Verity led the way into the small antechamber where she had previously met Lady Alys. All the candles on the prie-dieu were out. The door to the queen’s chamber was shut.
“Let me look in first,” Verity whispered. “If the queen is awake, she will not be surprised to see my face.”
Rhys nodded and Verity carefully turned the handle and opened the door. Queen Jane lay in the center of the bed, her sallow face turned toward the opposite wall, her breathing shallow but regular. Verity took a deep, shaky breath and looked back at Rhys. “The queen is alone at the moment, but not, I fear, for long. I sense Janus and his accomplices approaching.” She pointed at the ornate screen that shielded the queen’s washbasin and other necessities. “I suggest we conceal ourselves behind that screen until they arrive and we find out exactly whom we are dealing with.”
Rhys beckoned to Elias and they silently filed into the queen’s bedchamber and moved behind the tapestry screen. They barely fit into the small space, he and Elias in front of Verity. He could feel it now too, the sense of approaching evil, the dread sickness of decay and desolation that had haunted his very soul.
The door to the queen’s chamber opened and Rhys stiffened. A cloaked figure entered, carrying a bundle in his arms.
“Lord Thomas Seymour.”
Elias’s spoken thought sounded loud in Rhys’s head.
The figure walked toward the queen’s bed, but the queen didn’t stir.
“Look, my precious. She is almost gone,” Lord Thomas Seymour whispered and Rhys frowned. Who was he talking to? Verity gripped his arm.
“The other Vampire scent. Can either of you smell it?”
“I smell Vampire
.” Elias answered.
“What do you smell, my lady?”
“Pansies.”
Rhys looked carefully around the bedchamber.
“But where is the female?”
“She is here.”
“Is it the queen? Has she been turned?”
Rhys asked.
“No.”
Verity’s grip on his arm tightened.
“Oh my God.”
Rhys turned back to see Lord Thomas Seymour placing his bundle on the floor. A child emerged from the coverings and stared at the bed. The moonlight caught on hair as red as Rhys’s own.
“See, little princess?” Lord Thomas said. “Soon Queen Jane will be no more and you and I will rule this kingdom together.”
A childish chuckle escaped from the little girl, making Rhys shiver.
“What in God’s name is the lady Elizabeth doing here?”
“I know not,”
Verity replied. “
But she is not yet a full Vampire.”
“Perhaps this has something to do with avenging her mother,”
Elias said,
“or it might simply be that Lord Thomas Seymour is not completely committed to his Vampire master. Mayhap he wishes to have another plan, just in case Janus betrays him.”
“Neither of these two can take the queen’s blood, so what are we waiting for?”
Rhys demanded. Behind him Verity made a stifled sound and he turned.
“What is it?”
“Janus is coming. We need to stop him.”
Verity grabbed hold of Rhys’s hand and then Elias’s as the Vampire’s power eased closer and closer.
“He’ll be on us any second. Let’s start reciting the charm. As long as one of us keeps chanting and we maintain our link, we
will
succeed.”
Call back the blood unlawfully shared
Return it to its source.
Destroy the vessel ever more
Let vengeance take its course.
As they chanted, Janus appeared on the opposite side of the bed and Rhys strained to see the figure more clearly. For some reason he’d been expecting someone older, but the man appeared his own age, though somewhat unwell. Even as Rhys continued chanting, his mind worked furiously to remember where he had seen him before.
The Vampire leaned over the bed and stared at the sleeping queen before slowly trailing his fingers down from her waxen cheek to her throat. The queen didn’t stir and Rhys wondered whether she was bespelled or simply too exhausted to react.
Suddenly the screen was lifted into the air and smashed against the wall, exposing them all to the Vampire’s gaze. Instinctively, Rhys and Elias closed ranks, protecting Verity behind them. Rhys drew his sword and pointed it at the Vampire’s throat. Janus smiled to display long, rotting fangs.
“Whatever you are trying to do, Vampire slayer, it will not succeed.”
Rhys recognized that voice. It was the mocking tones of the young Welshman who had challenged him to a fight and later taunted him about Verity.
“
You’re
behind all this?”
“Aye. Don’t sound so surprised.” Janus laughed, his gaze turning toward Lord Thomas Seymour, who had gathered up the lady Elizabeth in his arms and backed against the door. “You may leave, Thomas. I will not need you or the child tonight. By the time I’ve finished, these three will have killed the queen and suffered the consequences.”
Somewhere in his mind, Rhys was aware of Verity’s distress hammering at him, but he couldn’t afford to drop his gaze from the Vampire.
“You don’t want to kill the queen,” Rhys said. “You want her child to live.”
Janus glanced at the sleeping queen and drew his dagger. “That is true, but if you kill her for me tonight, I can rip the child from her womb and make sure he lives. The king will believe I’m a hero and you will all be executed.” The Vampire grimaced and slapped at his face as if something had stung him.
“You will be the only one dying here tonight,” Elias said. “Not us.”
“Brave words from a traitor.” Janus turned his gaze toward Elias. “I will make sure you die horribly, Master Warner, and I will assume your role at court and wipe out the Llewellyn family once and for all.”
Elias raised his eyebrows. “I am no traitor, sir. I am here at the Vampire Council’s request to put an end to you.”
“You lie!” Janus snarled. “They are completely in my power. They want you to fail, don’t you know that?”
In Rhys’s mind, Elias spoke.
“Imagine his blood separating as you speak the words. Imagine him disintegrating.”
“Rhys!”
Verity was screaming inside his head now and Rhys squeezed her hand until he felt her bones crack.
“Whatever it is, Verity, you must not stop saying the words or we will all die!”
He concentrated on Janus again, saw strange purplish-colored bruises emerging on his face.
“Stop it!” The Vampire clawed at his throat. “You cannot defeat me! I am the one who destroys from within, not you pathetic specimens.”
Elias smiled. “We have your blood; we can destroy you. The Druid Elders are quite happy for you to remain a Vampire—as long as you return every last drop of your Druid blood to them. It’s a pity that loss will tear you apart.”
“That isn’t true. The Elders would never share their power with you,” the Vampire snarled.
“But they have and we shall defeat you.”
“Rhys!” Verity cried out loud and fell to her knees. Grimly, Rhys kept his hold on her, his fingers biting into her upper arm. Elias held on too. There was no way they could physically fight Janus, linked as they were. Rhys stared in fascination as sores erupted on the Vampire’s face and the smell of decaying flesh deepened. He pictured Janus’s blood and lovingly imagined it seeping out of the wounds, trickling to the ground, and returning to the earth as a living sacrifice that the stones would surely appreciate.
He sensed Verity weakening. Her words were slurring and she seemed terrified, which was most unlike her.
Janus held out his hand, which was rapidly discoloring. “Verity, stop them. You cannot allow this.”
Verity shook her head. “No, I cannot let you succeed. I cannot!”
“Even if you destroy me? You would leave me to my fate again?”
“No!” Verity screamed and Rhys recoiled at the raw anguish in her voice.
“But I came back for you. I want you.” Janus took two stumbling steps toward Verity, his hand outstretched, his skin bubbling and boiling as if he was being burned from the inside out.
“God, no! Don’t touch me!” Verity whispered.
Horror flooded through Verity. Something in Janus’s voice compelled her to go to him and take his hand.
His smile was ghastly and triumphant.
“That’s right, Verity. Acknowledge your true master. Bow down before me and accept your punishment.”
His insidious voice echoed in her head and his corrupt, bloodied power flooded through her, making her want to scream. If she went to him, would the torment stop? Would her sacrifice save Elias and Rhys?
She tried to break the link connecting her to Rhys and Elias, but both of them held on, Elias increasing his power until it sustained all three of them and beat against the walls of the room like a ravaging storm.
“Don’t you owe me something, Verity? After abandoning me—leaving me to become . . . this?”
The Vampire stopped moving forward and simply stared at her. She found it impossible to look away, her mind helplessly cataloging his familiar features even as it recoiled from the reality of his physical presence.
“You’re mine, Verity,” he said aloud.
Beside her, Rhys tensed and his sword flashed out. “Come any closer, Vampire, and I’ll take your head off.”
Verity forced herself to look at the monster. “I am not yours. You are no longer living.”
“Yet I am here.” He held out his hand. “Come to me.”
She gasped as Rhys jerked her arm, forcing her to look at him. “Verity, love, you
can
fight him. Keep saying the charm with us. Send him on his way to hell.”
Verity stared at Rhys for a long moment and then nodded. She closed her eyes against the horror and sent all her energy and passion into the words of the chant.
Call back the blood unlawfully shared.
Return it to its source.
Destroy the vessel ever more,
Let vengeance take its course.
Rhys and Elias joined her and the Vampire started to scream. She could smell his tainted blood oozing from his sores. His voice rose in a crescendo that made all the glass in the room shake and finally shatter as with a last howl of anguish, the Vampire disappeared.
Verity started to scream then and Rhys was there, his arms tight around her, his voice murmuring soft nothings as Elias removed them both from the queen’s presence. She vaguely heard Elias’s voice.
“I’ll inform the king and make sure the queen is safe and have her taken to a different bedchamber. Thank God she slept through the whole thing.”
“And you will see that Olivia is well too?”
“Of course, Sir Rhys.” Elias hesitated. “Do you need my help with Lady Verity?”
“No, she will be fine.”
Verity wanted to laugh at that. Didn’t Rhys understand that nothing would ever be the same again? A sob tore through her and she shuddered against his chest.
“It’s all right,
cariad
. He’s gone.”
Verity forced herself to push away from Rhys’s comforting embrace. She discovered that they were in her bedchamber and someone had turned down her bed and lit a single candle. After the horror she had experienced, the homely scene made her want to weep.
“I betrayed you and Elias.”
Rhys kissed her tightly clenched fist. “You did your part. You stood your ground bravely.” She stared at him until he frowned. “What is it,
bach
?”
“Did you not recognize him?”
“Indeed I did. It was the Welshman I fought just after I arrived here and who has been taunting me ever since.” His mouth twisted. “I felt his power, but I assumed he had been turned by the master Vampire. I’m ashamed he managed to conceal his true power from me so easily.”
“Rhys . . .” She shook her head, almost unable to continue.
“What?”
“That was Gareth.” He looked uncomprehending. “My husband.”
His breath hissed out. “Your husband?”
She saw the flash of repugnance he could not conceal. “It’s all my fault, Rhys, all of it. Elias was right: The blood connection is with me. I’m the one who let him in.”
Rhys reached for her, but she flinched away. “Verity, love, it isn’t your fault. You didn’t know that Gareth had been turned.”
“But I am responsible. It is because of me he is a Vampire. I left him with those monsters.” She was aware that her voice was rising, but she could do nothing to stop it.
Rhys grasped her by the shoulders. “You did what you could. From what you told me, you barely escaped with your own life.” He shook her gently. “Gareth made his own choices. He may not have asked to become a Vampire, but no one forced him to plot against the king and queen.”