Dark Nights Page 7

  Jubal handed his sister the knife. “Let’s get out of here while we can. I don’t think I want to meet any more of these things.”

  “I’m going to pretend I never met this one,” Gabrielle said firmly. She shuddered, and took a deep breath. “Just do it. If we’re going to kill the thing, do it fast please.”

  Traian nodded and stepped in front of all three of them. Joie watched him closely. He seemed to be gathering something unseen into his hands. She could feel the buildup of energy in the chamber. The gallery was actually warming, increasing the dripping of the water dramatically. Between Traian’s palms, light glowed, a bright orange-red, emitting heat. It appeared just smaller than a basketball, the energy coiling and spinning.

  The vampire screamed in rage and attempted to rise, desperate to attack the hunter. When he couldn’t make it to his feet, he threw himself forward across the floor of thick ice, and reached for his twisted heart. The blackened organ responded to his desperation, rolling toward him in little macabre stops and starts.

  The ball of glowing energy left Traian’s hands, hurtling through the chamber to land squarely on the writhing organ. The heart burst into a white-hot flame, burning blue and then purple. Tiny writhing maggots fell onto the ice, burning. The flames leapt from the heart to the outstretched hands of the vampire, racing up his arms to his shoulders. The long strands of dank hair caught fire. The vampire’s mouth gaped open, his eyes wide with shock and horror.

  The heart incinerated completely, ashes erupting in a blackened volcano, throwing more maggots into the air. The blackened worms lay like drops of black soot staining the ice. The undead shrieked, his cry carrying through the labyrinth of caves, high-pitched and horrible, the sound hurting their ears. Jubal, Gabrielle, and Joie clapped their hands over their ears in an effort to drown out the noise.

  Above their heads, great spears of ice shook. Spider-web cracks ran up the walls surrounding them. Jubal caught his sisters by the arm and jerked at them, trying to get them moving out of the chamber as the ominous sound of thousands of years of tons of ice pressing down thundered through the gallery.

  Traian sent another ball of fiery energy toward the vampire. Fire engulfed him completely, burning hot and bright. For one ghoulish moment, a blackened skeleton of a man rose up in the smoke, bony fingers reaching for Traian. He stood his ground without flinching and blew on the apparition. A foul stench filled the cavern.

  The black smoke vanished, taking with it the stench. The ice settled, all at once quiet, other than the persistent sound of water dripping.

  Jubal let out his breath. “Holy shit.”

  “Okay,” Gabrielle said, one hand on her throat, “that’s just gross.”

  “Handy little trick,” Joie observed. “You’ll have to teach it to me.”

  Traian managed a boyish grin. “Finally, something impressed you.”

  A terrible howling, like that of a demon pack, echoed through the subterranean caverns, sending chills down Joie’s spine. She swallowed sheer terror and managed a small, wan smile for her sister’s sake—sheer bravado. “I think that’s our cue to leave.”

  “Can we climb? How do we know where they are?” Gabrielle asked anxiously.

  “Damn it to hell, how many of those things are there?” Jubal demanded.

  “It used to be, they hunted alone. Essentially, vampires are very self-centered and vain,” Traian answered. “But what I’ve found here is unprecedented as far as I know. Three master vampire—Gallent and Valenteen allowed a third, a much more powerful master to manipulate them and their followers.” He reached out and plucked hair from Joie’s head. “They are coming for us. We have to get out of here now.”

  “Ow!” Joie glared at him. “That hurt.”

  “I need hair from all of you, preferably from the scalp, do not just break it off,” Traian instructed, pulling a hair from his own head.

  Jubal frowned, but did as Traian asked, handing him his hair. Gabrielle followed suit. Traian pulled a tiny bit of cloth from the wound on his leg, ignoring Gabrielle’s hastily covered protest. He wound blood-stained threads around the hair.

  “Stay where you are.” He rose into the air, moved over the ice to a tunnel leading to the right and gathered more energy. He threw the hair and thread into the chamber and sent a powerful blast of air shooting through the tunnel.

  “I’m going to carry you all to the hall you came through and then we’re going to run fast. Try to run light. Vampires are creatures with great hearing. We want them to think we went right while we’re going left,” Traian instructed. “If possible, run single file.”

  “I’ll bring up the rear,” Jubal agreed, nodding his head.

  Traian caught Joie’s hand and tugged, dragging her after him. Joie reached out for Gabrielle.

  If we talk telepathically, my brother and sister will hear as well as long as we remain connected like this physically. And we can run in synch, Joie explained as she tried to match Traian’s strides, settling her feet where his had been. Her crampons made it easier to run along the ice without slipping, but she feared the scrapes in the ice would alert the vampires.

  The vampires will follow the scent of blood and I am masking our noise.

  Gabrielle reached for Jubal, who tucked his gun into his belt and ran as lightly as possible in his sister’s footsteps.

  I don’t really understand how you can do that, but you managed to make some kind of fireball and you sort of flew a bit, so I’m convinced, Joie said, careful to use telepathic communication so the sound wouldn’t travel through the caves.

  A Carpathian needs blood to survive, he explained as they hurried down the hall away from the bloody, blackened chamber. We do not kill those who give us blood. They are treated with the respect due them. We cannot be out in full sunlight and we sleep beneath the ground.

  He felt it necessary to educate the three humans as quickly as possible. Should they become separated from him, they had to know how to survive. He could feel the stirring interest in all of them. Gabrielle was a scientist, and the information would appeal to her. Jubal would take it as it was meant—to save their lives. And Joie . . . his heart turned over. His lifemate. He hadn’t had time to really accept the truth of that.

  More, Joie demanded. If you aren’t a vampire, where did they come from?

  We are a species nearly immortal. I say nearly because we can die given the right circumstances. Over time if we do not find our lifemate, the woman holding the other half of our soul—and there is only one—we lose emotion and the ability to see color. The world becomes a dull, unrelenting place.

  The tunnel twisted unexpectedly, spilling them out into another great hall. This one had smooth, blue-green walls on three of the four sides, the ice folded in bands. The gallery opened into several hallways. The high ceiling was covered in sharp stalactites hanging down like giant icicle spears. One wall, rather than smooth, was covered in ice balls, many as large as boulders where the water had run down and frozen. The sound of water was louder here, but coming from where, they couldn’t tell. The roar seemed to echo through the chamber, making it impossible to tell which direction the underground river was.

  Have you been here before? Jubal tested the telepathy link through their joined hands.

  I do not know this place. I believe this is a mage cave.

  Joie made a single sound in her throat and glanced back at Gabrielle as they paused to take stock of their surroundings and determine the best way back to the surface. Mage cave? I hate to ask.

  Traian knew he was asking a lot to have these three humans understand his world. They’d been thrown in at the deep end of a very murky pool and were fighting for survival against mythical creatures out of horror films. He wanted to draw Joie into his arms and comfort her, but there was little comfort in a place of such danger.

  A roar reverberated through the ice caves, a sound that rose to a high pitch of rage and promise of retribution.

  They caught up with the bloody hair. We’ve got to go. We have to stay to the left. I know the general direction to get out, but we’ve got to run.

  Above their heads, the stalactites rocked, the ominous sound of ice cracking loud, all around them. Traian took off running just as the chamber rocked with loud continuous claps of thunder. Great ice balls hurled out of the walls toward them, big enough and with enough force to kill them should one hit them.

  Gabrielle screamed and let go of Joie’s hand, sprinting across the ice.

  “Stay quiet,” Traian hissed. “Stop her,” he added to the woman’s brother.

  Jubal raced after Gabrielle and caught her, throwing her to the floor as a large spear crashed to the floor, shattering, sending shards of ice in all directions. Traian caught up Joie, his arms surrounding her, nearly crushing her against his chest as more ice spears rained down and blocks of ice thundered out of the walls.

  “Keep her there,” Traian demanded of Jubal.

  He ran, dodging spears and boulders of ice with Joie locked in his arms until he made it to Jubal and Gabrielle. He crouched beside them, pushing Joie close to them as he gathered energy. The build-up was so fast and powerful, static electricity sent charges ricocheting off the ice walls and floor.

  He covered the group as best he could, building a shield around them so the powerful conical pillars of ice and large ice boulders smashed into the invisible force and broke apart. The ferocity and speed of the weapons flying at them was terrifying to see, as shaking stalactites broke free of the ceiling. They could look up and see the great columns of solid ice coming down right on top of them.

  Is this natural? Joie asked. Because I’ve never seen anything like it all the years I’ve been going into caves. It was a storm of ice, a cavern angry with the intrusion and fighting to drive the trespassers out.

  Traian could feel her heart pounding. He pulled her closer, sheltering her with his body. His strength was waning fast. The rags pushed into his wounds were soaked. He needed the healing earth and more blood fast and they were still a distance from the closest exit. He didn’t get lost in the sense that he knew direction, but where any tunnel or hall within the cave led, he had no idea.

  No. I will get you out. They cannot sustain this attack on us. The moment it lets up, we will make a break for the narrowest hallway to the left.

  Gabrielle heard him through the grip her brother had on her. She raised her head to look at the stranger. His face was white and etched with small lines. She nudged Jubal, who glanced over his shoulder at the man.

  Can you do this? Jubal asked. Hold out against this attack?

  There is no other choice, Traian replied. There was no discussion, because there could be no other answer. He did what had to be done. The vampires were throwing a tantrum and doing their best to slow their prey down, but they had no idea exactly where they were yet and they wouldn’t use up all their strength when they couldn’t see their targets. We have to stay very quiet. They will find our scent and follow us, but there is no reason to make it easy on them.

  I’m sorry, Gabrielle said. I’m not usually such a baby, I swear I don’t usually lose control and fall apart.

  Joie reached out to comfort her sister, taking her hand and holding it tight. We’ll get out, we always do, she assured. You’re not being a baby, Gabrielle.

  Traian could hear the love in her voice. He could actually feel her love for her sister. The emotion was stark and raw and filled his throat with a lump. It had been too many centuries since he’d experienced such things.

  The attack is already waning, Traian assured as he felt the violent energy around him lessen. A couple of minutes more and then we stay left. There’s a tunnel, an ice slide, very narrow but passable, that will take us down and away from them. I can close it after us if we are lucky and then we just have to find our way out.

  His eyes met Jubal’s over Joie’s head. Her brother was no fool. It wasn’t going to be easy finding their way out of the labyrinth. He hadn’t explained mages and quite frankly, he didn’t want to try. They were dealing with enough trying to get around the knowledge that vampires were real.

  The thundering roar died down, leaving only the sound of cracking ice and dripping water. He threw off the shield and jerked the two women up. “We’ve to go now. They are tracking us and they can move faster than we can.”

  They ran toward the left hallway.

  You could outrun them without us, couldn’t you? Joie asked.

  That is beside the point. I will not leave you.

  You’re wounded.

  Jubal entered the narrow hallway first. His shoulders scraped along the ice. “It’s tight in here,” he called back. “It dead-ends into a hole.”

  “That’s the chute. It is a long slide. It was passable the last time I used it and it is the best chance we have.” Traian didn’t add that it was the only one. What little strength he had left had to get them down that long slide without mishap and then close the way behind them.

  The three siblings exchanged a long, shocked look. Jubal studied the entrance, shining his light inside the hole to study what he could see of the narrow tube. “This is too dangerous, Joie. It goes down very sharply. We’d be sliding out of control within minutes.”

  Joie stepped up next to him and peered inside. She whirled around to face Traian. “Are you crazy? We’re not going in there.”

  “You have no choice,” Traian said quietly. “We may be trapped in these caves for a couple of days so whatever you have to do to stay alive, you will need to keep close.” He hoped that wasn’t so. He didn’t want to explain to them what would happen to him when the sun rose above them.

  Joie planted herself in front of him, her eyes glittering. “Obviously we aren’t like you. We’re human. Sliding down an ice chute without checking it out and knowing what we’re getting into is just suicide. No way can the three of us go in there.”

  “Then all of us will die right here. I cannot abandon you nor will I be able to defeat the vampires in pursuit of us. I am too weak. If you do not take this chance, the only answer is death. And if you must die, you do not want vampires to get their hands on you.” Traian spoke as matter-of-factly as possible.

  To him there was no other choice. He would stay with this lifemate and defend her brother and sister. In truth, his first reaction was simply to grab her and force her to go with him, but the bond between the three siblings was incredibly strong. Joie wouldn’t leave them unless forced and she wouldn’t forgive him if he took her. She wasn’t looking toward him to protect her, she would only enter the chute if her family agreed with the decision. He had a long way to go to earn her trust. The three of them trusted one another implicitly, knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. He was the outsider.

  Jubal closed his eyes briefly, glanced back in the direction they’d come and shook his head. “We have to trust you, but if anything happens to my sisters . . .” He nodded at his sisters.

  “I plan to keep you all alive,” Traian said.

  “Get your crampons off,” Joie advised Gabrielle. “You don’t want a broken leg. If we’re going to do this, we have to take every precaution.”

  The three hurriedly removed the crampons from their boots.

  “I’ll go first,” Gabrielle announced, her chin up. “If I get stuck, you’ll know you won’t fit,” she added over her shoulder to her brother. Her voice trembled but she was obviously determined.

  Jubal caught her arm. “Not a chance, Gabby. I’ll be in front. We don’t know what’s down there.”

  “The chute may be blocked,” Traian explained. “The cave is fighting back and we seem to be tripping mage traps as we go. I will lead the way down the chute and clear it. Once we are clear, I will seal it up behind us so the vampires cannot use that shortcut to follow us. It will not stop them, but it will slow them down. As you go down, shine your light ahead. I’ll let you know if the ceiling is low and you have to lie all the way down, but once you do that, you will not be able to see anything ahead of you so once past the obstacle get back into a sitting position as fast as possible.”

  “Gabby, when you sit down, keep your axe to your side, hold with both hands and dig the point in to act like the brake,” Jubal instructed.

  Gabrielle swallowed hard. “This sounds more dangerous than I thought.”

  “We’ve practiced using the axe as a break,” Jubal reminded. “You’ll glissade down on your butt. You can do it.”

  Gabrielle shook her head. “I’ve done it on skis and we’ve practiced in soft snow, but not on ice, Jubal. Not like this in a tube. We don’t even know where it leads.” Even as she protested she leashed her ice axe to her wrist.

  “We have no choice, honey,” Jubal said. “We’ll be fine. Joie will be right in front of you and I’ll be close behind.”

  Gabrielle looked for a moment as if she might cry, but then she squared her shoulders and nodded. “I can do it.”

  “You may need your axe to self arrest. If I call back, use them fast. I will be clearing the way ahead of us. Hold until I give you the okay to continue.” Traian spoke tersely, confidently, needing the three humans to follow him without question.

  “You know that doesn’t always work, depending on how fast we get going,” Joie said. “It’s a hit or miss proposition and that chute might be too narrow to flip over.”

  “It is the best shot we have at living,” Traian reiterated, “and if we’re going to do it, we need to get moving.”

  The descent into the ice tube was perilous to say the least. A mage cave was extremely dangerous, filled with all sorts of valuable items and as many or more traps to protect them, each more lethal than the one before. They had stumbled upon a great underground labyrinth, a mage haven beneath the mountain. Few could get past the mage spells pushing dread and fear into the hearts and minds of any trying to make the descent into the deep abyss, making certain to keep everyone away. Traian didn’t think the caverns were abandoned. The fact that vampires had entered didn’t mean a powerful mage was not at work here. He wanted to get his lifemate and her family out as soon as possible. He didn’t understand how they had made it into the caves in the first place, how they had managed to get past mage barriers.