CHAPTER

TEREZA

A human body was sixty percent water. Tereza wasn’t sure what percentage of water made up a Winter Fairy, but most of it streamed down her face, crystallizing into clumps of snow that dropped into her lap. She’d never feel fulfilled or revel in a sense of completion in being with someone else again. There would be no one else for her. Just Sani.

And he’d…broken her.

Angrily, she swiped her tears away, tired of letting other people rule her life. People who made her live in fear. People who made her fall in love. She could deal with being scared, but betrayal was tearing her apart. So she would be strong and take charge of her life. First step — decide where to go.

Where could she go? Back to the pub? Maybe she could find a job with the Druids. They were guardians and probably knew how to deal with vampires. Their village was close to Sanctuary. Too close? Could Sani track her there? Probably someone from their pack visited. She would be seen. Maybe a new glamour? Would Xyli help again? That meant Tereza needed to find Baba Yaga, which meant searching the forest.

The phone rang. Sani. Tereza knew without looking. Her whole soul wanted to hear his voice. Wanted him to tell her she hadn’t seen what she saw. How could she have been so gullible? The call went to voicemail. Her phone rang again. Tereza tightened her grip on the steering wheel so she wouldn’t reach for it.

So, he was done with the other woman and thought it was her turn? The thought made her feel dirty. Used. She let her fury and hurt heat her blood as the call went to voicemail again. The ringtone sounded a third time, and she ground her teeth. It rang again. And again. She couldn’t allow herself to care. She wished she could cover her ears. Finally, just as she was ready to throw her phone out the window, the device went mute. Good. He’d given up. Even though she didn’t want to talk to him, that was like an icicle to her heart.

 There was no way she could watch Sani with his girlfriend. Or a string of girlfriends. Her stomach lurched. Was she the new one? Maybe he’d had the other woman all along, and Tereza was the cheater. She should have known better. Sani was too smooth. Too perfect. And far, far too experienced. A player. She’d seen all the women wanting him at the dance. Did they have reason for expectations? What did she expect?

Having already cried all her tears, Tereza let anger burn sadness away. Cursed herself, then Sani and his handsome face. He probably didn’t even want to be monogamous. Not when woman after woman willingly opened her legs to him. Tereza was in the discard pile.

Tereza slammed a hand on the dashboard, causing Goliath to yowl.

“I’m sorry, kitty.” She was turning into a crazy person. The urge to keep driving took her. The ocean wasn’t too far away. When she ran out of road, should she turn north or south? Turn around and go east? Maybe Valo wouldn’t expect her to double back. Tereza hit the button to buzz the window down, letting cool night air scour her regret and sorrow away.

At the juncture to the main highway, Tereza turned right toward Port Storm. Two popping sounds startled her and the steering wheel jerked in her hands as the front of the car angled downward. A flat tire? Could things get any worse? Well, if she could live with a broken heart, the car could survive a flat. Let it suffer a little, too. Misery loved company.

Another jolt, and sparks flew up from the front of the car. On both sides. Two flat tires? What were the odds of that? She must have run over something and was driving on the rims. “Perfect.” Tereza steered to the side of the road, stopped, and leaned her forehead on the steering wheel. She was in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. Alone except for Goliath, who watched her with big green eyes.

She’d have to call someone. Or fly back to Sanctuary for help. She could change one flat tire with the spare, but she only had one. With all the different businesses on The Ranch surely there was a car repair place or a tire someone didn’t need. She picked up her silent phone.

 Sani, could you tear yourself away from your girlfriend for a few minutes and help me with a flat tire or two?

 Bitter laughter burst from her. A glance at the screen showed a No Service message. Of course. Sani hadn’t stopped Calling. Tereza had entered some dead zone. Calling for help wasn’t an option. She’d have to fly. Right. First, she needed to see what kind of tire would work, then she could find Nascha. If anyone knew where to find a couple of tires at midnight, it was her.

“You wait here for now,” Tereza told Goliath. “I need to check the size of our tires, then we’ll see if you like flying.” It felt better to have a plan, even if it was simple. Hitting the hazard lights button, she pulled the trunk release and got out of the car. Snow laden trees towered over her, and it looked darker than usual. Like someone had turned off most of the stars. Winter Fairies didn’t feel cold, but a shiver went down her spine.

“Stop it. You’re freaking yourself out.” She closed the car door and checked the front tires. They weren’t just flat with a puncture — something had shredded them. What had she run over? She hadn’t felt any thumps.

Fortunately, in her haste to leave, Tereza had tossed her possessions into the backseat, leaving the trunk mostly empty. She pushed first-aid and tool kits, emergency flares, and jugs of water to the side so she could pull up the carpet and examine the spare tire. It was too dark to read the small letters and numbers. Tereza flipped the latches on the toolkit and rummaged inside. Space blanket. Lug wrench. Jumper cables. Flashlight. Triumphant, she flicked the switch and was rewarded with a beam of light.

Headlights flooded the road. Her heart flip-flopped. Did she want whoever that was to stop or ignore her? There wasn’t much time to debate since the huge SUV roared past her without slowing. A breath of relief gusted out of her. She was handling this. Directing the flashlight beam at the spare tire, she tried to decipher the code imprinted in the rubber.

A throaty engine registered in her ears, and another car crested the rise, coming straight toward her. This car slowed, pulled over, and idled a few feet away, but didn’t turn off the high beams that spotlighted her. With one hand, she blocked the glare of headlights. Some kind of fancy SUV. But the monster SUV just hulked there.

Whoever was in that car might be a good Samaritan, only wanting to help, but Tereza had seen this horror movie. She’d watched it with Jenny. No door opened. No windows went down, yet menace oozed toward her. Valo. She hadn’t seen him, but dread filled her, holding her feet down.

He couldn’t have found you here. You’re paranoid. Imagining things. The lecture to herself did nothing to assuage her fear.

The front passenger door opened.

Run! Fly! she shouted to herself. She remained stupidly in place like a mouse caught in a cobra gaze. After an eternal and ominous wait, during which even the wind seemed to flee, a tall, angular man stepped out.

Valo.

The sound of his heavy boots landing on icy asphalt snapped Tereza out of her trance. She darted toward the passenger door, yanked it open, and grabbed Goliath’s travel carrier as she dropped her glamour. It didn’t matter if they saw her true form.

Whirling away from the car, Tereza smacked nose first into a hard chest. A big hand gripped a fistful of her hair and pulled, forcing her head back until her eyes met Valo’s empty, black stare.

“Car trouble?” Valo’s lips curled into a sneer, moonlight flashing off fangs as he used his hand in her hair to pull her away from her car into the empty highway.

Goliath snarled, growled, and hissed. Tereza wished she could offer him some comfort. He was brave, but was no match for a vampire, and drawing their attention to himself wouldn’t end well. Valo would torture him to torture her.

Three more doors opened, letting more vampires out. They stalked toward her, forming a half circle behind Valo. Headlights swept over the tableau. A car approached and stopped near the hood of hers. Four doors opened. Four more vampires got out, completing a circle around her and Valo.

Tereza held in the scream building inside her. The vampires would like it, but it would do her no good. Her Procilici spirit was broken. Fighting one vampire was maybe possible. Even for a full-strength, full-blooded Procilici, eight vampires was a stretch.

Valo leaned in close and pressed his nose to her neck, inhaling deep. “You smell delicious. Nothing compares to Iele blood.” He scraped his fangs over her skin. “You’ve made me wait such a long time.”

Tereza kept a pathetic whi!per locked in, but couldn’t stop a shudder.

The vampire didn’t seem to mind. He breathed her in again, then pulled back. Triumph gleamed in his eyes as he tightened his grip on her hair to the point her eyes watered. How had it come to this? She’d been so careful.

Not careful enough.

“I let you run to see what you would do.” Valo heaved a dramatic sigh. “So disappointing. I was hoping you would lead me to some Iele friends. You had some clever moments, but I’ve known exactly where you were almost from the moment you left.”

Tereza couldn’t help herself. “How?”

Valo flashed his fang filled smarmy smile. “I have some friends with access to witches who can perform tracking spells with just one hair.”

Tereza ran her mind back to the night she’d fled. She’d cleaned everything. Even in her rush to get away, she wouldn’t have left something like a hair behind. And if she had, the escape spell she’d used should have taken care of anything she missed.

“Oh. I didn’t have them track your hair. You did an excellent job of erasing any trace of you from the house you shared with dear, departed Jenny. When I saw her cat was gone, though, it was easy enough to find a cat hair. They do get everywhere, you know. Which is why you won’t be keeping the creature any longer.”

Valo swiped the cat carrier from her hand. It hit the road in a clatter of plastic and the door popped open. A streak of black raced over the snowy road and into the dark forest.

Run, Goliath. At least he would escape. Maybe he could find Nascha and be safe. Tereza swallowed a lump in her throat, wishing she had someone to protect her, too. Her legs trembled as she scanned desperately for some escape. Did she have any chance of outrunning them? Of fighting back? Any chance at all?

That was a big fat no.

Sani, could you tear yourself away from your new girlfriend and help me with a vampire or two?

Or eight.

She was on her own. The vampires already knew what she was. No point trying to hide it. But they weren’t expecting her to fight. Tereza shifted her feet, put her hands behind her back and formed a small icicle. It only had to be long enough to reach Valo’s heart. If he had one.

Sharpened ice blade in one hand, she formed a fist with her empty hand and swung with all her might. Valo’s arm jerked up to block, catching her wrist. She twisted in his grip, using the extra momentum to whip her other hand from behind her back and stab her weapon into Valo’s chest.

His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He released her and staggered back, staring down at the ice protruding from his torso. Valo caught himself against her car. Blood streamed through the fingers he curled around the icicle. The black eyes that slid toward her were pure malice.

Valo hissed. “You’re going to wish I only killed you.”

Terror sent her into motion. Tereza conjured icicles, sending them flying through the air on instinct. Some struck their targets, rewarding her with grunts and muttered curses, but the vampires moved too fast and she couldn’t get them all.

Tereza sprinted for the forest, coating the ground behind her with slick ice, but came to a halt at the treeline when the noise of something crashing through the trees reached her. Something was rushing in from the depths of the forest, hell-bent on her.

Were there more vampires out here? A white mass she’d recognize anywhere emerged from the shadows. As Sani leapt, Tereza hit the dirt, and the highway exploded in violence.