Dark Descent (Dark Series - Book 11) Read online

  Determined to combat her sorrow, Joie sat up.

  It is amazing how strong the feeling is. And it is a little frightening to think that emotion is stronger than logic. I know where you are, yet I still have such a need to touch you. It makes no sense.

  And it didn’t. Joie considered herself a very logical woman. She didn’t like this out-of-control feeling, a dark dread that stole her good sense and her ability to reason. She lifted her chin. There were changes taking place in her body and mind, but that didn’t mean she would give in to melancholy.

  I’ll be perfectly fine, Traian. You worry about yourself. I’ll hang with Jubal and Gabrielle while you’re gone. And Gary. He knows both the undead and my people. Stay close to him.

  Joie did the mental equivalent of rolling her eyes. As

  if. Traian, you’re going to have to get over your outdated attitude toward women. It must be your age. That man needs protection. He lives in another world, just like Gabrielle. I can see it in him. He’s more at home in a lab than fighting vampires. But he knows vampires. Stay close to him. You might have mentioned your archaic attitude and your stubbornness when you were being so blasted charming this morning.

  His soft laughter echoed through her head, and then he slipped out of her mind, leaving her feeling bereft. Determined not to give in to the strange reaction to their separation, Joie took a long, hot shower. It was nearly impossible to stand beneath the cascading water without thinking of Traian, but she concentrated on figuring out how to tell her parents that she was essentially married.

  Gabrielle stuck her head in the bathroom. “Hurry up! Jubal and I are getting tired of waiting for you two. And you’d better not be doing anything perverted in that tiny little shower stall.” She sounded more hopeful than anything else.

  “How did you get into my room, you peeping Tom?” Joie threw a wet washcloth with deadly accuracy. “It was locked.”

  Gabrielle squealed when the cloth hit her square in the face. “I’m picking up your bad habits. Are you in there alone? Because I don’t want to see any naked bodies.”

  “Traian already went back to the cave.”

  “If he wasn’t so drop-dead gorgeous, I’d be afraid he was a troll, he likes to be underground so much. What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?” This time there was glee in Gabrielle’s voice.

  “I’ve been rehearsing,” Joie admitted. She emerged from the stall, wrapped in a bath sheet. “It has occurred to me to lie to them. And I thought you preferred skinny men. I saw you ogling Gary last night.”

  “I don’t ogle,” Gabrielle sniffed indignantly. “I

  never

  ogle. I just thought he was rather on the cute side.” She sighed heavily. “Oh, to be model-thin and beautiful.”

  Joie glared at her. “You are beautiful, you idiot. You’re just crazy. Is Jubal hanging out in the bedroom, because I need my clothes.”

  “I’ll get you something presentable.” Gabrielle disappeared.

  Joie heard her giggle. Gabrielle never did anything so undignified as to giggle. Unashamed, Joie found she could hear just by consciously thinking about it. Gary had joined her brother and sister in her bedroom.

  Joie stalked to the door. “Hello! I hate to remind you all, but I’m stuck here, naked in the bathroom. Vacate or toss me some clothes.”

  Jubal groaned. “You are so sick, Joie. I didn’t need that visual. Gary, you ought to try having a couple of sisters bent on tormenting you. They gang up on me like you wouldn’t believe.”

  Gabrielle blew him a kiss. “We keep your life from being extraordinarily dull and boring.”

  Joie caught the bundle of clothes her sister tossed inside the bathroom. “Thanks for remembering me.”

  “I remembered. It just didn’t seem all that important.”

  Gary stood up when Joie entered the room. “Traian left already, I take it? I figured he’d rise as early as possible. There were clouds blocking the sunlight. They sometimes arrange the weather to protect their sensitive eyes.” He smiled at Joie. “He wants me to get you to drink some juice this evening.”

  Joie pressed a hand to her stomach. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I’m sure Gabrielle and Jubal are hungry.”

  “Starved,” Jubal agreed instantly. “I thought Joie was going to sleep forever.”

  “You’ll get used to the different hours they keep,” Gary said. “I work in the lab and forget the time myself. If I’m on to something promising, I don’t seem to need sleep.”

  “I’m the same way,” Gabrielle said. “Sometimes I look up and it’s two days later.” She exchanged a long smile of complete understanding with Gary.

  Jubal threw his hands into the air. “It’s getting a bit thick in here. I’m for food. Come on, Joie. Whether you’re hungry or not, we need to stick together.”

  They waited while Joie found her calf scabbard and strapped it to her leg. Gary raised an eyebrow, but Gabrielle just shrugged, her grin sheepish. They were used to Joie, and she was nearly always armed with something lethal.

  Joie was aware of the exact moment the sun set. She didn’t see the orange and red hues, but in the midst of the laughing 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 wizards.

  “Joie?” Gabrielle touched her hand. “Are you all right?”

  Joie looked across the table at her and managed a smile. “I just wish I was with him.” She didn’t need to say his name.

  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.

  “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. But ego is their weakness. One of their few weaknesses.

  Gary shoved open the door to his room. “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 doors behind her and shoved the dresser against it. “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 observes another going to the door or even talking, inviting someone in
to the room, stop him, even if it means knocking him out.”

  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. Joie leapt to place her body between the door and her brother and sister. “Gary, get them out of here,” Joie ordered.

  “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.

  Chapter Eleven

  In 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. The most they 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 she answered. Her voice was calm and steady, even confident.

  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.

  I have learned 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. And 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, it 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, 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 was black with smoke and whirling clouds. It was impossible to tell where the vampire was. He 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.

  Traian tried one last tactic, knowing the vampire would disappear for many years, avoiding all contacts with hunters in order to survive. There was one last chance to call him into the open, and Traian used it, risking revealing his position to send a summons into the night. His call was pure and commanding, his voice that of an ancient in full power ordering the vampire to ground.

  For a brief moment the hideous creature was outlined in the sky, a ghoul as evil and sinister as centuries of deviant behavior and killing for the sake of watching others suffer could make him. He stared down at Traian with hate-filled eyes, his jagged teeth snapping together in defiance.

  A sound burst in Traian’s head, swelling in volume, a counter-command of death and destruction. Every cell in Traian’s body reacted. He was a jangle of nerve endings, paralyzed, forced into the open.

  I

  am your master.

>   The echo reverberated through Traian’s muscles and tissue, through every organ.

  No!

  Joie’s whisper was a soft, sensuous counterpoint to the poisonous command.

  He took your blood. He’s using that as a weapon against you. Shut out his voice. He has no dominion over you, over us. I don’t care how strong he is, Traian, or what he is. We’re stronger. He can track you through your blood, but he cannot command you. Foolish woman. I am in his mind, I own his mind. He is my puppet, and soon all the others will be too. He cannot touch me, but I can find him anywhere. And through him, I can find you and your pitiful family. Join with me. I will one day rule both Carpathians and humans alike.

  Joie deliberately laughed, the sound like a breath of fresh air, ripping the dark dread from Traian’s heart and clearing his mind.

  You are the foolish one. There is only one for me. We will destroy you because you’re nothing but a rotten, empty shell. And you’re just nasty, if you ask me.

  Traian felt the monster’s rage, bursting in his head, in his veins, as if his blood boiled, but he was free of the terrible paralysis. He clapped his hands together and spread his fingers wide, arms outstretched toward the vampire, which was dissolving into the sky. Lightning forked and sizzled. The vampire screamed once, and a putrid smell polluted the night air.

  Kill her. Kill all of them.

  Thunder splintered the sky. The earth rolled and bucked and the storm raged, a wild hurricane slamming into the forest and village.

  They throw tantrums.

  This time there was fear in her voice. Traian was already racing to the inn, doing his best to countermand the killing storm.

  Valenteen is dangerous beyond belief, Joie. Whoever this master is, he commands Valenteen, and that is both shocking and terrifying. I have never seen two masters run together, nor one command another. Hurry, they’re breaking through the door.