As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 5)

“Trying to. It kept falling down. Lucifer had been delighted by the murder of the priest, and he amused himself by continuing to destroy the bridge every time they thought it was going to stand. Finally, Brughard, Katerina’s husband, made a deal with him and agreed to give Lucifer the soul of the first creature to cross the bridge after it was repaired. ”

“He gave his wife’s soul?” Victoria asked. No wonder the vampiress was mad.

“Not intentionally. ” Anton?n sounded annoyed. Perhaps she had ruined the suspense of his story. “He finished the bridge, and told the workers to release a cock to cross over first. But Lucifer sent Beauregard to bring a message to Katerina that her husband had been injured. She fled from her house and ran across the bridge, and was the first to cross. Thus she lost her soul, and Lucifer gave her to Beauregard to sire. Which of course he did. ”

So that was why Katerina wasn’t very fond of Sebastian. His grandfather had tricked her into becoming a vampire. “But what about Brughard?”

“She turned him herself, but he was slain some years ago. ” Anton?n’s gaze drifted to Sebastian. “By a young Venator staking his first undead. ”

At that, Sebastian looked up, brushing the hair from his face. “Why don’t you put a stake into him, Victoria? He’s beginning to annoy me. ”

“And so now her husband is damned to Hell… not a bad thing in my book, of course, but apparently Katerina meant to keep him alive for a lot longer. ”

“She thinks the ring will bring him back?” Victoria asked. “How?”

Anton?n shrugged as well as he could, bound thus. “I said she was mad. But she believes a bargain might be struck with some holy or divine entity. She gives them the ring, and her husband is rescued from Hell. ”

“There is no way to rescue an undead’s soul from Hell,” Sebastian spoke suddenly. His face looked grim in the low light. “Once an undead drinks from a mortal, he’s damned for eternity. ”

“I have heard otherwise,” replied Anton?n loftily. “Lucifer doesn’t like it one bit, but he’s had to release more than one of the vampire souls he’s collected over the millennia. ” He nodded knowingly. “It’s never a pleasant time for us, of course. Lucifer is-”

“Give him some wine and shut him up,” said Sebastian suddenly. Victoria was struck by how much he sounded like Max at that moment-sharp and terse. Perhaps he was as tired as she felt.

Or perhaps there was something else bothering him… besides the reminder of what he’d done to Giulia. And Burghard.

She rose and found some salvi in her pack. The potion worked quickly to put mortals to sleep, but she wasn’t certain whether it would affect an undead. However, she was willing to try.

Anton?n was thirsty, and gulped the wine she held to his mouth. When she pulled the cup away, he looked up at her with hopeful red eyes. “How about a bit of something else?” he asked thickly. “Your wrist… I could make it easy and quick. ”

“Why would I do anything for you?” she asked, although a thought had been teasing her mind.

“Because I’ll tell you how to get Katerina. The way to get to her. ” His voice lowered, and he glanced at Sebastian as though afraid he would hear.

“The same way you took me to her lair at the cemetery?” Victoria said.

“I didn’t expect those demons to be there. ”

“You said you’d heard about the demons, stories. How long ago did you start hearing about them?”

“More than a month. ”

“Is Katerina frightened, too? Or merely inconvenienced?”

“She is frightened. All of the undead are frightened. There’s been nothing like this before. ” His eyes were fastened on her white wrist, showing from the cuff of the clean man’s shirt she’d donned after her bath. “Please. Just a bit. It won’t hurt you. ”

Victoria didn’t reply. “Is it true that an undead soul isn’t damned if he didn’t drink from a mortal? Is it true?”

Anton?n looked at her, and she allowed herself to meet his eyes. The tug of his thrall, weak though it was to someone like her, tickled around her, and she allowed her breathing to grow heavy. Yet she was aware of everything. She knew she could blink, could turn away at any moment. “Is it true?” she asked.

Phillip. Oh, Phillip, I’ve always believed it was true.

What if it isn’t?

She allowed Anton?n to lure her, to tease and pull and to think he was gathering her in with his strength. She felt it, felt the curl of warmth and pleasure slip under her skin… but not completely. Raising her arm, she watched his attention move to her wrist as though it slogged through water. The gleam in his eyes burned hot and red, and his breath whistled from behind his teeth and fangs. Warmth… softness…

“Victoria!”

Sebastian was there suddenly, and Victoria turned in surprise.