Page 54 of Nosfer-Meet You

Dante thrusts a bony claw at my chest. “Precisely! You did nothing while your family was tortured, burned, and killed! You fled, and then even had the temerity to return later to revel in the ashes!”

I blink. “I did not ‘revel,’ as you put it! I left because you would not let me have an inch of freedom!”

Dante disappears in a mist of darkness only to reappear behind me. He grabs my waist, pinning me to his chest, and then drags his fangs along my neck. “You did not yet deserve your freedom, little dove. Freedom is earned.”

“Selene was in your service for centuries and never earned her freedom. What hope did I ever have?” I rasp as I wriggle against his hateful grasp. “How did you even survive? I found your ashes! Your scent was all over them!”

“Yes, yes, a clever ruse,” he murmurs in my ear. “To trick the humans into thinking they bested me in the fire. Foolish girl. I burned off one of my fingers and left it in the ashes. It worked too well, I see, because my little dove was fooled, too. Or perhaps you are still just as stupid as you were all those years ago.”

My throat tightens. I need to get away from him before he kills me, because he will kill me. The years have driven him to madness, it seems, and this will not end well for me. And then he’ll track down Scotty.

Oh, my poor, sweet, Scotty … I hope he’s left for the motel by now. I need to find some way to lead Dante away from here so he can’t find him.

“Centuries of trying to track you down, and I finally find you slumming it with shifters.” Dante’s words lash against my ear like a whip.

Tears sting the back of my eyes. I never should have left the sewers. Never should have put Scotty at risk.

“And that boy you’re with⁠—”

My eyes spring open.

“What’s his name? Scott Lovelace? Turned in 1985 by Sherman Davies, I believe. A drunk and a nuisance. No doubt his spawn are the same.”

I swallow. “H-How? How do you know all of this?”

“You never were very bright.” Dante tuts gently, shaking his head. “Foolish girl. I have ruled over fifteen vampiric nations across the world, including Mystella’s. Flushing you out of hiding with the Templars worked as well as I hoped it would.” He runs a claw along my throat. I’m too exhausted to hold this form any longer, and I shrink back down into my vampire form. My bones snap and crunch, and Dante holds me through the transformation. It’s almost too much to withstand. “Beautiful little dove … you need not run from me any longer.”

I let out a hacking, bloody cough as he holds me in his arms.

“Are you going to kill me?” The words tumble out of my mouth along with a trickle of blood.

“Kill you?” Dante’s gaze narrows. “I have thought about it. Have fantasized what I would do once I found you. Your broken body decorating my throne room at last.”

I close my eyes again as more tears come.

“But now I realize … all I’ve ever wanted was my daughter back. I love you, Juliette. Can’t you see that?” he murmurs.

I shake my head. “This isn’t love. It was never love.”

Dante places a claw along my lower lip, tracing it. “Shh, shh. What would you know about love?”

I’m about to answer him when the shrieking of a dozen harpies pierces the air. And then, without warning, the entire flock descends on us in a flurry of feathers, claws, and foul-smelling dander.

Chapter 29

Scotty

EVERYTHING I DO (I DO IT FOR YOU)

“Jules!” I roar. It took me forever to climb up these fucking cliffs, and my arms are going to be bitching at me tomorrow. That’s if I survive any of this shite, which isn’t looking likely. After disturbing every harpy nest on my way up here, I finally reach the top only to find my girl in the claws of her old master. Thanks to that gruesome painting of hers, I’d recognize his face anywhere.

The rain pelts me in the face, making it more difficult to see. I flex my hands at my sides as I stare Dante down. The harpies swirl around the two of them, angrily pecking at the ancient vampire.

“Walk away, child,” Dante says. The harpies pull at his cloak and hair, but he doesn’t even deign to look at them. He swats at one as it tries to scratch his face, sending it straight into the mud. “You are outmatched.”

“Yeah,” I say as I stalk forward. “I know that. But you have my girlfriend, so frankly, I don’t give a fuck.”

Juliette winces when she sees me. “Scotty … run.”