Page 75 of The Doctor and the Devil
She offered a tight smile.
“As I’ll ever be.”
MINA
When the pain of the transformation had ebbed, I looked around. The sight of two massive, hellish wolf creatures and two—no,three—enormous bat demons would have shocked even the most unshakeable person. A bubble of manic laughter burst in my chest, coming out as a warped growl from behind my fangs.
The Judas silver seemed to pulse in my blood, whispering to me to do terrible things.Betray. Punish. Kill.When I’d first encountered it inside Rafael’s laboratory, I’d sensed it immediately. It wasn’t repellant to me as it was to the others. Rather, it seemed to call to me…coaxing, enticing, seducing. I could feel it sliding through my body along my muscles and bones, tempting me to unleash power I’d only recently become acquainted with.Very well. I would use it. I would let it feed me to bring down the Order—to help me ensure they would be stopped from their dangerous march against the sufferers of the blood plague. And then, I would purge the haunting silver power from my body and bury it in a place where no one could find it again.
I stretched out my wings and kicked off the ground, soaring high into the night sky. The air cooled as I ascended, and the wind buffeted me mercilessly until I found a warm air current that propelled me forward. I felt Laszlo and Rafael at my sides as we careened over the treetops, and I allowed myself a few moments of joy at the novelty of this new feat. I was flying! Despite the strange and sometimes uncomfortable feelings of my new abilities as a supernatural being, this felt like a true miracle.
As I sped on, I saw the distant shapes of Charlotte and Antoine below me, running all out through the woods. Daphne, Marguerite, and Étienne were on their heels, their horses kicking up a fine mist of soft earth and gravel in their wake. We traveled faster than I’d ever believed possible, spurred on by our collective desire to protect ourselves, our friends. Our people.
When the suburbs outside Paris came into view and we closed in on the little forgotten cemetery, my stomach clenched at the thought of what I was about to do—what I was prepared to do. I’d never willingly ended a life before, and here I was, cozying up to the idea of taking out two dozen men. I considered the fact that they believed they were doing what was right for the people of France, that many of them had families, that not all of them were perhaps…evil.Knowing these things, doubt rooted in my gut, despite the hissing, brutal encouragements from the Judas silver slithering between my nerves.
We touched down in the small, wooded area just outside the cemetery. My heart pounded with the memories of running from Laszlo and Derais—the pain and fear of my death and turning. Within minutes, Charlotte and Antoine arrived at our chosen rendezvous and split off to survey the area around the cemetery, looking for threats. Daphne, Étienne, and Marguerite raced in and dismounted, then tied their exhausted horses to a nearby tree.
Rafael, Laszlo, and I dressed in silence as I reached out to Charlotte. Our mental connection had proven the strongest—aside from mine with Rafael—and it was easy for us to communicate without me having to break through mental barriers to read her mind. She sent me a comforting wave of reassurance.
I turned to Rafael. His beautiful face was impassive, but I could see the angst sparking in his eyes. Without a word, I pressed my lips to his, infusing the kiss with as much love as I dared. I needed him to understand that I would come back to him…that I would always come back to him. This wasn’t goodbye.
Taking one final breath of resolve, I smoothed my hands down my lovely midnight gown and walked into the cemetery. Behind me and around me, I felt gentle brushes of strength, hope, and gratitude. It helped to settle my stomach and calm my raging nerves. It temporarily tamed the vicious bloodlust the Judas silver inspired.
When I reached the mausoleum, I paused at the door and listened. Beneath me, I heard muted voices arguing, snarling, deriding each other. The men of the Order were here, meeting below. As I opened the heavy door to descend into the tomb, a wave of surprised rage emanated from the forest.
It seemed the Order’s vampire mercenary guards had shown up. Before I could drop my hand from the door and turn to help, Rafael sent a pulse of reassurance to me.
We will be fine. Go, my love. Finish this.
In the distance, I heard a horrifying, unearthly scream, followed by a wet, crunching sound, and then eerie silence. More screams, then—but not from Rafael or my friends.
Another wave of ease, this time from Charlotte.
All is well. Go, Mina! We have your back.
I rolled my shoulders, threw open the door, and descended into the black maw of the tomb.
25
MINA
May 20, 1768
Cimetière des Innocents
I walked down the stairs,listening for clear threads of the conversation from the members below.
“No sign of them! How can that be? They cannot have fallen off the face of the earth!”
“Unbelievable. If His Majesty would only allow us more resources, we’d be able to cast a wider net and broaden our search.”
“His Majesty doesn’tofficiallyendorse anything we do, and I doubt he would condone the hunt of one of his cousins.”
“It’s not my incompetence that led us here. Whose idea was it to allow the women to join? I swear, they’re more of a curse than the damn blood plague.”
I considered shifting then but felt one last bubble of hope lift in my chest that maybe,maybe, there was another way.
When I reached the inner door at the end of the hallway, the silver in my veins vibrated with energy at the proximity to the silver inside the door. I willed it calm for the moment, then knocked firmly. The men on the other side stilled.
