Taken by Darkness

Squeezing shut her eyes, Juliet refused to accept failure. If she could not defeat the Jinn, then she must find the means to escape with Victor.

An easy enough task had she been a full-blooded imp.

Imps with any talent were capable of producing portals that could move them from place to place in the blink of an eye. Her father had been particularly skilled with such magic.

But of course, Juliet had never managed more than a weak gateway that collapsed the moment she attempted to enter it. And even that had left her exhausted for days.

Tonight, however, she did not allow herself to recall her innumerable failures.

Instead, she poured her thoughts and energy into the crystal still clutched in her hand, along with her mother’s amulet. If she’d ever needed her parents’ assistance, this was it.

Burying her face in the rich satin of Victor’s hair, she willed the portal to form around them, sending up a silent prayer she did not kill them both.





Victor could feel Juliet wrap herself around him, obviously attempting to protect him from the advancing Jinn. With an ancient curse, he struggled to regain command of his battered body to push her aside.

By the gods, he would not allow Juliet to be harmed.

Not even if it meant—

His uncharacteristic flare of heroism was rudely interrupted as Juliet tightened her arms around him and the entire world shifted beneath him.

As a vampire, Victor was incapable of sensing magic, but he could not fail to notice the tunnel melting away to utter blackness before he landed with jarring force on a damp cobblestone street with the night breeze blowing in his face.

Briefly disconcerted, he held himself perfectly still, absorbing the realization that he was lying flat on his back in the middle of London with Juliet sprawled on top of him.

He rolled to one side, carefully cradling the tiny, unconscious woman in his arms as he scanned the area around them.

Bloody hell.

Juliet must have created a portal to rescue the both of them from certain death, but at what cost?

The stench filling the air warned him that they were still dangerously near the docks, but thankfully there was no scent of the Jinn. Nor any other predators besides those who owed their loyalty to him.

Sensing one of his servants hurrying in their direction, Victor grimly rose to his feet, holding Juliet against his chest. An unfamiliar torment twisted his dead heart as he noted her unnatural pallor and the pain that tightened her features even in her deep state of slumber.

She had come perilously close to draining herself beyond the point of no return.

Too damnably close.

“Johan,” he called softly, knowing the young vampire would hear him despite being several blocks away. “Find a carriage.”

“Yes, master.”

There was a short delay, then the sound of horseshoes striking against cobblestones broke the thick silence. Victor watched the elegant black carriage turn the corner and come to a halt in front of him.

Leaping from the driver’s bench, the massive vampire was forced to calm the nervous horse before moving to offer Victor a deep bow.

“Master.” Although attired in rough wool clothing with his blond hair pulled into a simple braid, there was no masking the brewing danger that shrouded Johan. He was a warrior poised to kill. Straightening, the younger vampire narrowed his gaze as he took in Victor’s slowly healing wounds and the unconscious female draped across his arms. “You must feed, my lord. Shall I find a host?”

“Later.” Victor easily dismissed his need for blood. At the moment his only thought was to get Juliet to the safety of his lair. “Return us to my estate.”

“At once.”

With a blur of motion, Johan pulled open the carriage door, waiting for Victor to settle on the leather cushion before slamming the door shut and returning to his seat atop the carriage. Then with a mental command he had the horse racing through the narrow streets with a reckless indifference to the occasional vehicles or even pedestrians that crossed their path.

Within a half hour they were wheeling up the long drive to his isolated mansion. As they pulled up to the wide veranda, Victor did not wait for the carriage to come to a halt, simply opening the door and leaping onto the flagstone courtyard. With the same impatience, he charged up the stairs, fully prepared for a uniformed servant to tug open the wide double doors.

“Uriel,” he called, crossing the marble foyer and heading toward the private rooms at the back of the mansion.

With commendable speed the angelic vampire appeared at Victor’s side, his brows arching as he caught sight of Juliet in his arms.

“Do you wish me to call for a human healer?”

Pausing before the door at the end of the corridor, Victor released a trickle of power to open the heavy locks. No one, not even his servants, was allowed in his personal lair without his permission.