Kidnapped!

Lila's head hurt. Her eyes fluttered open to see a stone roof above her. This wasn't the ritual room. This wasn't anywhere in the house she knew.

"Finally awake, little witch?"

Lila turned her head to see Darius sitting nearby. His silver hair gleamed in the dim light. His eyes were now fully purple - no trace of blue left.

"Where am I?" Lila tried to sit up, but leather straps held her wrists and legs to a cold metal table. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" Darius smiled. "You were so brave, facing Lilith. Then the light faded, and there you were - helpless. The Blood King was unconscious. Lucian was fighting my guards. It was so easy to take you."

Memories came rushing back. The ritual room. The Blood King holding her hand. The dazzling light. Lilith appearing from nowhere.

"The Blood King will find me," Lila said. "Our blood is connected now."

Darius held up the bottle that had hung around her neck. It was empty. "Not anymore. The ritual drained it completely." He tossed the empty vial away. "Besides, we're far from the castle now. In my special place."

Lila looked around. The room was carved from dark rock, like a cave, but filled with strange tools. Tables covered in books and bottles. Cages along one wall. Some held people who watched her with sad eyes.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"The same thing everyone wants." Darius moved closer. "Your power. But unlike the others, I know how to take it properly."

He rolled up his sleeve, showing a strange tattoo that looked like a black sun. "You see, Lilith told you only part of the truth. The seal doesn't just keep darkness out. It keeps something else in."

"What do you mean?"

"The darkness isn't trying to escape the seal. It's trying to keep something locked away. Something that belongs to me." Darius touched the tattoo, and it seemed to move under his skin. "The true throne."

A door opened, and Kael walked in. His face was blank, his eyes empty. He moved like a doll.

"Kael!" Lila cried. "Help me!"

"He can't hear you," Darius said. "After you broke Lucian's chains, I needed a new servant. Kael was... available."

Lila looked at Kael in horror. "What did you do to him?"

"The same thing I'll do to the Blood King when I find him." Darius smiled. "Empty him out and fill him with my will."

Kael put a wooden box on a table near Lila. When he opened it, she saw seven small knives with crystal handles.

"The ritual knives of the first vampire queen," Darius revealed. "Each one takes a different piece of power. Blood. Breath. Bone. Heart. Mind. Soul. And finally, will."

Lila pulled against her bonds. "You're insane."

"I'm the original Blood King," Darius hissed. "Your precious king is an imposter. He stole my throne. My castle. My guardian. And now he's stolen you, just like he stole Selene."

Lila suddenly remembered something Lucian had told her. "The key," she whispered. "I still have the throne key."

Darius froze. "What did you say?"

Lila understood she'd made a mistake. She pressed her lips together, but it was too late.

Darius grabbed her face. "Where is it? The silver key Lucian gave you?"

When Lila didn't answer, Darius snapped his fingers. Kael picked up one of the crystal knives and brought it to Darius.

"This first knife takes blood," Darius said. "But not quickly. Slowly. Painfully."

A crash suddenly shook the cave. Dust fell from the roof.

Darius looked up, then smiled. "So they found us after all. Faster than I expected."

He turned to Kael. "Guard her. Kill anyone who enters except me."

Darius rushed from the room. When the door closed behind him, Lila noticed something strange. Kael's blank eyes flickered, just for a moment.

"Kael?" she whispered. "Are you in there?"

He didn't answer, but he moved closer to her. His hands shook slightly as he reached for her bonds.

Another crash, louder than before. Screams rang through the stone walls.

"Hurry," Lila urged. "If you can hear me, please help me!"

Kael's fingers fumbled with the buckle at her wrist. Then suddenly he stiffened. His eyes went completely blank again.

The door burst open. Darius returned, his clothes torn and bloody.

"Time for a change of plans," he said. He shoved Kael aside and quickly undid Lila's restraints himself. "We need to move. Your king brought an army."

Darius pulled Lila from the table. Her legs were weak, and she tripped. He caught her arm in a painful grip and dragged her toward a secret door in the back wall.

"Where are we going?" Lila asked, trying to slow him down.

"Somewhere no one will find us," Darius said. "The original throne room."

They entered a small tunnel. Behind them, the sounds of fighting grew louder.

"You won't win," Lila said. "The ritual changed things. The Blood King and I are connected now."

Darius laughed. "That's exactly what I'm counting on. When I kill you, it will destroy him too."

The tunnel suddenly opened into a huge cavern. In the middle stood a throne carved from black stone. Strange symbols covered it - the same symbols that had been in the ritual room.

"The true Blood Throne," Darius said, his voice filled with hunger. "And you, my dear, are going to help me reclaim it."

He pushed Lila toward the throne. As they got closer, the marks began to glow with red light.

"Sit," Darius ordered.

"Never," Lila said.

Darius raised his hand to strike her. But before he could, a strange sound filled the room - like giant wings beating the air.

They both looked up. Through a hole in the roof, a massive winged shape appeared.

"Lucian," Lila whispered.

"Impossible," Darius hissed. "I bound him!"

The creature swooped down, resting between them and the throne. It wasn't Lucian. It was bigger, with black wings and eyes like broken mirrors.

"Lilith," Darius gasped.

The vampire queen smiled, showing teeth too sharp for her mouth. "Hello, false king."

"This isn't possible," Darius backed away. "You can't take physical form!"

"The ritual changed many things," Lilith said. She turned to Lila. "Including her. Tell me, child, do you know what you truly are yet?"

Before Lila could answer, Darius lunged forward with inhuman speed. He grabbed Lila and put a crystal knife to her throat.

"Stay back!" he yelled at Lilith. "Or I'll spill her blood right here!"

Lilith didn't move. "You would destroy everything for revenge?"

"I would destroy everything to get what's mine," Darius said.

The knife bit into Lila's skin. She felt a drip of blood run down her neck.

Then, something strange happened. The drop of blood didn't fall. It floated, suspended in the air. It began to glow with golden light.

Darius stared in shock. "What's happening?"

The floating drop of blood suddenly shot toward the throne like a bullet. When it hit the black stone, the entire cavern shook.

The marks on the throne burst into blinding golden light. The black stone began to crack.

"No!" Darius screamed. He let go of Lila and ran toward the throne.

As his fingers touched the stone, the light turned from gold to deep crimson. The cracks spread, faster and deeper.

Lila watched in horror as the throne started to split open. But it wasn't breaking apart. It was opening - like a door.

And behind that door was nothing but darkness.

Lilith grabbed Lila's arm. "We need to leave. Now."

"But what about-"

"There's no time!"

As Lilith pulled Lila toward the cave, Darius's scream cut through the air. Lila looked back to see him being pulled into the darkness as the throne caved in on itself.

The last thing she saw before Lilith dragged her into the tube was Darius's face, twisted in fury and fear, as the darkness swallowed him whole.