Page 100 of How to Stake a Vampire

“They’re close,” she growled.

“She’s right!” Mindy hissed. “I can smell the wraith!”

Bo whined.

The rest of us couldn’t smell much past the bat guano, but we were happy to take their word for it. A faint sound reached us as we cautiously crept forward.

We all froze and strained our ears.

At first, I couldn’t hear anything but our breathing and the distant drip of water. Then I caught it.

It was music. Brooding, powerful music that was echoing from somewhere deep in the mine.

I shot a nervous glance at Barney. “Wait. Is that?—?”

“Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony,” the vampire confirmed darkly.

Gregory rushed forward. “It’s the ritual. It has to be!”

Finnic cursed as the vampire dropped his torch and disappeared into the gloom.

“Mindy, follow him!” Samuel barked.

We started running toward the music and whatever waited for us in the depths of the mine. Whatever it was, I just hoped we weren’t too late.

30

RITUAL INTERRUPTED

The tunnel openedinto a vast cavern that looked like something out of a nightmare. Candles flickered in nooks and crannies along the walls, casting dancing shadows across the ancient stone formations rising from the ground. In the center, an elaborate altar had been constructed from slabs, its surface covered in symbols that radiated evil. I swallowed heavily.

Virgil was bound to it with iron chains.

A tortured sound left Ellie at the sight.

“No,” Gregory mumbled, his voice breaking.

The vampire had rocked to a stop a few feet ahead of us, shock rendering him immobile.

Virgil looked unconscious but alive, his chest rising and falling steadily. The iron chains looked cruel against the young vampire’s pale skin, the dark stains on the stone beneath him telling their own grim story about what he’d suffered through since his abduction.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony echoed through the cavern from speakers I couldn’t see, the powerful music lending a macabre atmosphere to the horror in front of us.

“That sick bastard!” Ellie snarled, her eyes blazing red.

I followed her gaze, my heart thumping.

Ludvik stood with his back to us in the shadows at the far end of the cavern. He wore flowing dark robes and was completely absorbed in whatever he was reading from an ancient tome.

Samuel and I shifted, our wolves instantly recognizing the deadly threat he posed even though he seemed oblivious to our presence. The familiar heat of transformation flowed through me as I shook myself out, the change now as easy as breathing.

Gregory abandoned all pretense of stealth and charged across the cavern, his son’s name a roar on his lips.

“Virgil!”

“No!” Barney barked, alarmed.

Ludvik spun around. His expression shifted from intense focus to mild annoyance.