Beneath the scent of danger, she sensed another aroma. One vaguely familiar and as tantalizing as the fear.
No matter how terrified she felt she should be, she was never going to run again. She planted her feet wide and stretched a hand out toward the cave wall to help steady her resolve—it found only air.
“What are you?”
Brett’s gaze traveled from her to a spot behind her. Sonia wheeled in time to see the witch and fairy were coming toward her. The fairy’s hands were moving, and the witch was muttering something under her breath.
Before she could launch herself in their direction, Brett’s so-familiar voice cut through the space between them. “Leave her alone.”
The fairy kept his unwavering gaze on her. It was the witch who looked away from her and spoke, her tone soft. “It’s not her, Brett. I know she looks like your friend, but it’s not her any longer. She’s the vampire queen now.”
“I know, Caitlin.” At the sound of Brett trying to stand, Sonia looked back at him, ready to attack. He met her eyes. She found no hostility or aggression. Impossibly, he looked like the same man she’d loved so much all those lifetimes ago.
How she hated him.
Never looking away, he addressed the other two once more. “Leave us.”
“Brett, you can’t save—”
“Caitlin, I know. Still. Leave us. Please.”
A growl issued from the naked body on the ground. Sonia narrowed her eyes at the form, trying to make sense of the image and smell. Then it hit her. Werewolf. Of course. It was a testament to how disconcerted she was that she hadn’t recognized the scent for what it was. She’d smelled plenty of wolves at the Square. This one was the first she’d sensed since coming to the Vampire Cathedral.
“Take Shane with you. Please.”
The fairy continued to keep Sonia in his sight, never glancing away for a moment. “Brett, take your own life in your hands if you must, but you are not the only one to consider. There are the mers. You owe them.”
Brett’s voice was cold as he replied. “You don’t need to remind me of my commitments, Newton. I’m looking at one of them right now.”
The fairy motioned to the bones behind him. “Don’t take too long. He heals quickly.”
Sonia followed the gesture and remembered the vampire for the first time. She was shocked she’d managed to forget him. Sure enough, the bones were hidden beneath blackened flesh.
“I won’t let him get too far. I’ll burn him again as soon as he reaches the place he was last time.”
“I wouldn’t let him get that—”
“Just go, Caitlin.”
Sonia watched as the witch uttered some words and the bleeding man lifted off the ground and floated toward the opening and then from view. “Five minutes, demon. That’s it.”
Before Sonia was certain the witch had left, she turned back to Brett. Her gaze traveled over his body, searching intently. Other than new scars here and there, his body was no different than what she was able to recall from her human life. Suddenly not wanting to look at him, she forced herself to meet his eyes. “She called you ‘demon.’ You’re a demon?”
He nodded.
She’d heard of them at the Square. Always mentioned in greatest reverence and fear. Almost to the point they’d seemed like some ancient deity. Too all-powerful to actually be real. She stared at the man who’d been her best friend. It made no sense.
“You can’t be a demon. Unless you became one, somehow. Like with my transition.”
Brett shook his head. “No. I always was one. I just didn’t know it.”
The tales she’d heard of demons had made it sound like vampires’ tortures were nothing more than child’s play compared to the horrors demons brought upon their victims.
She motioned toward the mending bones. “Did you send the vampire?”
“What do you mean? DidIsend the vampire to you?” He looked at her in confusion, then horror.
Her voice rose, anger spiking once more. She took a step toward him, despite the scent that screamed for her to flee. “Did you send him to change me?”
