Sleeping Beauty (37 page)

Lucette paced the space in front of the glass partition dividing the tower room. How could she even raise the subject of marriage with Tristan? Was she supposed to propose?

And what if Alex mentioned his idea to Tristan? It might save her the terror of proposing, but the thought of the two of them discussing her made her feel worse.

The straps from her bow and quiver felt heavy against her chest, as if they were choking her, so she removed her weapons and set them near the door. Hands clammy, she rubbed her palms on her legs and bent over, hoping to gather her composure before Tristan arrived.

Suddenly, the door thudded open behind her. It struck the stone wall, and six hulking vampires burst into the room.

Six vampires? Lucette doesn't have a chance!

To find out what happens next, turn to section 9: At War (page 291).

L
ucette lunged for her weapons, but the vampires were faster. One of them picked up her quiver and brought it down over his leg, snapping all her stakes at once.

Weaponless, she ran at the vampires and leaped into the air. She delivered a kick, striking one vampire in the gut. But as she landed, another grabbed her from behind and ran his fangs down her neck, scraping her skin. “I'll bet you're real tasty,” he said menacingly.

Lucette thrashed and squirmed, trying every trick she knew to break free, but the vampire pulled her arms behind her back and lifted her off the ground. Her shoulders burned with pain, but still she kicked, trying her best to make contact with one of the vampires, any one.

“Is this the princess?” a tall, dark-haired vampire asked.

“She's awake. Must be,” a blond one replied. “I can't wait for a bite.”

“Careful,” said the dark-haired one, who seemed to be the leader. “Two bites, max. If we kill her before getting her back to Sanguinia for conversion, the queen will kill us.”

The one holding her grazed his fangs along her neck again, and she strained to get away.

“Don't bite now,” the leader said. “It's too big a risk. Tie her up, and we'll flip later to decide who gets to drink.”

Lucette kicked with all her might, wriggling under the hold of the strong vampire, but she couldn't get free.

They quickly bound her in ropes, securing the knots tightly, and she twisted and pulled against the ropes, but it was no use.

“Let's get going,” said the leader. “We can get her back to Sanguinia well before dawn.”

The door burst open and Tristan appeared, his slayer hood on, his crossbow cocked and loaded. He pulled the trigger without hesitating.
Thwack !
An arrow punctured the leg of the blond vampire, who fell, groaning in pain.

In an instant, Tristan reloaded the crossbow and aimed at the dark-haired leader, but another vampire swung his arm at Tristan and knocked the crossbow off target. Tristan reached for a stake, but three vampires pounced on him at once. He spun and kicked, landing his boot hard on one vampire's chest.

Lucette struggled against her ropes. They burned and dug into her skin. The dark-haired leader lifted her with one arm and pressed his fangs against her neck.

“Surrender or I'll kill her,” he said to Tristan.

“No!” Lucette yelled. “Don't believe him. They won't kill me. They have orders to take me to the queen for conversion.” A horrible thought, but it might just save her life and, more importantly, Tristan's. One more bite and he was dead.

The vampire leader laughed. “Doesn't mean I won't take a nice long drink first.” He ran his tongue over his yellow fangs. “And my only loyalty to our queen is the money she's paying. If your boyfriend
doesn't drop his weapons, I'll rip out both of your throats. Not even our surgeons can save you from that.”

Lucette gasped. She heard wood clattering against the stone floor. Tristan had dropped his weapons and lifted his hands in surrender.

The vampires laughed. One of them grabbed Tristan's arms from behind, twisting them up and back. His face distorted in obvious pain, but he didn't cry out.

The dark-haired vampire sauntered around Tristan, bending in to sniff every so often. “You look strong for a human,” he said. “I'll bet you taste good. Potent.” Tension built as he toyed with Tristan, toyed with her, and Lucette tried to guess what the vampires would do next. It felt as if hours passed, but she knew it had been less than a minute.

The lead vampire lunged, pulling Tristan's head back to expose his throat.

“No!” she yelled. “Don't! Drink from me instead!”

“Lucette, no!” Tristan shouted.

The dark-haired vampire drew his fangs away from Tristan's neck. “What makes you think I won't drink from you both?”

“Drink from me first, then. All of you.” She struggled against her bindings. Maybe if she let them all drink, they'd get full and lose interest in Tristan.

“No,” Tristan said. “Take me.”

The vampire smiled. “Aw, isn't this sweet?” He slammed Tristan's head into the wall, and he fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.

“Tristan!” Lucette tried to see if he was okay, but the five uninjured vampires were blocking her sightline with evil, hungry grins on their faces, while the injured blond one was struggling to pull Tristan's arrow out of his leg.

“Perhaps we should all take a sip of blood, since she's offered us such a polite invitation.” The dark-haired one sauntered forward. “What do you think?”

“Just get it over with,” Lucette said. If this was the way she'd die, so be it. At least it gave Tristan a chance.

Blood rushed through her head so fast and hard she could hear it, but the knowledge that she was doing the right thing, the only thing, that she was saving Tristan, erased her fear. The vampire's teeth moved to her throat and hovered over the surface, his warm breath moistening her skin.

“Let her go!” Someone shouted from the doorway.

Hope returned as Alex leaped into the room and dove for the vampire who was about to strike. The vampire dropped Lucette, but first his sharp fangs pierced her skin, and twin lines of blood trailed down her neck from the wound.

Just then, one of the doors to the slayers' cases burst open. Then another. And another.

They were awake.

Alex drove a stake through the shoulder of the vampire he'd tackled, and from where he lay on the floor, he turned to kick the leader. The rest of the slayers emerged from their cases, weapons raised, and using quick, practiced motions, they knocked two vampires to the floor.

Lucette's heart burst with joy. They'd done it! By offering their lives for each other, she and Tristan had proven their love, and the curse had lifted. But the battle was far from over, and the slayers and vampires fought ferociously.

Lucette struggled against her bindings. She had to get to Tristan. He drowsily lifted his head from the floor, and her heart swelled. He
was alive. The blond vampire, his leg now free of the arrow, lunged for Tristan, fangs forward. But quick as lightning, Alex grabbed one of Tristan's stakes and drove it into the attacking vampire's back—a death stroke to the heart.

All of his team down, the lead vampire raced for the stairs to flee, and one of the recently woken slayers raised his stake over another injured vampire's chest.

“Stop!” Lucette shouted. “Don't kill him! Take him prisoner, arrest him, deport him—but don't kill him.”

The slayer paused, and the vampire took advantage and kicked the slayer. But instead of continuing his attack, the vampire raced for the stairs after the leader, holding his wounded shoulder.

The slayers circled Alex and Tristan, clearly confused.

Tristan still looked woozy from his head injury, but he lifted his hand as he pulled himself up to sit. “Guys, you know me.” He pulled off his hood. “And this guy is a vampire, but he's also a friend. You saw how he just saved me. Ask the princess.”

“He's an ally,” Lucette confirmed as a slayer cut her bindings.

She rushed over and dove into Tristan's arms. “I thought they were going to kill you.”

“I couldn't die.” Tristan kissed her. “That would mean leaving you.” Lucette hugged him, then turned to place a quick kiss on Alex's cheek. “Thank you. You saved Tristan's life.”

“No,” Alex said. “
You
saved both of your lives by putting him before yourself.”

Warmth flooded through her, and she leaned into Tristan, so happy that she could barely speak. But there would be time for hugs later. Right now, she needed to see if her parents were okay.

Queen Natasha struck Ivan across the face and the tall, dark-haired vampire flew into a wall. She smiled at his pain.

Even better, this fool had confirmed that the curse had lifted and she could finally cross into Xandra. But merely killing Catia and Stefan wouldn't do. She wanted to see them suffer, to lose everything they held dear. She'd make them beg to die.