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I direct my last though to the book.
Come to me and I’ll swear my loyalty.
Aleksi lets out a dry chuckle and the magic pulls the ropes tighter, until I can barely breathe.
“We’re vampires,” he says. “We can claim what we—”
He’s cut off by the skittering sound of a large, leatherbound book sliding across the tiles toward us. I look over to the shadows where the book came from and see red eyes looking back at me.
The bad thing.
Did a demon just throw the book to me?
I glance back at the book on the floor, right in front of me, and everything else seems to melt away. I’m immediately enraptured by it, the sight of the strange cover filling me with warmth and need and I find myself promising I’ll do anything for it. Somewhere in those pages lies the secret to my salvation.
“Then I claim it for myself,” I manage to say, my voice sounding hollow.
The world starts to move.
It shifts, like the whole chapel’s foundation is collapsing, and suddenly the demon, the bad thing, is right in front of me, standing up on two legs. It’s large, its hide so black and fathomless it’s like looking into the abyss and I feel like I’m screaming.
It slides its long, thick leathery tail up the side of me, then along my collarbone and neck. It wraps around my throat, constricting slightly, and I can’t look away from the void of its body. I hear Saara yelling something, I hear Bitrus screaming my name, and I’m slowly losing consciousness, being dragged into the depths of the abyss, a world of nothing but death.
Then Aleksi says something in a language I don’t understand and the demon loosens its tail, whipping it right off me. It fixes its attention on Aleksi now and the tail that was at my neck is shooting past me.
Saara screams and I feel the magic in my bonds disappear, letting me loose. I stumble backwards, out of the way, falling to the floor and I watch as the demon quickly wraps its tail around Aleksi’s neck, his blue eyes bulging out, his fingers going to the tail in a feeble attempt to get it off.
We all know it’s useless.
With one tight yank, the black tail squeezes Aleksi’s neck so tight that there’s a crush of bone and then a loud popping sound and Aleksi’s head flies clean off.
It lands on the ground beside me, staring up at me with eyes that blink once then close for good, blood pouring from the severed neck.
I yelp in surprise, scrambling to my feet, and look back at the demon, prepared for me to be next.
It’s coming over to me now and before I can react, it picks up the book with its tail, holding it up in the air for a moment before it places it in my hands. Then it drops to all fours and turns back into a shadow, slinking back into the darkness from which it came.
I stare at the book in my shaking hands for just a moment but it’s long enough for Saara to throw her magic my way. An invisible hand shoves me backward against the wall and she does the same to Bitrus and Kate, both of them thrown across the altar.
The book drops out of my hands and Saara is running toward me screaming, but then Lenore suddenly appears beside Saara and literally trips her up. Saara goes flying to the floor and Lenore gives me a nod before she loosens the spell that was pushing me back.
“Took you long enough,” I say to her.
“You’re the one who decided to go off script,” Solon says, appearing on the other side of me. “We got here as quick as we could. Those plague doctors are something else.” He glances at the floor and I watch as his eyes begin to glow, his pupils dilating. “Is that it? Is that the book?” he whispers, voice filled with awe.
Saara screeches something, stealing my attention but then Lenore is tackling her, the both of them rolling on the ground in an actual physical fight. “Solon!” Lenore yells for him.
Solon stares at the book, transfixed, then suddenly snaps out of it. He looks over and eyes them in surprise, perhaps enjoying the sight of the two vamps wrestling, but then jumps in to support Lenore.
I pick up the book and hold it to my chest and it requires a lot of effort to take in my surroundings and realize what’s happening. Bitrus is with Kate and he’s helping her to her feet, telling her—compelling her—to go to the docks at the far end of the island where there are a few boats, which she can take back to the city, and that she won’t remember a single thing from tonight. She nods and runs off and I feel relief in knowing she’s okay and that she won’t remember any of this, but even more relief that I finally have what I came here for.
And the demon gave it to me.
It gave it tome.
That has to mean something.
It wants me to bring back Dahlia.
