Dark Descent (7 page)

“When you’re alone,” Joie said.

“When I am alone,” Traian confirmed. He urged them through the narrow hall. “You must not touch anything, no matter how inviting it appears,” he added as a precaution.

Jubal glanced at Joie. “It isn’t like you to agree to stay behind. Are you certain he doesn’t have you under a spell?” He groaned. “That sounds so melodramatic and stupid. I can’t believe I said it.”

“I’m a professional, Jubal, and I don’t need to make a point. This is his area of expertise, not mine.”

The hall opened into a gallery. Tall columns in a Gothic style were carved into the walls. The high cathedral ceiling was impressive. Pillars of ice and crystal formed two rows down the room, each holding several round globes of varying colors. Joie peered into one of the largest, a milky blue natural sapphire. As she stared at it, the color deepened, darkened, began to swirl with alarming speed. Mesmerized, she moved closer. The ground beneath her tilted, rippled. She felt a pulling, a drawing as if the swirling sphere called to her.

Traian clapped his hand over her eyes and pulled her away from the globe. “Do not look at them. Gabrielle, come away from there.” There was urgency in his normally calm tone. “Jubal, just pull her with you. I can feel the aura of power in all of these objects. Until we know what they are, we need to give them a wide berth.”

Joie was stunned that she had been so quickly pulled into the globe’s influence. “I thought wizards were supposed to be good.”

“Absolute power corrupts. It is something one learns when one’s life spans hundreds of years.” Traian crowded close to Joie, keeping his body between her and the tall pillars.

Joie laughed. “Don’t let Jubal or Gabrielle hear you say that. If you tell them you’ve been alive for a few hundred years, they might change their minds about us.”

“I heard it already,” Jubal said. He was pacing right behind Gabrielle, pushing her through the long, wide-open room. There were clear crystal sculptures of mythical creatures. Small, blood-red pyramids made of stone were set into chiseled-out archways in the walls. It was difficult not to stare at the gems and strange objects surrounding them, but Traian was obviously fearful of their safety, and they were ever conscious of the deadly creatures following them.

A deep boom shook the network of caverns. They stopped in the last one and stared at a solid wall in front of them. “There has to be a way out,” Traian said. “Wizards were not able to shape-shift or fly. They were much as you are. There must be an opening leading to the surface.”

“We have our gear,” Joie pointed out. “We can use it to climb.”

“Not with vampires so close on our heels. They will not need gear to climb. They can take to the air to pursue you. They hit the trap I set for them and were buried under a mudslide, but it will only slow them down. Look for something that does not feel right. There will be a hallway leading up to the entrance.”

“Like the rocks outside the cave. The pattern was all wrong,” Joie said. “Jubal, you’re good at patterns. Find us the opening, and hurry. Jubal’s rather infamous in our family for his mathematical mind,” she told Traian.

“He can see a pattern in just about anything. That’s how he makes all his money.”

They could hear scratching, a terrible sound amplified by the acoustics of the cavernous room. Great claws scraping at the earth, digging to get at them. They spread out, walked along the wall, carefully examining every surface. All the while they could hear the vampires tunneling furiously through the mud and ice. The sounds grew louder, closer, and Traian dropped back, facing the wall where the creatures were certain to break through.

“I’ve got it!” Jubal said triumphantly. “We were expecting up, but it’s down. The floor. See the pattern on the floor, Joie?”

“Open it,” Traian said tersely, not looking, his attention centered completely on the far wall.

Jubal studied the squares, pyramids, and starburst patterns of stone beneath the layers of muddy ice. In the center of each symbol were hieroglyphics, pictures carved into each stone. He stepped on various ones, taking his time, choosing each stone carefully, following the pattern he could see laid out before him.

At last a large stone slid aside to reveal steps carved into the ice. Jubal hesitated. “Are you certain this is the way?”

“It has to be the way,” Traian said. “Take your sisters and go.”

Jubal was cautious, shining his light down the narrow staircase. The stairs appeared to be a bridge over a dark, fathomless abyss. “It’s another bridge, Traian. Do I trust it?”

“You have to. It must have been their way out.”

Jubal took a deep breath and stepped onto the first stair, found it solid, and reached back to aid Gabrielle. “Hurry, Joie.”

“Come with us, Traian,” Joie pleaded.

Water gushed in a dark, muddy stream from the side of the wall. Insects poured into the gallery. The wall to Traian’s left collapsed in an oozing pool of dark sludge.

Two hideous creatures flopped onto the floor of the chamber, abominations in the crystal perfection of the room. Gaunt and cadaverous, they were covered in black muck. Baring their jagged, spiked teeth, they stared at Traian from red-rimmed eyes filled with venomous hatred.

Chapter Six

“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.

Traian calmly regarded the black shadow that was emerging from the fog in the cavern. “Justice has come, Valenteen,” he said to the master vampire. “A shadow warrior has been awakened and he is seeking our deaths. Do we fight each other?”

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.