Into the Fire

Briefly, I closed my eyes. And then I came along, I said.

Then you, Mircea agreed. At first, I thought Vlad was simply fascinated by a human having your remarkable abilities. Then he went to war over you, turned you into a vampire, and married you. The truth was obvious then. You know the real reason I kept linking to you after that spell bound us together?

To hurt me the way you were hurting? I asked bluntly.

He let out a short laugh. That was part of it, yes. But even more, I wanted to find out what you had that I didn’t. Vlad loved you, a stranger, after a mere few months, yet he never loved me despite my working myself nearly to death for two decades. He laughed again, hard and humorless this time. Nothing I did back then made Vlad notice me, but he noticed me when I came after you. Oh yes, he noticed me then.

So this whole thing is about you finally getting Vlad’s attention? I asked in disbelief.

He shrugged. That’s an oversimplification. Still, thoughts of me now consume Vlad in a way I’d only dreamed of when I was a child, so even you must agree that he had that coming.

Why are you telling me all this? I asked, suddenly suspicious.

We’re both going to die, he said, as if it were obvious.

Out of instinct, I looked around for danger, yet saw nothing except more rocks. What makes you say that?

He gave a jaded look in my general direction. Vlad won’t carry out my jailers’ demand no matter how much he loves you. When he doesn’t comply, they’ll kill me, and by extension, you.

Mircea must know what the second demand was, and it sounded as awful as Maximus had predicted. What do they want him to do?

Another humorless laugh. You don’t know? Then far be it from me to spoil the surprise.

Look, you need to tell me where you are, I said, my agitation growing as I thought about Vlad being confronted with whatever this was. Even if Vlad does do it, you and I are of no use to your captors after they get what they want.

Oh, I agree, he said, voice as casual as if he were choosing between white wine or red. But even if I told you where I was, you and Vlad aren’t powerful enough to rescue me.

Take a chance, I persisted, hitting him where I knew it would hurt. You want to impress Vlad? Now’s your chance. Show him you’re not afraid to fight for your life despite the odds.

His lips curled in a way that was all too familiar. Under other circumstances, I might have liked you, Leila.

Come on, Mircea, I said. You’re many things, but you’re not a coward, so prove it. Fight to live instead of waiting to die.

Fine, he said so suddenly that I was startled. The good news is, all my captors know where I am. The bad news is, I don’t. But I can tell you where to find some of them, and if you can keep one alive, I have every confidence that Vlad can torture the information out of him.

Fine, I said just as quickly. I didn’t trust Mircea in general, but I did trust that he didn’t want to die, and we really were his best chance at surviving.

Now, I said, steeling myself for what was to come, tell me where we can find these necromancers.

Chapter 27

Several hours later, I was surprised to hear the unmistakable sound of a helicopter approaching the house. I exchanged a concerned glance with Marty, who’d stayed in the living room with me. Leotie and Ian had retired to their rooms a short while ago since dawn wasn’t very far away, and of course, Maximus was still downstairs with Gretchen. He’d had a very busy night since she had risen in a bad, blood-crazed mood. Maximus had to be counting the seconds until dawn knocked her out.

“Does Vlad have a helicopter?” Marty asked me.

“No,” I said, going to the window. Sure enough, someone’s helicopter was landing on the pad near the house. “Maybe Ian was wrong and Cat and Bones aren’t overseas anymore.”

“They are, trust me,” Ian called out from his room.

I ignored that, grabbing a coat and going outside. Marty followed me, now carrying two large silver knives.

“Put those away,” I hissed. If Ian was wrong and this was Cat and Bones, they wouldn’t be happy to find armed uninvited guests staying at their home.

“Not until I see who this is,” Marty replied stubbornly.

The single pilot had a full-face helmet on, so I couldn’t tell anything from that. Then the passenger door opened and Vlad jumped out. His hair blew wildly around his face from the still-churning rotors, and his long, dark trench coat flapped behind him like beating wings.

His features were so hard that they could have belonged on a statue, and he’d barricaded his emotions behind an impenetrable wall. Worse, when I met his gaze, there was none of the love he’d expressed earlier over the phone. Instead, his gaze passed over me as if I didn’t merit further notice. It flicked over Marty with even more disregard, although his mouth curled when he saw the knives.

“Only two?” he asked.

Marty stiffened at the implication that he’d failed to adequately protect me. “Had I known that it was you touching down, I would’ve brought more.”

I winced. The two of them had never been very fond of each other, but that hadn’t been a problem before. Yet with Vlad’s current mood as well as Marty’s stretched nerves, a pissing contest between them now wouldn’t result in anything good.

“I didn’t realize you owned a helicopter,” I said, trying to distract from their growing tension.

“I don’t,” Vlad replied, thankfully turning his attention back to me. “This is on loan from Mencheres.” ns class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">