Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) - By Melissa F. Hart Page 0,44

in the green eyes and began to tremble. He was going to go ahead with this madness. I knew beyond a doubt that unless some miracle happened, he was going to destroy our race. I'm not a victim. I can't just sit here and do nothing. There must be something I can do. I thought in growing desperation.

My entire body was feverish and I'd begun to sweat. The heat from the stone was almost unbearable. I could feel the walls closing in on me and I struggled against the panic rising within me. I knew I needed to keep calm if I had a hope of escaping such madness. I took a deep breath and thought back to the night Dylan and I had started dating. He'd kissed me and told me that I was never getting rid of him. I felt a smile start inside of me at the memory, but kept it from appearing on my face. Instantly the panic within me subsided and I began to formulate a plan.

“Okay, we're heading for the vault.” He stated abruptly.

I raised a hand to halt him. He looked at me incredulously, but I ignored the pounding of my heart.

“First, I need to see Katrina and know that she's fine. No!” I stopped him when it looked like he was going to speak. “You can throw me around all you want, or beat the crap out of me like you've threatened, but it's not going to change my mind. And if you provoke me, this place will go up in flames and you with it.”

“Ha! You think you can bluff your way out of this? You won't kill your dear Aunt Katrina; you're too weak for that.” He said smugly.

But I just smiled a knowing smile at him and watched in satisfaction as his smug smile disappeared.

“Wanna bet?” I asked calmly. “You are going to destroy us all anyway, so I might as well help you do it.”

He stared at me with hatred blazing out of his eyes. “I'm so going to make you pay for this.” He stated then raised his voice, “Katrina!”

Chapter Seven

I held my breath as my grandmother walked out. Her hair was caught in a loose topknot, she had on a pair of pants and a sweater, obviously the same clothes she'd had on when she'd been taken from the house. Her hands were bound with platinum bonds and there was a band around her middle. This would have effectively sucked out her powers, making her incapable of acting. I stared at her and felt tears prick the back of my eyes. Even in her disheveled state, Katrina was still the most elegant looking woman I knew. I fought back the tears and nodded to her. Head held high, she nodded back and I tried to ignore the despair I could see clearly written on her face.

“Great, you've seen her, now let's move it!” He pointed to a door, which I recognized as the one which led to the vault. “You are coming with us.” He motioned to Katrina.

I racked my brain trying to think up a way to keep us out of the maximum security vault. As I worried fanatically what to do, I heard Katrina in my mind.

We need to get to the vault.

Are you serious? We're all toast if we go there!

Trust me, Lu. The vault.

I noticed Keenan casting suspicious glances at us even though we'd avoided eye contact while we communicated. I decided to trust Katrina and walked toward the door leading to the vault. Walking out the door, I stopped in front of a wall which was supposed to have turned into a staircase leading to a basement, but it was just a wall.

“Well?” I turned to him.

“Don't play dumb with me.” He snarled, “You know very well that it's wired to your DNA. Now get the damn thing open!”

I stared at the wall helplessly. How could I get it open? I'd gone in and out of this room when it had been installed. I'd been able to get it open then but it hadn't been something I'd done consciously. It had just opened for me. I touched different parts of the wall, in case there was a hidden switch or panel somewhere, no such luck.

“You're wasting my time.” He tapped his foot impatiently.

I knew there was no use explaining to him that I had no idea how to open the vault. I closed my eyes and thought back to when I