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Chapter 1

Flying at high speeds through a forest is less dangerous than it looks At least, that’s what I told myself the few times I opened my eyes Mostly, I kept them shut Not just because it was easier to , but I also didn’t need to kno close we came to the countless trees Vlad h the thickly wooded countryside

You’ll survive if he hits one, I reminded myself We were both vampires, so we could heal almost any injury in seconds, but I hoped I wasn’t about to find out how much it would hurt if we splatted into a tree at over a hundred miles an hour I already knew more about pain than most people ever would, and I didn’t want to add to that repertoire

“Is Branson still in thehis voice so the wind couldn’t snatch away his words

I ranon to this entire tiue with Vlad’s nephew/stepson/neorst ene for Mircea for months, yet had come up empty Branson was our best lead on him, and soon we’d find out exactly what Branson knew about Mircea

I concentrated on the essence trail that Branson had imprinted upon the belt buckle until it sharpened my inner focus Once I had followed it back to its source,on the look of an odd double exposure Part of h while the rest of s and tall, fancy paintings lining both sides of the walls

“Yes He’s pacing now, and he keeps checking his cell phone”

I felt Vlad’s chuckle as it vibrated against my forehead, and it held the distinct undercurrent of a predator’s growl “He won’t be waiting long for my reply”

With that, we broke through the tree line I dropped lie house wasover two stories high and ancient lookout towers over the formal entryway The tall trees hid the city beyond, and the vast grounds kept the other views of civilization away,it look as if we’d been dropped back in time several hundred years

Since Vlad had been born in the fourteen hundreds, he ought to feel right at ho Since I was only twenty-six, I didn’t

Vlad slowed down, dropping us onto the manicured part of the lawn that surrounded the fortress “Stay here,” he said, striding toward the entrance

I caught up to hiether’ did you translate as ‘leave Leila behind’?” I hissed, keeping my voice down since eren’t the only ones with supernatural hearing

His aura broke through his inner shields Even though he’d released only a sliver of his power, it still felt as if I’d just gotten subconsciously scalded If I were anyone else, I’d be terrified at pissing off the legendary Vlad Tepesh,“Impaler,” aka Dracula, aka don’t-ever-call-him-Dracula-if-you-want-to-live, but I was Mrs Vlad Dracul, thank you verythis crap with me

“We can fight about it until Branson hears us, or we can get hi my eyes “Your choice”

The high-arched portico covering the fortress’sout fire and pieces of stone I ducked fro chaos, the fire parting to let him pass

“Does that answer your question?” he asked

Before I could respond, a wall of fire sprang up, spreading until it encoed hisstealthy Worse, now I couldn’t follow him Unlike Vlad, I wasn’t fireproof

“That’s cheating!” I shouted No need to talk softly now

I thought I heard hi of stone fro entryway, I couldn’t be sure Damn Vlad and his archaic ideas about wouard back at his castle in Romania I probably would be, if an enemy hadn’t blown up his castle and kidnapped o Otherwise, Vlad would never have agreed to go back on his no-wife-allowed-on-killing-missions rule

Or, I thought, eyeing the wall of fire that only he could pass through, it seeround I could stand here and seethe, or I could e was a dish best served cold, and I would get hi around me wasn’t on fire

I rubbed the belt buckle again, seeking the essence ied into the richly furnished roo in Branson wasn’t looking at his phone any out thein horror at flames that leapt all the way up to the roof Branson knew only one vampire in the world could control fire this way, and it was the sa

Then Branson ran, which I expected, but he didn’t head for the door Instead, he pressed a panel near one of the roo open, and he darted inside a steel-lined room and closed the door before I could mentally switch channels

Branson has a panic room! I sent to Vlad once I was tuned in to him

Vlad paused on his way up a long, curved staircase, giving an alance toward the second floor er 1