His body twitched, then he flipped over onto all fours. "I am a cockroach!" He scurried into the shadows near the stairs.
"Stop him!" Sasha cried.
Billy fired his pistol.
"No!" Heather cried, straining at the ropes.
"I am a cockroach!" Cody squeaked from the shadows.
Billy shot again. There was a scurrying sound on the staircase.
He was climbing up to the old choir loft. Heather winced. It couldn't be safe up there. Of course, it wasn't any safer down here.
She could barely make out Cody's dark figure as he scrambled across the choir loft. Billy took aim and fired. Cody jumped and ran in the opposite direction. Billy shot again.
Heather watched, horrified. It was like shooting a duck at the firing range of an amusement park.Just then, a tremendous howl filled the air. Billy stopped shooting to listen.
Heather caught her breath. She'd never heard a dog or coyote howl so loud. The sound was deafening. And it had to come from a very large creature.
"What was that?" Sasha whispered.
"I don't know," Billy replied. "But it sounds close."
Heather jumped when she heard a loud noise in the courtyard. It sounded like metal being ripped apart.
The chapel grew darker. The sun must have set. The only light was from the stars and full moon that gleamed through the hole in the roof.
Billy and Sasha stiffened and turned to face the altar.
"The master awakes," Sasha whispered. She hurried to the altar and picked up a box of matches off the table. She lit the three candles.
Billy set his pistol on the table. A few feet behind the table, he leaned over and hooked his fingers through a large metal ring in the floor. He pulled, and a wooden door screeched open.
A figure in black levitated through the opening in the floor. He kept floating up toward the hole in the ceiling. Moonlight surrounded him like a silver nimbus. Heather couldn't see his face, but she felt him looking at her.
She jumped when Billy slammed the cellar door shut.
The vampire Louie lowered to the floor. His hair was no longer white, but black like his trench coat. He looked about thirty-five years old, Heather estimated, but she knew he was probably well over five hundred.
Billy and Sasha bowed. "Master."
"You brought me Jean-Luc's latest whore," Louie said quietly. "Very good." He glanced at the choir loft. "And you brought me another mortal."
Cody scurried into the shadows.
"He will amuse me before he dies." Louie turned to look at Heather.
She swallowed hard. She'd never seen such cold, black eyes. In that terrible moment, she realized there was nothing human left in him. He'd simply become a creature that preyed on humanity.
He stepped toward her. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Henri Lenoir." His lips curled in a humorless smile. "You won't live long enough to tell Jean-Luc. It'll be our little secret."
She bent her knees to conceal her hands in her lap. Cody hadn't tied them very well, so it might be possible to work them free. For now, it might be best to keep Louie talking. That would give Jean-Luc and his friends more time to find her. And it would give her more time to get her hands free.
"Why do you hate Jean-Luc so much?"
Louie removed his black leather gloves and stuffed them into the pocket of his trench coat. His hands were pale, the fingernails long and painted black. "Casimir has offered me a small fortune to kill Jean-Luc. And I will have his position as Coven Master of Western Europe once Casimir takes over. The reward is great for such a small task. But I want to make Jean-Luc suffer first.
That is where you come in. I'll be killing you for free."
"What if I paid you not to kill me?"
A corner of his mouth twisted. "You are an amusing one, but I doubt you could afford me." His black eyes raked over her. "Besides, I enjoy killing women."
Her stomach twinged.
"I plan to kill you slowly." He moved closer. "You don't seem very afraid."
Was that what he wanted? To see her cry and beg? Sure she was terrified, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing it. She lifted her chin and glared at him.
"I shall, of course, rape you while I feed on you. It's more insulting to Jean-Luc that way."
Her stomach roiled, and she swallowed hard at the bile rising in her throat. Rape was a lot more insulting to her, but Louie obviously didn't care. She was simply a way to hurt Jean-Luc. She had no other value. Nothing to bargain with.
"I am ravenous now." Louie strolled back to the altar. "I must take the edge off my appetite. I would hate to accidentally kill you too quickly."
A heavy feeling of doom invaded her. She wouldn't be able to reason her way out of this. She tugged at the ropes.
"Come, my dear." Louie lifted a hand toward Sasha.
She ran to him. "Yes, Master."
He led her to the altar and pushed her sleeve up her arm. Heather winced at the sight of puncture wounds.
Sasha reclined on the table, her head close to the candles. Louie leaned over to lick the inside of her wrist.
Heather turned her head away, not wanting to watch. But when she heard a hissing sound, she took a quick peek. She gasped. His fangs were extended, long and sharp. He drove them into Sasha's wrist.
Heather shuddered. She couldn't let him near her. She strained at her ropes, wincing as they chafed and burned her skin. It was now or never. Louie was busy eating, and Billy was just standing there like a zombie.
A loud howling sound permeated the room.
Louie raised his head to listen. Blood dripped from his fangs onto Sasha's pale skin.
Another howl began, long and plaintive. It echoed around the stone walls. Birds, frightened from their nests in the rafters, took flight out the windows.
"We have company." Louie retrieved the pistol from the table and handed it to Billy. "Prepare yourself."
"Yes, Master."
Louie returned to Sasha, lifted her arm, and bit her.
Heather slipped one hand free. Yes! She loosened the ropes on the other hand. She might just manage to escape.
Just then, a large black blur shot through an open window. It landed on the stone floor just a few feet away from Heather. She froze, unable to breathe.
It was a huge, dark wolf with long and shaggy fur. A growl vibrated in its throat.
Billy stepped back, his face pale.
Louie straightened. His fangs retracted, and he released Sasha's arm. It fell limp onto the table.
Sasha appeared unconscious.
The wolf turned its massive head to look at Heather. It bared its teeth and growled.
She gasped. Red glowing eyes. White gnashing teeth. Oh God, this was Fidelia's dream of danger. She could be killed slowly by a vampire, or mauled to death quickly by a huge wolf. Either way, it looked like her time was up.
CHAPTER 28
Jean-Luc jolted awake, coughing as something foreign slid down his throat. Someone was grasping his chin, forcing his mouth open. He shoved the hand away.
"It worked!" a woman's voice shouted.
He tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness knocked him back. Strong hands caught him. His vision was blurred with a greenish tint. A foul taste tainted his tongue. Mon Dieu, poison. He struggled to get out of bed, but his body wouldn't respond.
"'Tis all right, Jean-Luc." The strong hand moved to his shoulder. "It takes a wee moment to adjust."
He recognized Ian's voice, though the Scotsman's face was still a greenish blur. "What have you done?"
"I gave ye some of the stay-awake drug." Ian showed him the vial of green liquid. "The sun hasna set."
It was still daytime? Jean-Luc's vision cleared, and he noticed Fidelia hovering in the doorway of his bedroom. She was holding Bethany, whose face was streaked with tears. His heart plummeted. His worst fear—something had gone wrong while he'd rested powerless in his death-sleep.