Dark Descent (Dark #11)(7)
Author: Christine Feehan

A strange, growling noise assaulted her ears. It sounded like a cross between a hyena laughing and a dog growling viciously. Immediately she held up her hand behind her, signaling Jubal and Gabrielle to stop while she scooted closer. She used the tall columns of rock and ice formations as cover.

Traian was literally pinned against a wall of ice. Blood ran down from each shoulder and leg where sharp, twisted stakes had been thrust through his body to pin him like an insect on a board. Joie held her breath to keep from crying out in dismay. It was no wonder she could feel the pain radiating from him. She knew Traian was aware of her presence, but he didn’t make the mistake of giving away her position. He watched the creature hovering over him with cool eyes.

"You seem nervous, Lamont," Traian observed.

The creature hissed and without preamble bent his head to Traian’s neck and sank his teeth into the pulse beating there.

Joie could easily see the long incisors stabbing into flesh, something she’d only seen before in films. She dropped to the ground, crawling on her stomach, using her elbows to propel herself across the floor between two columns of ice to get into a better position for attack. She came up on her knees behind a large ice formation, her gaze fixed on her target.

He is very dangerous, especially now when he is filled with the blood of an ancient.

Traian’s voice was calm in spite of the ghastly creature tormenting him.

Joie stared at the hideous thing. It was tall and emaciated, the skin shrunken around its skull, almost as if it were dead. Tufts of hair stood straight out, a curious gray-white color, while the rest of the hair hung in oily, twisted ropes. He gulped down the blood, smearing it on his lips and stained teeth, all the while making growling noises in his throat. He seemed more animal than man.

My family always warned me if I hung out underground too long I could end up with a troll. At the risk of seeming shallow, I have to say he isn’t very handsome and doesn’t appeal at all to me.

Her hand went up to the back of her neck, sliding down between her shoulder blades in a well-practiced move, came out with the knife she always carried.

The creature lifted his head alertly and looked around the large gallery with suspicious eyes. Joie remained motionless, hardly daring to breathe. The cold air rushed through the chamber and touched Traian and the creature with icy fingers. Immediately Lamont caught at one of the stakes pinning his victim to the ice flow.

"None of your tricks, ancient one. Your blood belongs to us now. The others will be back soon with a victim to force you to our bidding. You are far too weak to resist."

What is he? He is vampire. The undead. And there are others. You must get your family out before the others return.

Traian watched his tormentor intently. The vampire leaned close to the gaping wound in Traian’s throat, his breath a sickly green vapor as he licked at the blood with a thick, dark tongue. "I just might kill you instead. A stake through the heart." He lifted a lethal-looking stake over his head and gave a maniacal laugh.

Vampires are difficult to kill. You will only get one chance. Go for his heart.

Joie threw the knife with deadly accuracy. It hummed as it rocketed across the chamber and buried itself deep in the vampire’s chest. The creature screamed, the sound cracking the ice so that sharp daggers broke from the high ceiling and rained down like deadly missiles. Joie flung her body over Traian’s, protecting him from the falling ice. The vampire went down hard, thrashing wildly, the sounds echoing through the cavern, and then there was sudden silence.

Joie moved back slowly, slipping a second knife from the scabbard on her calf. "That didn’t look so difficult to me. If you want, I’ll give you a lesson or two."

"What took you so long?" Traian asked.

She made her way cautiously around him, kicking aside the bigger chunks of ice. "Bad directions. You know how traffic in these places can be." She leaned close to study one of the pins slicing through his shoulder to hold him to the wall. "I hate to point this out to you, but you’re in a bit of a mess. What was all that he-man macho crap telling me to stay away? If you ask me, you’re in serious need of rescuing."

Traian arched an eyebrow. His skin appeared pale, and he was clearly weak from loss of blood. Unattended wounds from a recent battle seeped more of his precious life fluid. He shook uncontrollably, unable to maintain his body’s temperature. His hair was black and matted with blood. "I am certain I would have thought of something. He has friends. They will be returning soon, and when they see him, they are not going to be happy. And if I do not incinerate his body, he will rise again."

"Lovely thought," Joie said and turned to keep a wary eye on the repulsive corpse. "Lucky for you I travel with a doctor. My sister Gabrielle is quite mad, always peering into microscopes and lecturing us about how we’re parasites on earth, but she does have certain skills." She whistled softly to signal to her brother and sister to enter the ice chamber.

Gabrielle avoided looking at the vampire as she studied the daggers of ice pinning Traian to the wall. "You do know the strangest people, Joie," she said. "I don’t even want to ask where you met him."

"If I pull out the stake, is he going to bleed to death?" Jubal inquired.

"Just do it before the others come back," Traian advised, "or we are all going to die. Vampires are very dangerous. You were lucky."

Joie sniffed indignantly. "I was fast and accurate and very good. There’s no need to feel inferior." She signaled to Jubal even as she flashed a smug smile at Traian. "I have a gift."

Jubal took hold of the stake in Traian’s left shoulder with both hands and yanked with all his strength. Blood spurted, but Gabrielle pressed her palms over the wound hard. "The first-aid kit is in my pack, Joie, but I don’t know how we’re going to get him to the surface. He needs blood as quickly as possible."

"Just take them all out," Traian instructed. "We really have to hurry."

"Do what he says, Jubal." Joie caught the sense of urgency emanating from Traian. Little white lines were etched around his perfectly sculpted mouth. "Vampire babe is twitching." To her horror, the knife was vibrating, wiggling back and forth as if slowly emerging from the rotted flesh. "Hurry – we may have a little problem with handsome. He seems to be coming back to life."

"Pack the wounds with mud. Hurry," Traian said.

Joie didn’t want to take her eyes off the ghoulish creature, but the dark compulsion in Traian’s voice alarmed her. Gabrielle obeyed him. Always meticulously careful of germs and microorganisms, she scooped up handfuls of gooey soil and, before Jubal could stop her, smeared it over Traian’s shoulder and the rest of the gaping holes in his flesh.