Dark Descent

"He is not the only one," Traian agreed. "His friends are coming this way fast, and they have murder on their minds." The vampire struggled to a half-sitting position on the floor, blood and spittle running down his chin. His red- rimmed eyes fixed on Joie with a mixture of hate and fear.

She glared at him. "What the hell did you do to my knife, you fiend? Do you have any idea what a knife like that costs?" She held out her hand to Jubal for the knife she had given him. "Give that to me. I think I'm going to need it."

Traian put her firmly behind him and signaled to Jubal and Gabrielle to move away from the vampire. They did so carefully. He was making hideous noises, his talons cutting deep gouges into the ice.

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.

Joie watched Traian 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, stabbing at the air with his claws and clicking his twisted nails rapidly in a summons. The ball left Traian's hands, hurtling through the chamber to pass cleanly through the vampire's chest, leaving behind a gaping hole where the heart had been. The creature slumped to the floor, limp and unmoving, a foul stench rilled the cavern.

"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. "I think that's our cue to leave."

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

"What the hell are they?" Jubal demanded.

"Vampires," Traian answered. "And they are coming for us. We have to get out of here now." He indicated a small break in the wall of ice. "That way. I will seal it up behind us. It will not stop them, but it will slow them down." Gabrielle didn't wait for a second invitation. Clutching her pack, she ducked into the crevice and scooted down the ice chute. Jubal started to say something, thought better of it, and followed her into the ice tunnel.

"In all of our conversations, it didn't occur to you to mention a few pertinent facts such as how you're a peculiar sort of man who likes blood and has vampires and other mythical creatures stalking you? You might have mentioned, just once, that you weren't telling me cheery bedtime stories but that you lived this sort of life. Didn't you think that might be important in the grand scheme of things?" Joie arched an eyebrow at Traian.

"I took into consideration your fear that you had lost your mind. It occurred to me that if I started talking about vampires being real and not fictional, you would have yourself committed." His smile was slow and incredibly sexy as he stepped back to allow her to precede him. "You will need your pack. We may be trapped in here most of the night."

The ice chute was cold after the unexpected heat Traian had generated in the chamber. Before she could disappear down the slide, he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her back against his chest. He climbed into the chute, sat down with her on his lap, and pushed off into the spiraling tube.

Joie slid down into the freezing world of blue ice and crystal, knowing he was right. She would have had herself committed at the mere mention of vampires. "I still might," she muttered aloud. "I don't think having a boyfriend who has a neck-biting fetish is too sane."

"Boyfriend?" She heard the genuine amusement in his voice. "I have never been anyone's boyfriend before." He buried his face in the warmth of her neck. "I told you not to come here. I am not certain I can get your family out alive. There is something in this cave the vampires are determined to find. Or protect."

His arms held her snugly to him, his body protecting hers from the biting cold, the ice slivers and hard, jagged edges that could tear through fabric and skin. She reached out, caught at a thick crystalline handhold, and jolted their downward slide to a stop. "This formation isn't entirely natural, is it, Traian?"

With a startling rasping sound, crickets poured down the tube around them. Traian shifted, turned. Joie felt the gathering of energy, of heat, of power. She opened her mind instantly to him, flooding him with her strength and energy, generously sharing everything she had, everything she was. The impulse to do so should have frightened her. It didn't. She belonged with him. Shoulder to shoulder. Mind to mind. They were connected in some way she didn't understand, but it felt right. She didn't trust people, other than Gabrielle and Jubal. She was naturally private and always very careful in close relationships, yet the moment she heard Traian's voice, the moment she laid eyes on him, even when she'd thought he was a fantasy, she had known he was somehow a part of her.

Below her, she heard Gabrielle cry out as the insects reached her. Jubal murmured softly in reassurance. Above her, a scream of rage and hatred announced that the undead's companions had found his lifeless body. Traian began to chant in a soft voice, his hands moving quickly in a pattern Joie couldn't quite follow, the movements blurring with his incredible speed.

"Let go," he ordered, and dragged her hands from the hold so that they plunged down the slide toward the bottom. She could hear the ominous cracking of ice. The tube above their head was veined in a starburst pattern that spread rapidly outward. At the entrance, the ice began to fall in large chunks, some sliding down the tube toward them. Traian hit the ground running, with Joie in his arms. "Hurry!" he called to Jubal and Gabrielle.

A sound was building behind them, a great roar and a thunderous clap as the tube collapsed in on itself. The earth shook beneath their feet, and an ominous rumble emanated from the walls and ceiling surrounding them. Jubal caught Gabrielle's hand and followed Traian at a dead run through the narrow hall.

Joie clung to Traian, feeling somewhat silly being carried when he was so hideously injured, but the man wasn't even breathing hard. Sharp daggers of ice fell from the ceiling as they rushed through the tunnel. Several times, Traian redirected a lethal missile as they raced along the well-worn path. Traian stopped so abruptly, Jubal ran into him. Very slowly Traian allowed Joie to stand on her own feet. His arm remained around her. They were on the edge of a precipice. A very narrow bridge, constructed of ice and stone, was the only way across. It appeared dangerously thin in places and had an obvious hole in one section.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Jubal demanded. "That's no natural bridge. Who could have carved such a thing? Can we cross it?"

Traian studied it warily. He shook his head. "I am beginning to be very afraid we have stumbled into a cave we do not want to be in. I fear that bridge is an invitation to death. A trap."

Jubal glared at him. "If you know something, tell us." He caught Joie's hand and pulled her away from Traian. She was already looking upward, searching for another way out of the hall. "Joie, slow down for a minute," Jubal ordered. "I don't understand what's going on here, but I can tell you, this man is dangerous. We don't know him and we don't need to be associated with him." He actually shoved her behind him, the look in his ice-cold eyes making it clear he was prepared to protect his sisters against an obvious predator. "Why are we taking his word for anything?"

Traian swung his head around, his eyes glittering with menace. There was instant silence. Joie wrapped her fingers around her brother's wrist. "I think we can talk about this at a more opportune time. Maybe when the fiends from hell aren't chasing after us."

"Has it occurred to you, he's one of them?" Jubal demanded, glaring at Traian. "He drank your blood, Joie. That ought to tell you something right there."

"It tells her I am different. Not quite human. The fact that I did not kill her - or you, for that matter - tells you I am not vampire." Traian spoke very quietly. "I will not allow any harm to come to her."

Joie made a move to slide past her brother, but he sidestepped, staying between her and Traian. She glared at him. "What is wrong with you? You aren't going all macho and stupid on me, are you, Jubal? I love you dearly, but you can't be serious. Did you see that thing? We've got to get out of here, and Traian knows the way." She tilted her chin to look up at him. "You do know the way, don't you?"

Gabrielle slipped her hand into her sister's. "I'm afraid, Joie. I've got a terrible feeling we're all going to die."

"The vampires are broadcasting terror and images of death to feed your natural fear," Traian explained. "They are hunting something in these caves. The network is very large and, as you can see, not all naturally formed. I stayed to try to find what they are looking for. Vampires do not normally put so much energy into a project. Whatever it is they want, their finding it will not benefit either the Carpathian or the human race." Jubal nodded toward the raw wounds on Traian's chest. "You've been in a few battles with them." He nodded. "Yes, and I have noticed changes in their behavior. Now vampires are running in packs. They used to be out for themselves, or occasionally a master vampire would use the newer ones as fodder for his battles, but lately they seem to be organized."

Jubal shoved a hand through his hair in agitation. "I feel like I'm losing my mind. Vampires are Hollywood creations, creatures in movies. They aren't real." He stared hard at Traian's mouth, trying to see his teeth. "I saw you bite my sister's neck, and I'm sorry, but that puts you into the vampire category as far as I'm concerned. You just go your way and we'll go ours, and we'll pretend we never saw you."

Traian's gaze swept over Jubal, his glittering eyes taking on a peculiar reddish glow in the light from the helmets. He noted Jubal's aggressive posture, his clenched fists. "Do you think to fight me? There is no way to win. I am powerful beyond your imagination, just as the vampires are. You still do not understand the danger you are in."

"You didn't look so powerful lying there while that thing was having you for dinner," Jubal snapped.

"He does have a point, Traian," Joie said. "But we don't have time for this." She could hear a sound accompanying the drip of the water. A soft clicking, like branches banging together in the wind. It made her edgy.

There was no warning. One moment Traian stood in the glare of their lights, the next a huge, shaggy black wolf with a mouthful of lethal teeth sat in his place, eyes focused menacingly on Jubal. Gabrielle screamed and stumbled backward. Jubal reached out to catch her, dragging her away from the abyss to comparative safety beside the snarling animal.

Joie circled the wolf's neck with a restraining arm. "Totally impressive, but not something I want to take home to Mom." Her heart was pounding so loudly, it sounded like a drum in her ears. Even her mouth was dry.

There is no need to fear me. I would never harm you.

"Why would you think I was afraid of you?" Joie demanded. "I'm not in the least afraid. I'm keeping you under control."

It may have something to do with the knife you are holding to my throat.

Traian said it casually, a soft amusement in his voice, as if the blade pressed so tightly against him didn't matter in the least.

And that scared her more than the fact he had just shape-shifted into a predator. She looked down at her arm curved around his neck. The fur was thick and luxurious, and her arm was nearly buried in it. But she could feel the handle of the knife in her hand. She let out her breath and slowly eased the blade away from his throat. "I was just making certain you were paying attention," she said as she slipped the blade back into the scabbard.

Traian calmly shifted back into his true form. "Just how many weapons do you carry on you? You seem to be a walking arsenal."

"You are a walking arsenal," Jubal accused. "Joie, how did you get mixed up with him? And it's obvious you're talking with him telepathically."

Joie burst out laughing. "You sound so accusing, Jubal. I told you I was talking to him telepathically. We all do it. Don't pretend it's all that unusual for us."

"We have to work at it," Jubal complained. "You seem to communicate with him effortlessly."

"Jubal, we can discuss all this later when we're far away from here," Joie said. "That clicking noise is driving me crazy. I don't like the rhythm; it's not natural."

"I want to get out of here," Gabrielle said. "Joie, find us a way out." Her voice trembled, and she sounded very forlorn.

"We'll get out, hon," Joie said with confidence. "If the two macho boys can stop beating their chests long enough" - she blew her brother a kiss - "we'll figure this out." The dripping of the water was more insistent. She looked anxiously toward Traian. Something was wrong. He knew it. She knew it.

"I will take them across and come back for you," Traian said to Joie. There was no sense in attempting to take his lifemate first. It was clear she would never go without the others, and he didn't want to waste time arguing. He held out his hand toward Gabrielle. "Come with me."

She didn't look at him, but rather at her sister. "Do you trust him, Joie?"

Joie looked up at Traian, noting the lines etched in his strong, timeless face. The dark depths of his eyes. Old eyes. Eyes that had seen too much. He was a man who had been alone too long. She was a looking at a warrior. A man of honor. Joie reached out to brush a caress along his jaw with her fingertips. The touch jolted him. Jolted her. Need slammed into him, a driving punch that shook his existence. Heat flooded her body. Electricity arced between them, lightning flashing in their veins. Instant awareness. They smiled at one another in understanding.

"I would trust him with my life, Gabrielle. More importantly, I would trust him with yours. Please go with him now. I've got that bad feeling I always get when we're in danger."

Gabrielle took Traian's hand, allowed him to draw her to him. They all looked at Jubal.

"Damn it, Joie, I'm your older brother and the man here," he muttered, shaking his head, but he went obediently to Traian's side.

Traian leaned over to catch Joie's chin. "I will be back immediately. Do not attempt to engage the enemy. They must not get their hands on you." There was an underlying urgency in his voice. His dark eyes stared into hers. "Be safe, Joie. I need you to be safe."

He was taking her family to safety for her, when everything in him demanded he take her first. Joie understood his look immediately, recognized how difficult it was for him to do what was important to her rather than to himself. There was a storm of emotion churning inside him, yet his features remained tranquil. Only his eyes burned with intensity. With possession. With promise. With passion.

His mouth fastened on hers, a hard kiss that staked his claim on her. That kiss told her he meant to have her and nothing would stand in his way. She felt his body tremble and tasted his passion, tasted his fear for her.

He pulled away abruptly, lifting her brother and sister easily, as if they were no more than children, shifting into a creature with wings, half man, half bird, and flying across the abyss into the dark where she could no longer see him.

Joie was left standing alone on the edge of the precipice with the darkness pressing down on her. With the strange rhythmic clicking and the dripping water. Heart pounding and mouth dry, she turned toward the sound, shining her light to see what was behind her.

In the small confines she could see water trickling from the side of the cavern; it was not clear, but a milky yellow, and gathered into a foul-smelling pool. She moved cautiously, positioning herself to keep an eye on what was gathering there. Something evil. Something alive.

The water rippled in response to a dark disturbance below the surface. The pool darkened into an oily substance, revealing two red orbs glaring with terrible malevolence. A chill crept down her spine. The hair on her arms stood up.

Traian.

Automatically, without conscious thought, she reached out for him, showed him the pool with its macabre secrets.

Move! Get out of its line of vision, Joie.