Page 48 of Midnight Enchantment

“From what little I have been able to find, it sounds impossible. They are also extremely rare, with only two confirmed cases of people being infected by blood-demons, and that was hundreds of years ago.”

“What happened to the people?”

“They went mad. There’s nothing in any of my books about blood-demons infecting vampires or werewolves or witches, or any other supernatural beings.”

“Mom’s afraid that drinking Raedan’s blood might kill me.”

“Merciful, heavens, child, why would you want to?”

“I don’t, not really, but when I told Mom that he’d bit me, she said I was never to drink from him, that it might be fatal.” Lily paused. “Do you really think it would kill me?”

“I think the more likely possibility is that it will infect you with some or all of the blood demon.”

Lily quailed at the mere idea. “Is such a thing possible?”

“I have no idea. We’re exploring unknown territory here.”

Lily huffed a sigh. Why couldn’t she have just fallen in love with a run-of-the-mill vampire?

“I’ll do some more research,” Ava said. “In the meantime, take your mother’s advice.”

“I will. Love you, Granny.”

“I love you, too, child. Please, be careful.”

Raedan stirred as Liliana’s image appeared in his mind. What the hell? Vampires didn’t dream.

But the blood-demon did. Held fast in the demon’s clutches, he dreamed … and in his dream, Liliana was in bed beside him. Hounded by his yearning for her blood, half-mad with the desire to possess her body and soul, he sank his fangs into her sweet flesh as he made love to her. He gave no heed to her cries of pain, her pleas for him to stop before it was too late. Only when she went limp in his arms did he realize what he had done. But, by then, it was too late. He howled his anguish to the moon as the blood-demon laughed. And laughed …

Raedan bolted upright, his whole body damp with sweat as he glanced around the room. Only a nightmare, he thought, falling back on the mattress. Only a nightmare. But it shook him to the core of his being to know it could easily become reality.

After talking to Lily, Ava spent the next five hours concocting one spell after another in hopes of finding something that would protect Lily from Transylvanian vampires as well as the blood-demon.

After experimenting with dozens of different spells and enchantments, she fashioned a medallion similar to the ivory ones she had once created for the Knights of the Dark Wood to warn them when Hungarian vampires were near. This one, magicked from an ancient gold cross, would warn Lily whenever a Transylvanian vampire was nearby, thereby giving her time to invoke whatever spell she needed to cloak her presence or flee the area. Of course, the only way to know if it was effective would be to bring Lily back to New Orleans, since there were no Transylvanian vampires in Savaria or anywhere else in the country.

Bone weary, Ava made her way to her room, threw off her clothes, and crawled into bed. Tomorrow she would see if she could magick a spell to protect Lily against the blood-demon, although she didn’t have much hope. Like she had told Lily, this was unchartered territory. It wasn’t like making a simple medallion to alert her to the presence of a vampire. Ava had a sinking feeling that she might need the blood of the demon to concoct a spell to repel it. Few things frightened her anymore. She had lived a very long time, experienced all kinds of magic, both black and white and in-between. But the blood-demon frightened her on a level she had never known before.

It was hours before sleep found her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lily sat at the breakfast table with her mother, only half-listening to her plans for the day—something about meeting with the other wives of the members of the Hungarian Counsel, of which Quill was in charge while Andras was away.

“I know it sounds dull,” Callie said, “but it’s really just a way for us women to get together for lunch and gossip.”

“Uh-huh.” Lily knew most of them. They were all humans married to vampires.

“Lily, your face is turning blue.”

“Sounds like fun, Mom,” Lily murmured, then frowned. “What did you say?”

“I knew you weren’t listening,” Callie said, glancing at the clock.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

Lily nodded. “I talked to Ava last night.”

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