Silver Flame (Vampire Girl #3)(27)

Fen walks over and holds out his hand. "It's nice to see you again, Es." He turns to her boyfriend. "Pete. Nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much from Arianna."

Es shakes his hand, firmly. "I like you, Fen. I told Ari that too. But if you're getting her mixed up in something dangerous… "

I nearly choke at that. Then I start laughing, because what else can I do but laugh at the absurdity of this? How do I tell my best friend everything? About the contract and my mother and Inferna and Avakiri and my bloodline and that I'm to be queen of two kingdoms. How do I tell her I'm wanted for execution, that I spent the last several weeks in a dungeon, that I thought I would surely die and never see them again? How do I tell her she is now in danger because of the people who want me dead?

The words are resting on my lips, waiting to be spoken, when Dean saunters in, somehow once again missing his shirt.

Es stops paying attention to me as Dean's charms light her up and turn her to jelly. And he notices. His smile spreads over his handsome face as he glides to us, his perfect body glistening under the lights of the ballroom.

"Why, hello. I'm Prince Dean, but you can just call me Dean. Who might you be?" He's holding Es's hand to his lips when Pete smiles and holds out a hand to shake Dean's.

"I'm Pete, this is my girlfriend Es. We're friends of Ari's."

I stifle a laugh as Es regains her focus and steps back, allowing Dean to reluctantly shake Pete's hand.

"So, what's this about a princess?" Es asks, eyeing my pointy ears. "What did they do to you?"

"Well, I—"

Something screeches.

Someone screams.

Fen reaches for his sword, but it isn't there since Sly changed our clothes.

He stands closer to me, and Baron growls, pacing in front of us.

Es reaches for my hand. "What was that?"

"I don't know. It kind of sounded like… "

"Lopsi!" Sly sounds worried. Too worried.

"Who's Lopsi?" Pete asks.

"Sly's pet," I say. "I haven't met her, but I think we're about to."

More screaming, and then… the room fills with darkness that blocks out all light. I look up and see a creature of black fur and rotting flesh, wings spread, its massive body taking up half the ballroom, its head bent slightly to avoid hitting the very tall ceilings. The beast resembles a bat with huge ears and wings stretching from its front limbs, but its face is twisted and vicious, a face torn from nightmares. It hisses, and thick saliva drips from its razor teeth.

"What the hell is that thing?" yells Es.

"A Drakar from Vandaris," says Sly, stepping between us and the beast. "This pretty beast is worth a fortune, so no harming it." He turns to the bat and speaks with affection. "Now, Lopsi, how did you get out of your cage? Someone forget to close it? Come on, let’s just take you back there and—"

Lopsi screeches, and I have to cover my ears to block out the piercing sound. Sly steps back, frowning.

Varis holds up his hand, about to use magic, but I pull him back. "Don't. You're not allowed to harm anyone here, remember? Or Sly will turn you into goo."

"Let me handle this, my dears," says Sly. He walks slowly toward the monster bat, clucking in a calm voice. "Good girl, Lopsi. You remember your daddy, yes?"

Lopsi replies by spitting something from her fanged mouth—a viscous yellow substance. Sly dashes out of the way and the liquid hits a chair instead.

The chair hisses, fizzes, then melts to the ground.

Crap. "I'm guessing that's doubly dangerous on human skin?"

Sly speaks with his back turned to us. "Only if you enjoy having skin."

I flinch. "I'm pretty attached," I tell him.

"Just stay very still," Sly says. "Everything will be fine."

"And if it’s not?"

"No one lays a hand on Lopsi. Or they will lose said hand."

Fair enough. The giant venomous bat can do what she wants to us, but we have to play nice. I stay as still as I possibly can, but as Sly approaches his pet, she hisses and stretches her wings, then makes a screeching sound that nearly deafens me.

Then she lunges.

And we all run.

"Blasted princes," says Sly. "You show up and everything goes to hell."

Fen says nothing. Dean grins. Stupid man. He actually seems to be enjoying this.

I most definitely am not. The princes are fast, and Es, Pete and I barely keep up. The beast starts to close the distance between us.

"How about some of that magic, Sly?" I say between panting breaths.

"How dare you," he yells. "I’m not turning Lopsi inside out. What kind of cruel demon do you think I am? You’ll be fine, and if not, well, it was nice meeting you. I will make sure none of your flesh goes to waste." Sly veers off to the side, whether to escape without us or to lead Lopsi away, I'm not sure. If he's trying to help, his plan utterly fails. Lopsi follows us.

"Seven Hells," yells Dean, punching a wall. "Dead end."

We turn around, facing the giant beast. I look for passages, but see none.

Baron growls, preparing for a fight. Fen positions himself in front of me. I push Es and Pete to the back of our group in hopes of keeping them as safe as possible.