He remained, straightening, and I groaned at the resolve I saw in his stance. He wouldn’t leave me like this, even if it would ensure that his own life continued. If he stayed, neither of us would survive this night.
“I think he’s broken,” Vrykolakas said, gesturing to Maxwell. “Like you leave all of your toys. You can still change your mind, Lucian. Choose strength and power, blood and pain.”
“I don’t want anything to do with a monster like you,” I hissed.
“So be it.” Vrykolakas’s teeth snapped at Raven, nearly taking her head off, but she slid beneath him and around his leg, grunting as she buried her claws into it.
“I’m not leaving you, Lucian,” Maxwell gasped, returning to my side.
I scowled. “I didn’t fall for you just to let that beast kill you right before my eyes.”
I didn’t have time to reflect on what I’d just turned down. Immortality. Power. Everything I’d held dear in life. Everything, until I’d met Maxwell.
“Maxwell, you’re alright,” Flora said, rushing to him, placing a hand on his cheek.
“Mum,” he hugged Flora, then turned to Emmett, who stood by awkwardly, having just pulled Nancy clear of the wolf to allow her crushed leg to heal. Already, Nancy was climbing to her feet.
“Max, I’m sorry—”
Maxwell embraced his brother.
“They aren’t going to last against him much longer,” Zachariah said, suddenly amongst us.
“We need weapons,” Cecelia agreed. “Can he be killed like any vampire?”
I shrugged helplessly. “There’s only one way to find out.”
“But all of the weapons were destroyed in the fire,” Maxwell pointed out. “What can we use?”
“I have weapons,” Melbourne said. “In my room.”
I frowned at him. “Of course you do.”
Vrykolakas roared his fury, shaking the vampires loose and sending them flying into various walls.
I pulled Maxwell after me as we ran from the front hall, not waiting around to see what he did next. It wasn’t long before Vrykolakas pursued us, his large strides gaining ground quickly.
We flew out through the doorway and into the hallway, flinging ourselves along the corridors at full speed as Vrykolakas crashed behind us, his huge frame breaking through archways and furniture in his path.
“We’ll never outrun him,” Zachariah gasped.
“Split up,” Cecelia suggested. “He’s far enough behind that he won’t know who he’s pursuing. Melbourne, take Lucian and Maxwell to your room.” She turned up an adjacent hallway with Flora, while Zachariah and Emmett continued ahead.
Melbourne led us down a short side hall to his room, ushering us inside quickly and shutting the door firmly behind him with a sigh. I noted garlic flowers in pots along the windowsills. I would have easily determined him to be a vampire hunter had I seen this room.
“You know that none of this would be happening if you hadn’t come along,” Melbourne said haughtily, throwing a glare my way.
I looked away. “I’m all too aware.”
“That’s enough out of you,” Maxwell told Melbourne as he lit a candle. “He is here, so get used to it.”
I sent Maxwell a grateful smile.
“Am I the only one questioning whether he’s truly a count?” Melbourne murmured, throwing the lid of a trunk open with more force than was necessary. I winced. There were no such distinctions among vampires. It had been a mocking title I’d given myself after killing a count’s entire household. There were so many reminders of who I used to be.
Melbourne pulled out bottles of clear liquid, wooden stakes and a crossbow complete with wooden bolts. “Will any of this do?”
I picked up the bottles, obviously holy water. “This might slow him down. The crossbow might be of use, but he’s rather large, if you hadn’t noticed. We’ll have to find something else. Perhaps there’s something in the vampire hunters’ chambers still of use.”
