“I never would have expected it, but you are very similar to Vlad,” Szilagyi said at last. “When he was young, nothing I did to him broke him, and I’ve done quite a bit to you, but you still stare at me with the same defiance in your eyes.”

“Why did you hate him so much back then?” I asked, trying to keep him talking instead of looking. “I know why he hated you, but what made you single him out even when he was human?”

Szilagyi’s scoff was instant. “I had helped build Hungary to unprecedented greatness, I had fought in just as many wars, yet when the Church needed a defender against Mehmed’s army, they chose Vlad. Later, when our sire turned him into a vampire, Tenoch gave Vlad the remains of his power legacy instead of me.”

Jealousy, I realized with amazement. Back then, Vlad had hated Szilagyi for good reasons, like imprisoning him, costing him his throne, and murdering his son, not to mention what he didn’t know—that Szilagyi had killed his first wife, too. Yet the other man’s resentment stemmed from something as simple as feeling slighted. It would have been laughable if the repercussions hadn’t resulted in rivers of spilled blood.

“Yet in the end, it only matters who wins,” Szilagyi said, his tone turning silky as he trailed a hand down my stomach. “I had my doubts, but I’m starting to believe that Maximus was right. You’re what I need to finally bring Vlad down. Seems he destroyed what was left of his home in a fit of rage the other day. I wonder what made him do that, hmm?”

Szilagyi’s taunting smile caused my right hand to tingle as if it was about to spark. It was gloved, but I still didn’t dare glance at it out of hope that it was refilling with electricity. If so, then I couldn’t draw Szilagyi’s attention. He’d only rip my arm off again.

“Maybe Vlad just wanted the insurance money so he could offer up a fat reward for your corpse,” I replied instead.

Szilagyi let his hand dip below my navel and held it there to emphasize that there was nothing I could do to stop him.

“If there’s one thing I can count on after the tapes I’ve sent him, it’s Vlad wanting to murder me himself,” he said, moving his hand away at last. Then he smiled, chilling and anticipatory. “What you should hope is that I don’t get more creative with new tapes of you in the meantime to madden him into making a reckless mistake that will deliver him right into my hands.”

Chapter 15

I waited as long as I dared after Szilagyi left, worried that he’d come back and somehow sense that I was linking to Vlad. With dawn now only minutes away, I had to try again or wait another twelve hours, and I couldn’t do that. Szilagyi would be off with Maximus on his “scouting” mission, but what if he’d arranged for another round of torture in his absence? I couldn’t risk losing the scant three pints of blood I’d imbibed, especially now that I didn’t know when I’d get my next meal.

So I closed my eyes and let myself feel all the longing, regret, and heartache that came with thinking about Vlad. I loved him more than anything and I wanted to believe we’d get through this, but the dark part of me whispered that it was hopeless. After all, our track record was grim. If I insisted on helping him search for his enemies, I ended up captured and tortured. Agree not to help and stay in his stone fortress instead? Get captured and tortured. I’d have been blown up, too, if I’d obeyed Vlad’s wishes and not left the lowest level of the dungeon. If I were an outsider, I’d say that fate was giving me a big head’s up that this wasn’t going to work—

“Don’t sit there.”

Cat pivoted, lowering herself into the chair across from Vlad instead of the one next to him. In Romanian, the pilots announced that they were taking off. Moments later, the sleek Learjet tilted as it became airborne.

“Sorry,” Cat murmured. “Didn’t mean to invade your space.”

Vlad glanced at the ivory seat to his left, his mouth tightening. “It’s not that. This is where Leila normally sits so that I can keep hold of her hand . . .”

He muttered a foul curse and stopped speaking. Cat stared at him, her features creased with empathy.

“She’s strong,” she said quietly. “She’ll get through this.”

Vlad’s laugh was harsh. “And then what? She’ll brace for the next assault? I can’t even keep her safe in our own home. Even if I kill Szilagyi and everyone else who hates me, in time I’ll make new enemies, all of whom will know that the most effective way to get to me is through her. If I truly wanted to keep her safe, I would never have married her.”

The first part was so close to what I’d been thinking that I was stunned. Then Vlad got to the last sentence and I barely heard Cat’s reply because of the roar from my own mind.

Don’t you dare give up on us! I don’t care what will happen later, we’ll face it together!

You never learn, my inner voice instantly mocked. Are you a special kind of stupid or what?

I was so angry that I had a flash of absolute clarity. As if in a dream within a dream, I saw myself reach into slimy darkness where she lived, yank her up by her tentacles, and rip that fucking bitch to pieces.

You took away my hope when I was a frightened, injured child! I screamed at her. You made me believe I’d killed my mother, you talked me into slitting my wrists and you’ve tried to ruin every bit of happiness I’ve ever had since, but you are done, hear me? I will get out of this and I will get back with Vlad and we will make it work, and if I hear another word out of you, you’re fucking dead! You got that? DEAD!