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"And as such it is my duty to protect" They bumped the chair A leather restraint fell to the floor with a soft whump as those words echoed in her mind

Duty to protect

Indeeda duty to protect even when it wasn’t easy When the choice wasn’t simple In fact, when the choice was impossible That hat mattered

Could she do it? Could she be selfless in protecting the ht be bound by hatred and loathing?

It had been easyso easyto offer herself for Max and Kritanu She’d seen the flash of expression on Max’s face when Sara produced the gun: sick with fear He’d known his fate then Not fear that he would die, but knowledge that Lilith would have hith and power of his vis bulla to help hiht her thrall

Victoria knew that Kritanu would not last Lilith had no use for him, and the blood would be too much for the vampires to resist When Kritanu was dead, would Max use the silver ring to join hiet there before he did

Sebastian seeood as dead And so is Pesaro He’ll hed, tightening his ar her cheek as he tried to sers trembled "I knew better than to hope you’d listen to ed frouised inat a double lifeto this AndI love who you are, Victoria I’ve never ent woman"

A wave of guilt and affection overwhelmed her, and at that moment she drew in her breath to speak But he shook his head sharply, the sa And hope that Brim and Michalas arrive soon" He released her and stepped back, that char smile unsteady on his lips "But perhaps we should think of a plan first"

Relieved that she could concentrate on the rescue, Victoria returned his srim one "I already have"

Twenty-five

The Vampire Queen Receives Her Guest

When Victoria and Sebastian left the Brodebaugh hoave Victoria an even greater sense of urgency They found Kritanu in a heap on the front stoop He’d been left there for so and terrifying She couldn’t iine why or how, and assumed that Max’s cleverness had somehow achieved it

Thus they would be able to save Kritanu’s life; but that left Max on his oith no one to protect No one to stay alive to protect

He knew she was co She’d told him But, would he wait? Could he, in that hell?

Should she expect hiht be the one ti the retrieval of the copper ring from the rooms Sebastian had rented, and the trip back to Victoria’s town house, Sebastian tried to argue with her He wanted to approachLilith in her stead, or at least, with her But Victoria was adamant

"You and Brim and Michalas--if they’ve arrived at last--will co, they’ve not yet discovered If you have to fight your way in, at least they won’t be expecting three Venators"

When they reached the town house, they were relieved to find Brim, the mountainous, coffee-colored man with barely a brush of wiry hair and a vis bulla in his eyebrow Michalas, the lithe, whip-slender Venator with tight, burnished curls, had also arrived They, in fact, had beenready under Wayren’s direction to travel to the Brodebaugh residence and provide their assistance

Victoria couldn’t have been happier to see theed as she told them her plan

"I need not tell you to take care," said Sebastian, a short while later, as the hackney left Victoria off near the entrance to the sewers His face looked inally better, for he’d washed away the blood and sweat, and had changed clothes However, nothing could hide thepurple and red on his skin, and the strain in his eyes The last knuckle of his er was bound and poulticed, thanks to Wayren "And I need not tell you why it is important that you return"

Bri

Indeed, there was nothing left to be said

Victoria slogged through the sludgy underground canal as she and Sebastian had done weeks earlier