I have the power, I will be the greatest Vampire King the world has ever seen, and I will kill you where you stand. You will be no match for me.”
This couldn’t be happening. The Queen couldn’t be dead.
My eyes found Eudoxia. She was chained to her bed, covered in silver links, her body smoking, Naomi’s cross stuck halfway out of her chest.
Her head hung at an odd angle.
Choosing to save the Queen, I jumped up and ran. But before I could reach her, I flew through the air. My back crashed into a wall, expensive drapes exploding all around me.
Valdov grinned like a fiend. “I am not weak, you filthy little beast! I can catch you. And you will not win, because you cannot save her.” He spread his arms and tilted his creepy ivory face toward the ceiling, inhaling, his perfectly sculpted nostrils flaring. “Can you feel it? It’s magnificent and so very intoxicating. And it’s all mine.”
I did feel the power, and unfortunately Valdov was right; it was swirling around the room searching for its next host. When the head of a Sect died, the power itself chose the new ruler, which was usually the strongest and most capable. In our world, the Alpha’s power transferred to the next wolf, but that wolf would be immediately challenged for it. An Alpha werewolf still had to prove himself physically.
No vampire would be challenging Valdov.
I had to stop this.
Squatting, I readied myself to lunge toward the Queen, but before I could move, Valdov locked his eyes on me. He was fully vamped out, cheeks waxy, eyes full black, fangs pierced down like swords over his bottom lip. His irises flashed silver, pinning me with their intensity. He knew my next move, but I had to try anyway. I sprang forward in a burst of speed, but I wasn’t fast enough. Valdov intercepted me and we tumbled to the ground again.
He hissed in my ear. “Little mongrel, oh, how I would love to drain you right now.” His fangs brushed the side of my neck, drawing a line of blood as they scratched along the surface of my skin.
I arched back, out of his grasp, bringing my fist up and slamming it into his trachea. He sputtered, trying to recover, but I held him by the shoulders, my claws digging in.
We rolled twice on the floor.
He was strong.
But I was stronger.
We hit the far wall right as Tyler jumped through the window I’d broken. I’d never been so happy to see anyone in my life. “Get to the Queen!” I yelled. “Yank the cross out of her chest.”
Tyler didn’t hesitate. He ran to the Queen’s bedside as Danny tumbled into the room behind him.
Valdov hissed, “I doesn’t matter. It’s too late. I will be King.” Power swirled in a heavy cloud around Valdov, his body vibrating as it absorbed the magic.
“Tyler, hurry!”
Valdov reared up beneath me, snapping at my neck, his face awful this close. His eye sockets were sunken and the bones in his face were stretched outward. His white, chalky, paper-thin skin didn’t look like they could contain them any longer.
“I did it,” Tyler said. “I pulled the damn cross out, but nothing’s happening. She’s not healing! Her neck is completely severed.”
Valdov cackled. “I told you. It is done.”
“It’s not over yet,” I snarled. “My guess is if the magic has a choice, it would still choose Eudoxia.” I yelled, “Vamps aren’t like us. They’re already dead. They don’t need communication to the brain. Put her neck back together and give her your blood.” I was banking on the fact she could regenerate with his blood. I’d learned the hard way with Eamon. I thought I’d killed him by breaking his neck, but he had healed after drinking from Ray.
Tyler’s face hardened.
I nodded, urging him on. “Tyler, you have to do this or Valdov will be the new King. We can’t risk it. I’d feed her myself, but I can’t give her my blood.”
Valdov struggled in earnest beneath me and my claws dug deeper into his shoulders. He hadn’t expected us to feed his former Queen. “That’s right,” I growled. “You underestimated what we would be willing to do. And for that, you lose.”
Tyler ripped his sleeve open and bit into his wrist.
Valdov’s cruel nails found my face. He raked them over my cheek, and blood poured down my face. I batted his hands away and bared my teeth. “Do you see this? This is me ending you.” I switched control to my wolf and our hands locked around his neck, our power pressing him tightly to the floor.
“Little … mongrel … you cannot…” Valdov hissed as he thrashed.
From the bed, the Queen gasped, her chest bowing upward. There was a tremor below me as the magic began to leave Valdov, his body weakening as I held on.
The Queen’s arms flung to the side as the magic shot back into her.
Tyler stepped back, running a hand over his face. It was the second time in his life he’d been required to feed a vampire. And he had my undying admiration and love for it. It was no small thing for a wolf to aid a vamp.
“No,” Valdov insisted. “I will be
“Looks like you won’t be after all,” I said, my hands tightening around his throat. “You shouldn’t feel bad, though, because if you were indeed more powerful than Eudoxia, the magic would’ve stayed inside you. You were never meant to rule, Valdov, and I’m happy to make sure it stays that way.”
My wolf snapped her jaws and twisted. Valdov’s scream was lost as the door to Eudoxia’s bedroom burst off its hinges.
Rourke roared as he lunged into the room, his eyes blazing, his body primed for a fight.
But the deed was already done.
I sat back on my haunches and tossed Valdov’s head away in disgust, taking a few deep breaths. The gruesome killing requirement of this job sucked, but there was no other way around it. “There has to be an easier way to do this,” I said.
Rourke was to me in three steps.
He yanked Valdov’s body by the arm and sent it flying across the room, well away from me. Then he drew me up off the floor. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, but I was on my way to the Reliquary.” He tipped my head back gently with his fingertip, searching my eyes. “Downstairs, the house is in an uproar. Whatever you did by blowing up the ward opened a Pandora’s box of shit and everyone is in a panic. The vamps are all freaked because they think Eudoxia is dead. We have to get out of here.”
I nodded over his shoulder. “We can’t leave until we finish this.”
Rourke followed my gaze.
The Queen was still bound to her bed with silver cuffs and she was furious. Tyler stood back with his arms crossed. Danny and Naomi stood off to the side. I was happy to see Naomi was up. Valdov must have hit her hard.
Rourke gave me a small kiss and let me go. I moved around him and walked toward the Queen.
“This is your fault,” she spat as I came closer, her eyes a dead black, her fangs inching their way down slowly. “You’ve brought chaos down on the House of Vampires, as predicted, and I will enjoy tearing out your spine for it.” She ended on a hateful hiss and shook her chains, blood oozing out of her wrists.
I didn’t kill her arch nemesis so she could pour on more of the same bullshit.
“I just
