“I am aware of that. I was aware of it when you had the chance to escape and you stayed to help Elisabeta escape. She is precious to me.” He changed tactics, his voice softening. “My brother would be cruel to her. Elisabeta and I belong.” He lifted his head to smile at the caged woman.

“Because you have emotions when she is near. Xavier imprisoned a Carpathian female in the hopes of children. Vadim is experimenting in the hopes of children. What is it you want? A child? I don’t think so.” Julija’s voice was speculating. “I think you crave the emotions she gives you. It is Elisabeta that allows you to think and plan so clearly. She keeps the negative traits at bay, doesn’t she?”

Sergey inclined his head. “Clever girl. I will never let her go. If you cannot help me, you are of no use, Julija, so I suggest you figure out very quickly how to undo the spell that holds her here.”

She sighed. “It’s complicated. You used a spell you chose from Xavier’s memories without knowing the consequences.”

“I showed it to you.”

Again, Dragomir had the impression that Sergey’s patience was wearing thin. The moment that happened, that wave of soothing peace filled the room. It wasn’t just Sergey affected by Elisabeta’s wave of peace. The other two vampires, the mage and Dragomir all felt that peaceful surge moving through them, quieting tempers.

“Yes, Sergey, you did,” Julija admitted. “But it wasn’t the entire memory. I need more. I have started to unravel it, but it’s complicated. Very complex. Xavier put a holding spell on a Carpathian. He held her prisoner for a very long time, just as you have done to Elisabeta, using those same methods, but this spell, this is extremely difficult to undo. I cannot do it without seeing his entire memory.”

There was the ring of truth in her voice, and yet, Dragomir had the feeling the girl was either very close or might have figured it out. Clearly there was a spell holding Elisabeta to the underground city, the part Vadim wanted vacated. Sergey couldn’t leave his prisoner there, a prisoner his brother wasn’t even aware of. That was an added complication for Dragomir. Even if he could kill all three vampires, he wouldn’t be able to free Elisabeta unless this girl could actually remove the holding spell.

Without warning Sergey’s hand lashed out again, sending Julija tumbling back against the stone table. “You will unlock this spell or die right now.” There was no anger in his voice. He was a cold killer. This was the man Elisabeta feared. The one the vampires feared. He raked his talons down Julija’s forearms, shoved his fist into the air, which lifted her body and slammed her down onto the top of the table like a human sacrifice.

Elisabeta kicked at her cage frantically, still not speaking, not making a sound. Part of the holding spell had to include being unable to speak. That made sense – Xavier would have needed to keep his victims silent if the Carpathians were close. But what else had Sergey given away? Julija had the chance to escape and she hadn’t taken it. She’d stayed, risking her life on the gamble that she might be able to rescue Elisabeta. That said a lot about her character and courage. Dragomir couldn’t allow Sergey to kill the mage, no matter the danger of any of the others escaping.

Sergey suddenly lifted his head and looked around the chamber, searching inch by inch. He looked up at Elisabeta, who kept her head down. He smiled at her. “You have earned another lesson, my dear. You know you deserve punishment for what you’ve done.” He uttered the words very softly, his white teeth snapping together. Elisabeta shuddered and kept her eyes to the ground.

He whirled back to the mage lying on the stone table. He slammed one long talon – spiked like a thick ice pick – right through her throat. Leaving it there, pinning her to the rock with one long dagger, he waved his other hand toward Elisabeta.

To Dragomir’s horror her body began to dissolve, to become part of the rock her cage rested on.

“Keep her alive or you die,” Sergey said to his vampire servants. “If she lives, the rewards are vast,” and then he was gone. That fast. So fast Dragomir couldn’t see him move. He must have gone under the door of the chamber, or even through it, because he didn’t open it. One moment he was there, and the next there was an empty space.

Blood bubbled from the horrendous hole in Julija’s throat. She coughed and blood sprayed across the room. Eugen sprang toward her at the same time as Artur. They bumped into each other, but it was Eugen who covered the wound with his hand, applying such pressure that the girl couldn’t breathe.

The Carpathian woman was still dissolving, her body melting until there was no way to see her, not even when directly looking at the place she’d been. The cage remained. The hook where her hands had been suspended above her head, but not the woman. The woman had been absorbed by the stone around her until there was nothing left of her.

In this chamber. Sergey fleeing, Dragomir warned the others.

All the vampires are exiting, Ferro reported. It happened so fast that half of them are already deserting the place.

Engage. These men are Sergey’s soldiers, not Vadim’s. What was he going to do about the mage’s injuries? Elisabeta’s imprisonment? Gary, I have great need of you. He had skills. So did Sandu, but Gary’s skills were far superior. If he got there in time he might save Julija.

Sandu sauntered into the chamber, Andor behind him. Andor didn’t waste time – he flew at Artur, his indigo eyes every bit as piercing as Sergey’s talons had been. His inky black hair fell to his waist in a braid as thick as his arm. He blew past Eugen and slammed his fist into Artur’s chest. Dragomir materialized behind Eugen and hit him with his fist. A short, powerful punch that crashed through bone, driving straight toward the withered heart.

Eugen twisted, screaming in fear and hatred. He thrashed, sending Julija tumbling from the table. Sandu caught her in a firm grip, his hand covering the gaping wound in her throat as he did so. He took her to the floor, on the opposite side of the table from either of the vampires and the hunters fighting them.

She started to struggle, and he simply waved his hand and her body stilled, but her eyes radiated pure fury. He kept his hand over the wound on her throat and slipped from his own body, right there with two vampires in the room, leaving behind a shell to become pure spirit. He moved through her body quickly, noting all the signs of torture. The woman had endured a lot over time. He saw scarring that indicated she could have been held as long as six months. Maybe even a year.

Sandu bypassed all of it, even the fresh lacerations and tears, to get to the puncture wound on the girl’s throat. He had to stop the bleeding. That had to be done or they couldn’t leave with her. He closed the wound from the inside out. There was damage to her larynx. The two-inch tube was shredded. If she was going to speak again, he had to at least address that.

It took longer than Sandu expected, and by the time he’d managed to get some of the tubing to stick together in the beginnings of a repair, someone or something hit his body, knocking it sideways, and his spirit abruptly was pulled from the girl back to his own shell. A boot stomped down close to his thigh and even closer to the girl.

He threw himself over her, covering her smaller form easily. The boot narrowly missed his back as the vampire stumbled backward, trying to escape Dragomir.

Dragomir kicked Eugen in the head, driving him farther away from Sandu and Julija. He spared them one glance to ensure they both were alive as he leapt over them, following Eugen. Eugen tried hard to take another form, but Dragomir was on him, preventing the change. He pinned him against the wall and slammed his fist deep, searching for the elusive heart.

Eugen roared and somersaulted, taking Dragomir with him as he rolled across the dirt floor, acid blood pouring over Dragomir and soaking into the ground. He landed on top of the Carpathian so they stared into each other’s eyes. Dragomir never wavered, his fingers still digging relentlessly for the heart.

Behind Eugen, Andor loomed above them both, his indigo eyes fierce, his features brutally savage. He slammed his fist through the hole in Eugen’s back that Dragomir had originally made. The vampire screamed, throwing his head back in an effort to strike the Carpathian attacking from behind. On the ground, he had no leverage, so he slammed his head forward into Dragomir, hitting him in the skull, trying to crash through it, to shatter the bone. When that didn’t stop the hunter, he bit down with all his might, letting the rich ancient blood pour into him.