As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 5)

More demons-demons that even frightened the undead.

Demons that had driven a powerful vampire from her cemetery lair.

That realization as much as anything else worried her. Vampires hated demons, but they didn’t fear them.

At least, they never had before.

Twelve

Wherein Sebastian Is Remin

ded That Hell Hath No Fury

“The only way you’ll get the ring from Katerina is by killing her,” said Anton?n companionably, apparently having recovered from the unexpected demon attack. His face had also begun to show signs of healing, the peeling skin falling away to reveal fresh baby pink flesh beneath.

Victoria swallowed a drink of wine from where she sat on the edge of the bed and replied, “I don’t anticipate a problem. ”

She’d kept Anton?n out of sight and quiet while Sebastian found a room at a small inn, and now the three of them had settled into the chamber for the night. At least, she and Sebastian had settled in. The vampire was well and truly trussed in a corner, yet he seemed to be feeling rather talkative.

“I wouldn’t mind something to drink,” he said at that moment. “Perhaps a wrist or arm?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sebastian said, looking up from a sheaf of curling papers. A dusky blond curl fell from his forehead and into his eyes, reminding Victoria that he still had the ability to make her insides go soft.

“I’m thirsty. Unless you wish to offer me even a drink of wine if you won’t give me a wrist? You could hold the cup. ” His voice lifted in a bit of a whine.

Victoria ignored him and looked over at Sebastian, wondering not for the first time what he was reading. He’d pulled the pages out more than once during their trip, even late at night, often sitting in the small circle of candlelight to pore over them, while she and Max pretended to ignore each other.

Or, at least, she pretended. She didn’t know about Max.

“She’s not so easy to kill,” Anton?n persisted.

Victoria looked at Sebastian. “If I give him something to eat, perhaps he’ll stop talking. ”

He glanced up, and she noticed that the gleam of humor was missing from his eyes. “You could knock him on the head, too,” he said. “Or, better yet, stake him. We don’t need him to find Katerina. ”

“But I have other plans for him,” she replied, looking at the vampire speculatively. The more she thought about it, the more pleased she was with the undead candidate for Max’s Trial. Max could take him blindfolded and with one hand behind his back, even without a vis and after three days of fasting.

“I see. ” Sebastian looked back down.

Victoria had traveled since dawn, and had slept little for the last ten days while they journeyed, so she was tired. She’d ordered a bath earlier, using another chamber for privacy. More than a week’s worth of grime and dirt had layered her skin, and it was the first chance she’d had to wash in more than a small basin.

The window of their room faced east, toward the sun that would rise in a few hours, and toward T?n Church, which stood on one of the city’s central hills. She found her eyes continuing to stray in that direction, and she had to pull them back. More than once.

Perhaps she ought to try to sleep, especially since tomorrow, when the sun was up, they would go after Katerina. But something bothered her, niggled at the corner of her mind.

She wasn’t worried about sleeping with Anton?n in the room-he was bound tightly, wrist to ankle, and tied to the post of a heavy bed on the floor. He was going nowhere unless she released him.

Which was probably why he continued to talk. “She’s a bit mad, as Vioget has cause to know. ”

Victoria glanced at Sebastian, who didn’t flicker an eyelash. He reached for the cup of wine and drank without lifting his eyes from the pages.

“She won’t take off that ring, either, because she hopes it’ll be a bargaining chip to bring back her husband. ”

“Is her husband dead?” Victoria asked in spite of herself.

“He was one of the architects trying to repair the Stone Bridge five hundred years ago. It fell apart after the king threw the queen’s confessor into the Vlatava because the priest wouldn’t tell him whether the queen was cuckolding him. Someone decided he should be sainted for that, too. ”

“So Katerina’s husband was repairing the bridge?”