The King's Vampire (21 page)

The witch finder and his one remaining helper ducked low and ran, but Darius saw Julian would have none of it. Reaching out his scaly claws, he sent both men plummeting across the cemetery, cracking their heads against a tombstone, both crumpling to the ground in agonized moans.

Digby and Greaves bowed low to Julian. “Many thanks, Your Lordship. We owe you a great debt for our lives. Others weren’t so eager to save us.”

Stung, Darius spoke up. “I’d have put out the fire. I was planning to release you. You’d not have burned.”

“So say you,” Digby returned. He bowed again to Julian. “Just call us if you ever have need of anything.”

“Be off with you now. If I have need, I’ll let you know.” Julian’s voice rasped and gurgled when he spoke. The two vampires bowed and vanished into the fog-driven night.

Darius faced Julian. “You must get rid of the bodies of those two Digby and Greaves killed. We can thrall the witch finder and his man, and they’ll forget what happened here tonight.”

Julian moved with lightning speed toward the witch finder. Julian’s minions remained close by his side. They seemed undecided about what form to take, and so they drifted into and out of material bodies.

“They belong to us now.” Julian said. “I can do with them what I will.”

One demon’s skull enlarged, and his huge hinged jaw dropped open, appearing ready to swallow the witch finder. Without quite realizing what he was doing, Darius raised his right arm and powerful lightning spears flew out from him toward the demon, shattering his massive skull into a thousand sharp shards of bone.

Julian let out a howl of protest that brought six lunging, snarling wolves leaping over the stone fence. They circled Darius and John, keeping enough distance between them so Darius couldn’t shoot the wolves with his powerful energy.

At a piercing whistle from Julian, the lead wolf pounced onto Darius from behind, knocking him to the cold, damp ground. He lifted a monstrous paw and rolled him onto his back, facing upward. The wolf kept Darius’s hands pinioned to the ground, while the other wolves circled John, snapping at him, preventing him from getting anywhere near Darius.

Julian’s blood-red eyes rolled up in his pus-filled eye sockets and spittle flew from his mouth. He shrieked, “I’ve had enough of your interference. The witch finder and his man are mine. I’ll destroy them in whatever way I choose. You vampires needn’t worry about them anymore.” Julian glanced over at the snapping, snarling wolf who kept Darius down. Julian lifted his skeletal arms and pythons slithered from his chest cavity, crawling down his arms and onto the ground, heading toward Darius.

The wolves leapt out of the way just before the serpents reached Darius. One wrapped itself around his wrists, and the other coiled around his ankles, effectively binding him onto the ground.

“What of his friend?” one of the demons asked Julian.

Julian’s eyes, bright red with gore and blood, focused on the Duke of Denham, who visibly shook with fear. “Behead him.”

Darius felt his blood freeze in his veins. “John, no,” he screamed. Horrified, he turned to watch as the demon decapitated his friend with a single blow from his claw-like hand. He tried to kick and pull free from the snakes, but their grip tightened around his feet and wrists the more he fought against them.

John’s blood gushed out and pooled around the crude tombstone. Darius shut his eyes, desperately wanting to block out the image of his friend’s lifeless body. The evil of the demons was nearly unfathomable, and he knew he’d have to break free and find a way to contain them.

Julian swirled around to leave, making a gesture to the wolves that caused them to leap over the stone fence and disappear into the darkness, while giving deep-throated howls. Before he left, Julian said to the other demons, “Don’t worry about the body of the vampire you’ve just killed. He’ll turn to ash by the time the sun rises. I’ll take care of the witch finder and his assistant. We’ll leave the witch finder’s two assistants here for the humans to find. They’ll see the violence immortal vampires are capable of doing.”

“What of the demon slayer?” one of the psychic demons asked.

“He’s not likely to free himself from the grip of my serpents, now is he?” Julian said. “We’ll let the humans find him, too, and do with him what they wish. Seeing him like this will give them quite a fright. It will prove he’s a sorcerer that needs to be destroyed.”

The horrible laughter of the demons lasted until they disappeared from Darius’s sight. All that remained was the screaming silence. “I’ve failed my friend,” he spoke the words aloud. “I’ll surely fail Elizabeth, too. I’ll never be able to help her recover her soul, and then my soul will be lost, too.”

Darius shut his eyes and felt the emotional coldness of the snakes winding their way around his heart in that same manner they had coiled around his body. The faith he yearned for was further from his reach than ever. He closed his eyes and waited for daylight to come.

Chapter 21

Once the king left, Elizabeth lowered her head and pressed her hands against her face. How could she have nearly allowed herself to turn Charles II, King of England, into a vampire? The possibility of saving her own soul slipped away with every wrong deed she did. Suddenly, another emotion swept over her, more powerful than guilt. Dread drenched her body in a cold sweat, and she stood frozen to the spot, listening to the rapid pulsing of her veins. Every instinct screamed that Darius needed her—and he needed her now.

Unwilling to waste another second, she yanked the groom’s clothing she’d kept in her wardrobe out, pulling on the fawn-colored breeches, fumbling as she fastened the ivory stockings with knee garters, and then jerking on the ruffled linen shirt. She’d just placed a feathered Cavalier hat upon her head, when the door to her bedchamber burst open. “I’ve really got to consider getting a lock,” she said aloud, when the great gray wolf with the black markings sprang into the room.

He stood on his hind legs, his enormous paws resting on her shoulders. He slathered and growled at her, but she shoved him off. “How the hell did you manage to get into the palace?”

The wolf elongated his body and transformed into a short, yet powerfully athletic man. “Sorry for the ferocious entrance, just a habit, I guess.”

“Why are you here?” Her eyes took in his naked body before she glanced away in embarrassment.

He grabbed a tapestry from the wall and wrapped it around himself. “I know how much staring at my naked body offends your sensitive eyes. In answer to how I got in, I came through the secret passageway into your antechamber while no one was around.”

“Remind me to have guards posted outside my apartment.” She turned away.

“I must say that’s not much of a welcome for someone who’s come to warn you.” He casually tied the tapestry around his waist.

Elizabeth spun around to face him again. “Have you any news? What is it? Have you heard from Darius?”

He ran his hands through the darkly curling hair on his chest and then brushed a fleshy hand over his head, pushing back a black lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead. His topaz eyes glowed with a kind of sympathy Elizabeth found disturbing. “I’m not sure I can recall a thing, especially to someone who doesn’t even trouble to remember my name.”

“I remember you, of course I do.” Silence hung between them.

“Well?”

“Well what?” She furrowed her brow, furiously thinking.

“Tell me my name if you want my information.”

Her mind whirled. His name was on the tip of her tongue. “It’s Lawrence, isn’t it?”

“Close, but no pudding,” he said.

Eyes snapping, Elizabeth said, “What are you playing at? You’re not Rumpelstiltskin. It’s Lucas.”

He tilted back his head, and his laughter sounded like a howl.

“Quiet down,” she said furiously. “Do you want everyone in the palace to hear you? I remember now. Your name is Lance. That’s it. Now tell me what news have you?”

“Calm down, Your Ladyship, I was just having a little fun with you, because I dreaded giving you the bad news.”

“Darius. Is he, is he dead?”

“No, not yet, but he may be soon. He’s bound prisoner by Julian’s serpents.”

“Why didn’t you help him?”

“The psychic vampires think they control us, and I don’t want to do anything to disillusion them. We’re not prepared to challenge the psychic vampire demons yet, besides, Your Ladyship, there’s a spell to release him and I don’t know what it is.”

“I’m sorry for being rude, Lance, and I do thank you for coming and telling me. Could you please lead me to him?”

He shook his wavy, silvery head. “I’m sorry, but I’d best stay clear of the situation. We wolves can’t confront Julian, yet. But I can tell you what cemetery he’s at. Do you know the one that’s just outside the city gates where Lord Denham’s tomb is?”

“Yes, I know of it. I must go now, but I do thank you for taking the time to tell me what’s happened.”

He lowered his head and his golden eyes deepened to topaz. “There’s more trouble.”

“Tell me.” Her relief at the news Darius was alive battled with her dread of more bad news.

With a sympathetic whine, he said, “The witch finder killed three vampires before he was thralled by Julian.”

She saw his shoulders tense and his head cock into a listening position. “What is it?” she asked.

“Someone’s coming. I must tell you one of the vampires beheaded was the Duke of Denham.”

“No,” Elizabeth said. She shook her head in denial. “Are you certain?”

A sharp rap at the door interrupted them. Amelia stepped into the room. She paused in shock when she saw Lance standing there nearly naked, except for the tapestry wrapped around his waist. Her eyes lit with interest. “Am I interrupting something delightfully wicked?”

Elizabeth felt tears sting her eyes, and she reached out to Amelia. “No, of course not, but I’m afraid I have terrible news.”

Amelia focused on Elizabeth’s expression, and she seemed to be taking in the fact her friend was dressed in men’s clothing. “What’s wrong? John and Darius haven’t gotten themselves into trouble again, have they?”

Unable to blurt out what had happened to Amelia’s husband, she said, “Darius is trapped at the cemetery.”

“Is John with him?”

She drew in a deep breath and stared at her friend.

“Elizabeth? Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m so sorry, but John was killed by the witch finder.” She gripped her friend by the elbow to keep her from dropping to her knees.

“What happened?” Amelia’s already bleached face now had a pinched look about it. She clung to Elizabeth.

“I don’t have all the details. Darius is in danger, too, so I must go to him. Please stay here and rest.” She forced back the tears threatening to spill over.

“Are you mad? I’ve got to come, too. Do you have more men’s clothes?”

She reached into her wardrobe and handed Amelia the footman’s outfit she’d worn before. Amelia stepped behind a screen and put the clothes on, glancing from Elizabeth to Lance. “What’s he doing here?” She nodded in Lance’s direction.

“He came to tell us what happened.”

Amelia’s blue eyes flashed, brilliant and hard as sapphires. She turned on him. “You were present when my husband was killed?” Her hostility flickered threateningly.

Lance’s expression appeared oddly combative, yet brooding. “My Lady, I’m most sorry to admit I was there. That’s why I came quickly to give you the tragic news.”

“Why didn’t you help my husband, you damn mangy varlet?” Amelia rushed at him, scratching his dusky face with her long nails.

Shocked by her frenzied rage, Elizabeth rushed forward to pull her away from Lance. “Please, calm down. I’m certain Lance would have helped John if it were at all possible.”

Shoulders heaving with sobs, Amelia said, “Surely he and his pack could have done something. They’re wolves, aren’t they?”

Lance’s tawny eyes softened, and he drew Amelia to his chest, murmuring comfortingly as she continued to cry, making incoherent sounds. He stroked her tangled blonde curls, and he made chuffing noises that didn’t sound quite human, but Elizabeth was relieved to see it seemed to calm the distraught woman.

Elizabeth stroked Amelia’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, darling. You’re in no condition to come with me to the graveyard. I beg you stay here and rest.”

Amelia’s eyes narrowed and she stepped out of Lance’s arms, pressing her hand to her heart for a brief moment. “Just try and stop me from coming.”

Elizabeth knew better than to argue further. She lowered her head and nodded.

Lance bowed to both women. “I must go, but I swear the shape-shifters will do everything possible to protect your vampires from the psychic vampire demons.” He transformed back into a wolf, leaping out the window, giving a protesting howl as he left.

Chapter 22

Elizabeth and Amelia ducked through the palace’s secret passageway. Elizabeth still smelled the strong wolf scent Lance had left behind. She pulled her friend through a tunnel that led directly to the river. “We can’t take my coach, so we’ll hire a hackney when we get to the street. There’s no way we dare show ourselves in the open tonight.”

Amelia didn’t say a word, but she nodded her agreement. Elizabeth paused and took her by the hand. “No one expects you to do this. It’s too much to put you through after what has happened.”

She snatched her hand away. “I have to come with you. I must give John a proper burial before, before the sun comes up.”

“You’re right, darling. It must be done.” Once they reached the street, a hackney came careening down the cobbled street. Elizabeth leaned forward and waved the driver down. The carriage clattered to a halt beside them and the two women jumped back.

“Where to, lads?” the driver said in a high-pitched voice.

“To Bethlehem Churchyard in Cheap Ward,” Elizabeth said. She and Amelia barely had a chance to leap into the coach before the driver clattered off toward the cemetery.

When the driver pulled up in front of the stone gate of the cemetery, the women climbed out cautiously. Elizabeth tossed him a gold coin. “Return for us in an hour and I’ll give you double your usual fee.”