He was aware of the council, the powerful body of vampires from across the country who acted as a tribunal of sorts and dealt with serious infractions within their race. Blood-bonding a human without consent was a severe crime.

“Or she can just leave you.”

Amaury nodded. Neither option would free him from the bond. Either case meant death. But he wouldn’t think of this now. He couldn’t let this distract him from the task at hand.

“Whatever she wants, she can do it. But I have to save her. I can’t let her die at Luther’s hands.”

A world without Nina was unacceptable, and whatever it took to save her, he would do it. By bonding with her he’d pledged his life to her. And he wouldn’t hesitate to fulfill the pledge if it was asked of him.

Thirty-six

Luther gave her the creeps. The coldness in his regard made Nina cringe inwardly. The gray of his eyes looked like ice as they stared at her and Delilah without any expression in them. Did he still have emotions, or was his heart a frozen wasteland?

A chill went through the dungeon with his presence. Nina shivered and felt Delilah grasp her hand in reassurance. But even the knowledge that she had a friend at her side did not diminish the eeriness of his visit.

“Finally the time has come. I would have never guessed it to be so easy in the end. And for Amaury to hand you to me on a platter, priceless.”

“You know they’ll come for us,” Delilah claimed, her voice ringing with unerring certainty, steady and without a tremble.

Luther twisted his mouth into a thin smile. “I’m waiting for them. I promised myself that they shall not miss your deaths. I want them to witness the moment you die—to feel the pain, the agony, the despair. To know the exact moment their grief will grip them.”

Behind him, Johan grunted in obvious agreement. Nina cast him a hidden glance. Was there any way of getting around the two and escape? After having seen how speedily her own brother had made his exit, she dismissed the idea as impossible.

“Where is Eddie?” Nina had a sick feeling in her stomach. She hadn’t seen him since their confrontation earlier that day. She wished she knew what was going on in his head. Had Eddie taken some of her words to heart and changed his opinion of Luther?

“Making the last preparations.”

At Luther’s response, a painful twinge spread in her stomach. How could her brother be complicit in cold-blooded murder?

“He won’t let you kill me. I’m his sister.” Her protest earned her a bitter laugh from Luther.

“Do you really think he knows what he’s doing? I’ve chosen him, because he’s so impressionable. He blindly follows the first person who shows him a way out of his misery. I’ve made sure he can never go back to what he was. I own him.”

“Nobody owns Eddie.”

Eddie was too stubborn to let himself be controlled by somebody. Having turned into a vampire hadn’t changed that stubbornness. Nina had been at the receiving end of it only hours earlier.

“He’s changed. The power he now feels, the power that comes with being a vampire runs through his veins. He doesn’t know yet how to control it. He looks to me for guidance. I am his father now, and he will do whatever I wish.”

“No!” Nina screamed. “I won’t allow it.”

Luther took a step toward her. “Seeing that you’ll be all tied up in a few minutes, I don’t see how you can stop me. I will achieve my goal. Your men will lose their mates, just like I lost mine. They will pay for what they’ve done to me. And your brother will help me, because I control him.”

The hardness in his tone slammed through her bones. Nina knew there was only one way to stop him. Tell him the truth. “You don’t know what really happened to your wife.”

Delilah gave her hand a painful squeeze of, trying to stop her. Why was everybody so intent on keeping the truth from him, when the truth was what could save them?

He snarled, his fangs protruding from his clenched jaw. “I know every agonizing minute of her end.”

“You don’t know the truth.”

Another tug by Delilah’s hand.

“The truth is what I say it is.”

Luther spun around and stalked toward the door, Johan on his heels. Before she could say anything else, Delilah shouted after him, “Samson and Amaury will kill you if you harm us.”

Luther threw an icy look over his shoulder. “Oh, I’m counting on it. Vivian is waiting for me.”

With a loud thud, the door fell shut behind them.

“Oh God, he’s crazier than I thought. He’s prepared to die.” For the first time Delilah’s voice was laced with fear.