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  “So you are willing to just sacrifice them?”

  Roseline slowly nods, hating the way William’s expression hardens. She knows all too well the trouble he has had adjusting to this new life. Although there are plenty of humans living at Bran Castle, hardly any of them can relate to him. William is not a skilled hunter; he does not spend his hours training in the courtyard or across the castle grounds. He has no real purpose here in the grand scheme of things and he is painfully aware of that.

  “I know it is hard to accept.” Roseline begins but realizes her poor choice of words. William’s lips press into thin lines and he draws away from Claudia.

  “I’m not an idiot. I get it, okay?” He pushes up to his feet in a huff. “Just because I’m not one of you doesn’t mean that I can’t comprehend battle tactics. I just think it sucks.”

  “Of course it does, Will.” Sadie’s response is softer than before. “If we could stop what is happening, you know we would, but we don’t even have a clue where to start looking.”

  William plunges his hands deep into his pockets. “Maybe that’s your problem,” he mutters.

  “Excuse me?” Gabriel sits forward.

  William sighs, no doubt sure he’s about to be given a lecture. “I said maybe that’s your problem.”

  “Yeah, no, I heard that part,” Gabriel says, slowing rising to his feet. “I’d like to know what you meant by it.”

  “Oh.” William shrugs. “I just meant that maybe you shouldn’t be looking but instead focus on drawing them out. You know, stop hiding behind these walls and show whoever this is that you’re not afraid of them.”

  “You mean like meet them on the battlefield with a war cry?” Nicolae snickers.

  “No.” Sadie detangles herself from his side and rises, a small grin spreading along her pale lips. “I think he might be on to something. Maybe what we need to do is go out, a night on the town. I, for one, could use some human interaction.”

  “Sadie, I’m not really sure that’s such a good idea—” Roseline begins, but Gabriel motions for her stop.

  “Let Sadie finish.” He gives Roseline a soft look that takes the sting out of his interruption. She plants her hands on her hips and waits.

  Sadie glances around the room before she continues. Her eyes seem brighter than normal in the dim room. “I think it would do all of us some good to get out and wind down. I think it is safe to assume we are being watched, so if we leave the castle with only a minimal guard, then maybe we can lure them into attacking. If we go to Brasov, we are only a few miles away. At the first sign of attack, we can be back here in a couple of minutes. It’s brilliant!”

  Roseline can feel herself frowning. Sadie’s plan has merit, at least as far as the idea of drawing out their enemy, but she is less than enthused by the idea of waltzing into a human town or leaving the castle minimally manned. Too many things could go wrong, which means they most likely will.

  “The shops will be closed by now,” Nicolae muses, glancing toward the window. Night has fallen heavily over the horizon. “What exactly do you expect us to do at this time of night? Just cruise the streets? I’m pretty sure a group of hunters and immortals will cause quite a scene.”

  Sadie’s smile broadens. “I want to go clubbing.”

  “No. No way!” Nicolae announces. “If you think I’m going to let you go into a club where guys can paw over you, you’re wrong.”

  Roseline cringes as Sadie slowly turns to glare at her Nicolae. “I’ll hold her back to give you a head start,” Gabriel mutters to Nicolae, raising his hands in surrender when she glares at him over her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Never mind. You’re on your own.”

  “Let’s do it!” Everyone turns stare at William, shocked by his enthusiastic approval of the idea. “Oh, come on. What better place to try to blend in than a loud, dark room filled with drunk humans? It’s the perfect cover?”

  Roseline has no doubt that it will be the exact opposite of perfect, but even she has to admit the idea of escaping the castle for a few hours is tempting. Even if only to break through the tension that has been weighing so heavily on everyone.

  To Gabriel’s obvious surprise, she rises and loops her arm through Sadie’s. “All right. I’m game, but there are going to be some ground rules.”

  Nicolae looks to Gabriel, who instantly shakes his head. Roseline smirks, knowing he is smart enough to realize when he is outgunned. “Fine, but I don’t have anything to wear,” Nicolae grumbles.

  Roseline grins. “Leave that to me.”

  Peeking down the stairwell, Roseline looks at the guys assembled at the bottom of the steps. Each looks handsome in dark vests, cut high along the shoulder to feature their well-defined arms, and black leather pants. The dim light gleams off Gabriel’s mussed blond hair and a warmth begins to swell in her chest.

  “Are you sure this suits me?”

  She turns to find Sadie tugging on the top of a pair of thigh-high boots with three-inch heels. Her skirt is short, making her fishnet-covered legs look a mile long. Her emerald halter fits snugly and leaves little to the imagination. Her wild green hair has been fluffed and tipped with wax to give her a pixy style that really makes her eyes pop. Roseline can only imagine how the strobe lights will look against her ensemble.

  “You look smashing.” Roseline grins, adjusting her own outfit.

  Skin-hugging leather pants tuck into calf-high black boots with a heel high enough to easily twist an ankle. Her waist tapers perfectly with the boning in her black-and-white corset. A row of silver buckles runs the length of the front while a black laced back allows her skin to breath.

  She clears her throat and loops her arm through Sadie’s. “Are you ready for us?” she calls down to the guys below.

  “We’ve been ready for over an hour.” William’s grumble is easily heard.

  Roseline pats Sadie’s arm and leads her forward into the light. Gabriel’s eyes go wide with surprise. Nicolae’s mouth gapes open so far that Roseline wouldn’t be surprise if he suffers from lockjaw.

  William takes a step back, looking utterly dumbfounded as he stares at his sister. “Right. I think I’ve changed my mind. Anyone up for a game of poker instead?”

  Sadie puts a little extra sway in her step and Roseline has to fight to keep from laughing as William pales noticeably. “I have a feeling we are going to regret this,” Nicolae mutters, leaning close to Gabriel.

  “Speak for yourself.” He grins and steps forward to take Roseline in his arms the instant she hits the bottom floor. “I plan to thoroughly enjoy this outfit tonight.”

  Holding out her hand, Sadie allows Nicolae to slowly spin her. She turns on her heel, giving him the full view. “You like?”

  “Enough to want to take you up to our room and not come out for a couple of days,” he says, nuzzling into her neck.

  “Really? I’m standing right here, guys. I did not need to hear that,” William grumbles. He tugs at the neckline of his vest, easily distracted. “What is with these clothes? I feel like I can’t breathe in them.”

  Nicolae casts a knowing glance at Roseline. She smirks at the memory of giving a similar set of clothes to him just before they went to Torrent in search of Fane. “Roseline has a thing for leather.”

  “It’s not a thing,” she counters, grabbing Gabriel’s arm to steer him toward the door. “It’s a way of life.”

  The streets of Brasov are alive tonight, filled with drunken pub goers and mouthy teens who cling to dark glass bottles within crumbled paper bags. People loiter along the sidewalks. Some are couples window shopping arm in arm while others dip into well-lit cafes for a late-night snack.

  To say she is uncomfortable with being in the heart of a human town is an understatement, but to know that this is Brasov makes her doubly uneasy. Although the town has changed and the people have come and gone, this place still holds too many memories for her.

  The black church stands resolutely ahead of her, lit brilliantly against the night sky. Wide bea
ms of light shine upon its stone walls, highlighting the beautiful stained glass windows. The original church didn’t have fancy windows or stone exterior. It was wooden and much smaller. That is until her wedding night when Vladimir razed it to the ground.

  Expelling a small shudder, Roseline turns a corner and happily puts her memories behind her. “You okay?” Gabriel asks.

  “Yeah. It’s just… weird. I usually avoid coming here, for obvious reasons.”

  Considering that her late husband gave birth to the vampire myths that have plagued Transylvania and modern-day Romania for hundreds of years, she is always leery of being seen. Most people have chosen not to believe in the myths, writing them off as just a tourist ploy. Others accept them all too readily but are sadly misled as to the true nature of the myths. And still others have an odd fascination with what they would deem to be the occult, mingling blood drinking with the horror of pagan rituals and gruesome sacrifices. These are the people who worry her the most.

  They flock to Romania each year in hopes of stumbling across a real-life vampire in a darkened back alley. More than one tourist has found just what they were looking for. At least that was the case when Lucien was still alive. He did so enjoy targeting tourists as his source of entertainment. Since his death, the crime rate in Brasov has improved drastically.

  Behind her she can still hear William grumbling about the tight fit of his clothes. Having been predominantly a T-shirt and jeans sort of guy, she can understand why his new outfit might be a bit… constricting.

  To his dismay, Claudia chose to remain behind. Roseline has a sneaking suspicion this decision has less to do with her aversion to spending time in a human city, but more about wanting to be on hand in case something should go wrong tonight. Before they left, the group made sure to make a show of their exit. They shouted loudly to each other, laughed and reveled in the night ahead before peeling out of the castle grounds in Roseline’s sleek blacked-out Range Rover. If they really are being watched, there will be little doubt that they plan to be gone for the entire evening.

  With Gabriel at the wheel, they arrived in Brasov in no time. He appears to have gained a bit of a lead foot since becoming immortal. Roseline has yet to decide if this stems from his lack of fear regarding death or the simple fact that his reflexes have improved so much.

  Nicolae and Sadie walk side by side, their heads dipped close as they remark about small details of the street. Roseline is reminded that this was home to Nicolae as a boy. He should know the ins and outs of this city. Sadie, having never actually spent any time here, seems rather taken with the old-world charm when seen up close.

  “People are staring,” Gabriel muses and naturally draws Roseline closer into his side. She casts a guarded glance toward a couple standing on the opposite side of the road. They appear to be in their mid-thirties. Probably out having a nice dinner and a movie while the babysitter stays home with the kids. Roseline notes the small mustard stain on the hem of the woman’s blouse and the small wrinkled patch beside it that gives evidence to a small hand clutched there recently.

  Their gaze is not unkind, nor it is filled with fear. “They’re probably wondering where our parents are.” She laughs and tugs him on.

  “Do you think anyone will recognize you tonight?” She can hear the note of concern in his voice over the clacking of her heels against the uneven cobblestone path.

  Even with her hair piled high on her head, falling in ringlets about her face, she still feels hot and clammy. Perhaps leather wasn’t the best choice after all, she muses.

  “No,” she replies, refocusing her thoughts as they round another corner and disappear into shadows. Glancing overhead, Roseline realizes the lamplight has been shattered. Hard to tell if it was an act of vandalism or not. “Not in the club at least.”

  But even as the words cross her lips she knows that she will always be wary. Three hundred years of fear and accusations are hard to forget.

  NINE

  Roseline has always wondered how the owners of Pandemic chose the nightclub’s name. Were they thinking of some sort of plague or widespread fear at the time? Seems an odd choice, yet none of the club goers seem to pay the neon sign hanging over the door any mind as they pay their entrance fee and join the writhing masses within.

  The line winds down the block and around the corner, but one whispered request from Roseline, partnered with a heavy dose of hormones, gives the bouncer just enough incentive to allow them to jump straight to the head of the line. Gabriel smirks as she giggles and retracts her hand from the bouncer’s arm. He sways, slightly dazed, as she walks past him to rejoin the group. “Show off,” he growls in her ear, pulling her close.

  “I have my ways,” she responds coyly.

  His fingers dig into her waist, pulling her back into his chest as he whispers in her ear. “When we get home, I expect to get a private viewing of those wicked ways.”

  Roseline laughs and allows herself to be led into the club. If she thought it was hot outside, the interior is far worse. She can actually see steam rising off of the horde of bodies on the dance floor, like clouds of dry ice filtering through the air.

  Unlike Torrent, this bar’s cages are filled with dancing girls in skintight sequined dresses that leave little to the imagination, instead of blood slaves. The music is just as loud and obnoxious, but the feel is completely different.

  Roseline has been to her fair share of clubs in her past. Most of them were dark with a tinge of danger on the air. Skimpy dresses were replaced with men and woman draped in black. Corsets replaced halters and the scent of leather was common, if not expected.

  No one wore jeans and torn T-shirts to those clubs. Of course, most of those clubs housed many of the underbelly of the immortal world without humans being any the wiser. The love of all things gothic is merely a given.

  In this place, she can smell the strong odor of hops on the air instead of O-negative blood. The bathroom door she passes smells strongly of urine and vomit, scents lingering just under the eye-burning doses of bleach used nightly to mop away the filth.

  For the most part, the club lies in darkness. The shadows are especially darkest in the balcony overhead, roped off by plush red single-loop barriers attached to two golden stands and a bouncer who looks like he has slipped a few too many steroids over the years.

  Only the strobe lights flitting from a crisscross of metal rafters overhead lights the dance floor in a myriad of shapes and neon colors. Black lights hang from above, casting a luminescent glow on everything. The music pouring from speakers thumps in Roseline’s chest and she can feel herself being drawn in. Pandemic offers a crowd that you can easily get lost in.

  “This is wicked.” William leans far over the railing, taking it all in. His hair is matted to his forehead and he unconsciously brushes it back out of his eyes. Trickles of sweat trail down his neck and into his vest. Strong muscular arms taper into strong hands, unobscured by sleeves. He is sure to turn a few heads in this crowd, as are Nicolae and Gabriel, but she knows they can handle themselves.

  Roseline can’t help but feel slightly protective over William, as if he were a brother to her instead of just a friend. “Keep an eye on him tonight,” she whispers to Gabriel. “We don’t need to have someone slipping something into his drink, or have Claudia turn up unannounced and fly into a jealous rage.”

  He nods and silently moves toward William’s side, suggesting they grab drinks for everyone.

  “What about you? Are you going to watch over my brother too?” Sadie purrs, running her hand down Nicolae’s arm.

  A telltale flush rises along his neck and he nods. “Only if you promise me a dance later.”

  “Deal.”

  Sadie and Roseline watch as the guys move away, unconsciously tapping their boots in time with the music. “So we’re here now,” Sadie says, glancing down at the dance floor. “What now?”

  A slow smile spreads along Roseline’s lips as she tugs on her friend’s hand. “I want to danc
e.”

  “Right on!” Sadie whoops and follows Roseline’s lead as they slither through the crowd, shoving against hot bodies as they weave toward the center of the dance floor.

  Roseline isn’t familiar with the song blasting through the speakers, but the guitar riff calls to her as she begins to sway her hips. Sadie closes her eyes and raises her hands in the air, weaving to the beat.

  The scents rise around Roseline, drawing her into a different place. She focuses on the colognes, perfumes, and the thumping of heartbeats as she writhes beside Sadie. She has only ever felt this free once before—back in Chicago at the prom with William. It was the first time she could truly dance, to express herself.

  Roseline’s eyes fly open wide with the memory. “Sadie, I should probably warn you—” But she never gets the chance to say anything as a hand grabs her friend’s backside.

  Sadie’s eye fly open wide as she turns to find a guy, probably barely old enough to be allowed into the club, flashing a wide grin as his hand continues to feel her up. “Hey, beautiful. Wanna dance?”

  “Sadie…” Roseline warns as her friend’s hand curls into a fist. “This is not the place.”

  Sadie grits her teeth and releases her fingers, pressing them tightly against her outer thigh. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve already got a dance partner.”

  His vivid blue gaze rises to take in Roseline beside her and his grin widens into a leer. “More the merrier.”

  “We should leave now,” Roseline says, tugging gently on Sadie’s arm. As she turns to leave, she comes face to face with another man, his chest broad and squarely meeting her at eye level.