Lucy
“Why are you doing this?” I glare at Damek. “All of it—the test, being here. I presume you haven’t bothered to tell Dominik where I am?”
Damek shrugs. “He’ll work it out sooner or later, and I’m afraid your relatives don’t know what’s coming for them. As for why, it’s because you took the amulet.”
I manage not to put my hand to my throat where the amulet is on a chain around my neck, resting against my skin where I prefer it.
And it’s where Dominik prefers to see it, time and time again.
I’ve tried to research what it is and its origins, but it would appear it was found in a dowager countess’s collection around a hundred years ago, and no one knows anything about it before that time, even though it is considerably older.
“What amulet?”
“The one you wear and are unable to take off.” Damek’s face softens, or at least the part which isn’t a mask changes. “I know because it belonged to my mate, Josephine.”
“I…” I stumble over my response. I don’t want him to take it from me.
“Oh, it belongs to you now, Lucy. It could only ever belong to you. Your soul is strong. She would have wanted you to have it.”
“What happened to her?”
“She opened the vault,” he says, as if it was as easy as opening the pages of the book. “Josephine didn’t mean to do it. She was curious.” He sighs. “I loved that about her. But when she realized what she had done, she wasn’t going to let it continue.”
“You went in after her?”
“I stayed behind. I said I would finish what Dominik and the others had started, but I wanted to find her.”
“And did you?”
Damek shakes his head. The part of his jaw not covered by the mask clenches. “I searched. And when I thought I’d found her, hell threw me out.”
“So, all this time, you’ve been trying to open the vault to get back to her?” I say, my voice hoarse with realization.
“I admit, some of my methods have been less than subtle.” He gives me a slight, old-fashioned bow. “And when I first emerged, most likely entirely unhinged.”
“Yes. They were. You caused a whole load of chaos.”
“I shook up the monster world, yes. But I did it for a good reason,” Damek says. “And now I’m here to save you for good reason. Stand behind me.”
“What?” I cover my bump with my hand.
“Just do as I say.” Damek’s eyes blaze like Dominik’s do on occasion.
Outside of the room, I hear the sound of boots. Past me wants to fight, but present me is very much reminded of how pregnant I am. I fight when it’s necessary, and if I can put a vampire in between me and danger, it seems a more sensible option.
I step behind Damek as the door opens. To my surprise, rather than do something vampiric, Damek pulls out an assault rifle from under his jacket, and I just have time to put my fingers in my ear when he lets rip with it.
The air fills with the scent of cordite as I hide behind him, hoping no one fires back.
Finally the noise ends, and the room is filled with a mist caused by bullets impacting the walls and floor.
“It’s time to go, Lucy,” he says, shoving the rifle back under his coat. “And if you forgive me, I value what limbs I have left, so I won’t touch you, as Dominik will take my hands.”
He gestures to the now open door, and I expect to step over bodies as I exit. But it appears the volley of bullets from Damek has caused whoever was coming for us to change their minds.
“Go up the stairs. I’ll be right behind you,” Damek says, and I do.
At the top, there’s a door which is slightly open, and I halt my progress, checking if the way is clear through the crack.
There’s some movement and the sound of voices. I lean close. Regardless of whether I have an armed vampire, chances are my uncle and his minions have regrouped, and I’m absolutely certain they will want to deal with Damek using extreme prejudice.
“Hello, little dove,” Dominik rasps in my ear.
I think I levitate a foot off the ground.
“What? How?” I gasp as he wraps his arms around me.
“Did you think I’d leave you to the mercy of your unhinged family?” he says with a fanged grin.
I peer behind him, but there’s no sign of Damek.
“I had high hopes.” I slam my lips against his, and he kisses me back with the most perfect intensity.
I know we don’t have time for this. I know we don’t, but I thought my uncle had ended him not so long ago, and to have my Dominik, my vampire king, back in my arms again, his body pressed against mine—I don’t want to let him go.
“I’d have preferred it if you didn’t have to end up staked,” I add.
“Same here. It’s ruined my favorite suit,” Dominik says, brushing his lips over mine and making me tingle all over.
“Damek was here.” I look up into his face. “He helped me get out.”
“He was here? Why?”
“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “But he said he lost his mate to the vault.”
Dominik’s eyes darken. “He did. She had powers I’ve never come across in a vampire, and she thought she was opening a portal to another world. It was not. Her folly led to him losing her and eventually himself.”
“This amulet, the one from the museum, belonged to her.” I pull it out from under my clothes. “What does it all mean, Dominik?”
“I don’t know. But if he wants to open the vault…”
“What if he just wants to get back to his mate?” I say quickly. “What if he can’t exist without her?”
Dominik studies my face.
“He made his choice,” he says, but his voice is less certain.
“And what choice would you make?” I whisper.
“I’d choose you. I’d choose you every single time.”