“They’ll kick you out, Owen. You’ll no longer be accepted, and I know as well as you that this is your home. I also know what love can do to a person…destroy you. You belong within these hallowed walls more than anyone.”
“Not anymore.” I lifted a crossbow from the trunk. It was as much as I could carry without being weighed down. A sword, two daggers, and a crossbow…it would have to do.
“Merde, Owen.” Seb stepped in front of me, blocking my path to the door. He looked angry, and any other day I might have found it amusing to see something other than arrogance upon his face. “Infiltrate the vampire headquarters and you’ll be surrounded, you’ll be walking into a death trap. No one is going to come after you. You’ll get no help from the Consulate.”
I spun around to face him, annoyed now. He didn’t get it; he didn’t understand. Which was strange because I thought that he, above anyone, would. “I can’t leave her.”
He raked his hair back from his face, his movements frustrated. “They want to use her, not kill her. She’ll be fine. She will live, and maybe eventually we can figure out a way to get her back.”
I moved around him, my anger flaring. He didn’t get it, maybe he never would, or maybe the death of his Matchmaker had killed whatever heart he had left. “They will keep her alive until they don’t need her any longer, or until she can’t match them.”
Seb reached out, latching on to my arm, desperation in his tight grip. “Learn from my mistake, Owen. Don’t become too attached. It will destroy your soul, or worse, kill you. You can get another Matchmaker.”
“I don’t want another.” I shrugged him off. If there was a chance, no matter how small, that I could save her, I would do whatever it took. “Promise me you’ll look after her sister.”
He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with anger. “You’re right. I don’t know if Emma will survive, but I do know one thing for sure…step foot on vampire property and they will kill you.”
“So be it.” Without another word, I turned and strolled through the door.
********
Emma
The raucous roar of laughter vibrated the large stone dining room, annoying my frayed nerves. Vampires sure loved to party. Fortunately, they hadn’t laid out any humans on their buffet table…yet. Even though I was free, dressed in some sort of long white velvet gown and seated at the head table with Bay as if I were an honored guest, I didn’t feel any better. Then again, I supposed being the only human in a room of about fifty vampires during feeding time would make any human uneasy.
“Can’t we at least try her?” someone called out, to which everyone cheered and laughed.
The joke was lost on me. I refused to shiver, reminding myself they wanted me; they had to have me to take control of the Otherworld. But with their glowing eyes watching me from the dim shadows, it was a bit hard to believe. I lifted my goblet of water, ignoring the glass of white wine Bay had poured for me. I was shaking so badly, I could barely drink.
“Now, now,” Bay said as he grabbed a goblet of what I hoped was red wine. “I’ve told Ms. Watts that we are her friends. Don’t frighten the poor girl.”
There were a few more chuckles at my expense, making me flush. I was tired of being the butt of some nightmarish joke. Bay claimed he wanted me at dinner so that he might be able to introduce me as their savior. Bull. He was out to scare me.
“We need Ms. Watts, as you all know, if we are going to beat the Otherworld in their own game. So, who will be first?”
“What if we don’t want to be paired?” someone growled from the far corner of the room. “I like being able to screw anyone I want!”
I resisted the urge to sigh. Lovely. Just freaking lovely. A variety of male and female vampires cheered. Great, at the castle I’d had to deal with the overzealous who wanted me to match until I fainted. Here, no one wanted me. Which was worse, I wasn’t sure.
“But do you want power?” Bay asked, surging to his feet. “Or would you rather the Otherworld take over? Claim our lands, our people for their own?”
If they decided they didn’t want to be matched, what would they need with me? I glanced hopefully toward the doors. I fully expected the Consulate to be here at any moment. But then I’d expected them all last night while I’d lain awake in my huge four-poster bed, too terrified to sleep. I mean…I was valuable. Right? Surely they would come, white horses and all. Wouldn’t they?
Yet, as the moments ticked by and the conversation rose, people beginning to argue in earnest, I started to worry. Half the vampires had actually stood and managed to move closer, arguing heatedly with Bay. Apparently they appreciated true love about as much as I did. The other half were too drunk to care.
“I like me freedom,” one man growled, climbing onto the platform that held our table.
“Back!” The guards surrounding our table hissed, shoving at the man and sending him sprawling to the ground. He drew back his lips, hissing, those glowing eyes a brilliant red. And as he hissed, the others in the room also lifted their lips, hissing in return.
“Great, a hissing contest,” I whispered.
“Enough!” Bay roared, surging to his feet.
I had a horrible feeling that Bay didn’t actually have as much power over these bloodsuckers as he had let on. They hunched low, as if preparing to launch forward. Seething beasts…animals with glowing red eyes. I swallowed hard. Of the fifty or so vamps at least half were focused on me, just waiting to spring. I clutched the edges of my chair. Every fiber of my body screamed at me to run. But I knew better. Running would only make them react, like animals after prey.
“You will match, that’s the end of it.” Bay latched on to my arm a little too tightly, although I didn’t dare cry out, it would only feed their sick need for terror. He pulled me to my feet, the charming man I’d known gone. “She will match us and our powers will grow. If we don’t, it could be the end of our kind.”
As Bay dragged me around the table and toward the front of the platform, my nerves grew taut. “Umm, you realize it’s not a guaranteed thing, right?”
He jerked his glowing gaze to me. Yep, should have kept my mouth shut.
In a voice so low, no one could have heard it, he said, “You will match us and you’ll do it now.”
I gave a quick nod. “Yeah, sure.”
Hey, if I could lie to the Otherworld, why not to the Underworld?
“Crenilin, you shall go first.” Bay grabbed a stool and placed it in the center of the platform. One of the guards stumbled toward us, looking scared to death. Apparently the way to terrify a vampire was to mention true love. I sank onto the stool, waiting as Bay placed another chair next to mine.
My first match. Great.
The guard settled on the chair across from me. With almost fifty vampires watching, I took hold of his hands. They were cold, smooth. It was hard to believe he could kill me so easily with those fingers. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep, shaky breath. It took a long moment for me to block out the laughter and yelling of the other vampires. As my mind settled and my body grew blessedly numb I realized my instincts had been right.
Nothing. Not an inkling. Not even the slightest idea that there might be more. Only coldness. I had a horrible, terrible feeling that it would be the same with every single vampire here.
“Well?” Bay demanded.
The entire room grew quiet.
Slowly I opened my eyes and with the steely voice of someone who had to lie, or end up dead, I said, “Paris. A flower shop called De Blume.”
The room went into an uproar, but Bay grinned. I’d pleased him. They’d know soon enough that I lied, and then what? They’d kill me if I couldn’t match them; I had no doubt. The question was how long did I have before they uncovered the truth? I could only pray there wasn’t really some flower shop called De Blume in Paris. If so, that shop owner was in for a shock.
“Crenilin, leave,” Bay shouted with glee. “You have a match to find!”
The guard sigh
ed before moving so fast, he was a mere blur as he left the building. I surged to my feet. Crap. Crap, crap. At their speed, I’d apparently have very, very little time before my lies were discovered.
“Who is next?” Bay asked.
As I glanced at the door for yet the hundredth time, I had the dreadful feeling that the Consulate wasn’t coming. Just like always, I was going to have to save myself. So be it. What did I know about vampires? Nothing. Okay, stakes. Yeah, I could break the chairs, use the legs as stakes, and then I could fly away in a UFO and live happily ever after! I wasn’t freaking Buffy; I couldn’t take on fifty vampires and come out the winner. Correction, forty-nine now that Crenilin had left.
“Rennie,” Bay called out. “Come up here!”
The man who had been pushed to the floor by the guards only moments ago started hesitantly toward us, his face furious. Hell, couldn’t Bay see that these vamps wanted to be matched about as much as the fates wanted me to match them?
“I don’t need one,” Rennie hissed. He obviously liked having a good time and didn’t want a soul mate cramping his style. I didn’t blame him. Relationships were freaking messy.
“We shouldn’t have to match if we don’t want to!” some vamp from the back of the room cried out as he surged to his feet. He was a dark shadow among many, the light not daring to reach them. I swallowed hard, searching the room for as many possible exits as I could find. When the time came, could I escape?
“Aye!” A female vamp agreed.
Their glowing red eyes flashed angrily to me, as if it were my fault they were here, my fault they had to have soul mates.
“Calm down,” Bay demanded.
“We will not!” Before I had time to sit back down, Rennie surged forward in a blur of movement. Suddenly I was shoved against the stone wall, a steel hand at my neck. “Why should we believe her anyway?”
In a blink Bay was there, hissing at Rennie. “Release her, you bastard. Or you will—”
The lights went out. The entire room grew black, but for those glowing red eyes in front of me. I couldn’t breathe…the air around me gone. I reached up, desperately clawing at Rennie’s arm, but he didn’t relent. I was going to die.
A great burst of fire suddenly lit the room, hovering in the air. Shocked, Rennie released his hold and I fell to the ground, gasping for breath. The fireball flew through the air, hitting a crowd of vampires. Their bodies twisted and spun, their screams echoing across the stone room as they burst into flames. Sucking in great gulps of air, I grasped the edge of the table and managed to get to my feet. Relief was sweet. Maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t going to die after all. Finally, the Consulate had arrived.
“About freaking time,” I rasped through my sore throat.
Hearing me, Rennie spun around. Crap. I lifted a chair and swung it toward the vampire as he raced straight at me. It hit him against the chest and the hard spindles splintered, pattering to the floor. With a grunt he stumbled back, but it didn’t stop him. When his lips lifted into a hiss, I realized that I’d merely pissed him off.
I stumbled back directly into a hard body. Firm fingers gripped my wrist, the stench surrounding my captor made me gag. “Let go!” I growled, struggling in his grip. “You heard Bay.”
“I’d much rather taste ye than be matched.” I knew that voice well. Terrified, I froze. Tipper had found me. Just when I thought I was a goner, Bay surged forward, tearing Tipper away and tackling him to the ground.
Thrown off-balance, I tripped on my long skirts. My ankle twisted painfully as I fell off the platform, hitting the stone floor hard. With a groan, I ignored the pain shooting up my calf and managed to drag myself under the nearest table to catch my breath. Only a moment…I only needed a moment to recuperate. As the lights surged back on, momentarily blinding everyone in the room with their brightness, my hope flared. Frantic to reach the Consulate, I pulled myself out from under the table and into the middle of the room.
But no…there was no Consulate, no team of men coming to my rescue. My hope and my heart sank. There was only one man who stood in the center of the room, fighting a horde of vampires.
Owen.
Just Owen.
Chapter 20
Owen
Forty-nine to one.
Sure, I could handle those odds. And then I’d fly away in my UFO and live happily bloody after. I lowered myself to the terrace that overlooked the large stone room below, and glanced between two columns. Four wooden tables full of vampires, four guards at the top of the room, near a platform holding only Emma and Bay. I didn’t allow myself to focus on her. No, if I saw an injury, hell, even if I noticed fear on her face, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I needed to focus on my goal, getting her out of here, and I couldn’t let my emotions get in the way.
I’d visited the vampire lair in the past with Jotham when he’d been attempting to form a treaty with the bloodsuckers, but I didn’t know the building well enough to feel comfortable.
It had been easy gaining access through the fields of poppies that surrounded the castle. Vampires were nocturnal and the sun had just risen. It also helped that they had egos as big as Russia and didn’t think they needed guards outside. Still, as I’d snuck into the building, I’d been surprised to see they were awake. But then they had a new, exciting toy in Emma and they were obviously trying to figure out how to use her to their best benefit.
Unable to help myself, I glanced at her. My heart clenched, emotions I didn’t want to dwell upon surging to the surface. She looked brave, I’d give her that much, and I’d never been more proud of her. But I could sense the nervousness, see it in the flicker of her gaze as she glanced around the room. She was waiting for the vamp she’d just matched to return and proclaim her as a fraud. She’d lied to him to save her own hide, the smart chit. But she knew as well as I did that he’d be back soon.
“We shouldn’t have to match if we don’t want to!” some vamp cried out as he jumped to his feet.
“Aye!” another vamp agreed.
I focused on their leader, Bay. As vampires went, he was one of the more rational and controlled beings, but that wasn’t saying much where vampires were concerned. He was losing his grip on the room. Vampires were an unruly bunch to begin with; they didn’t like to be told what to do. I’d never envied Bay and his leadership role, and I’m sure at that moment he didn’t either.
Bloody hell. Not good. Not good at all. Perfect time to intervene. The only time. A vampire advanced toward Emma, slamming her against the wall. I had to resist the urge to travel there immediately. Shite. With my hands trembling, I jerked on the breaker box, throwing the room into darkness. A gasp of surprise whispered through the room. Slowly, I lowered myself to the ledge above the door.
Now or never. Conjuring a fireball, I tossed it toward a group who had gathered close to the front of the room. They burst into flames, their screams echoing against the stone walls. I felt absolutely no guilt. In fact if anything, I only wanted to kill more of the bastards. I disappeared, reappearing on the floor below.
Through the darkness I could see that the vamp had released his hold on Emma. I could sense her energy, feel the life in her, and my relief was immediate. She would survive. But I didn’t have time to go to her. A vampire noticed me, his hiss of outrage the warning I needed. As he raced forward, I lifted the crossbow, aimed, and hit him in the gut. The lights burst back to life just as he stumbled, falling. The bright lights helped my cause, momentarily blinding the vamps. I was able to shoot three more through the heart before they had regained their senses. Vaguely, I was aware of Emma stumbling her way down the aisle toward me. I might not get out alive, but if I could at least hold them back while she escaped…
A few cowardly vampires raced from the building, giving up easily, most likely thinking I had backup. Unfortunately I still had a good twenty-five or more to fight. I pulled the sword from the sheath on my back and swung it wide. The sharp blade sliced through the neck of the first vampire to reach me, b
ut two others hit me before I could lift the weapon again. We slammed to the floor hard and the sword fell from my hand, clanging across the stone, the crossbow useless at my side.
“Owen!” Emma called out.
I lifted my knee, shoving one vampire off. “Emma, go!”
The other vampire took his friend’s place and leapt atop me, his cold hands at my neck. I swung my arm upward, smashing the end of the crossbow into his temple. The vamp didn’t even flinch. His hands tightened around my throat, preventing air from filling my lungs. Black spots floated before my eyes.
Concentrate. I needed to concentrate and use my powers. I disappeared, reappearing a few feet away gasping for air. Emma had scooped up my sword and swung it toward the vampire who’d been strangling me. The blade hit the beast hard enough to pierce his arm. He cried out, stumbling to the side.
But the moment we injured one, two others took his place. A vampire raced toward Emma, dagger raised.
I disappeared, reappearing in front of her. “Damn it, Emma. Leave! Escape! I’ll hold them off.”
Her hair hung in clumps around her pale face, those eyes wide with fear and adrenaline, her breathing as harsh as mine, but it was the red marks around her neck that sent my anger boiling over the edge. Didn’t she understand how close she was to death? It wasn’t something noble, or beautiful. Death was ugly, painful, and I wouldn’t see her go through that. At least not here, not now.
“Go!”
She scowled, sword in hand. “I won’t leave you!”
The vampire reached me. Momentarily distracted, I looked away, swinging the crossbow and hitting him across the face. Ten vamps were fighting amongst themselves at the front of the room. Five were headed our way.
“Emma…” I spun around, intending to tell her to leave, but I was too late. I saw him coming at her before she had time to react. Emma raised the sword, hitting the vampire at the same time his dagger sliced across her arm. Emma cried out, stumbling. I didn’t think, merely lifted the crossbow and shot the vampire. His dagger fell, the vamp stumbling to the ground, groaning.