Mark of the Rose: The Tudor Vampire Chronicles (35 page)

Read Mark of the Rose: The Tudor Vampire Chronicles Online

Authors: Kate Pearce

Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Fiction

BOOK: Mark of the Rose: The Tudor Vampire Chronicles

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Rhys closed his eyes for a second and allowed his feet to find the right direction. Elias followed him and Verity brought up the rear. Eventually the stone passageway swung sharply to the right. Rhys rested his hand on the wall and waited for the other two to catch up.

“She is very close, but I cannot get a response from her at all.”

Elias touched his sleeve.
“Speak like this. It is much quieter.”

Inwardly Rhys winced at the reminder.
“Can either of you sense any other Vampires?”

“Yes,”
Verity said.
“There are two males quite close to her. They smell of Janus.”

“Let me deal with them, Sir Rhys.”

“You may try, but I will be right behind you and I will kill them if necessary.”

“Agreed.”

Elias moved around Rhys and proceeded to the right. Verity tried to get by too, but Rhys placed his hand flat on her chest.
“Stay here. Keep watch.”

She didn’t bother to argue with him and she stopped moving. Rhys realized that was the best he could expect. He squeezed her arm and hurried after Elias.

Elias had almost reached two shadowy figures who lounged by a doorway, but he didn’t wait for Rhys. There was a short exchange of words and then Elias smiled and looked back at Rhys.

“Olivia is locked in here and these gentlemen refuse to release her.”

“Indeed.” Rhys kept moving forward, his dagger out, his mind cataloging the two scrawny Vampires and their obvious discomfort. “Perhaps we might help them change their minds?”

Elias held up his hand and Rhys felt a surge of power rock through him. Elias’s voice came through clearly in his head.

“You might wish to shield yourself from what I am about to do.”

Even as he spoke, cold, deadly power flooded through Rhys and he backed against the nearest wall. As Elias raised his hand higher, the two Vampires started to rise from the floor like ungainly puppets jerking on tangled strings. Their mouths were open, their fangs exposed, but they made no sound.

Elias snapped his fingers and the Vampires turned on each other, ripping at each other’s throat until their bodies were one writhing mass of limbs and blood. Even though he tried to protect his mind from Elias’s power, Rhys couldn’t look away as the Vampires fell to the ground and went still.

Elias strolled over to the bodies and extracted a key from the belt of the larger of the two. Rhys joined him more cautiously.

“Are they dead?”

“Not yet.”

Rhys swallowed hard. “Should I kill them?”

Elias shrugged. “It is up to you.”

“Kill them, Rhys. No one should be left like that.”

Rhys almost jumped when he heard Verity’s quiet voice behind him. Even though it was too late, he tried to shield her from the gruesome sight.

Verity stopped him. “Please, kill them. I do not have my sword or else I would do it myself. There are no other Vampires around, so there is no need to fear discovery.”

“Aye, my lady.” Rhys drew his sword and efficiently decapitated both of the Vampires and then used his silver-coated dagger to stab them through their hearts. Verity and Elias watched him in silence.

Rhys glanced up at Elias. “Surely you did not want to leave the Vampires alive? The Vampire Council would know who had forced them to capitulate.”

“At this point in time, I don’t care what the Vampire Council thinks,” Elias said. “If we don’t win this struggle I will be disposed of anyway.” He held up the key. “Shall I open the door or do you wish to do it?”

“Go ahead,” Rhys replied. “I’ll take care of these bodies and keep watch out here.”

Part of him yearned to push both Verity and Elias aside and run to Olivia, but he knew it was the Vampire blood within him that wanted that and not his true self. What was it that Lady Alys had told him about being true to his heart? Olivia was not the woman who owned his heart and he needed to remember that, despite the turmoil in his blood and in his mind.

“Olivia?” Verity peered into the blackness of the small chamber. “Are you here?”

A faint scratching sound drew Verity’s attention to the back of the room and she carefully made her way across to the huddled shape on the thin straw pallet. She reached out to uncover the figure and Elias’s hand closed around her wrist.

“Wait, my lady. She might not be quite herself.”

Elias gently put himself in front of Verity and crouched down beside the pallet. “Olivia?” He tugged at the coarse woolen blanket.

With a gasp, Verity leapt backward as Olivia emerged from the cocoon of blankets, her fangs elongated and her claws extended. She did not look remotely human as she latched onto Elias’s wrist and held on tightly, her fangs buried deeply in his flesh.

Verity swallowed hard as she experienced Elias’s instinctive acceptance of Olivia’s actions. She touched his shoulder. “Do you want me to make her stop?”

He looked up at her, a furious expression on his normally calm face. “I do not think you would be able to. She has been deliberately drained of blood to prepare her to take the master Vampire. If she doesn’t feed, she will die. Much better my blood than his.”

He glanced down at Olivia and stroked her hair. “All will be well with her very shortly. Why don’t you find Sir Rhys? In his present condition I suspect this would disturb him.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.” Verity scrambled to her feet and backed away, only to be brought up against a broad chest. She turned into Rhys’s arms and looked up at him. He wasn’t even aware of her; his gaze was fixed on Elias and Olivia.

Verity pushed on his chest until he retreated a few stumbling steps back into the passageway. “Olivia will be fine. Just give her a moment.”

Rhys frowned. “What exactly is Elias doing?”

“He’s feeding her. She is very weak.”

“She could have . . .”

“Fed from you?” Verity forced a smile. “I don’t think so. She is starving.”

“And I’m not a Vampire.” Rhys exhaled. “Why do I keep having to remind myself of that lately?”

“Because we’ve all been influenced by this mingling of our blood. Elias feels more human and is fighting that by displaying his Vampire power, I’m struggling to stop Janus from controlling my thoughts, and you . . .”

“I am acting like a fool,” Rhys said grimly. He stared at Verity. “I don’t want Olivia, Verity. I want you.”

Verity smiled at him. “So you keep saying.” It was ironic that from the moment she had declared her love for him he’d done nothing but worry about another woman. She glanced down the passageway. “Have you seen any more Vampires around? It seems odd that no one else has appeared to check on Olivia.”

“It does seem strange.” Rhys frowned, his attention diverted, just as Verity had intended. “And where is Lady Rochford? You would think that she of all people would be more mindful of her captive’s security.”

Verity grabbed Rhys’s arm. “Maybe it was a deliberate attempt to draw us away from the queen. Would Lady Rochford dare to defy Elias like that?”

“She had better not.” Elias appeared behind them with Olivia in his arms, his expression formidable. “Let’s get Olivia to safety and find Lady Rochford.”

Verity took Rhys’s hand and then Elias’s and the next moment they were aboveground in the gardens of Hampton Court.

“Wait here for me,” Elias instructed. “I’ll put Olivia to bed.”

He vanished and Verity took the opportunity to get to her feet and brush at her dusty skirts. Beside her, Rhys was staring up at the palace, his dagger in his hand.

“Something is amiss, my lady. Can you feel it?”

Verity went still. “Yes. Janus is stirring and seeking food.”

Elias reappeared and Rhys hailed him. “Is Olivia going to be all right?”

“I believe so. She is young and strong.”

Verity shuddered. “I’m just glad you made me step away from her, Elias, or else I fear she would have latched on to me and drained me dry.”

Elias held up his hand, his attention distracted. “I think Lady Rochford is about to emerge from the palace. Let me summon her.”

In an instant, Lady Rochford was sprawled on the grass in front of Elias. When she saw him, her mouth opened to scream, but he snapped his fingers and she was drawn upright until she was suspended several inches above the ground.

“What are you about this fine evening, Lady Rochford?”

Verity shivered at the coldness of his tone.

“N-n-nothing, Master Warner,” Lady Rochford stuttered.

“Liar.” Elias took a step toward her. “You have been meddling again, haven’t you? Are you incapable of listening?”

“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”

Elias slowly circled her. “Why did you kidnap Olivia Del Alonso?”

“I didn’t!”

“Liar.” Elias snapped his fingers again and Lady Rochford clawed at her throat as though she was having trouble breathing. “I know what you did. Your scent and that of your master were all over her.”

“I told you before, sir. I cannot disobey my master.”

“So you did kidnap Olivia.”

“You told me to report to you if my master came to the queen! You said nothing about getting rid of a traitor to our race.”

“Olivia is no traitor. She has been working for me.”

Lady Rochford’s eyes flashed red. “And you have been working with these accursed Druids!”

“All with the sanction of the Vampire Council. Did your master not tell you that?”

“You are lying. The Council would never allow you to consort with our enemies.”

Elias shook his head. “You know that is false. How else did we get rid of your obnoxious husband, George, and his ‘sister,’ Anne Boleyn? You knew they were lovers. Wasn’t that one of the reasons you agreed to betray them?”

“You are a foul, treacherous male!” Lady Rochford hissed and tried to struggle against the magic that held her in the air.

“I am a survivor.” Elias stepped close to Lady Rochford’s face. “Now tell me what is really going on.”

Verity tensed and Rhys grabbed hold of her arm. “Do not interfere, my lady.”

Lady Rochford said nothing and Elias shook his head. “You will tell me.”

Verity jumped as both Elias and Lady Rochford shot up into the air. She looked up and saw Elias’s pale green doublet silhouetted against the stark red of the crenellated wall that ran around the rooftops and huge chimneys.

“Where is Lady Rochford?” Verity asked.

Rhys pointed to Elias’s left. “There, hanging half over the wall.” Rhys shuddered. “He’s ripped open her throat and her blood is slowly draining out of her. Can’t you see it in your mind?”

“By all the saints, I don’t want to see it.”

“Then let me tell you what is going on.” Rhys drew her against him. “Elias is giving her one last chance to tell him what she is planning. She’s frightened and pleading with him to let her go.”

Verity buried her face against Rhys’s chest. “Go on.”

“She’s admitting that kidnapping Olivia was a diversion and that her master will soon be with the queen. As soon as the babe is born he will gain all the power he needs to rule both the kingdom and the Vampire Council.”

Verity pushed away from him and picked up her skirts. “Then we must hurry! Come on!”

“We need Elias for the charm to work, remember?”

“He can meet us there!” She started to run toward the queen’s quarters, her heavy skirts gathered in one hand, her dagger in the other. As she opened the door, the scent of magic spilled out of the queen’s anterooms and Verity increased her pace. Where were the queen’s ladies on this night? Where were the guards?

Rhys followed at her shoulder, his sword already drawn as they traversed the apparently deserted rooms.

“Where is everyone?” Rhys whispered.

“I don’t know!”

Elias appeared in front of them, his doublet stained dark with blood and his fangs still extended. He no longer looked human, but Verity wasn’t frightened. In truth, waves of power rolled off him and Verity drank them in.

“The majority of the court is at prayer in the chapel. The rest have been bespelled,” Elias said.

“Where is the queen?” Verity asked.

Elias jerked his head in the direction of the queen’s bedchamber. “If Lady Rochford is to be believed, the queen is here, resting in her bed.”

“Did you kill Lady Rochford?”

Elias looked back at her. “No, I didn’t. But if she manages to survive I don’t think she’ll amount to much.”

Verity held his bloodred gaze. “Good.”

Elias licked his fangs. “I admire a female who appreciates vengeance.”