in his long black peacoat and a crimson vest. He looked as intimidating as he ever had. The King of Vampires. The Master of the darkness that had taken the city. The dread warlord.
Her dread warlord.
He reached his hand out to her, palm up, pale skin tinted red by the light of the moon. He silently beckoned her to him with sharp-nailed fingers.
And she was helpless to deny him. For many reasons, most of all being that she simply did not wish to. She walked to him and slipped her hand into his. He smiled faintly and drew her close.
He banded an arm around her to pull her flush to his chest. The smell of roses washed over her, and his proximity and touch instantly made her feel as though she were lost in him. Red velvet and black silk. Hunger and passion. Need, and the lust for life and death. It was as though she were lost in the very night sky itself.
And as his form and hers exploded into a sea of bats, she was.
When Maxine once more found her feet on solid ground, it was no longer cobblestone, but marble. The ceiling overhead was vaulted in a classical style that was rare in the city. Glancing around, she blinked. The walls were covered with books. Rows and rows of them. The piece of furniture that seemed to be the outlier was a small table in the center of the room. A white tablecloth was thrown over it, and it was carefully prepared for two.
It was the new library, lauded for being a monument to learning. She had been inside its walls only once before. Now it seemed the vampire had taken it for his own purposes, which apparently included a meal with her.
Her cheeks went warm at the memory of the last dinner they had shared, and how it had ended. With her sprawled out on a tabletop tomb, his teeth in her neck, and her deeply wishing for more.
“My poor thing.” Dracula sighed from where he stood next to her. He took a step away from her to shrug out of his long black peacoat, placing it over a hook by the wall. He was still well-dressed in his thinner jacket, and no less intimidating. “I have not been kind to you.”
“It is not I to whom you have been cruel.” She pointed out at the city through the tall window on one side of the room. “It is Boston and the thousands of its now-dead souls to whom you owe an apology.”
He shrugged. “I suppose.” He walked up to her, closing the distance between them. “I have not destroyed it.” He lifted a hand and gently trailed his knuckles over her cheek. She shivered. “It will be restored to its former qualities once we depart this place.”
“It matters not to me that you have decided to treat the city like a melted wax model and rearranged it to your dark designs.” She took a step back, unable to handle his nearness. It was as unsettling as it was alluring. “It is not for the buildings I mourn, Count Dracula. What of those who lie dead in the street?”
“Those lives shall remain spent. Humans will spawn and replenish their numbers like weeds, as is their nature.”
“I do not know how to forgive you for them. Or your callous dismissal of their meaningless part in this world.”
She drew back, but his hand caught her wrist before she could retreat any farther. He pulled her gently back toward him. He lifted her hands and removed her gloves. Carefully, he pressed her palm to his cheek. Crimson eyes closed, and he leaned into her touch. The hardness in his expression softened. “I know, Maxine.”
There was sadness in his voice. Regret. She sensed it, along with the rest of his emotions. Beneath the hunger she always felt from him, there were others flickering in the darkness. Determination and resolve. Curiosity. Grief. Then there was something strange. Something truly unexpected.
Hope.
Crimson eyes met hers, although he did not release her hand. “Yes. For the first time…in thousands of years…I have hope. And it is you who have brought it to me.”
She could do little more than whisper. “Then let me fulfill what it is you wish for. But I cannot do it while you hold this city hostage.”
“We have discussed why I will not negotiate with you for this city. We will leave, but not until my revenge on the hunters is