Forbidden (32 page)

Fane blinked, shocked by the concern he heard in the young girl’s voice.
 
“I didn’t do anything to her.”

“You kidnapped her!” she cried shrilly.

Sadly, Fane shook his head.
 
“No.
 
I mean…I was sent to find her…but she wanted to come back.”

It was Sadie’s turn to look shocked.
 
“But her husband…she knew he’d be furious.”

“Of course she did,” Fane spat, disliking the way his guilt tasted on his tongue.
 
He could have stopped her...he should have.
 
“But she wouldn’t risk that boy’s life.”

William stood up next to his sister.
 
“Gabriel?”

Fane nodded, his stomach churning with acid.
 
“Yeah.
 
The one that she was trying to protect.”

Nicolae came around to Fane’s front, his eyes searching for some sign of trickery.
 
“Roseline was trying to save Gabriel?”

Fane laughed bitterly.
 
“You act like that surprises you.
 
Didn’t you spend any time with her?
 
She’s the most selfless person to ever walk this earth…” he trailed off, his eyes flickering to where Roseline lay.
 
“And now she’s dying.”

Sadie cried out, covering her mouth with trembling hands.
 
William embraced his sister but was helpless to do anything.
 
Nicolae on the other hand glanced to the side, seeing a pale slip of white for the first time.
 
“She’s here?”

Fane nodded reluctantly, his eyes noting every move Sorin made.
 
If he took one step towards Roseline, Fane would rip his throat out.
 

“Bring her out here,” Nicolae commanded.
 
His tone wasn’t harsh, just firm.
 
Sadie glanced at him, admiring his new sense of control.

Shooting a warning glare in Sorin’s direction, Fane reached Roseline in two bounds.
 
He walked carefully with her out into the light.
 
Sadie wailed at the sight of her broken body.
 

“What have you done to her?” Nicolae gasped, horrified at the sight before him.

“That is what a vampire does Nicolae.
 
Remember your training.
 
Kill him while he’s distracted,” Sorin commanded, hopping towards the nearest wall.
 
His ankle was swelling at an alarming rate.
 

Nicolae looked torn.
 
The evidence was right in front of him and yet the grief shining from Fane’s eyes belayed that proof.
 
“Can you help her?”

Fane’s tormented gaze met Nicolae’s and a flicker of hope flared to life.
 
“Yes.
 
She needs blood.”
 
His eyes darted to the platform where the shirtless boy’s blood dripped uselessly onto the floor.
 
“Without it she will die.”

Nicolae blanched.
 
He raised his crossbow, aiming it directly into Fane’s heart.
 
“So you are a vampire.”

Sadly, Fane shook his head.
 
“No, I’m not a vampire.
 
I’m not evil enough to live up to that myth.”

“Well what the heck is that supposed to mean?” Sadie cried, pressing against the bars.
 
It was killing her to be in there, locked away, unable to help Rose…or Nicolae.

“It means I’m not the sadistic murderer that Sorin assumes I am,” Fane snarled, glaring at the man in mention.
 
Sorin rolled his eyes, clenching his teeth against the pain.
 
The bone was pressing tightly against the skin of his ankle.
 
A bad break but he’d live.

“Then what are you?” William asked, growing bolder.
 

“I’m an Immortal.”

Nicolae frowned.
 
“If you’re immortal than why is Roseline dying?
 
Her wounds…” Nicolae broke off; wincing as he looked at Roseline’s mangled body.
 
It was a miracle that she was still alive, if death was really an option.

“Blood is life…even for us.
 
She has lost too much.
 
She needs more.”

“Take mine.”

Fane’s eyes followed the hoarse whispered, narrowing in on the boy on the platform.
 
It was the first time he’d spoken.
 
With great effort the boy rolled his head and locked his glazed eyes on Fane.
 
“Save her.”

“You,” Fane gasped.
 
“This is a trap,” he hissed, curling Roseline closer into his arms.
 
He crouched low, prepared to fight his way out.
 
His eyes scanned the dark, sure there were others waiting to ambush him, but he heard nothing.
 

“No,” Nicolae cried, reaching out a hand towards Fane.
 
“Wait.
 
It’s not what you think.”

Sorin’s harsh laughter echoed throughout the room.
 
“It’s exactly what you think vampire.
 
You’ve been set up.
 
Elaborate eh?”

Fane glanced back at Sorin, his vision tainted red.
 
“Before this night is through I will have your head.”

Sorin grinned, leaning heavily on the sword in his hand.
 
“Why wait?
 
I’m right here,” he taunted.

 
Fane’s arms flinched, desperate to pummel Sorin, but he still held Roseline in his arms.
 
Nicolae shifted, pulling Fane’s attention away.

“Whose side are you on boy?
 
Choose now,” Fane growled.

Nicolae flinched, shooting a worried glance towards Sadie.
 
Her lips trembled.
 
Whether it was fear for her safety or his he didn’t know.
 
Nicolae straightened his shoulders and faced Fane.
 
“Will you let Sadie live?”

“You fool!” Sorin sneered.
 
“You’re making a deal with the devil!
 
He’ll rip her throat open as soon as he’s done with us.”

Nicolae refused to look at his uncle, taking a stand for the first time in his life.
 
“What say you?”

Fane nodded.
 
“You will all go free except Sorin.
 
He’s mine.”

“Please,” Gabriel begged, his voice growing weaker.
 
“There isn’t much time.”

Sadie and William held each other, pressing their faces against the bars.
 
They were desperate to help Gabriel…but would Fane allow them?
 
Would he willingly sacrifice Gabriel to save Roseline?

“Will she kill him?” Sadie asked, glancing at her best friend.
 
Roseline’s blood dripped onto the floor, pooling around Fane’s feet.
 

“More than likely,” Fane replied evenly.
 
Sadie was shocked to hear the regret in his voice.
 
She’d been sure that he wouldn’t care about taking a human life.

“Do it,” Gabriel croaked, struggling to lift his arm to Fane.
 
“Save her.”

Glancing to make sure Sorin couldn’t reach him, Fane leapt onto the platform, careful not to jostle Roseline too much.
 
He lowered her head, placing her open mouth directly under the blood flow.
 
It was much too slow.
 
Gabriel’s life was waning fast.

“What’s happening?” Sadie cried, desperate to know the details.
 
Her head craned as far as it would go, but she couldn’t see anything.

Nicolae swallowed back his revulsion.
 
“He’s feeding her.”

William gulped down the bile rising in his throat.
 
He clenched Sadie tightly.
 
“Is it working?”

Shaking his head, Nicolae refused to look away from Roseline.
 
“No.
 
She’s not moving.”

Fane shook her unconscious form, his desperation mounting as her pulse dropped to comatose levels.
 
“Please Roseline…don’t leave me.”

“How touching,” a sinister voice snaked out from the darkness.
 
All eyes turned towards the tunnel entrance, each one widening in terror at the sight of Vladimir and Lucien.
 
“It looks like the party has already started,”
Vladimir
crooned, stroking the sword hilt at his side.
 
His eyes gleamed black as the midnight sky outside, maniacal and blood thirsty.
 

“Let’s have some fun brother,” Lucien grinned.

Chapter 14

“Take her,” Fane roared, shoving Roseline’s limp body into Nicolae’s arms.
 
He didn’t take time to pray that he’d made the right decision in trusting the boy as he leapt from the platform.
 
Soaring high into the air, Fane arched his back and landed just out of reach of
Vladimir
’s sword.

“Fane,”
Vladimir
snarled.
 
“I believe you took something tonight that belongs to me.”

With his hand curled tightly around the hilt of his acquired sword, Fane’s lips curled up into a triumphant grin.
 
“I think you’re mistaken.
 
I took Roseline many years ago.”

Vladimir
’s eyes darkened and a jolt of dread washed down Fane’s spine.
 
“How dare you touch what’s mine!”
Vladimir
roared, surging forward.
 

The clash of swords shook Nicolae out of his paralysis.
 
He’d just been staring at the man his uncle had called Dracula ever since he’d been a young school boy.
 
The man who’d brutalized his parents.
 
Nicolae’s blood began to boil, his hands clinching like a vice around Roseline’s shattered arms.
 

Sadie screamed.
 
“Watch out!”

Nicolae ducked, his years of training kicking in.
 
He whirled out of the way of the oncoming sword, hearing it whistle past as it grazed his ear.
 
A tuft of hair sliced away from his head, evidence of how close he’d come to losing his life.

“Behind you!” William shouted

Without thinking Nicolae lunged to the side, letting Roseline slip from his arms as he cart wheeled away.
 
Lucien growled in frustration as Nicolae flipped over his head, snatching the crossbow as he went.
 
As soon as his feet touched the ground Nicolae was off.

He tried desperately to remember everything Sorin had taught him.
 
Speed, agility, cunning.
 
Nicolae knew he was no match for Lucien but he had to try, to avenge his parents death.
 
He just hoped Fane wouldn’t kill
Vladimir
before he got a chance to have a go at him as well.

Sadie screeched, burrowing deeper into William’s embrace as she watched Nicolae’s dance of death with Lucien.
 
She had never watched anything so mesmerizing before.
 
The man’s eyes were the purest evil she’d ever seen.
 
If Satan had been a flesh and blood man, his name would have been Lucien Enescue.
 
And to think he’d sired Gabriel!

“Nicolae!
 
The keys,” Sadie cried, reaching her hand through the bars to point towards the cell door keys that lay a few feet away.

Nicolae shot off three arrows at Lucien, forcing him behind a pillar as Nicolae dove for the keys that’d fallen to the floor, knocked loose from his belt.
 
Kicking off the wall, Nicolae spun and chucked them to the other side of the room, barely taking a second to applaud William’s skillful catch when a sword flashed in front of him, slicing through his shirt.

Pain pierced his chest but Nicolae ignored it as he shot another arrow, pointed directly as Lucien’s heart.
 
With a grunt, Lucien rolled out of the way, coming face to face with Sorin.
 
For all the old man’s bluster, he didn’t back down an ounce as he eagerly engaged Lucien.
 

Sounds of the battle rang out around the room, the clanging of weapons was nearly deafening.
 
Fane fought to keep up with
Vladimir
’s flashing sword while Sorin found himself backed into a corner, but he fought back fearlessly.
 
The instant he was free from attack, Nicolae leapt up onto the platform, slicing through the ties holding Gabriel to the table with a dagger he pulled from his boot.

Sadie slid to a stop at his side, her jeans soaking through with Gabriel’s blood.
 
“Help me get him into the cell!”

They each took one of Gabriel’s arms and dragged him across the room.
 
Fane caught a glance of their progress but instantly regretted his lack of concentration.
 
Vladimir
crowed with pleasure as his sword hit home, planting itself firmly in Fane’s side.
 
Fane’s scream echoed eerily as he staggered backward.
 

William rushed out of the cell; he stooped and cradled Roseline in his arms before rushing back to the safety of the cell.
 
Sadie and Nicolae passed by him, dropping a nearly unconscious Gabriel onto the ground next to her.
 
“Take care of them!” Nicolae shouted before racing back to the door.

Sadie lunged for him in protest but reared back as Nicolae slammed the door shut in her face.
 
“No!” she cried, clinging to Nicolae’s shirt.
 
Blood stained her hands.
 
Sadie gasped, staring at the deep gash across his chest.
 
“You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine,” he replied tersely, fighting to keep the pain out of his voice.
 

“Let me help you,” Sadie pleaded.
 

Nicolae smiled sadly.
 
“Rose needs you.”

Sadie’s lower lip began to tremble.
 
“But we need you.
 
I…I need you,” she whimpered, tears welling up.

Nicolae’s eyes widened in surprise as he grasped her hand.
 
“I promise I’ll be back!”
 
With that he pushed away, rushing to help his uncle.
 
And not a moment too soon.
 
Sorin yelped as Lucien’s blade sliced into his forearm.
 
His only source of defense clattered onto the stone floor.
 
Lucien grinned wickedly as he kicked the weapon away, advancing slowly.
 

Nicolae looked around, frantically searching for another sword.
 
His eyes lit on a glint of steel poking out of the shadows.
 
“Yes!” he cried, dive rolling to the side of the room.
 
His hand gripped the blood tipped sword that he’d stolen from Sorin’s den earlier in the evening.
 

“Sorin!” Nicolae shouted, tossing the sword through the air.
 
His uncle’s hand instantly latched onto the familiar weapon, grinning widely as he leaped back into the fray.
 
Lucien twisted and twirled, ducking and dodging as he fought Sorin and Nicolae.
 
His skill was legendary…almost as much as his murder rate.

If Fane had been human he was sure he would’ve passed out by now.
 
The fighting was intense as he struggled to remain focused.
 
The pain in his side was agonizing, his strength beginning to weaken as blood seeped from the wound.

Fane knew there was no way he could win.
 
Vladimir
was too skilled.
 
Too quick.
 
And
Vladimir
knew it!

“I should kill you slowly,”
Vladimir
snarled, lunging once more.
 
Fane parried and whirled just out of reach.
 
“But I will settle for having your head mounted on my bedroom wall so you can watch as I reclaim your precious Roseline!”

As soon as
Vladimir
advanced, his sword lancing through the air, Fane kicked off the wall.
 
He spun in midair, his feet braced for impact.
 
Vladimir
realized too late what Fane intended, but he couldn’t stop himself.
 
His forward momentum sent his sword slicing just under Fane, cutting nothing but air.
 
Vladimir
grunted as Fane’s feet slammed into his chest, toppling him end over end.

“Fane!” Sadie shrieked.
 
He spun around, launching himself towards the cell.
 
He nearly fainted with relief when he saw Roseline safely locked away.
 
But his joy was short lived.
 
“She’s not eating and I think Gabriel’s dead!”

Vladimir
roared like a rampaging lion as he shot across the room, sword lowered, aimed directly at the betrayer’s heart.
 
Fane spun out of the way with a second to spare.
 
His ears trained on the cell, desperate to hear four heartbeats.
 
Two of them raced madly, pumping blood with dizzying intensity.
 
One was slow but definitely there.
 
The fourth was horrifyingly weak.
 

“He’s alive…but just,” Fane grunted, knocking
Vladimir
’s sword to the side, instantly whirling around to parry his next blow.
 
“You have to wake Roseline up.
 
She has to drink from his artery!”

Sadie met William’s terrified gaze.
 
They looked down at their friends, both appearing lifeless on the cold stone floor.
 
“Help me!” Sadie screeched, yanking William down next to her.

“How do we wake her up?” William asked, feeling way in over his head.
 
How was he supposed to know how to save a Vampire…or an Immortal?

“I don’t know,” Sadie exclaimed.
 
Her desperation was beginning to meld into sheer panic.
 
“Slap her!”
 
William hesitated, horrified at the idea of hitting any girl, let alone a dying one.
 
“Oh move over you big lug!”

Sadie pulled her arm back and brought it down with more force than she knew she possessed.
 
Her hand smacked against Roseline’s head, tossing it forcefully to the side.

“Easy Sadie,” William hissed.
 
“I think her neck is already broken.”

Roseline groaned but didn’t wake.
 
“Should I do it again?” Sadie asked hesitantly.
 
She didn’t want to hit Rose but she would if that’s what it took to save her life.

Without waiting for William’s response, Sadie slapped Roseline again.
 
This time Roseline’s eyes fluttered open.

“Oh thank God!” Sadie exclaimed, shaking her.
 
“Rose.
 
You need to eat.”

The arm that wasn’t completely shattered tried feebly to push Sadie away.
 
But Roseline was too weak to put up a fight.
 
William grabbed Gabriel, thankful that the boy was unconscious for what was coming next.
 
He placed Gabriel’s arm over Roseline’s mouth and waited.

The scent of fresh blood hit Roseline hard.
 
She sniffed the air, saliva already beginning to pool in her mouth.
 
Her lips closed around the wound, sucking deeply.
 
A contented sigh escaped her lips as blood slowly trickled into her mouth.
 

“Is it working?” Fane shouted, narrowly missing another precision lunge.
 
He ducked under a table, throwing himself horizontally down the length of the solid oak slab and came out the other side, giving him a couple seconds to breathe.
 

“She’s drinking…I think,” William called.

Vladimir
hesitated for a second, casting his murderous glare at William.
 
The boy shrank back, suddenly doubting if the iron cage could really keep out the ticked off vampire.

“Hurry up!” Fane shouted, launching himself at
Vladimir
, kicking out his attacker’s leg while he was distracted.

Sadie bounced up and down next to Rose, finding it freakishly odd that she was cheering on her friend.
 
Surely she would need to spend years in therapy over this one!