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 riled the cavern.
"Handy little trick," Joie observed. "You'l have to teach it to me."
Traian managed a boyish grin. "Finaly, something impressed you."
A terrible howling, like that of a demon pack, echoed through the subterranean caverns, sending chils down Joie's spine. "I think that's our cue to leave."
"Can we climb? How do we know where they are?" Gabriele asked anxiously.
"What the hel are they?" Jubal demanded.
"Vampires," Traian answered. "And they are coming for us. We have to get out of here now." He indicated a smal break in the wal of ice. "That way. I wil seal it up behind us. It wil not stop them, but it wil slow them down."
Gabriele 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 folowed her into the ice tunnel.
"In al 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 teling 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 alow her to precede him. "You wil 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 stil 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 crystaline 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 Gabriele and Jubal. She was naturaly 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 Gabriele 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
"Handy little trick," Joie observed. "You'l have to teach it to me."
Traian managed a boyish grin. "Finaly, something impressed you."
A terrible howling, like that of a demon pack, echoed through the subterranean caverns, sending chils down Joie's spine. "I think that's our cue to leave."
"Can we climb? How do we know where they are?" Gabriele asked anxiously.
"What the hel are they?" Jubal demanded.
"Vampires," Traian answered. "And they are coming for us. We have to get out of here now." He indicated a smal break in the wal of ice. "That way. I wil seal it up behind us. It wil not stop them, but it wil slow them down."
Gabriele 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 folowed her into the ice tunnel.
"In al 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 teling 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 alow her to precede him. "You wil 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 stil 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 crystaline 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 Gabriele and Jubal. She was naturaly 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 Gabriele 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
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