* * * * *
Music played from somewhere deep in the house. I followed it down the twist and turns of the hallways. It had taken all of my determination to dress and leave the suite. Fear and anger warred for dominance but I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other.
Remembering the light in Zach's eyes when he smiled propelled me forward. The thought of never seeing him again was something that I refused to contemplate. I turned a corner and the hallway opened up into a music room. Skylights were set into the vaulted ceiling so thick shafts of bright light cut through the room.
Valentine sat at a grand piano with his back to me. His hands played slowly over the keys in a song that filled me with longing.
"There's a certain magic to music, wouldn't you say?" He spoke without turning around. His fingers never ceased their fluid movement over the piano keys.
It was a shock to hear my own words repeated back to me. It made me wonder if they had ever been my words to begin with.
"You should hear Zach play," I said finally. "That's magic."
"Ah, yes. Your little human pet." His hands came down to strike a horribly discordant note. "You can do better."
"Where are they?"
"You shouldn't ask." He rose smoothly and came to my side. "We have an agreement, your friends are safe."
"When can I see them?" I risked his anger, but I couldn't resist the question.
"When I'm sure of your priorities." He guided me further into the room with a cold hand at my waist. "The dining room is through here."
Spanish influence was most obvious in the dining room. Orange tile lined the walls and the long table was set with china the color of turquoise and sea foam. There was no roof or back wall so we were greeted by the pale moon and cool evening air that blew off the ocean. We backed up to a small garden and the scent of jasmine and lily carried on the wind.
"All of the flowers are night blooming." His voice and the night wove a spell that was almost impossible to resist.
"Where should I sit?" I asked, my own voice clipped.
"Here is fine." He pulled out a chair in a smooth motion. As I sank into it his hands brushed my shoulders and down my arms. Sensation that was both freezing cold and burning hot coursed through me.
No sooner had he seated himself then Marta appeared at his shoulder. She held a bottle of red wine in her hands and tipped it up for him to read the label.
"Do you drink Cabernet? It's a local vintage." He didn't wait for a response before gesturing for her to fill my wineglass. He raised his own glass, eyes closing as he took a sip. "Coarse but strong. Much like the people here."
I looked out past the garden. The city below was a blaze of light and color, shining like a beacon in the darkness. "Where are we?" I asked as if it mattered.
"Ensenada." The word rolled off his tongue like the name of a lost lover. "Cinderella of the Pacific."
A single bloom rose from the slim vase at the center of the table. Purple petals like angel wings, so dark they were almost black, cradled a handful of delicate blossoms. Long spidery tendrils emerged from its center and down, to brush lightly against the tablecloth.
Valentine followed my gaze. "Tacca chantrieri."
I looked up at him, startled. "What?"
"Black bat flower. I discovered it on a recent trip to the Orient. Quite unique." He touched a dark blossom with his fingertip. "And almost sinister. It reminded me of you."
I took a sip of the wine. The taste of it burst into my mouth like I crushed bitter grapes between my teeth. Alcohol burned down my senses and it was just the strength I needed. I straightened my shoulders and looked Valentine in the eye.
"Are we done yet?" I asked boldly.
He eyed me like I'd finally done something interesting. "I beg your pardon."
"You stole me, threatened me." My breath caught at the memory. "Hurt me. Are we done pretending?"
A sardonic smile spread slowly across his lips and he gestured for me to continue. "Please."
"Things aren't the way they used to be." I forced myself to believe the words as I spoke them. "I don't belong to you anymore."
He cocked his head to the side and his gaze was direct. "Then why are you here?"
"The families want you out of the way. It's only a matter of time before they find a weakness." My heart pounded in my chest as the words hit like stones. His face remained impassive, but Valentine was nothing if not unpredictable. "You can't hold them all off forever."
He held up his glass to watch the light play in the dark liquid. "What are you proposing?"
"You want my power."
"Yes." The word hissed through his teeth.
"So take it."
His eyebrows shot into his hairline. The shock on his face lasted only a moment but I thrilled to know I had managed to surprise him. Valentine recovered quickly. When he spoke his voice was even. "That is quite an offer."
"A gift freely given." The dark voice in my mind screamed its objections but a new peace relaxed over me. This was the only way to end it.
"And in return?"
"I disappear." My voice grew hard. This was nonnegotiable. "And no one ever comes looking for me."
"Who would want you?" he laughed. "Will you run away with your human?"
"Maybe. You don't get to ask."
Valentine leaned casually back in his chair, but I could see the satisfaction in the ghost of his smile. "This is not a simple thing, you know."
"There's a book in my bag. It has the incantation." I turned away from him to face the plate that Marta had placed in front of me. The deal had been struck. Agreement was written in the satisfied lines of his body. "It didn't seem that difficult." I cut a piece of chicken.
"It is a shame. There's always been something—" He searched for a word. "—peculiar, about you. I've never quite met your like."
"You've never met another girl like me? I find that hard to believe."
I blinked and he was out of his chair. Our faces were inches apart and his fingertips whispered down the curve of my cheek. "You're not beautiful—not in any traditional sense." Real confusion furrowed his brow and for a moment he looked almost human. "Something burns in your eyes. Is it power, do you think?"
I froze, afraid even the barest breath would entice him closer.
"I suppose we'll soon see." His lips brushed my cheek as he pressed closer. Even as danger loomed, a part of me wanted to turn and meet his kiss. The smell of him intoxicated me: a mixture of night-blooming flowers and fire.
"Isn't this cozy?" A snide voice broke the spell.
Cynthie stumbled into the room, her face set in a scowl. She wore a red dress that should have been seductive, but only seemed sloppy. One sleeve fell off her shoulder and she tripped over the long hem.
"Cynthie." Valentine rose in a smooth motion. "I told you to await me in your quarters."
"It's boring." A shrill laugh escaped her. "I don't have any more toys to play with." She wove around the empty chairs at the long table, almost falling. Her hands caught at the table for balance and she finally collapsed into Valentine's vacated seat.
"This is your only chance to do as I say." He kept his voice soft but the thread of steel was unmistakable.
"I'm missing all the fun." She brought Valentine's wine glass to her lips, draining it.
He turned to face her completely. Power built in the room like a fire being stoked slowly to life. Cynthie didn't back down. She rose from the seat to glare at him, her hands planted firmly on the tabletop.
I only knew that I had to get out of the way. My chair overturned in my haste to move as far away as possible.
The destructive fire of his magic met the vicious cold of her power. The combination sucked the air out of the room. Even on the sidelines, the crushing force threatened to overwhelm me.
"Don't tell me what to do!" she screamed. A steak knife from the abandoned place setting was in her hand and then a flash of metal flew through the air. I gasped aloud. Th
e knife buried itself so deeply in Valentine's chest that only the hilt showed. I couldn't fault Cynthie's accuracy. If Valentine had a heart, it would have beat around six inches of stainless steel.
I almost felt sorry for her. Valentine grasped the hilt of the knife and pulled out a clean blade. Even though his back was to me I knew, from the widening of her eyes, that the bloodless wound healed as the blade was withdrawn.
"That was ill-advised," he murmured.
I closed my eyes as Cynthie began to scream.
When it was over, she lay gasping on the carpet, her face streaked with tears.
"Forgive my rudeness, but I must excuse myself." He spoke distractedly, as if his mind were already on more important things then the broken girl lying at his feet. He brushed my cheek lightly with his fingertips as he passed and his touch burned. His smile revealed sharp teeth when I winced. "There are many preparations to make."
The moment he was gone I rushed to Cynthie's side, falling to my knees beside her.
"Don't touch me," she snarled when I laid my hand on her arm.
I sat back on my heels. "Eventually he'll kill you, you know."
"And you know so much?" she spat.
"About Valentine?" My laugh was harsh. "Yeah, I do."
She turned away and laid her head on the tile. "Just leave me alone."
"I'm going to give him my magic."
"You're an idiot." She let out a coughing laugh.
"We have a deal." I said. "But when I'm gone, there won't be anything left that can stop him. He won't need you anymore."
"Should I run away, like you?" She struggled to her hands and knees but glared when I moved to help her.
My hands fell to my sides. "I survived my first encounter with Valentine. I thought you wanted to do the same."
Leaning heavily on the wall, Cynthie rose unsteadily to her feet. "Are you asking me to ride off into the sunset with you?"
"I was warning you." I turned away in disgust. "Do what you want."
Her voice stopped me inches away from the door.
"Why don't we just kill him?"
I turned slowly. Cynthie had finally lost what was left of her mind. Our eyes met and I expected to see the insanity of her behavior reflected in her gaze. To my surprise, the manic obsession of before was replaced with cold anger.
"You're not the first one to think of that," I said slowly as if speaking to a small child. "It isn't possible."
"He's alive, right?" Her tone was casual as if we discussed the weather. "Anything living can die."
"Valentine can't be harmed by metal, wood or fire. If you have another suggestion—I'm listening."
"It has to be something he won't expect," she mused. "The moment when he opens himself up to take your power is the last time he'll ever be vulnerable again."
"And if we fail, he kills us both."
"Chances are good that he'll do that anyway."
She was right. When he took my power, I would lose the last of my defenses. There would be nothing to force him to keep his word.
If I agreed to her impossible mission, maybe she would help me. Zach and Sam were here somewhere and Cynthie might know where they had been hidden. "How do I know I can trust you?" I asked finally.
"You don't." Her expression darkened. "Valentine did something to me. When I close my eyes all I see is his face. I hear his voice in my dreams." Her voice was emotionless, but her eyes flashed with anger. "I have to destroy him."
"I need to make sure Zach and Sam are safe. Where are they?"
Her expression turned wary. "You won't like it."
"Now, Cynthie." I insisted.
Without another word, she turned and left the dining room. I followed her down a winding hallway until she stopped at a set of stairs I had never seen before. They descended into darkness.
"Go on," I ordered when she hesitated. There was no way I was leaving her at my back. Cynthie made a sound of disgust in her throat but disappeared into the dark. I laid my hand against the stone wall for guidance and followed the sound of her footsteps as we picked our way slowly down the pitch-black stairs.
Water dripped from somewhere far beneath us and the air grew unnaturally cold. The darkness pressed in like a hand wrapped around my heart, squeezing hard until it was impossible to breath.
At the moment when it was too much to take and I fought not to rush back up the stairs, my foot hit solid ground instead of the air between one step and the next that I had expected. I stumbled and fell into Cynthie. She pushed me away.
A shaft of moonlight from a window high in the wall fell against the jagged stone of the walls. The floor was dirt laid with wooden planks. I gently touched the wall and my fingers came away caked with grime.
Rudimentary holes were dug into the rock and each one held a dusty wine bottle, at least a hundred or more. They formed a crude wine rack.
"This cellar is dug into the mountain," Cynthie said softly. She slapped her hand against the jagged wall. "There's no other way out."
I opened my mouth to reply, but a groan came from across the room. Pushing past Cynthie, I followed the sound and fell to my knees next to Zach.
He was alive, but barely conscious. He sat propped against the wall and his head lolled forward when I gripped his shoulders. I ran my fingers over his body. There were no obvious signs of damage.
Cynthie came up behind me and I turned on her with a snarl. "What did you do to him?"
"It doesn't matter. He'll live." Underneath the bravado in her voice there was a thread of unease. "We have to go."
I wrapped his arm around my shoulders and rose shakily to my feet. Zach was all dead weight and I struggled to stay upright. Cynthie came quickly to his other side and we half-carried and half-dragged him up the steep stairs.
The compound was eerily quiet. There was no sign of any of Valentine's Blooded, not even the two with him at the marina. I half-expected to see Marta round the corner, hands curved into claws and blood in her eyes.
"Don't worry. This part of the house is usually deserted." Cynthie wiped the sweat from her forehead with her free hand. "We should hurry."
We made it out of the house and down the trail to the dock without incident. We laid Zach on a bed in one of the bedrooms on the yacht. I turned back to look at him from the doorway. His chest rose and fell softly in a movement almost too small to follow. The desperate voice in my head cried anxiously for me not to leave him. My rational side knew that there was nowhere in this world where Valentine wouldn't find me.
I could end it all now and maybe die trying. Or I could spend the rest of my life jumping at every sound and running from every shadow.
I closed the door softly, though there was no danger of waking Zach. He slept like the dead. Cynthie waited for me in the hallway. She regarded me steadily for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Ready?"
She climbed up to the helm and I followed close behind her.
"Do you know how to work this thing?" I asked dubiously. There were more buttons and levers than I cared to count. They all looked the same.
"Gas gauge. Steering wheel." She pointed them out with a haughty raise of her eyebrow. "I'll figure the rest out when the time comes."
We left the boat and began to climb the path leading back to the house. At the crest of the hill, I watched the sun as it sank past the horizon of a twilight sky. Streaks of purple and red rent the air like the claws of an angry god. I wondered again if I would live to see another sunrise.
"Don't think about it." Cynthie spoke as if she could read my mind. I jumped in surprise. For a moment I'd forgotten she was there.
"Do or die?" I asked, glancing back at her.
She laughed without humor. "Do and die, maybe."
The setting sun barely peeked from behind the distant mountains, outlining them like a halo. It was time. "Get Sam and take her to the boat. Give me two hours from sunset. If I'm not out by then, take the yacht. Don't wait for me."
Cynthie regarded me in surprise. "You want me to leave without you?"
"You have to get Zach and Sam home." I invested my voice with urgency. She had to understand how important this was. "They won't survive here."
"What about you?"
"Valentine doesn't want to hurt me. The power is what matters to him." The longer that I was out of his presence, the clearer my mind became. To Valentine I was a shell, an Easter egg filled with enticing candy. Meant to be consumed and discarded.
"You think you can take him?" Cynthie's expression was the most serious that I'd ever seen it.
"I'd be the first." She opened her mouth to speak—maybe empty encouragements or simple condolences—but I cut her off. "Just go. We're running out of time."
I turned my back on her and stumbled down the hill, not bothering to wait for her to follow. I was on my own.