Forbidden (31 page)

Dogs howled in the distance.
 
Fane stopped, gripping Roseline tightly.
 
“Oh no!” he cried, his desperation mounting.
 
Vladimir
already knew!
 
They’d be hindered by the snow that’d begun to fall in heavy sheets, but Fane was no fool.
 
Nothing would stop
Vladimir
now.

Fane raced through the woods, not caring about the branches that reached out, lashing against his skin.
 
He cuddled Roseline tighter to him, shielding her.
 
The moon flitted in and out, doing little to help light Fane’s path.

A scent hit him, bold and mouth watering.
 
Fane slid to a stop, sniffing the air.
 
Fresh blood…human blood!

Fane shifted his course without thinking.
 
All that mattered was healing Roseline.
 
If she could feed then they might stand a chance.

He followed the scent into unfamiliar territory.
 
If he’d been thinking rationally, Fane would have instantly realized why he’d never been in this part of the woods before.
 
But his terror had overridden sanity.
 

A towering stone wall appeared before him but Fane scaled it easily.
 
His feet landed with a soft whisper on the grass.
 
He was racing ahead before his mind even realized he was on the ground.
 

A small darkened hole appeared and Fane dove into it.
 
His feet plodded on the hard dirt floor, wondering where exactly the tunnel would lead.
 
The scent was getting stronger so he pushed forward, calling on energy reserves that he hadn’t been forced to use in ages.

The second he stepped into the light he knew it was a trap.
 
A glint of steel shot out from the dark, narrowly missing his neck.
 
Fane dove to the right, curling his body around Roseline as he rolled back to his feet.
 

Fane glanced at the sword quivering a few feet away. It was wedged in the stone, deep enough that a human would struggle to pull it free.
 
Luckily he wasn’t human!

“I’m sorry, my love.”
 
Fane kissed Roseline’s feverish forehead and laid her on the bare floor.
 
He hated to leave her, fearful that she might be attacked while she was helpless.
 
There was only one thing he could do…keep his attacker’s gaze fixed on him until he could dispose of the human.

Taking a deep breath, Fane leaped, grasping the sword from the wall as he spun back out of sight.
 
An arrow shot through the air, whizzing past his ear.
 
A narrow miss.

“I didn’t expect
you
to come,” a deep voice called from the shadows.
 

Fane glanced around, searching for the source.
 
The sword and arrow had come from two different directions which meant he had at least two attackers to draw out.
 
“Yeah well, I thought I’d take a midnight stroll,” Fane called, rolling tightly along the ground to a pillar nearby.
 
Each movement he made was visible for only a split second.
 
He hoped it was enough to distract them away from Roseline.

“You were a fool to come.
 
But I guess it’s just as well.
 
She will come for both of you.”

Scrunching up his brow, Fane pondered over the man’s words.
 
He knew the voice.
 
Oh yes.
 
He’d know that voice anywhere.
 
It was Sorin Funar.
 
He’d made it his life’s mission to kill Fane and his family after that little Halloween incident ten years ago.

But what did he mean about both of them?
 
Was another of his family captured here?
 
He couldn’t smell anyone.
 
No big surprise since the human blood was overloading his senses.
 
It was cool and refreshing, like the smell of a golf course after a spring rain.
 
It was a mouthwatering aroma, but it turned Fane’s stomach.
 

No.
 
He would not be a monster like Vladimir or Lucien.
 
The pull of human blood would not sway him.
 
He was here for the blood, true, but only to heal Roseline.
 
Nothing more!

“Don’t you want to come out and play?” the throaty voice taunted.
 

Fane cocked his head.
 
He could hear a heart beat…but it wasn’t alone.
 
He listened intently, counting five heartbeats in total.
 
One was to his right, perched up in the rafters of the dungeon.
 
A second, racing rather quickly, was hiding just off to his left, tucked behind a half wall.
 
His fear tainted Fane’s nose with its enticing scent.
 
The animalistic predator in him rose to the surface but he instantly squelched it back down.
 

Two other heartbeats huddled together across the room.
 
Fane risked a glance, noting two kids locked in a cell.
 
He didn’t stop to wonder why they were caged as he threw himself to the side, kicking off the stone wall.
 
Fane flipped over the half wall, scaring its young occupant.
 
An arrow shot out but flew wide as Fane landed on his toes and immediately scaled the pillar in front of him.
 

Once he was in position, high above Sorin, Fane took a second to look around.
 
Twenty feet below him was the last heart beat.
 
Now he could understand why it was slowly fading.
 
A boy, his face rolled away, was slowly bleeding out.
 
His body was riddled with small incisions, allowing a slow trickle of blood to flow, pooling on the ground below him.

Fane gritted his teeth, angered by the waste of the boy’s precious blood.
 
Roseline desperately needed it.
 
And then it hit him.
 
Fury curled like a venomous snake in the pit of his stomach.
 
The boy was the trap.
 
A trap for Roseline.

Fane gnashed his teeth at Sorin’s cruelty.
 
If Fane hadn’t been so desperate to heal Roseline he never would have followed the scent.

“So do you like my little party favor?” Sorin asked, his voice echoing around the room.

A whimper below caught Fane’s attention.
 
His gaze drilled into the girl trapped in the cell.
 
She clung desperately to a boy whose facial features greatly resembled her own. The girl’s frightened eyes were locked onto the bleeding boy on the platform.
 
Something flickered in the back of his mind.
 
Recognition?
 
Perhaps.
 
She did look oddly familiar.

“Come now,” Sorin called, shifting in his perch.
 
He was searching for Fane but couldn’t find any trace of him.
 
That made Sorin a tad uneasy.
 
“Don’t you want a taste?
 
Just one little bite.”

Fane licked his lips, struggling against the sudden urge to do just that.
 
He shook his head, scolding himself for being so weak.
 
No.
 
He refused to become a monster.

“It won’t work Sorin.
 
The boy doesn’t entice me.”

“Then why are you here?” he taunted.
 
“Surely you smelled something you liked.”

Yes.
 
He liked it alright.
 
But Fane wasn’t here for that.
 
He was here for Roseline.
 
Fane glanced down; checking to make sure Roseline was still safe.
 
Her skin looked frightfully pale against her stained dress.
 
Blood began to seep out from under her, staining the aged stone, her life slipping away.
 
He had to move.
 

“So what do you propose then?” Fane asked, leaping down from his perch.
 
He stretched out his hand, letting his fingers graze Sorin’s cheek as he passed.
 
He landed easily on the floor, righting himself instantly as he gazed up at Sorin.

Sorin jerked back, nearly toppling out of his perch.
 
He fumed as he pulled himself upright.
 
How had the filthy vampire gotten the better of him?
 
Sorin glanced down, noting his nephew was moving into position.
 
The vampire stood right in the open, waiting, watching.

An audible gasp nearby shook Fane’s concentration.
 
He glanced to the side, meeting the furious girl’s gaze.
 
“You!” she shrieked, rising to her feet.
 
“What have you done with Rose?”

That was all it took for Sorin and Nicolae to attack.
 
Fane ducked as the arrows flew.
 
One planted firmly in his calf as he dove out of the way.
 
He howled with pain, yanking the metal tip from his leg.
 
Rolling to his feet, he favored his injured leg.

“Not quite so fast now are you?” Sorin crowed.

Nicolae was on the move.
 
Fane listened as his heart beat drummed loudly, masking the sound of his feet on the stone floor.
 

“Watch out!” the boy in the cell yelled just as Sorin launched himself from his perch.
 

Fane ducked to the right, waiting till the last second.
 
Sorin screamed as he landed, the bone in his ankle crunching under him.
 
Nicolae darted from his hiding place but just stood still, watching his uncle stumble.
 
He’d never seen his uncle worried before.

“Did you forget that you’re human?” Fane laughed, approaching Sorin slowly.
 
The older man backed up, wincing as his ankle buckled under him.
 
“That’s the nice thing about being me,” he laughed, jumping on both of his feet.
 
“I heal quickly!”

Sorin’s eyes blazed with fury.
 
“You won’t when I cut off your head,” he snarled.

Fane cocked his head to the side, tapping his lips as he pretended to think it over.
 
“Well no.
 
That might ruin my day.”

Nicolae started to inch forward but jerked back when Fane glanced at him.
 
“If you want to live, I’d stay right where you are.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Sorin roared.
 
“Kill him!”

Fane glanced back at the boy, his eyes narrowing.
 
“Hey.
 
Don’t I know you?”
 
Nicolae paled, shaking his head.
 
Fane snapped his fingers.
 
“You’re that boy I ran into at that stupid dance.
 
I thought you looked familiar.”

Nicolae clenched his jaw but said nothing.
 
“So you were the one he sent to spy on Roseline,” Fane said, his eyes narrowing with anger.
 
“I should kill you where you stand.”

“No!” the girl in the cell screamed.
 
“He’s not like his uncle!”

Fane glanced behind him.
 
Now he began to understand why she looked familiar.
 
“You’re the girl from the dance, the one I pushed aside,” he said, more to himself than anyone else.
 
His eyes flickered towards William and a shadow of anger draped over his face.
 
Oh yes, this one he remembered.
 

“Yeah and I’ve still got the bump to prove it,” Sadie grumbled, unconsciously rubbing the sore spot.
 
The swelling had mostly gone down but the bruise would linger for days.
 
“Where’s Rose?
 
What have you done with her?”