Dark Legend (31 page)

Francesca watched in horrified fascination as the undead obeyed the compulsion in that sweetly lethal voice. The vampire gasped for air, and as the fist closed tighter, his face began to turn color as he choked and strangled before her eyes. The vampire clutched at his chest as his heart stuttered, but he made no attempt to fight the order, so powerful was that voice. Francesca could scarcely take her eyes from her lifemate's twin; she, too, was caught in the spell of his power, mesmerized by the true beauty of his voice. It was only when he plunged his fist deep within the cavity of the vampire's chest and extracted the heart, when lightning slammed to earth in a jagged bolt of blue white and incinerated the already dead organ and its host, that she managed to jerk herself awake, once again aware of her own very precarious situation.

Francesca waited in silence, one hand over her stomach to protect her unborn daughter, the other holding on to Brice, who was still under her mind control, unable to comprehend anything going on around him.

Lucian was a thousand times more powerful, more deadly, than the vampire she had just faced. She stood watching him with her dark eyes, her small teeth biting down on her lower lip, betraying her nervousness. He moved then, a flowing of grace and timeless beauty, a two-edged sword more destructive than anything she had ever known. Gabriel was right to hunt this monster. Nothing could stop him, nothing the humans had would slow him down if he should decide to give up the murderous game he played with his brother and turn to something even more vicious.

Francesca swallowed the tight knot of fear blocking her throat and lifted her chin defiantly. "I must thank you for coming to my aid, dark one."

"To my brother's aid," he corrected softly, moving around her with a flowing grace. He seemed not to touch the ground, but to glide through the air itself. He moved so softly there was no sound, no disturbance in the air. Lucian's black eyes moved over her face, and he seemed to see right into her soul. "My brother is the only one able to provide me with diversion. Life is tedious when one is so much more intelligent than all others."

"Why have you come to his aid?" Francesca asked softly, puzzled that he did not appear as foul to her as the other vampires she had encountered over the centuries. Was he so good at illusion that even an ancient such as she could not recognize what was foul and wholly evil? His power was very disturbing to her.

The broad shoulders shrugged in a lazy ripple. "I do not allow others to interfere in our game. You are an anchor he weighs himself down with. A pawn I can use against him when I so desire. What is between my brother and me shall remain so always. Any who dares to interfere, hunter or vampire or woman, will die at my choosing."

She tilted her chin. "What are you going to do with me?"

The perfect mouth slanted into a brief, humorless smile. "Call him to your aid. You would not want me to make you my slave. Call him." His voice was pleasing and subtle, an insidious whisper of purity. He seemed not to move, yet he was so close she could smell his scent, clean, not foul. She could feel his power.

Francesca swallowed hard and took a step backward, shaking her head to be sure she wasn't under compulsion. "Never. There is nothing you can do to make me betray him, not of my own free will. Gabriel is a great man and my lifemate. I willingly exchange my life for his." She waited to be struck down. There was a silence, long and empty. She couldn't hear him breathing, couldn't hear his heart beating, if he had a heart.

Her long lashes fluttered as she regarded the master vampire standing so motionless, looking like the statue of an ancient god. It took a moment to realize there was no entrapment in his voice, just plain black magic. His voice simply made one want to comply with his every wish. "Why aren't you forcing me to do your bidding?" she asked curiously, sweeping one hand nervously through her long blue-black hair.

"I do not need the aid of women in my battle." She felt a whip of contempt in his words. "I find it rather astonishing that my brother has grown so weak he has allowed this mortal you guard to remain alive. What do you see in this mortal that you would prefer his company to that of one of your own people? He is self-seeking; his mind is filled with plans of revenge. His main purpose in life seems to be to get at my brother." His black eyes were steady on her face. "But you know that, Francesca."

She shivered, running her hands up and down her arms. She was suddenly cold. It was his voice again. The tone was exactly the same. Soft. Pure. Beautiful. Yet somehow she felt threatened now. And worse than being threatened, she felt the heavy weight of his rebuke. It shouldn't have meant anything to her. He was the undead. Yet she felt as if she were a young girl censured by the Prince of their people. It hurt and it was humiliating. Francesca could not meet those empty black eyes. Instead she found herself looking down at the toes of her shoes. She wanted to make him understand, yet she didn't understand her own feelings. How could she possibly explain them to someone who had no emotions at all?

"I would stay and play longer, but the foolish one is forgetting all that was taught him." Lucian said the words softly as he shimmered for a moment, his once-solid form transparent so that she could see the trees right through him. There was a peculiar prism effect she had never seen before right before he dissolved into droplets of mist and streamed through the fog-filled terrain away from her.

Francesca let out her breath slowly and relaxed muscles she hadn't realized were cramped and taut. At once she reached for Gabriel to warn him. He was in a desperate battle, whirling among the three lesser vampires, all minions of the one Lucian had destroyed. They were darting in, seeking to wear him down with long, razor-sharp talons, attempting to slice small, deep cuts in his flesh to weaken him.

"Lucian is here."

Soft laughter echoed through her mind. At first she thought Lucian had somehow managed to get into her head, but then she realized he was in Gabriel's mind. Because she shared Gabriel's thoughts and memories, she could "hear" their strange conversation.

"You have forgotten all that I taught you, brother. Why would you allow these lesser vampires to surround you this way?"
Lucian shimmered into solid form between Gabriel and the largest and most aggressive of the three undead.

Gabriel launched himself at the smallest vampire, the one directly behind him, moving so quickly he had plunged his fist into the chest and extracted the pulsing heart while the vampire was still staring in shock at Lucian. Gabriel was on the second vampire before he had dropped the heart of the first one. The creature screamed his defiance, lashing out, but was far too late. Gabriel had taken his heart and whirled away, even as bolt after bolt of jagged lightning beat at the earth, incinerating the two bodies and their tainted hearts.

It happened so quickly, Francesca was unable to comprehend how Gabriel had done it. There was no thought, no plan in his mind that she could read, not even a communication between the twin brothers, yet even as Gabriel had used Lucian as a distraction, so had Lucian used Gabriel. He had attacked the largest of the undead while it was gaping in horror at Gabriel. The third body was lying shriveled and lifeless on the ground while Lucian tossed the tainted heart into the fiery ball of energy Gabriel was using to destroy the other two.

It was then Gabriel suddenly comprehended that his brother, the mortal enemy of their people, had once again aided him in his battle. Francesca read his guilt, his annoyance with himself that he had not taken the opportunity to destroy Lucian. He was so accustomed to working with his twin, he had simply acted on instinct. Before he could launch himself in his brother's direction, Lucian had disappeared, leaving no trace behind. There was no trail of droplets, no minute particles, no suggestion of power or empty spaces that Gabriel might use as a path to follow the undead to his lair.

As he finished incinerating the three vampires and all evidence of their battle, he went over every detail of Lucian's appearance, the tone of his voice, the things he had said. Lucian had flooded him with more information about the city, hideaways commonly used by the underground people, those who were often used as minions by the undead.

Gabriel swore softly, eloquently in the ancient language. "
I am useless
."

"Do not say that, Gabriel."

"You see why I have not destroyed him. I have always followed where he has led. He knows it and taunts me with my failure. If I had not done so tonight, I could have had a great advantage against him."

"You would have been fighting four vampires, Gabriel He would have defeated you. You would be dead and I would be forced to flee to the Carpathian Mountains to have this child. You cannot take such risks."
The very idea of his death frightened her. He was already a part of her, buried deep within her soul. She would live a half life without him. And she would not even have the option of following him to the afterlife. She carried their daughter and she must bring her into the world safely. She would have to seek shelter and protection from the Prince of their people. "Gabriel." She whispered his name in sudden terror. He could not leave her alone like that, not after he had dragged her back into a world she had given up.

"He would not have allowed the others to destroy me.
" Gabriel sounded as calm as ever, his voice soft and comforting.
"It is a game to him. No other can play it. Only I have the potential to defeat him. He would have liked me to attack him. He is probably disappointed that I did not."

The pure, beautiful voice filled their heads.
"You have grown soft, Gabriel. I was prepared for such an action, yet you passed up the perfect opportunity."

"You looked tired, Lucian. I did not want an unfair advantage."
Gabriel's reply was gentle.
"You need a rest, you seek ever to find a resting place, a way to leave this world behind. Tell me where you are that I may come to you and aid you in your long-awaited journey."

Francesca's heart jumped at the idea, fear racing through her bloodstream so that she actually felt physically ill. She waited for the answer, terrified that Lucian would call Gabriel to his side. They would fight to the death. She knew it as surely as she knew her own name. Gabriel would never go unscathed by so powerful a being.

The laughter that followed Gabriel's words should have been ugly and horrible to hear, yet Lucian's voice was a beautiful instrument filling them with a soothing, tranquil feeling. Their tranquility was quickly dispersed when he spoke.
"You seek to entrap me with your voice, brother. I do not think entrapment is possible between us."

"I did once."

"Locking me to you beneath the earth was an interesting move and one I did not expect."
There was a certain note of admiration in the beautiful voice.

"You were weak from loss of blood."

"Now you seek to anger me, hoping I will continue our conversation so you may follow my trail. I am incapable of emotion, brother, not even anger. The precious gift was not bestowed on me as one of the legions of undead. But I am glad to tell you where I am at this moment. I am bending over the child you claim as yours. She is unusual, a rarity in a world filled with carbon copies."
There was a subtle threat, a subtle challenge.

Francesca cried out and without thinking dropped Brice's wrist. She had all but forgotten him. Now she could think only of Skyler lying helpless in bed with the vampire bending ever closer to her neck. She pushed Brice into a sitting position, issuing a command to awaken from his dream even as she dissolved into a million droplets of water and streamed back toward the hospital.

"
I forbid this, Francesca."
Gabriel's voice was quiet, authoritative.
"It is a trap."

"I will not give her to him."
There was a sob in her voice, in her mind. She knew Gabriel was already winging his way toward their shared destination.

"
I am sorry, my love. I cannot allow such a threat to you."
Gabriel's voice whispered against the walls of her mind like butterfly wings.

Without warning Francesca abruptly changed direction. Alarmed, she cried out to Gabriel. She was no longer in control of her motion, someone else was controlling her flight. Instinctively she attempted to fall to the ground, to shape-shift, but it was impossible.
"Gabriel!"

"Do not fear so, Francesca, I am merely doing my duty. You will wait for me in the protection of our home."

The soft, taunting laughter came again, moving through their minds and bodies like a warm, molten spread of sunshine. The power of Lucian's voice was incredible.
"What safeguards do you think to use to keep me at bay? Have you learned much that you have not shared with your own twin?"

"Do not think yourself invincible, Lucian. I have bested you once, I may do so again,"
Gabriel replied calmly.

His very calmness strengthened her, allowed Francesca to push aside her horror. She was shocked at Gabriel's strength, that he could command an ancient such as herself in flight, hold her course steady, safeguard her, yet continue his journey toward the hospital even as he conversed so calmly with his mortal enemy. His calm was not a facade. He was completely confident, an ancient warrior who had battled continually, fought his way through the long centuries. The forthcoming battle would be the culmination of those centuries of experience. At once she stopped fighting him, not wanting to make his tasks more difficult.

Francesca had to force herself not to plead with the vampire to spare Skyler further pain. Vampires thrived on the pain of others. It was one of the dark gifts of the un- dead. Through their victims, they could feel momentarily, a fleeting glimpse of what they had lost. Each emotion was dark and ugly, but it was emotion all the same.