My Lord Immortality (Immortal Rogues #3)(57)

The bothersome question nagged at the edge of her mind until she sternly reined in her thoughts.

What did it matter? Soon Sebastian would have him trapped and he would be forced back to the Veil or destroyed. Either way, the ghastly threat that he posed would be at an end.

Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to concentrate upon the gentleman who was now a part of her very essence.

He was moving ever further away but she could easily assure herself that he was unharmed and filled with a grim determination. A faint smile chased away her fears. Even at such a distance, she could feel the golden warmth of his love flowing through her.

Unwittingly, her fingers rose to her lips. They still tingled from the fierce, possessive kiss he had bestowed upon her before leaving. A kiss that promised that the intimacy of their joining was far from complete. And that he would very soon tutor her in the pleasures of a more physical nature.

"Amelia."

The soft call of Nefri's voice had Amelia abruptly wrenching her eyes open. An absurd blush stole to her cheeks as she wondered if the wise old vampire was capable of reading her wicked thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Move into the carriage."

Any hint of embarrassment faded as a chill inched down her spine. "Is something the matter?"

The seemingly frail woman lifted her face toward the moon, closing her eyes as if concentrating upon the shadows that surrounded them.

"I feel... a strangeness in the air."

Amelia frowned. With great reluctance she turned her thoughts from the wondrous thoughts of Sebastian and concentrated on the velvet darkness that surrounded them. For long moments she could feel nothing but the tingling presence of Nefri. It was a growingly familiar prickle that she knew belonged solely to vampires. But determinedly searching with her thoughts, she at last managed to catch the faint hint of wrongness that had alerted Nefri.

"What is it?" she breathed in puzzlement.

Nefri slowly lowered her head, turning to regard Amelia with a closed expression. "Something approaches."

"Drake?"

"No. This is a force that is much more powerful. And it nears." The wrinkled countenance hardened. "Join your brother in the carriage, Amelia."

With stumbling steps, Amelia rushed to obey the urgent command. The air was beginning to thicken with a bleak dread that was making her skin crawl and her throat tighten. Whatever was nearing, she was quite certain she did not wish to face it.

She had barely managed to wrench open the door and trip up the stairs when what felt like striking lightning hit her in the back and knocked her forward. Gasping, Amelia awkwardly turned to peer out the still-open door.

"Nefri," she breathed in horror, watching the fragile old woman struggling back to her feet as a layer of black shadows shifted and hardened to form a tall, gaunt-faced gentleman.

Valkier regarded the elderly vampire as she scrambled back to her feet. A rare, chilling smile touched his lips. After centuries of plotting and scheming, it was all about to come to fruition.

Soon he would be done with this noble, self-sacrificing, aggravating woman. At last she would be destroyed and along with her, the power that she wielded. He alone would be in control of the vampires. And the world.

"Good evening, Nefri," he murmured with an elegant bow.

"Valkier." Her expression hardened as she deliberately allowed the facade of the harmless Gypsy to fade. With a shimmer she was once again a tall, strikingly beautiful vampire with thick, ebony hair that flowed well past her slender waist. The porcelain features were perfect and unmarred by age, although there was no way to disguise the ancient wisdom that filled the ebony-black eyes. "I have been expecting you."

Valkier briefly felt his empty heart flare with the bittersweet emotions that he had once harbored toward this female. An eternity before, he had allowed himself to be held captive by Nefri's beauty. He had offered his very soul to possess her, but the treacherous vampire had denied his attempts at binding. She claimed that her life would be devoted to all vampires. And that she would willingly waste her superior powers in an effort to lure his brothers from their rightful place in the world to imprison them within a Veil.

Now he ruthlessly crushed the unwelcome weakness. Nefri had chosen to oppose him. She would be destroyed for her foolishness.

"How very pleasant to realize that you have not lost your wits entirely, Nefri," he mocked as he stepped toward the beautiful vampire. "I was beginning to fear that you would never realize that I was playing you for a fool."

"No, not a fool. However, I will admit that I hoped that I was mistaken, Valkier." The dark eyes held an annoying hint of sadness. "Despite our differences I have never considered you my enemy. Indeed, I continued to hold the belief that you would overcome your conceit and realize that our powers are not meant to compel others to our will."

"My conceit?" Valkier gave a sharp, unamused laugh. "You have bullied, cajoled, and castrated vampires until they are no more than pathetic shadows of themselves. And for what? To cower behind the Veil and pretend that we do not long to return to our rightful inheritance? It is your conceit that has led us to near-destruction."

"What is it you desire?" she demanded.

"I?" He ran a contented hand down the soft satin of his black jacket. "What is mine by right.

Dominion."

"Over humans?"