“Go give him a kiss, darling.” Alaric nudged the woman forward, pushing her toward Ulrich. “He deserves it, after waiting a thousand years to see you again.”

  The vampire took a step toward Ulrich and I felt the hackles rising on the back of my neck. Who was this woman? Who was she to Ulrich? A sister? He hadn’t mentioned one, but maybe, I thought, given how much Alaric was talking about a family reunion.

  “Still lovely as ever, isn’t she?” Alaric reached a hand out to pat the woman’s behind, nudging her forward even more.

  The vampire whirled her head around to glare at him, baring her fangs. She moved so quickly I almost didn’t see it. It was just a blur, and then she was on Alaric, with a screech that put the supersonic sound of bats to shame.

  Ulrich’s mother screamed, “Bryn! No!”

  I shrank away from the turmoil, watching Alaric’s men moving in to help him—despite the fact she was half his size, the vampire woman was getting the best of him—when I heard Ulrich roar.

  One minute, he was beside me, the next, he was leaping over the crowd.

  “Move away, brother.” Alaric had managed to roll the woman off him and had her in a headlock. He stood, taking her with him, backing slowly away from his brother. “Or I’ll end her right here.”

  Ulrich took a step back as Alaric circled around. He kept Ulrich in front of him, using the woman vampire—Bryn—as a shield. It wasn’t until he moved closer that I saw he had something pointed at her chest. It wasn’t a gun—that wouldn’t kill a vampire—but rather a small, mini crossbow. Aimed straight at her heart.

  “Aren’t you happy to see her again?” Alaric asked.

  Ulrich was clenching and unclenching his fists, glaring at his brother as Alaric edged closer toward me. I would have moved away, but his men were there, blocking any exit.

  “No?” Alaric tilted his head, glancing at the vampire he had pulled tight against him, her back to his front, his arm wrapped tightly about her neck.

  I could see her face in profile—a stunning beauty—her eyes full of fear.

  “Ah well, she’s of no use to me anymore.” Alaric moved out of the way of the arrow as he depressed the trigger on the crossbow.

  “No!” Ulrich roared, heading for his brother, the vampire woman’s body collapsing to the stone floor.

  “Not another step.” Alaric reached out an arm and grabbed me by the hair, yanking hard. I yelped, struggling as he pulled me into his arms. He quickly reloaded the crossbow, pointing it at his brother. Then, he turned the thing toward me. “It’ll stop a beating heart as well as a vampire one.”

  Ulrich, who had been coming at him full-steam, stopped short. Alaric back away again, keeping me in front of him. I could see Ulrich’s gaze moving around the room, assessing the situation, and hoped he had a plan, because this whole thing had gone south faster than I ever could have imagined.

  “You know, that one is incredibly valuable.” Alaric nodded toward Lily, ignoring Ulrich. “But this one. This one is priceless.”

  “Let me go!” I snarled at Alaric, who had my arms pinned to my sides. The holy water I’d pulled out was still clenched in my hand, but I couldn’t raise my arms to use it on him.

  “Oh, my sweet girl,” he purred, enveloping me in his grasp, pressing against me from behind, keeping my arms pinned, crossing them in front of me. At least he didn’t have the little crossbow pointed at me anymore. “You’re mine again, and this time, I’m going to take full advantage of you…”

  “Let her go.” Ulrich pushed his mother behind him, taking a step toward his brother.

  “You haven’t fed from her, have you?” Alaric guessed, chuckling and sidestepping his brother as Ulrich lunged for us. “You don’t know what her blood does, do you?”

  I felt myself suddenly trembling in Alaric’s arms, seeing the puzzled look on Ulrich’s face.

  “Do you want me to tell you?” Alaric’s fangs grazed my throat and I shivered. He was scenting me, breathing in deeply, his strong embrace making it impossible for me to move away.

  “Let me go,” I said again, not able to keep the quiver out of my voice. Being this close to Alaric again was making me nauseous and a little dizzy, especially after seeing what he’d done to the vampire woman.

  I looked at Ulrich, pleading at him with my eyes. My fears that he’d planned this whole thing had been completely dispelled, but we’d fallen into the trap that Alaric had set for me. He’d just managed to catch his brother at the same time—a lucky shot.

  “Oh, no, I’m never letting her go again.” Alaric’s voice had a bit of steel in it, and so did his hands as they traveled over my body. “Her blood’s going to make me the most powerful vampire in the world.”

  Alaric glanced up at his brother, who looked blind-sided. And he was. He had no idea what my blood actually did.

  “If you drink from that one, you can stay awake during the day,” Alaric told his brother, nodding at Lily. “But this one. Oh, this one. Her blood will let you walk in the sun unharmed. Come drink from her, brother. We can all be the most powerful family in the world again.”

  Ulrich stood unmoving, looking between me and Alaric, and I saw the realization dawning on him. It was true, what Alaric was saying. I saw what he was thinking, as clearly as if I could read his mind. What Alaric said had to be true—it fully explained what made us so valuable in the first place.

  “You’ll never get another drop of my blood,” I protested, twisting in his grip, which had loosened as his hands explored me. I knew I didn’t have long, but I’d managed to escape for a moment, and that was all I needed.

  “You’re mine!” Alaric insisted, grabbing for me again.

  I was about to scream at him—over my dead body!—getting ready to spray Alaric in the face with my vampire-mace, but I didn’t have the chance. Ulrich pulled something from his sleeve with a deftness only a vampire possessed, something that looked like a handle or a club, until suddenly it lit up, a round disk of golden light spinning like a blade at the end of it.

  Ulrich grabbed my arm and whirled me out of the way, swinging the disk at his brother’s head. I screamed—I couldn’t help it—but I wasn’t alone. Lily screamed in my ear, clutching me, as I found myself tossed right against her. For the first time in years, we embraced, holding each other tightly and crouching down to stay out of the way of the vampires fighting around us.

  Because the minute Ulrich swing his light-axe, the room was full of vampires who came to defend Alaric. The only problem with that was that every time one of them got close, the light-axe would swing, and after the first vampire-guard had been beheaded, the rest of them were much more careful about approaching the fighting brothers.

  “Come with me.” Ulrich’s mother tugged at my sleeve, keeping her voice down. “Both of you, come with me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” I jerked away from her, peeking over the edge of the throne-like chair to see Alaric and Ulrich locked in a battle for possession of the deadly light-axe.

  “It’s okay,” Lily whispered. “This is Nadia—she’s not with him.”

  “She’s his mother. And she was the one who helped call me here, remember?” I snorted at my sister, then narrowed my gaze at her. “Why did you call me here, anyway? You don’t exactly look like you’re in danger.”

  “You don’t know anything about me.” Lily curled her lip.

  “I know you married Aron.”

  “Aron?” Lily grabbed my hands in hers, squeezing hard, a wild look in her eyes. “Is he here? Oh, God, please tell me he’s okay.”

  “I don’t know…” I bit my lip. “I tried to contact him, but I didn’t get through…”

  “Alaric found us,” Lily said. “I never dreamed he was still looking for me, after all this time… but he found us. We came here to Paris on our honeymoon. I didn’t know he was here.”

  “Oh Lily…” I put an arm around her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It wasn’t me he really wanted.” She leveled a look at me. “It was you.

  “I know.” I nodded miserably.

  “Can we talk about this later, girls?” Nadia nudged us further into the shadows, to the other side of the raised chairs that stood like thrones. “At a less dangerous time, perhaps?”

  I peeked over the side of the throne again, seeing that Alaric had wrested the weapon from Ulrich and was now wielding it against him. My heart clenched in my chest as I saw Ulrich duck, avoiding the blow, but just barely. The two of them were surrounded by Alaric’s vampire minions, but they were hanging back, not moving in to intervene, watching the two big, powerful vampires fight.

  “I know a back way,” Nadia whispered. “I can get you both out, if we can slip away…”

  “What about you?” Lily asked, moving to follow the vampire.

  “I can’t.” Nadia shook her head, reaching for my hand. “It will be dawn, soon.”

  “Oh, we can fix that.” Lily smiled, meeting my eyes, but I shook my head, hanging back.

  “I’m not going without Ulrich.”

  My sister looked at me, aghast. “I thought you came here for me?”

  “I did… but…” I hesitated, wondering if I should trust Nadia—was she leading us further into Alaric’s lair, deeper into a trap? Lily seemed to trust her, though. And the vampire said she had a way out. Without vampire guidance, I knew I would never get us out of the tunnels. Lily and I could wander forever before dying alone in the darkness to make a meal for the rats.

  “Come on!” Lily reached out and grabbed my hand, yanking my arm.

  Our eyes met, and my heart felt like it was breaking again. I’d just found her, and I was going to let her go. Except this time, it would be Lily who escaped. There was something horribly poetic about that, and I couldn’t help the memory that rose up in my mind—the last time we’d been separated like this.

  “You go.” I pulled out of her grip and pushed her toward Nadia. “Find your way out. Find Aron. Go, Lily. Now—while you still can.”

  “I won’t leave you.” Lily shook her head, reaching for me again, but I stayed out of her reach. Nadia was pulling at her, trying to get her to follow. “Poppy, no! Come with me!”

  “Please. For me. Just go.” I swallowed, feeling tears stinging my eyes. “It’s okay, Lil. You know it should have been me.”

  “No,” she breathed, and I saw tears glittering in her eyes, too.

  I nodded, pushing her toward Nadia, toward freedom. “You said it yourself. It’s me he wants. Now go.”

  Lily kept looking back at me, her eyes pleading, and it took everything in me not to follow her down into the darkness of the tunnels. The bond we shared was unbreakable, I realized, and always would be. I would always feel connected to her, no matter where we were, no matter how far apart. I could have gone with them, but if I stayed, I thought, perhaps, she could make it out.

  After all, she’d sacrificed herself for me once—this was the least I could do for her.

  And then, there was Ulrich.

  I didn’t know why I cared. He was a vampire, for God’s sake. What did I care what happened to him? I shouldn’t have cared whether he or Alaric cut each other’s head’s off. But I did care. I realized, in that moment, that I cared quite a lot.

  “Don’t let them escape!” Alaric yelled this to his minions when he glimpsed Nadia and Lily disappearing around the corner and into the tunnels. I could see the hulking figure of Ulrich out of the corner of my eye as he fought with his brother, the two of them rolling on the stone floor, struggling for possession of the weapon.

  “I’m right here, Alaric,” I called, straightening as I strode toward them, the holy water still cupped in my hand. “I’m the prize, right? So, come get me.”

  “Get her!” Alaric gasped, avoiding his brother’s fist connecting with his face by just inches. “Don’t you dare let her get away!”

  I found myself suddenly faced with a wall of vampires and my confidence sank like a weight in the pit of my stomach. The only thing that propelled me forward was knowing they wouldn’t harm me, not really. Alaric wanted me alive. He needed my blood still pumping through my veins for his evil plan to work.

  One of the vampire minions grabbed my arm as I tried to dodge past them. I saw the brothers still in a tangle, both of them using all of their strength, trying to overcome the other. And I saw instantly that Ulrich was in trouble.

  “Ulrich!” I screamed his name, seeing Alaric swinging the light-axe toward his brother’s head once again. Except this time, Ulrich was on the ground, his back was to him, and there was no way for him to see it coming.

  Ulrich’s head came up at the sound of his name and his arm shot out. He grabbed the axe handle, wrenching it away from his brother as he rose to his feet. The disk of light whirred and hissed, nearly decapitating him as he pulled it back, but he managed to keep his head down.

  I yanked my arm nearly out of its socket trying to get away from the vampire holding me, doing a quick tumble roll toward the two brothers. I aimed the spray at Alaric’s snarling face, taking great pleasure in his howl when I depressed the trigger and shot vampire-mace right in his face.

  The minion had me in his grip in an instant, pulling me back from the fray. I screamed, kicking and biting, trying my best to get him to let go, but he held me fast. Ulrich saw the vampire dragging me away, and I saw where he was headed—one of the empty cages against the wall. My heart dropped to my toes and twisted and bucked, screaming Ulrich’s name, although I saw him standing over his now incapacitated brother, that disc of fire spinning in his hand. One blow, and Alaric’s head would be separated from his shoulders.

  “Kill him!” I screamed hoarsely, seeing the hesitation on Ulrich’s face. “Do it now!”

  There was only a moment to make the decision before the other vampires came to their master’s rescue. Ulrich let out an anguished howl, leaping over his brother’s writhing body. Alaric was still in pain, clutching his eyes, the holy water clearly making them burn. I hoped it hurt like hell. His vampire guard had him up by then, moving him away from Ulrich’s deadly blade.

  But Ulrich’s attention wasn’t focused on his brother anymore. He was up and swinging the fire-axe in front of him as he headed toward me. It was a weapon like I’d never seen before, cutting through the vampire guard who stood in his way like they were made of tissue paper.

  The vampire who held me wasn’t letting go. His master had given him an order and he clearly knew the stakes. He picked me up like I was a sack of sugar and carried me under his arm. He wasn’t heading toward the cages anymore—he was beelining for the tunnels where I’d seen Nadia and Lily disappear. My stomach revolted at the thought of being down in the dark tunnels with this strange vampire.

  “Poppy!” Ulrich’s voice boomed, echoing off the rock as he followed us.

  “Let me go!” I kicked the vampire as hard as I could, but it didn’t even slow him down. So, I screamed, hoping to let Ulrich know which way we were going down the tunnels.

  “Ulrich! Ulrich! Where are you?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  We were moving fast—too fast. I was already nauseous from the speed, and I was afraid Ulrich wouldn’t be able to follow. I couldn’t even see the hint of the burning axe blade in the dimness.

  “Stop!” I cried, feeling the vampire’s hand digging into my ribs, trying to keep his hold on me as we moved deeper into the tunnel. “Goddamnit, you leech, let me go!”

  The vampire just grunted and readjusted when I did my best to knee him in the crotch. This time, he tossed me over his shoulder, continuing down into the tunnel. Where were we going? I had no idea, but clearly the vampire knew where he was taking me. I wondered if Alaric knew, too? Of course, Ulrich wouldn’t know. He would have to follow us, using his vampire senses. But what if he lost our trail? Then what?

  “Ulrich!” I cried, listening intently, trying to hear if he was still behind us. Distantly, I could hear Alaric barking orders, although I wasn’t sure exactly what they were. Probably sending more minions to follow us down into the tunnels.

  The thought of being in Alaric’s possession again made me go cold with terror. I hoped and prayed Ulrich was following, that he hadn’t been caught, that somehow, we would get out of this together, but mostly, I prayed Lily was being led to freedom.

  I had pushed Lily into the tunnels with Nadia, sacrificing myself so she could escape. I prayed that Nadia had done as she promised, that she knew a secret way out of this empire of the dead, into the light. I didn’t understand why Nadia would help us, since she’d clearly been the one who had called me into this trap in the first place, but I had to trust Lily’s judgment.

  “Ulrich!” I screamed again, hoping he could hear me, that he was following us at this breakneck pace. The vampire that held me sped up, just when I thought that was impossible, and I gagged, trying to keep myself from throwing up, my head swimming. If he went much faster, I was going to pass out. His careless treatment made me realize just how careful Ulrich had been with me during our descent.

  We rounded a corner and came into the light. The vampire came to a halt, and my eyes adjusted slowly as he set me on my feet. The sudden stop was almost as bad as the breakneck speed and I leaned against the tunnel wall, trying to regain my balance. It took me a moment to realize that I was hearing voices, although they sounded distant, like I was underwater, but that was probably because my ears were ringing so loudly.

  “Thank you, Leo,” Alaric said, giving a name to the vampire who had spirited me away so quickly. “Your reward will be the first taste of her, I promise you.”

  “She’s unharmed,” Leo said, pointing to me.

  I didn’t know about that. I felt quite broken, to be honest, although I couldn’t identify exactly why. I couldn’t seem to think or make sense of much. Had we come in a full circle? Where were we?

  I tried to run—I really did—but my legs refused to work. In my mind, I bolted, running wildly into the darkness, but in reality, my body just lurched forward, and I collapsed to my knees. Alaric had me then, my back to his front, his mouth grazing the side of my throat. I tried to struggle, to get away, but again, my body refused to obey. I just hung there in his arms like a limp noodle.

 

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