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at the creature clawing the floor of the cave. “He looks angry,” she observed.
    Chapter Four
    “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