A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(54)

“Yes. Of course.”

He watched her for several thick moments. “If Zack were not tied to the magic . . . would you renew it?”

Would she? She looked away, uncertain what to tell him. There were good people here, she was convinced of that, now. But there was so much evil, too. Arturo believed the evil would lessen once the magic was renewed, but what if he was wrong?

“I don’t know,” she said honestly, meeting his gaze.

He looked at her in disappointment, then released her and rose. “Come, then. Micah will renew your glamour. And we shall go.”





Chapter Fifteen

Quinn found herself drifting off to the rhythmic movement of her horse a short while later. Arturo and Micah accompanied her as they rode toward Fabian’s stronghold, and Vintry. Before they’d left, Micah had renewed her glamour. She once more looked like Neo’s sister, though this time with a Slava’s opalescent glow in her black hair. The vampires agreed that it might help protect her since, apparently, freshies—mortal humans—were the coin of the realm at the moment. The best an enterprising Trader could do with a captured Slava was hope for a reward. But freshies were fair game and could be bought and sold at will.

Of course, by pretending to be a Slava, she ran a greater risk of being injured. The immortal Slavas were sometimes treated far more roughly—in Cristoff’s house, brutally. Hopefully, since she supposedly belonged to Arturo, they’d leave her alone.

Micah had warned her that her glamour wouldn’t last as long this time. Creating the glamour took a lot of energy, energy he needed time to renew. And before they reached the stronghold, he was going to have to glamour himself since the plan was for him to enter in the guise of one of Fabian’s guards. Any way they looked at it, they wouldn’t have much time.

The clouds had broken up a bit since their first ride tonight, allowing the moonlight to filter through. Why the moon and stars were visible through the Vamp City bubble, but the sun and sunlight, not to mention the real world, weren’t, she didn’t know. It scrambled her scientific mind. Despite the moonlight, she couldn’t see much—her companions were little more than dark shadows on either side of her—but at least she didn’t feel like she’d fallen into a well.

“So, what else do I need to know before we get there?” she asked the two vampires. They’d convinced her to leave her gun and stakes behind since both could be construed as weapons of aggression against a rival vampire master. But they had no objections to her switchblade. Everyone in Vamp City, apparently, carried a knife.

“Bring your patience,” Micah drawled. “Especially with Fabian.”

Arturo clarified. “I shall claim to be searching for the sorceress, which will be expected. But there are protocols to be followed in vampire politics and one does not simply march in, demand access to another kovena’s stronghold, and march out again. I will be invited to partake of the festivities, if there are any, cara. At the very least, I will be expected to dine with the vampire master. It will take time.”

“Something we don’t have.”

“I am aware. I will speed things along as quickly as I can, but he cannot become suspicious.”

“While you’re dining with Fabian, I can try to find Vintry.”

“Absolutely not. You will stay close to me at all times. If for some reason that is not feasible, I will find a safe place to lock you away.”

“I’m not helpless, Vampire.”

“Perhaps not, but you are human. Once we’ve located Vintry, we will approach him together.”

Arturo pulled up. When she’d managed to stop her horse, he turned to her. “We have reached the Crux. Traveling through will save us time if we can trust Savin.”

The last thing any of them needed, especially Arturo, was a repeat of their time in Wolf Land. But she believed Savin had been sincere.

“Let’s try it and see what happens.”

“You’re both insane,” Micah muttered. But he followed as Arturo and Quinn started forward.

They’d gone no more than a hundred yards when three wolves appeared on the hillside not far from where Quinn thought they’d said good-bye to their previous escort.

“Savin!” she yelled. A moment later, one of the wolves shifted into a man, though it was far too dark to recognize him. “We need an escort across. Can you provide one?”

“Stick to your path, human. We’ll accompany you.”

Quinn lifted her hand in thanks.

As they started forward, Micah grunted. “That was either brilliant, or incredibly stupid. Then again, you promised them food, didn’t you?”

“I also promised to share my power with them when I come into it. The alpha has seen what I can do.”

“When you almost killed him? What exactly did you do?” Micah asked.

“I made a bubble.”

“A bubble?” Arturo sounded confused. “Explain.”

“I created a miniworld. Like Vamp City.”

The protracted silence that met her revelation had her wishing she could see their expressions.

“How?” Arturo asked, clearly stunned.

“I’m not sure. The wolves were performing some kind of ritual to steal, or borrow, my power. It hurt, and I tried to make them stop, but my usual power didn’t rise. The Alpha got mad that I wasn’t cooperating and started crowding me. All of a sudden the two of us were standing in the dark, alone. The light was gone. Everything was gone—light, sound, the rest of his pack. I didn’t know what had happened at first.”