Nicolae grunts as the tip of Vladimir’s sword buries deep into his arm. He grits his teeth, summoning the waning strength in his right arm, and tosses his sword into the other hand. Vladimir’s triumphant grin melts away as Nicolae confidently approaches. With a clash of steel, Nicolae not only holds his own, he sets Vladimir on the run.
“Oh, my gosh. Sadie!” Roseline screams, diving for her friend the instant she sees her.
“Back off,” William snarls as he shoves Roseline.
She rears back, shocked by the venom in his voice. “William…what’s wrong?”
“You. You’re what’s wrong.” He shakes his head, disgusted with everything. Sadie knew what she was getting into the moment she sliced her neck. “You needed blood and she was stupid enough to offer it.”
“No. Oh no,” she wails as she hangs her head. “Oh, Sadie, you stupid girl. I could have killed you.”
“You probably have,” William mutters as he strokes the damp hair from Sadie’s face.
“Fane?” She is too panicked to concentrate. Her mind too fuzzy. Her body is still buzzing from the fresh blood that races through her veins-Sadie’s blood.
“She will be fine. You stopped soon enough.”
“Really?” William growls at Fane. “‘Cause it sure looks like she’s dead to me.”
He has a point. Sadie has lost all color in her face. Her breathing is so shallow it’s hard to tell if her chest is moving.
“Her pulse is slow but strong. I promise she will recover,” Fane assures him. “Her neck wound is already healing from Roseline’s saliva.”
Roseline closes her eyes. Tears flow freely as she strokes her friend’s hand. She never wanted this. She thought by leaving she would save her friends the pain of discovering her secret. Now look where they have ended up.
A clash of swords catches her attention. She gasps, noticing for the first time who is fighting her husband. “Is that…Nicolae?”
“Yeah. Guess you’re not the only one with secrets,” William says coldly.
She watches in amazement as Nicolae twirls out of Vladimir’s grip with ease. She glances over at Fane and sees that his thoughts mirror her own—he is good, deadly good.
“So he finally came out then,” Roseline mutters.
“You knew?” William gasps. Fane’s brow furrows at this development.
“Do you honestly think he’d let a monster like me around your sister?”
William glances down at Sadie, his tears fall onto her pasty cheek. “I think he loves her.”
Roseline nods. “He always has. He’s been trying to protect her all this time…from me.” Her voice cracks as she looks away.
“Oh, no!” She throws herself onto her knees as she crawls to Gabriel’s side. Her hands flit over his face. His scarred chest and gaping wounds fuels a fire deep within her soul. “What happened to him?”
“He was bait,” Fane replies without emotion.
Heat floods her body as she turns a fierce glare onto Fane. “For me?”
He nods and looks away. Her enraged howl curls his lips into a smile. Sorin was a fool to awaken the warrior within Roseline. Vladimir created her to be lethal, a killing machine that once turned on will not stop. Fane has no idea what she is capable of. No one does.
She holds Gabriel to her chest, fighting to calm the rage swirling within. Like an acid cloud, it poisons her mind and spills over into her nerves. She closes her eyes, fighting to still her wrath long enough to find Gabriel’s heartbeat. Her eyes pop open.
“How is he still alive?” she asks Fane. “He should have been dead hours ago.”
Fane shrugs, completely at a loss for an answer. He has been wondering the same thing. No human can lose that much blood and survive but, then again, Gabriel isn’t entirely human. He is Lucien’s son, after all.
Unable to bear the pain in Roseline’s tortured gaze, he rises. “I should probably go help—” his words cut off as blood gurgles from his lips. A crimson stream stains his pale skin as it drips from his chin and splatters onto his shoes.
“No!” Roseline cries out as a sword pierces through Fane’s chest. In a hacking motion, it rises dangerously close to his heart.
Fane jerks to the right when the sword pulls back and changes its deadly course. Vladimir appears over his shoulder and he shoves the blade deep. The new angle splinters his sternum but saves his heart. A sickening gurgle erupts from Fane’s throat as a bubble of blood bursts, splattering Roseline and William.
William cries out as he frantically wipes his face, smearing the blood more than he manages to remove it. The sword jerks to a halt as Nicolae attacks from behind, forcing Vladimir to retreat to find a new weapon. Roseline must release Gabriel to help Fane. She sets Gabriel gently back on the ground and backs away. Her vision tints red around the edges as she steps up to Fane. “Are you okay?”
“I will be—” he chokes, and his knees buckle and he falls to the floor. Roseline grasps his arm in time to ease him onto his side before sword connects with the ground. She kneels by his side and places her hand behind his back. “Just get it over with,” he grunts.
Without hesitation, she yanks the sword from his chest. Fane’s scream wrenches at her heart but she clamps off her emotions. She eases him onto his back and turns to William. “When I leave you need to lock that door. No matter what happens, don’t open it.”
William’s eyes are as wide as saucers; his mouth fills with the foul taste from a second wave of bile rising in his throat. “What about Fane?”
“Keep him comfortable till I get back,” she replies in a clipped tone
“You mean he’s not going to die?” William gasps, horrified at the reality of how much it takes to kill an immortal.
“No, but I bet he wishes he could.” She slips off her bloodied cloak and tosses it to William. “Use this to stop the bleeding. I’ll be back soon.”
She crouches low and leaps through the opening. She spins in midair and slams the door shut. The lock clangs into place before her feet touch the ground.
“Holy crap,” William gasps. “I didn’t know she could do that.”
“You should see her when she’s really angry,” Fane wheezes sarcastically. He winces at the burning in his lungs.
Roseline ignores their quips and she focuses only on Vladimir. He has yet to realize she has joined the fight. That’s good. She still has the advantage.
Blood drips from her matted hair, splattering her shredded dress. It hangs in strips along her body, revealing her gruesome wounds. Bruises bloom along her stomach and abdomen as the internal bleeding recedes; strips of skin regenerate as the old sloughs off.
She rocks onto the balls of her feet as she watches the battle unfold. The sword swings back and forth like a pendulum, counting down the seconds until she will engage her husband for the first time ever.
Vladimir is the stronger of the two; Nicolae has speed on his side, but even this is starting to betray him. His forehead drips with sweat as he lunges and parries. Blood seeps from several wounds. He is forced to favor the one on his right leg, which leaves him at a disadvantage, one that Vladimir is skillfully playing to. It is only a matter of time before Nicolae makes a mistake.
“Vladimir!” she screams, planting her feet as she raises the sword her husband carved Fane with.
Her husband bashes the hilt of his sword into Nicolae’s face. He doesn’t even pause to enjoy the spray of blood that flies from Nicolae’s nose as he turns to face her. “Ah, I see you are whole again…and looking as lovely as ever.” Vladimir’s frosty voice sends chills racing up her spine.
“No thanks to you,” she hisses, clasping the sword tightly in her hand. Her knuckles turn white as they pop under the strain. This is a battle she refuses to lose.
“This is all your fault, you know,” he says, waving his hands around the room. His gaze flickers toward the cell. “Your friends and
your lover are all in pretty bad shape because of you.”
“Your poisonous words won’t work on me this time, Vladimir,” Roseline growls. She won’t let them.
He tsks, shaking his head. “That’s no way to speak to your husband.”
Roseline snarls at him, raising her sword into the air. “I want a divorce.”
Vladimir’s cold black eyes narrow. “You belong to me, Roseline Enescue.”
Her aqua eyes flame with rage. “My name is Roseline Dragomir!” she screams, launching herself across the room. Her lips peel back from her teeth as she strikes. The muscles in her arms quiver as their swords clash. Sparks fly as she grinds her sword against his, running it all the way to the hilt. She snarls, spitting in Vladimir’s face before she dips and knocks his feet out from under him.
His enraged cry follows her as she drops her sword and leaps onto the wall. Her fingers latch onto a pair of manacles. She runs up the wall, coiling the chains loosely around her arm.
“Get down here!” Vladimir roars from below.
“Coming, dear,” she growls as she launches off the wall. Roseline arcs around the center of the room and spins back toward him. He braces, his sword ready to cut her down, but Roseline releases her hold on the chains at the last second and flips over his head.
Vladimir cries out as the heavy chains uncoil and slam into him, knocking him off his feet. Roseline sprints for her sword as Vladimir rises. His gaze is murderous as he spits out teeth and blood. “You will pay for that.”
For years, she balked at her training, shied away from embracing the anger that always seethes just under the surface, but for the first time, she latches hold of it.
“But I thought you like it rough.”
With a wild scream, Vladimir attacks. Roseline bends backward, narrowly missing his first lunge, but is ready for the second. She spins, in a whirlwind of blood, and slices clean through Vladimir’s sword. The pieces of his sword clatter uselessly to the floor.
“How did you—” Vladimir flips backward to the middle of the room, in search of another weapon. Roseline has to move fast. She crouches low and shoots up into the air, whirling over Vladimir’s head. The bottom of her dress grazes his face, obscuring his vision for a split second, but it is enough.
“Roseline,” Nicolae shouts, tossing his crossbow high into the air.
The instant her fingers wrap around the weapon, Roseline’s foot smashes into Vladimir’s face. Blood spews from his lips as his four front teeth are ground into dust. He sprawls on his back, head smashing against the stone floor. The sharp crack of his skull fracturing fuels Roseline’s rage.
She kneels above him, trapping him with her knee on his chest. “This is for my sister,” she says with an air of calm, letting loose the arrow.
It pierces through his rib cage, grazing his heart. Blood seeps into his chest cavity. His eyes narrow with fury as he listens to his own heart struggle to beat.
“Playtime is over,” Vladimir growls. He tosses her end over end as he leaps to his feet. He grips the arrow protruding from his chest and roars as he tears it out. The instant his gaze shifts from her she knows she won’t make it in time. She barely has time to blink before the arrow slams into Nicolae’s chest.
“It’s me or him now, Roseline,” Vladimir taunts, clutching his chest. “Your choice.”
She snarls at him as she turns and leaps to Nicolae’s side. Her hands feel around the wound. She breathes a sigh of relief as she realizes the arrow has missed all vital organs. “Stupid,” she grunts as she turns to catch Vladimir’s grin before he bolts for the exit. “He missed on purpose!”
Nicolae’s groan pulls her attention back. His face pinches as he writhes on the floor. “This is going to hurt,” she whispers in his ear. Without any warning, she snaps the end of the arrow and pulls the spearhead from his back.
Roseline’s arm slices through the air, hurling the broken steel tipped arrow at Vladimir’s back. The blood coated arrowhead burrows into Vladimir but it doesn’t stop him as he dives for the tunnel. He is gone.
She should probably go after him. It would be easy to take him out now that he is injured and weary from battle, but her friends need her.
Dipping low, Roseline pulls Nicolae into her arms. She carries him to the cage and grimaces at the sight of her war-torn friends.
Fane’s eyes are closed as he leans against the cool wall. Already the blood has begun to clot around the wound. Healing will be a slow and painful process, one that Roseline does not envy him. Fane’s immortal blood will eventually seal over the lesion, forever hiding the evidence of his injury.
Sadie’s color has returned slightly and her breathing is much less labored than before. William cuddles up to her, holding her in his arms. His face is streaked with blood; tears wash winding trails of grime from his face.
Gabriel’s heart continues to beat at a snail’s pace but Roseline has no idea why or even how. Each breath he takes is a miracle.
Roseline carefully settles Nicolae next to Fane, propping him up on his good side. Despite her great care not to jostle him, Nicolae still cries out in pain. “William, throw me your shirt.”
Without thinking, William strips. His skin pimples against the frigid draft pouring from the open tunnel. “Hold this tightly over the wound,” she commands.
Nicolae offers her a wry smile. “I didn’t know you could fight like that.”
She smirks. “And you never told me you were Sorin’s nephew. I should have known. You’re both stubborn mules!”
“Guess we both have our secrets.” He winces and presses back into the wall.
“Thanks for keeping them alive,” she whispers. “I owe you.”
“Huh.” He grins, tilting his head to the side. “I like the sound of that.”
Roseline laughs as she squeezes his shoulder and hurries to Sadie’s side. “Hey,” she whispers as she drops next to her friend. Sadie’s eyes flicker open. “How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been trampled by a rabid elephant.” Roseline’s throat clenches. This is all her fault. If she had just kept her distance from Sadie in the beginning, none of this would have happened. “I’ve been thinking…” Sadie trails off, wincing as she pushed herself upright. “I’m thinking about going blonde next.”
William stares at his sister in amazement. “You nearly died and all you can think about is your next hair color? Unbelievable.”
Roseline smirks, shaking her head. “What’s the theme this time?”
Sadie grin is a faint glimmer of her former self. “I’m thinking of going Christian.”
William splutters, glancing at Roseline to see her reaction. When all he sees is a twinkle in her eyes, he reprimands Sadie. “You can’t just ‘go Christian.’ It’s a whole faith thing you know.”
Sadie shrugs. “I’m thinking I might give God a try...you know, just in case,” she whispers. Roseline refuses to think of what might have happened if Fane hadn’t stopped her in time. Maybe Sadie is right. Getting on good terms with God is a great idea if Sadie is going to spend any more time around her.
Roseline pats her best friend’s hand, grateful to feel warmth returning to her skin. “I think your mother will be proud.”
Sadie grins, nodding weakly. Her smile fades as her eyes roll toward Gabriel. “Is he dead?”
“No, not yet.” Her heart shatters at the thought of losing him. “But it won’t be long.”
“Can you save him?” William asks. He might not have liked Gabriel much before they went on this harebrained adventure, but the guy has actually started to grow on him. If donating his blood for a transfusion can save his life, then William is all for it.
A tear slips down Roseline’s cheek as she shakes her head. “He’s too far gone. He shouldn’t even be alive.” Her voice cracks as pain ripples through her chest.
Fane slips an arm around her, pulling her close. Roseli
ne buries her face in his chest, sobbing over the boy she should never have fallen in love with but will never be able to get over. How can she go on without him? Losing Gabriel will destroy her and Fane is the only one who truly understands that.
“Turn him,” he whispers. His gaze fixes on the boy over her shoulder. It hurts far more to say the words than he could have imagined. This is a wound that Fane knows will never heal, but what choice does he have? He loves Roseline.
She rears back from his embrace, horrified at the thought. “I can’t do that to him. I would rather die than let Gabriel suffer as we do,” Roseline says.
Fane’s handsome face melts into a resigned smile. “You’ve only suffered because you never had love.”
“No,” she whispers, grasping his hand. “We did have love...a long time ago.”
Nodding, Fane wipes away her tears. “You know I will always love you.”
He pulls Roseline into his arms and kisses her, sharing every ounce of his devotion in that one final kiss. He breaks away and lurches to his feet, unable to linger in the moment any longer. The pain is too raw. With one final glance at Roseline, Fane exits the cell and disappears into the shadows.
“He’s gone,” Sadie whispers. “Will he come back?”
“No,” Roseline shakes her head. “Not for a very long time.”
“Is it safe to leave?” William asks.
“It should be. Vladimir won’t stick around now that he is injured. He needs to heal. I’d stay away from Brasov for a while, though.”
William shudders but nods as he wraps his arm around Sadie’s back. They navigate the slippery floor, leaving Roseline behind. Neither one of them knows what decision she will make, but they know she needs to make it on her own.
Nicolae cups William’s shirt to his wound as he rises. He darts one last glance back at Roseline before turning to follow behind Sadie and William. After everything he has witnesses tonight he can’t decide if saving Gabriel would really be a bad thing. Surely, his uncle was wrong about some immortals. He was obviously wrong about them being vampires. Maybe they aren’t all damned.
He watches as William helps Sadie to the tunnel that leads into the forest surrounding his home. He wants to follow, to be near Sadie, but there is something he has to do first.
Nicolae kneels at his uncle’s side. He ignores the congealing blood and stares into the face of the man that has been the only family he’s had since he lost his parents. “I will avenge your death, Uncle. I swear it.”
He grasps Sorin’s hand, pledging his oath. Tears fall unashamedly as he pulls his uncle’s sword from his stiff hands. It is the sword that Sorin used to kill Lucien. “Vladimir is next.”
Without another word, Nicolae turns his back on the gruesome scene in the dungeon. He vows this place will never be used again. As soon as the dust settles from tonight, he will blow up the entrance to the tunnel and seal Sorin into this eternal tomb. It is what he would have wanted.
Forty-Six
Warm tears stream from Roseline’s bloodshot eyes. Her heart is broken and bleeding, torn in two directions. One is racing away from her, desperate to flee his self-inflicted agony after releasing her to love another. The second lies with only seconds remaining of life. She can hear the final beats of Gabriel’s heart approaching.
Roseline dips low to brush her lips against his. “I’m so sorry, my love.”
Epilogue