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“No. Vampires cannot compel vampires unless they are special.”
“But isn’t Nate special?”
Rebekah nodded. “Nathaniel is. But he has wings, so his compulsion is a secondary thing and not as strong unless it is used on humans.”
Winter didn’t like hearing that. She didn’t like a lot of things now, but her preferences didn’t matter when she was stuck in a secret room below a building that sold wares and housed Hilda’s mother. Maddox was nowhere to be found, out on an errand, and the familiar vampires she had gotten acquainted with in this room were back in the castle to pretend like the queen taking over the throne was the best news there was. That she was still alive two days after her escape proved that they could be trusted, but it wasn’t enough to alleviate the restlessness growing in her system.
Stephanie wasn’t much better, stuck in between the thirst for vengeance and longing for her dead family. The woman kept to herself while Rebekah went back and forth between the two.
“I can’t stay here,” Winter blurted out.
“Me, neither,” Stephanie piped in as if just waiting for someone to say it first. The vampire marched for the door, then glowered when Rebekah blocked her path. Golden eyes turned a vicious shade of black. “Get out of my way.”
“No.”
“You have been warned.”
Before the tension could reach a boiling point, Winter stepped in between them, receiving the sharp nails headed for her jugular. Stephanie froze.
“Remember who the enemy is,” Winter murmured. “It’s not her.”
The vampire’s nails retracted as Winter sensed how appalled she was. Relief flooded as the two retreated from each other, allowing her to continue.
“Stephanie will be recognized when she goes out, but I’m inconsequential to them.”
“You are the prince’s fiancé and an ally to the murder,” Stephanie pointed out.
“And last I heard, they only searched the market once, and there are no wanted posters of me.” She turned to Rebekah. “Did you bring extra disguises?”
Rebekah pondered it for a bit before nodding reluctantly and helping Winter into raggedy clothes. Stephanie came over to help after a while, too, smudging her face with coal and completing the look with a hat over her head.
“Keep your head down,” the latter instructed. “Don’t talk to anyone. If you think you are being followed, don’t come back here. Find the second hiding location on the other end of the market.”
Rebekah gawked. “Why do I get the picture that you do this quite often?”
“Not as much as you,” Stephanie shot back. “Now, hurry and bring news. Preferably of the queen’s head already on a platter.”
And there was the thirst for vengeance returning with gusto. Winter slipped out, basking in the sunlight that hit her face even when it was already late afternoon. The first thing she did was look for wanted posters before she strolled around, ears perked. To her amazement, no one talked about the tragedy, the humans busy in their little world of selling, building, and interacting. It brought her some relief, but it didn’t last long.
A shout echoed in the distance, then spread until the panicked vibe hit her. Fear assaulted her senses and had her stilling when everyone snapped into movement, bumping into her to get away. The instinct to follow them kicked in, but she wrestled with it and pushed to the side where she could climb a stall. At the top, she peered at the crowd.
“Oh, no.”
There was a pale-looking creature staggering drunkenly, then snapping into movement so fast that he became a blur. Next thing she knew, blood was pooling on the ground and splattering on stalls, the vampire leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. But unlike most vampires, this one’s skin was rough, some parts falling off and other parts a mottled gray. The eyes were all pure red and sleepy but bright with a predatory gleam.
Rogues are vampires who have gone mad. What they lack in physical appearance and thinking, they make up for in strength and hunger. Even vampires are wary of rogues. It’s one of the reasons the border is in place. They are not much of a threat when left alone, so the vampires continue throwing them to the other side instead of traveling to the Wasteland to dump them there.
This one was a threat now as it eviscerated the humans in its path. When it neared, Winter climbed down from her position but paused as a cloaked man trudged over to approach the creature. She caught a glimpse of a youthful place before she sensed a presence beside her.
“I don’t even want to ask what you are doing outside.”
The sun was setting, a perfect recipe for disaster, so Matthew’s concern was understandable. But she ignored him for a moment to watch as Rohan wrestled with the rogue before another figure joined him to effectively put the creature down. The woman, leader of House Sicily and Rohan’s mother, stepped away just as quickly, blending into the crowd with no one the wiser. Glad that the killing spree had stopped, she hopped down.
“How did you know it was me?”
“I didn’t. I was going to scold the idiot who climbed the stall and made herself the next target if the rogue kept going.”
She winced. “I was coming down.”
