‘Now, my love.My sweet Raleigh,’ she said, ‘even though you caused this, you’ve been so well behaved that I’ll give you a reward.’She crouched low, pressing her cheek against his, eyes meeting mine.‘The hunter will die, as all her kind should.But I think there’s plenty more fun to be had with your bride, don’t you?’
I knew better than to be relieved by this sentencing.Moira had the preferable fate, even if she started trying to tear herself away from her captor at the words.But she couldn’t free herself any better than I could.The fury painted across her face only grew stronger as the man holding her wrenched her head to one side, then drove his teeth into her throat.
‘NO!’ Raleigh screamed.
Moira’s face slackened, her mouth open, but no sound left her lips.I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing as her expression softened.She looked almost happy.I was shaking, desperately struggling against the stone arms locking me into place, tears streaming freely now.She was dying.We were all going to die.
‘Not yet,’ the Queen said.‘I want her to watch a little longer.’
Moira’s captor forced himself to detach, clearly trying to mask his annoyance at the Queen’s interference.Moira sagged in his arms,floppy, dazed, but alive.Blood welled up from the two perfect holes in her neck, soaking into her blouse.She was barely conscious.
The Queen flicked a finger in my direction and my guard brought me to her.I felt like a doll, dragged along the ground by a disinterested toddler.She let go of Raleigh, giving me her full attention.‘So full of life,’ she mused, tucking a stray hair behind my ear.My entire being recoiled against her.‘What shall we do with you first?’
‘For God’s sake, let her go.’Raleigh threw himself towards her, one leg stretched limply out behind him.
The Queen glanced down.‘Stop that,’ she muttered.
Raleigh went still, his body obeying the command, as she returned her attention to me.I tried to struggle again, desperate to be free of whatever hell awaited me.Raleigh, Moira.I had to save them.Even though I knew there was nothing I could do.
‘The problem with humans,’ the Queen began, ‘is that they die so very quickly.’My heart shuddered.I already knew her next words.‘Let’s draw this out, shall we?’She pressed one long nail to her own wrist, slicing until a trace of blood oozed to the surface.Then she raised her wrist to my face, so all I could see was the crimson dribble, marring her snowy flesh.‘Drink,’ she commanded.
I spat.The mottled, half-chewed glob of garlic I’d held in my mouth all this time landed on her arm with a hiss.She recoiled, only for a moment, but it was long enough to break her focus.Raleigh lunged at my captor’s feet, who threw me aside to protect himself.I fell, staggering into another man’s chest, then forced myself upright as two women approached to stand on either side of him, stepping forward in unison, like a wall closing in.I shoved my hand into my pocket, searching for my dagger as I stumbled backwards.
‘Go,’ the first man urged.
I looked up at him, wondering if I’d misheard.
‘Go,’ he said again.One of the women offered a fragment of a smile, as another man joined her.
‘Get out of the way,’ I heard Lukas growl on the other side of them.
They were blocking him.I looked for the Queen but couldn’t see her.‘Thank you,’ I whispered.I tried to look at them all, take in their faces, let them know how grateful I was.But there wasn’t time.
Someone grabbed my arm.My heart lurched, but it was only Raleigh, leaning heavily on a woman I didn’t recognise.Another vampire who had come to our aid.
‘Who are you?’I asked.
‘A friend.’
Raleigh looked as confused as I felt.I let her shift Raleigh’s weight onto me, grunting at the sudden burden.Before I could thank her, Lukas broke through the barricade.He tore towards us, and the woman threw herself in our path.
‘Get out of here,’ she cried.
‘Come on,’ Raleigh said.He tried to pull me with him, pushing forward on his working leg.
‘You can’t just leave her.’
‘I don’t know who she is,’ Raleigh said.He was scanning the crowd ahead of him.‘I don’t know what’s happening.But we have to find Moira.’
We wove together through the chaos, the barricade moving with us, though it was difficult to tell who was and wasn’t on our side.
Moira had been discarded by her captor when the maelstrom hit.We found her struggling to her feet, blinking rapidly through the dizziness.The ground around her was covered in ash, but judging by the state of her, it wasn’t her doing.
‘What the hell is going on?’She sounded weak, close to tears.The wound at her neck had stopped bleeding.Vampire bites clottedquickly – as with mosquitos, there was something in the venom that encouraged clotting – but it gaped as she spoke and threatened to spill again.
A man rushed at us, but another tore at his throat before he could get close.
‘I don’t know,’ Raleigh said.‘But if it means we can escape, I’ll take it.’
