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“Do not do it!”

I reluctantly obeyed her, my hands clutching at the stone floor. I craved release. I wanted to let my anger ride me into a wave of violence against all of them.

But I remembered…I remembered what I had promised my Mother. I had to escape this place and defying Vlad would only deter that plan. I did not need to be killed or imprisoned.

Elina wrapped herself around Vlad’s body. “Let me calm you, my Master. Let us leave them. ”

Vlad continued to glare at me, then he nodded. “Yes, yes, let us go now. ”

He embraced Elina and they dissolved into a fine blue mist. Ariana watched it reverently until the last mote dissipated, then she joined us in the corner of the room.

Slowly, I rose to my knees and gazed at my vampire sisters. My anger still burned inside of me, but my countenance was cold and aloof.

“Tomorrow he will bring us another. That is good, Glynis,” Ariana said, trying to console me.

I nodded, then fell back to the floor. I drew my knees up to my chest and hugged my legs. “I feel the hunger now. It is faint, but there. ”

“You will learn to live with it,” Cneajna assured me.

“You really should not defy the Master. He never would have called his men back,” Ariana said softly, patting my arm.

“I wish he had,” I said in a low voice. “I saw the man who betrayed my family in that carriage. I saw his pale scared face and his long white neck. He would have come to us if Vlad had not held him back. ”

I could feel my fury burning in my veins, but my vampire sisters did not understand.

“He brought you to us,” Cneajna said softly. “For that I am grateful. ”

I gave her a sharp look, then turned away. She could not possibly understand.

It was then that I took another vow in the name of my family.

When I am free of this place, I will go to Buda and I will kill Sir Stephen.

None shall stop me.

Chapter 13

The Journal of Lady Glynis Wright

The Castle

5th of September, 1819

How did I become this monster…this creature that feasts on the blood of innocents? I stare at my bloodstained dress and feel nothing but hatred for what I have done. To know how callously I killed before and felt no regret, now pains me. I killed before with no remorse. But tonight…tonight, what I have done is unbearable.

I allowed myself to become this hideous fiend. The hunger tears at me, but I must find a way to fight it.

Tonight Vlad disappeared soon after we rose. The hunger was stirring within me and I clung to Vlad’s promise that he would feed us once again tonight. I have never been a patient person by nature and tonight was no different. As I scribbled away in my journal, I continuously listened for his return. From where I sat, perched high on a ledge in the great hall, I could watch the male servants busy replacing the front door we had battered to bits. Beyond them, in the courtyard, the wolf pack paced back and forth.

I sensed him before I actually witnessed his arrival in the castle. Ducking back into the shadows, I hid my journal and lay flush against the cold stone. Below me, Vlad entered the castle holding a large sack in one hand. He began to speak to one of the men working on the door, gesturing toward the courtyard. Taking advantage of him being distracted, I crawled, spider-like, out of my hiding place and down the back of a large column, then leapt onto the stairs and rushed up into the castle.

Bursting into the Brides’ chambers, I found the sisters seated on the floor, talking softly as they sorted through a heap of jewelry.

“He has returned,” I said breathlessly.

“We are to feed,” Ariana squealed happily.

“I did not see anyone with him so perhaps he will let us roam free,” I said hopefully. I thought, briefly, of the bag he had held, then I dismissed it from my thoughts.