Chapter Twenty-Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I watched as Nancy began to light candelabras around the room to chase back the shadows. "Now what?" I asked Raven.

Raven sighed. "We'll have to figure that out. Although I insist on using hypnotism on any vampire hunters. Change doesn't happen overnight."

I nodded, agreeing with her on that point.

She held the notebook out to me. "I believe you've been searching for this."

I hesitated before accepting it, flipping through the scant pages. "I went through a lot of trouble for this. But I don't think I'll be needing it, after all."

Shadows seemed to fall over the room at my words, all at once, and I gazed around in confusion. A chill worked its way up my spine as several of the candelabras Nancy had managed to light to brighten the chamber were extinguished with a relentless mist that swirled through the room. No doors were open to admit a breeze, no clouds passed before the moon. This was not a natural occurrence.

"Not need it?" a familiar voice touched my mind, seeming to come from all around me and nowhere at once.

I stiffened, taking a step back as all but one candelabra became dark, the room suddenly full of a writhing darkness. "Vrykolakas," I whispered.

"Wh—what?" Raven asked, stepping back uncertainly, eyes wide.

A figure materialized behind the lit candelabra, a black wolf so large it would need to crouch to pass through a doorway. Its eyes glowed an ominous red as it observed me.

"Lucian," Helena said, voice hitching, looking at the beast over my shoulder. "Is that …?"

"What do you want?" I demanded of the god. "Haven't you done enough?"

The wolf tilted its head, its voice echoing through the room despite its jaws remaining still. "All I've ever done has been in the interest of my children." The wolf's jaws pulled up into a smile. "It's good to see one of them do something for me. You haven't disappointed me, Lucian."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

The wolf sauntered around the candelabra, padding toward me on silent paws. I stood my ground, even as Raven pulled on my arm to draw me back. When he was only ten feet away, Vrykolakas paused, then sat back on his haunches. "You were more clever than I gave you credit for. You passed my challenge with flying colors."

"Passed?" I frowned. "But … Ambrose is dead."

"Yes. Yet he promised you his hand before he did. Alas, forces beyond your control intervened before it could be sealed, but that hardly matters. You did as I asked. And anyway, with the duke dead, and the two eldest brothers deceased, a new heir has emerged." Vrykolakas stepped aside, a length of rope around his neck forcing a form forward that had been behind him. "And it seems that you've secured the new future duke's affection quite handily. He's quite devoted to you. Allowed me entry into the house after I threatened you with eternal torment."

I stared at Maxwell, gagged, with his hands tied before him, eyes wet with tears. He'd heard that his brother was dead. And now, he knew he would be next, unless I somehow intervened. "But Emmett is alive."

"No. He is decidedly not alive. Only one living heir remains."

Cecelia was clinging to Zachariah, Melbourne and Flora at their backs. "Lucian?" she ventured.

My heart ached at the suspicion in her voice, but I understood it, given what she'd recently learned of me. "No. I … this is as much a surprise to me. I swear to you."

Vrykolakas sighed. "It matters not to me what your intentions were. You bested the challenge I set before you. Without the hunters in our way, you have helped secure a future for your brethren. And they will thrive."

I returned his gaze uncertainly. "Does that mean … that you'll give me my powers back?"

"Oh, yes. And more."

My pulse pounded, anticipation thrumming through my stomach. But then I remembered Maxwell and turned to look at him. He was so scared that he was shaking.

"Yes, about that," Vrykolakas said, lifting his head and sending a casual look in Maxwell's direction. "One last test of your mettle. Now that we know this family is directly related to the vampire hunters that have been plaguing our kind, they are too dangerous for us to allow their continued existence."

I swallowed hard, not liking the direction this was going. "But surely the connections to their world, especially of their rank, are worthwhile. They are acquainted with the queen. And Raven has a plan—"

Vrykolakas snorted. "Humans will always fear us for our power. The wolf does not lie with the sheep." He waved a paw toward Maxwell. "Go on, now, Lucian. Claim your reward. Once you've drained this mortal of his blood, you will find your powers restored, born again a strigoi, with abilities more potent than you've ever felt before, than any of our kind has ever experienced."

I stiffened, eyes straying to Maxwell, who took a fearful step back. I could have my old life back, my livelihood, my powers. Everything I'd ever wanted was waiting to be seized, right there, inside him. I could take it all with his blood.

But that would mean killing him for it.

Yes, Vrykolakas confirmed in my head as he met my eyes. Prove that you are worthy. Prove that you are still one of us, untainted by your time among the humans. Take this boy's life to realize your full potential.

I took a hesitant step toward Maxwell. My hand shook as he stared back at me, shaking his head ever so slightly. Maxwell. This was Maxwell.

"He is the price," Vrykolakas said.

"Lucian," Flora's voice cut across the room, but was silenced with one look from Vrykolakas's fiery gaze.

Maxwell backed away from me, inching toward the fallen form of his father. He stared down in horror, and then up at me with the same expression.

I closed my eyes. Maxwell was … just another in a long line of victims. I had to imagine he was a man walking along a fog-lined avenue at midnight, face obscured. A stranger. A chance encounter.

I pictured it in my head, a lonely country lane, perhaps a block away from the pub, a figure stumbling in the darkness, perhaps humming to himself. The fog reaching out to him, surrounding him in curtains of roiling tendrils. It filled my mind so that the fog blotted out everything. I became only instinct as I stepped up behind Maxwell so that I wouldn't have to see his face. One arm snaking around his waist, I pulled him close, while my other hand combed through his curls before gripping the strands tightly and forcing his head back with a gasp.

Blood pumped through his neck, just beneath the surface, so quickly, so loudly, that I could practically taste his blood rolling over my tongue in waves in time to his heartbeat. My mouth salivated in anticipation as I leaned into him, my cheek against his cheek, before sliding ever so slowly down to his neck. My lips found the tender skin there, and Maxwell shuddered beneath me.

I paused, hesitating. I looked up to find Vrykolakas watching closely. "I don't have fangs."

The wolf grin on Vrykolakas's face widened ever more. "Yet you still have teeth."

I released Maxwell and he collapsed to his knees. I bent over, but not to pull him back to his feet. My hands sought the dagger that had been used to behead the duke. I straightened, wheeling on Vrykolakas with determination, putting myself between him and Maxwell. I made to strike the vampire god as the fog in my mind parted, revealing my true intentions. An inhuman cry escaped me as I launched myself at Vrykolakas with the dagger raised.

A paw batted me aside easily, and I grunted as I stumbled to the floor. I watched with dread as Vrykolakas approached Maxwell, shaking his massive head. "I expected better, Lucian. Perhaps your time among the humans has made you soft."

I leapt to my feet, scrambling to get to Maxwell's side. A laugh escaped Vrykolakas as he opened his mouth wide, revealing row upon row of sharp teeth, venturing deep into his throat, just like they had in bat form. His mouth was wide enough to swallow Maxwell whole, but he was poised to snap it down over his head.

If Maxwell was to survive, I needed to act now.

With a growl, I lunged at Vrykolakas. He would have easily swatted me aside again if he hadn't been distracted by Isabel sinking her claws into his back leg. Taking this as a cue, Helena and Raven also attacked, the latter sinking her fangs into the vampire god's chest. Emmett and Nancy joined the fray a moment later, looking unsure, attacking the wolf's right flank.

I cut through the rope securing Maxwell and ripped his bonds from him and the gag from his mouth. I stared at him as he worked his mouth for a moment, ensuring that he was alright, that Vrykolakas hadn't harmed him, before crushing him against me. "Maxwell," I murmured into his hair.

Maxwell's arms tightened around me. "Is Ambrose truly …?"

My heart sank. "I'm so sorry, Maxwell."

Maxwell pushed his face into my shoulder before letting out a shuddering breath, pulling away from me. "He jumped me on my way to the stables." His eyes shimmered. "If I'd been able to fetch the doctor—"

"You still wouldn't have saved him," I said with certainty. "Don't blame yourself. We never had a chance. He would want you to make it through this night."

Maxwell pinched his lips together and nodded, eyes darting to the battle behind us. I followed his gaze. Helena was sprawled onto the floor, blood running down her mouth. She spit out a tooth that clattered across the floorboards before she pulled herself back to her feet.

Isabel had managed to climb atop the wolf, punching her bloody fists into his back as Raven avoided his paws. Meanwhile, Nancy had been pinned beneath one of his back legs, Emmett working to free her.

Vrykolakas seemed to find this attack hilarious, laughter filling my head as blood seeped down his fur, cuts healing as quickly as the damage was inflicted. "It's so pathetic," he said gleefully. "Pathetic. Have you been brought so low? No bite, no ferocity. Just a bleeding heart. You did it all on your own, letting your humanity guide you to ruin."

I bared my teeth, ready to join my friends, even without the powers they boasted. "Run," I ordered Maxwell, gripping his shoulders. "Get as far from here as you can."

He only stared at me wide-eyed, like a startled deer as I pushed him toward the door.

He remained, straightening, and I groaned at the resolve I saw in his stance. He wouldn't leave me like this, even if it would ensure that his own life continued. If he stayed, neither of us would survive this night.

"I think he's broken," Vrykolakas said, gesturing to Maxwell. "Like you leave all of your toys. You can still change your mind, Lucian. Choose strength and power, blood and pain."

"I don't want anything to do with a monster like you," I hissed.

"So be it." Vrykolakas's teeth snapped at Raven, nearly taking her head off, but she slid beneath him and around his leg, grunting as she buried her claws into it.

"I'm not leaving you, Lucian," Maxwell gasped, returning to my side.

I scowled. "I didn't fall for you just to let that beast kill you right before my eyes."

I didn't have time to reflect on what I'd just turned down. Immortality. Power. Everything I'd held dear in life. Everything, until I'd met Maxwell.

"Maxwell, you're alright," Flora said, rushing to him, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Mum," he hugged Flora, then turned to Emmett, who stood by awkwardly, having just pulled Nancy clear of the wolf to allow her crushed leg to heal. Already, Nancy was climbing to her feet.

"Max, I'm sorry—"

Maxwell embraced his brother.

"They aren't going to last against him much longer," Zachariah said, suddenly amongst us.

"We need weapons," Cecelia agreed. "Can he be killed like any vampire?"

I shrugged helplessly. "There's only one way to find out."

"But all of the weapons were destroyed in the fire," Maxwell pointed out. "What can we use?"

"I have weapons," Melbourne said. "In my room."

I frowned at him. "Of course you do."

Vrykolakas roared his fury, shaking the vampires loose and sending them flying into various walls.

I pulled Maxwell after me as we ran from the front hall, not waiting around to see what he did next. It wasn't long before Vrykolakas pursued us, his large strides gaining ground quickly.

We flew out through the doorway and into the hallway, flinging ourselves along the corridors at full speed as Vrykolakas crashed behind us, his huge frame breaking through archways and furniture in his path.

"We'll never outrun him," Zachariah gasped.

"Split up," Cecelia suggested. "He's far enough behind that he won't know who he's pursuing. Melbourne, take Lucian and Maxwell to your room." She turned up an adjacent hallway with Flora, while Zachariah and Emmett continued ahead.

Melbourne led us down a short side hall to his room, ushering us inside quickly and shutting the door firmly behind him with a sigh. I noted garlic flowers in pots along the windowsills. I would have easily determined him to be a vampire hunter had I seen this room.

"You know that none of this would be happening if you hadn't come along," Melbourne said haughtily, throwing a glare my way.

I looked away. "I'm all too aware."

"That's enough out of you," Maxwell told Melbourne as he lit a candle. "He is here, so get used to it."

I sent Maxwell a grateful smile.

"Am I the only one questioning whether he's truly a count?" Melbourne murmured, throwing the lid of a trunk open with more force than was necessary. I winced. There were no such distinctions among vampires. It had been a mocking title I'd given myself after killing a count's entire household. There were so many reminders of who I used to be.

Melbourne pulled out bottles of clear liquid, wooden stakes and a crossbow complete with wooden bolts. "Will any of this do?"

I picked up the bottles, obviously holy water. "This might slow him down. The crossbow might be of use, but he's rather large, if you hadn't noticed. We'll have to find something else. Perhaps there's something in the vampire hunters' chambers still of use."

"All the wood will have been reduced to ash."

"But a sword would do the trick. He can't get along without his head, I imagine." Or at least, I hoped he adhered to vampire weaknesses.

A crashing from up the hall made me jump. The longer we remained out of sight, the longer the others' lives were in jeopardy. We had to move.

"You two stay here," I said.

"Very well," Melbourne agreed.

"Not a chance," Maxwell said at the same time, narrowing his eyes at Melbourne.

"I'm going to make sure the other guests are alright," Melbourne said defensively.

"We can get along without him," I said, sweeping the bottles of holy water into my arms. Maxwell grabbed the crossbow, loading it with a bolt and awkwardly pocketed three more.

"Good luck," Melbourne said, opening the door and peeking out. "And I mean that."

I nodded to him, then ducked into the hallway, Maxwell at my side. Melbourne followed, but quickly split off.

Ideally, we could make it to the hunters' lair before Vrykolakas set eyes on us, to determine what could be of use. We had nearly reached the dining room when a crashing ahead signaled that Vrykolakas was heading back our way. My eyes landed on the closet with the spy post, and before Vrykolakas could round the corner behind us, I launched us toward the hidden door.

I swallowed hard as I tried to catch my breath, pushing at the stone that would reveal the hidden room beyond.

"Why don't we fight him?" Maxwell whispered.

"We'll have a better chance if we can surprise him."

"Lucian!" Vrykolakas's voice echoed outside. "Resorting to hiding like a human coward, I see." His bulk shook the walls as he made his way to the dining room. That was unfortunate. If he'd continued up the hall, we could have gotten the drop on him much easier.

We stepped up to the spy holes as the wall closed behind us. I wondered if Vrykolakas could feel me here, but realized he must have lost that ability when I'd become human. I was no longer one of his children. As a vampire, I'd only been able to hypnotize humans with my eyes, and I was hoping any of his mind tricks adhered to those principles as well. He'd had spies to keep tabs on me over these past weeks, I was sure. He'd watched me through the eyes of the creatures of the night. His preternatural hearing could likely pick up my ragged breathing, even through this thick wall.

I stiffened as a shadow fell over us, and we stared out through the spy holes to find Vrykolakas entering the chamber beyond. He stilled when he reached the table, head swaying this way and that, a grumble reverberating deep in his throat.

Why didn't he attack? My eyebrows shot up as I realized it must be the acoustics of this space. In the same way that voices were carried to the spy holes, the sounds we made must be scattered and confusing from his end.

Maxwell squeezed my hand, and I turned to send him a reassuring smile, even though he wouldn't be able to see it in the darkness that cloaked us. I tightened my grip, then pulled him to me. He was trembling beneath my touch. I wanted to kiss him, take his fear away. But we couldn't afford to take any tender moments ourselves, with our very lives in the balance.

Vrykolakas began to shimmer, and I watched with fascination as his body shifted with soft popping sounds, his fur changing into a dark brown, his muzzle receding into his face, nostrils flaring across his face. His fingers lengthened, spreading apart as membranes grew between each digit, before folding back behind him as the rest of his body became more rounded.

He'd turned back into his bat form. And he wasted no time in lifting his head and releasing an earsplitting squeal that prompted me to cover my ears, before the sound faded into silence. I frowned as Vrykolakas continued to stare up at the ceiling, but of course my hearing wasn't as sensitive as it used to be. The sounds he was making were too high for humans to register.

I heard glass breaking in the house, and I frowned as Maxwell clasped my arm. What was Vrykolakas doing exactly?

The rustle of wings met my ears and I realized with a start that he was calling on reinforcements to uncover my hiding place.

Bats burst into the dining room in a thick cloud of wings, chittering noisily as they flew around Vrykolakas in a massive swarm that resembled a tornado. Then they dissipated, venturing into the manor, where they would sniff me out. Vrykolakas couldn't be everywhere at once, but he could become legion with these bats at his command.

With their sensitive hearing and echolocation, it wouldn't take them long, and then I would be truly and completely at the mercy of this monster, who meant to tear me apart for my betrayal.

I grasped Maxwell's hand. I could make out his eyes from the light emanating from the dining room, fearful and hopeless.

"Do you trust me?" I asked him softly, rubbing my thumb over the top of his hand.

Maxwell nodded. "I do. That must make me incredibly na?ve."

I stared back at him. I couldn't let any harm come to this beautiful soul. "Yes, it does," I agreed, with a wide grin. I kissed him, tenderly and deep. If I didn't survive this night, as I expected, I wanted him to remember me in this moment. "Stay close."

He nodded.

A bat shrieked at the spy holes, clinging to the edge, alerting Vrykolakas to our presence.

The floor shook beneath our feet as we stumbled into the closet. The wall crashed down at our backs, the skree of a giant bat's head chasing our steps as we pushed into the hallway beyond.

We crossed the short hall to the dining hall as the closet door flew off its hinges, and I stooped to open the door to the other spy post. The wall opened as Vrykolakas pushed into the corridor, eyes glowing red as he followed our movements. The bats he'd called circled him with relentless chittering.

Maxwell let loose a bolt from the crossbow, and a bat flew into its path, sacrificing itself for the god. Maxwell paled. "Oh, God."

I yanked him into the secret room after me. The wall closed behind us, but that would do little to impede the creature at our heels.

I had just lifted the trapdoor to the hidden basement when the wall was torn from its moorings like tissue, Vrykolakas roaring in triumph.

"Down," I ordered Maxwell, shoving him down the ladder. I yanked a bottle of holy water from my pocket and threw it at the monster, where it shattered upon impact with an explosion of steam that caused Vrykolakas to bellow. "Quickly."

Maxwell obeyed, and I followed, pulling the trapdoor closed over us. We scrambled down the ladder to the staircase beyond as talons dug into the stone overhead. In a moment, the trapdoor had been removed, and Vrykolakas shoved his massive body through the opening, causing an avalanche of stone to rain down after us, a cloud of dust chasing us as we rushed toward the secret den of the vampire hunters.

Maxwell dropped the crossbow in his haste and paused to go back for it, but I pushed him forward. "Leave it." He obeyed silently, jaw clenched.

The scent of smoke still clung to the basement as we broke through the opening, gasping as we tried to catch our breath.

After a moment, I stumbled into an adjoining room, eyes taking in the soot covering the walls, the stakes that had been reduced to ash. Several swords seemed unaffected by the chaos, however, and I grabbed one with little ceremony before rushing back to Maxwell.

"Go to the opposite wall," I told him, handing him my two remaining holy water bottles and nudging him across the opening to the staircase as debris continued to fall. He did as instructed, clutching the bottles tightly to his chest as he stared back at me, wide-eyed. I shoved a chair beside the opening and waited with sword in hand atop it as the rumbling of Vrykolakas's descent resounded around us, the very foundation of the manor quaking, as if with fear.

Dozens of bats spilled out from the tunnel before Vrykolakas, circling the room with their angry squeaks. Then the stone around the doorway began to spill out in puffs of dust that obscured my view. Vrykolakas's massive head stuck into the room, ears twitching as he squeezed through the entrance.

I leapt, sword slicing through the air, arching down cleanly to behead the monstrosity.

Bats flew into my face, obstructing my eyeline, digging their nails into my cheeks. I grit my teeth and blindly plunged the sword down where Vrykolakas's neck surely lay. I felt it strike home and I sighed with relief as I fell the rest of the way to the floor, flinging the bats from my face. I looked to find my sword halfway buried into Vrykolakas's shoulder.

I paled, going still, unsure what to do.

The vampire god shimmied out from the narrow passageway and shook dust from his brown coat, before wheeling on me with fury pulsing in his red eyes.

"You always had good survival instincts," Vrykolakas said, "which makes my having to kill you all the more heartbreaking." He opened his mouth, revealing those rows upon rows of teeth, pulsing hungrily in his mouth.

A crash at his back gave Vrykolakas pause, and I flicked my eyes to the staircase entrance, where Maxwell threw the last bottles of holy water, earning a hiss from the monster.

Vrykolakas heaved his body back toward Maxwell, and I threw myself at the vampire's side, punching him. "You want me, Vrykolakas. Or have you forgotten my betrayal already?"

"I'll get to you," Vrykolakas replied, chuckling. "This will take but a moment."

"You wish," a voice proclaimed, preceding a figure venturing down the steps from the garden. Isabel flipped her hair back, a pitchfork in hand. "I have a feeling round two isn't going to go so well for you."

Raven appeared at her elbow, blood smeared across her face in ghoulish fashion. She swirled a wooden fence post before her. "Not if we have anything to say about it."

Then Helena was there, and Emmett, Cecelia, Zachariah and Flora. Determined, all brandishing weapons likely secured from a tool shed. They were brave, but they were fools. Didn't they see that they were facing down a god?

"Get Maxwell to safety," I ordered them. "It's me he wants."

I was ignored as the group charged into the room.

One shriek from Vrykolakas's lips and the bats were all over them, beating their leathery wings against their faces so that still more could sink their teeth into their flesh and claw at their eyes.

"What a nuisance," Vrykolakas said. Then his body shifted, popping as it changed, shrinking in upon itself, fur receding into his pores. He stood on two legs that formed to shape themselves like a human's and walked casually toward me with the gait of someone confident in his powers. "I'm afraid it's inevitable that they follow you to your grave."

I stared at a familiar face, eyes red with triumph.

It was my old master. Konstantin.

I blinked, then shook my head. "No. He's dead. You're …" I took a step back as he approached and lay a cool hand upon my cheek, grinning down at me.

"Lucian, Lucian, Lucian," he tutted. "You turned out to be such a disappointment. I had high hopes."

I gazed uncomprehending into the face of the man who'd torn apart my classmates, who'd forced me to kill my family, who'd taught me the fine art of killing people to sate inhuman desires.

"No," I gasped.

"Come, Lucian," Konstantin sighed. "Don't be such a bore." He shifted forms again, into the duke, smiling coyly at me. "You've buried a knife in the backs of so many of us now that it's hard to know who to best torture you with."

My heart leveled off. Not Konstantin. This was merely Vrykolakas toying with me.

"Of course, all my children of the night are a part of me. And I am a part of them." Vrykolakas took a step toward me, the duke's grin widening ghoulishly. He chuckled. "Don't fret, Lucian. Your treachery has made me very proud. You were my greatest triumph." His grin twisted into a frown. "Until you were my greatest failure. Your anger should have overcome your heart when you learned the identity of the vampire hunters, what vipers you lay with."

I glared at him. "You knew about the duke's family."

"I suspected." Vrykolakas sniffed. "But your soft heart … you actually fell for one of the humans. How utterly absurd. They are like the rats that crawl through these walls, and you lost your heart to such vermin."

Vrykolakas shifted once more. The face staring back at me had a cruel mouth and eyes deadened to emotion, save rage. It was a cold yet beautiful face, and one I recognized all too well.

It was my own.

I swallowed hard, wondering how I could ever have been this creature before me, but I had been, and not long ago. The promise of death in his gaze had been in mine. I began to tremble as Vrykolakas's fingers reached up to trace my lips. "Such a lovely face. Perfect for a monster. Humans are so unsuspecting in the presence of beauty." He shook his head. My head. "I was intrigued when Konstantin made you one of us. I could feel your potential. All for naught."

I swallowed hard. "Humans are not … they're more like us than you imagine. We come from them."

"And they were once fish who grew legs and pushed their way out from a primordial soup. And even they eat fish for dinner."

I shuddered as the smile returned to his face, his hand sliding down to my neck. His fingers dug into my throat, but he didn't squeeze hard. Yet.

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Maybe I expected too much of you, Lucian. Perhaps I need to wipe your memory of this time and try a new tact. This will all be like a fading dream, and you can reclaim your place."

Forget … everything? Forget Maxwell? Forget Ambrose and my friends? I shook my head.

"Think of it as mercy." Vrykolakas sighed. "Just as Konstantin took mercy on that angelic face centuries ago." He leaned in and opened his mouth to show me his fangs. "We'll have to work harder on that soft heart of yours this time. I don't know where this empathy came from. Konstantin almost made you perfect. Next time, I'll drive every ounce of humanity from your bones, so there's no going back."

Vrykolakas grunted then, eyes widening as he stared back at me.

I was confused for a moment, until black blood spilled out from the corners of his mouth. I lowered my gaze to his chest, where a point of wood stuck out from his heart, more of the oily substance dribbling down his naked chest.

I watched, mesmerized, as my doppelganger slid to the ground, then fell back in a heap. Was he … could he die, after all?

I looked up to find Maxwell standing there, heaving, holding tightly to the vampire hunters' symbol of the moth. I recognized it at once from when I'd noticed it hanging from the wall, the dried meat that made up its wings, the skull of a ghoul, and of course the wooden stake that made up its body, now slick with blood. Apparently not all of the wood had been reduced to ash in the fire, as this had been high enough on the wall to escape the flames.

"Maxwell," I said, reaching out to him. "You did it."

Maxwell looked back at me before casting his eyes down to the moth. He flung it aside. "I … I did."

We both watched as Vrykolakas's body seemed to crumple in upon itself, his husk of a body turning to ash in death. That was the end of the vampire god. At the hands of a mere mortal. It somehow seemed fitting.

The remaining bats flew up the staircase leading to the garden all at once, leaving the rest of my friends in peace.

"Ew," Isabel wiped at her face where several cuts were already healing. "Remind me again what the appeal is in turning into one of those?"

"You saved me," I said, smiling at Maxwell, my heart soaring. I reached out to embrace him, pulling him into my arms and kissing the top of his head.

Maxwell gazed up into my eyes. They seemed haunted and faraway for a moment, but then a clarity washed over his face and his lips pulled into a smile. "I did, didn't I?"

"It was very brave," I commended, leaning down to offer him my lips.

He shrugged. "Well, you're not the only one who can be brave."

I chuckled, a rumble reverberating through my chest as I kissed him softly. "I'll keep that in mind." I sighed into his mouth. "My handsome duke."