Midnight's Kiss

Four

Lying so far north of Los Angeles, San Francisco had a much cooler climate and entirely different weather patterns. As the Nightkind plane taxied into SFO, beads of moisture gathered on the outside of the windows from the dense, heavy fog that had rolled in some time earlier that day.

Julian welcomed the fog. It provided an effective cover from the deadly sunshine. From long years of experience with living in the Bay Area, he could tell that he would be able to walk outside freely without needing the cloak, at least for the next couple of hours, and the fog might actually linger until nightfall.

During his trip to LAX, and the subsequent flight, he had received several calls and texts. None of them were from Yolanthe or Xavier, the two people he would have actually chosen to talk to, in case they had discovered any leads on Justine’s whereabouts, so he ignored all the messages and let the phone calls roll over to voicemail. Maybe if enough people took note of his prolonged silence, they would start talking to each other and figure out that something had gone wrong.

Once the airstair had been put into place, he exited the plane, strode through the massive, overcrowded airport to the area allotted for pickups, and approached the first parked police car he saw.

Putting a hand on the edge of the roof, he leaned close to the window to look inside. No key in the ignition.

“I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the car, sir,” a male said severely from behind him.

Straightening, Julian turned to face a young human, one eyebrow raised.

The cop’s expression changed drastically. “S-sir,” he stammered. “I mean, your majesty. No wait, that’s English royalty. You’re a—a—‘your grace,’ right? Or are you a ‘my lord’?”

There was no way Julian could maintain silence after that. On the plus side, the cop would definitely remember every detail of their meeting. He said dryly, “ ‘Sir’ or ‘sire’ will do just fine. I need your keys.”

“Certainly, sir. Sire.”

He was too preoccupied to be amused. “One or the other. I don’t need both at once.” He held out his hand peremptorily, and the cop dropped his keys into the palm of his hand.

“Where shall I go to pick up the vehicle, sire?” the cop asked.

Without replying, Julian climbed into the police car and, switching on the vehicle’s siren, he drove off. He had very little time now to get to the Golden Gate Park, and the museum.

Cutting sharply across the highway, he settled into the fast lane and shot the car’s speed to over a hundred miles an hour. In the heavy fog, it was a suicidal pace. What saved him were his preternatural reflexes.

The other vehicles on the road moved out of his way as drivers responded to the siren, but still there were times he had to slow as he waited for the traffic to shift to the right.

When he turned onto John F. Kennedy Drive, he had five minutes left.

Then four minutes, three.

Two.

He could tell by the line of red lights glowing up ahead that traffic was heavy at the intersection. He wasn’t going to make it if he continued to the intersection to turn onto Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, the road upon which the museum was located.

He had no doubt Justine would kill Melly without a moment’s hesitation if he were late. None at all.

Yanking hard on the steering wheel, he drove the car over the shoulder and onto the grounds of the park. He could feel the wheels of the car digging into the dirt, and he gunned the engine to compensate.

When the distinctive shape of the museum building loomed out of the fog, he opened the car door and leaped out while it was still running, leaving it to slow to a stop on its own. Blurring into his fastest sprint, he raced around the corner of the building just as the stopwatch on his phone started to chime.

He snatched the phone out of his pocket and texted, I’m at the front of the museum. Where are you?

Justine replied, Stop. Wait.

Coming to a standstill, he did as she ordered, studying his immediate surroundings with a soldier’s sharp eye. Palm trees dotted the area, and despite the heavy fog, there were several people walking along the sidewalk. He focused on their conversations. All of them sounded innocuous enough.

A young girl came running toward him. Perhaps twelve years old, she wore a school uniform and she carried a laptop. He had dismissed her as harmless while she was standing in a crowd of schoolchildren several yards away, but as she came closer she caught his attention again.

Several dangerous creatures could masquerade as an innocuous school-age girl, and he tensed.

“Hi!” she called out as she ran up to him. “The lady from the museum said you left your laptop. She asked me to bring it to you.”

Catching a hint of the girl’s human scent, he relaxed somewhat. “Did she?” he asked, glancing behind her at the museum’s entrance. “What did she look like?”

The girl gave him a bright smile. “Oh, she’s very beautiful, and she has red hair. Is this yours?”

“I guess it is.” He took it from her. “Thanks.”

“Have a nice day!” She raced off again, heading for a yellow school bus where several other children in the same uniform were climbing aboard.

His phone vibrated. Did you get my present?

Tucking the laptop under one arm, he texted, Yes. Quit texting, dammit. Pick up your phone and call.

Oh, we’ll talk, she sent back. Just not by phone. Open the laptop and click on the Skype window. It’s logged into the museum’s Wi-Fi. Don’t move away from the building, or you’ll lose your connection.

Furiously, he yanked open the laptop and clicked on the Skype window.

Even though he braced himself for what might come next, the image that appeared made him go more than a little insane.

The scene was the same as the photo Justine had sent him. The background looked like rough rock, as if it might be a cave, or perhaps an unfinished basement. There were no windows or other potentially identifying characteristics. The lighting was odd and inadequate, and very slanted, as if it came from a lamp set on the floor.

This time there was no sign of the unknown male. Justine stood with Melly in front of the camera. They were both near the same height and size, but Melly was no match for Justine’s far superior strength and speed. Melly had a bunched cloth stuffed into her mouth in a simple, brutal gag. The Vampyre held the younger woman in a tight clench, and in one hand, she held a knife.

Julian ran his gaze compulsively over Melly. By some trick of nature, she was ridiculously photogenic. Even in such a horrible setting, with bad lighting, no makeup and a great deal of stress and danger, the camera loved her features and figure.

She looked disheveled, furious and scared. Her bare arms showed a few smudges that might be either dirt or bruises, but other than that, she didn’t appear to be seriously injured or abused.

Yet.

Their gazes locked. Even through Skype he felt such a strong connection to her, for the tiniest moment nothing else mattered. All his anger and bitterness fell away. She looked at him like she used to with her beautiful eyes so full of emotion. Light glimmered in the wetness of her gaze, and in that moment, he would have given anything, anything at all, to be able to put his arms around her and tell her that everything would be okay.

Anything, just to feel her in his arms one more time.

“First things first,” Justine said. She smiled into the camera. “I want you to tell me you didn’t say a word to anyone.”

He snapped, “I didn’t tell anybody anything.”

“Excellent. Put your phone in your pocket and leave it there. Remember — I have eyes on you right now, and I don’t mean through our Skype session. If you try to do anything stupid, I’ll carve off Melly’s face and make it into a mask to wear to our next encounter.”

His own truthsense told him that Justine wasn’t making an idle threat. He hadn’t targeted anyone suspicious when he’d studied the scene, but that didn’t mean that watchers weren’t there.

Hissing, he jammed his phone into his pocket. “I’m not going to try anything stupid.”

Justine laid her cheek against Melly’s golden hair and rocked her back and forth. “I guess we have an answer to our question, don’t we, kitten? Apparently he does have some feeling left for you after all.” Her smile widened. “Julian, you might want to compose yourself. Remember, the fog offers you some cover, but you’re still in public. Those fangs and red eyes are sure to bring you more attention than you want right now.”

He hadn’t been aware that he had lost such control, and he struggled for some measure of composure. It was difficult, when the need for violence filled his mind with a red haze.

“You’re going to be okay,” he told Melly. “Remember that.”

Briefly, she closed her eyes. When she looked at him again, she did so with a steely calm. Good girl. Gods, she might be faithless, but she was damn brave.

Only then did he turn his attention back to the psychotic bitch holding her captive. “I’m here, just like you wanted,” he said in a harsh voice. “Let’s get on with this.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” Justine said with evident relish. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve looked forward to doing this — or something like this, anyway. This specific scenario is a surprise, but I’m excellent at improvising when I have to. I just want you to take a moment to really appreciate everything I’ve set up here.”

He said between his teeth, “Believe me, nothing you’ve done in the last few days has escaped my notice.”

She batted her eyelashes at him. “I’m so glad. This wasn’t easy to do on short notice, you know. We’re in a remote enough location I had to use a couple of relays just to establish a Wi-Fi connection. You can’t imagine the hassle.”

“You want me to tell you it’s really fucking amazing?” he said flatly. “Okay. It’s really fucking amazing. Justine, you’ve screwed up. Forget about me for a moment — take me out of the picture completely. If you do anything to hurt Melly, Tatiana will never rest until she has you hunted down and staked.”

Justine pursed her lips into a moue. “I guess that means we’ll have to make sure Tatiana never finds out I was involved. Maybe I should just kill her now. After all, it’s not like I can let her go, because as soon as I do, Tatiana will know I was the one who kidnapped her.”

She raised the knife to Melly’s throat.

He started to talk fast, and desperately. “That’s not true. You haven’t gone too far yet. Tatiana will be pissed you kidnapped her, but no real harm has been done. She’ll get over it — Justine, listen to me —”

Watching his face, Justine started to draw the knife slowly across Melly’s neck. A red line appeared on the tawny skin of Melly’s throat. With a hoarse, muffled scream, Melly fought against Justine’s hold, but the other woman held her firmly captive.

Panic blew out Julian’s mind. He roared into the camera, “Stop. Justine, stop! TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT ME TO DO, AND I’LL DO IT!”

Cocking her head, Justine pulled the knife away and licked the blade with evident relish.

As Julian stared while she tasted Melly’s blood, he wanted nothing more than to punch his fist into Justine’s chest, pull out her beating heart and crush it in one hand.

Justine said, “Or maybe I shouldn’t kill her, since she seems to be an effective way to control you. Hm, what to do.” She said to Melly, “Darling, you taste delicious. Stop struggling so hard, I barely scratched you.”

Fixedly, he focused on the bleeding wound on Melly’s neck. Even though the quality of the camera feed wasn’t terrific, the cut didn’t appear to be bleeding copiously. Justine was telling the truth. She hadn’t cut deeply enough to sever the carotid artery.

He thought of all the expert slashes on the throats of her dead attendants. She knew what she was doing with a knife, down to the millimeter. Now that she had decided on her course of action, she would enjoy playing with them both, like a cat with captive mice.

He had to turn her attention away from Melly and back onto him. He snapped, “What do you want?”

All Justine’s playfulness fell away, until her face turned cold and still. “It’s so simple, Julian, I’m sure you already know the answer. I want you. Taking Melly, this whole set up — it was all for you. I hope you feel flattered. Now I want to know just one thing. If I agree to let Melly go, would you take her place? Would you trade her life for yours?”

“Yes,” he said. Justine was right. He did already know she would ask that, because of course that was the trap.

Justine smiled. “That’s what I was hoping you would say.” Her gaze shifted to someone who stood behind the camera. “Now it’s your turn.”

A whirlwind of Power appeared in front of Julian. If that was Soren, his appearance on the scene could ruin everything. Snapping the laptop shut, Julian faced the new arrival with a snarl, his fangs descending.

The figure of a Djinn formed, but it wasn’t Soren.

It was a pariah Djinn named Malphas.

Like Soren, Malphas was a first-generation Djinn, and as such, he carried an intense concentration of Power. His physical form was that of an angelically handsome man with golden hair, but he was nothing like an angel.

Malphas smiled at him. “Hello, Julian.”

He snarled, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

The Djinn lifted a shoulder in a casual-looking shrug. “When I heard Justine was looking to bargain with a Djinn, I decided to pay her a visit to see what she required. We had an interesting conversation, she and I.”

“You can’t bargain to help Justine,” Julian growled. “Pariahs might not keep their word, but you can’t afford to break the bargain you made with Tess and Soren. If you do anything to hurt anyone in the Nightkind demesne, or anyone Tess knows and cares about, Soren will open the envelope of information she gave him and distribute the contents to every gaming commission in the world.”

Malphas’s smile glittered with malice. “I can keep a bargain when it suits me, and I fully intend on keeping that one. However, there’s nothing in that agreement to keep me from offering to give you a ride if you want it. After all, I wouldn’t be hurting you. I would be helping you to get wherever you wanted to go. I can drop you off at the destination of your choice and be on my way. What happens to you after that is none of my business.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. Clearly this was the Djinn’s way of getting revenge for Julian’s part in the confrontation that had trapped Malphas into making the bargain with Soren and Tess.

His mind raced as he tried to think of options, but Justine had planned too thoroughly and there weren’t any. With Malphas’s travel “assistance,” Julian would have no way to trace their paths or to find out the location of the meeting.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” said Malphas. “You’re trying to think your way out of the situation. But this time all of the cards are in Justine’s favor. You’d better hurry. From everything I’ve seen, I think she really likes to use that knife.”

“All right,” he bit out. Maybe he could think of something he could do once he came face-to-face with Justine.

Malphas raised an eyebrow. “ ‘All right’… what? Do you want me to do something for you?”

“Take me to where Justine and Melly are,” Julian snarled.

Smiling, the Djinn crossed his arms. “Did you ask me a question in there somewhere? I didn’t hear a request in that. I can’t imagine why I would do anything for you when you haven’t even said please.”

His fangs sprang out. Lowering his head, Julian stared at the Djinn. “I might be trapped at the moment,” he whispered. “But you don’t want to push me too far.”

“On the contrary.” Malphas returned his stare with one as implacable and hostile. “That’s precisely what I want to do — push you too far. Hurry up. I’m growing bored. You have no value to me if you stop being entertaining, and I couldn’t care less whether or not Justine slits the Light Fae princess’s throat.”

Julian sucked in a breath. He said, “Will you please take me to where Justine and Melly are?”

“That’s better.” Malphas’s smile returned. “Of course I will.”

As the Djinn strolled toward him, Julian had time to consider a few things.

Every old Vampyre had talents that increased with age, and he was no exception. His talents were persuasion and also the ability to hold on to his prey. If he got his hands on Malphas, the Djinn wouldn’t be able to dematerialize again until Julian either let him go or he was dead.

And he considered it.

He really considered it.

If he waited until after Malphas transported him to where Justine and Melly were, and he tried to call on Soren, he could force Malphas to stay until the other Djinn arrived.

But that was assuming Soren could hear him, or would choose to answer him if he did. Djinn made psychic connections to the people with whom they struck bargains. Those connections allowed them to hear when they were called, but Julian had always been careful to stay clear of Djinn obligations.

Witches were also able to put out calls to the Djinn with enough Power to make themselves heard, but Julian was no witch. Normally when he wanted to contact Soren, he did so in the most ordinary of ways, by phone.

Even if he were able to call Soren and the Djinn responded, the maneuver would kill him. Julian might be able to pin Malphas, but he couldn’t defeat the Djinn on his own. Malphas was too Powerful.

A first-generation pariah could only be destroyed if several Powerful creatures teamed up to take him down. It had been done before, but it was a risky and dangerous proposition, which was why the Demonkind only went after a rogue Djinn when they had no other choice. At their essence, they were social creatures, and their preferred method of punishment was to ostracize a Djinn who went rogue.

And none of that took into account what would happen to Melly in the precious seconds it would take Soren to arrive and assess the situation. Justine would have her throat slit before Soren could do anything to stop it.

They really were well and truly trapped.

So Julian said nothing as Malphas stepped close enough to lay a hand on his shoulder.

And he did nothing, as the Djinn’s whirlwind of Power rose up around him and carried him away.

Blood trickled down Melly’s neck from the stinging cut Justine had given her. She thought, dear lords and ladies, all I want in the whole wide world is a bath, a piña colada, and the chance to stake this bitch in the heart.

And please, gods, a nap in a real bed is mighty high on my list too.

None of those things appeared to be in her near future. Not only was Justine’s iron grip unbreakable, but Melly’s makeshift stake lay several feet away, hidden in the pathetic little nest she had carefully arranged so that it hid the damage she had done to the frame of the cot.

When Justine and Vampyre Guy had shown up earlier, they had given her plenty of warning at their approach, although she hadn’t understood what was happening until it was almost too late.

She had been hard at work staking ferals, which was a rotten, dangerous, tedious task, thank you very much. It was tough physical work, and her arm and shoulder tired quickly.

Horror was so much more fun on a movie set, where all the wounds were special effects applied by makeup artists, and there was a concession table with tasty snacks, and trailers with working plumbing, and weekend parties, and somebody else available to do her stunts whenever she didn’t feel like doing them.

In real life… there weren’t enough words to describe how much this sucked.

Also, the Vampyres were feral — that didn’t necessarily make them stupid. It hadn’t taken them long to learn to jerk back when she lunged for one of them.

Yet they wanted her… they really wanted her, so they stayed close, in case they might be able to grab her whenever she danced near. There were so many Vampyres, they crowded the ones at the front against the bars and hampered their movements, which was why she had been able to make as many kills as she had.

So far, she’d managed to stake five. Four of them had crumbled to dust, while the fifth one had gotten extra snarly and violent, and there were still so many left.

Then a high-pitched whistle sounded.

As she paused and tried to figure out what this new information meant, the ferals turned toward the sound and raced down the tunnel. A few lingered, including the one she had stabbed, but not for long. After a few moments they, too, raced out of sight.

At first she had been relieved but puzzled. What had made them run?

Moments later, she had heard Justine’s and Vampyre Guy’s voices coming down the tunnel. That was when realization had struck.

They had conditioned the ferals to respond to a whistle.

Leaping into action, she had scrambled to get her nest arranged so she could hide her stake. She kept the cot propped on its side, the ends touching the walls in the corner, with the blanket and her food and water stacked inside the triangle.

The whole illusion was as risky as a house of cards. One good puff of wind and it would all fall down.

For example, if anybody chose to right the three-legged cot and sit on it, it would collapse under their weight, but she had bet that nobody would want to settle in for a relaxed visit.

So far she had been right.

“Relaxed” was definitely not what this visit was. Homicidal and psychopathic, but not relaxed.

She had watched them set up their technical operation, complete with camping lantern, a Wi-Fi router and a laptop. None of it had surprised her, except for the arrival of a Djinn named Malphas.

When Justine had stepped into the cell to take hold of her in a firm grip and turn to face the laptop, Melly had been braced to see her mom on the screen, or maybe Bailey, or even both of them together.

Not Julian.

Never in a million years would she have expected Julian.

He was such a bastard. He was two thousand years of mean streets rolled into a rough, foul-mouthed package. His best talents were making war, smoking cigars and wearing those god-awful, worn cowboy boots of his. Those were some of the things that had first attracted her to him, and they were what hurt so much now that she and Julian were estranged, because he knew all too well how to use words as a weapon.

But that look in his eyes when he had told her she would be okay…

The words he had roared echoed in her mind. TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT ME TO DO, AND I’LL DO IT!

In a daze, she thought, some part of him still cares for me. Maybe it isn’t the most important part. It certainly hasn’t been enough for us to overcome all the damage, distrust and hurt that has built up between us over the years.

But it might be just enough to get him killed.

She wanted to scream at him, but Justine’s hard hand clamped over her mouth and kept her from speaking. Even though he was too far away for her to connect to him telepathically, she still tried. Justine isn’t going to let me go! Don’t throw your life away!

He didn’t show any evidence that he heard her, of course.

Then Malphas disappeared and Julian snapped his laptop shut, cutting off the Skype session. After a few moments, the maelstrom of Power that heralded a Djinn’s impending arrival filled the area again.

Justine hugged her tight with every bit as much delighted affection as a child with a new pet. The Vampyre whispered in her ear, “Here we go, kitten. I wonder if this is how Christmas feels. Because of some blasted bargain, Malphas can’t and won’t take Julian against his will, so… did he agree to come, or didn’t he?”

As the Djinn’s Power coalesced, two male forms appeared in the cell across from Melly’s. One of them was Malphas.

The other was the figure of a strong, powerful man wearing jeans, a plain gray T-shirt and scuffed cowboy boots. The man had hard, rough features, wolflike eyes and salt-and-pepper hair.

Julian was such an intense male presence, she couldn’t fail to mistake him — she knew it was him before his body had fully formed.

He had come. He really had come for her.

Tears filled her eyes.

Telepathically, she said to him, You idiot.

His angry, red gaze met hers briefly. Shut up.

Malphas said in a cheerful voice, “Well, Julian, now that I’ve done you this favor, I believe it’s time for me to leave.” His diamond eyes seemed to sparkle. “Have a nice day.”

The Djinn vanished, while Julian took in the scene with a single glance. His gaze focused on Justine, and despite all evidence of everything stacked up against him — the locked, secure cell where Justine held Melly, and the knife she held to Melly’s throat — Melly had to swallow hard and shiver at his icy, deadly expression.

Trapped as he was, he was still one of the most dangerous men she had ever met. If she had been Justine and the true recipient of that look, she wouldn’t stop running until she found a place to hide where nobody knew her name, and even then she would spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder.

He said, “You said you’d let her go.”

“You’re not secured yet,” Justine told him. “There are chains right behind you. Lock yourself in. Fix the manacles on your ankles first, because you’re going to have to stretch up to get your wrists locked in.”

Don’t do it, Melly told him. You know she’s not going to honor any bargain she strikes with you. She’s not going to let me go.

I said shut up. Calmly, he stepped into position.

Since when do I listen to anything you say? she retorted, then desperately, Julian, stop!

Ignoring her, he snapped the manacles around his ankles and raised his arms to lock his wrists in the chains that dangled overhead.

Justine whispered, “That’s the most damn perfect thing I’ve seen in decades. Maybe centuries.”

Her punishingly tight hold on Melly loosened. Freeing herself with a jerk, Melly sprang several feet away and yanked the hem of her top into place angrily.

Neither Justine nor Julian paid any attention to her. They were wholly focused on each other as Justine strolled toward the bars of the cell.

Justine’s lack of concern over letting her loose couldn’t have been more insulting, but Melly was okay with that, since it meant the Vampyre wasn’t paying any attention to her. Briefly tempted to slip over to her nest to retrieve her stake, she glanced at the corner, but as appealing as it was to make a try for staking Justine, the risk of getting caught was too great.

Now that Justine had Julian in chains, she had no reason to keep Melly alive any longer. If Melly attacked her and failed, even if Justine chose not to kill her, she would take everything out of Melly’s cell, and they — yes, it was now time to say “they” — would need all the help they could get if they were going to escape from this alive.

Taking the key out of her pocket, Justine let herself out of the cell and locked Melly inside. Then the Vampyre strolled into Julian’s cell while twirling her knife in between long, pale fingers.

Watching her, Melly’s stomach clenched. Oh gods, this was going to get bad.

Maybe she could get Justine to focus on her instead of Julian.

She rushed to the bars, gripping them so tightly she bruised the palms of her hands. “Justine,” she said in a sharp voice. “You promised to let me go. Locking me in the cell again isn’t letting me go.”

Justine gave her a glance filled with equal measures of contempt and amusement. “Poodles shouldn’t try to think so hard. Everybody knew I wasn’t going to let you go, except apparently for you.”

“Julian was right.” Melly spoke as fast as she could. “You’re playing this all wrong. Stop and think for a moment. My mother considers you a friend, and that’s a really valuable commodity. You don’t want to jeopardize it.”

“Tatiana will continue to consider me a friend.” Justine’s reply sounded almost lazy. She came to stand in front of Julian, who regarded her with the same contempt that she showed to Melly. “In fact, I’m going to be so sympathetic and helpful over your disappearance, our friendship will grow even stronger. That will be quite useful in the upcoming months, since Julian won’t be the Nightkind King any longer. Now hush, Melly, and don’t forget, you’ve just become a luxury mammal. You’re no longer a necessity to me.”

“Yeah, I figured that part out for myself,” Melly muttered.

Justine dug into Julian’s jeans to withdraw his cell phone. Dropping it on the floor, she ground it underneath one heel. Then, faster than Melly could track, Justine lashed out.

Ribbons of Julian’s T-shirt drifted to the ground, revealing his heavily muscled, scarred chest and arms.

Justine told him in a quiet voice, “I like breaking things. It’s always been my way, and I’m going to especially enjoy breaking you. You’re dictatorial and arrogant, and inflexible, and you’ve been a pain in my ass for too many years. I’m going to tear you down until there’s nothing of you left, and then I’m going to train you to be my pet.”

Julian gave her a cold, bored look. “You’re delusional.”

Her voice gentled. “Just wait, you’ll see. But before I destroy your mind, first I’m going to hurt you a lot. I want you to be fully aware, so you realize what’s being done to you, and you know that it’s me who is doing it. And you’re going to let me, because if you don’t, I’ll carve something off of Melly while you watch. She’s got lots of bits she can lose before she dies. A thumb, a breast, an ear or her nose. Even her hands and feet.”

“Please,” Melly whispered. “Don’t do this. Justine, there has to be something you want more than this. What is it? Tell me what it is, and I’ll see that you get it. I swear I will — I swear it.”

The Vampyre didn’t even glance at her. “There’s nothing I want more than this.”

Justine struck again, and Melly muffled a moan against the heel of one palm as long red cuts appeared on Julian’s muscled arms and chest. A roil of nausea twisted in her gut. Leaning her head against the cold bars, she breathed evenly to make it go away. This leisurely sadism was so much worse than anything she could have imagined.

As Justine ran the tip of her knife along his abdomen, Julian’s sharp, steady gaze met Melly’s.

He said telepathically, Don’t watch.

I have to, she whispered. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here.

Don’t be stupid, he said. Justine’s the one who is responsible, not you. She’s the reason why we’re both here. Goddammit, Melly, turn the fuck away.

I can’t.

Justine cut him again and again, and Melly clapped her own hand over her mouth to muffle a sob. Each movement was drawn out, until the torture seemed to go on for hours.

“That ought to do it,” Justine said finally. Taking a step back, she licked her knife clean. She made a sound of pleasure. “All the blood oaths you’ve taken as King have made your blood really potent. I hadn’t realized just how Powerful you had become.”

Dread pulsed a rapid tempo in Melly’s veins. Ought to do what?

Julian must have been wondering the same thing, for he watched Justine with a sharp, wary expression. He said in a mocking voice, “Is that all you’ve got?”

Was he insane? Melly shouted at him, Don’t goad her!

Justine laughed. “Oh, I’m not done with you, darling. I’m only just getting started. That was just to get the scent of your fresh blood in the air.” Raising her voice, she called out, “Open up the gate!”

As Julian’s frowning gaze met Melly’s again, a metallic clang sounded from down the tunnel, and moments later, Vampyre Guy appeared. Julian’s fangs sprang out, and he snarled at the other male.

Despite Julian being in chains, the sight of his full, naked aggression was so overpowering, Melly took a step back from the bars. Vampyre Guy pretended to be unaffected, but she noticed he was careful to keep Justine’s body between him and Julian.

Followed closely by Vampyre Guy, Justine left Julian’s cell and propped the door open wide. Then the two Vampyres walked into one of the empty cells. After Justine closed the door and locked it, she pulled something slender out of her pocket and put one end in her mouth.

A high-pitched, piercing whistle speared through the air.

“Oh gods, no,” Melly whispered.

Snarling came from down the tunnel, along with the sound of running footsteps.

Many footsteps.

She flung herself against the bars, shouting, “No!”

Ferals flooded the tunnel. Some lunged toward her, forcing her to leap back again. Others found their way through the open cell door. Over the tops of the ferals’ heads, Melly caught a glimpse of them on the inside of the bars in Julian’s cell.

She couldn’t see anything else, but she could hear things all too well.

An explosive snarling that gradually quieted.

Then that shuffling, or scraping sound she had first heard, as the Vampyres fed.