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21
Erik watched the three women walk from the room and shot to his feet the moment they were gone. Harker took a double step and the two of them exited through the King’s Chambers behind the throne.
“Harker, I want you to watch that girl closely while she’s here and send your brother down into the dungeon. I’ll meet him there.”
Harker frowned. “Sir, that name…she couldn’t possibly be related to him.”
Erik froze and looked back at the wolf over his shoulder. “I’m not about to take that risk. Are you?”
“I’ll send my brother down.” He gave him a sharp jerk of his head, and then disappeared in the direction Mina had disappeared.
Van Helsing. That name had haunted Erik for centuries. The Old King’s favorite hunter had been named Abraham Van Helsing, and when he failed to kill Erik the night of his transformation, the Old King bound him and his ancestors in blood, charging them with murdering Erik. If he remembered the words correctly as long as Van Helsing and Tepes both walked through the living world, Abraham’s family would know no peace, and their dead would suffer eternal damnation.
A few had come close to killing him, but all had ultimately failed. None had ever gone easily, but they were gone, and up until Mina said Aria’s last name, he’d thought there was only one Van Helsing left. The vampire in his dungeon.
Racing down the steps into the dungeon, he smelled of Alaric waiting for him below. The wolf bond worked fast. He had no doubt Alaric had heard his request from his brother’s mind the moment he’d uttered it. That at least was a relief. His prisoner could be unpredictable, and he didn’t have time to get into a brawl. If Aria was a threat to Mina he’d have to deal with it, no matter what she meant to the princess.
At the bottom layer of the castle, Erik pushed through one side of a large black door built into the wall. On the other side the beautiful red stone of the castle gave way to graystone covered in dirt and grime. He descended a set of stairs to a landing lit by four low torches, and his boots squelched on water that had soaked in from somewhere he couldn’t see.
He turned and spotted Alaric pacing at the bottom of the second set of stairs. Erik squared his shoulders and stood up straighter. “Is he awake?”
“I’m not sure he ever sleeps,” Alaric said. “Are you sure you want to do this? The last time you tried to question him he nearly broke free. He’s absolutely mad.”
“I need to know who this girl is. If she’s truly a Van Helsing, I need to be sure she’s not a threat.”
“All Van Helsings are a threat.” Alaric grunted, and before Erik could respond, a deep-throated laugh echoed from the deepest part of the dungeon.
Erik’s lip curled, and he walked past the werewolf, passing the empty cells lining the walls to his right and left. They descended another set of stairs, and there he was, leaning on the stone bars of his enchanted cage, pale as a ghost, taller than the average man, and thin as a rail. If it weren’t for the enchantments holding him in place, Erik was sure he could’ve turned sideways and slipped right out of his hole.
“Well, well, well,” the prisoner crooned, opening his violently red eyes. “If it isn’t His Majesty, the king. Come to pay little ole me a visit?”
“Abraham.” Erik hissed through his teeth. “You are the progenitor of your curse. You swore to me that Hagan Van Helsing was the last of you.”
The vampire smiled wide, his gums the color of blood, his teeth stained with the faint remnants of his daily allotment. “I see the child has finally found their way here.”
Erik snarled. “So she is one of you?”
“She?” The vampire arched a white eyebrow to his pale white hairline. “Now that is interesting.”
“In what way?” Alaric grunted, standing close to Erik's shoulder.
The vampire backed away from the cage door and drifted into the shadows of the cell. “Girls in my bloodline are rare. They’re strong, and they are vicious. I’m sure you remember the last one who came for you. You chose her as a wife, if I remember correctly.”
Laughter echoed out from the darkness, and it sent a chill over Erik’s spine. He did remember the woman Abraham was referring to. She’d convinced him her name was something mundane, and the first night he let his guard down to fall asleep beside her, she pulled a knife and stake out to kill him. He woke as her blade cut his throat, and it was only by pure luck that he’d managed to subdue her long enough for the wolves to break down his door and save him.
Taking a deep breath, Erik stepped up to the bars, staring where he knew the vampire sat hidden. “If she tries to make a move against me or anyone I care about, Abraham, I will handle her just as I handled the rest of your kin. I will turn her, and make you watch her burn.”
