When Twilight Burns (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles 4)

Victoria glanced at Max, who was glaring out the window. Taller in the seat than his companion—though just as broad of shoulder—he was a dark foil, with his sharper features, swarthy skin, and slash of dark brows. He’d pulled his hair back in that unfashionable club, rather than letting it fall in thick, unruly waves; perhaps it was too long for him to let it hang free. His jaw appeared hard and set as usual, but he’d relaxed his mouth since their exchange in the foyer. Victoria felt a little shiver run through her belly at the sudden, unexpected reminder of the one time he’d kissed her, against the cold, wet stone wall. He’d barely looked at her since, and certainly hadn’t tried to repeat it.

Unlike Sebastian.

She looked between the two men without appearing to do so, a strange prickling rolling down her spine. Odd to see them, next to each other, facing her—as though to showcase their contrasting personalities, appearance, history. They were so different, and yet . . . much alike.

Her heart was beating harder and she didn’t know why.

Or perhaps she did.

Her stomach filled with butterflies, and she looked away.

The speed of the coach had slowed because of the crush of spectators. They surged and waned like ocean waves, held back from the canopied walkway that had been erected for His Majesty. “Two million yards of Russian duck fabric to cover it!” she remembered hearing Lady Winnie screech, her small eyes round with disbelief.

As a peer, Victoria should have been part of the coronation procession, but of course it was more prudent for her to remain apart and prepared to engage. No doubt Lady Melly would have something to say about her absence, but that could be attended to later.

They arrived at Westminster Abbey more than an hour before the king was due to arrive. This gave them time to look around and observe the site. Wayren left with Barth shortly after, promising to send him back with the carriage as soon as she returned to the house.

Victoria and Sebastian happened to be near the main entrance to the abbey when a large, ornate coach arrived, thirty minutes before the king was due to make an appearance.

“Her Majesty, Queen Caroline!”

Exchanging looks, they hurried over and watched the corpulent queen clamber heavily down from her conveyance.

“Good God, she looks ill,” murmured someone next to Victoria.

She and Sebastian hurried closer, stakes at the ready.

As the queen approached the massive entrance to the abbey, the crowd falling back to allow her passage—or, perhaps, to move upwind—the doors slammed closed. Five burly men, dressed as pages, stood in front of them, barring her way.

“As Queen of England, I demand that you remove yourselves,” proclaimed Caroline in her heavy German accent.

“By order of the sovereign king, we refuse to allow you entrance.” The five men, much too large to be pages and who were later admitted to be prizefighters, stood nearly as wide as they were tall, effectively blocking her entrance.

Victoria and Sebastian moved closer, swiftly pushing through the crowd, heedless of civility. They were in time to see the queen beckon to her cortege, and six members of her party moved forward. “Remove them from my path,” ordered the queen. “No one shall prevent me from attending my husband’s coronation.”

Her guards did as they were bid, and when Victoria saw the ease with which they shoved away and held back the five massive prizefighters, she looked at Sebastian. Clearly, they were undead, complete with superhuman strength and the benefits of the special elixir.

The queen had planned well.

Victoria needed only a moment to decide what to do. Taking advantage of the tumult caused by the queen’s insistence, she darted off to the side. There was another door near the front of the abbey, and she was able to slip through quickly.

Smiling grimly, Sebastian was close behind her, and they made their way to the inside of the main entrance.

The doors were opening, and those inside the abbey didn’t realize it was the queen attempting to gain entrance. Victoria and Sebastian hurried over to the door, pushing through throngs of people talking and choosing seats as they awaited the king and his procession.

When the doors at last surged open, Victoria stood on the side of the threshold. She was close enough to see the details of the queen’s heavily beaded robe as she put one foot forward, onto the holy ground.

And then stopped, as though struck.

Shock and surprise flashed over her face, and she tried again . . . but the pain must have been too much, for she could move no further. Her face twisted in a horrible grimace, and her porcine eyes squinted in pain.

Max was right again. Of course.

Victoria eased forward, facing the queen, for everyone else had fallen away and was watching in horror and shock. Keeping her stake hidden in the folds of her skirt, Victoria said in a low voice, “You cannot enter here, Your Majesty.” This was not the time or place to engage openly with an undead.

“Get out of my way.”

Caroline looked at her, and Victoria knew at once what was happening. At this close proximity, she could see the way the queen’s skin sagged, as if dripping from her skull. In fact, the entire massive person of the royal sagged, looking gray and quite unhealthy. She was dying, and Victoria knew it had to be because of the elixir. She’d probably been taking it for months while in Italy. It was just as Lilith predicted.

Would her other prediction come true?

Victoria pushed that unpleasant thought away, and remained facing the queen. As she looked at her more closely, she saw the flash of a shadow in her eyes. She’d seen a glimpse of something similar in James’s irises on occasion, but had thought nothing of it until now, when the same look flickered in Caroline’s. The sign of an undead, noticeable only at close proximity . . . there one moment, and gone the next. A look she thought she’d seen somewhere else as well. But where?

She could worry about that later; now Victoria moved slightly, showing her stake to the queen. “Step back, Your Majesty, or I will be forced to use this.” Again, she kept her voice low, and only for the ears of the royal.

Assassinating the queen, vampire though she was, would be difficult to explain.

Caroline focused her eyes on her. They were burning red now, and the very tips of her fangs were revealed, poking into her lower lip. But there was nothing she could do.

“You cannot enter,” Victoria said again, and moved closer. Glancing at the gathering crowd, she added, “The king has decreed it.”

The queen had no choice. She stepped back, her face a mask of fury and pain. There was no grace in her movements as she turned and lurched heavily down the stairs to her waiting carriage. No one dared approach her, and as the crowds watched and whispered behind cupped hands, Victoria felt Sebastian’s arm slip around her waist.