Piper sat bolt upright at the sound of a scream, and Ophelia, who'd been asleep on her shoulder, fell to her stomach. She gently pushed her friend off before rising to her feet. Someone was in the room with them. The scream was followed by the crash of metal and a meaty thud.

  Frowning, she hurried over to the edge of the alcove. She scanned the room and spotted a figure lying a short distance from the pool of lava. Where had they come from? Both doors to the room remained sealed. Had the vampires found another way inside?

  “Ophelia,” she hissed as she recognized the blood-red cloak and shining armor. “We need to leave. Right now!”

  “Just a few more minutes,” the young woman groaned. “I don’t want to get up yet.”

  “The Crimson Guard are here!” she cried out. “We need to run!”

  At her words, Ophelia sat straight up, her blond hair sticking out to the sides. She peered around blearily, with an alarmed expression on her face. “Where are they?”

  “I think one just jumped in through the roof.” Piper continued to watch the Crimson Guard, but they still hadn’t stirred. Of all the things she’d been worried about, she hadn’t thought that the vampires would leap down the shaft in the ceiling. She knew they were powerful, but based on how deep they were in the mountain, the shaft must be at least five hundred metres straight down.

  Then again, Alfred believed most of the Crimson Guard were well over level 1000. And she suspected that being a vampire conferred a lot more attribute points than being human. So maybe they could survive an insane drop like that.

  Ophelia hurried over to her side and stared out across the vast room at the unmoving Crimson Guard. Without a word, she sprinted in the direction of the vampire.

  “What. Are. You. Doing?” Piper cried out. “Have you gone crazy?”

  “She looks pretty mangled,” her friend called over her shoulder. “I’m going to roll her into the lava to finish her off.”

  “You’re going to do what?”

  “I told you, I’m going to roll her into the lava. Come and help me so you can get some levels. Just think how many levels an immortal vampire would give.”

  Piper rushed after her friend and grabbed her shoulder. “What if she’s not that badly hurt?”

  “Look at her,” Ophelia scoffed. “Legs aren’t supposed to bend that way.”

  Piper glanced back at the vampire—recognizing her as the one she’d faced in the cave—and realized every bone in her body must be broken. And for some reason, she wasn’t healing. In fact, she might already be dead. Since she’d splattered against the floor, she hadn’t moved a muscle.

  “We can’t just kill her.” Piper pressed her lips together. “It’s not right.”

  “Why not?” Ophelia stopped and placed her hands on her hips. “If she gets back up, she’s probably going to kill you. And I’m not going to let that happen.”

  Piper was shocked at her friend’s ruthlessness. Justina had fought to save Ophelia from what she thought was an evil demoness. And the vampire had saved Piper from Ransford when he wanted to suck her blood at Alderwick. There was no way they could hurt someone like that.

  “We should try to help her,” Piper said, biting her lower lip. “It’s the only right thing to do.”

  “Fine. You try to help her while I roll her toward the lava. I’m doing this for you.”

  “I didn’t ask you to do this.”

  “I know you didn’t…” Ophelia’s words petered off as the vampire stirred. Apparently, she wasn’t quite dead yet.

  “Blood…” Justina moaned, her speech weak and broken. “Blood…”

  “See,” her friend said. “She wants to suck my blood. I’m never letting that happen again.” She rushed over to Justina, and using her feet, she began to roll the vampire toward the bubbling pit of lava.

  Justina let out a cry of pain with each jostling movement, and her eyes rolled up into her head. Her face was covered in blood, and her skull had an unhealthy-looking dent in the side. Meanwhile, her limbs encased in the armor were bent at impossible angles. It was doubtful she would survive for long even with her insanely high level.

  As Ophelia moved the vampire closer to the edge, Piper reached out to stop her. She had to at least try to help the vampire. She refused to act like what they expected from a demon. No matter what, she couldn’t lose her humanity.

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  “We need to find a way to save her,” Piper said. “I won’t let you kill her.”

  “She wants to hurt you,” Ophelia exclaimed, regarding her with big blue eyes. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever!”

  Piper paused, feeling genuinely touched by Ophelia’s words. She reached out and rubbed her friend’s arm. “Alfred wouldn’t want you to do this. No one your age should have to kill someone.”

  “I can do it!” the younger woman said fiercely. “I’m not afraid.”

  “If it comes to it, I’ll do it myself.” She pointed across the room to the alcove. “Why don’t you wait over there in case something goes wrong?”

  Ophelia crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly. “There’s no way I’m leaving you.”

  It was clear from her friend’s stance that she wasn’t going to change her mind. And experience had shown it was useless arguing with Ophelia.

  All Piper could do was fight down a sigh as she approached Justina. She noticed that the vampire’s eyes had reopened, and she had sweat beading on her forehead. “Do you need blood to heal?”

  The vampire’s head moved almost imperceptibly in a nod.

  “Do you have any on you?”

  The vampire’s head bobbed slightly again before she let out an agonized groan. Once more, her eyes rolled up into her head. This time, her breathing became more ragged, each intake of air making her chest rattle.

  “Help me find the blood.” Piper leaned down and began to rifle through Justina’s things. The woman had a surprising number of pouches on her belt.

  “Are you serious?” Ophelia said. “This is such a bad idea.”

  “She saved me once, and I owe her.” She stopped and brushed back a stray strand of hair. “Maybe this will help convince them to stop chasing me.”

  “Yeah, right,” Ophelia muttered, her hands poking around in a leather bag. She pulled out a piece of linen and unwrapped it. “Oh… sweetmeats!”

  Piper raised her brow. Apparently, even vampires had a sweet tooth. Though she had a feeling cavities would be far more dangerous for them. Did they have fang dentures for older vampires?

  Shaking her head to dismiss her ridiculous thoughts, she returned to the task at hand. After a few minutes, they’d found a surprising amount of food on the vampire’s person. Also, they found a purse bulging with coins. But besides that, they hadn’t found a single drop of blood. Why wouldn’t a vampire have any blood on them if they needed it to heal?

  Ophelia dumped out the last pouch, sending metal cubes scattering across the floor. “That’s the last of it. No blood. I guess we push her into the lava now.”

  “Rin…” Justina gasped, regaining consciousness once again.

  “Rin?” Piper repeated. “What does that mean?”

  Justina’s eyes turned toward a white aetherstone mounted on a ring on her finger. She continued to bounce her gaze from it and then back to them.

  “Ring?” Piper said, finally catching on. She knelt, inspecting the ridiculously gaudy piece of jewelry. Was there blood inside the gem somewhere? Or had Justina meant something else? Could the vampire use the aetherstone to refill her mana and then heal?

  Reaching her fingers forward, she gasped as they passed straight through the gem into a space beyond. She snatched her hand back but then realized she was fine. At first, she’d been worried it was some sort of magical trap. When she repeated her actions a second time, she felt the shape of a glass cylinder inside.

  Piper pulled out a vial of blood from the ring, marvelling at this new type of magic. Was the ring some sort of Bag of Holding? Did all the vampires have them? If so, where could she find one for herself?

  Since Justina was in no condition to drink on her own, Piper pushed the woman over and then leaned her head back. She placed the vial of blood against the vampire’s battered lips.

  “Are you sure…” Ophelia backed up a step, looking anxious.

  “I’m sure.”

  “This is crazy,” her friend muttered darkly. “You know this is crazy, right?”

  Tipping forward the vial, Piper poured the crimson liquid into Justina’s mouth. Thankfully, the vampire was able to gulp it down, because if she hadn’t been able to drink, then she probably would’ve died.

  Once the vial had been emptied, Piper hurried back to her friend and pointed at the far door. While she owed Justina for saving her life, it didn’t mean she had to wait around to be captured. The sooner she put the massive bronze door between them, the better.

  They were nearly halfway across the room when she heard a shout.

  “Wait!”

  Piper slowed her pace and turned to look back at Justina. As she did, she could see the vampire’s limbs straightening themselves. It wouldn’t be long before the woman was back on her feet. And she didn’t want to be here when that happened.

  “Please,” Justina continued in a softer tone. “I only wish to thank you.”

  “No need,” Ophelia called out, running backwards and looking at the vampire. “We’re good.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you.” The vampire stumbled to her knees. “It’s a bit hazy, but I seem to recall you attempting to push me into the lava.”

  “You’re the one who wanted to kill my friend,” Ophelia shot back. “You deserved it.”

  “Less talking,” Piper said, pumping her arms. “More running.”

  They broke into a sprint, the door growing closer with each step. Now, they just had to pray that it worked. Because if it didn’t open, then they would be in serious trouble. She also had to hope that no more oozes awaited them outside. While the monsters didn’t seem able to access the forge, that didn’t mean they hadn’t infested every corridor running through the mountain.

  When they were only a few paces from the door, a wall of ice erupted in front of them. The glistening pillar shot up to the roof, forming an impassable wall.

  They were trapped.

  Piper spun around, her anger flaring. She’d gone out of her way to save the Crimson Guard, and in return the woman was still trying to capture her. What would it take to prove that she was human? No matter what she looked like, she wasn’t a cruel demon.

  “I said I wish to thank you,” Justina said, striding toward them. Her armor must be magic as well, because the dents were smoothing out as they watched. “That wasn’t optional.”

  Piper quickly ran through her spells in her head, preparing to cast them at the approaching vampire. In the past, [Umbral Terror] had proven especially effective. She would lead with that and follow it up with a flood of illusions. Justina had shown that she couldn’t easily see through them.

  “Save the vampire,” Ophelia said, her voice tight. “It’s a good idea you said. I told you that vampires are a jerk pie, with a jerk crust, and a jerk filling inside.”

  Despite their dire situation, Piper couldn’t help but giggle at her friends’ words. Though it might have sounded a bit manic due to her current stress level.

  “Now,” Justina continued, her sword leaping to her hand. As it appeared, the shadows in the room almost seemed to pour into the blade. “What shall I do with you?”