Page 47 of Enchant the Dawn

She sat back and then, faster than lightning, she lunged across the table, tore the medallion from his neck with one hand and dug her fingers into his throat with the other. “If you want to leave this place alive,” she hissed, increasing the pressure around his neck, “you will tell me what I want to know.”

“A . . . girl,” he gasped.

“What girl?”

His fingers curled around hers as he tried to pry her hand from his neck. “I . . . don’t . . . know her . . . name.”

“Where does she live?” She shook him, wondering if it was another woman or the one she had seen Dominic with before. “Tell me!”

“Can’t . . . breathe.”

She loosened her hold slightly.

He sucked in several gulps of air, then gave her the address.

The same girl she had seen him with before, Claret mused with some satisfaction.

Claret flashed a smile, then dragged him across the table and buried her fangs in his throat, her eyelids fluttering down with pleasure as she drank and drank the sweet elixir of his life’s blood. When nothing remained, she transported him to the outskirts of town and left him in a ditch filled with rainwater.

* * *

Ava stood by Dominic’s bed, her brow furrowed. Even without touching him, she could feel the fever burning through him. She laid a hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t stir. Vampires were strong, virtually immortal. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t be killed. Nothing he ingested would destroy him, but this poison was different from most. It had been conjured with dark magic. Thus far, she had not found a spell to counter it.

She replaced the covers he had thrown aside and left the room.

Hurrying into the den, she found her wand and began to chant softly.

* * *

Maddy had just finished an early dinner when she felt an overwhelming urge to drive to Ava’s house. She tried to shake off the impulse even as she found herself grabbing her car keys and hurrying outside. Feeling as though she had no control over her movements, she got behind the wheel and headed across town. She hit no red lights on the way. The traffic ahead of her seemed to part as if by magic, and she arrived at the witch’s house in record time.

She parked in the driveway, ran up the steps, and rang the bell. “Ava! It’s me, Maddy. Let me in.”

The door opened almost immediately. “Maddy. How good of you to answer my summons.”

Maddy stared at her. “You . . . you magicked me here?”

“Indeed. Come in, child.”

“Why am I here?” she asked as she followed Dominic’s great-grandmother into the living room.

“I need you.”

“You need me? Whatever for?”

“Dominic is in danger,” Ava explained, turning to face her.

“From who? He’s a vampire.”

“He’s being hunted by a ruthless group known as the Knights of the Dark Wood. Their sole purpose in life is to destroy his kind.”

Feeling suddenly light-headed, Maddy sank down on the sofa. “But what has that to do with me?”

“One of the Knights poisoned him.”

“I thought vampires were, you know, immortal.” Until now, she had assumed that Dominic was in no serious danger, that whatever was wrong with him would pass.

“To a certain extent. Dom has considerable power, but even vampires are susceptible to some kinds of magic. The Knight who attacked him used an insidious poison. I haven’t been able to find a cure. My great-grandson is in a lot of pain just now. I’ve tried several spells and incantations, numerous potions. None have been effective.”

---