Cold Blooded

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 King—” His body convulsed as the last of the magic left him, transferring back to its true sovereign.

“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 saved you,” I ground out, my hands balled. “I killed Valdov by ripping his head off. You remember him, don’t you? Your faithful advisor who almost succeeded in killing you not five minutes ago? In our world that means you owe me. A life for a life.” I walked up to the bedside. “I get anything I ask for. Swear it, or I’ll kill you where you lie.”

Loathing consumed her features, her eyes oscillated between silver and black, and her cheekbones slid as she fought for control. Her power was not back at one hundred percent and I could end her life easily. She was one pissed-off Vampire Queen and I didn’t give a shit. “Fine,” she raged, her fangs snapping down completely, needle sharp. “I swear to you one favor, but only because my honor demands it. But once the debt is settled, we are mortal enemies, you and I. Do not forget it.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” I grinned, putting my face next to hers. “You will be required to fulfill the favor immediately, Eudoxia, so settling the debt won’t be a problem. Guess what’s on the way to your doorstep?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “Demons. That’s right, the demons will be here at nightfall, which by the looks of it will be shortly. And the favor I want from you is protection.” Before she could form a retort, I held my hand up. “For one night only. When day breaks, I walk away. That’s it. It’s a small favor in return for avenging your death and killing a traitor.”

“You are out of your mind.” She hissed. “I will not fight demons on your behalf!”

“You will,” I said. “Or you die. Swear it.”

Before she could answer, the door banged open and Conan the Enforcer came flying through the room yelling, “Get away from my Queen!”

Rourke took one step into his path and leveled him with a clothesline to the throat. The look of surprise on Conan’s face was priceless. If the situation hadn’t been so tense, I might have chuckled. Conan’s trachea exploded as he soared back into the wall. He landed hard and crumpled to the ground, his body limp. Rourke moved toward him to make sure he stayed down.

I motioned for Tyler and Danny to move out into the hallway to keep watch. We didn’t want any more vampires barging in. They moved soundlessly; Tyler’s anxiety bubbled in my blood while Danny’s jumped with excitement. I shook my head.

I focused my attention back to the Queen. “Why don’t you have hundreds of vampires guarding you?”

“My rooms are warded. They cannot find me here.”

“You mean, before I broke your ward?”

“Yes, you fool,” she shrilled as she tried to sit up, her chains rattling. Her elegant clothes were tattered and torn, the silver still burning her skin, leaking blood all over her gold satin sheets. “You have no idea what you’ve done. You’ve unleashed things kept from humans for centuries. I will not be able to undo all your recklessness. It will be impossible.” Her eyes narrowed. “And if the demons ascend as you are saying, there is nothing I can do to keep them out. You have destroyed the only thing that would’ve kept us safe.”

I inclined my head. “You said a minute ago that I brought chaos down on the House of Vampires, as predicted. Predicted by whom?”

Her mouth snapped closed in a thin line, making her incisors look like they were sealed between her lips. “Get me out of these chains.”

I crossed my arms. “You’re not really in a position to demand anything. Agree to my favor and I’ll let you go. I’m assuming the key is in Valdov’s pocket?”

“I will not fight demons. What you ask will risk many lives, not just mine. I will not bargain away the lives of my flock for your protection. Demons are not sorcerers—they are a wicked breed. They will come to destroy everything in their path, nothing less.”

“If they come to destroy, you and your flock will be in the middle of it anyway. You harbored me of your own free will,” I pointed out, dropping my voice. “Eudoxia, I know you can craft spells. I don’t know why, or what you are, but I know you have the power to protect us. We came here seeking that same protection for a reason. That’s what we bartered for when I arrived. That hasn’t changed.”

“Everything has changed!” She yanked on her chains, causing plaster to fly from the walls as an evil snarl came out of her mouth. “I offered you protection and instead you wreaked havoc on my Coterie. I will not be subjected to—”

“I don’t believe that.”

She had the gall to look taken aback.

“You ordered me into a cell with your uncle for a reason,” I challenged. “You gave me a lone guard I could’ve killed. The mighty chains you had me shackled to snapped off the wall at my merest tug. Yuri had a way out and he ominously told me he’d been waiting for me. My escape was no mistake.” I peered down at her, my eyes shrewd. “You knew Valdov was a spy, didn’t you? You also knew he would attack. You made yourself vulnerable at the right time and used me to kill him so you didn’t have to.”

“I did no such thing,” she retorted. “My head was severed from my body. I would never allow it. He was my most trusted advisor and he turned on me, but only once you broke the ward. You did this!”

“Eudoxia,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m tired of the mind games.” I was so, so tired. “I don’t know what’s really going on here, but by my calculations my brother and I just saved your life. The truth behind it doesn’t concern me. If we hadn’t been here, Valdov would’ve taken your power and finished you off completely. By all rights you owe us. And I want protection from the demons. For one night. After that, we go our separate ways. If not, I leave you chained here to your fate. The demons will ascend and you will be destroyed alongside all of us.”

Her eyes flickered. She knew I’d reached the end of negotiations. “Your favor will be a ward of protection,” she said, her voice full of hate, “but no matter what I do, it will not be as strong as the last. That’s all I will do. I will not fight the demons once they arrive, nor will I put any of my vampires at risk. If the demons ask me for you, I will gladly hand you over.”

I glanced at Rourke, who stood by the foot of her bed. “What do you think?”

“I think it will be full dark in twenty minutes. We aren’t leaving, so another ward may be the only thing we can do. The vamps won’t be much help against the demons anyway.” He growled at Eudoxia, “They can’t fight. They’re courtiers in every sense. More concerned their frocks will get rumpled and soiled if they lift a finger. They prefer to feast on innocent humans who pose no threat, and when the real danger sets in, they simply fly away.”