part in the movie where the characters should turn around and run. But they don’t. They just walk towards the sounds and end up getting an axe in their head. Just an FYI.” Ryder whispered in my ear and I almost jumped through the ceiling.
Was it possible to find a man so alluring and yet annoying at the same time?
I wouldn’t have thought so, especially if he was a vampire, but it just goes to show you there’s a first for everyone, everything. “Go away. I mean it.”
The old gaslights flickered on the walls and shadows leapt, jumped, stretched as we followed the passageway that seemed to slope downward.
Was this the way to that underground passage?
The footsteps grew closer, louder.
I stopped, held out an arm to stop Ryder from walking past me.
“What?” he asked, brushing a lock of golden hair from those blue eyes. “Why’re we stopping?”
I put a finger to my lips and turned back to face the shadowy corridor. “Wait.”
The footsteps coalesced into heels.
Sharp heels.
I recognized them.
Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, isn’t that the…”
I let out a slow breath and closed my eyes for just a moment.
I hadn’t thought it was possible. Why did I feel such betrayal from a being I would’ve hunted down only a week ago?
What was wrong with me?
The heels stopped ten feet away, a swish of lace and silk.
“Hello, Ran.”
I opened my eyes.
Looked into the eyes of a small child with beautiful red cheeks and black hair that feel like a sheet down to her tiny waist.
“Hello, Reiko.”
She smiled. “Are you here for Jason?”
“I am.”
She tilted her head to one side, still smiling. God. “You know how he’s a Sanguinate?”
My throat felt impossibly thick. “I did.”
Her smile widened. “Well, did you know a Sanguinate used to rule our kind in the olden days?”
Ryder’s breath stopped. “Jesus.”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes still on me. “I came upon this information not too long ago. Jason is meant to rule. I could not possibly allow him to be slaughtered by Vincent and his like. No wonder Vincent and Noir wanted him dead so desperately! What would happen if the others found out about Jason? There would be a riot. Vincent couldn’t possibly hope to keep his position at the top, you know.”
“So you came to rescue Jason?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice level and steady.
She was a Domina. She could kill me in less than a second.
A sobering thought and I wasn’t even drunk.
She shook her head. “I thought so. But he doesn’t want to be the ruler! So…I thought…perhaps I could…persuade him…”
Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed from below and I felt my skin prickle.
Jason.
It had to be him! “Persuade him?”
“It is his birthright,” she said in that same, maddeningly childish voice. “He must take it.”
“And if he continues to refuse?”
Her dark eyes gleamed. “Then he must die.”
“Seems a little harsh, doesn’t it?”
I wished she would stop smiling. “Does it? Have you ever seen whelps consumed by that which bore them, gave them life? He serves me no purpose, not any more. By refusing the throne, he refuses me. And no one refuses me.”
Another scream split the air.
“So what?” I asked. “What happens now?”
Why wouldn’t she stop smiling? “I gave him life. He was not thankful for it. So now I will take it away.”
“Is it really that easy?”
Something passed in her eyes. Perhaps it was just my imagination. “I’m sorry, Ran. It is.”
The sword felt completely wrong in my right hand, but I didn’t have a choice: I would either fight or die. “You know I can’t let you do that, Reiko.”
She nodded. Once. “I know.”
“Will I die?”
Her gaze flitted away. “I am very old.”
“I’ve seen you fight before.”
“I know.”
Ryder put a hand on my shoulder. “Step back.”
I looked at his hand. “I can’t let you fight my battles for me.”
“You misunderstand,” he said, shaking his head. He was oddly serious. I had gotten so used to seeing the laughing Ryder, to see this new Ryder with the grim look in his eyes, the furrow between his brows, was quite a strange feeling. “You need to get to Jason. You can’t afford to waste time with her. Let me take care of her so you can find him.” Then, a corner of his lips quirked up. “Besides, I’ve always pretty much reconciled myself to being the sidekick guy. You know. The one that never gets the girl.”
The one that never gets the girl.
“We’ll talk. When this is over, we’ll talk,” I said. “I promise.”
He