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The vampire vanished in a sudden puff of red embers, startling me and making fear spike through my chest when he reappeared on the other side of the flames.
Right in front of Vern’s face.
“I don’t think you know who I am, boy.”
Vern stayed eerily still, betraying the vampire blood in his veins.
It all made sense to me now why Vern was so spooky to be around.
He’d earned my trust but was still not someone I’d want to be on the wrong side of.
“I know exactly who you are,” Vern said, his voice low.
I’d had just about enough of this.
Shoving my fear aside—as well as any sense of self-preservation—I stormed over to the pair and stabbed my finger into the vampire’s chest.
It was like poking an iceberg.
“Listen, Freddy. Can I call you Freddy? I’m not sure if you have some vampy newsfeed or maybe an after-hours podcast, but more’s at stake than whatever you care about.”
He glowered down at me. “More’s at stake?” He gave a pointed look at Killian.
Killian was frozen in place with his weapon poised. Solstice was behind him looking unsure of what to do. Her flames hadn’t worked, and she wasn’t confident a little stick would do anything.
A stake.
Hmm, maybe a poor choice of words on my part.
“Yes,” I continued on. I was already digging my own grave, quite literally since I’d started digging my feet into the soft dirt, so I might as well continue. “Do you know anything about corruption? It’s infected a bunch of dragons and now it’s going after queens. There’s probably an unhatched queen in your realm, so unless you want to be responsible for the extinction of humanity, meaning you can kiss drinking blood goodbye, I suggest you help us.”
The vampire regarded me with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. I sensed that not much amused him. “That is a compelling argument.” He glanced at Vern. “I would still require the cure as payment for my troubles.”
Vern nodded.
“I accept your offer, then,” the vampire confirmed.
A weight lifted from my shoulders.
We were actually going to find a way to the Lost Dragon Queen.
Then I remembered where we were going and a weight triple in size seemed to settle on my shoulders, making my entire body sag.
Killian had moved behind me and comforting circles with his thumb at the base of my spine.
The vampire vanished, startling us, then reappeared in the distance on the other side of the dying golden flames. “Meet me back here in a week’s time,” he said. He hadn’t raised his voice, but I had no trouble hearing him. I wasn’t sure if that was due to my supernatural senses now that my goddess blood was active again, or if he could project his voice.
I tilted my head as I registered he’d asked us to meet back in a week. Hopefully we had that long before the next queen hatched.
Not that there was much choice in the matter.
“A week?” Vern parroted.
The vampire indulged him with an answer. “I require some time to collect the items necessary to anchor your souls to your bodies, unless you wish to die the moment you pass through the veil.”
We all shared a look.
Nope. I preferred my soul securely attached to my body. Thanks.
