She had originally intended to activate the poison in his blood because he had badly wounded her pride by refusing her attentions, but shortly after his rejection a handsome knight had begun to woo her and for a time, she had forgotten all about Rylan the Bold. When she tired of the knight, a wealthy landowner had offered her everything he possessed if she would stay with him for the rest of his life – a life that had ended soon after he had rewritten his will, leaving everything to her. Soon after that, she had been attacked by a handful of hunters who had come very close to destroying her. Weak from loss of blood, her body badly mangled and burned, she had gone to ground and when she rose, centuries had passed. It had taken decades to restore her strength and by then Rylan the Bold was only a dim memory – until she learned that he had been turned and her sister had been destroyed.
He was a vampire now, powerful beyond belief. But she had no doubt that her innate witchcraft, combined with her vampire strength and an ages old spell, would see him defeated in the end.
She smiled when he fell to the floor. “Soon, my sister. Soon we will both have our revenge.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Slow down, Kadie,” Kincaid said. “Get hold of yourself.”
With a nod, she took several deep breaths, her mind replaying Rylan’s sudden rampage.
“Come and sit down and tell us what’s going on,” Rosa coaxed.
Dropping down on the sofa, hands tightly folded in her lap, Kadie told them what had happened. “And then he just went crazy,” she said. “I looked in his eyes and Rylan wasn’t there. I’ve never been so afraid.”
“It’s got to be that poison in his blood,” Jake said. “That damn witch has done something to make the spell worse. I don’t know how powerful a vampire she is, but she’s one hell of a witch.”
“What am I going to do?” Kadie asked, fighting back her tears. “I’m afraid to go back to the house.”
“No need,” Jake said, with a shrug. “I’ll go.”
“Jake, no!” Rosa said, tugging on his hand. “He might not recognize you in his current condition. With his strength....” She shook her head. “I don’t want you to go.”
“He’s my best friend,” Jake said.
“But...”
“If our roles were reversed, he’d come for me,” Jake said. “I can’t turn my back on him now.”
Taking a deep breath, Kadie said, “I’ll go with you.”
“No. Stay here with Rosie. Please.”
Kadie nodded a reluctant agreement. “Be careful, Jake. He might not even recognize you.”
“No sweat.” He gave Kadie’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, hugged Rosa, and left the house.
Jake swore softly when he reached Saintcrow’s lair. /From what he could see, all the windows were broken. Peering inside, he saw Saintcrow lying face down on the floor amidst a wreckage of shredded foam and cloth and bits of wood. What the hell?
With a shake of his head, Jake ducked through one of the windows and knelt beside Saintcrow. A moment later, Izabela appeared beside him.
“What are you doing here?” Jake asked.
“One of the reasons I drink his blood is so that I’ll know when he’s in trouble. And he is definitely in trouble.”
Jake snorted. Trouble, indeed.
“The witch has done this,” Izabela said. “I have been in contact with several covens. All of them know of Elowynne. One and all said the same thing. Becoming a vampire changed her. The added power has made her cruel and uncaring. She has nothing but contempt for humans, no love for anyone but herself and her sister. We need to find out why she hates Saintcrow. Perhaps then we can hope to find a cure for the dark magic that is slowly poisoning him.”
“How the hell do we do that?”
Izabela shrugged. “I have no idea. I used an ancient spell on his blood after a brief visit with Alara. She said she thought the traces of earth in Saintcrow’s blood came from a battlefield, but she’s wrong. Its earth and ashes taken from the unhallowed graves of murderers, heretics, and the insane. She has used some kind of dark magic which gives her a measure of control over Saintcrow’s emotions. I’m not sure how the spell works, or how it survived for so long.”
Jake swore softly. No wonder Saintcrow was going crazy. “How do we get it out of him?”
“That,” she said on a heavy sigh, “is yet to be determined. All I know is we need to find something to purify his blood before it’s too late.”
Glancing down at Saintcrow, Jake asked, “What do we do in the meantime?”