Dreams of a Dark Warrior

tendons. Volós began teetering, his legs bending at weird angles.
    Like a shot, Lothaire was in front of him, calmlysidestepping Volós’s swords as if he could predict exactly where the centaur would swing. The vampire stretched out one long arm and severed Volós’s throat in a rush of blood.
    When Lothaire cupped a handful of it to his mouth, Thad cried, “Dude! That’s disgusting.”
    “It’s mother’s milk.” The vampire walked on as if he’d merely stopped to tie his shoe.
    Still scrambling for purchase, Volós dropped one sword to clamp his gaping throat; Natalya took advantage, catching the weapon. She used it to lop off Volós’s forelegs, sending him toppling forward.
    “Give your nephew my regards!” With a scream of victory, the fey took his head.
    Revenge. One down, one to go.
“Grab your trophy, Nat, and let’s book.”
    As Natalya sliced the queue from the back of Volós’s head, Regin grabbed Thad’s shoulder. “What were you doing with Lothaire?”
    Thad pointed. “He’s getting away! We’ve got to stick with him.”
    “No way, kid. That leech is bad news! Evil as hell.”
    “Not all vampires are evil—I’m not! And he saved you two, didn’t he? He’s strong enough to get us out of here. After we find the Blademan.”
    “Blademan?” Regin gazed at Lothaire fearlessly striding forward through the commotion. He was like a snowplow as beings cowered.
Lothaire can take me straight to Chase.
“I’m following him.” She snagged Volós’s second sword from his clenched fingers.
    “Oh, fine!” Natalya said. “Just be wary, Thad. Andtake this.” She handed him her sword, preferring to load glass shards between her knuckles again. “Swing first, ask questions later.”
    When the three of them caught up to Lothaire, he frowned at his new retinue of immortals but didn’t deign to annihilate them.
    As they passed Carrow’s cell, Regin peered inside, but the occupants were long gone. No piles of ash remained either, so Regin was hopeful. Brandr too was missing.
    She spotted Chase just as Lothaire tensed in front of her. The magister was fighting his way through the ward, somehow fending off waves of creatures.
    Regin and the vampire said in unison,
“He’s mine.”
    Lothaire turned to her with silky menace, his bloodstained face as hard as a marble statue’s. “Chase remains alive for now. Or you
do not
.”
    Regin was raising her sword and opening her mouth to argue when vampires traced all around them.
    Red-eyed Horde vampires. Who looked surprisingly enraged at Lothaire.
    “We’ve been searching for you, Lothaire,” the largest one said. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out that you betrayed the Pravus?”
    Another added, “The Enemy of Old has clearly allied with the Vertas, now working with a Valkyrie, a fey, and a…” He gestured toward Thad.
    The leader said, “You freed the rage demon king. He guards the well with his queen. There’s no retaking it.”
    “Was that I?” Lothaire shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes were reddening. “Ah, yes. It was.”
    Regin had heard about him freeing Rydstrom, aVertas demon king, and had mulled the vamp’s motives. But then she’d learned that Lothaire had extracted a high price for his cooperation: Rydstrom’s vow to give the vampire
anything
he wished in the future.
    “Shall we get on with this, then?” Lothaire sighed. “I’ve pressing business to attend to.”
    The vampires appeared astonished by his gall. Most of them began to converge on Lothaire, Natalya, and Thad, but a trio closed in on Regin, separating her out.
    One told her, “You’ve slaughtered so many of our brothers, Valkyrie, over your unending lifetime. At last you’ll pay.”
    “We’re not going to kill you,” said another. “Not at first.”
    They began tracing all around her, delivering blows, then disappearing before she could strike with her sword. The torque made her so sluggish. …
    One backhanded her, whipping her head around. Blood flew from her lips, her staples straining.
    Another’s hit sent her skidding across the glass-strewn floor, leaving a trail of crimson like a mop swipe. The third lifted her limp body by the neck and a thigh and flung her into a swaying stone wall.
    Before she could scramble out of the way, the wall collapsed over her, pounding her body into the floor. Pain exploded all over; consciousness wavered.
    The vampires weren’t finished. One snatched her hair to drag her from the rubble as she