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SEBASTIAN HAD JUST finished a meeting with some of the master vampires who had agreed to join the rebellion when a letter arrived for him. Jardine had lingered to speak to him and she was the only ally left. He opened the letter and scanned it. “Good news, my lord?” Jardine asked. Although she was tiny, delicate and lovely, she was a fierce warrior. Her long black hair was hidden beneath her hooded cloak and her black dress brushed her black boots. They all wore hoods to hide their faces when they met in one of the abandoned warehouses in the industrial area of their District.
“Oui,” Sebastian confirmed in relief. “The chances of our rebellion succeeding have just increased exponentially, mademoiselle.”
“Our allies will be glad to hear that, Lord Sebastian,” Jardine said.
Sebastian had tried to stop his allies from giving him the honorific of ‘lord’, but it was ingrained into them to treat more powerful masters with respect. He’d given up, since it wasn’t particularly important. “I must go,” he said. “My allies are waiting for me.”
Jardine nodded, then he used his innate power to sprint to his mansion on the outskirts of the Vampire District. Eden sensed him coming and rose to her feet when he appeared in their favorite living room. “What’s going on?” the succubus asked when she saw Sebastian’s fierce grin. She wore a bright yellow dress that hugged her slender body.
“Kade and Sorcha have done it!” he exclaimed, then picked her up and whirled her around. “They’ve found the final ingredient they needed to use on the artifact. They’ve asked us both to go to their house so they can complete the spell.”
“Let’s go, then,” Eden said and waited expectantly.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, mon amor?” the master vampire asked and looked down at her feet.
Eden looked down to see her feet were bare and smacked herself on the forehead. Sebastian vanished, then reappeared a couple of moments later with the stilettoes that matched her dress. He’d also brought a yellow cloak to shield her from the rain. “Thanks,” she said and gave him a brief kiss. They couldn’t afford to become distracted right now and to take the time to get naked together.
She bent to put her shoes on, then pulled the cloak on and tugged the hood forward. They hurried out through the door, then Sebastian whisked her into his arms. She pressed her face against his muscular chest as he sped across the Vampire District too quickly for anyone to be able to track them. He crossed a bridge to the Fae District and made his way to Kade’s and Sorcha’s mansion.
Raum arrived just as the vampire came to a stop. The demon’s vast wings sent fallen leaves whirling as he descended. He changed into his human form and landed lightly on his feet. “Eden, Sebastian,” he said politely in greeting.
The succubus scowled at him, but the vampire nodded in return. “Raum,” Sebastian said. “You made it here faster than I’d expected.”
“I was in the area,” the demon said, then gestured at the door. “Should we knock?”
Sorcha opened the door before he could lift his hand. “Come in,” she invited them, then gave Eden a quick hug when her friend stepped inside first. “Kade is waiting for us upstairs,” she added after cloaks were removed and were hung up on hooks.
“What’s this about?” Raum queried as they followed the sorceress upstairs.
“Kade and Sorcha have found the final ingredient they needed to be able to use the artifact,” Sebastian explained.
Raum arched an eyebrow at that news. “Better late than never,” he said in mild reproof that it had taken the pair this long to locate the item.
“Have you convinced Ember to become bound to you yet?” Sorcha asked pointedly, glancing back to glower at him.
“Not yet,” he admitted stiffly. “But I’m making progress.”
“Better late than never,” Eden said sweetly, throwing his own words back at him.
“Touché,” Sebastian said with a smirk when the demon narrowed his eyes.
“Indeed,” Raum agreed and decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut around the former assassins. It seemed they were as adept at stripping men of their dignity as they were at taking their lives.
They filed into the conjuring den and Kade stepped aside so they could see the artifact. “It’s a stake,” Eden said in surprise.
“It makes sense,” Sebastian said, making no move to pick it up. It was made of silver and it would burn him if he tried to touch it.
“There’s one step left, then the artifact will become a lethal weapon,” the warlock told them.
“What is this final step?” Raum queried.
“We need to bind the stake to Sebastian with his blood,” Sorcha replied.
Eden shot a worried look at her beloved. “How much blood do you need?” she asked in concern.
“Only a small amount,” Kade said soothingly. “A few drops should suffice.”
“I am ready, mon amie,” Sebastian said. He trusted the warlock implicitly. Kade was a good man and he would never deliberately harm any of his allies. “What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“Stand next to the worktable and hold out your hand,” Kade replied. The master vampire complied. He didn’t flinch when Sorcha pricked his finger with a steel dagger. The warlock held the stake beneath Sebastian’s hand and turned his finger over so a few drops of blood dropped onto the weapon.
Eden put her arm around Sebastian’s waist and he hugged her to his side when he stepped back from the table. Kade and Sorcha chanted the last line that was written down in the instructions and infused the stake with their combined power. “There,” Sorcha said when they were done. “The stake should now be bound to Sebastian.”
The weapon disappeared from Kade’s hand and the master vampire started when he felt something appear in his pocket. He reached inside his cloak to touch it and hissed in pain when his fingers brushed against the silver metal. “It would appear the spell has worked,” he said, shaking his hand until the burn healed.
“What good is a weapon that hurts you every time you try to touch it?” Eden asked in annoyance.
“According to the instructions, the stake will kill any vampire Sebastian classes as his enemy,” Kade told her. “All he has to do is hold it in his hand, then speak his enemy’s name. The stake will kill the target no matter where he or she is trying to hide.”
“Well, well,” Raum said speculatively. “Can the spell be altered to work on creatures other than vampires?”
Kade rolled his eyes that the demon was immediately trying to exploit the enchantment for himself. “Possibly, but we don’t have the time to try to figure that out right now.”
“There is a warning on the bottom of the instructions,” Sorcha said before they could get too excited. “The stake will kill any normal vampire, but Lord Kreaton isn’t an ordinary bloodsucker anymore. He’s tampered with fate by trying to make himself immortal. The stake might not kill him, but we’re hoping it will wound him badly enough that we can take him down.”
“We have to find a way to break through their shields first,” Eden reminded her.
“Sorcha and I have been working on that,” Kade said. “We’ve been experimenting with the spell Xiara Evora gave us that’s designed to destroy their shield. It isn’t quite right yet, but we’re confident we’ll figure it out before Halloween.”
Sebastian turned to the demon lord with a grave expression. “It is imperative that you win Ember to your side soon, mon amie,” he said. “Our time is rapidly running out.”
“I know,” Raum said with a hint of annoyance at the unnecessary reminder. “I’ve made significant progress with her. I’m confident that she’ll join our cause soon.”
“She’d better, or we’ll probably fail,” Kade said grimly. After all they’d been through to get to this point, it was unthinkable that their ally could ruin their chances of success.
Raum nodded and felt the burden resting entirely on his shoulders. “If that’s all, I have business to attend to,” he said.
They didn’t have anything further to discuss, so the warlock and sorceress escorted them to the door to let them out.
