Page 26 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Kiss

“It increased the power of the living vampire, heightening their strength, their speed, to that of an undead without the drawbacks of the sun or death.” Murmurs broke out and I raised my voice to be heard. “However, it had one major side effect in that it also heightened the bloodlust of the living vampire to supplement the additional power expended.”

“And when you discovered this drug, what did you do?” Adrian strolled closer and I stiffened.

“I reported my suspicions to Elowen and even retrieved a baggie of the drug and gave it to her as proof.” My chin raised defiantly and Adrian stopped in his tracks, mouth curling ever so slightly as his vampire instincts responded to my challenge. I looked away, reminding myself that I just needed to get this over with and then we could leave this place and not look back.

“How did you obtain this baggie,” he sneered and frustration bubbled in my chest.

“A living vampire was selling it. I took it from him.”

“Did you try it?”

“I was already undead when?—”

“Of course.” Adrian waved a hand dismissively and I blew out a breath slowly. “As most of us here know, one of our number was killed at the debut ball at Ashvale. What can you tell us about that?”

I shrugged. “We knew that the hunger from the drug eclipsed all reason based on the escalating murders on campus. The blood of a council member would, I trust, be powerful. We assumed the council member was felled by the living vampire on the drug.”

“Impossible. A living vampire, let alone one still in training, could not have the strength to kill a council member,” Billius scoffed.

I opened my mouth, ready to snap back, when Adrian cut me off.

“I thought you might protest, so I took the liberty of procuring one of the later versions of Elowen’s drug.” He nodded to another vampire at the back of the room and I watched with wide eyes as they led a living vampire inside and up to the front. “This is a living vampire, they have volunteered to take the drug so you may witness its effects. This is a weaker version than the initial prototype Elowen engineered and therefore its addictive qualities are lesser.”

I stood, intending to stop this before it could go too far, but the living vampire had already tipped the small vial of liquid into their mouth, their pupils blowing wide almost instantly. The council was silent for once, watching with intrigue as the living vampire followed Adrian’s instructions—demonstrating their strength by raising a pew with two fingers, their heightened ability for thrall by controlling the undead guard who’d accompanied them… All the things that made being an undead so valuable, with the benefit of a heart that still beat and the ability to walk in the sun.

The dose must have been small because it wore off quickly, leaving the living vampire with a horrible pallor that indicated one thing: hunger. They lunged for Adrian’s throat, managing to pin him to the ground for a few seconds before Adrian lazily pushed against their chest and they flew back. The same vampire who’d led the living vamp inside the hall slid their hands around the other vampire’s arms, restraining them as they led them back out.

I wasn’t sure Adrian had proved the point he’d hoped—instead of horror, disgust, or even concern, there was only lust on the undeads’ faces. Covetousness. No, this meeting wasn’t about Elowen at all—they just wanted to know how they could use this drug themselves to make their own armies of living vampires, bound to their will for a taste of the drug.

“As you can see, Leonora did not overstate the effects.”

Disgust choked me and if I hadn’t already been so drained from whatever magick I’d performed on Novalie, I might have been tempted to kill the lot of them right then. Now I understood why they camped out down here, under the city, hiding in the dark—where else would monsters dwell?

I spoke as succinctly as I could, recounting the murders and the drug we’d seen in action as the council members continued to question me. By the third repeated account, I was pissed.

“I believe I’ve told you all I know,” I snapped and Refus bared his teeth.

“We’ll be the judge of that,” Adrian murmured, a languidness in his eyes that told me he was enjoying watching me squirm. My senses seemed to roar in response, the bond in my chest pulsing in place of the heartbeat I no longer had, as strength filled my limbs. He wanted to dominate me, control me, and I couldn’t allow it.

My legs moved of their own accord, pushing up from the chair with a slow glide that was entirely controlled. Despite being the same height as him, I felt like I was looking down at Adrian from afar, like I could make the heavens rain fire as I gripped him in my fist.

Before I could reach for him, however, heads turned in a wave as sound beyond the doors reached the audience and then me and the council. Screaming. A rhythmic thudding that was familiar but that I couldn’t place, a strange clicking that had my fight or flight going into overdrive. For some reason, the sounds conjured images of dark nights and moonlight and running through the forest at Ashvale.

I looked at Cal and he shrugged helplessly as the doors at the back of the room slammed open and the first silver paw came into view.

The vampires in the pews scrambled to move away from the central walkway, mouths dropping open in a combination of awe and shock. Others froze in place, as if they realised they were now prey, and a few vampires fell to their knees as the wolf strolled through the hall like he owned the place. His claws clicked on the stone floor and when the whispers began, I saw his ears twitch to listen.

The heir. The silver wolf. He’s alive.

I hadn’t had much time to really look at the wolf the last time I’d seen him. I’d been too busy running away while he chased me at first, then I’d been too full of rage as I attempted to hunt down Elowen. But I had no doubts it was the same one. Those icy blue eyes were too familiar for it to be otherwise.

Familiar anger wound its way through me, but there was also relief too—because I was surrounded by monsters and it was never a bad thing to have a monster or two of my own at my back. Hayes was here and, despite everything, I revelled in the screams and the gasps as it became clear what, exactly, the wolf carried in his mouth.

He tossed his head and the object went flying through the air, landing with a squish in Adrian’s hands. Blood dripped on the floor and I wrinkled my nose as the scent of decay filled the air.

A flash of bright light distracted me and in the place where the wolf had stood, there was a man—a living vampire. His pale skin was speckled with blood, his muscles taut across his chest and stomach, and the smirk that played over those lips was intimately familiar.

Hayes strode up to me, unphased by his nakedness and the gaping of the room as he claimed my mouth like our audience only spurred him on. Warmth spread through me, the bond humming in satisfaction, and when he pulled away there was a good humour in his eyes that made me feel unexpectedly soft. “I told you I’d be here.”

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