Joie noticed Gary was every bit as alert and watchful as Jubal and she were. Food was served buffet style, so they quickly got the dishes they preferred, Jubal taking plenty of healthy helpings while Joie settled for a small glass of juice. They sat down at the table nearest the door for a quick exit.
Joie frowned as her siblings ate with gusto, needing the calories after the ordeal in the ice caves. Her stomach lurched at that thought of food. She felt Gary watching her and she wrapped her fingers around the glass to forestall any attention he might draw to her sister and brother to the fact that she couldn’t eat.
“Do you live here permanently, Gary?” she asked.
He nodded. “I’m needed here. The work that I do is very valuable and there’s satisfaction in that. This species is too amazing to go extinct. There has to be a way to solve the problem of successfully carrying a baby. Besides, it’s heartbreaking to live among them, get to know them and then have one of the few women miscarry or lose her precious child.”
“I can’t imagine how painful that would be,” Gabrielle said, compassion pouring into her voice. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to see what you’re doing, since I’m here anyway. Maybe I could help.”
“Usually Carpathians erase all memories of an encounter with them,” Gary said. “I was surprised that Traian hadn’t done so.”
Jubal looked up, a dark scowl on his face. “Yeah, I don’t think so. He can forget that.”
Joie kicked him under the table. “He isn’t going to do that. I’d shoot him and he knows it. Don’t be such a dork.” She saw Gary watching her, so she put the glass to her lips and took a small sip. Her stomach cramped almost instantly. She set the glass down with great care. “Do you travel much?”
Gary shrugged, shaking his head. “I’ve been on a hit list for a while now and it isn’t safe. The Carpathians protect me and in all honesty, I’m pretty focused on my work.”
“That’s the way I am when I get in a lab. Time passes and sometimes I’m there for days without sleep,” Gabrielle admitted.
Joie became aware of the exact moment the sun set. She didn’t see the orange and red hues, but in the midst of the conversation going on around her she simply knew. She felt the sudden shuddering of the earth as the vampires rose. Her heart leapt in fear.
Traian!
She reached out to him. Touched him. Felt his immediate reassurance. He had not discovered the resting places of the vampires. They had not gone to ground in the cave of the mages.
“Joie?” Gabrielle touched her hand. “Are you all right?”
Jubal put down his fork and looked carefully around the room.
The bracelet is heating up again, it’s merely warm, but that isn’t a good sign.
A dark shadow passed over the inn, moving fast, so that for a moment silence fell in the dining room and people looked at one another uneasily.
Gary reacted instantly. He caught Gabrielle’s wrist, rising so fast his chair fell backward. “Come with me, right now.” He tugged Gabrielle to her feet and began to weave his way through the tables, dragging her with him.
Jubal looked at his meal with regret as Joie smacked the back of his head. “It might be your last meal if you don’t move it,” she cautioned.
“It might be my last meal anyway,” he groused. But he was on his feet and rushing after Gary and Gabrielle, covering his wrist with his other hand as the band began to give off a faint light.
Definitely going hot,
Jubal told his sisters.
The blades will come out next.
“Call him back, Joie,” Gary ordered over his shoulder. “Call Traian and get him back here. We don’t have much time.”
Joie didn’t hesitate. There was too much urgency in Gary’s voice.
Traian. They are here. The undead are here at the inn. Gary says it’s urgent that you return as quickly as possible.
Do as Gary says. He will know what to do until I am able to return. They cannot get their hands on any of you. Go for the heart if you have to defend yourself. They often inject poison into the bloodstream, and they are great deceivers and shape-shifters.
Traian’s matter-of-fact voice calmed Joie.
Jubal’s bracelet is going hot. The last time that happened, the blades came out. Gary will see them, there’s no way to hide it from him.
We have no choice but to trust him. We do not know your ancestry, but you are my family and under my protection. He will know that. If any Carpathian should threaten you because that mage weapon is seen, you tell them all of you are under my protection.
This time there was steel in his voice.
Gary shoved open the door to his room on the first floor. It was faster to get there and provided an excellent escape should they need one. “Quick, get inside and stuff everything you can find in the cracks around the doors and windows.” He tossed Gabrielle shirts as he hurried to the door leading to the verandah. “We’ll have to hole up in here. They’ll try to call us out, using compulsion. Jubal, there’s a small CD player on the desk. Pick some obnoxious music from the collection and turn it up loud. Very loud.”
Joie locked the door behind her. “The keyhole, Gabrielle—stuff something in that as well.” If vampires could do what she had seen Traian do, stream through tiny spaces as vapor, she didn’t see how they were going to keep them out. “So why are they here?”
“Most likely because you are,” Gary answered. “The surest way to bring a Carpathian male out into the open is to go after his lifemate. They’ll want one of you to invite them in. If you hear a voice talking sweetly, it is a deceiver. Put cotton in your ears, put your hands over your ears. Do anything to keep from listening. If one of you observe another going to the door or even talking, inviting someone into the room, stop him, even if it means knocking him out.”
“They’re definitely here,” Jubal said, pulling back his sleeve. His bracelet spilled light into the room, the wicked curved blades very much in evidence.
Gary stepped back, shook his head, and sighed. “I’m not even going to ask.”
Shadows passed across the window, moving back and forth as if searching for something. The wind picked up so that the tree branches scraped against the inn with a sickening screech. Clouds spun and boiled, casting hideous apparitions across the moon. A stain spread across the sky, slowly blotting out the stars, creeping insidiously until nearly all light was extinguished. The wind howled against the windows, slammed into the verandah door, carried with it voices. Soft. Cunning. Sweet and enticing. Pleading voices. Cries for help. A woman called out just beyond the door, begging for entrance, her voice rising on the wind.
“Joie?” Gabrielle looked to her sister for guidance.
Gary was close to her and he put his arm around her protectively. “Traian will be here soon. We can hold out until then.”
Jubal cranked up the CD player so that it blared loudly. Something grabbed the door handle and shook it so hard, the door rattled and splintered. Jubal leapt to place his body between the door and sisters. Joie stepped up beside him.
“Gary, get Gabby out of here,” Joie said, her heart pounding. Jubal had killed one of these things with his bracelet. Maybe it could happen again. She sent up a silent prayer.
“Believe me, we’re safer inside this room than anywhere else right now. And there’s less danger if we stick together,” Gary said. He took up a position at her side. “Jubal, watch the windows. If you see anything that looks like smoke or fog trying to get in through a crack, you have to stuff in a shirt, the blankets, anything at all to keep it out.”
The door was struck again from outside, hard enough to shake the frame. Gabrielle clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out.
“You can’t come in,” Gary said, not raising his voice. “You have not been invited and you can’t gain entrance into this room.”
Maniacal laughter greeted Gary’s calm words. A great weight thudded against the door and began a steady pushing. The wood began to bulge inward.
I
n the shape of an owl, Traian streaked across the darkened sky. Joie had no hope of fighting off a master vampire, even with Gary’s vast knowledge of the undead and Jubal’s weapon. Often it took two and sometimes three very experienced hunters to kill a master vampire. The most the humans could hope for was to delay the vampires until he arrived.
The wind increased in speed so that gusts hurled branches and twigs into the air like missiles. A funnel cloud whirled and spun ominously from ground to sky, a dark, turbulent monster leaping with greedy outspread fingers toward him. He flew into an invisible barrier, hit the obstacle hard and plummeted toward the ground below.
The black mass stretched wide, forming a ghastly head with a gaping mouth and long, bony arms, reaching for the body of the owl as it tumbled toward the ground. Traian shifted into dark droplets of vapor, merging with the black mass, spreading thin to avoid detection. The tornado dropped from the heavens as if it had never been, leaving behind an eerie calm and a clear sky.
A tangle of silver fell from the tree branches, a fine solid blanket of woven strands. Traian was already shifting again, landing in a crouch on the ground. The silver hit his arm but slid off, landing inches from his feet. Pain streaked through his body. Angry red welts rose immediately on his skin where his flesh had come into contact with the glittering silver. Thousands of stinging insects flew at his face, a solid wall of them, programmed to find and attack. Traian dissolved to avoid them, sliding back into the forest to cling to a tree branch in the shape of a frog.
He reached out with his senses, trying to locate his opponent. Master vampires rarely revealed themselves, especially in battle. Traian knew the undead had deliberately drawn him back to the inn with the hope of trapping and destroying him.
I am in a fight for all of our lives. If you can avoid a confrontation, do so. If not, always go for the most dangerous vampire and go for the heart. Nothing else will put them down. Delay. Stall. Try to avoid a battle.
He waited, his heart beating a little too hard, fear eating at his mind until Joie answered. Her voice was calm and steady, even confident, settling the hard knots in his belly
.
Don’t think about us little mortal people, Traian. We can handle the dead guys. You just don’t get a single scratch on you or I’ll be upset—and you’ve never seen me upset.
The relief nearly overwhelmed him. She was unhurt
.
You have taught me the real meaning of fear. Always, I have gone into battle with nothing to lose. I do not much care for the feeling.
Well, it’s mutual, Traian, so don’t go feeling sorry for yourself. I’ve got the ugly guys at the door, so I’m going to have to let you go.
Joie made him want to laugh. She sounded like she was talking to him on the phone and a neighbor had dropped by to borrow a cup of sugar.
Do not get overconfident.
He couldn’t help cautioning her, although he knew it would annoy her.
A walk in the park. You worry about yourself.
He could see the insects scattering, returning, flying through the trees in search of any sign of him. The bugs always returned to swarm around the same rotted trunk of a fallen tree.
I love you, Joie, and I cannot do without you. Keep that in mind when you decide how best to handle the situation. You are deciding for both of us.
She hissed at him between her teeth. He could hear it clearly, the irritation and annoyance of a woman beyond her limits of patience. His heart did a curious flip, a strange reaction to her feminine exasperation. For some unexplained reason, he felt joy.
The little frog hopped along the tree branch, taking great care to blend in with the leaves and twigs. He was some distance from the fallen tree, and the ground stretching between was covered with debris. Traian glanced skyward at the black, spinning clouds. At his mental command, lightning shot bright sparks into the massive cauldron overhead. The white-hot energy spun into a large ball, breaking away from the clouds and hurtling toward the ground. The air crackled with electricity.
Traian leapt from the branch, shape-shifting into his true form, his hands directing the spinning threads of energy, launching the ball as he melted back into the trees. The sphere slammed into the center of the rotten trunk, carving a blackened hole as it went all the way through to hit the ground, forming a deep crater. White whips sizzled and crackled inside the depression.
Black vapor rose from the trunk of the tree to mix with the dark, spinning clouds. A terrible piercing howl of rage filled the air. High-pitched and obscene, the voice shredded nerves and pierced eardrums. The trees shuddered and shook. Grass and leaves shriveled. The sound bounced from ground to cloud with the force of a clap of thunder. The blast hit Traian in the back and drove him forward, slamming him into a tree. He just managed to whip his head back before he hit.
He inhaled quickly, took in the noxious, foul smell of burnt flesh, and knew he had scored a hit. Fire rained from the sky, red glowing embers igniting the foliage. Hungry flames licked at the grass and leaves, and then raced up the trees with glee. Traian spread out his arms, gave a command, and the clouds burst open, pouring sheets of water on the rising flames. The sky overhead went black with smoke and whirling clouds. It was impossible to tell where the vampire was. The undead was experienced enough not to give away his presence by blank spots in the air. He chose to blend into the chaos of his surroundings, sidestepping further battles now that he was wounded.
Without warning Traian was hit from behind, a thick branch thunking hard across his back, knocking him to his knees. Instantly, a body was on him, teeth tearing at him, missing his neck and hooking into his shoulder. Using tremendous strength, he drove upward and back, slamming his body down hard over the top of the vicious vampire.
Instinctively he knew, this was the master’s pawn, sent to slow Traian down, a sacrifice the master hoped would wound him enough to allow the kill. He heard the vampire grunt with pain and he rolled. The undead refused to let go, his teeth clamped hard in Traian’s shoulder. As he rolled, he felt flesh and muscle tear. He reached back, gripped the head with both hands and wrenched hard, throwing the body over his shoulder as he leapt to his feet.