Chapter 15
I heard two voices. One a bit too familiar.
“What is this? We drugged only her! You told me it only worked on witches,” said the familiar voice.
“I thought it did,” said the not so familiar one.
“Then what’s he doing here?”
“I have no idea.”
“Quickly, get him into the soundproof room while he’s still out of it and magically lock the door.”
Arms grabbed and hauled me over to a small room, the door slamming shut.
Silence surrounded me, and when the spinning room stopped, I found I was in…
a recording booth? It looked like one of the old abandoned ones found in Kennebunkport, a town south of Austen Heights.
It was well known that some famous singers used to perform here.
The room felt aged, and a film of dust sat over all the unused installations that hadn’t been taken when the place was deserted. An icy chill slid over me that had nothing to do with the lack of heat in the building.
I stood and peered through the window into the room where I’d been moments before. Lydia climbed to her feet in a near-empty room that appeared almost as abandoned as mine.
Are you okay? I asked.
I think so. You?
Yeah.
“Are you there?” I whispered into the mic still on my shirt, but only silence reached me. I delved into my pocket and took out my phone, but no service existed.
They must have a signal-canceling spell on this place, I thought. There would be no calling for help.
I turned my gaze to the two men with her in the room.
I blinked in surprise. What was this about?
What was Oscar doing here? His was the familiar voice I’d heard while I attempted to orient myself.
He stood there dressed in his formal butler attire, as if he’d come from serving Darcy. Which he probably had.
Another figure remained off to the side, tall and with a no-nonsense air about him. I recognized him as one of Darcy’s security guards.
Words passed between Lydia and Oscar, but I couldn’t hear them in the soundless room.
The guard took a step toward her, pulling a device that appeared suspiciously like it could pass for vampire teeth out of his pocket.
He attached the device to some plastic tubes that connected to what looked like a very large, empty blood bag.
Fear flashed across Lydia’s face as she stumbled backward.
Lydia, what’s happening? What are they saying?
I grabbed the doorhandle and tried to open the door.
I slammed my shoulder against it and it rattled, but it didn’t budge.
The door was heavy, and I was now remembering it was magically sealed.
There would be no breaking it down even with my vampire strength.
Oscar says that vampires killed his family. That he refuses to let the prince convince people that the laws need to be changed concerning them. Wickham, they’re going to drain me of my blood with that thing and blame it on you. They say with their device that they can do it in minutes.
I gritted my teeth, trying to think straight. They can’t. I’m here. I can tell the police who did it.
Lydia said something, but even through the glass Oscar didn’t appear fazed by it. He shrugged and motioned his man forward.
He says that nobody will believe you once they hear that you’ve killed your wife. Besides, there are more altruistic causes. Like making sure that Darcy doesn’t become king. He says that there are only a couple more council members left to persuade.
The council?
Of course. They worked with the king regent and could influence who inherited the throne.
He’s working for a member of the council, I thought. This had never been about me. This had always been about Darcy.
Wickham, we need a plan, Lydia thought. That potion knocked out access to my protective charms. I’m powerless.
They came at her, and she backed away. Lydia, keep him talking if you can. Ask him how he knew I was a vampire?
I saw her lips move, and Oscar’s eyes narrowed, but his mouth moved in response. He cast a disdainful glance at me.
He says he overheard Georgiana telling Darcy. They continued to advance, and she stumbled back. I don’t think that talking is going to work.
Reaching out, I banged on the glass, trying to get through, but the space had been spelled to lock me in. I wouldn’t be breaking through the window.
My fists clenched, every part of me taut and ready to go into action. I had to think of something. Something I could do. Lydia was unable to use her witch powers.
The room was protected against fae powers, and so that was out of the question. That left…
My vampire powers.
What could I do? Being a vampire only meant death and danger. I brought only death and danger. Could I really use my vampire abilities to save someone?
My hand landed on a pair of headphones hanging by the door as I tried to force my way through it even though I knew it was pointless. I couldn’t let this happen to Lydia.
But wait, there was one thing. The song. The vampire song was so powerful it was said to be impossible to resist by humans, fae, or any creature. But few vampires ever mastered it. I hadn’t.
But my wife was in danger. I thought of Lydia and her fierceness and determination.
She’d taught me the power of working as one, of being united.
With her, I would always be stronger than alone.
The power welled inside of me—a melody that begged to be released.
The need to protect her brining me to a certainty about my powers that I'd never experienced before.
I shut my eyes. Lydia… sing.
Sing? How is that going to—
Feel the power and sing.
I opened my mouth and sang. Lydia listened for a moment, then she matched my tune. The energy inside me went from me to her, and before long we found ourselves in perfect unison.
The melody flowed from me, right and true, and Lydia followed suit. And then I put intention into it. Tell them to release me from the room, that they will tell nobody that I’m a vampire, and then command them to sleep, I thought to Lydia.
Through the glass, I read her lips as she repeated my instructions.
Oscar suddenly became very drowsy. His head lulled to the side, and he lay on the ground and closed his eyes.
The guard dropped the device he held and walked over to the door. I sensed the moment that the protective magic lowered. The guard then also laid down and went to sleep. I burst through the door and rushed to Lydia.
Are you all right?
She gave me the widest grin as she threw her arms around me. “Of course. That was amazing! Who knew we could do so much with combining our powers?”
I shook my head, a smile coming to my lips. I should never have expected a different reaction from my little fae-witch. “Oscar had to know our entire plan. He was Darcy’s man. But how did they get that potion? How did they get you to take it?”
“When he came to drop off the hearing devices and he tripped over me, he must have slipped it into my drink,” Lydia said.
My arms embraced her and I held her near, wanting to feel her warmth and be certain that she was safe. I buried my face in her locks and breathed her in.
“I’m all right, Wickham. They didn’t even touch me,” she said softly, running a hand through my hair, and the tenseness of the last little bit finally seeped out of me. After a moment, she eased back. “I think my phone is ringing.”
Reluctantly letting her go, I approached the device on the floor and picked it up, brushing my thumb over the image branded on its side. A heart and a cross. I’d seen it before.
Lydia pulled out her phone. “The signal-canceling magic is gone.” Her phone immediately rang. “Hello? I’m fine. Wickham and I were just catching the bad guy. Yes, we did. How could you doubt us? I’m unsure of our location. Can’t you have Darcy track my phone?”
“Darcy?” I said into my mic but got no response. We were most likely well out of range of that technology.
After a few more minutes of assuring whoever she spoke with that she was okay—probably her sisters—Lydia finally hung up. “Darcy is tracking my phone. He’ll call the police.”
I nodded. “We’ll have to tell them we were both kidnapped, and they planned on killing both of us.”
“So that the police won't suspect that you are a vampire.” She nodded, then glanced at the sleeping culprits. “But they really wanted to set you up, since they knew you were a vampire and you used to be close to Darcy. And that he had recently given you money as a wedding gift. They wanted to discredit him by killing me and making it look like you did it. Once the police tested you and found out you were a vampire, they’d accept the whole thing.”
“And the blame would fall on Darcy for being a so-called vampire lover, and he’d lose everyone’s trust, and the council could move against him and force him to give up his role as heir to the throne.”
Lydia shook her head. “All this because Oscar’s family was killed by vampires.”
It felt weird. I’d grown up with Oscar around, serving the royal family.
Clearly he wasn’t a friend since he’d always kept his distance, being a bit snobbish.
But he’d been a fixture at Pemberley and in mine and Darcy’s lives.
“Oscar is super old, like hundreds of years old. His family died at least a hundred years ago. A lot has changed since then.”
“Poor guy. He even risked his job for it.”
“Unless he was getting more money to get Darcy disqualified as the heir. Someone on the council must have paid him.”
“But who?”
My thumb again grazed the symbol on the device in my hands. “I might have an idea.”