Chapter 26
Vampire Laboratory Compound, Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Nadya waited anxiously as the witch completed her tracking spell. She’d expected Maksim to rise as a vampire after three days, but it had been four, and he showed no signs of rousing. He hadn’t died as her other subjects had, so she remained hopeful. Without him to occupy her time, Nadya’s thoughts kept returning to the strange vampire she’d met at the final battle with Nikoli.
When she’d seen the blonde vampire on the battlefield, she’d sensed no bond between them, so Nadya had been shocked to see the fledgling struggling to use powers only she possessed. In that instant, she’d known the woman was the one Luca had spoken of.
Nadya was always prepared, so when Ash was impaled on a soldier’s sword, she waited until the blade had been pulled free and discarded and combat had shifted to another area before she came over to gather Ash’s blood. She sensed that the other vampire might pose a threat to her long-term plans, and having her blood would give Nadya a power she wouldn’t otherwise possess.
She forced herself to be patient as the witch added the final ingredient to the bowl of water. The surface shimmered and began to glow, and the witch’s eyes turned white. Several moments passed, and Nadya began to worry something had gone wrong. Then the witch’s eyes returned to their normal state. She sagged in relief and took a deep breath.
“I hate that feeling. I can never breathe right in that state,” the woman muttered.
“You won’t be breathing right in any state if you make me wait for news!” Nadya growled.
The witch smiled despite the threat. “I have good news, my queen. I found her. She is in the new palace, and it felt like she is there alone. I sensed guards and servants but no army.”
Nadya spent a moment musing about what would draw the Therian army away from the palace, but in true vampire fashion, she quickly returned to her original train of thought. Unlike her dim-witted opponents, she did have an army, and it was the perfect time to strike.
When Ivanna escaped, Nadya only managed to save one vial of serum. The dragon’s rampage had destroyed everything else. Trapped in a mausoleum and feeling maudlin at the loss of her scientists and research, Nadya had drunk the vial.
The pain had been excruciating and seemed eternal, but when it finally faded, Nadya was able to walk in the day. For the first time in five thousand years, she stepped into the sunlight and didn’t burn. She’d found a couple visiting a grave in the cemetery, drained them, and fed them her blood. She had dragged them into the mausoleum to see if they rose as daywalkers.
When she discovered that she could now create vampires who could withstand the sun, she turned an army, draining herself nearly to depletion over and over to build her forces.
Several of the Therians in her employ were associated with Jules, and although the two forces didn’t share information, Nadya was aware of the impending move against the crown. Her spies told her when they launched the attack. She’d planned to strike while the empire was weak, but since Ash was there, the opportunity was too good to pass up. She might never get another chance to take out both of her rivals so easily.
“Wonderful!” Nadya cried. “You did well, witch.” In a rare moment of self-recrimination, Nadya wished she knew the woman’s name to thank her. Still, she’d gotten more praise than most. “You may go. Prepare the others. We will need portals.”
Nadya practically skipped out of the mansion and across the sunlit lawn to the barracks her new army lived in. The vampire queen happily thought about her enhanced soldiers and giggled. Vampires 2.0. Everything was falling into place.
She threw open the doors to the barracks and let the sunlight in, illuminating the faces of hundreds of vampires. She smiled again and imagined the dumbstruck expression on Ash’s stupid face when an army of daywalkers descended on her.
She would never expect it. None of them would, not with Jules and his fool slavers attacking at the same time.
Ash’s death would have two benefits: the vampiric threat to her position would be gone, and Luca would be crushed. He’d already lost her as a human, and if Nadya ended her life as a vampire, it would break his spirit. He would be too upset to fight properly, which would leave him vulnerable.
Her voice rang through the cavernous room. “It’s time to go. Momma’s got work for you.”
They jumped into action, and Nadya turned to leave. She had two hundred and fifty daywalkers, and they were all disposable in her mind. If she lost them, she would make more. She’d seen Ash on the battlefield, so she wouldn’t underestimate her opponent. Although Nadya was confident that her army would eliminate the threat Ash posed, along with any Therians in the palace.
She hoped Luca would be there to see it happen.
Nadya ordered her Therians to go ahead with the rocket launchers. They would shoot at the mountain and the palace, and those inside would come out to repel the attack, never suspecting vampires in the sunlight. The plan was perfect. She knew it would work.
New Therian Palace
Three hours later, the Therians she’d taken from Jules stalked toward the mountain carrying the rocket launchers, and as planned, they fired. One hit the front of the palace, and the explosion took down a large chunk of wall. Rubble and boulders rolled down the side of the mountain. She very much enjoyed the idea of destroying the new palace they’d built.
Fuck the Therian empire.
The next shot hit a portion of the mountain under which Nadya suspected part of the palace lay.
Therians poured out of the palace to meet the attackers.
Nadya called the witches forward, and they made portals large enough for groups of vampires to pass through. Her Therians launched four rockets one after another, and they slammed into the palace. Parts of the exterior fell off, and Nadya smiled as she stepped through a portal.
After the upheaval in the war council, Viktorija distracted the riled kings and dukes while Ash and Luca slipped away to a quiet room, allowing the pair a private moment under the guise of diplomacy.
Luca slowly approached Ash, noting every aspect of her appearance. “You know…” he began nervously, “you are more impressive and more beautiful every time I see you.”
Her radiant smile warmed his heart. Even with red eyes, she was stunning. “I could say the same about you, Professor Hotpants.”
He grinned. “I will also accept ‘Lord Hotpants.’”
He’d taken a single step toward her, unable to resist the urge to touch her, when the first explosion shook the palace. Seconds later, another blast sent vibrations through the walls, and four additional explosions in succession shook the mountain under their feet.
Shouts of alarm came from the hallway as people raced by. “Enemies are attacking the outer wall!” a guard shouted.
The doors burst open, and the King’s Guard stormed into the room and surrounded the king. They turned on Ash like she was a threat, but Luca ordered them to stand down.
Ash’s eyes went blank. He was concerned at her sudden stillness but figured out she was having a vision. She stayed that way for a few seconds, then shook her head. Awareness returned to her eyes.
“What did you see?” he asked.
Her face paled. “The attack is a distraction. It’s not Jules. Just like I feared it would be, it’s Nadya. She’s using Jules as a distraction. She has an army of daywalking vampires. I saw witches and portals, too. I think they’re planning on using them to get into the palace.”
Ivanna ran into the room and skidded to a stop, covered in blood and panting. “Luca! I came to warn you about Jules, but Ash beat me to it. Thank you, by the way. Did you say Nadya is attacking with an army of daywalkers? This isn’t Jules?”
“They aren’t working together, but Nadya was aware of Jules’ plans and used them to her advantage,” Ash explained.
Ivanna looked sick. “Daywalkers! They were always experimenting on me. Nadya’s mad scientists took my blood and used it to create all kinds of things to help the vampires. Some of it worked, but most of it didn’t. It’s possible they found a way on their own, without magic.”
The palace shook, and something fell off and rolled down the mountain.
“We have to tell everyone. They will never expect vampires to appear in the palace. We were preparing for an external assault by Jules,” Luca insisted.
“Viktorija sent the soldiers out to fight the Therians. There is a cluster of them outside with rockets,” Ivanna replied. They stopped in the war council room to grab weapons from a cabinet in the corner.
“Then we need to move faster.” Ash turned toward the door. “She’s using them as a distraction to get the army out of the palace so she can take it from the inside!”
As they sprinted down the hall, a portal opened in front of them, and dozens of vampires ran out. Ash kicked the first one in the chest, and he flew back through the portal. When another attacked her, she dodged his punch.
She caught his hand and broke his elbow. As the vampire screamed, she retrieved her obsidian blade from her boot and rammed it into the base of his skull. That severed his spinal column and brain stem, and he dropped to the floor.
Ash took on another, and Luca fought two. He grabbed one by the throat and slammed him into the wall before decapitating him. The blade caught the second bloodsucker and took a chunk out of her neck. He dropped the sword and ripped her head the rest of the way off by brute force.
“Damn!” Ash exclaimed.
Luca shrugged. “That’s your lesson for the day. They are easier to decapitate if you take a chunk out of them first.”
“Duly noted.” She rushed toward a vampire who was about to attack Ivanna.
The duchess dove into the fight alongside the others. She hadn’t trained in hand-to-hand combat as long as Ash or Luca, but a few weeks with Viktorija were more intensive than most training programs, so she held her ground.
Ash threw her knife, and the blade pierced the throat of a vampire reaching for Ivanna. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would distract him long enough for Ivanna to make her move. In seconds, he and the other two vampires she was fighting were down.
“Where did the rest of them go?” Ash asked. They’d only taken down half of those who had come through.
“They probably fanned out throughout the palace, searching for weaker victims,” Luca offered.
“Or they’re searching for more of their kind to group up with to attack in larger numbers,” Ivanna added.
“I’m gonna go with that one,” Ash replied. “That doesn’t matter. We have to secure the palace. Luca, tell the others and prepare for the attack. Ivanna will cover me while I get this portal closed.” Ash dodged a vampire who leaped through the portal, then moved behind him and swept his legs. She leaned down, ripped his arm off, and used it to clothesline another charging vampire. She laughed. “We’re fine. We’ve got this.”
He had no reason to doubt her, and it would be pointless anyway. He had a responsibility to his people, so he needed to move his ass.