"Now, where is my husband?"
Then she heard him. "Victoria!"
She spun and saw that he was being brought in the room, chained—as if poor Phillip could do any damage to the creatures in this room!—but alive. And walking on his own.
Victoria turned back to Lilith. "He does not need to be chained. Let him loose and we will discuss our exchange."
"Discuss? There is nothing to discuss. If you wish to have your husband back, you will provide me with the Book of Antwartha."
Victoria smiled at her. Wayren had been at Aunt Eustacia's when the message came from Lilith. "I will provide you with the book when you have met my requirements. The protection has changed, and the book must be given to you freely, or it will do you no good. You cannot take it from me or it will crumple into ash."
Lilith returned the smile, and Victoria did not like the expression in her eyes that accompanied it. "Ah, a formidable negotiator, and one who plans well. I would have expected nothing less from Eustacia's blood." She whipped her hand and the Guardian holding Phillip dropped the chains from his wrists. "Of course, that assumes that you really have changed the protection and aren't merely bluffing."
"Is Sebastian Vioget here as well?"
Lilith raised her copper-orange brows. "He is not. I sent for him, but he did not see fit to accept my invitation." Her eyes narrowed. "I suspected he was the reason you were able to come by the Book of Antwartha so easily."
Victoria didn't think the events of that evening could be called easy, but she said nothing.
"He told you how to get the book, did he not?"
"Do you think I would be foolish enough to believe a man like Sebastian Vioget?"
Lilith leaned back in her chair, laughing in delight. It was like smoke—delicate, penetrating, and stifling. "Ah, I have missed matching wits with a woman. Your aunt was a formidable opponent during her time as well. As for him"—she glanced at Max—"he is a man, and has certain weaknesses that are a pleasure to exploit."
Her attention returned to Victoria contemplatively.
Victoria's hair rose along her arms, and she knew she must keep control of the conversation. Now she would have to get both Max and Phillip to safety. "I have the book here, Lilith, but my terms are different from the ones you offered in your message."
"Indeed. Why does that not surprise me." Lilith made a slight movement, and Max moved forward as if he had lost his will. She closed her fingers around his wrist, barely fitting them there, and manipulated him so that he knelt in front of her, on the far side of the fire. "Let me guess. You want to guarantee the Venator's safety as well."
Victoria nodded.
Then Lilith's eyes changed. Not color… no, they stayed sapphire blue, encircled with a thick red ring… but something else in their depths moved. Victoria could not look away. She was trapped, felt soft and foggy. The floor slogged beneath her. The air billowed, pushing in on her.
"What is it that you really want, Victoria Gardella?" Lilith's voice came from far away, yet it was in her ear, for her alone. Her mouth didn't move. Her eyes did not blink. "Your husband?"
Phillip moved next to her, a puppet responding to her cue, and Victoria touched his arm. He was cold, chilled; she wanted to pull him to her and keep him safe. They bumped against each other, and through the fog Lilith had wisped around her, Victoria felt a heavy weight in his pocket.
Victoria raised her hand and pressed her eyelids closed, breaking the connection with Lilith. A tremor passed through her as Lilith struggled, then surrendered. Momentarily. Victoria must not look at her again… but it was impossible when those eyes seemed to be able to catch her gaze at will.
"Why do you want the book so badly?" Victoria asked, slipping her hand into Phillip's pocket and closing her fingers around the pistol. Foolish of the vampires not to have relieved him of it, even if it was harmless to them.
"There are many secrets within," Lilith told her conversationally. She stroked Max's dark hair, clutching a handful and pulling so that he rose to his knees. "I am particularly interested in the spell that will enable me to raise an army of demons on the night of any full moon. And then there is the decoction that I can drink and give to my servants so that a Venator cannot detect our presence. That would be most helpful, I am sure you realize."
Without warning, she yanked Max's head aside and sank her teeth into his skin.
Victoria watched in horror as she drank from the distended veins, her needle teeth sliding in like a knife through butter. Max closed his eyes; she could see him struggle to breathe, watched his chest rise and fall, the silver vis bulla trembling with his efforts. His hands closed in on each other; his throat convulsed.
Next to her Phillip stirred, his breathing deepening, becoming ragged as his eyes fixed on the scene. Victoria tore away to look at him, saw the feral gleam in his gaze and the unconscious gaping of his jaw… and she knew. Horror sank into her even before she saw the gleam of his fangs… the glint of red in his eyes.
"No!" she screamed.
Lilith released Max and he sagged to the floor. She smiled, her white teeth gleaming. She'd fed elegantly; not a drop of red anywhere.
Phillip had fallen to his knees, panting, next to Victoria.
His eyes were wild, tinted red, for he was still newly undead, and need burned off him. Victoria could smell it, and it sickened her. Her stomach heaved; her head spun.
She clutched the satchel and forced her fingers to still from their trembling.
"You do not like my little surprise? I am sorry that I did not allow him to finish feeding before you arrived. I only allowed him to sample me in order to take the edge off his appetite. He will still enjoy you when I give him the word." She gestured at Phillip. "Rise! You will have what you need when the time is right."
Phillip obeyed and stood next to Victoria, and she realized what Lilith intended when he smoothed a hand possessively down her arm. Her stomach pitched.
"Now we will negotiate, my dear. Although I don't know that there is much room for that; as you can see, I hold all of the cards."
"I still have the book." Although what good it did her, Victoria did not know. Phillip. What had she done to him? By marrying him, by giving in to her selfish needs… she'd brought him here.
Grief numbed her. He was gone, and she could not get him back. He was damned. Evil. Immortal.
"Yes, but the book is worth more to you if you give it to me than if you keep it."