Dark Descent
"Gabrielle, run," Joie urged. Fear clawed at her insides, but she dropped back to protect her sister and brother. "Jubal, go, don't look back." She would always stand between her brother and sister and danger. And she couldn't leave Traian. She wouldn't leave him. Not to face hideous monsters on his own. It didn't matter that he claimed to have hunted vampires all his life, she was incapable of abandoning anyone to face danger alone. And somehow, Traian was connected to her. A part of her blood and bones. Of her heart and soul. She would stand with him.
Jubal caught Gabrielle's hand and jerked her down the stairs in a race for their lives. Behind him, the thick slab of stone slid back into place, locking Joie in the cavern above them. She was grateful and relieved that her brother knew her well enough not to waste precious time arguing and that she could count on him to protect Gabrielle.
Both her knives were gone. Joie always carried two, but she'd used both, one on the vampire feeding on Traian, the other in the eye of the pool. She kept a distance from Traian, giving him room to fight. She could taste fear in her mouth. She had no gun, no knife.
My fourth dan black belt doesn't look too promising considering that those very nasty things have wicked-looking talons and mouths full of shark teeth. We could use a gun or two. Maybe a machine gun. Stay close to me. I want you where I can protect you. They can move the earth, rain down missiles from the ceiling. They will not fight in the way you expect.
Traian had never really experienced gut-wrenching, bone-deep fear before. He had never had anything to lose. Now there was everything. A woman whose mind he walked in, whose body he didn't yet know intimately.
I gathered that.
For some reason her simple words made him relax, want to smile. Joie didn't panic easily. She didn't lack for courage and she was committed to fighting with him. She wasn't going to faint because vampires were real and had come with vengeance and death in mind.
Don't count on it.
Her wry amusement told him she was a shadow in his mind, looking for strategy on how to defeat the enemy.
If they get their hands on me, I'll be trying to faint. Do they have a weakness? Ego.
Joie took a deep breath as the creatures slowly pulled themselves up to their impressive heights. Fire burned in their eyes. A foul stench permeated the cavern, choked off all the cool, clean air and replaced it with a thick putrid substance.
Which is the stronger?
Traian noted her calm manner. She accepted that they would have to fight their way clear. Having battled with the same vampires on three occasions, Traian was well aware of their strengths and capabilities.
The one with the incisors over his lower lip he is extremely powerful. He is called Valenteen and is a master vampire. The other is called Shafe. There might be more, so stay very alert. Well, darny and here I was expecting I'd take a nap.
Traian worked at keeping a straight face. Even in their desperate situation, Joie could let him know her feelings.
I was worried you might be.
Joie tapped her foot. "If it isn't the troll brothers. How are you? Just dropped in to be neighborly? I'm so glad you didn't bother to dress formally. It's just a small get-together we're having." Deliberately she walked across the stone patterns in the floor, keeping their attention centered on her. "We're in the midst of redecorating. What do you think? Too many crystal balls?" She indicated the largest, nearly a foot tall, resting on a tall pillar of black obsidian. "They're very valuable. You can see your future in them. This one answers questions and finds objects." She reached out as if to pat the smooth sphere.
Joie was fully aware that Traian was keeping his body between her and the vampires. The two creatures stood in a swirl of steam and mist, coated in black ooze. The moment she mentioned the spheres, greedy eyes stared at the globe.
Surprisingly, Joie felt warmth along her palm as she positioned it above the crystal ball. The crystal had leapt to life at the close proximity of her hand. For a timeless moment, she saw her own face swirling in the mists of the globe, she saw Traian standing behind her, reaching for her, love etched into the lines of his face, hunger and desire burning in the depths of his eyes. She couldn't look away from him, from the intensity of his love. He couldn't feel that way about her, could he? He didn't know her. How could two people be so drawn to one another, recognize love so quickly?
Get away from that thing.
Joie blinked, looked up. The white swirls of mist were filling the cavern, consuming Traian. Consuming her. In the tendrils of fog, something moved. Something dark and menacing. She caught a glimpse of another shape in the shadows curled protectively around an object, but she couldn't make it out with the white mist and gray shadows merging together. A dark shadow loomed over Traian.
Watch out!
She tackled him. Shoved him aside. Her momentum carried them both away from the vampires and close to the outer wall of the cavern. An array of weapons adorned the nearest alcove. Glittering gems decorated wicked-looking knives and long spears and swords. Here was a virtual treasure trove for Joie. She was drawn to the weapons, yet something held her back, some finely tuned warning system that prompted her to put her hands behind her back and ignore them.
Valenteen growled harshly, shaking his head, backing away from the large, smoky creature emerging from the shadows.
Joie twisted her fingers in the back of Traian's shirt, peeking around him at the thing Traian had identified as a shadow warrior. It was insubstantial, made of ever-moving black and gray smoke. It's eyes glowed an eerie red, not like the bloodshot eyes of the vampires, but fierce flame burning brightly.
I wouldn't mind waking up now.
Traian reached behind him, circling her bare wrist with his fingers. Gently. Barely there. Just a whisper of contact, yet it was enough. They were together. It was all that mattered. He would shield her from the warrior, from the vampires.
Can you get out of here by yourself?
It suddenly occurred to her that he could shape-shift, perhaps become as insubstantial as the mist. Maybe even burrow through earth and ice as the vampires had done.
The vampires dissolved, leaving behind a pool of black goo. It bubbled and spat a poisonous brew at the shadow warrior. Joie gasped. There was a strange silence. An icy blast of air cleared the stench from the chamber and pushed the smoky creature away from Traian and Joie.
It matters little if I could. I would never leave you behind.
His voice was reassuring. Calm. Steady. Confident.
Jubal and Gabrielle are still in the caves. Jubal will be hurrying to find his way up toward an entrance. He's a good caver, but if they go after him... My brother and sister can't protect themselves from the vampires. Both vampires have remained in this room. They will not leave or move to give away their presence to the warrior. I do not sense any others close by. The shadow warrior has not attacked because we haven't touched anything. If we draw his attention to us, or take something the wizards left behind, he will strike.
Voices whispered. Filled the chamber with temptation. Before she knew what she was doing, Joie's fingers were nearly curled around a knife with a wicked-looking curved blade. It called to her. Her palm itched to feel the weapon in her hand. She clenched her fist, resisting the temptation. The voices increased in strength. She glanced toward the spheres, saw them all active, the clear colors swirling with life, with deeper hues and sparkling gems.
Traian caught both of her hands in his.
Talk to me. Tell me about yourself. Everything you can think of. Look only at me. Look into my eyes. See me. Only me.
His hands were much larger than hers, enveloping them. When she obediently tore her gaze from the jeweled daggers and knives, she was caught in the black depths of Traian's gaze. The world narrowed for her.
Around them, smoke and mist drifted upward from the floor, creating a world in the clouds where voices muttered, the words in an ancient tongue, harsh, yet not foul, insistent, yet not commanding. Colors pulsed in the room, bright banners from the spheres, which were alive with heat and energy.
Look only at me, Traian reiterated when she would have turned her head toward the pulsing lights.
This is a trap. Think of me. Let me tell you who I am, what I am. What I need and want. I want to know everything about you and your family. Talk to me. Tell me who you really are, what you stand for. Tell me what you need and want.
His voice was mesmerizing, tugging at her heart when she thought there should be only physical attraction. He was easily the sexiest man she'd ever encountered. They were in mortal danger. Vampires huddled somewhere in the room, awaiting their moment to strike. A warrior come to life out of the shadows guarded centuries-old treasures in a world of sorcery, yet Joie was fascinated by the man in front of her.
You don't make sense. I make perfect sense.
He smiled, a flash of dazzling white teeth. She nearly stopped breathing.
You know I work as a bodyguard. Silly profession, placing your precious body between someone else and danger.
She laughed softly in her mind. Traian felt the vibration pulse through his body, touch him in places he had long ago forgotten.
You spent several lifetimes chasing vampires. I'm catching very interesting memories in your mind, unless you spent all of your life watching Dracula movies. I think you've placed your precious and very sexy body between danger and people many times. And don't say you're a man and that it makes a difference. That would seriously annoy me.
Growls of hatred mixed with the insidious whispers. The smaller vampire, the one Traian had identified as Shafe, emerged from the black goo, hissing and spitting, dragging himself across the floor on his belly. His claws scored the stones as he tried to stop himself from answering the summons. His eyes were on the largest crystal ball.
Even with Traian's mesmerizing eyes and hypnotic voice, it was nearly impossible for Joie to ignore the drama being played out in the swirling mists of the cave. The voices were insistent, chanting a steady rhythm, drawing the vampire toward the glowing crystal. Greed and fear were on the face of the creature as it edged closer and closer. All the while, the dark shadow of the warrior, guardian of the wizard's treasures, watched dispassionately.
Joie shivered. Fear was a living, breathing entity nearly choking her. At times, through the rising mist coming off the stone floor, she could make out a suit of armor on the warrior; at other times it was as insubstantial as the clouds.
Traian pulled Joie into his arms, drawing her tightly against his chest. His movements were deliberately slow, careful, wary of drawing the warrior's attention to them.
We are going to float upward, Joie, just drift toward the ceiling above us.
She was afraid. Battling human adversaries was one thing; facing down vampires and warriors made up of smoke and shadow was something altogether different. She slid her palm up Traian's chest, the solid wall of flesh and blood reassuring her. Her arm curved around his neck. She locked her fingers there, fitting her body tightly against his. His much more masculine frame was hard like an oak tree. There was little give to the defined muscles beneath his skin. She felt her feet leave the ground and she closed her eyes, sending up a quick prayer.
Traian watched the warrior. Colored lights pulsed through the cavern, lit the mist so that wraithlike creatures appeared to be moving within it. Ghosts of the wizards, lost so long ago. He tightened his arms around Joie. She fit perfectly to him, her mind comfortable in his, drawing knowledge and studying tactics. He could feel her there inside him, sharing his memories and gathering information on his battles with vampires, fully prepared to join him should there be need.
More than anything else, he wanted her to know him as a man. He wanted time with her. He wanted to hear her laugh, to see warmth and acceptance in her eyes the way he had imagined during their long-distance chats. And he wanted her out of danger. Things were going to happen fast and ferociously. He focused on one thing. Getting Joie to safety.
They drifted higher in the cavern, and Traian clouded their image with more mist, more smoke, so that they seemed part of the haze. He took care that their movements were slow and lazy and as natural as possible, so that nothing would trigger the instincts of the warrior.
The shadow creature was motionless, even while the smoke that made up its body whirled and spun in dark threads. The fierce eyes remained fixed on the vampire crawling toward the temptation of the pulsing crystal orb. Shafe drew closer, closer, reaching out to the visions and promises of wealth and power swirling inside the globe.
Triumphantly the vampire placed his palms around the beckoning crystal. The moment he touched the globe, the shadow warrior threw back its head and roared. For a brief moment the smoke around it cleared. It stood tall and straight, dressed in glittering multihued scaled armor. And then it was smoke again, rushing across the wide expanse of floor, not quite touching the ground.
Valenteen, the older vampire, oozed from the black pool, shifting into the form of a snake. It slithered to the nearest wall and began to burrow through the earth. Joie strained to see below her, to see the shadow warrior as he reached the undead cupping the crystal ball.
Your light. Turn it off.
Her heart jumped.
We need the light. I see fine in the dark. We want to escape this chamber. I can take us through the air shaft and do not want to chance drawing the warrior's attention.
As she doused the light, Shafe screamed hideously. Colors glowed in the rising mist. A dark blood-red stain slowly began to invade the smoky fog. It spread like a virus. A violent clash of light and sound conjoined as the vampire's voice shrieked and wailed until Joie buried her face in Traian's neck.
She was trembling. His gut knotted.
We are almost out. Do not look. This is a trap and we will seal it up so no others can find it. You're thinking you'll come back tomorrow night and find out what the vampires were searching for. I have to find out. I have been in these caves several weeks, fighting the vampires on and off. I destroyed more than one, yet they remained. That is highly unusual and it worries me. Worse still is the fact that Valenteen was not the only master. There was another in the group, Gallent. I was able, after several battles, to destroy him, but he was clearly with this group. And I sense another...
Joie sighed and hugged him tighter.
This is not happy news. Sounds like our gang problems. We'd better start looking on the Internet for a site called vampires of the world, unite.
Above her head, he smiled.
She made a small growling noise of dissent and bit his shoulder hard.
The air shaft was narrow, but he angled their bodies until they slipped through, taking them to the upper levels. As soon as she felt the ground beneath her feet, she turned on her light, caught his hand, and sprinted through the tunnel toward the entrance.
"Valenteen is not following us. Although he is a master vampire, he will not attempt to fight me alone."
His words stopped her. Joie wanted to make sure that Jubal and Gabrielle had made it to safety, but the idea that a creature as hideous and lethal as a vampire wouldn't fight Traian alone was frightening. What did she know of him, after all? He was a voice speaking to her in the night. A man who drank blood and shifted shapes.
"I am a man of honor. A man who has found the one woman. The only woman." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know this happened too fast and you do not altogether trust it."
"If I don't think about it, I trust it, and that scares me, Traian. I'm not particularly a trusting person. All this time I thought I was still in control after all, I did rescue you. But now you're saying those creatures won't attack you while they're alone."
"I am an ancient hunter. I have been tried in battle for more years than I care to remember. I know the ways of the vampire and I am much skilled in what I do." There was no arrogance or bravado in his voice, only acceptance and truth.
"And these vampires?"
"Should not have been together. They should not be here, in the Carpathian Mountains, so close to our prince and many of our males. I was returning to my homeland when I first came across them. I knew they were desperate to find something in that cave. Although it was risky to pit myself against so many, it was my duty to my people to stay and discover what they were looking for. Even after you found me and I recognized who you were, I stayed because the vampires were so frantic to find something. I had no idea this was a cave of wizards."
"And what is the significance of wizards to a vampire? I know what it would be to humans. Most of us don't actually believe the fairy tales about wizards and crystal balls. And dragons. That was very cool, by the way."
"You saw the spheres in that room. Ancient spells and power remain in them. We don't want vampires, or anyone, for that matter, to get their hands on things best left alone. Carpathians are of the Earth. We have gifts, but we do not wield power in the same way as the wizards did."
"Is it possible some are still alive?"
"I would think It likely. At least I would think some of their descendants remain and have retained their knowledge, or at least a portion of it."
Joie sighed. "Lovely thought. Anyone who created that shadow warrior is not going to be counted among my best friends."
"Nor mine."
Joie followed him through the long hall, not looking at the beauty and magnificence of her surroundings as she normally would. She turned the information over in her mind. "You grew up a long time ago."
He grinned at her, his teeth flashing in the light of her lantern. "Well, yes. I have lived for centuries. I barely remember my parents anymore." His smile slipped away. "The memory of my childhood days has faded. I catch glimpses at times. I do recall the years just before leaving my homeland. The way the prince looked at us all. I saw it in his eyes. His own death, the decline of our people, his dread for all of the warriors he was sending away from home. Our women were so few, even then the numbers were declining. Back then we had alliances with humans. Now we keep to ourselves and just do our best to blend in."
She listened to the sound of his voice and heard the sorrow that ran deep. In his mind she saw the battles, sometimes with childhood friends. Saw his inner demons, the insidious whispers of power, the dark stain that slowly spread over him, calling to him. And he was always alone. In every memory, he was always alone. Joie wanted to comfort him. She caught his hand, tangled her fingers with his. She meant it to be a brief gesture, but he tightened his grip.
"I grew up very differently," she said, ducking her head to avoid a large crystal formation. "My family is very close and very loving. We all talk at the same time and give each other all sorts of unwanted advice. My dad tells outrageous stories. He used to sneak into our bedroom at night with a flashlight shining on his face and tell scary stories until we screamed and laughed and Mom came running in to chastise him. We all knew she knew he was doing it, and she was really laughing, too. Once, after he read us Stephen King's Cujo, he put whipped cream on the muzzle of our huge mutt and shoved him into the bedroom. It's a wonder we all survived his sense of humor."
She laughed at the memory, deliberately sharing with Traian the warmth of her childhood, the love in her family. "We're all a little bit crazy, but it's okay with us."
"Do you think I will fit in?" He brought her hand to his chest and held it against his heart. "I would not mind having a family after all this time."
He was a tall man with wide shoulders and eyes that had seen far too much, yet the lost note in his voice turned her heart over. Joie smiled at him. "I can't wait for you to meet my mother."