Page 167 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

I didn’t dare speak aloud, didn’t dare draw attention to us.

I have to help them.

I braced for an argument. Instead, he tipped his head just once. Go now.

But I stayed put. Fighting through the screaming horde would only make what I needed to do harder. I stilled, closing my eyes, and imagined that door and the thick woven bands of magic that protected it. I didn’t have time to will my magic to unknot the ward, so I did the only thing I could think of. The beast roared as the first note of magic sounded and my music filled the air. Not the lovely golden light that I called each day with my cello, but a clashing, chaotic symphony that ripped at the magic guarding the room, rending and tearing until the spell guarding the door fell away. The escaping creatures barreled through it.

One paused, turning his golden head toward us. Sebastian took a step our direction, but I held up a hand, my mouth forming a single silent command, “Go.”

You need to go, too, Julian begged silently.

I didn’t budge. Not a chance. Ride or die.

The demon roared, its wide sucker of a mouth widening to show an endless swirl of stumped, stained teeth. The slits above them flared, scenting the air as if trying to decipher what creature dared to use magic in its presence.

I can kill it.

I would. I had to, but I swayed on my feet. Julian moved, catching me before I collapsed.

“The song of death,” I murmured. “I just have to find it.”

But his movement attracted attention, and the demon advanced on us, scraping its hoofed feet along the stone, the sound vibrating in my bones.

“There’s no time.” He dragged me back toward that door, angling his body between me and the approaching monster.

“We won’t make it.” I strained, searching for that deadly melody.

Our eyes locked, and I knew what he was planning a moment before he said, “You will.”

He lifted me off my feet and launched into a run that blurred the world. Behind us, the plodding footsteps picked up. I writhed against Julian’s hold. He couldn’t make me leave him here. He planned to sacrifice himself, but I wouldn’t let him.

Before we reached the exit, three vampires stepped through, blocking it, their hooded cloaks drawn to hide their faces. The one in the center yelled something in Latin in a high, female voice.

The demon stopped. Its wings lowered as it turned to her and settled like an obedient dog, and for one moment, I thought we were saved. Julian started toward the door again, determined to get me out.

The female lowered her hood to reveal a maskless face, the others following.

“Selah,” I whispered, and I knew before her mouth curled into a cruel smile that The Council wasn’t here to save me.

“Get out of my way,” Julian snarled.

Her laugh skittered down my spine. “But I went to so much trouble summoning our friend.”

I squirmed free of Julian’s grasp, but he wrapped one arm around my waist as if readying to make another run for it.

“You unleashed the monster.” She didn’t so much as flinch at my accusation. “It wasn’t enough to get Sabine off the Council.”

“Not while you draw breath, siren,” she spit the word at me and my mate bristled.

I’ve got this, I told him.

I reached inside myself for that dark song, reached inside myself to will death on her—and found nothing.

Selah laughed at me. “An unfortunate side effect of the masks. I added a rather nasty spell. It siphons your magic to show your true nature and you wasted the last of your magic helping all those innocents escape. That’s why you’ll never be a Queen. Those creatures were peasants, nobodies, and you chose them over your own survival.”

Footsteps sounded behind us. I didn’t dare turn from Selah to see if it was help or more Council members come to end us.

“That choice is what makes her a Queen.” Death coated Julian’s voice.

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