Page 24 of How to Stake a Vampire (Diary of a Reluctant Werewolf #2)
CONFIDENTIAL AFFAIRS
Barney heaved a heavy sigh like this was a daily occurrence. He and the butler led the way down a hallway lined with oil paintings that were probably worth more than my car.
The informal sitting room they guided us to was spacious and comfortable, with overstuffed armchairs arranged around a marble fireplace and bay windows overlooking the gardens at the back.
There were books scattered on a side table, a coffee mug on the mantelpiece, and what looked like a crossword puzzle abandoned on an antique escritoire.
Gregory and Constantia sat on a navy velvet sofa, the vampire couple looking a little tense in the relaxed surroundings.
Gregory rose and nodded stiffly in our direction when we entered. “Samuel. Victoria.” His gaze lingered on me. “I heard you got injured fighting Ludvik?”
“It was Samuel who got hurt.”
Surprise flared on Gregory’s and Constantia’s faces.
“It was just a scratch,” my alpha said.
His wound had already healed, something I’d taken great pains to check last night.
We settled in the armchairs, Ellie and Virgil staying close to each other. I studied them with mixed feelings.
Three weeks ago, my best friend’s biggest concern was whether the cute guy at the bar we regularly frequented had noticed her new haircut. Now she was dating a vampire and had become a brand-new member of the supernatural community I had longed to keep her away from.
Pearl gazed on approvingly as Harold served us tea in real china cups.
Melvina brought in a serving tray piled with an assortment of supernatural-creature-shaped cookies in various states of dismemberment.
The butler and the housekeeper retreated quietly to the door, a suspiciously axe-shaped outline stretching the back of the dwarf’s dress.
Samuel waited until we’d helped ourselves to refreshments before addressing Barney. “So what was it you wanted to talk about?”
The vampire exchanged a guarded look with the Tremaines.
“Ancient vampire history and ideology.”
“That sounds boring,” Bo declared at my feet around the cookie he was busy scarfing down.
“But important under the circumstances, so why don’t you can it, Mutt?” Pearl said coolly.
“I take it there’s a point to all this?” I said warily while Bo sulked.
“Yes,” Gregory confessed with an awkward expression. “This situation with Ludvik—it’s more complicated than we initially thought.”
“We think we know what he’s planning,” Barney said. “And if we’re right, my nephew is about to commit an abomination.”
Bo gulped noisily. Pearl narrowed her eyes.
My pulse quickened. Barney and the Tremaines looked nervous. More nervous than I’d ever seen them before. And that in itself was scary.
“How so?” Samuel finally said stiffly, his tension humming across the mate bond.
“What we’re about to reveal violates several centuries of vampire secrecy laws,” Barney replied grimly. “Under normal circumstances, sharing this information with non-vampires would be considered treason.”
“But these aren’t normal circumstances,” Gregory added.
Constantia nodded hesitantly.
“No,” Barney agreed. “They’re not.” He took a deep breath. “The pureblood ideology Ludvik is a fan of isn’t just about vampire supremacy. It’s about fundamentally transforming what it means to be a vampire.”
I felt the familiar prickle of unease that preceded really bad news.
“Is this about the ancient ritual you mentioned? The one that would allow Ludvik to absorb the powers of other bloodlines to make himself into a new breed of vampire?”
Barney nodded, his face tight.
“This ritual requires a blood sacrifice,” Constantia said in a brittle voice.
There was a drawing of breaths across the room. Bo crawled quietly under my chair, his ears flat.
My heart thumped painfully against my chest. “You mean, he plans to kill someone?!”
Samuel clenched his jaw. Victoria frowned.
Barney and the Tremaines’s silence was all the answer we needed.
Well, that explained why the vampires looked like they were at a funeral.
“This is a surprise,” Pearl said sharply. “The ritual your nephew intends to use to make himself into a Vampire Lord is the Crimson Ascension?”
We all gaped at her, the vampires doubly shocked.
“The Crimson what now?” I mumbled.
“The Crimson Ascension,” Pearl repeated dismissively, like I’d asked her the time of day. “It’s the name of a forbidden ritual from the darkest chapters of vampire history.”
Barney lowered his brows. “How do you know about that ceremony?”
“He’s right.” Gregory frowned heavily. “That ritual has been classified for centuries.”
“I’ve been around long enough to learn some of your secrets,” Pearl said evasively.
This appeared to impress Bo but bring little comfort to Barney and Gregory.
There was no end to Pearl’s secrets it seemed.
I managed to set down my teacup with only a slight tremor in my hands. “I’m going to need you people to start from the beginning.”
A muscle jumped in Barney’s cheek.
“Over a thousand years ago, a group of vampires sought the help of the fae and witches to create a gruesome rite,” he began bitterly.
“It required four key components: the sacrifice of a pureblood vampire from a powerful bloodline, the binding of a wraith to channel and amplify the transferred essence, a full moon to maximize the flow of supernatural energy, and a ley line to lock it all down.”
Victoria gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.
My stomach lurched. I now understood the Alliance members’ reactions, especially Melody’s and Cornelius’s.
“The wraith Mindy mentioned yesterday.” I met Samuel’s stunned gaze. “It must be why Ludvik needs her at his side!”
He nodded grimly.
“The ritual transforms a vampire into something beyond traditional vampire classification—a hybrid creature with enhanced speed, strength, and abilities that transcend the normal limitations of our race,” Barney continued.
“It was banned by the vampire councils, and for good reason,” Gregory added in a hard voice. “The new breed of vampire it produced was too unstable and unpredictable, posing a threat not only to the established order of the vampire councils, but to the wider supernatural community.”
“Wait,” Ellie quavered in a small voice, Virgil looking really nervous beside her. “Someone actually succeeded in performing this ritual?!”
A chilling silence followed. Gregory and Constantia shot uneasy looks at Barney.
Realization dawned. I stared at Barney, my mouth dry.
Samuel and Victoria looked equally dumbfounded. Only Pearl looked unsurprised.
“My grandfather was the first vampire to acquire that despicable power,” Barney confirmed darkly.
A loud clunk made us all jump and Bo yelp.
Melvina had dropped the axe in her shock. The dwarf recovered the weapon sheepishly under Barney’s frown.
The vampire sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.
“The transformation my grandfather underwent was irreversible. It drove him to madness and eventually led to his execution by the vampire councils. His associates were all similarly terminated, as were the fae and witches who assisted them.”
“Trying to contain multiple conflicting bloodline memories and powers would make anyone lose their mind,” Pearl observed steadily.
Barney’s expression darkened. “The way Ludvik fought yesterday tells me he may already have attempted the ritual. It’s the only thing that can explain his erratic behavior and the unnatural abilities he demonstrated.”
Bo poked his head out from under my chair.
“You mean the deranged humming?” he panted.
“I meant his speed and the way he was using the shadows to attack us.”
I frowned as I recalled the dark trails Ludvik’s presence had left in the air yesterday.
Pearl blinked lazily. “Capturing a wraith could certainly have given him that ability. A specter acts as a conduit to the other side and can bind otherworldly powers to a vampire’s essence.”
I clamped down on the urge to be sick.
Ellie asked the question at the top of everyone’s mind. “How do we stop him?”
Barney traded another guarded look with the Tremaines.
“We find the object he stole from the wraith. And we use one of the most fundamental weaknesses a vampire has in order to defeat him.”
Bo perked up. “You mean garlic?”
Barney blinked, nonplussed.
“No,” he said, a hint of menace creeping into his voice.
“Holy water?” Bo hazarded with growing enthusiasm, oblivious to his growing peril. “A tanning bed?” He jumped to his feet and wagged his tail excitedly. “I know! Ellie’s coffee.”
“Hey!” my best friend protested.
“Her coffee’s not that bad,” Virgil said weakly.
I clocked Barney’s death glare and hushed everyone.
The vampire waited until he had our undivided attention before speaking grimly.
“We stake him.”