The Rest Falls Away (38 page)

Victoria held on to her satchel so she wasn't as nimble, but Max had tied the knot tightly and she was lifted slightly off the ground. As she rose, Phillip leaped into the light and grabbed at her foot, pulling her back.

“No!” he shouted.

Max was halfway to the top when he looked down and saw Phillip pulling on her. Victoria didn't seem to be struggling. She appeared frozen, hung suspended in the air, the heavy satchel pressed to her chest. Phillip had her foot and had angled her out of the light. He was nearly climbing up her legs to pull her back down, adding his weight and strength to the burden Kritanu struggled to raise.

“Victoria!” Max shouted. He couldn't go back. They were pulling him up, and he couldn't climb down.

She wasn't fighting. She wasn't struggling.

Phillip reached the rope around her waist, tugging on it, and Max watched in disbelief as the rope he'd just tied loosened, and Victoria fell to the floor. She landed half in the light and half in the dark.

The rope dangled uselessly from the dome.

“Phillip,” Max heard Victoria say. She was not moving, just looking up at him. Her husband looked down at her, then at Lilith, as if asking for permission.

“Put me back. Now!” Max shouted up to Kritanu, but the rope continued to rise inexorably. Kritanu's face was no longer looking down from the dome; he had moved away in order to pull up the heavy weight. “Kritanu!” He struggled to loosen the knot, his fingers digging into the rough hemp around his waist as the bites on his shoulder throbbed darkly.

Phillip pulled Victoria to her feet, and she was no longer in the sun. The rope hung behind her, still swaying.

“You can't save him!” Max shouted, trying to untie the rope around his waist so he could drop back down and help her. But his weight and the pull of gravity had tightened the knot so that he couldn't pull it apart. He was nearly to the top of the dome and was just beginning to notice the smoke.

The room was so large that the smoke, which should have been clogging and choking them, dissipated and hung near the tall ceiling; the fire was a greater danger than the smoke.

He saw movement as Lilith swept her arm in permission. Phillip fell on Victoria, and her head tipped back as though he'd commanded it. Max could almost hear the groan of need from him as he bent toward her exposed neck.

“The book, Lilith! He will destroy it!” Max shouted, swinging more wildly with his agitation. He could see the wall of flame moving toward the circle of vampires; but they were unconcerned. Fire would not harm them. Only Victoria.

“Stop!” shouted Lilith, extending her arm and reaching for Phillip through the air.

Phillip stiffened as though she had grabbed his neck, whimpering, but he did not move. Max could hear his labored breathing, and, thank God, Lilith's power released her and Victoria came to herself. She pulled away.

She fell back into the sunlight, and Phillip didn't stop her. She lay back, sprawling in a much smaller circle of light than had been there moments before.

“If you want the book,” she said, her voice steadier than Max would have expected, “you let me go. I will give it to you.”

Max looked down, tried to see what was happening below. And then, as his rope spun him in a gentle circle, he saw the line next to him move, tighten. “Pull!” he shouted above. “She's ready! Go!”

As Victoria rose through the smoke, he could hear her. “The Book of Antwartha. Lilith, the book is yours! You will search for it no longer!”

“No! Victoria,
no
!” Max heard the dull thud as the book hit the ground far below. And then, through the faint haze of smoke, he saw the manuscript, sitting in its circle of glowing yellow, waiting to be snatched up by the vampires.

Then he could see no more.

From below a woman screamed, shrieking in pain and rage, and suddenly Max was being dragged out of the smoky air into the fresh, beautiful sunlight.

He scrambled aside and set to helping Kritanu and Briyani raise Victoria.

When she finally reached the top, her face smudged with black, he helped pull her over the glass edges, careful not to cut her. But that didn't stop him from lighting into her in another way.

“You gave her the book? Victoria, do you know what you've—”

“I gave her what's left of it,” she replied calmly, as if she'd just stopped by for tea. “I dropped it, and the Book turned to dust. It's gone forever.”

Max stepped back, planting his foot firmly on the sloping roof. “I presume…” He paused, because if he didn't measure his words carefully, he might kill her. “I presume you dropped it knowing that would be the effect.”

“Of course. As soon as the sunlight touched it, it crumbled, just as Wayren planned.” She turned to follow Kritanu and Briyani off the roof of the burning building, leaving Max to follow behind.

He had several other things to say to her, but they would have to wait. Though she'd tried to hide them, he had seen the tears.

+ 28 +

In Which Eustacia Makes a Confession

“We saw the black dome
break,” Kritanu explained when they had returned to Aunt Eustacia's home. “And recognized something was happening in that portion of the mansion. And then the smoke came out.” He shrugged. “We knew.”

“You could not have appeared any more fortuitously,” Max replied.

Victoria looked at the ugly red welts at his neck. The bleeding had stopped, and she'd had the pleasure of pouring salted holy water—
lots
of it—on his bite during their drive back into London. She had said very little since they left Lilith's hideout, leaving Max to explain what he could.

“Venators do holy work,” Eustacia said from her chair. “The most miraculous things happen when we're fighting evil.”

Miraculous? Victoria closed her eyes. She couldn't dismiss Phillip's face from her memory—the deep hunger…the pleading…the curve of his lips and the line of his nose. That beloved face, turned desperate and vacant.

You cannot save him.

Max's angry words reverberated in her mind. She could not save him; indeed, she had condemned him.

“The book was destroyed?” Eustacia's question brought Victoria back, and she looked up to see all eyes focused on her.

“I never intended to give it to her.” She looked at Max.

He bowed his head in acknowledgment, but said nothing. He'd been uncharacteristically kind to her since they'd climbed down off the roof of the mansion and sat in the carriage, watching the house burn. Lilith's stronghold was destroyed, but there was no reason to believe she was. Or Phillip.

There would be more battles in the future. Lilith would rise to power again, and they would face her.

And as Aunt Eustacia told her, the vampire queen would never forget Victoria's role in her downfall.

“Do you know what happened to Sebastian?” she asked suddenly, looking at Max.

“No. I suspect he either perished in the fire or was killed by the Imperials. He would have preferred it, rather than face Lilith.”

She did not miss the disdain in his voice, and she did not begrudge him that. She'd seen firsthand the power Lilith had, and had felt the inexorable allure of a vampire's complete hold. Perhaps death was better than being unable to control one's own actions and desires.

But not for her.

“Aunt Eustacia, may I speak with you?”

“I have been waiting for you to ask.”

When they were alone, her aunt spoke before she did. “I have no words for how sorry I am about Phillip, Victoria.” Her jet eyes held grief and remorse, and her soft, knobby hands reached for those of her niece. “If I had known—”

“But you didn't. You couldn't. And you—and Max—tried to stop me.” Victoria gripped her aunt's fingers and blinked back the tears. “Is there nothing that could be done to save him?”

Eustacia shook her head. “If a vampire has fed on a mortal, he is damned for all eternity. One would suspect prayer or great sacrifice might save such a damaged soul, but I don't know for certain.”

Victoria closed her eyes. “It was my selfishness that caused it. I should never have married him. I loved him, and I should have loved him enough to release him.” She raised her face, wiping away the tears. “He told me that his destiny was to love me—whether we were together or not. Now he cannot do even that.”

“It is hard, Victoria. I know. It is beyond anything you ever imagined. You've given your life for this cause—and now made the greatest sacrifice of all. Never forget that it is the right and true thing. You are
called.
You help to rid the world of evil, to keep it at bay. If you and Max and I and the others were not here, giving up our lives, this earth would have been overrun by evil long ago. In return for our extraordinary powers and protections, we sacrifice.” She hesitated, then said, “Lilith offered to release you, did she not?”

Victoria nodded, her wet face hot and sticky. “I wanted it, Aunt Eustacia. I
wanted
it. She would have given me Phillip…or she said she would have. Could she have?”

“Perhaps. I truly do not know.” Eustacia drew in a long, long breath. Exhaled. “Victoria, I have not been fully honest with you. About the choices and vocations of a Venator. Some Venators are born, as you were. Some choose, as you know, through great danger and sacrifice, to take on the role. Once the decision is made to accept the responsibility, there
is
a way a Venator can cease being—”

“No.” Victoria stopped her, shaking her head, certain. “No. Do not say it.”

Her aunt paused, looking at her. “I know it is too late for you and Phillip, but, if you wish it, I will. Your sacrifice has been great.”

Victoria stood, walking over to the cabinet where the Gardella Bible was locked in safety like the host in a sacristy. “No. It is no longer an option for me, if it ever was. When I first accepted the Legacy, I did so innocently—but I did not truly
understand.

“I thought it was fun—to be strong, to be able to walk the streets alone at night, and know that I could defend myself better than any man could. It gave me freedom that I had never imagined a woman could have!

“With the freedom, with the strength and power, comes pain and sacrifice. The impossibility of having a normal life. Responsibility.

“I can never go back, Aunt Eustacia, even if you gave me that chance. I cannot, because it's no longer a game for me. It's no longer merely a task—to hunt evil and send it to hell. Lilith has made it most personal.”

She wiped away her tears. Her expression was raw and fierce.

+ Epilogue +

A Farewell

He moved through the
silent house like smoke—quick, dark, noiseless. His house.
His
home he could enter uninvited.

If one of the servants saw him, they would think nothing of it. Nothing but that the master had returned home at last.

But no one saw him as he moved silently up the stairs. Need pulsed through him, and as he thought of the taste of her, of being sated at last, he felt her heartbeat moving with his. Even from that distance.

He smelled her, and his hands trembled at the relief that would soon be his. The awful need would dissolve, and he could think again. Breathe on his own. Rest. Feel something beyond hunger.

He would take her with him, be with her…forever. Make her like him, make her immortal. She was his destiny…had been, always would be.

He stood in the doorway of her chamber. Not hesitating…savoring. Experiencing the pull, her draw…and the stronger bond that he controlled. He knew it was strong enough. Their love was deep enough. He could do it.…Powerful as she was, he could turn her.

She lay on her side, covered by nothing but a filmy white gown that left her arms and bosom bare and the blue filter of moonlight through the open window. Her dark hair curled over the pillow. Her eyes were closed, deep in shadows.

He stepped in, his heart—no, her heart—pounding in his chest, his temples, his belly, his cock. His breathing deepened, slowed, as he thought of the relief he would have, sinking into her. His eternal love.

Victoria was waiting. She'd known he would come, had been expecting him since she returned home, refusing Max or Eustacia to accompany her. She sent Verbena away, gave the servants the night off.

She wanted to be alone when he came.

As he brushed against the side of the bed, she felt her breathing change. It was no longer hers. They drew in together, exhaled together. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

He was Phillip…beloved Phillip. She reached for him, and he fell onto the bed.

He kissed her, touched her, pulled the gown from her shoulders, and she let him. She allowed herself the desire, the comfort.

She felt it when he changed: the edge to his breath, the harshness of his pulse storming through her. The slip of his control. His eyes glinted rosy, and when he raised his face, his fangs glinted dull white and lethal.

But his voice was Phillip's. Unchanged. Familiar. Loving.

“Let me, Victoria, my wife,” he murmured…as he had done before. “I will be very gentle…and soon you will feel only pleasure. We will be together forever. My destiny.”

When his fangs scraped over her flesh, at the tender joint of neck and shoulder, readying to sink in, she stiffened…sighed. Closed her eyes. Tears leaked from them.

She groped in the sheets, closed her fingers around the smooth wood. “I will always love you, Phillip.”

And she stabbed him.

When she opened her wet eyes, she saw someone standing in the door of her chamber.

Max. His stake was outlined by the moonlight.

“I followed him here.”

“I knew he would come.”

He bowed his head, then looked up at her. “You saved him. You stopped him in time.”

“I hope.” She drew in her breath. “You were right about it all, Max.”