Chapter Two
Vampires were one of the most lethal species on the planet. Stronger and faster than any man, they thought themselves to be gods in the face of mortals. She had dealt with them in the past—in fact, one of the worst scars on her body was a bite from a vampire that had managed to hook its fangs into her side. She’d managed to get it off, but not without losing a good chunk of her hip.
“There,” Talon rumbled, his white-tipped tail flicking anxiously as they approached the inn and a small group came into focus. Nodding, Alice rested her hand on the hilt of her weapon.
Forged of pure silver and engraved with sigils of protection, the blade had been blessed during the summer equinox with the blood of a high priest and set into a hilt made from the fang of a dragon. It was one of the few things that could truly kill a vampire, and she had trained for years in how to use it.
Moving up to the group with a frown on her full lips, she glared when they turned towards her and started to immediately eye her like a piece of meat hanging from a butcher’s window.
“Evening. Sorry to bother you, but I need to ask what a group of vampires like yourselves is doing hanging around my little village.” She frowned at them, immediately taking in the group as she did so.
There were three men in the group, each of them standing a head taller than her and wearing ornate dressings under their cloaks. They were as beautiful as the marble statues she had seen adorning the palaces of the warlords. The only thing that made them look the slightest bit dangerous were their crimson irises. The blood red color bored into her soul. They didn’t seem impressed with her little show of assertion, instead seeming more inclined to eye her full bosom.
“Pigs,” Talon growled in her ear, making sure his voice didn’t rise high enough for the vampires to detect.
“I apologize for intruding,” a soft voice sounded from between the men, and a woman who had previously gone unnoticed slid into view. She was beautiful, with golden hair and skin as pale as alabaster, and she carried herself with grace and importance as she slowly moved to stand in front of her men. “And I apologize for my men, they have learned bad manners away from court. My name is Lady Jennifer Lindgern, the mate of the dearly departed Lord Alexander Lindgern and the mother of the current clan leader Matheus Lindgern.” She glared up at the men, her ruby-stained lips curling into a smile when they lowered their gazes.
“You haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?” Alice asked, her eyes stern as she regarded the woman in front of her. She recognized the woman, but she didn’t know from where.
“I’m on a little mission, actually. Looking for a gift for my darling little boy,” Jennifer explained, lifting up a locket and holding it up for Alice to examine. “Children are so picky, but you know us mothers, always attempting to make sure our sons have what they need.”
Inside the locket was a worn picture of a little vampire boy, no older than two or three. The picture was ancient, the paper long since faded and worn.
“What is it that your son needs?” Alice asked, her eyes flickering up to meet the other woman’s gaze. When Jennifer let out a breathy laugh, a frown creased Alice’s forehead, the hand on her knife twitching as she readied herself to attack.
“What he needs is a mate, and unfortunately the boy has no idea what he wants, so I just keep throwing women his way hoping he’ll select one that he wants to settle down with,” Jennifer elaborated, her eyes wandering curiously over the witch in front of her. “The others will just reside in his harem so that he can play with them as he desires.”
Alice’s eyes flashed at this. She had dealt with many vampires in the past and learned early on that coven leaders and other high-ranking nobles of the vampire clans kept harems as a display of wealth and power. She’d never agreed with it, but she had never been given the opportunity to protest the practice. Now that they were poking their noses around her land, though, she wasn’t going to let them take a single one of the young ladies under her protection.
“You’ll have to look elsewhere for your son’s potential mate. This area is under my protection. I will ask you once, and only once, to leave. Otherwise, I am going to have to escort you off the premises myself.” She glared at the vampires, a magical blue glow shimmering in her silver irises. That was about all that she could muster without the strength of the moon, but it would hopefully be enough to frighten the vampires away.
That didn’t seem to be the case.
Instead of backing down as she hoped they would, the vampires laughed. Their eyes were locked onto her as the men fanned out, their female leader standing between them regarding the witch slowly. She didn’t like the hungry look in their eyes.
“There seems to have been some misunderstanding,” Jennifer sighed, her tongue flicking over her lips, a victorious look on her face. “We aren’t after the humans. We’ve tried that plenty of times with no result.” She chuckled, eyeing Alice slowly. “We’re after you, my dear. Why else would we wait until tonight to make our move?”
Alice didn’t have much time to respond as the men suddenly lurched forward. Yelping, she slashed out with her knife and caught one of them on the forearm, sending him reeling back as steam rose out from the wound with a hiss. Feeling strong arms around her waist, she growled, and Talon leaped onto the face of her attacker with a furious hiss, sinking his claws in.
“Idiots!” Jennifer groaned when Alice managed to stab one of the men through the heart, dropping him like a stone before whirling onto the next attacker with ease.
She had been trained to fight for years, and she wasn’t going to let the blood-suckers get the upper hand. She might not have her magic, but that didn’t mean that they should underestimate her. Swirling around with a growl, she swore when one of the men managed to knock her blade away, sending her spiraling back to the ground.
“Damn cat!” the man struggling with Talon roared, swearing as he stumbled back and sent Talon slamming into the wall of the Inn.
Talon let out a squeak at this, falling still as his form hit the wall. Panic flashing through her body, Alice lurched forward to try to reach the cat. By letting her guard down, she allowed one of the men to get his arms around her, his claws digging into her shoulders in an attempt to keep her in place.
Fear filled her head as she was forced to remain still, swearing and cursing as the man clamped something around her throat. It took her a moment to realize what it was, but when she felt the thing start to glow against her throat, she felt horror flood through her.
It was a collar.
Not just any collar, but one specifically designed for keeping witches in captivity. Its whole purpose was to keep them from using magic to their full capabilities. She had only ever heard of them, but now that she had one around her neck, she could feel the power in her system dim down to almost nothing. Groaning softly, she felt herself falling to her knees as weakness pulled at her limbs. Looking up to glare at Jennifer, she glowered as the woman moved up to her while her wrists were bound.
“Do you really think that I’ll just let your son have his way with me?” Alice spat. “I am no whore.” She growled, struggling against her bindings. Cursing, she was dragged to her feet, her entire form shaking with rage.
“I never said you were, dear, but I have a feeling that you will grow to enjoy my son’s company. After all, freedom under marriage is better than servitude, is it not?” Jennifer suggested, patting Alice’s cheek lightly and jerking her hand back when Alice attempted to bite at her fingers.
“A marriage to your son will be little more than servitude. You will live to regret stripping me of my freedom,” Alice snarled, fury bubbling up in her chest when Jennifer simply smiled and waved at her guards.
“Let’s go, boys. We’ll let this feisty little minx wear herself out on the trip back to the coven,” she ordered, moving up to a carriage waiting for them outside of the inn.
Despite her defiant claims, Alice could feel panic roll through her body. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to get herself out of this, but she was going to have to think fast. Vampire covens were many things, but easy to escape from was not one of them.