with a smirk, biting his lower lip like it pleased him. “And not one of mine.”
“I’m not here to talk,” I snapped, then I threw my head forward into his nose.
The top of my head throbbed from where they’d connected, but he barely reacted apart from tightening his hold on me. I writhed beneath him, trying to find a way free. But I’d already broken my one rule about vampires. Never let them get the upper hand.
Valkas laughed, a terrible laugh that made me nauseous. “Oh, you’re a fighter, too?” he mocked.
“Go to hell.” I spit in his face.
He didn’t even bother wiping it from his eyes. Instead, he leaned down until his lips were at my ear. For a second, I thought he might bite me, which by the way was a total never gonna happen.
But he didn’t bite me. All he did was whisper in my ear. And those words were enough to make my blood run cold.
“I’m going to have fun with you.”
5
I thrust my hips upward. It bought me just enough space to turn to the side. I grabbed hold of one of the bed posts with my free hand and yanked myself across the bed. I managed to get one foot free, and I kicked it up under his chin.
He responded by tugging hard on my arm, throwing me back down on the bed. I held in my cry of pain as the muscles in my shoulder tore. I kicked my feet out again, trying to struggle free, but he knelt on top of my chest, looming over me. He pressed down so hard that I gasped for breath.
“Ardeat ignis,” I muttered under my breath. I expected fire to come shooting out of my palms and burn his hand, but all that happened was the surface of my skin heated a little.
“Fulgur.” I tested the incantation for lightning. Nothing happened.
Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. My magic wasn’t going to save me this time.
Valkas laughed. “A shifter and a witch? Such a wonderful combination.” Squeezing my wrists tightly with one hand, he wrenched the dagger from me with the other.
It was my one hope of making it out of here alive. If I couldn’t fight him when he was alone and unarmed with the one weapon in the world that could kill him, how did I ever stand a chance? I felt all my hope drain out of me at once, and I began to panic. I clawed at anything I could: his face, his arms, and the leg pressing down on my chest. Every inch of my body felt alive with fire as a panicked rage tore through me. I would’ve screamed if I could catch my breath.
“Now, now, dear shifter,” he said calmly, eyeing the dagger with interest. “If you don’t start treating me with respect, I may just have to use your very own weapon on you.”
Like hell you will!
I threw my fist so hard at his face that his body lifted off of me. I inhaled a greedy breath the same time my foot swung outward and connected with his hand. The dagger flew out of his grasp and slid across the floor toward the door. I immediately jumped off the bed and dove for it.
Mid-air, something caught my foot, and I fell to the ground with a hard crash. I caught myself, but I was a half an inch away from a second bloody nose. A split-second later, I felt my body being dragged across the floor, away from the dagger. I reached out for anything, clawing at the carpet. My hand finally found the foot of the bed, and I grabbed on tight.
To my surprise, Valkas dropped me. I sprang to my feet again, but he was in front of me in less than a second, blocking my path to the dagger and to the door.
I wasn’t about to give up so easily. After a split-second to come up with a plan, I swung out my leg and my heel connected with one of the bed posts. The entire thing shattered, sending wood splinters everywhere. The top beam of the canopy sagged without its support. I grabbed the closest splinter—a big, thick one with a sharp, jagged end—and held it out in front of me.
Valkas stood still but looked ready for me, like I was some little puppy he was trying to corner. “Oh, darling,” he sang. “It’d be a shame to kill you. You amuse me. That isn’t going to kill me.”
“It will certainly slow you down,” I replied.
Valkas’s lips curled up into an evil smirk. “You are quite the resolute assassin, aren’t you?”
“Resolute assassin?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes at him.
Valkas waved his hand. “Yes, resolute. Determined. Unwavering. You’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill your cause.”
“I know what it means,” I snapped. “And you’re damn straight I’ll do whatever it takes.”
I lunged for him again. I swore I almost had him, but he dodged at the last millisecond and used my momentum against me. His palm slammed into my back, sending me smashing into the floor so hard it knocked the wind out of me.
The sound of footsteps in the hall caught my ears. Was that a glimmer of hope I heard?
“Out!” Valkas shouted before I could even turn to see who it was.
I heard the door click shut. Well, crap!
“You want to play rough?” Valkas growled in my ear. “We’ll play rough.”
His hand fisted in my hair, and he tugged hard.
“Ow!” I cried, cursing.
His palm cracked against the side of my face so hard my head spun. Then I felt the cool metal of the dagger touch my neck. I immediately went still. Valkas’s face swam in front of my view.
“Why are you here?” he demanded.
“You killed my parents. Kidnapped my sister. Murdered thousands. Take your pick,” I replied, disgusted.
Valkas smiled, like I wasn’t listing off his crimes but rather his accomplishments. “I’ll take them all, darling.”
Ew! Was he going to keep calling me that? It sounded horrible on his tongue.
“Or you could just go to hell,” I retorted.
The dagger pressed tighter against my skin. This was it. I was going to die. Somehow, I kind of always knew it’d happen at the hands of a vampire, though I’d always hoped it wouldn’t. At least it would be quick. Better to die at the hands of a vampire than to be turned into one.
But he didn’t. He just sat there looming over me, his nostrils flaring.
“Go on. Do it,” I insisted. “Why aren’t you killing me?”
He tilted his head. “And risk you reincarnating just to come after me again? I don’t think so.”
The blood drained from my face, and my breathing stalled. How did he know?
Valkas drew away from me slowly. It was almost like he was letting me go, but I couldn’t just leave now. He stood and sat on the bed, leaving me on the floor. I pushed myself to a sitting position, but I otherwise didn’t move. For one, I was dead if I did. And two, I had questions that needed answering.