Dark Nights

Chapter Twelve

Traian felt stabbing pain as teeth sank into his neck and the fist continued burrowing through his chest toward his heart. No master vampire would go down so easily. Already the rotten heart rocked to the summons of its growling, snarling master and began to slither across the floor to its host. Traian staggered under the weight of the heavy body trying to bring him to the ground. Insects abandoned the room to rush to the aid of their master. Bats darkened the hallway, rushing from the bedroom abandoning the two men they were trying to drain of blood, to serve Valenteen.

Gary and Jubal both stumbled to their feet, half blind with blood dripping from hundreds of bites, bodies swelling from insect bites, both trying to make their way to aid Traian. Gabrielle burst from the bathroom, sweeping up the shotgun as she ran, turning it as she would a baseball bat and as Valenteen lifted his head to spit blood in Traian’s face, she slammed the butt of the shotgun full force into the vampire’s face, driving him back and away from Traian.

“Get off of him!” She followed the vampire, hitting him a second time just as hard, with just as much adrenaline as the first strike. She stepped in Joie’s blood and slipped. Instantly she dropped to her knees beside her sister, hands clamping around her torn neck in an effort to slow down the bleeding. “Jubal! Help me.”

The hand groping for Traian’s heart fell free as Valenteen fell backward. Traian went to his knees as the bats went into a frenzy, eager for the hunter’s blood. Jubal tore handfuls of bats from Traian. Gary did the same. At Gabrielle’s cry, Jubal turned to see his youngest sister lying in an alarmingly large pool of blood.

Traian, still kneeling, covered in insects and biting bats, a hole torn in his chest, ignored all of it, blocking out pain and weakness from blood loss. He lifted his hands toward the hole in the ceiling of the bedroom. In answer, the clouds roiled with energy, silver streaks edging each of the spinning, dark fountains. Lightning forked in the sky, spun until it was a bright white sphere, hurtling down from the heavens like a streaking comet.

Valenteen shrieked and threw himself toward his heart, grasping at it with his outstretched hand. Gary slammed his booted foot down on his wrist to prevent him from reaching it as the spinning white-hot ball of lightning struck the heart, incinerating it. Valenteen grasped Gary’s ankle in his talons, driving them deep, digging through flesh to try to get to bone in an effort to force him to move.

“Get away from him,” Traian ordered, his voice hoarse. “If I destroy his body, his servants will leave as well, but you have to get back.”

Gary jerked a long-bladed knife from inside his loose jacket, took a breath and slammed the blade as hard as he could across the wrist of the vampire, the edge going through skin and bone. The hand fell away from the arm and he leapt back. Valenteen shrieked and the bats and insects renewed their frenzied biting, swarming over Traian, trying to drive him to the ground.

With a tremendous effort, Traian reached for the lightning once more, commanding a single bolt through the hole in the above bedroom floor to strike the body of the master vampire. Valenteen’s body began to incinerate, exploding outward with wiggling white parasites, spewing ash and cinder. His mouth gaped wide, teeth bared, fiery eyes promising retaliation and then that too was gone. Only the hand remained, the talons digging long lines in the floor as it tried, with one last effort of pure malevolence, to get to the Carpathian hunter. The lightning forked, jumping to the hand to incinerate it as well.

The moment the last remnant of Valenteen had been reduced to ashes, the bats and insects fell away from Traian to flit aimlessly through the halls as if, without the direction of their master, they had no idea what to do.

Traian bathed his hands and arms in the energy, removing the acid burning his flesh before he attempted to stagger over to Joie. Joie lay on the floor in the hallway, watching him with a kind of awe. She couldn’t talk because of the wound in her neck and loss of blood. She was barely conscious but seemed to know they were all there. Her fingers moved a little against Gabrielle’s thigh as if to reassure her.

“Your wound must be attended first,” Gary told Traian. “She’ll need to be brought over and you cannot do that without strength. Jubal, we’ll need soil. There’s a bag in my closet. Get it as fast as you can.”

Jubal nodded and forced his body, covered in bites and throbbing in pain, to move. He tore open the door to the closet to find the bag of rich Carpathian soil.

“I don’t understand how they could get in from above us,” Gabrielle sobbed, pressing harder on Joie’s wound. “Do something, Traian. I can’t stop the bleeding.”

“Whoever had the room above mine must have allowed the vampire in,” Gary explained. He very casually sliced a long line in his wrist and held the welling blood out to Traian. “Drink now. You’ll need more later. You know what you have to do here, if she’s going to survive.”

“What?” Gabrielle demanded. She took a breath and looked from one man to the other. “Tell me what we have to do. Don’t let her die, Traian.”

“Pour a handful of soil into that bowl and bring it here,” Gary instructed Jubal.

Traian drank from the man’s wrist, his eyes on Joie, his mind in hers. Stay with me, sivamet—my love. You must give yourself into my keeping.

Joie tried to smile at him in reassurance. She was cold, very cold, but she didn’t hurt anymore. She knew she was drifting away from all of them. Gabrielle, her beloved sister, trying so frantically to close the wound, Jubal, hell-bent on action to save her, and Traian . . . Traian. She didn’t remember if she’d told him she loved him. She’d never thought it ever possible that she would find a man to love. She regretted that she hadn’t had time with him.

You will stay with me. This time it was a command.

Traian closed the wound on Gary’s wrist with a small nod of his head in thanks. He buried his face against Joie’s torn throat, using his own healing saliva to close the wound. She needed blood and soil, but more, she needed strength to get through the conversion and they had very little time.

“Carpathian soil,” Gary said, taking the bowl from Jubal’s hand. “We’ll need your saliva to mix this. I have to plug that hole in your chest.”

Traian glanced down at the mess of his chest. He had scarcely been aware of his wounds, blocking all pain until he could ensure Joie’s safety. He obliged Gary, mixing his healing saliva with the mineral rich soil of his homeland. Gary hastily made a paste, noting Gabrielle watched his every movement carefully.

“You’ll have to sit up for me,” Gary said. “I’ll put this in your chest and then on her neck. You’ll need to go inside her to heal from the inside out to stop her losing any more blood before you convert her.” He spoke the obvious to the Carpathian so that Joie’s siblings would understand what was about to take place.

Traian nodded tersely. “Hurry. Her spirit is moving away from me.”

Gary packed the wad of mud tight into the hole in Traian’s chest under Gabrielle’s watchful gaze.

“He has a healing agent in his saliva,” Gary informed her as he worked. “Teeth can inject the anticoagulant needed to keep the blood flowing and saliva can heal it. Combined with their natural soil, it is a better healing agent than anything we’ve got for them.”

“Joie isn’t Carpathian,” Gabrielle said. “The risk for her to get an infection could be very high.” There was more question than statement in her observation.

“Traian will have to bring her across to his world. She’s more than halfway there,” Gary said as he packed Joie’s wound. “He’s holding her to us through sheer will, which is why I’m explaining all this to you, not him. He can’t expend energy talking.”

He looked around him. They were in the hall with a good part of the inn damaged and people milling around in shock. Mirko Ostojic rushed down the hall toward them, a shotgun in his hands. Behind him, Slavica, his wife, and their daughter Angelina herded the guests away from the area.

“Tell us what to do to help,” Mirko said.

Gary answered him. “Tell your guests that the storm damaged this part of the inn and the noise was thunder and lightning hitting the roof and going through to the first story. You have to keep them away from here, Mirko. The bats living in the eaves in this area came in, frightened by the lightning.”

The innkeeper nodded and indicated Jubal and Joie. “Should I send for a doctor?”

Gary shook his head. “We’ve got this under control.” He turned his attention back to the Carpathian hunter as the innkeeper went back down the hall. “I’ll protect your body while you do your best to heal her wounds, Traian,” he said. “Mikhail is sending Falcon.”

“No,” Traian shook his head adamantly. “Tell Falcon to stay with the prince. There is another master close by, looking for a chance to kill Mikhail. Above all else, Falcon must protect him. We must do this ourselves.”

Gary sighed. “So be it. Jubal, get on the other side of the hall and keep everyone away from us. No more than twenty feet in.”

Traian blocked out all sound. Gary had shown remarkable knowledge of their ways and he had no other choice but to trust him. Still . . . Jubal, I will be out of my body. I do not know this man enough to put Joie’s life in his hands. Keep watch.

Will do. Just save her. Jubal glanced at his sister. “Gabrielle, come here by me.”

“I want to see what he’s doing,” Gabrielle said. “I’m a doctor.”

“I need you here,” Jubal reiterated firmly.

Gabrielle squeezed her sister’s cold hand. “Save her, Traian,” she whispered and reluctantly climbed to her feet to go to her brother.

Jubal touched her shoulder gently in reassurance. Tell me if anyone comes toward us. I’m going to keep an eye on Gary, just in case. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but Traian will be in some danger and he wants my protection.

Gabrielle gave him the briefest of nods. It was obvious she didn’t want to take her eyes from her sister, but Jubal made sense. She liked Gary, but she didn’t know him. They had thrown their lot in with Traian and only he appeared to be able to save Joie’s life.

Traian blocked out everything, the wreckage of the room, the few remaining insects buzzing around, the bat clinging to the ceiling and the three humans surrounding him. There was only Joie and her cold body, her life slipping away. He had to repair the damage done in order to give her the strength needed for the conversion. He left his own body, a mere shell, damaged and bleeding, behind, to become pure spirit. His body was unprotected. He had no choice but to rely on Joie’s brother, Jubal.

He entered Joie’s body as white healing energy, reaching for her spirit to lock her to him so she had no chance to slip away before he completed the complicated task of healing her from the inside out.

Her neck was the worst, the artery needing to be sealed before anything else. It took time, precious time he didn’t have. It was more difficult than he had thought to keep from being in the present, aware of time ticking away and her spirit sliding further from him as he worked.

She will die. You think you won, but I have killed you both. The voice of the third master vampire slipped into his mind. The undead had taken his blood in the cave and could reach him when he chose. The voice, after seeing him, nearly convinced Traian the unknown master could be one of the Malinov brothers. He didn’t have the strength to fight the vampire and save Joie at the same time.

Unexpectedly, it was Jubal who placed himself as a shield between Traian’s mind and the vampire. You’re a coward, hiding behind insects, those supposedly less powerful than you and a few bats. You didn’t capture the Carpathian hunter, your little army wore him down, but in the end he defeated them and drove you away. You can’t do a thing to him and you know it. All you have is your empty threats.

Behind the shield Jubal gave him, Traian worked quickly. The vampire sent waves of doubt and distrust, trying to build a wall between the Carpathian and the human. When he realized it wasn’t working he studied the human.

Mage-blood. He spat the accusation. You have gotten a hold in his mind. How very clever of you. You are nowhere near as strong as I am. I have only to get a hold of you and he and all who are under his protection will be mine.

Jubal laughed. I don’t really believe in you. You’re a maggot, nothing more. It’s a little difficult to take you seriously when you’re nothing but a voice threatening mayhem, but never really doing anything.

“You’re playing a very dangerous game,” Gary cautioned. “If you’re doing what I think you’re doing, Jubal.” He could feel the energy building around Jubal and read the concentration on his face.

Jubal didn’t glance at him. He kept his eyes fixed on Traian. The Carpathian grew pale before his eyes. He could actually feel the energy draining from the hunter and was determined that the vampire didn’t feel it. He kept disdain uppermost in his mind. It wasn’t that difficult. If this was the master vampire commanding all the others, he didn’t have the courage to fight his own battles. He thought himself the brains and sent his army, but in defeat, he retreated, running away because he wouldn’t fight unless he had a distinct advantage.

I will face you, the vampire offered. Come out into the night alone without your friends. We shall see who survives our meeting.

Jubal laughed softly. And leave you the ability to worm your way into the hunter’s mind when he is far too busy to bother with your endless empty threats?

Black rage was thrust into Traian’s mind, battering at Jubal. Jubal kept his eyes on the Carpathian. If the man got any whiter he was going to be translucent. Jubal wanted to follow the path of Traian’s mind to see what he was doing to Joie, but the vampire was strong and all he had to defend Traian was sarcasm, keeping the undead’s attention on him rather than pursuing his attack on Traian.

I will kill you and everyone you love. You are nothing.

Jubal gave the mental equivalent of a sigh. I think you’re actually beginning to repeat yourself. You need a few new lines. You do know this is not the only hunter in the area, don’t you? I believe they are spreading out looking for you. Sooner or later, one is bound to cross your path and then they’ll band together and track you down.

You will notice that it will take more than one.

Jubal gave a sniff of disdain. It matters little to them. You are simply a duty to them. They remove all rotting corpses from the earth when they come across them. They have nothing to prove to you or anyone else.

Traian blinked and became aware of the world around him as he slipped back into his own body. Weak, he nearly collapsed over the top of Joie.

“We do not have much time. We need to get her out of this hallway and back into the bedroom where I can convert her. I will need blood,” he instructed.

He became aware of Jubal shielding his mind, and realized the vampire had tried to prevent him from healing Joie’s worst wound.

“You can step aside,” he said quietly. “I thank you for what you did.”

This does not end here. I will find you again, the vampire promised both of them—and then he was gone.

Tangling with a master vampire was never a good idea. They were vengeful creatures with long memories, and this one—and Traian was afraid he knew who the master was now—would not forget Jubal as long as he was alive. He would hate him with every breath he took and he would never stop plotting revenge. A vampire could live a long time and while the memory for Jubal would fade away, it never would for the undead.

With a small sigh, Traian lifted Joie into his arms and carried her into the wrecked bedroom. “Gary, have Mikhail send a couple of our people to repair the damage here when we know the master vampire has left our region.” He laid Joie carefully on the bed and slipped to the floor beside her, weak, his body swaying.

Gabrielle swallowed hard and stepped close to him. “You’ll have to use my blood.”

Traian glanced at her pale, set face. She looked determined but very frightened. He half smiled. It was all he could do to give her reassurance. “Gary or Jubal can give blood.”

She stuck her chin out. “They both have done so already and they’re wounded. Use mine.” She stuck out her wrist and closed her eyes. “I can’t cut myself, so just do it fast.”

For the first time Traian was uncertain of what to do. He needed the blood. Time was slipping away for Joie, but this was her sister, sacred to her.

“Do it,” Gabrielle hissed without opening her eyes.

He raised his eyes to Jubal. The man nodded. Traian took the extended wrist gently and murmuring softly to enthrall Gabrielle so she would not feel any sensation, he took what she offered, drawing vital sustenance in order to provide enough blood to Joie for the conversion. All the while, he kept Joie’s spirit locked to his, preventing her from slipping away. She was no longer losing blood, but her human body was giving up the fight for survival.

Very gently he closed the two wounds on Gabrielle’s wrist and woke her from the enthrallment. Gary swept his arm around her shoulders and stepped back, taking Gabrielle with him. “Only Traian can help her now.”

Gabrielle swallowed hard. “What can you do?”

“I will bring her fully into my world. She had consented to be Carpathian,” Traian said.

Jubal met the Carpathian’s gaze squarely. “Do it. Whatever you have to do. Just don’t let her die.”

Traian looked at their faces, swollen and red from the bites of the insects. Joie’s siblings were brave, but watching their sister go through such a difficult process might be too much for even them. “Should anything go wrong, I will follow her and care for her, but you must know, Jubal, that the chances of any hunter killing the one who got away are very slim and he will come after you. Never forget him and how he felt in your mind.” Traian glanced up at Gary. “I will need candles, herbs, soil. Everything to help her through this, and quickly.”

Gary tugged at Gabrielle. “Come with me. Mirko will have most of the herbs and candles. I’ll need you.”

They rushed from the room.

Jubal watched every movement as Traian laid his hands on Joie’s wounds and bites from the insects. Once again, Traian left his own body and entered Joie’s. Jubal remained vigilant in case the vampire returned, ready to place himself as a shield between the Carpathian and the undead. He could see the lines deepen in the hunter’s face, his color paling visibly as if his strength was slowly being drawn from him.

This time was much shorter. He swayed a little, his face lined with exhaustion, but he gathered Joie into his arms, cradling her now, close to his chest.

Gary and Gabrielle hurried back into the room. Gary set a bowl of rich, dark soil on the floor beside the bed, and Gabrielle dumped various herbs into a second bowl.

Gary handed candles to Jubal. “Spread these around the room and light them. We don’t want any artificial lights on, just the candles. Gabrielle, mix the herbs together in the bowl. We need the scents to blend.”

Traian rocked Joie gently, holding her close, murmuring softly to her in his mind. He had done his best to heal her body enough to get her through the conversion. This was their moment. The conversion could easily kill her if she was too weak.

Gary put his hand on Traian’s shoulder as if reading his thoughts. “She is strong. Her will is strong. Joie was a surprise to Valenteen. She was wonderful, unbelievable. She didn’t even hesitate. It never occurred to a vampire that a woman would stand between others and danger. And he certainly never thought she would be willing to plunge a knife into his heart.”

“She used my memories,” Traian explained as he mixed healing saliva into the soil and packed the wounds in Joie’s throat with fresh soil. “She flattered him and stalled him, hoping I would get there in time. And when I didn’t, she did what she always does, she courageously put herself in harm’s way in order to get close enough to make certain she destroyed him.”

Gary took handfuls of the mixture and packed more into Traian’s chest. “Even with all I know, the draw to go to him was so powerful, I doubt that we would have survived.”

“He was a master vampire and he ran with another much more powerful master.” Traian lifted his head to look at Gary. “I never saw the other one clearly. He took my blood in the cave, yet he stayed in the shadows. I saw him for one moment earlier and if it is the warrior I remember from long ago, he is extremely dangerous. Keep Jubal away from him. Protect Joie’s siblings. I cannot go near our prince. You will have to relay to him all information. Until the vampire is found, and I very much doubt that he will remain in this country now, I will stay away from Mikhail. We cannot take a chance with his life.”

“He won’t see it the same way,” Gary pointed out.

“You know I am right. He should not chance his life by entering into battles in the way that he does. His purpose is to serve and lead our people, not hunt the vampire. We have many hunters and only one leader. His brother is strong and powerful, but he has been damaged by the torture he endured. He cannot lead. If the vampire or humans managed to kill Mikhail, I fear our race would be mortally wounded.”

Traian smoothed his hand over Joie’s hair. He was reluctant to bring her over when she was so close to death. If he failed . . .

“You have no choice,” Gary said. “She will die either way.”

“Explain it to them. They shouldn’t be here,” Traian said.

Traian didn’t look up at Gary to see if he agreed or not. He gathered Joie into his arms. You must accept my blood, Joie. This will convert you to my race, and it is not a pleasant experience to go through.

He felt her touch, gentle, tender, on his face, yet she lay motionless in his arms. A faint smile appeared in his mind as if she found his warning amusing.

“He will take her blood and then give her his own,” Gary said. “Her human body will die and if this works, she will become fully Carpathian. The process can be brutal on the body. Once he starts, there is no turning back,” he added gently to Gabrielle. “It is best if you leave. This will be painful for you to watch.”

“We stay,” Jubal said. “The vampire may try to attack him again and in any case, if Joie goes through this, we stay to protect her.”

Gabrielle nodded. “We won’t interfere.”

Traian turned his body slightly, not wanting to drain his strength further by masking what he was doing from her siblings. If they chose to stay, they would see how very difficult the transition was regardless.

The soothing aroma from the herbs and candles mixed through the room, driving out the foul stench of the vampire. Gary began to softly chant in the ancient language of the Carpathian people. The sounds of chanting filled Traian’s mind as other voices, far away, joined on the common communication path in the age-old healing chant.

I offer life, Joie. Traian bent his head and sank his teeth above her breast, right where her pulse beat, shallow and slow.

Her blood flowed into him, mixing with his ancient Carpathian blood. Come to me. Give yourself to me. Her spirit was weak, but she didn’t try to fight him. Instead, that bright light, fading slowly, moved weakly toward him.

He felt her trust surround him. Warmth. Traian closed his eyes, savoring the feeling, sending up a silent prayer that she would survive the transition.

Very gently he closed the small wound when he was certain he’d taken enough for a final exchange. You must take my blood for the third exchange. Your neck is torn and you are weak, but I will help you.

He opened his wrist. She would not be able to take the blood herself. He would have to press it to her mouth and stroke her throat, forcing her to accept the gift of a life. At first Joie didn’t respond, and a few drops trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“Joie, please,” Gabrielle said. “Please.” She suppressed a small sob and hid her face against Gary’s shirt.

For our children. For me. For your family. You can do this, Traian encouraged. Try for me, Joie.

It wasn’t about acceptance. Joie had already given her life into Traian’s keeping. It was finding the strength for that last effort.

You are a fighter, Joie, and so am I. I will fight to keep you with me, but no matter what happens here, I will go with you.

Joie’s mouth moved feebly against his wrist. Traian stroked long fingers over her throat. She accepted his blood just the way she did everything else where he was concerned, with complete faith. It humbled him that she did so.

Sivamet—my love—that’s right. That’s what you have to do. Take more. You need a fair amount to make the exchange. Hold close to me. Do not let your spirit drift.

Gabrielle clutched Gary’s arm tightly. “Can he save her?”

Gary put his arm around her. “If it’s possible, he’ll do it. Lifemates are completely devoted to each other. If she doesn’t make it, he’ll follow her.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Basically, he’ll suicide. One can’t live without the other. The ritual binding words the male says to the female ties them together in some way we can’t possibly understand. Literally, one is a shadow without the other. He’s said he’ll follow her and he means it. Their belief is, that they go from one life to another—that they will go together to the next life.”

Gabrielle looked to her brother for reassurance. Jubal had a strange expression on his face and held up his hand for silence. His gaze remained fixed on Traian.

What is it? Gabrielle asked.

He’s here—the master vampire. Lurking in the back of Traian’s mind. He’s waiting to strike. I can feel him. Traian’s too far into Joie. I need to be watchful, Gabby.

Traian concentrated on holding Joie’s spirit tight. She was drifting now, slipping into a semi-conscious state. He hoped that he’d given her sufficient blood because it was nearly impossible for her to take any more. He closed the wound on his chest and laid her gently on the comforter, blinking a little as he looked around the room.

“Perhaps you all should leave the room. She would not want you to see her this way. This will get . . . brutal.”

“You need blood and care yourself,” Gary pointed out. “You’re weaker than you think, Traian. Take my blood and let me help the two of you through this. I know what to expect. Gabrielle and Jubal can wait in their rooms.”

“We’ll stay,” Jubal said decisively. “She’s our sister. And Traian,” he hesitated, unsure whether to tell the hunter and risk the vampire knowing he was aware of his presence.

Their eyes met. Traian’s nod was barely perceptible. “I will count on you.”

Jubal let out his breath. “You can.”

“I know.”

Traian took a deep breath. He had done as much as he could to make certain Joie could undergo the transition from human life to Carpathian life. The rest was up to her. All he could do was watch and be ready to send her to sleep the moment the transition was complete. He would have insisted her brother and sister leave, but they were not faint of heart. They’d stood with him in the caves and again here at the inn, fighting a master vampire. It seemed impossible that they’d delayed Valenteen and helped him to defeat the undead.

Gary stepped close to Traian. “You must feed.”

“You are already weak,” Traian said.

“Then I’ll get Mirko, he’s helped us many times,” Gary said and hurried away, preventing argument.

“Is it done?” Gabrielle asked anxiously as Gary left the room. “You gave her your blood. She’s still barely breathing.”

Traian laid his head back against the wall. All at once, his body seemed like lead, drained of all energy. “I wish I could say that was all there is to it, but her body essentially dies before she is reborn as one of us. This will get messy.”

“If it’s messy, Traian, Joie would want me here to see to her needs. She’s very meticulous about certain things.” Gabrielle lifted her chin, prepared to fight for her right to stay. “In any case, I’m a doctor. I’ve seen messy.”

“It might be different when it is someone you love,” Traian said, but he didn’t argue with her. He was coming to know Joie’s family. They stood for one another, and they were determined to stand for him as well.

Mirko entered with Gary, going to Traian’s side without hesitation and extending his wrist. “I offer freely,” he said without hesitation.

“I am sorry for the trouble,” Traian said. “We will send help.”

“Everything will be fine,” Mirko assured. “Take what you need.” He frowned down at Traian, really observing him as he fed. “Your wound is deep, hunter. You need to go to ground. Even with my blood, you don’t have strength enough to heal that gash. He nearly tore out your heart.”

Gabrielle watched Traian feeding from Mirko. It should have repulsed her, but instead she was fascinated. It seemed such a noble moment to her, one being reaching out to aid another. Mirko, like Gary, seemed completely unafraid and matter-of-fact about giving blood, as if it were an everyday occasion. There was no enthrallment with these men as the Carpathian had done with Gabrielle.

Traian closed the wound on Mirko’s wrist and nodded. “I will go to ground when my lifemate is able. Again, thank you. I owe you.”

Mirko shook his head. “Mikhail is a friend. We’ll keep everyone from this side of the inn.” When he went out, he hung a blanket across the ruined door so there was no chance of anyone seeing inside the room.

Traian kept his eyes on Joie. The first ripple of pain crossed her face and sent a shudder through her body. Traian felt the pain take her, a fire burning with the force of a torch in the center of her body, blossoming outward like an explosion.

Jubal gasped as pain burst through his brain.

“Stay out,” Traian said.

“He’s watching. Waiting. You take care of Joie. I can do this,” Jubal said.

Traian couldn’t protect both of them. Jubal had to make his own choices. He merged with Joie, trying to take the brunt of the pain, determined to make her initiation into his world as easy as possible.

Joie’s body arched, convulsed, and she turned her head, violently sick. He caught her shoulders to steady her and seized her spirit a little tighter to shoulder more of the pain. Instantly the vampire struck, waiting for that perfect moment when Traian would be at his weakest, striking at Joie’s unprotected mind through his blood-bond with the hunter.

Go to your death! The master vampire commanded, pushing the compulsion as deep as possible.

Jubal’s spirit leapt in front of the compulsion, a wall of absolute resolve. The compulsion hit him hard, filling his head with the need to reach for the gun lying on the floor. He fought back, refusing to move, filling his mind with love of his sister and his implacable will that she live.

You will not harm either of them.

Thunder rocked the inn. Furious, the vampire sent another deluge of rain pouring into the room, but he slipped out of Traian’s mind, unable to take the pain consuming all of them as Joie’s body fought to rid itself of toxins and her organs reshaped.

Jubal slumped against the wall and slid down it, wiping sweat from his face. He had fought a mental battle and stood his ground, finding it far more exhausting than a physical battle. He couldn’t imagine how difficult Traian’s battle to save Joie’s life was. The hunter’s wounds should have killed him and he’d healed Joie’s body as best he could, given her blood and was fighting to hold her spirit to his while shouldering most of that brutal pain. Jubal shook his head and covered his face with his hands for a brief moment.

Gabrielle handed him a glass of water. “Drink this, and then we have to help.”

Traian was amazed at Joie’s siblings, certain they would be horrified and afraid as the convulsions started, when Joie was violently sick and it was impossible to control the waves of unrelenting pain. Her brother and sister worked together as a team, seeming to understand that he couldn’t talk or direct them. His full attention was on blocking as much pain as possible and helping Joie through the conversion.

Gary kept the room clean and smelling of the soothing aromas from the herbs and candles. All of them picked up the words to the ancient healing chant. Gabrielle wiped beads of blood from Traian’s brow and then Joie’s. He managed a faint smile of acknowledgment, but his focus remained on his lifemate, working to keep the pain bearable and waiting for the moment her body had completely accepted the conversion.

The moment he sensed that her body had undergone the transformation and he could safely do it, he sent her to sleep. Exhausted, he looked up at her family, grateful the sun was about to rise and the master vampire would have to go to ground. Traian doubted he had much battle left in him. He needed the healing, rejuvenating sleep of his kind, deep beneath the earth.

“I have to take her away for a few days. We will be unable to get in touch with you, but she is alive and she will heal quickly.” He avoided all references to the ground. Joie’s family had been through enough without knowing the specifics of where he would take her and how she would spend her days.

Gabrielle leaned over and brushed a kiss on the top of Traian’s head. “You take care of her. We’re depending on you. I’m not sorry she found you, not after watching the way you’ve cared for her.”

Traian could see she was blinking back tears. “Thank you, Gabrielle. As soon as possible, I’ll bring her to you.”

“I’ll stay here with them,” Gary offered.

Traian shook his head. “Warn Mikhail. I don’t want to send the information to him on the chance that the one who took my blood could find a way to use me to harm him. Let him know there is something in that cave of value to the vampires and that there are numerous traps. He’ll understand when you tell him it is a cave the mages used.” He frowned, for the first time unsure. If he named the master as a Malinov and he was wrong, it would be a terrible blow to the Malinov reputation. He needed more time to think on it.

Gary nodded. “Jubal and Gabrielle may come with me, if they choose.”

Traian rose, Joie in his arms. “Go then, go tonight. The rules that have always applied to vampires seem to be changing rapidly.” He met Jubal’s eyes. “You will be safer under Mikhail’s protection. Stay with them until Joie and I are recovered.”

He slipped out onto the balcony, into the night where he belonged—where he was comfortable. The wind blew into his face, ruffled his hair, brought him information from creatures around him.

He took to the skies, the sleeping Joie in his arms, and headed for a small cave he remembered from his younger days, a cave of healing with hot springs and glacier-water pools. Far below, his homeland stretched out before him, a place he had not seen in many years. The sight brought back memories of his parents and his childhood friends. He was home and he held his lifemate in his arms.

She will never be safe. You will always be linked to me. I spared your life, but I can take it whenever I choose. And I will take hers. The hate-filled voice of the master vampire invaded his mind.

Traian didn’t hesitate. He sent a clap of deafening thunder back along the mental path the vampire had initiated, a bolt of lightning streaking through the sky like a spear homing in on prey. Just as quickly, he moved his own position, fully prepared for a war in the sky.

An explosion of pain burst in Traian’s head in angry retaliation. He rode it out, certain he’d scored a hit.

You will pay for that.

I am an ancient warrior. I do not fear you or any other of your kind. If you wish to pursue me or mine, I welcome the opportunity to carry out your death sentence.

You and your kind will never find me. I will disappear until you and yours forget me and then I will return to kill all of you, everyone you have ever loved, the vampire vowed.

Traian moved again, certain of reprisal. He had not displayed fear or awe, or even respect, and the vampire was used to his minions admiring him.

A shower of hot stones poured from the sky. Traian protected Joie, covering her body with his like a blanket. The stones fell harmlessly around them, but the attack was a halfhearted attempt. The vampire was fleeing and simply wanted to instill fear in Traian. He hugged Joie closer to him.

“I have been a warrior so long, I barely recall any other existence. Even a master vampire cannot change my chosen path. If he should come to find us, Joie, I will not turn away. He will not take you from me, nor will he take me from you.” He made the promise to her aloud beneath the stars. And then he took her deep beneath the surface to the healing caverns.