The House of Vampire

Chapter 12

"Where'd it come from?" Greg asked. Scott was also staring.

Chandre sat up in his lap, blinking away the residues of whatever glamour the vampire had been holding her under, and tried to tug the ring off. It wouldn't budge.

"He said I am his bride," she said, persisting at the ring. She tried twisting and it wouldn't move. It wouldn't even turn on her finger.

Gently Shi took her hand and tried to work it. The ring wouldn't budge.

"Whose bride?" Scott asked.

"His." Chandre seemed dazed. Perhaps she was still under his spell.

"Then why are you here?" Shi asked.

She shrugged, and her shoulders seemed thin, delicate. "I don't even remember getting here. I was . . . dancing, and now I'm here."

"Dancing?"

"Uh-huh." He looked into her eyes. Her pupils were dilated, but it was also dark and he wasn't sure if it was natural or not.

Fear clenched his stomach and tied his gut into knots. What if the vampire had made her like him? She was bleeding, but vampires did bleed. A trail of blood ran down her chest, streaking over the curve of her breast, and he bent down, licking it. Her eyes closed, and he felt the disgust of the others.

When he straightened, her eyes opened and she seemed more alert. "He didn't."

"No." Shi grew worried. "Do you remember why he let you go?"

She shook her head. The revenants' snarling grew more distracted, and Shi stared at them. There were ten now, roaming around the room.

Chandre suddenly gasped and buried her face in his bare shoulder. "What—?" he asked, and saw the shadow ooze into the room, forming itself into human form.

The vampire stalked towards them. His eyes flashed amber, and Shi snapped, "Don't look into his eyes!"

The creature cursed and stopped at the edge of the ward, tracing it with his fingers. The air shimmered and sizzled. The smell of charred, rotten flesh made Shi gag.

He glanced around to make certain that none of the humans had looked into the vampire's eyes, and stood, helping Chandre carefully to her feet. Her breath was ragged and her eyes were clouded as she stared directly at the creature.

"She will choose me," the vampire hissed, a smile revealing the pointed teeth. He held out a hand, the fingers long and delicate. His nails were black and pointy.

Chandre took a step towards the edge of the ward and Shi pulled her back, staggering to the ground. She slipped through his fingers as if she were air, and he grasped, clutching the hem of her dress.

"Chandre!" he gasped, keeping a tight grip on her dress.

The vampire's grating laughter bored into his ears. "Did you think you could save her? She is mine."

"No!"

Shi wrenched back on the dress with all his strength. He heard a loud rip, but Chandre lay beside him, struggling to get to the vampire. Her fist drove into his face, and he reeled back, but kept his grip on her. She wasn't pulling her punches as she twisted and turned like an eel to get loose, her eyes wild and empty.

"Help me!" he shouted at the others, and they grabbed her, each taking a limb until she was pinned to the ground.

"What happens if she walks through the ward?" Scott grunted as her body bucked.

Shi's mind raced. What had she told him? "She bound the ward. If she passes through it, it breaks," he gasped. His gut ached from where she had kicked him. At his back, he felt the vampire's predatory smile. "Break!" he shouted. "Break the glamour."

He stared down at Chandre's curiously blank face as it twisted and grimaced with her efforts to be free, and growled. How do I break the glamour?

"How? How do you break it?" Lana asked, echoing his thoughts.

"It's not like this is some . . ." Greg began, and then trailed off.

"What?" Shi asked.

"A fairy tale," Greg said, looking bewildered, like he had never thought the words in his life. His face rippled, and Shi realized that this was not Greg. Chandre was trying to break free.

Understanding blew through him, and he bent down beside his partner as she jerked and thrust away. Her body was bound and so was her mind, but by entirely different things.

As gently as he could, he pressed his lips against hers. Shock jolted through him like electricity, and he knew it was the magic of the glamour when she fell limp. Then her lips moved too, and he deepened the kiss. Her arm reached around his head, and they were blasted apart.

Shi spun into the far wall, grunting as the wind was knocked from him, and scrambled back to his feet to see the revenants rushing towards the former prisoners of the ward, who were still on the floor.

Chandre staggered to her feet, the dress hanging loosely about her in folds, and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

The vampire stalked closer to her, and Shi yelled, but the revenants were almost at the humans. Shi made his choice, and barreled into the revenants, using Changed claws and teeth to attack, kill and destroy before the creatures could touch his companions.