Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
KAGE
Imelted back against the wall as Val stepped into the hallway. The small bit of bravery I’d found in his bedroom had vanished the moment his fangs flashed. For ten minutes, I’d tried to go back into his room but couldn’t bring myself to do it.
The look in his eyes when I mentioned blood was something I never wanted to see again. Right along with his fangs.
“I know you’re here.” Val didn’t look in my direction. “Stay close.”
His words sent a tremor through me. How had he known? I should have asked him if he could smell my magic over the faint nut smell that remained, but there were too many guards and servants in the hallway.
I swallowed hard and followed at a distance, my feet making no sound on the polished floor.
Val walked with a slight unsteadiness, one hand occasionally bracing himself against the wall. The poison still affected him, but he maintained a rigid posture that suggested he wasn’t about to let anyone see his weakness.
Especially not his father.
Once downstairs, the dining room doors loomed ahead of us, massive slabs of the strongest wood carved with the Sangre family crest—a rose dripping blood into a goblet. Val paused before them, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath.
I hovered behind him, anxiety crawling up my spine like spiders. The nut paste Nico had given me was fading. I could feel my protection thinning, my scent probably becoming detectable to anyone with strong enough senses.
Would Val’s father notice? Would he smell me the moment we entered?
I pressed myself into a small alcove as a servant passed, holding my breath until they disappeared around a corner.
Val hadn’t moved.
“No matter what happens in there, don’t reveal yourself,” he whispered so softly I almost missed it.
If Val thought I’d be detectable, he wouldn’t let me go in, would he?
My throat had closed up entirely.
He pushed open the doors, and I slipped in behind him before they swung shut. Valentino sat at the head of an absurdly long table, only two place settings laid out despite the capacity for twenty. The distance between father and son stretched symbolically across the polished wood.
“It took you long enough.” Valentino was already eating.
“Forgive me, Father. Near-death experiences slow one down.” Val took his seat, the chair scraping against the floor.
My hands wouldn’t stop trembling. I tucked them under my arms and pressed myself against a nearby wall.
A servant appeared, silent and expressionless, pouring a thick, dark liquid into two crystal goblets. It was too thick to be wine.
Blood.
My stomach lurched, and I bit down hard on my lip to keep from making a sound.
Valentino’s eyes traveled over his son with cool assessment before gesturing to the goblet in front of Val. “A special blend for tonight. Squirrel, wolf, and fire mage. Quite a rare combination.”
Val’s attention hadn’t left the goblet since it had been poured, and something hungry flashed across his face before he suppressed it. He moved his hand to the goblet’s stem but didn’t lift it. “You’ve outdone yourself. How many guards had to hold them down as you forcefully took it?”
“Always so dramatic.” Valentino laughed. “I wish the panther hadn’t lost so much blood. He would have been a nice addition to the blend.”
Val’s fingers tightened around the stem of the goblet. “Tell me of your plans, Father.” Val’s voice remained steady, but his shoulders and neck were tense. “How many vacants does it take to seize a throne?”
Valentino tapped his fingernails against his goblet. “Five hundred should suffice. Though I may have Taylor create more, just to be thorough.”
“And then what? You’ll turn anyone who doesn’t fall in line into one as well?” Val grabbed his fork with his other hand and brought a piece of meat to his nose. He smelled it but didn’t put it in his mouth.
“Taylor and the vacants are merely the means to an end. A shield between me and those who would oppose my reign.” Valentino lifted his goblet and drank.
Val’s eyes were on his father’s throat as he swallowed.
“Aren’t you drinking? It’s quite exceptional.” Valentino set down his goblet, a smear of crimson on his upper lip. “Or perhaps you prefer the squirrel directly from the vein? That can be arranged.”
Val’s hand tightened on his fork. “I’d be more inclined to drink if I weren’t concerned about being poisoned twice in one day.”
“A fair concern. I had assumed you still preferred to drink indirectly, but perhaps your tastes have changed.” Valentino lifted the goblet again and drank.
An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, and I resisted the urge to flee.
I could find another way to get Nico free if I really put my mind to it.
There had to be alternatives I hadn’t considered yet, a plan that didn’t involve standing invisible in a room with two predators drinking blood from crystal.
But I remained frozen in place, knowing that leaving now meant abandoning Val to face his father alone and losing what might be our only real chance at understanding what we were truly up against.
“Steve!” Valentino bellowed suddenly, causing me to let out a small gasp. Valentino’s attention snapped to where I was, narrowing. “What—”
“You’ve convinced me.” Val lifted his goblet, and his father’s attention was drawn away from me.
He brought it to his nose first, and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment. When he opened them, something wild and hungry flashed in them, quickly hidden behind a mask of cool indifference.
But I had seen the raw, primal need.
With a deliberate motion, he brought the goblet to his lips and drank. The change in him was immediate. A shudder passed through his body, his fingers tightening on the crystal until I thought it might shatter.
My breath caught in my throat as I realized Val might be more dangerous than any of us had expected. Not because he was evil like his father, but because he was fighting a battle that he might not win.
And if he lost that battle, what would happen to Nico? To Amari? To Sammy?
To me?
The door opened, and the horned demon entered. “My lord?”
“It seems my son has changed his mind.” Valentino’s eyes moved to where I stood. “However, I require assistance in capturing the house mage.”
I couldn’t move.
The moment Valentino called for his guard to seize me, my muscles locked, and terror rooted me to the spot. Every instinct screamed at me to flee, to vanish into the walls and escape this nightmare. But my body refused to obey.
Val exploded from his chair, sending it crashing to the floor. The goblet in his hand shattered, spraying droplets of blood across his shirt and face. His movements blurred as he launched himself at Steve, a snarl ripping from his throat that sounded more beast than man.
Steve barely had time to draw his sword before Val was on him.
The massive horned demon outweighed Val by at least a hundred pounds, but Val moved with unnatural speed, even compromised by poison.
He ducked under Steve’s first swing and drove his fist into the guard’s midsection with such force that I heard ribs crack.
Steve doubled over, gasping. Val gripped his wrist and twisted it. The sword clattered to the floor as Steve howled in pain. Val followed with an uppercut that lifted the demon off his feet before slamming him against the wall.
Three more guards rushed in, weapons drawn.
My paralysis broke, but not from courage—from pure, unfiltered panic. Standing still meant death. The sword lay on the floor between me and the approaching guards.
I lunged for it, my fingers closing around the hilt. The weight nearly pulled me off balance, but I managed to lift it, arms trembling.
I could make smaller objects invisible, but not something like a sword, and certainly not under duress. One guard spotted the floating sword trembling in the air. His eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed, and he charged at me.
I swung wildly, the blade whooshing through the air as the guard easily sidestepped. He came at me again, his own sword slicing down in a deadly arc. I raised mine at the last second, metal meeting metal with a force that jarred my bones and sent vibrations up my arms.
Val battled the other two guards, blood streaming from a gash on his cheek. I stumbled backward, nearly tripping over a fallen chair. The guard forced me to retreat until my back hit the wall.
I didn’t need to win. I just needed to survive long enough for Val to—
A hand clamped around my throat, lifting me off the ground. The sword fell from my grasp, and my invisibility faltered as I clawed at Valentino’s fingers crushing my windpipe.
“Such a nuisance,” Valentino hissed, his face inches from mine. “I thought your kind knew better than to interfere in vampire business.”
Black spots danced across my vision. My lungs burned for air.
Across the room, Val threw the last guard into a wall, a painting overhead falling. He turned, eyes wild and unfocused, blood smeared across his face and hands.
When his gaze locked on his father holding me, something changed in him. The last vestiges of control vanished, and his lips pulled back in a feral snarl, exposing fangs that seemed longer and sharper than before.
“Let. Him. Go.” Each word dripped with menace.
Valentino’s grip loosened slightly, enough for me to draw a ragged breath. “Son, you need to calm yourself. The blood is affecting your judgment.”
Val stalked toward us, his movements predatory and fluid. His eyes had darkened to near-black, the pupils dilated until almost no iris remained.
“Son, you’re descending into blood—”
Valentino never finished his sentence. Val moved in a blur of motion, too fast to see. One moment he stood ten feet away; the next, something sharp plunged through Valentino’s chest.
Valentino’s grip on my throat released completely. I stumbled to the side and collapsed to the floor, gasping and choking. Val’s face showed no emotion as he withdrew the sword, and his father turned to face him.
And then, to my horror, Val’s hand darted forward before withdrawing with his father’s heart clutched in his bloody fingers.
Valentino stared down at the gaping hole in his chest, his mouth working silently, eyes wide with disbelief.
“You always said I lacked conviction.” Val squeezed the still-pulsing organ until it burst between his fingers. “You were wrong.”
Valentino fell to the floor beside me, his body convulsing twice before going completely still. Blood pooled beneath him, seeping into my clothes.
The two guards that I hadn’t realized had arrived at the door turned and fled. The dining room fell silent except for my ragged breathing and the soft drip of blood from Val’s fingertips.
I sat frozen in Valentino’s blood, unable to process what had just happened. Val had killed his father. He’d ripped his heart out with bare hands.
Val stood motionless, staring down at his father’s corpse. The wildness in his eyes receded, awareness slowly returning.
He looked at his bloodied hands, then at me huddled on the floor. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head, unable to find my voice. My throat throbbed where Valentino had gripped it.
Val knelt beside me, careful to keep a distance between us. “I need you to listen carefully. Guards will be coming. We don’t have much time.”
I nodded, still mute with shock.
Val gestured to Steve. “The dungeon keys should be on him. Get Nico and Amari out. I’ll...” He paused, seeming to search for words. “I’ll deal with this.”
Bile rose in my throat as I forced myself to move and search Steve. The keys were tucked into his pocket, attached to a chain on his belt.
Val watched me, his expression unreadable. “Go. Now.”
I clutched the keys to my chest and scrambled to the door, nearly slipping in blood where there was no carpet. The room tilted and swayed around me, and I grabbed onto the doorframe.
“Kage?” I looked over my shoulder at Val. “You did well.”
Did well? I’d done nothing but stand there while Val massacred his own father and three guards. I’d been useless and terrified.
But as I looked at Val—blood-soaked and dangerous—I realized he was right. I’d stayed. I hadn’t run. For Nico. For Sammy.
That had to count for something.