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“I don’t want quick and simple,” he spat out. Spittle landed on Preacher’s cheek, but he dared not move to wipe it away.

“I want Nicolae to watch me take the life mate of his defeated best Guardian. I want him to see her crawl on her knees, begging for my cock and eager to please my every perverse and animal desire. I want all the damned Immortals to bear witness knowing there is nothing they can do to stop me. They will watch as I become omnipotent and enslave the human race they have fought so hard to protect, just as I will enslave Richelle!

And as quickly as Luka’s rage had escalated, so it ebbed. His eyes returned to mysterious icy blue orbs, piercing and cold. His manner was aristocratic, befitting those descended from noble blood. But there was no nobility within that dark soul.

“Do not think, Preacher. Just do as you are told.”

Preacher bowed his head, in deference, in fear.

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Luka turned his back on him and strode up the staircase, bellowing his orders as he walked away, his hair and cape flowing behind as he sped up the stairs.

“
Tomorrow night
, Preacher! She will become my bride. The Immortals will be destroyed and mankind will become the fodder for a new race. And there is nothing Nicolae can do to stop me.”

When Luka reached the middle landing of the staircase, he stopped and turned with a flourish. A few of the Vampyresses not frightened away by Terezia’s destruction peeked out from the shadows. They gazed at him in adoration like star-struck teenagers.

But as Luka stood in front of the Gothic stained-glass art portraying the appalling image of Lucifer falling from heaven to take his place as ruler on earth, Preacher had simply one mental picture of Luka’s plan for world supremacy—the same picture he painted and perpetuated about Valya in the minds of his followers. Armageddon and the coming birth of the Anti-Christ in the firstborn son of Luka cel Rau.

“Take her to my chambers and see to the arrangements. Prepare her for the Beltane Feast.”

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Valya felt warmth on his chest. Unable to open his eyes, he groggily touched his chest with his hand. He felt a wet, sticky substance. Another hand grabbed him by the wrist.

“Leave be, Valya, and let the herbs do their job.”

Nicolae.

He felt warm hands touching his skin again, gently but with a natural strength that commanded obedience. The sticky application was cool on his flesh at first, but then began to warm, and the pungent aroma calmed his hypersensitive senses.

“You’ve been here for three days, getting your strength back. There was much damage. Luka was very precise in his attack.”

Valya found he didn’t have the strength to verbally respond, so he opened his mind instead.

“Yes, he was. But why didn’t he kill me?”

When Nicolae didn’t respond immediately, he tried to tap into his mind to find the answer he sought. But Nicolae erected a mind block to his intrusion.

“Cease. Valya. Do not waste your strength.”

“Why didn’t Luka kill me?”

Nicolae’s hands never stopped their healing ministrations as he reluctantly answered Valya’s question.

“Luka has sent word to the Triad.”

Impatience welled in Valya as he waited for the rest of the information.

He struggled to sit up and open his eyes, to force Nicolae to continue, but he was no match for his fellow Immortal’s strength.

“Cease your struggles or Richelle will be lost.”

At the mention of his life mate’s name, Valya settled back onto the mattress. Nicolae continued to tend to Valya’s wounds while he spoke.

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“Luka has sent word to the Triad. On the morrow, he announced he will take a bride.”

“Richelle.”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“Jonathon had taken Richelle to the university so she could continue her animal research. According to Roman, Jonathon was against the idea, but Richelle was adamant about her duties. They were stalked by the followers of the Preacher as they returned to Jonathon’s car to leave. The followers were waiting for them. There was no possibility to escape.”

“Where were the Protectors?”

“Roman and Stefan were lured away by Luka’s underlings. Their

presence became known, and Roman and Stefan pursued them. The

followers took flight, inviting their deaths.” More like they were ordered to their deaths. Luka knew there was no escaping a Protector when they gave chase, so they were either willing martyrs or indisposed victims. Nicolae believed the latter.

“And what of Pieter?”

Nicolae’s hands stilled as he heaved a bitter sigh, not wanting to tell Valya, but the truth needed to be known.

“Pieter betrayed the Immortals. He is in allegiance with Luka and led the followers to Jonathon and Richelle. By the time Roman and Stefan learned of the deception and returned to the parking lot, it was too late.”

Controlling the rising anger within him, boiling like an overflowing cauldron, he inhaled the heady aromatics and focused on his thoughts rather than his emotions.

“Richelle?”

“She was seized by Pieter. And Luka.”

“And Jonathon?”

“I am sorry, Valya. He is dead.”

Valya groaned, feeling the pangs of remorse at Jonathon’s unwarranted demise.

“How?”

He did not want to tell all the gruesome details. But Valya was persistent in his demands for the truth.

“How!”

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Nicolae couldn’t bring himself to speak the words of Jonathon’s tragic end. So he opened his mind and allowed Valya to enter, to see all that had transpired. Valya, through his psychic link with Nicolae, witnessed Pieter’s traitorous duplicity and his betrayal of his people and all the Immortals’

beliefs. Valya wailed in anguish at such a cruel death.
Jonathon, my friend
through happiness and comrade through adversity, is dead.
His death was yet another on the long list of deaths as a result of his failure to protect Richelle.

He observed Jonathon’s valiant efforts to get Richelle to safety. He also witnessed how Jonathon had paid the ultimate price, suffering needlessly to fulfill a promise to him. And for that, Valya vowed to place Jonathon’s name in the Book of Honor, a ledger held by the Triad that listed the greatest Immortal warriors who had fallen in the battle against evil. It was the highest honor among his people, and Jonathon would be the only mortal listed - a fitting tribute to his courage and sacrifice.

And then there was Luka. In abject misery, he observed the loathsome and unforgivable acts of atrocities Luka committed against his beloved Richelle and life itself in his quest for supremacy. He experienced her every emotion, every indignity, every injury she had suffered at Luka’s hands. He felt her sorrow at Jonathon’s death, the helplessness in not being able to prevent it, and the agony as Luka took first blood. He mentally tallied each dishonor and every tear she shed. For each one would be avenged.

His Immortal blood boiled as he absorbed the mayhem and anarchy released into the night. He accepted it, freeing the world of the negative energy it epitomized so that there would be no lingering residue of the evilness it embodied. It churned and boiled until there was nowhere else for it to go. In a fit of tormented angst, Valya threw his head back and roared, trying to dispel the sorrow and guilt, mourning the loss of Richelle’s respect and Jonathon’s life.

If I had been able to control my emotions, there would have been no
need for Jonathon to be put in the line of fire. It was our friendship that
killed him.

“Do not berate yourself for an evil you do not deserve. You had no control of your actions while in the throes of bloodlust. It was Luka who chose to follow the call of his amoral desires. It was Luka who sent his

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subordinates to capture Richelle. And it was Luka who commanded the destruction of all who stood between him and his unfounded prophecies.”

Valya felt an intense heat radiating from his chest where the medicinal herbs had been spread, their piquant scent and healing powers filling him with renewed strength in mind and body. He opened his eyes to see Nicolae staring at him, his eyes filled with the resolve of an ancient who had lived for thousands of years, had seen too much suffering, pain, and death. Behind the resolve was the anguish of an Immortal who was weary of battle and was looking to end it.

“It is Luka who deserves our pity, and justice. It is Luka who must be destroyed.”

With a determined set to his jaw, Valya nodded in agreement. He cocked his head to one side and cast Nicolae a scrutinizing glance.

“How do you know what happened at the university?”

“Stefan was able to apprehend one of the followers. Roman had to curtail him from killing the disciple, but I was able to…interrogate him.”

Nicolae’s face was set in stone as he made the last remark.

“Interrogate him?”
Valya thought, perplexed.

In the still of the room, a slight breeze picked up, blowing the silver strands of Nicolae’s hair back, revealing the hostile glare. There was an energy hovering over the room, and the breeze became stronger. In a flash of lightning, Nicolae’s features turned dark, the veins in his temples becoming prominent as they pulsed. His silver eyes turned yellow-gold, burning like fire as flames emanated from them. Electrical sparks shimmered from the ends of his silver hair, similar to that of an electrical storm, as the faraway sound of thunder echoed in warning.

He raised his arms, his hands outstretched, palms up, bringing them together in front of his body. Between his hands appeared a bright blue orb, floating but not touching his skin. It was mesmerizing in its power. Valya was taken aback as it began to surge and radiate heat, turning bright white.

Then with an energy that shook the room, it exploded like a miniature supernova, the force pressing Valya back into the pillows with the brunt of its power.

But Nicolae remained steadfast, immobile in the face of the awesome power he had generated. Gradually his features returned to normal, his eyes the same silver-gray as before, filled with awareness and empathy, his

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countenance taking on the same placid self-possession that came with age and wisdom. Sensing Valya’s disquiet, Nicolae answered his unspoken question.

“He is still alive. I released him, and the Protectors are monitoring him.

We will let the fool lead us to Tower of the Red Dragon, and to the Evil One.”

The startling display left no question as to how the follower was
interrogated
. He had no sympathy for the man, who had made his own pact with the devil. He didn’t know if he could have stopped himself from executing the bastard if he had been the one to interrogate
him. He refused to dwell on it. At the moment, his only concern was getting to Richelle before Luka could complete his nefarious scheme.

He tried to get out of bed, only to be halted once more by Nicolae. But this time, he was not so yielding as to defer to the elder’s urging to rest. He continued his vain efforts against Nicolae’s confines, relenting only when he felt the phantom-like restraint being exuded, forcing his submission.

“Must leave. May be too late,” Valya croaked, his throat parched.

“No, Luka has done nothing. He will wait until the morrow, until Beltane.”

“How do you know?” he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Beltane is a Wiccan Sabbath celebrating the return of fertility to the earth after the long winter. It is a fire and fertility rite that celebrates the virility of the young man and the transformation of a maiden to mother.”

Nicolae removed the invisible restraints and allowed Valya to prop himself up against the pillows as he applied the last of the herbal balms.

“Perverting the tradition of Wiccans, he will commemorate the feast by performing the ritual mating of the May lord and lady. He will take Richelle as his bride and sire a child.”

Revulsion roiled through him at Nicolae’s words. His body tensed at the thought of Luka touching Richelle’s beauty and purity for his own perverse pleasure. There was no way he would allow Luka to take his life mate as a bride, let alone bed her as a vessel for his demonic spawn.

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“Why Richelle? After centuries, after finding his true life mate and spurning her, why does he stalk and claim Richelle?”

“Because she is my daughter.”

Stunned, Valya stared at Nicolae, trying to grasp the enormity of his statement. Immortals had been having children with mortals for a little over a century but only after they had bonded as life mates. He had never heard of such a child being born out of that bonding.

“What do you mean—your daughter?”

Nicolae sat back, his haunted expression expressing the pain of his empty years alone.

“Adelaide’s parents were friends to the Immortals, offering food and shelter upon our travels and aid and comfort in times of battle. When they announced they were going to have their first child, we could not have been more thrilled, especially I when they asked me to become their child’s Guardian.

“When Adelaide was born, there was such a celebration the mountains sang. She was presented to the Triad to receive the blessings of the Immortals. It was then I knew.
She
was my life mate. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked into her pale blue eyes. I told her parents, and they were as thrilled as I.”

Nicolae paused, releasing a heavy sigh at the memories of happier times. Valya had to prompt him to go on.

“If they were so thrilled about the prospect, then what happened?”

“Luka.”

Not daring to speak the words, Nicolae dropped his mind barriers and allowed Valya to see how Luka had kidnapped Adelaide and was preparing her for death. It was Nicolae who had saved her and brought her back to her parents. It was Nicolae who gave them the money to leave Romania and escape to the United States in the hopes Luka would not be able to find them. But Valya still didn’t understand why.