Chapter Twenty-Five
Vlad stared up at the ceiling in a rage. Bound in silver and strapped to a table, he listened intently to the continuous fighting still taking place outside.
Something pulled at his gut, nearly turning him inside out. Something beyond the silver cooking his flesh, beyond the pain and agony.
Nita! Vlad pulled on his bonds, hissing as the silver burned deeper into his wrists.
“Ah, you’re awake,” Declan acknowledged, stepping into the room, holding a container in one hand and a knife in the other.
Vlad didn’t have to ask about the objects to know what Declan had planned. He needed Vlad’s heart. “Do you honestly think Lilith will allow you to live once she’s resurrected?”
Declan gave him a pitying look. “Of course she will.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I have a chance to purge the world of the half-breeds, the corrupt and diluted vampire blood. To give our race a fresh start. To do it right this time.”
Understanding dawned on Vlad. “You think to breed with Lilith.”
Declan nodded. “The earth will once again be populated with purebred vampires. The way it was meant to be before our race began consorting with humans. We’ve lost our power, our purpose.”
Vlad took a painful breath. “History always repeats itself, Declan. You’ve been alive long enough to know this. No matter what you do, it will come back around to this in another two hundred years.”
“You’re wrong,” Declan snarled, moving to set the container on the bed next to Vlad’s chest. “With Lilith and I ruling together, we’ll be unstoppable.”
Vlad studied Declan’s eyes. “And if you’re wrong? What’s to stop Lilith from destroying you and summoning Vrykolakas from the pits of hell to reign with her?”
Uncertainty flickered in Declan’s eyes. “That’s not going to happen. Not after everything I’ve done to raise her up. What has he done? I don’t see him out here fighting for her.”
“Lilith wasn’t a vampire, Declan. And you don’t possess a third of the power it takes to produce a pure bloodline. Only Vrykolakas is capable of it.”
Declan leaned over Vlad’s face, their noses nearly touching. “She will be a vampire once your heart is pumping inside her chest. The most powerful vampire in the world.”
“I’ll see you in hell,” Vlad murmured softly.
Declan gripped the knife by the handle and ripped Vlad’s shirt open before pressing the blade against the Impaler’s chest.
“Forgive me.” Declan sank the knife deep, dragging it downward to sever the bone as he went.
Vlad’s back bowed off the table in agony. He locked his teeth together to keep from crying out as the elder continued to carve out his heart.
Declan’s eyes suddenly grew wide, and his head arched back, exposing the cords of his neck. Blood seeped through his shirt, spreading across his chest to disappear inside his silk jacket.
His hand slipped off the blade, and his body fell to the floor.
“Son of a bitch,” Angel growled, instantly appearing in Vlad’s vision. He ripped off his shirt and pressed it against the wound in Vlad’s chest. “Hang on, and I’ll get you out of here.”
Vlad’s entire body shook in pain as he stared up into Angelo’s eyes. “Get out of here. They have set the place on fire. I can smell the smoke.”
Angel shook his head. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“You must,” Vlad wheezed, glancing at the smoke now billowing through the door. “Think of your son.”
“Lucius is safe with Ember,” Shon argued, kneeling to search through Declan’s pockets.
Gripping the key, Angel jumped to his feet, unlocking the cuffs with vampiric speed.
He lifted Vlad into his arms and ran for the door.
A giant wolf appeared from the smoke, foaming at the mouth and blocking Angel’s exit.
“Fuck,” Angel barked, backing up a step.
A loud cry burst from the wolf’s throat before his body was yanked backward, disappearing into the dark cloud of smoke in the other room.
Ember sauntered into the room, bloody and confident. “Follow me.”
Vlad watched with no small amount of pride as Angelo’s mate cleared them a path to the main door.
Shon and Laura fought alongside them, covered in soot and blood, nearly unrecognizable.
The five of them burst outside in time to see the wolves fighting next to the flames, running up the structure’s walls.
An explosion rocked the building, nearly unseating Vlad in Angel’s arms.
Stopping next to the SUV, Angel jerked open the back and dumped Vlad, unceremoniously inside before climbing in after him.
The sounds of doors slammed, and the engine hummed to life.
Vlad fought the darkness, staring up at the plush ceiling of his SUV. “Nita…”
“She’s not here,” Angel murmured from close by. “She’s safe.”
Vlad moved to get up. “She’s in trouble, Angelo. I can feel it.”
Angel gently pushed him back down. “We’ll find her, Sire. Once we get the silver out, you can go look for her.”
Fury boiled up inside Vlad at his own helplessness. There he lay in the back of a vehicle, his chest cracked open and silver bullets embedded in his body, unable to do anything to help his Nita. And she was his, he’d come to accept. Whether she wanted to be or not.
Vlad turned his head toward Angel. “Try calling her,” he wheezed, fighting to keep his eyes open.
Angel pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nita’s number before pressing the end button. It’s going straight to voicemail. I’ll try her again shortly.”
Nita’s beautiful face rose up in Vlad’s mind, haunting him in his weakness. If anything happened to her, Vlad would go insane. Of that, he had no doubt.
The SUV bounced off the dirt road and onto the highway, sending agonizing pain tearing through Vlad’s chest. He could feel his heartbeat slowing as his life’s blood steadily rushed from his body.
Vlad would survive his injuries, no matter what. He was the Impaler, Prince of Darkness. But without Nita, he wasn’t so sure he’d want to.