But there was satisfaction painted on my lips as I watched red drip down her broken face as she staggered to stand. Take that, you harlot.
My wolf snapped and tore at the threads growing thicker in my mind as fast as she could, but it was no use. There were too many. The spell was going to overtake me within moments.
The wolves within the trees launched into the clearing and my Pack erupted in battle around me.
Valdov walked over and leaned above me like a circus ring-leader, reaching down to caress my face. I cringed inwardly, my body unable to move. “Hurry, witch, she is too strong. This will not hold her for long.”
A haughty voice responded, “That will hold her just fine. She is not stronger than I am, vampire. You’ll have plenty of time to get her back to your precious Queen. Now get her out of my sight before I decide to kill her for real.”
My body rose in the air.
Wind rushed against my face as Valdov took us into the clouds.
A terrible keening howl bellowed from below.
My father had finally broken his restraints.
22
I heard the noise before I opened my eyes. It sounded like rusty metal fingernails grating down a chalkboard. But worse. My arms bristled before my brain was fully awake. The first thing I became aware of was my wolf, who was crouched low in my mind, a ferocious growl issuing from her mouth.
Do you know where we are? I asked her before I dared open my eyes.
I could feel the threat. The power pushed down on me, oppressing me with its strength, penetrating my skin like a million sharp needles. The surface I was lying on was hard and rough, cold stone under my fingertips. I tried once more. What’s going on? Do you know where we are?
Then I heard it again.
Scraaape. Scraaaape. Scraaaaaape.
My wolf didn’t have a chance to respond before a feminine voice pierced the quiet. It was smooth and held a faint echo. My blood ticked in warning. “Wake, little wolf girl. We are done playing. I grow tired of waiting.” The voice was moving closer as it spoke.
I opened my eyes. It was no use pretending, because whatever was in the room with me knew I was already awake and pissing it off wasn’t the smart choice. Selene’s spell was gone. I had no idea if my wolf had conquered it or not, but I wasn’t complaining.
My eyes focused on the ceiling above me. It was shaped in a high dome and decorated completely with stained glass. A soft glow of light ran behind it, radiating outward to give it a multidimensional quality. Unfortunately, the images rendered on it were not beautiful flowers or happy unicorns; instead the entire ceiling was covered in a landscape of gruesome, gory scenes—vampires depicted at their very worst, like I’d seen Valdov in that brief but chilling moment. The horde detailed above my head gleefully tore out the necks of their human prey, their faces contorted, blood flowing around them in pools of ecstasy, splashing into the bodies of their unwitting victims.
Wasn’t that heartwarming.
I was clearly in a vampire stronghold of some kind, and seeing the artful ceiling depictions didn’t do anything to make me feel any better about my situation.
There was movement at my feet and I slowly lifted my head.
“You are not nearly as impressive as I had presumed you to be, little wolf girl.” The voice was attached to a vision of flawlessly etched skin. A face so perfectly defined it cast its own shadows. She boasted high, prominent cheekbones and a pair of wide hazel eyes, rimmed in heavy kohl. Her pallor was a true white, making her red lips look garish. A complicated pale mass of curls sat atop her head, giving the illusion of a greater age than her twenty-something looks. She was dressed in a beautiful gray silk gown, so thin it shimmered like liquid silver in the low light. As she approached me, her cape, of the same shimmering fabric, flowed out behind her.
The Vampire Queen.
A lone fingernail traced along the stone altar I was lying on as she paced forward.
Scraaaaaape.
“Um, sorry to disappoint you?” I pushed to my elbows, grateful I hadn’t been physically restrained, but knowing it hadn’t really been necessary in the company of the Vampire Queen and her plentiful power, which bounced around the room in strong currents. Why did she care if I was impressive or not? I wasn’t looking to impress anyone, and to vamps all shifters looked unimpressive. All I cared about was getting the hell out of here in one piece with my skin still attached and all my vital fluids still in my body.
The altar I was lying on was in the middle of an ornate vestibule. The room resembled what I’d envisioned a throne room in a castle to be like, complete with a raised dais and a queenly looking chair perched in the center.
The only other people in the room were the two shrouded shapes flanking either side of the massive, and precisely decorated, door.
A private meeting with the Vampire Queen, it seemed.