Vernon snarled at her, exposing his long fangs. “You won’t be smiling when I drain the blood from your veins.” Spittle ran down the side of his mouth and he coughed, holding his hands over his wounds.
“Now, now, Vernon, she does have a point. A mere woman and she stuck you like a pig.” The taller vampire smiled, exposing his sharp incisors. “No need to get nasty with her over your own incompetence.”
Look for something more. Another perhaps. It seems unreasonable that they would be in the same lair, but he is drawing your attention for a reason. They are afraid of you. You have twice plunged a dagger into one of the undead and you are a woman, a puzzle to them. Look with more than your eyes but do not turn away from him. Destiny sensed Nicolae at the cave’s entrance, and her heart began to beat much faster.
Do not show fear, even if it is of me. They will think you weak, and you want them worried. They have never encountered a female hunter before.
She had to trust Nicolae; she had no choice. He had hunted her for years, wanting her for himself or for some plan she could not fathom. She couldn’t imagine him betraying her to other vampires at this late date. And she knew from experience that he was right. Vampires did not share lairs. The situation was unusual and highly dangerous. She scanned the chamber, utilizing all her senses. She scented the third adversary immediately. She couldn’t locate him, but she knew he was there. She shared the information with Nicolae.
Destiny laughed softly, feigning unconcern while Vernon snarled his hatred of her. She turned to the more powerful vampire. “I don’t understand. Usually when one so powerful as yourself enters my home territory, I hear rumors.” Deliberately she flattered him, managing to sound breathless and slightly flirtatious.
The tall vampire bowed low. “I am called Pater. And you are?”
“Not fooled.” Destiny whirled around, crouching low, and extracted a dagger from her boot and drove it up into the newest attacker’s soft belly. As he shrieked, she drove her fist hard through bone and muscle, straight to the heart. Her fingers closed around it and she jerked hard as she leapt backward to avoid as much of the poisonous blood as possible.
Flinging the heart as far from the flopping vampire as she could, she struck a spark off the rock wall, fanning the embers as she raced up the wall, then tossing the flames at the pulsating blackened organ so that it incinerated immediately to a fine ash.
Vernon waved his arms recklessly, forgetting for a moment his terrible injuries. Destiny had destroyed the third vampire who had waited so patiently to attack her from behind while Pater distracted her. She dropped to the ground, ever conscious of the damp spots and the yellow vapor swirling thickly.
“I hope he wasn’t a friend of yours, Pater,” she said, smirking a little. Her leg, where the reptile’s tail had struck her with such force, was beginning to throb and burn. “I certainly hope you aren’t calling yourself Father. You’re much too young, you know.” She focused on the tall vampire, knowing Vernon posed little threat unless she was close to him. His strength was waning rapidly from loss of blood and the terrible wounds she had inflicted upon him.
The tall vampire merely smiled at her. He inhaled deeply, his eyes widening as he took in her scent. “You are one of us—the blood of our people flows in your veins.” He looked slightly puzzled. “Haven’t you heard the whispers of the movement? We are banding together, one by one, growing strong within our ranks. One piece of straw can blow away in the wind, but a bundle is solid. Too long our power has been hidden. We’ve been forced to fear while lesser creatures, beings no more than cattle to us, rule the earth. Why? Because we have never joined forces. Together we can defeat the hunters. They are few, and most are close to joining our ranks. We have eyes in the hunters’ camps and we have been growing in our dominion over the cattle, infiltrating into positions of influence and power. Join with us.”
A strange tingling had begun in her calf muscle, alarming because it radiated up her leg toward her thigh and also down to her foot. She tilted her chin, suddenly afraid of what he was going to say. Was this why Nicolae had hunted her for so long? To convince her to join the ranks of the undead in some new bid for power? The idea was chilling. Could she possibly stop such a movement on her own? Who would believe her? If she told anyone what she was, they would destroy her.
“You belong with us.”
She winced at his words. She couldn’t help the shudder that ran through her body, the sudden memories that sickened her. She slammed the door on them hard, terrified of what they would do to her.
Sensing her vulnerability, Pater took a gliding step toward her, barely skimming the ground. Destiny stepped to the side, not wanting to back into the wall of the chamber. She was certain there was something there. Unexpectedly, her leg went out from under her. She went down hard, a shocked look on her face. The strange tingling was a paralysis creeping up from the bruising on her calf muscle toward her thigh. Her foot was rigid, unable to move.
Snarling triumphantly, Vernon pushed past Pater, rushing her, greedy for blood. He stumbled in his haste, lunging forward. She saw his foot lashing out and she rolled awkwardly, the blow catching her on the temple, but without most of its original force. In retaliation, Destiny launched a rock straight at one of the wounds on his chest. She could see Pater gliding toward her with his unhurried stride, that same smile on his face.
The heavy rock smashed solidly into Vernon’s mangled chest. He howled, spittle and blood spraying from his mouth as he nearly collapsed. “I’ll kill her,” he vowed, so incensed he could barely get the words out. His hatred manifested itself in the chamber. The yellow vapor swirled closer to Destiny, circling her as Vernon approached.
Destiny waited, watching his every move. Vernon was severely injured, his blood loss great. Despite her inability to move her leg, she was certain she was still the stronger of the two. She could take his heart if he was close enough. She would have to kill at least one of them—before she found a way to destroy herself. She was determined she would not be taken alive by either of them.
Something in her stillness made the vampire pause. Even Pater stopped moving to regard her uneasily. Vernon’s hate-filled gaze narrowed, and he lunged at her.
The chamber exploded with fireworks, bursts of flame and a shower of sparks. A tall, powerfully built man landed solidly in the midst of the pyrotechnics.
It was far too late for Vernon to retreat. The newcomer’s hands caught his bullet-shaped head and wrenched hard, snapping bones. The attacker moved so fast he was a blurred image, his fist driving deep through the undead’s chest cavity and extracting the heart from the screaming vampire. As Vernon fell, Destiny caught the glint of a dagger. It dropped from the vampire’s nerveless fingers and landed a short distance from her.
Destiny stared up at the stranger. She knew him. She would know him anywhere. He was raw power and pure elegance with his long hair and strong face and piercing eyes. Eyes of death. Whirlwind of death. He took her breath away. She couldn’t think of him as anything but her mortal enemy. A dangerous vampire who had killed again and again.
“How badly are you injured?” Nicolae demanded tersely, his brilliant gaze slashing through the heavy yellow vapor that was gathering around them. “This entire chamber is a death trap. We have to get out of here.” He took a step toward her, leaned close, reaching for her to gather her into the safety of his arms. Pater had disappeared, and the feel of the chamber was alarming. The very air vibrated with tension and something far more sinister.