Immortals After Dark 12 - Lothaire

him!
    “He’s not g-gone,” she sobbed. “He’s not. C-can’t be.” Ellie rose up, mindlessly tearing at her hair. Her blood-filled eyes darted—
    She froze. The ring. “I w-won’t let him be.” She shot to her feet, sprinting for the safe. “I’ll bring him b-back.”
    “You won’t be doing anything,” a voice said from behind her.
    Ellie whirled around. A woman with long black hair, pointed ears, and small fangs stood beside Lothaire’s body. Off to the side was a hulking demon, watching the scene intently.
    “Who are you?” Ellie demanded. “How did you crack the boundary?”
    “The Valkyrie about to abduct you. Inside information from a soothsayer.”
    “Try to keep me from what I aim.” Ellie snapped her fangs. “I dare you to.”
    With a speed matching Lothaire’s, the raven-haired female charged Ellie, her fist taking her unaware.
    Ellie spun on one foot, blood spraying from her mouth before she fell to her knees. The woman was upon her at once, binding her wrists, then shoving a blade against her throat.
    “No! Let me go!”
    “You are a former human, then? I bet that took the smug bastard down a peg.” She signaled the demon. “Deshazior, now.”
    At once the demon traced forward, gripping Ellie’s arm. He could teleport her out of here in an instant.
    Away from Lothaire.
    “No, don’t touch me!” Ellie hissed, struggling with all her new strength, but she couldn’t break the demon’s hold. Now pleading to the Valkyrie, she cried, “I have to get to the ring! I’m beggin’ you! I’ll bargain with it, just listen to me!” The female was immovable. To the demon, Ellie screamed, “No! Don’t do this—”
    He began tracing with both the Valkyrie and her. Just before they disappeared, Ellie twisted around for one last glimpse of Lothaire.
    The vampire she had fallen in love with. I killed the man I loved.
    But I’m gonna bring him back. . . .
    An instant later, the three of them appeared in front of a sprawling mansion with red-robed ghosts flying around. Lightning streaked the misty nighttime sky, shrieks sounding constantly.
    Have they taken me to a Valkyrie coven? She needed to figure out where she was, and then come up with an escape plan. Got to get back to the ring before Dorada arrives.
    As the Valkyrie hauled her toward the front entrance, Ellie’s mind whirred with ideas. She could force the demon at sword point to trace her back! Then she could heal Lothaire, could take them back in time if she had to.
    Get free. Find a sword. It isn’t over. Her new claws bit into her palms until blood dripped. Have to escape! Lothaire’s lying there . . . dead.
    When the female began shoving her up the porch steps, the demon gave a teasing bow. “Until we meet again, Carafina.”
    “No!” That was her ride back! Ellie flailed against the woman’s unyielding hold, but he’d already disappeared.
    After matter-of-factly offering a lock of her hair to the flying ghosts, this Carafina stiff-armed Ellie, sending her sailing through the front doors.
    Ellie whirled around. “Let me go, you bitch!”
    The Valkyrie’s eyes were violet, glimmering eerily. “I’m the only thing protecting you from my sisters now.”
    Inside, pointed-eared females were all over the place—gazing down from the second-floor landing, lining the walls. Though each of them was startlingly beautiful in her own way, they all had claws and fangs and moved with an otherworldly grace.
    As her captor forced Ellie deeper within, one Valkyrie said, “We’re allowing a leech to walk unaccosted through Val Hall?”
    Val Hall—the Valkyrie stronghold! In Louisiana .
    Oh, God, how can I get back to New York? More useless tears spilled, but she was able to blink them away faster. It still isn’t over!
    “Where did the Enemy of Old find a female vampire?” another asked. “Oh, gross, I hate it when leeches cry!”
    A third quipped, “Then why do you always make them do it on the battlefield?”
    The group laughed.
    Get back to Lothaire, get back to Lothaire. But Ellie was weakening by the moment, her mouth dry with thirst. From her tears?
    “Did that bitch just check out my neck?” a short redhead snapped. “ ’Cause it is on if she’s ogling me for food.”
    When they entered yet another room, Ellie saw even more Valkyries lining the walls. A golden-eyed one sat at the head of a long dining table—with a bat perched on her shoulder. “Welcome, Ellie Ann Peirce Daciano. I’m Nïx the