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Just then, Terrance managed to break free and came racing my way. His face was a bloody mess of fang wounds and his clothes were ripped to shreds. Instinctively, I leaped into his path to stop him, holding out the stake that I’d kil ed his girl Friday with. He careened out of the way just in time and caught the railing overlooking the lower levels. As he dropped to the floor below, I didn’t even think twice. I went racing up and launched myself over the side after him.
As I hit the floor, Terrance disappeared from sight, but I’d seen the direction in which he’d gone.
The lower levels of the Fangtabula were a labyrinthine maze. I came out of my crouch and hit the ground running. Behind me, I could hear others fol owing. Roman was right behind me, and several of his children behind him.
I raced forward, my feet skimming the floor. Up ahead, down a long dark corridor that was painted black with the same checkerboard floor, I saw Terrance disappear into one of the rooms.
When I came to the door, I didn’t think twice but slammed it open with my foot and dove through the opening.
Terrance was on the opposite side, holding a young girl to his chest, his nails conveniently placed at her jugular.
“Come one step closer and I’l kil her.”
I stopped, putting the brakes on. I could not endanger the child, even to kil Terrance. But Roman continued forward. I grabbed his arm.
“No—that’s a little girl. Look at her—she’s terrified!”
“Col ateral damage.”
I couldn’t believe that Roman was wil ing to put her life in danger. “No! I won’t be a part of it.”
“Leave me be, woman!” Roman shook me off.
Terrance laughed. “And that is what makes you weak, girl.” He neared the opposite door.
Roman continued toward him and I strode to his side, determined to stop him. But then something caught my attention. The girl. She didn’t look so much terrified as triumphant. And then, she smiled, just enough, and I saw the fangs descending.
“Fuck, she’s a vampire!”
“Don’t ever question my methods again,” Roman said as he fel on the pair. I joined him, yanking the girl out of Terrance’s arms. Terrance tried to get away—he was so close to the door he could almost touch it—but then Roman caught hold of his head and yanked it back by the hair. Terrance fought, but Roman sank his teeth into the albino flesh and drank deep.
At first, Terrance moaned, but then, as Roman drank deeper and deeper, Terrance screamed, thrashing to get away.
The girl I was holding struggled, but her strength was spare against my own. She looked up at me and a mixture of feelings washed through her eyes. She looked back at Terrance, and a slow smile spread across her face.
“Who is he, to you?” I whispered to her.
“He sired me. He raped me, sodomized me, and then he turned me—a hundred years ago. And he’s kept me prisoner ever since. He said he always had wanted a little girl.” She blinked, and I saw the same hatred in her face that I’d felt for Dredge. My heart broke and I found myself crying bloody tears. I pul ed her into my arms and held her tight, even though she struggled against me.
“Stop. Stop and listen to me,” I whispered. “I was tortured, raped, and turned, too. I know what it’s like, though thank the gods I was older than you. But I understand the hatred you have inside you. I want to help you.”
She paused, her eyes guardedly meeting my own. As we matched gazes, I felt her probing, searching my look, trying to decide if I was on the up-and-up. I opened up, lifted the veil, and rol ed up my sleeves to show her my scars.
As she hesitantly reached out to run her fingers over them, I said, “My sire did this to me, al over my body.”
“Is he stil . . .” She glanced up at me, wanting to ask but afraid to.
“No, I kil ed him. I destroyed him and he’s gone forever. I’m learning how to live a happy life, even as a vampire, without being anybody’s slave.” I smiled, and she hesitantly smiled back.
“My name is Serena,” she said.
And just then, Roman finished draining Terrance and, as the nightclub owner col apsed, he held out a stake.
“Wait,” I said, stopping him. I looked at Serena. “Do you want to do it? There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you’ve freed yourself from a tormentor.”
She looked at Roman. He nodded, holding out the stake. She took it and, with me bracing her shoulders, she plunged it through Terrance’s heart. One cloud of dust later, the Fangtabula was closed.
On our way out, Roman turned back. “Clean it out and lock up,” he told his children. They nodded and we headed to the limo. A group of bedraggled vampires and bloodwhores huddled in the parking lot, and as the guards took a step in their direction, they scattered into the night.
