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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 folow, 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 fal in large chunks, some sliding down the tube to ward them. Traian hit the ground running, with Joie in his arms. "Hurry!" he caled to Jubal and Gabriele.
    A sound was building behind them, a great roar and a thunderous clap as the tube colapsed in on itself. The earth shook beneath their feet, and an ominous rumble emanated from the wals and ceiling surrounding them. Jubal caught Gabriele's hand and folowed Traian at a dead run through the narrow hal.
    Joie clung to Traian, feeling somewhat sily being carried when he was so hideously injured, but the man wasn't even breathing hard. Sharp daggers of ice fel from the ceiling as they rushed through the tunnel. Several times, Traian redirected a lethal missile as they raced along the wel-worn path. Traian stopped so abruptly, Jubal ran into him. Very slowly Traian alowed 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 hel 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, tel us." He caught Joie's hand and puled her away from Traian. She was already looking upward, searching for another way out of the hal. "Joie, slow down for a minute," Jubal ordered. "I don't understand what's going on here, but I can tel you, this man is dangerous. We don't know him and we don't need to be associated with him." He actualy 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 hel 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 tel you something right there."
    "It tels her I am different. Not quite human. The fact that I did not kil her—or you, for that matter—tels you I am not vampire." Traian spoke very quietly. "I wil not alow 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 al 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?"
    Gabriele slipped her hand into her sister's. "I'm afraid, Joie. I've got a terrible feeling we're al 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 al naturaly formed. I stayed to try to find what they are looking for. Vampires do not normaly put so much energy into a project. Whatever it is they want, their finding it wil not benefit either the Carpathian