Chapter Seven
Sophie crouched in the darkness on the bare floor of the cold stone vault and wished for her velvet cloak.
It had been left behind at Lady Cheshire’s.
Perhaps Miss Waterford will reclaim it, she thought wryly.
Perhaps I deserve this. She ran her hand over her pink satin dress. Stealing is a terrible crime after all.
Oh, Aunt Mildred, Aunt Agnes, where are you?
You must know by now that Alexi has snatched me.
It wouldn’t be long before they came to find her.
But they’d be no match for Alexi. Ghosts had advantages over vampires.
They could make themselves invisible, and they could enter and exit buildings through the walls, but they wouldn’t be able to compete with a vampire’s speed and strength.
If Alexi wanted to kill her, he could do so within seconds, and her aunts wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.
Sophie shrank back as the door to the vault opened, and the vampire stepped inside carrying a flaming torch.
She gasped. His fangs were out, and his mouth was stained with blood.
He was a frightening sight indeed, but he was not Alexi.
To be sure, he was as tall and pale as Alexi, but his hair was white-blond and his eyes deep gold.
Sophie trembled as he stepped toward her, certain he was going to kill her.
“This is to keep you warm,” he said, fixing the blazing torch to a sconce on the wall.
“Please let me go,” Sophie said. “My aunts will be searching for me.”
He nodded. “No doubt.”
Sophie’s stomach knotted. He clearly did not see her aunts as a threat. “What do you want from me?” she asked. “And what have you done with Alexi?”
The vampire fixed his golden eyes on her and gave her a long, hard stare. “You are so like your papa,” he said.
“My papa?” Sophie straightened. “What do you know of my papa? Is he alive?”
“That remains to be seen,” he said. Then he turned and walked to an open casket that lay in the center of the vault, climbed inside, and closed the lid.
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of sight.
Grateful for the light he’d given her, she stood, determined to find a way out of her prison.
But first, I must get rid of my crinoline.
The enormous cage that was the fashion for women was cumbersome and would hinder her escape, so it had to go.
Glancing at the coffin to check it was still closed, she lifted the skirt of her dress, untied the cotton ties that held up her crinoline at the waist, and let it drop to the floor.
Good riddance, she thought, as she stepped out of the cage and then kicked it into the corner.
Sophie then removed the torch from the sconce and held it up, scanning the vault’s walls.
As expected, there were no windows. She walked around the structure, pressing against the walls and checking for any weak spots.
There were none. The door, too, was securely fastened shut. There was no way out.
*
“Alexi, wake up!” Mildred and Agnes floated over Alexi, who lay slumped on the street corner in Berkeley Square, where their carriage had been parked.
“He’s not waking,” Agnes said. “He must have received a severe blow.”
“He must wake. We need to find out who took Sophie.”
“I have an idea. Wait here.” Agnes disappeared, leaving Mildred trying to rouse the vampire.
Several minutes later, Agnes returned with a bottle of smelling salts, which she stuck under Alexi’s sharp nose. His large nostrils flared, and his fangs emerged as he opened his red eyes.
“What is that?” He swung at the smelling salts, and the bottle flew into the air. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“No, we are trying to save you. Unless you wish to be lying here until the sun wakes you.”
Alexi blinked and then touched the back of his head. “Monstrum!” he mumbled.
“Who?” Agnes said. “Tell us, now! Whoever knocked you out took our Sophie.”
“It’s bad news,” Alexi said. “A vampire named Dimitri took Miss Spencer. He’s the most feared—”
“Yes, we know who Dimitri is. But why would he want Sophie…” Agnes’s voice trailed off as she realized the answer to her own question.
“Oh dear!” Mildred said, as she too realized the terrifying reality. Dimitri was going to feed off Sophie’s youth and beauty.
Perhaps he’d turn her into a vampire and force her to live with him forever.
“We must go to her,” Agnes said. “Can you take us to his vault?”
“I can, but it won’t do you any good. His vault is protected with ancient spells. No one can enter or exit without his permission, even ghosts.”
“Take us anyway,” Agnes said. “We’ll enter or die again trying.”