Page 91 of Fated In Blood

Maybe this hallowed ground thing wasn’t bullshit after all.

Luck remained on my side and the basement was empty, with no creaking floorboards overhead, either, so hopefully most of the household was fast asleep. Even the storage room looked the same, filled with sagging wood shelves loaded down with dust-covered mason jars, rusty tools, and junk.

The Vault lay another four flights down. Forty feet below the crumbling house and this ordinary looking basement, was a room carved out of solid granite and encased in enough iron to build a fucking battleship.

I pressed my ear to the door, closing my eyes and assuring myself this was worth the risk.

That once I had the dagger I would kill Tyrell, free my sister, and my life would go back to normal.Whatever that looked like now. I skimmed my fingers down the soft edge of my leather jacket, reminding myself of the promise I’d made.

The one I’d broken.

Then I pulled on my gloves.

I’d gotten the idea from my father. Since I’d been turned, I wouldn’t smell human to them anymore, maybe not even like a Silverwood, but if I left fingerprints, it would be child’s play for them to figure out who penetrated their security.

Half the fun of this was them floundering around in confusion.

Getting over on my father was a lifelong dream, and stealing his most precious possession, right out from under his nose…Icould tell myself all the lofty, noble reasons I was doing this, but in the end, fucking Silas over was at the top of that list.

Nothing but silence waited on the other side of this door.

That and four flights of steps leading straight down. Damp washed over me the second I cracked it open, along with the reek. My nose wrinkled immediately. I’d never been able to figure out where this strange scent came from. Fetid, but not organic, more like a chemical reaction gone bad, the stench seeped from the walls and floor and ceiling, unbearably strong to my newfound vampire senses.

I didn’t waste time, hurling myself down flight after flight until I reached the bottom, heading straight for the thick, bulky door, my vampire eyes detecting what my human vision had missed.

The metal was gilded with a faint bluish glow, flaring like a flame when I reached out to push the door open. The second I touched the tip of my finger to the surface, pain seared up into my hand, everything going numb from the elbow down. I curled my fingers back.

The leather glove was burned through, the end of my finger bleeding.

Just a single drop, and even as I watched, the tiny wound closed.

Fucking hell.

Magic. Somehow, my father had used magic to seal this room.

I slowly drew the blade I’d purchased on my way here, hesitated, then pressed the point to the iron. A faint blue flame curled up around the blade then sucked back into the door.Okay, that was weird.When I poked the door again, nothing else happened, like the glow had gone back to sleep.

There were only two choices. Give up and go home empty handed or follow through.

I heaved a sigh then shoved through the door. This time, there was no flare of magic, no pain, and I stepped inside the Vault.

Sometimes I didn’t remember things quite like they were, but in this case, reality matched my memories perfectly. In the center of the darkened room, the gleaming box holding the dagger was displayed on an altar. Every wall was lined with priceless artifacts, that ungodly pillar of ripped-out fangs taking up most of one corner, surrounded by screaming, mummified vampire heads mounted on the wall behind.

Horrible.

So fucking horrible, the things we did to one another in the name of vengeance.

I went straight to the box and lifted out the dagger, still wrapped in a soft velvet bag, the fabric sliding like silk against my leather glove. I tucked the weapon down the front of my coat and zipped it closed, securing my prize for what was coming.

Getting in was always easier than getting out.Always.

I wasalmostto the door,almostto freedom when something caught my eye. A glint of light, bright enough to stop me in my tracks. I ground my teeth together. I’d gotten what I came for, but something about that flash drew me in, like a moth to a flame.

Every treasure inside this room was kept for a reason, which meant every object had value…or a purpose.

The glint flashed again, brighter this time, like a signal beacon.

“This is so stupid,” I hissed through my teeth. “You are so stupid, Evangeline. Just take what you came for and stop wasting time.”

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