"What happened to my sweet Kata who prayed every night that her sister would be returned to her?"

Kata clenched her teeth. She wouldn't flinch, she wouldn't flinch, she wouldn't flinch . . .

Her chin tilted, her expression defiant. "She realized that her sister had become a monster."

"A monster?" The dark eyes narrowed in suspicion as Marika leaned forward, sniffing the air around Kata. "So says the woman who reeks of her vampire lover. Where is he?"

Kata swore. So much for being a distraction.

"You know, Marika," she said, desperate to keep the demented woman's attention locked on her. "It took me awhile, but I realize now that becoming a vampire wasn't what made you evil."

"No?"

"No, it's your lack of anything resembling a heart."

Marika's shrill laughter sent a chill down Kata's spine. Dear G.o.ddess, it was bad enough that the woman walked around with her sister's face without adding a creepy cackle.

"Kata, if I didn't have a heart would I have made sure that we would be kept together even after death?" Marika pressed a hand to her unbeating heart. "What could be more sentimental?"

"That was selfishness, not sentimentality. You were only trying to protect your own skin by forcing Sergei to bind us together."

"True. Now, however, I have a much more basic reason for appreciating the spell."

"And what's that?"

With a pout, Marika stretched out a hand to run a crimson nail down Kata's cheek, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

"I'm feeling a little peevish at my unfortunate death. I was, after all, destined to rule the world," she complained. "Let's hope a few centuries of punishing you will help ease my disappointment."

Her churning fear was briefly forgotten as a flare of pure relief raced through her. She didn't know what the h.e.l.l was going on, but at least Marika believed she had died.

It gave her hope.

"Tell me, Marika, was it Laylah who struck the killing blow?" she asked sweetly.

The dark eyes flashed with fury. "The b.i.t.c.h got lucky."

Kata smiled. "Do you believe in karma?"

"I believe that the sins of the daughter must be paid by the mother." Marika lifted her hand, her fingers curled to slice her claws through Kata's tender flesh. "Starting now."

Braced for the blow, Kata was unprepared for the flash of movement from directly behind Marika. Thankfully, her crazy-a.s.s sister was equally oblivious and, even as she swung her hand toward Kata's face, Uriel was slamming into her with bone-breaking force.

Kata stumbled to the side, struggling to keep her balance as the two predators. .h.i.t the ground with enough force to split the earth. Uriel managed to land on top, his fist slamming into the back of his opponent's head with a sickening crunch.

It wasn't a fatal blow, but it should have been enough to put the female vamp out of commission for a few minutes. Instead Marika turned with a fluid motion and sank her fang's into Uriel's throat.

Kata's heart faltered as Uriel grabbed Marika's hair and ripped her from his flesh, his blood gushing from the wound. His roar of pain echoed through the glade, sending animals fleeing in terror.

Barely aware she was moving, Kata had s.n.a.t.c.hed up a large branch that was nearly hidden in the gra.s.s and was charging forward. At the same time, Uriel was lifting his sword and with one sharp motion he was plunging it into Marika's heart.

Kata halted, shuddering at the sight of her sister sprawled on the ground with a ma.s.sive blade sticking out of her chest.

She hated the miserable, s.a.d.i.s.tic creature with every fiber of her being, but it was still disturbing to see the image of her sister pinned to the ground like something from a horror film.

Waiting for Uriel to finish the kill by cutting out the vampire's heart, Kata sucked in a shocked breath as Marika grasped the blade with both hands and yanked it from her flesh.

It shouldn't have been possible. Such a wound should have paralyzed her at the very least. Not even the most powerful demon could shrug off a huge, gaping hole in the center of their chest.

Caught off guard, Uriel was barely able to yank his sword from her grasp and hastily rise to his feet before she was launching her attack.

He swung the sword, cursing as Marika dodged the blow and struck him across the face. She wasn't as strong as Uriel, but she still packed a h.e.l.l of a punch. And worse, it seemed as if nothing could hurt her.

Uriel's head snapped back, and Marika was once again at his throat, almost as if she intended to gnaw through his neck.

And maybe she did.

Evil b.i.t.c.h.

Tightening her grip on the branch, Kata grimly marched forward. She wasn't stupid enough to believe she could hurt a vampire with a stick, not unless she managed to stab it through the cold-blooded leech's heart, and with her luck she was more likely to stick it through her own. But she was feeling like the last gazelle at the watering hole and the weight of the branch in her hand gave the impression she wasn't completely helpless.

Stupid, but necessary if she was going to be able to concentrate enough to conjure a curse.

Fiercely she blocked out Uriel's terrible wounds and his losing effort to hold off Marika, who was not only weirdly immune to her injuries, but clearly in the throes of a crazed bout of bloodl.u.s.t.

Instead she turned her mind inward, focusing on the small spark of power that smoldered in her soul.

It was the same power that she used to heal, but instead of allowing the energy to flow from her in a soothing, fixed stream, she instead twisted it with the dark impulses that lurked in every creature, and held it in a tight knot until she unleashed it with a savage burst.

Muttering the words her grandmother had taught her as they had sat beside the campfire, Kata pointed her hand in Marika's direction, releasing her power in a torrential blast.

The air sizzled with the force of her curse and for a moment Marika faltered, her crazed gaze shifting toward Kata with an expression of blatant panic.

"That's right, you vicious wh.o.r.e, die," Kata hissed.

There was a gurgling sound as a disgusting foam began to spew from Marika's mouth. The curse was a particularly nasty one that Kata had never used before. Then, obviously the sort of vampire who was swift to take advantage, Uriel rushed forward to swing his sword directly at her exposed neck.

That should have been the end of it.

Shut-the-door-turn-out-the-lights-fat-lady-singing end.

Marika, however, was already shrugging off the potent curse and with a shocking display of power she was springing in the air and vaulting over the swinging blade.

Holy . . . s.h.i.t.

Kata gripped her stick, her mouth dry and her heart lodged somewhere near her tonsils.

Trapped in a sense of nightmarish disbelief, Kata watched Uriel deliberately place himself between her and the gruesome freak that had once been her sister.

"Kata, find a way out of here," he growled.

"No." She shook her head. "I won't leave you."

With a low growl, Uriel turned to stab her with a savage glare, his T-shirt drenched in blood and throat still mangled from Marika's attacks.

"Then we both die."

She bit her bottom lip. She wasn't stupid. She knew their only hope of survival was to somehow find the means to escape from the bubble of illusion.

But every fiber of her being rebelled at the thought of abandoning Uriel.

"What the h.e.l.l is she?" she muttered.

"Invincible," Marika taunted, her spooky laugh once again filling the glade. "Don't be wandering too far, sister dearest. Once I've disposed of your lover we can start enjoying our special time together."

Uriel stroked a hand down her cheek, his expression pleading.

"Go."

Briefly pressing his fingers to her cheek, Kata abruptly turned and charged across the glade.

She heard her sister's screech of fury and the answering roar of Uriel, but she kept her gaze grimly trained on the low hills that swelled before her. Without her curses she had nothing that could help Uriel defeat Marika.

All she could do now was pray for a miracle . . .

No, that wasn't all she could do, she belatedly realized.

Kata slowed as she reached the foot of one low hill.

Why was she running as if she could find some magical doorway?

There was only one way out of the illusion.

Stepping behind a large rock, Kata shoved her hair out of her face with a shaking hand and sucked in a ragged breath.

"Yannah," she called, her voice echoing eerily through the still air. "Yannah?"

Distantly she could hear the sounds of Uriel's battle with Marika and closer at hand the rustle of a squirrel scurrying through the undergrowth, but from the demon who'd trapped them here . . . nothing. Nada. Jack squat.

"Yannah, dammit, where are you?"

There was no warning.

One minute she was alone, frustration boiling through her like acid, and the next Yannah was standing before her.

"No need to screech, Kata," the tiny demon complained, smoothing her hands down her pristine white gown. "There's nothing wrong with my hearing."

Kata clenched her hands together. It was that or wringing Yannah's slender neck.

"Really?" she said between gritted teeth. "Then you knew we were being attacked by Marika and you just decided to leave us trapped here?"

"Don't be silly, I was busy."

Kata stabbed a finger toward the battle that continued on the far side of the glade. "Well, I've been a little busy myself."

"Yes, you have." A sly smile curved Yannah's lips. "No need to thank me for giving you some privacy with your pretty leech."

"You expect me to thank you?" Kata's eyes widened with furious disbelief. Oh yes, she was going to throttle the little demon. But not until she'd gotten them out of this mess. "You locked us in here with my demented sister who has become a vampire zombie."

Yannah's brows pleated, as if she were giving serious thought to Kata's accusation.

"Oh, I don't think she's technically a zombie."

Kata blinked. "Are you kidding me?"

"I never kid about zombies."

Sucking in a deep breath, Kata counted to ten. "Then technically what is she?"

Yannah lifted her hands in a vague motion. "I'm not really sure."

Great. Just freaking perfect.

"Is she a part of the illusion?"

"No."

"But she's dead?" Kata pressed. "I mean . . . dead dead?"

"Yes."

Kata frowned, sensing that Yannah was hiding something from her.

"You don't sound particularly confident."

"She shouldn't be here."

"No s.h.i.t," Kata snapped. "She's supposed to be frying in the pits of h.e.l.l, but obviously she's not." Turning her head, Kata's heart stopped as she watched Uriel fending off the feral vampire, his powerful body covered in blood and his elegant movements becoming sluggish. "Yannah, you have to get us out of here before she kills us all."

Chapter 10.

Unlike many of his brothers, Uriel had never been arrogant enough to a.s.sume he was invincible.