Page 95 of To Vanquish Darkness

She didn’t have time. The creature was on her, a blur of claws and wings. Her vision blurred as she finally caught hold of the hilt and flung the blade forward, twisting and slashing.

Then, suddenly, the creature flew into the night. Alba sucked in a breath, her lungs burning and frantic. She rolled onto her side and pushed up to her hands and knees.

"Run.” A man loomed over her, his dark hair windswept, his eyes nearly black.

She scrambled to her feet, but she didn't run. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him.Vampire.He had helped her. They’d come to attack, and yet he?—

"Run!" he repeated, and that time, he didn’t give her a choice.

41

1422 CHÂTEAU DE CHINON, LOIRE VALLEY

Alba panted, sweat dripping down her face, her muscles straining as she faced Theo. She blinked from the light pouring through the arched windows behind him.

A smirk played on his lips. “That won’t be good enough.”

“This isn’t a fair fight,” she growled. She lunged at him, but he moved like smoke, fluid and impossible to predict.

“It won’t be tomorrow either.” He gripped her arm and twisted, sending her to the marble floor with a grunt.

She forced herself up as soon as he released her, gritting her teeth and forcing the tears in her eyes to retreat. Her chest felt like it might crack in two as she drove toward him for the hundredth time, and then the pressure suddenly released. It was as if she’d been drilling in the earth and had finally broken through the bedrock.

Energy surged through her, flooding every inch of her with raw strength. Theo moved, and Alba struck with a kick that connected, her foot slamming into his chest. The impact made her teeth rattle, and she dropped to the floor as Theo flew backward, his body slamming into the stone wall.

The force of it sent a shockwave through the room, and the stones behind him crumbled, dust and debris falling to the floor.

Theo lay on the ground a moment before pushing up and finding her eyes, the smirk wiped from his face. “That’s more like it.”

42

1422 TOURS, LOIRE VALLEY

Alba stood before the crumbling stone altar, her heart beating slow and steady. This was it. She was supposed to be there, she could feel it.

The altar was weathered and cracked, vines winding their way through the crevices, as if nature had already laid claim to what lay beneath. She reached out a trembling hand, her fingers brushing against the cool, rough surface.

Theo put a hand on her lower back, centering her. “Let me.”

Alba nodded. Her breath hitched as Theo plunged his hand into a thin crevice and pulled at the rock. The side of the altar gave away easily under his strength, and in seconds, she was able to reach into the musty sarcophagus.

Her fingers brushed something cool and metallic. “It’s here. I knew it would be here.”

As soon as she said it, the stone walls around her began to disintegrate, and she was standing in a richly decorated hall. The distant sound of water flowing broke through her awareness, and she turned, her eyes widening as she saw the Loire river stretching out before her through the window.

“It’s here. I knew it would be here.”

“Amalie.”

She frowned, turning to look down the hall.Who was Amalie?The corridor was empty. Alba looked down at the sword in her hand, then back out the window at the river. “It’s here. I knew?—”

“Amalie.”

The walls around her shook, and she dropped the sword to the floor. “It’s here. I?—”

43

1422 BLOIS, LOIRE VALLEY

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