Chapter Four

The cold was an agonizing army of knives slicing against my flesh. My feet seemed a distant memory and my skin raged a protest about the icy air surrounding me.

I tried to move but my back was pressed against something hard and unyielding. My wrists were bound, trapped behind whatever it was that I was attached to.

“Ryle. Aimery,” I called, blinking in the silvery light of the moon’s beam on glistening snow. “Where…where are you?” I tried to shift again but my frozen limbs wouldn’t work. My teeth were tapping together and the bitterly cold night was stinging my eyes.

I glanced around. The back of my head was tender and rubbing on what I now guessed was a pine tree. I was surrounded by them. Tall, thin trunks topped with bowed branches heavy with snow. They rose out of a wintery carpet into the black night sky like silent sentries.

A sound to my right caught my attention and I spun to see a flurry of snow landing in a sparkling heap from a stem that was bouncing in relief. The snow puffed upwards, like glittery powder, and then settled mutely.

I tried to make sense of where I was and what had happened. I remembered the fierceness of the train crash, the heat of an explosion and being carried, swept away from the destruction by something strong and swift.

A thudding pulse in my right temple reminded me of my head banging against the paneling, next to Ryle, and I winced at the memory. “Ryle,” I said again, my lips barely moving in the cold. Damn, he’d been tied up and blindfolded when the train had crashed. But that was okay, wasn’t it? He could move like the wind, those cuffs were for a scene, he could have broken out of them in an instant had he really wanted to.

I tried to peer into the line of trees, hoping to see Ryle and Aimery walking out of the shadowy depths of the Canadian forest. They’d be here any second. I was sure of it.

But there was nothing—just eerie stillness.

Perhaps I was dreaming?

“Aimery. Ryle,” I called, louder this time. “Where are you?”

“Call all you want. They won’t hear you.”

I gasped and twisted to my left.

Standing ankle deep in the snow, her furred cape floating over her shoulders and her red hair piled tightly on top of her head, was Elfrida.

Panic raged through me. A shot of adrenaline burst into my veins and I yanked frantically at the bindings on my wrists.

How had she found me? What the hell had happened? I should have known she’d had something to do with this.

“You look confused,” she said, her mouth contorting into an evil smile. “But it must have happened so fast for you so I’m not surprised your human mind is taking a while to catch up with events.”

She stepped close. Close enough so that the puffs of warm air leaving my lungs circled around her face. She tilted her chin and breathed deep as if savoring my scent. There were no puffs of air from her cold body as she released the inhalation.

“Ah, yes, that’s it. I knew they were hiding what you really were.” Satisfaction flashed across her eyes. “You are pure. There is no perfume, no cover up now. Just the sweetly exotic scent of the rarest blood of all and it’s about time I savored it.”

“Let me go. They’ll be here any second, Aimery and Ryle, and when they find you being a member of the council won’t save you, not here. They’ll kill you for this. You must have murdered countless people who were on that train.”

She cackled and pushed a strand of my hair over my ear. “Stupid humans in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“You’re disgusting.” I jerked my head away from her touch. Her icy fingers and her sharp nails instilled dread in me. Where were my husbands? I needed them, now. “I officially belong to Aimery and Ryle, you know? You can’t touch me or have a drop of my blood.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. I can do whatever I want.” She leaned in close and appeared to delight in the scent of my skin.

“No.” I writhed and wriggled. “They won’t allow it.”

“They won’t have a choice.” She paused and stretched her lips into a broad smile that showed off her teeth, including her fangs.

Oh God, she was going to bite me, here and now. She wanted my Bombay blood this instant and she wouldn’t stop guzzling like Aimery and Ryle did. She’d been waiting centuries to sample my unique flavor. Once she started she’d drain me dry in a feeding frenzy.

“Please, no.” Again I looked frantically into the dense blackness of the woods. For a second I thought I saw a stooped shadow, something gray, but then it was gone. In my desperate state my imagination was playing tricks on me.

“They can’t stop me taking what I’m due,” Elfrida said, sliding her palm over my right breast, her fingers tapping over the lace of the woefully thin body stocking. “Not when they’ve finally got what they deserve. Banishment.”

“What…what do you mean?”

She ran her hand over my stomach and pressed the heel of her palm against my mound.

I tried to move but I was trapped between her and the tree.

“What I mean is…” She leaned in, her target my neck. “They’ve gone. I’ve finally rid the Order of them and their undisciplined law-breaking ways. The vampire community is better off without Aimery and Ryle and all their lies and deceit.”

“No, no, that’s not true and they can’t have gone…” I held back a sob then gasped as she pressed harder against my body. She was solid and as cold as the night. I was breathing rapidly, my chest heaving against hers.

“Oh, but they have. They might be superhuman but even vampires turn to cinders in fire. Reduced to ash and carbon the way all matter is.” She paused and laughed again. “Especially if one is tied up and the other foolish enough to try to save him.”

I shook my head. “No, they’ll have got off the train in time. I did.”

“Only because of me. Only because I grabbed you, tugged you from the wreckage before the explosion killed your beloved Ryle and your tortured soul Aimery.”

“No, that’s not true. They’ll be here, any second. Get off me.” I tried to push her away but it was no good.

Another plume of snow landed nearby and an owl screeched overhead.

“They’ll both go to hell you know,” Elfrida said, licking over the bite marks Aimery had created in passion just hours ago. “All vampires do, but Aimery, he’ll have an especially hard time, what with being a murderer in his human state as well as his afterlife.”

“What…what are you talking about?”

Again Elfrida laughed, but it wasn’t with humor. “What I’m saying—and it’s so amusing that he never confessed this to you—is that Aimery, for all his airs and graces, his esteemed position as Order lawyer, was nothing but a common murderer before he was turned.”

“What…what are you talking about?” Aimery wasn’t a murderer. He was a fine upstanding member of his community. He loved with all that he was and paid attention to the details, every little detail with care and consideration.

“His human soul was pitiful,” Elfrida said, glee in her voice. “He was obsessed with blood and murder and lurked in the back streets of old London Town, waiting for poor unsuspecting women who were walking home. It wasn’t until sixteen eighty-one when he tried to murder one of ours, that he was caught.”

A shiver rattled its way up my back. “Caught?”

“Yes, caught and given the option. Be drained or become one of us. We knew he could be of use, given his high intelligence.”

“And…and he changed?”

“Yes, his wretched soul was useless to him. He knew that. What kind of man murderers innocent women, eh?”

“It’s not true,” I gasped.

“Oh, but it is,” Elfrida whispered, tickling her tongue around the angle of my jaw. “The man you hope to save you is nothing but a violent criminal, a serial murderer and so is his partner.” She paused. “You’ve witnessed Ryle in action so I hear. But now they’ll never walk on this earth again and they certainly won’t come rushing out of the forest to rescue you from a fate that’s sealed in the stars up there.”

“You’re lying. Get away from me.”

“Sorry. All true, and you know I’m not going anywhere, at least not until I finally have my fill of Bombay blood.”

“No.” Terror gripped me. “No, please.”

“Don’t be scared. I’ll make it good for you, Beatrice.” She rubbed against my mound, exerting a steady pressure on my clit. “While I feed you’ll come, and the less blood circulating in your body the more potent my saliva will be and the harder you’ll orgasm. So don’t worry, you’ll go out with a bang. I’ll ensure you die happy.” She dipped her head and I knew this was it. She was going to bite me, feed until I had no life left in me.

I cried out as the first nip of her teeth grazed my flesh. I tried to move but was pinned in place.

I screwed up my eyes, prayed for a miracle and bucked away from her touch.

A burst of activity shot past me. The arctic air became a whoosh of cold and a whirlwind of snow pelted my legs.

Elfrida was suddenly gone—she lifted from me and her teeth left my neck.

I opened my eyes and screamed as two enormous wolves hurled themselves through the air, chasing a retreating Elfrida. They grabbed the ends of her cloak, tussled with it, tugging and pulling, their necks twisting this way and that in frantic rolling movements.

She let out a shriek, an unearthly scream of fury and frustration. Then thrashed out at them, baring her fangs with her lips peeled back.

They didn’t let up. Their teeth were huge and sharp as they battled with the cloak. Their fur glistened and shimmered in the sparkling light, and snow was sent spiraling into the air as their enormous bodies scrabbled to bring down Elfrida.

The immediate threat of being drained dry left me, but now it seemed I would be mauled to death.

Suddenly Elfrida broke free and shot into the darkness, leaving only a ghostly plume of snow twinkling behind her.

The wolves darted after her, growls and barks stabbing the air as they slipped around tree trunks and melted into the black of the night.

I stared at her cloak slumped on the floor. It was ripped and the ends were in tatters where the wolves had savaged it. I was panting, my heart thumping and I wrestled with my binds not caring about the pain they were creating on my wrists.

But it was no good. I was firmly attached to the tree. A sob erupted but still I tugged some more. I couldn’t give up. The wolves would never catch Elfrida, she was too fast, too clever, and soon they would be back for me. They’d eat me alive. I was easy prey, a ready meal.

I shivered and shook, wriggled my hands. But even if I did break free where would I go? I glanced upward, wondering if wolves could climb. Wondering if Elfrida would dare come back if there was the threat of attack.

Of course she would.

The forest became silent around me and I stopped my frenzied movements. The extreme cold was sucking the life from my body and I turned numb. I would die here. Hypothermia would claim me if not a vampire or wolves.

I shut my eyes and stilled completely. My last shred of fight was seeping from me.

Soon I barely even felt cold anymore and the trembling that had besieged every one of my muscles faded to nothing. I was just limp and exhausted. So tired, so tired and fading…

I hung my head, thought of Aimery and Ryle and what Elfrida had said about my beloved Aimery. Even if he had been a bad man in his human form, Aimery had never been anything but loving toward me. He was my everything and Ryle, he’d killed to protect me, what could be more valiant than that?

The truth was they’d been the loves of my life. They’d made me happy, cared for me and protected me. Until…

“Hey, hey, open your eyes, stay with me.”


A deep male voice penetrated my blurred thoughts. “Come on, lady, you’re okay. Open your eyes.”

It wasn’t a voice I recognized, a slight Irish accent maybe. My dreams were becoming strange. Death was sneaking up on me in the most bizarre of ways. There was no Irish man in the Canadian wilderness. That was madness.

“Come on, come on.” Same voice again.

There was a tapping on the side of my face and then I was aware of the binds at my wrists loosening.

“Shit, you really are cold.”

I began to slide to the ground, the bark snagging and pulling the thin clothing on my back.

“Oh, no you don’t. Here we go.”

Suddenly I was lifted into the air and pressed up against something broad and hot.

I opened my eyes, wondering if I’d see my deceased mother. Had I reached the other side of the tunnel? Was this my place for all eternity?

Instead I looked up at a man with light-brown scruffy hair and a square angled jaw. His arms were wrapped around me, one beneath my thighs and the other at my waist. He was holding me tight and firm.

“What?” I managed in barely a whisper. “Who…?”

“It’s okay now, I’ve got you.” He began to stride through the deep snow. Despite only wearing a T-shirt his chest was warm and I welcomed the sudden intense heat on my icy limbs. “But we’ve got to get you out of here. Quick.” He glanced over his shoulder and picked up the pace.

I had no idea who my rescuer was or even if he was real. He could be something my mind had made up to protect me from the horrors of a brutal death. Yes, that must be it. Because why would a big, strong, handsome man be out in the freezing wilds in the dead of the night? Striding around looking for hopeless women tied to trees? No, that couldn’t be right. I’d dreamed him. I was still dreaming. Projecting something good and kind onto the last minutes of my life.

If only Ryle and Aimery were here, carrying me, saving me. With me in these final moments, rather than a stranger.