at the gloom inside, for a moment seeing nothing but indistinct shadows. When his eyes had adjusted Doranei found himself in a small ante-chamber with closed doors left and right, and a wide doorway ahead leading into an elegant study. He tried the closed doors first. The child’s bedroom he tore apart until he was sure no hiding places remained, then the breakfast room got similar treatment.
The study straight ahead was empty too, and finally he headed for the duchess’ bedroom, off the study. The room was very dark, even with a faint glimmer of moonlight creeping through the clouds. The lamps were barely warm to the touch. A lifetime of night exploits had given Doranei excellent vision in the dark, but he still managed to blunder into an unseen table as he headed for the window to look down. Still no light from below, but he was running out of time.
A sudden sense of being watched crept over him, causing the hairs of his neck to prickle as he whirled around, sword raised. The dark room remained still and empty, but the sense continued.
And well it might, Doranei thought, reaching for the pouch of sparkle-dust again. That bloody door was barred from the inside.
With a sweep of his sword Doranei smashed the nearest oil lamp and dropped the rest of the dust onto it, looking away with his eyes screwed up tight. The dust ignited and the lamp oil caught immediately, casting a weak light over the room. Doranei tugged a curtain from its rail and was about to set it alight when the shadows on the other side of the window suddenly billowed.
He dropped the curtain and struck out at the shadows, but a sword materialised from nowhere and caught the blow. Doranei hesitated; short blade and long handle — this wasn’t who he’d feared.
‘Zhia?’ he said, startled.
The shadows opened like a black flower saluting the moon. Zhia Vukotic appeared, resplendent in a blood-red dress and white silk scarf, with her sword extended.
‘My dear, you are one of the few people to ever look relieved when you find a vampire lurking in the shadows,’ she said with a pained smile. ‘I apologise for giving you a start.’
‘What are you doing here?’ Doranei demanded, lowering his sword and advancing on his immortal lover. ‘Where are the duchess and Ruhen?’
‘Escaped, I assume,’ Zhia said, sheathing her sword on her back with a flourish. ‘They had already gone when I arrived up here.’
‘Why are you here? Why did you bolt the door?’
Zhia gave him a look that was almost too weary for irritation. Whatever she’d been doing, it had taken a toll on her.
‘I was elsewhere in the tower on business; Lady Kinna has apartments on a lower level. When I heard the commotion it was not hard to guess who would be heading this way. I don’t know how your Brothers would react to seeing me here, but I assumed King Emin’s pet white-eye would be at the fore. His kind are hard to talk down once their blood is up and I have no desire to kill your friends. I thought the bolted door would slow them up; I hoped they couldn’t waste the time it would require to break it.’ She gave a wry smile — then suddenly screwed her eyes closed, as if in pain.
She gasped, shock blossoming on her face. ‘By the Dark Place, I had forgotten how painful His presence was!’
‘Whose?’ Doranei asked, looking around.
Zhia straightened, as though a weight was lifted from her shoulders. ‘That’s better, He’s gone now. Your Lord Death, that’s who,’ she added with a sour smile. ‘What I crave the most I cannot bear the presence of. You must have killed Aracnan; He has come for His unclaimed son.’
Zhia stopped, noticing the sword for the first time. ‘Even your mages would have found it hard to draw the bolts to this room. I had hoped to lurk here undisturbed until He had departed. I hadn’t expected you to be carrying anything so powerful. Did you kill Aracnan yourself?’ She sounded sceptical.
‘I was there when he died,’ Doranei replied, not wanting to waste time explaining any further. ‘Can you find the child for me?’
‘I have already tried, but there’s too much of a swirl of magic around the tower for me to find anyone not a mage.’
Doranei faltered, his shoulders sagging. ‘Then this was all for nothing?’ he said distantly.
‘Not necessarily.’ Zhia pointed to the desk on which lay a few