The air in the Green Room was thick with malice and the scent of fresh blood. Vlad now held a beaten-within-an-inch-of-her-life Sunny in his clutches. Her neck was partially severed and she was bleeding out fast. Her faint moans were the only evidence that she was still with us.

His entourage of Old Guard Master Vampyres surrounded him and couldn’t have looked less interested if they’d tried. There were six of them and the sheer power in the room was suffocating. I lambasted myself silently for involving the pageant girls. These bastards unnerved me and I was a damn killing machine. I had no clue how the girls would react to the deadly, vicious Vampyres.

Gareth and I were positioned against the back wall. We were cloaked and Tiara had dusted us with the Fairy powder that removed our scent. I didn’t like Sunny one bit, but she didn’t deserve to be bludgeoned by a psychotic lunatic for being a bitch. Hell, if bitchiness were a punishable crime, Vampyres would be extinct.

However, at the moment my real worry was for Martha and Jane. Had the bastard killed the old ladies when he took Sunny? If he had, he was mine after the curse was broken. I didn’t care that Satan had dibs. I’d fight the Devil himself for the bastard if we made it through the rest of the day.

“I brought you a gift,” Vlad said casually as if he wasn’t holding a half dead woman in his arms.

“Why?” Claudia asked.

She was seated on the couch. I’d done her up and her resemblance to Juliette was now uncanny. It had disturbed even Gareth. Claudia was dressed impeccably in a long diaphanous silver gown and was calmer than I’d ever seen her.

“To show you my devotion, my love,” he told her, tilting his head and watching her every reaction. “I though it would be amusing to demonstrate what I would do to you if you insist on playing hard to get.”

“I’m going by Juliette now,” she purred and demurely let her chin fall to her chest.

Vlad’s brittle laugh filled the room and made my skin crawl. His debased followers didn’t blink an eye. They were expressionless robots gathered to do his dirty work. We needed them out of the room. If we had to go through them to get Vlad, he’d have time to transport out. If we could dismember him—even just a leg or arm—it would make his disappearing act impossible.

“You delight me. It warms my heart that you took your first warning seriously. It would be such a shame to have to tear something as exquisite as you apart.”

“Neither of us has hearts,” Claudia said with a small shrug that she somehow made look alluring. “Throw her in the hallway. I don’t want that trash in the room when I give you my gift.”

Smart move. If Tiara could get to Sunny, they might be able to save her.

“And what might that gift be?” Vlad inquired coolly as he passed off the dying Sunny to one of his men. He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed Claudia with interest. Technically he was a stunning man, but his insides were despicable. Dressed head to toe in black Hugo Boss, he was covered in Sunny’s blood but clearly thought nothing of it.

“Me. Your gift is me.”

“Come.” He held out a blood-spattered hand to Claudia as his eyes went bright green with desire. “Come with me. I will give you the world.”

“I want it now,” she whispered, lifting her eyes to him and bestowing him with a dazzling smile.

Vlad’s hand dropped to his side and he stared at her with wonder. “Your wish is my command, my beauty.”

“Not here,” one of his entourage hissed viciously.

Without a word of warning, Vlad turned and struck the Vampyre so violently he crumpled to the ground with a thud. Vlad’s roar of displeasure at being second guessed shook the walls and shattered every mirror in the Green Room. The fact that there were mirrors was bizarre since we had no reflection, but the nod to human beauty pageants was demolished. The chandelier detached from the ceiling and burst into thousands of sparkling pieces joining the shards of glass littering the floor.

“Get out,” Vlad growled as sparks of fury bounced off of him and floated around the room singeing the furniture. “Take him with you. I will deal with his lapse in judgment later. No one tells me what to do.”

Well, that wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but it was going in a positive direction. We needed the henchmen gone and they’d helped us out. Of course the fact that Vlad’s hands were flaming didn’t bode particularly well, but…

“Lock it,” Claudia said with a delighted laugh that would earn her an Oscar. “I don’t like them.”

Vlad’s insolent stare at Claudia was jarring and a hideous smile spread across his thin lips. His weakness for Juliette slash Claudia was the key to the Kingdom. We just needed to make sure she stayed safe.

I could feel Gareth’s presence. Even though I couldn’t see him, he was next to me now. The show was about to start and I wanted us to take the final bow.

“My, my,” Vlad said as he waved his hands and sealed the door with fire. “Such impatience.”

“They won’t interrupt us?” Claudia asked, raising her well-plucked brow and giving Vlad a pout.

“If they try, it will be the last thing they do,” he assured coldly her as he crossed the room. “They can’t reenter unless I break the spell.”

“You’re certain?” she asked.

“Quite,” he replied and then paused. “Your turn around, while delightful, is somewhat curious to me. Why the change of heart?”

“As I already pointed out, we don’t have hearts,” Claudia said flatly with a small smile on her lips. “I did my research after our unfortunate little rendezvous. I realized the opportunity I might have missed by… playing coy with you.”

“What do you want?” he asked in a calculated tone.

“Power… and you.”

His resumed movement was slow—like a predator stalking his prey. His expression still registered his doubt, but he was a man obsessed.

The glass crunching beneath his handmade shoes was eerily similar to the sound of splintering bones. I centered myself and waited. Gareth would reveal himself first and I would follow.

The blood I’d taken from Tiara was in my system, but I felt no different. Maybe I was immune for some reason. Gareth had felt a surge of power and I was concerned that I felt none. When I’d shared my worry with Tiara, she’d shrugged and explained her power was in colors. She likened emotions to colors and said to draw on her magic she thought in vivid hues. It made little to no sense to me. I just prayed it might give me an extra boost.

“Disrobe,” Vlad ordered as he seated himself in the chair across the couch from Claudia. “My tastes are particular, my sweet. You will submit to them.”

“I might,” she shot back smoothly. Her eyes glowed green with hatred, but clearly Vlad mistook it for lust. “However, I want to see what I’m getting. You’ve seen my naked body. You carved your name into my back. I want to make sure what’s beneath those expensive clothes will satisfy me—my tastes are also out of the ordinary,” she finished boldly.

She was telling the truth with that one and Vlad didn’t have the plumbing to satisfy her. Vlad’s eyes narrowed dangerously and then he laughed. Without taking his eyes from Claudia, he stood and removed his blood-stained coat and tossed it aside.

“I can guarantee you will be pleased.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” she replied rudely, much to his delight.

I felt Gareth drop his cloaking at the same time I did. We’d planned on revealing in a wave, but the timing was too perfect. Vlad was removing his shirt and he was at his most vulnerable.

Without a word or even a glance to each other, we went at him like a well-oiled killing machine. Gareth moved silently and with intent. He’d clearly dropped the Dickie façade, because the look on Vlad’s face when he spotted him bordered on insanely humorous.

“Impossible,” he roared as he expertly dodged Gareth’s fist blow.

Vlad wasn’t as lucky the second round.

“Need you to fix a little problem you created,” Gareth snarled as he went at the Vampyre like a freakin’ steam roller from Hell. The punches were so fast and violent, I could barely make out the movement of his hands. Vlad’s shock at the surprise attack and the fury coming out of Gareth’s every pore gave me the fraction of the second I needed.

The sound of Vlad’s arm detaching from his body as I twisted it and wrenched it off with all of my might was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. The evil Vampyre’s scream of rage wasn’t and the fire that exploded in the room was going to be an issue.

“Get her out,” Gareth growled at me in reference to Claudia.

Not sure how he wanted me to do that since we were effectively locked in, but I was going to try.

“No, she’s mine,” Vlad bellowed with wild eyes and gnashing fangs as he went at Gareth like a nightmare from the Underworld.

Which was exactly where he was going to end up. I hoped.

“Actually, she’s not yours,” Gareth said taunting him while dodging punches and blasts of magic. “She’s a lesbian. She wasn’t joking when she said her tastes were particular—your dick doesn’t turn her on, dumbass.”

“Royal scum,” he ground out. “You should be dead. Why aren’t you dead? I had you cursed.”

“Too mean to die, you piece of shit. Oh, and Satan has dibs on you after I’m done.”

Gareth took full advantage of the fleeting look of uncertainty on Vlad’s face and he doubled his efforts. “This is for me,” he said as he landed a remorseless strike to the stunned Vampyre’s head. “And this one is for my family.”

He continued to pummel him, but Vlad was giving back as good as he was getting.

They grappled in a match for their lives. Magic flew around the room with such force I had to duck both the sorcery and the fire to get to Claudia.

“Call Tiara,” I shouted over the crackling of the blaze. “NOW.”

Gareth threw vicious punch after punch, but Vlad—even with one arm gone—was a maniacal force of nature. The dark magic in the room blasted through my body in horrifying jolts and it was hard to make out Gareth and Vlad through the fire.

“Tiara,” Claudia screamed, standing on the couch to stay out of reach from the licking flames.

In an explosion of silver and red magic that covered the room in a glittery haze, Tiara appeared and whisked Claudia into her arms. “You’re not leaving, are you?” she asked me as I backed away and prepared to go at Vlad. Of course she already knew the answer.

“No, if he dies I’m going with him. Get her out and make sure the others don’t enter,” I shouted and dove back into the fray. “Help Sunny and find my old ladies.”

“On it,” Tiara said as she and Claudia transported out of the room that had turned into a fiery Hell on Earth.

I couldn’t tell who was winning, but I wasn’t taking chances. Vlad was a thousand years old and more powerful than both Gareth and I put together. However, he was fighting the losing fight of hatred and greed and we were fighting for love and justice.

“His legs,” Gareth commanded.

I back flipped over both of them and landed in a crouched position about a foot from where they were tearing each other apart. Vlad’s arm I’d torn off was already regenerating. Shit. Pulling my sword from the scabbard on my back, I waited to make eye contact with Gareth.

With a split second glance to me and then a horrifying left hook to Vlad’s face, Gareth rolled away. Our timing was like a dance—a macabre dance—but beautifully executed. At the exact moment he was clear, I brought my sword down with such force if cut through Vlad’s right leg taking the entire hip with it.

Of course, the bastard still had his left arm and got in a savage blow to my head that sent me reeling and praying for death. Staggering to my feet and smacking out the flames that were burning the clothing from my body, I sprinted back at him before he was at full strength.

Gareth was a mesmerizingly beautiful killing machine. There was no movement wasted as he and Vlad fought. Vlad might have hundreds of years on my man, but Gareth was his own deadly force to be reckoned with.

“Silver,” Gareth shouted as he took a merciless blow to his throat by an unbelievably quickly regenerating Vlad.

Grabbing the bag we’d hidden by the door I took it in my right hand and calmly looked for an opening. Desperation and fear would get me nowhere fast. Too much was on the line to lose. Burying my emotions, I watched with cold-blooded laser focus and waited for a gap to move in.

They were exchanging blows with such inhuman speed I needed to make sure I lassoed the right Vampyre. Gareth was a more experienced and stronger fighter than me, but I was no slouch. I was fast, deadly and accurate. As long as I divorced myself from my attachment to Gareth, I could fight as emotionlessly as he did.

Vlad began to chant in a language that was foreign to me, but I knew exactly what he was doing.

A burst of red light splintered and hissed through the room. I put up my hand to shield my eyes from the intense heat. The door exploded into flames and then turned to ash. The fire in the room subsided, but we had bigger problems now. His men came at us fast and furious. Pageant gals had attached themselves to the Master Vampyres and were tearing their hair out and clawing at their eyes.

Watching D#4 get thrown across the room like a rag doll made my stomach lurch, but it also gave me the opening I needed. Diving through the remnants of the fire I took head blow after head blow while I wrapped Vlad in the blessed silver. Gareth held him down and shoved a dagger into this throat so he couldn’t call out more spells.

I used both hands, uncaring that the sliver was burning me to the bone. Both Gareth and I had already been burned badly. What did a little more singed skin mean at this point?

Nothing. It meant nothing if I could tie the bastard down.

“Finish,” Gareth said as he jumped up and attacked a Master Vampyre that was gunning for me. I heard the noise and the gurgling sound as Gareth crushed the trachea of the advancing piece of shit.

Vlad thrashed wildly, but the silver was doing the trick. His skin mottled and melted as the metal touched it. Working as rapidly as I could, I removed his left arm and leg and then re-removed the stumps of regenerating appendages on his right side. With a speedy request to God that the silver would hinder his regeneration, I secured the Vampyre and threw myself into the fight.

“Out,” Tiara commanded to the gals in a harsh voice.

They scrambled and ran. She bodily threw those that lagged behind through the blasted out doorway. It was me, Tiara, and Gareth against six Master Vampyres. Not the best odds, but not the worst either.

Tiara went like a maniac at two who advanced on her. Her battle scream hurt my ears and it was something that I was sure would revisit me in nightmares if I lived to dream.

Tearing my eyes from her, I scissor kicked the one coming for me. That meant Gareth had three on him. I couldn’t take my eyes of my aggressor or it would be my final moment. I just hoped that Gareth in a weakened state could handle three.

The sound of fangs ripping though skin and the scent of blood permeated the air. Magic shot through the room like bullets and I dodged and danced around it. The lifeless stare of the Master Vampyre who wanted me dead bored into me. His smile and insulting chuckle made me see red.

“Get ready to die,” he snarled.

I saw red. No—I felt the color. Now I understood Tiara meant. It was heady, frightening and almost uncontrollable.

Holy shit, if this is what Tiara lived with, I was damned glad I wasn’t her.

Tiara’s magic was definitely in me and my eyes glazed over. The entire room was bathed in red as was the Vampyre who had just made his final statement. I was normally a one-woman fighting machine. I was now a one-woman entire army with strength and power no one person should possess.

Something frightening and unfamiliar roared through my veins. I grabbed the surprised Vampyre by his neck and screamed like I was burning in the Basement of Hell. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening, I just knew I had to kill. He fought back, but was no match for what was boiling in my blood.

I ripped his head from his shoulders and threw it at the new Vampyre that was fast approaching. His fangs were out and he carried silver stakes in each hand.

I could do this. I would do this. I was not going down when we were so close.

I was going to get my happily ever after.

“Venus,” Gareth shouted as he dodged in front of me to take on the silver-wielding Vamp. “Move.”

It was all happening so fast. In a frenzied whirlwind of violence and blood, we fought like our lives depended on it. And they did.

Tiara was truly frightening. She had sprouted horns and looked half Demon-half human. She tore through the Vamps and left them in pieces on the floor.

“To your right,” she bellowed as I took on the last of the two still alive.

Gareth had the one with the stakes and I was going to obliterate the bastard coming at me like a freight train. He shot deadly magic from his fingertips and hit me several times before I was too close for him to aim.

“Got your back,” Tiara grunted as she came in like an avenging Angel and tore through his body like a hot knife through butter. He didn’t even know what hit him and his detached head showed the shock on his face.

“Gareth,” I muttered to Tiara as I turned and time went into slow motion.

The Master Vampyre had him cornered and held a stake to his heart. Gareth stood motionless and I watched as the bastard destroyed my happily ever after.

The stake slid into the love of my life. All my hope and dreams died as Gareth’s eyes closed in shock. An inhuman wail of pain came from the bottom of my shattered soul and left my lips as the man I loved slumped and fell to the floor. There was a ringing in my ears and I fought to keep control. I was a trained killing machine and I was going to prove it.

We had Vlad now. At least, Lelia, Alexander and Nathan could be cured. There was nothing left for me with Gareth dead, so I was going to take the bastard out, and then do what I should have done yesterday.

I didn’t feel the pain on my outer body. The multiple bleeding wounds and my burnt skin were nothing compared to the feeling of my heart being shredded. I had been so close—so very close.

The Master Vampyre looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. The smile didn’t reach his eyes—they were cold and evil. However, I was going to wipe that smile off his face for eternity.

With a cry that sounded foreign to my own ears, I launched myself at the destroyer of my dreams and pierced his neck with my sword. Pulling violently to the left, I severed it halfway off. Tossing the sword aside, I gripped his head and whispered in his ear.

“This is for my mate. I hope you enjoy Hell, Satan has a special place for fucks like you.”

With a violent pull, I ripped the rest of his head from his body and then collapsed next to Gareth on the floor.

He was still and the stake protruded from his chest. His beautiful eyes were open in death and I knew I didn’t have long before he turned to ash. Letting my fangs drop, I leaned over him and gently kissed his lips.

“Venus, the weapon hasn’t been turned,” Tiara said, squatting down next to me and examining Gareth.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“The stake. There’s a chance I can still remove it.”

“How can you tell?” I asked.

“Look at his skin. If it had been twisted, the skin would be torn.”

She was correct, but Gareth was gone.

“Let me try,” she begged. “Let me try to save him.”

Nodding but not believing it would help, I gently touched Tiara’s cheek. “Transport Vlad to the Cressida House quickly. There’s a chance that the silver could kill him and we can’t have that. The bastard can help save Gareth’s siblings. Astrid will take all of you in. I promise. Tell Astrid that I love her, but I can’t go on without him.”

Tiara’s face was grim and her lips had compressed to a thin line.

“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Please don’t ask me to kill you. I can’t do it.”

I laughed, but it sounded hollow and sad. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you, my friend. Gareth and I are halfway mated. I’m going to finish the ritual and go with him.”

“May God be with you,” she whispered as tears filled her pretty blue eyes.

She carefully withdrew the stake, but just as I’d thought nothing changed. With one last kiss to his lips, I bit him. The feeling of finally being complete consumed me and I smiled dreamily. It was the first time in the two hundred years I’d been undead that I felt true peace. Wherever Gareth was going, I was always going to be at his side. Always.

I vaguely noticed the D’s and Claudia surrounding Gareth and me, but they grew distant and the Green Room grew dark. Their sorrow and tears were more than I could take. I realized I’d forgotten to ask about Martha and Jane, but my lips couldn’t form words anymore. A heaviness washed over me and my eyes closed involuntarily. Death wasn’t scary. It was warm and tranquil.

If Vlad had killed Martha and Jane, I would just find them in the afterlife and take care of them. It would make my afterlife a bit Hellish, but it’s what I would do. With Gareth finally at my side I could do anything—even look after Martha and Jane.