One Bite (12 page)

Kirill’s eyes flew open. Something was wrong. Holding perfectly still, he strained to make out any sounds out of the ordinary, but nothing significant came through the lining of his coffin. Pushing open the lid, he sat up and looked around. He was deep in the secret cellar below his work room. The possibility of anyone getting into his workroom, let alone finding his cellar, was slim. Still…

The cellar trapdoor didn’t make a sound as Kirill eased it up. He scanned the room, his nose twitching as he took slow, deep breaths, drawing scents to him.
Nothing.
He eased out of the trapdoor and secured it behind him. When he straightened up, he nearly shouted when he found himself face to face with a gargoyle.

“Follow me and I’ll take you to Serafina’s castle.”

Shocked to speechlessness, Kirill could only stare at the gargoyle. It sat on one of his worktables, staring at him with a stony countenance that spoke neither of malice or glee. If he didn’t know any better, he would swear it was one of the gargoyles that adorned his family’s castle…

“And why would you do that?” Kirill asked finally, not quite ready to trust the creature who had managed to break into his sanctuary. He looked around for
Demyan
, but didn’t see the
koschei
anywhere.

“Pride has no place in the heart of a king,” the gargoyle told him. “Follow me and you will leave Serafina’s castle more of a king than you have ever been.”

Kirill’s mind whirred as he analyzed the gargoyle, turning over his words and searching for the true meaning. The little stone beast was offering him something he’d been searching for, something he’d started to give up hope of ever finding. If he could locate Serafina’s castle, he could find out once and for all if she truly knew anything about the prophecy or if she merely bluffed her knowledge. But nothing was free.

“And what do you want in return?”

The gargoyle kept staring at him, unblinking. “I do not want anything. I will take you to Serafina’s and you will rescue Irina.”

“Irina?” Kirill’s blood ran cold even as his temper flashed to a brilliant burning fire. “Irina is upstairs in my quarters, safe and—”

“She is in a coffin beneath a floor in Serafina’s castle, and she will remain there until you prove that you are worthy of being a king.”

Kirill only barely registered the rest of the gargoyle’s words. He was already bolting down the
hallway,
racing to his quarters to prove to himself the winged beast was lying. Irina was here, she was safe. She had to be. After last night’s attack, Kirill had charged his wizard with keeping the house locked
down,
no one was to come in.

His quarters were empty. Bellowing the wizard’s name, Kirill barely kept from killing the man as he walked in. As usual, the wizard was dressed in a ridiculous amount of finery, so many symbols and gold glittering from his robe that he would have looked ridiculous if his air of utter confidence hadn’t been so overwhelming.
Isai
gasped at the dark look Kirill shot him.

“I gave you strict orders not to let anyone in this castle,” Kirill ground out.

“Sire, no one has entered this castle since you gave me that order,”
Isai
insisted, his usual arrogance a shade paler in the face of Kirill’s obvious fury.

“Irina is gone!”

The wizard frowned. “Sire, you said no one was to
enter
the castle. You said nothing about keeping people from leaving. Irina left shortly after sunrise…”

Kirill flexed his hands at his sides, fighting not to throttle the magic wielder. He might need him later if something had befallen Irina.

Stone grating on stone pulled his attention to the top of the mirror standing against the wall. The frame was polished stone, but judging from the sound and the dust floating down, the gargoyle currently perched on it had left his mark

“If you are ready to go, please just step through the mirror,” the gargoyle said calmly.

“Who
are
you?” Kirill demanded through gritted teeth.

“I am a guardian. I come from the bedrock of this kingdom and I have been given the duty of watching over the betwixt and between. I will share more of my heritage and history if it pleases you, but if I may offer some humble advice, I would suggest you step through the mirror. Irina is frightened and only grows more so…”

Suddenly Kirill could barely breathe. Irina…frightened… “What has happened to her?” The hoarseness of his voice startled him, as did the fact that he was holding the gargoyle in his hands, having swung the mirror down on its hinge until he could grab the beast. He squeezed as if he could force the information out faster.

“You will get no blood from this stone, Your Highness,” the gargoyle said stoically. “You waste your time here.”

“Your Highness, the gargoyle is not your enemy. I’ve heard of the guardian gargoyles, and they are not a race to be feared.”

Isai’s
voice tickled his ears and Kirill forced himself to release the gargoyle. The creature shifted, swinging the mirror back into its former position, all the while remaining in place on top of the mirror, settling in as he pushed it back into position.

Kirill stood frozen. This was not how things were meant to go, this was not how he did things. He was a politician, dammit, he planned and plotted and manipulated. He gathered information, carefully examining every angle before making his move. He didn’t just take the word of some random creature and step through a mirror that could lead to who knew where?

But Irina.
He had failed her twice before, and now for a third time. What kind of king would he be if he couldn’t even keep one sweet woman safe?

Sweet! Ha! He laughed at his own thoughts, recalling Irina’s fierce temper and her insistence on challenging everything Kirill said or did. She was a force to be reckoned with. Kirill raised a hand to his chin, one finger over his lip as he considered Irina in a new light. Perhaps…perhaps she was exactly the sort of person he needed to keep around him. After all, a king had to stay sharp.
Had to be able to see things from multiple points of view.
And who else would argue with such dedication against a vampiric king?

“
Isai
, you will come with me,” he said finally, making his decision. Without waiting for the wizard to agree, Kirill put a hand out, staring as his fingers passed through the polished surface. Bracing himself for whatever he may find, he stepped through.

As Kirill passed through the mirror, he heard a gasp. An image wavered in front of him like a scene viewed from underwater. Continuing to move forward, he gasped when he broke the surface and found himself face to face with Serafina herself. The sorceress stared at him with wide eyes, her lips parted in shock. She was dressed in the same finery she’d been wearing when she’d showed up at his castle last night. The horror on her face receded and she plastered on a smile even as she stepped away from the mirror. A moment later,
Isai
stepped up beside him.

“
Your
Highness,
Isai
,” she gasped. She took another step back, clearly trying to gather her wits. “I—I wasn’t expecting you, either of you.” A second later, she recovered, straightening her spine and fixing them both with a brilliant smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Where is Irina?” Kirill asked. He fixed Serafina with a look he typically reserved for people about to suffer very unfortunate circumstances. Now that he’d made his choice, he would by the gods see it through.

Serafina thought about lying to him. He could see it in her eyes, in the way they sparkled and her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Before she could speak and confirm his suspicions,
Isai
spoke up.

“
Your
Majesty, do not be rash.” He swept in front of Kirill and for a moment the vampire seriously considered drawing the wizard’s blood just to take the edge off that endless confidence. The wizard gave Kirill a patronizing smile. “Serafina is not a
criminal,
she is a gifted mistress of the magical arts. As I’ve told you time and again, you would do well to have her on your side as you seek to be king.”

The sickly sweet tone of
Isai’s
voice burned Kirill, but he didn’t take his eyes off Serafina. He knew exactly how to take the shine off the sorceress in the wizard’s eyes. “She is also the one who told me where to find your
spellbook
.”

Like wax dripping from a candle set in the center of a bonfire, the smile melted from
Isai’s
face to reveal a look of pure rage. He whirled around, sparks flying from his fingers tips, the air growing thick like the winds before a storm. Serafina watched him with interest more than fear, her dark eyes calculating as her own hands began to weave an intricate gesture in the air. Kirill held out his hand to stop
Isai
from doing anything foolish, never taking his eyes off Serafina.

“
Isai
, stop it now!” The wizard dropped his arms, but the energy in the room remained volatile. Kirill waited for the wizard to rein in his temper, not continuing until he’d stiffly moved back to Kirill’s side. “I will not ask you again, Sera,” Kirill said quietly, not needing to see his eyes to know they were burning like two hot coals.

Serafina backed away from him, her face contorting into a cold arrogance. “You will not speak to me in that manner, Kirill,” she snarled. “If you want to be king of
Dacia
, you will show me some respect.” She sneered at
Isai
. “Without me you would not have a wizard as powerful as
Isai
standing at your side—bound there until you become king. It was I who aligned his goals with your own.”

“You couldn’t get the
spellbook
because it was in the heart of a cursed graveyard. The wizards and sorceresses buried there would have drained your magic dry if you’d set one foot on that earth and don’t think I don’t know that you copied out some of
Isai’s
spells after I stole the book.”

“I helped you get the
koschei’s
heart!”

“You wanted his land and I gave it to you after I brought him to my castle.” Kirill pointed at Serafina, every word she spoke convincing him a little more that she had been using him just as he used her. “Everything you have helped me attain has been for your own benefit.” A sudden thought occurred to him and nausea floated up through his stomach. “You came to me last evening and tried to convince me to bond with you. I knew you toyed with the thought of making yourself queen, but…it was Irina, wasn’t it? You tried to put yourself in my bed now because…” His eyes widened and dread wormed down his spine. “You’ve been spying on me.”

“Yes,” she shouted, her voice ringing with defiance. “Of course I’ve been watching you! I have put far too much energy into helping you become king to have you take power and bring that insufferable stepdaughter of mine to the throne.”

Shock pulled Kirill’s jaw nearly to the floor.
“Stepdaughter?”

Serafina scowled.
“Yes, stepdaughter.
I tried to make Irina my protégé, but she is incapable of grasping the most basic political concepts—a curse she inherited from her pathetic human father.”

Kirill couldn’t help but smile at her assessment of Irina’s political skills. He stared down Serafina. “Irina is rather hopeless at politics, true,” he admitted. “But she has many friends. Perhaps she is the complement to political skills?” Suddenly the rest of what Serafina had said came back to him. “Her father was human?” He shook his head, amazed that he hadn’t thought of that sooner. “No wonder she was so susceptible to your attacks,” he murmured.

A red flush filled Serafina’s pale face, broadcasting her fury. “You can have the throne or you can have Irina,” she growled. “But you will
not
have both.” She stalked over to the opposite corner of the room and heaved open a trapdoor. “There is Irina,” she declared. “But if you want her out of that coffin, you will have to throw away your future to do it.”

Kirill bolted over to the trapdoor and stared down. Ice encrusted his nerves and sent pain radiating through his body. It was Irina, lying as still as death inside a glass coffin. Slowly gathering his self control, he raised his face to Serafina. “Explain.”

Serafina backed away until she leaned against the windowsill, crossing her arms. “That coffin has been sealed with magic. To open it, you will need the same blood that was used to fuse it.” Suddenly she reached out to the side and opened a hidden cupboard. She snatched something from its confines and before Kirill could stop her, she threw open the window, smashed four vials and threw the contents behind her, out into the air. He darted over to her, finding the cupboard full of small vials with names and species labeled on them.