Page 72 of The Curse of Eternity
My lungs burned with every step I forced my legs to take. Stone flooring underfoot became swathed in rich carpets when we crossed some invisible boundary that separated this part of the fortress from the rest. After the breakneck pace, I choked down air whenever Drake slowed to peer around corners, and listened for the sound of more guards.
Our path ahead stretched into shadow, but the silhouette of double doors solidified against the surrounding darkness. Without pause, Drake twisted the right handle and pushed it open. Frigid air poured out from within. Shivering, I crossed the threshold after Drake and stifled a groan. We stood on a level platform separating two sets of spiral staircases, one leading up, while the other descended into pitch-black mystery.
Drake ascended the steps. My haggard breathing kept me moving, but at the cost of alerting our enemies. Maybe that’s why Drake slowed his pace.Must be nice, not needing to breathe.
“It is not much farther,” Drake whispered, his voice like a sigh in the stagnant atmosphere.
“I’m fine,” I grumbled, barely enunciating the words. Despite the bloody mess drying down Drake’s chin and neck, it was good that he’d fed. One of us needed to be strong enough to face whatever came between us and those rings. Even with the fortress at my fumbling command, I could barely protect myself, let alone him.
As I climbed the stone stairs, I struggled to keep the images from flashing back in the lull.No—I had to focus. I could rationalize the morality of mine and Drake’s actions later.
“Where in the fortress are we?” Through so many twists and turns, I could hardly believe Drake remembered the way after two centuries of being absent.
“The western turret. It is closest to the underground, where Mihai can most easily preside over the lycans he commands.”
“Thathecommands?” I balked, but shut my mouth with a snap when we reached the floor above.
“Yes.” Drake strode ahead, soundless across the ruby red carpet stretching the length of a much shorter hallway. Three doors existed on the floor, two opposite each other and a set of double doors at the very end. Vases decorated the low end tables like bookends beside the hinges of each door.
Artwork hung on the stone walls over china dishes and glass sculptures whose silhouettes were too vague in the oppressive darkness to distinguish. Under different circumstances, like warmth and light, the passage might have been cozy. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled, and I raised my machete.
We stood before the doors at the end, its carved trim set with real rubies and diamonds in an abstract constellation, reflecting nothing, but shimmering all the same. Drake silently grasped the wrought-iron knob and twisted. No creak followed the door’s swing inward to reveal a sitting room beyond.
Armchairs were poised on either side of a writing desk. A grand piano took up the space by the left wall, beneath a paintingcovered with a thin sheet. Between them, a makeshift couch was constructed of carved wood, and floral-patterned cushions swelled along the frame. I went to take another step, but Drake’s raised arm halted me.
My gaze followed his, to the figure who stood in front of a long tapestry depicting a landscape of rolling hills. His back was to us, with maybe thirty feet between us. When he half-turned, his scarred features deepened the shadows lining his face. His low, gravelly voice spoke in a dialect even more ancient than Drake’s.
Weaponless, but never one to show weakness, Drake took a step forward.
“We would not want to wake yourso?ie, if she ever stirs from her slumber anymore.”
“You provoke me, Ignatius.” Mihai’s sunken eyes settled on my vampire, not once glancing my way. “You forget your place.”
“My only wish is for survival. It was you who taught me the importance of perseverance.” A muscle twitched in Drake’s cheek, a blink-and-miss-it smile at the irony.
“Survival without a cause is fruitless,” Mihai whispered, his accent thick but decipherable. “You risk your blessed immortality for a woman. Has history taught you nothing?”
“Time has been a cruel teacher.” Drake’s gaze never wavered as he took another step. “Alas, I agree. Without a cause, bloodshed means nothing. I am fortunate to have found such a worthy purpose to risk it all.” The corner of his lip curled into a smirk.
“You intend to defeatme, Ignatius?” Bleak disbelief colored Mihai’s tone. “You truly believe you can?”
“Perhaps not alone,” Drake agreed, his right hand slowly clenching into a fist. “Today, I am not.”
Those whispers in the back of my head returned, urging my feet to move a split second before Mihai hurled his concealed dagger. It soared inches from my left arm, but it would have hitmy heart if I’d been too slow. Something crashed behind me, but I didn’t turn to see what. Between one breath and the next, Drake snapped the leg off a nearby low table and wielded it like a makeshift stake.
Mihai met Drake head on, using the couch to gain the high ground when Drake advanced. The older vampire blocked Drake’s thrust with the stake, and his gnarled meaty fingers gripped the wood until it splintered. Faster than I’d ever watched two vampires move, the two fought with a combination of skill and familiarity with each other’s defensive style that I recognized from having brawled with my cousins.
Forced to stoop to avoid Mihai’s knee from hitting his chest, Drake quickly pulled the wooden rim of the couch. It tipped forward, making Mihai leap from his position, only to land on the floor between us. Mihai’s crimson cape unfurled, a purposeful distraction as he reached for me.
I ducked aside, raising my machete in time to catch the vampire’s fingertips with the edge of my blade. Dark blood dripped down his palm, and his focus snapped to me. Even with the fortress’s magick, I was still human. Too fast for me to dodge, Mihai’s knee rose to counter my escape attempt. The impact hit my ribs, bone to bone, and I choked.
I swung outward with my machete to ward him off, dimly registering the crash of shattering glass. Drake stepped in behind Mihai, a broken bottle in his grasp, and slashed. The older vampire spun, and Drake’s eyes widened as Mihai took the hit across his throat. Blood poured from the new wound, but Mihai’s expression stayed neutral, his blurring hands moving to grip Drake’s right arm.
In one swift twist, Mihai broke Drake’s bones with a sickening snap. His forearm hung at a right angle as the broken bottle fell from his grasp to the floor. I had less than a second, but gravity did half the work for me when I dropped into a crouch andslashed my blade across the backs of Mihai’s knees. Only one of his hamstrings was severed, but it threw him off-balance.
He staggered, and Drake took the opportunity to grasp Mihai’s shoulder and pull him further from me. Drake’s fingers dug into Mihai’s flesh while he kicked out the vampire’s last leg. Unable to inhale enough air, I fought rising panic and burning muscles to stand and plunge my blade through Mihai’s chest.
I didn’t hesitate to pull the weapon free, bleeding Mihai out faster to weaken him. Even with his torn heart oozing gritty dark blood down his chest, it wouldn’t be enough to incapacitate him. So I aimed my next blow for his throat, but Mihai’s hand shot out to grip my blade. A feral sneer contorted his scarred face, yanking my machete—and me along with it—into his clutches.
