A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(91)

The words pelted her like sleet, freezing her to the marrow of her bones. He’d known Zack was a Levenach since they met with Tarellia. He’d lied to her about the one thing that meant the most to her in the world.

The power she’d struggled so hard to hold on to slipped between her fingers as shock radiated across her mind. He’d told her over and over again that only by renewing the magic would she save Zack.

Though she’d lost her grip on the power, the pain still burned, still tore through her, ripping and cutting. But around her, the storm slowly died, the howl of the wind turned to an agonizing moan.

“Kassius.” The name left her lips on a gasp.

“I am here, sorceress.”

“The truth. For once, I need the damned truth.”

There was a moment’s silence, and she turned, blinking the blood from her eyes as she found him standing beside Arturo just outside the Focus, their faces garish masks of swirling colors reflecting the Focus’s glow. Arturo’s hands were fisted at his sides, frustration in every line of his face, his eyes ablaze in pain.

Kassius watched her with compassion. “Ax speaks the truth as far as we know it. When I bit you in Cristoff’s castle, I sensed a connection between you and your brother and two powers struggling within you, one of which also attacked your brother. Tarellia’s revelation that you possessed both Blackstone and Levenach magic explained much. As did a bit of research that revealed the historical basis of the name Lennox to be, in fact, Levenach. Your father is almost certainly a Levenach descendant. Renewing the magic of Vamp City should cure Zack’s magic sickness, Quinn, but doing so is not the only way to save him. And it’s not the way at all if it’s going to kill you.”

“We have to break the curse,” she gasped, understanding. “Destroy Escalla.” Her pained, furious gaze swung to Arturo. “You promised me you were through lying.”

In the distance, a wolf howled. Closer by, a man shouted. “Gonzaga vamps have been spotted.”

“Cara. Hate me, if you must, but come, now. When you are safe, and well again, I will happily allow you to slam me against every tree and brick wall in Vamp City. But come. Please!”

She was in too much pain to move, but this battle was lost. And she would not go back to Cristoff.

She struggled toward the Focus’s wall. And then Arturo was sweeping her up, the wind flying through her hair as he ran. Darkness descended over her beaten, furious mind at last.





Chapter Twenty-Four

Quinn woke feeling as if she’d gone five rounds with a Mack truck. Her head hurt, her body ached, her soul cried out with frustration. For a moment, she couldn’t remember why.

And suddenly it all came rushing back. Standing in the swirling lights of the Focus, being flayed alive by the attacking magic. The pain. And for nothing. For nothing.

She’d failed. The power she’d needed to renew Vamp City’s magic had remained just out of reach, refusing to come to her call. The equinox was all but over.

Zack . . .

He was still suffering the magic illness, still in terrible danger.

He was a Levenach sorcerer.

If Arturo could be believed.

Her chest ached, her teeth clenched at the fury curling in her stomach. After all the times he’d promised never to betray her again, he’d lied to her, used her to save his world, making her believe that renewing the magic was the only way to save Zack.

She caught a whiff of almonds. Her eyes snapped open, and she found him sitting on the end of her bed, watching her with enigmatic eyes.

“Get out.”

He didn’t move. “I did not lie to you, tesoro. I did not tell you everything because I could not.”

She opened her mouth, then snapped it closed again. “I said, get out.”

“Renewing the magic of Vamp City should have been enough to save Zack.”

Dammit, she didn’t have to lie here and listen to this. Pushing herself to her feet, she winced at the pain, echoes of what she’d felt in the Focus, as if the magic still hadn’t let go of her.

Arturo thrust a coffee mug toward her. “Amanda sent this. It should rid your body of the effects of the magic. It will take the pain.”

She stared at him. As much as she’d like to refuse his offering, she could barely stand up straight from the sharp blades ripping at her insides. Taking the mug, she downed its contents in one long series of gulps, then threw it at his head.

He caught it, of course, his vampire reflexes a dozen times faster than any human’s. She briefly considered throwing him against the wall, but he wasn’t worth the effort it would cost her.

She started for the door of the tiny bedchamber, but Arturo rose, easily blocking her way. When she glared at him, he lifted his hand, his expression begging her to hear him out.

“None of us anticipated that the curse would cause the magic to attack you like it did, cara. It should have worked. Zack should have been healed. I would have let you both go.”

“You lied to me.”

“I withheld my suspicions, that is all.”

“Is it? Because you wanted to ensure I saved your precious hellhole of a world.”

“Because I wanted to ensure you saved my friends!”

She just glared at him. “You could have told me the truth.”

“Could I have? You told me yourself you did not know if Vamp City should be saved. If you’d known about Zack’s curse, can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t have considered going after Escalla instead of saving Vamp City?”