Dark Peril (47 page)

Are they coming toward you?

The idea that the jaguar-men might go after her while he was otherwise busy shook him. He should have been prepared for them to abandon the site. Wild animals had sharp senses, reading emotions. They couldn’t fail to read the ravenous hunger and the discontent of the vampires. It was even possible the hunger had gotten to them as well and they had gone hunting.

No. But I’ll stay alert. You just worry about being in a nest of very dangerous killers.

And you remember that where those two are, Brodrick is not far behind.

He felt her uneasiness and knew she was concentrating on protecting him rather than herself. He bit back his inclination to give her the order to retreat. She wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t have done it if their positions were reversed. He had to trust in her skills.

I love you.

Three little words. Her soothing, tender tone. He took a breath. She would be careful for his sake. He needed her, and she knew that.

His orchestra was in place; all he had to do was start conducting. He sent the pieces of the plan to Zacarias. They didn’t have a timeline, but Giles wasn’t going to give one, not when they wanted to test their plan first. It was now or never. He had to destroy as many of the undead as possible. He didn’t want anyone escaping to know that their plan had been compromised, so that feeding frenzy had to start with someone else. He looked at Giles’s trusted vampires.

You’re smiling.

Am I? Maybe I am feeling just a little mean.

He felt her take a steadying breath. He did the same and reached for the technician inside the laboratory.
Take the guard’s gun and wound the researchers inside the building. Force them to come outside.

The overwhelming sight and smell of blood would send the vampires spiraling out of control. All it would take was for one to go after the wounded humans and the dam would break. The others would follow suit. He was certain Giles would try to assert his authority and send in his lesser vampires to control the mob, and that would open them up for attack. The guards on the roof would begin firing in an effort to protect their colleagues from the undead, and in the ensuing mayhem, he and Solange would be able to kill at will—he hoped.

The sounds of gunshots were muffled by the thick walls of the laboratory, but distinct nevertheless. Giles gave up holding the attention of the crowd, stopping abruptly as they all turned toward the commotion. Lightning forked across the sky, sizzling, blinding with white-hot heat, very close. One bolt slammed into a tree just to the edge of their group. The tree exploded, branches splintering, the trunk blackened. Flames rushed through the network of limbs.

Men poured out of the laboratory, running into the cleared ground between the forest and the building. White coats and guard shirts were splattered in bright red, inviting blood. A few of the men, obviously just awakened and without wounds, shouted for the guards. The computer tech rushed outside brandishing a gun, firing into the chaotic crowd.

A shot rang out from the roof as a guard fired. The sound echoed through the forest. The computer tech staggered, and on the fringe of the vampires, the one called Milan fell to the ground.

Done.

Solange’s voice whispered in his mind and he directed a series of strikes at the shocked vampire group. He incinerated the fallen Milan as well as two others who had been close. Even as he did so, a group of vampires rushed the bloody techs. Giles shouted to his lesser vampires to intercede, to form a wall between the humans and the hungry vampires, even as the master vampire began to retreat.

The first of the undead ripped the nearest wounded tech open, falling on him, gulping the rich, hot blood. Guards on the roof opened fire. The sound once again reverberated through the forest and Kiral jerked, spinning around. He glanced up toward the canopy, exposing his fangs. A volley of shots rang out. Men screamed in horror. Blood spattered across the yard. Vampires tore into one another, ripping through Giles’s guard to get to the feast.

Lightning pounded the ground, striking Kiral, incinerating him on the spot. One vampire caught in the crossfire between the guards and the lightning strikes went down, bullet holes in his head, while the other half of his body burned. He dragged himself blindly across the ground toward the pooling blood while the others trampled him to get to the humans who had huddled together in an effort to protect themselves.

Dominic’s clone pushed, shoved and clawed his way with the frenzied pack of the undead, eager to get at the blood spraying into the air and over the terrorized humans. The guards fired into the mass, adding to the chaos. Lightning forked and struck and thunder rolled, adding to the terrible din.

Dominic flowed across the ground, slamming his fist into the heart of the nearest vampire, his speed so fast he was a mere blur. He took the heart, and just that fast incinerated it before switching directions and rushing Giles. The lesser vampires were torn to shreds, desperately trying to join the feast and get to the well of blood to repair their torn bodies. He caught Giles just inside the line of massive trees.

Dominic struck hard, slamming his fist deep, fingers seeking the ultimate prize. The master vampire twisted away, raking his talons across Dominic’s face, digging furrows down his jaw and to his neck. He leaned down and sank his teeth deep, forcing Dominic to retreat. The two stared at one another, blood dripping from Giles’s mouth and hands and running black down his chest. Dominic’s neck and face bled freely.

Giles licked his lips. “How can this be? You are one of us.”

“I am Dragonseeker, you fool,” Dominic said, contempt in his voice. “Did you really believe I would choose to give up my soul and join your despicable ranks?”

Giles snarled, revealing his bloodstained teeth. “You are responsible for this mess.”

Dominic shrugged. “Of course. But you will be blamed.”

Deliberately the vampire sucked Dominic’s blood from his fingers. “You have the parasites. They answered my call.” As he spoke he took a step to his left.

Dominic didn’t wait for the attack; he struck fast and hard, slamming a bolt of lightning at the spot where Giles’s next step would take him. The master vampire shrieked as the white-hot energy burned through his shoulder and down his side, hip and leg, a laser beam sheering one quarter of the body completely off, cauterizing as it burned through the rotting flesh.

Giles went down, rolled, reaching for his severed body, clawing at it, trying to drag it to him as Dominic leapt on him, driving his fist deep once again, fingers burrowing through decomposed flesh and tissue to reach the withered heart. An ominous crack was his only warning. A spear slammed through his back, impaling him, driving him down to the ground and pinning him there. Roots burst through the vegetation to wrap around his throat and tangle around his body, holding him.

Dominic exploded energy outward, burning through the woody roots. Even as he did so, root structures formed a caged of finned, thick wood, holding him prisoner. It was a delaying tactic only, a chance for Giles to repair his rotting body. Dominic braced himself and shoved the spear through his body, cauterizing the wound as he did so. The pain washed over and through him. He heard the echo of Solange’s shattered cry and pushed her out of his mind, afraid she would feel the mind-numbing pain.

He forced his body under control, rolling, seeing the multitude of bats staring at him with hungry eyes. They dropped, covering his face and head, biting ferociously as he exploded the cage of roots outward to allow his release. He managed to get to his knees, flinging the biting creatures aside and staggering a little as he got his legs under him.

Giles pushed himself up, his body stitched haphazardly together, one quarter of his body blackened and grotesque. He growled, spittle running down his face, his eyes blazing bloodred. “My body is dead, Dragonseeker. I can take being cut into a million pieces and still defeat you. Your body is flesh and blood. You feel pain.”

Dominic’s eyebrow shot up. He was weakened from using energy to sustain the storm, and keeping his clone where the other vampires could clearly see him. He didn’t want the information compromised. He knew some of the emissaries would escape and he couldn’t afford the plan to be changed. That meant being visible so there was no chance that anyone would discover he had brought about the destruction of the laboratory and everyone in it.

“You flatter yourself, Giles. You always did. You seem to be stalling for time. Do you believe your pawns will come to protect you?” He kept his tone a low taunt. Giles had believed himself invincible, but he was shaken. Dominic knew his reputation was legendary and the master vampire would much rather his minions battle the Dragonseeker than himself. He also was well aware that the undead had huge egos and, although true, the taunt was insulting.

I’m working my way to you.
Solange had a sob in her voice.

No, stay away from here. I will defeat him.

I’m not in a position to help you.

Take out as many as possible, but fire only when the guards do. I will not be there to finish them, so they may detect your presence.

Dominic kept his attention centered on Giles. The vampire’s face twisted into a mask of pure hatred. Dominic prodded him more. “You lost control of them, didn’t you? Instead of protecting the humans, they are ripping them to pieces, gulping blood. And somehow I think even if you’d managed to escape, Ruslan would be very,
very
angry. He is not the most forgiving man I ever met.”

The red eyes began to burn, but the vampire held his temper in check. “This incident will only make the humans much more eager to join with us to hunt the undead. We will point them to Dubrinsky’s precious village.”

Dominic had managed to push the pain far enough away that he could breathe again. Solange was trying to do it for him, matching the rhythm of his burning lungs to her breathing.

Dominic bowed slightly and waved his hand, making certain that Giles followed the gesture with his furious gaze while Dominic gathered the powerful energy sizzling and crackling in the sky overhead. He let the power fill his exhausted body and, leaving a second clone behind, moved away from his body, leaving the clone exposed and open.

Standing just in front of it, insubstantial and transparent, he waited for Giles to make his move. His clone hunched a little and pressed his palm to the blackened hole in his chest, just to the left of his heart. He could feel his strength ebbing. Two clones and a storm drained his energy fast, but he held his transparent form.

Giles charged, rushing full force and with preternatural speed, going for the kill. Dominic stepped forward to meet the rush, using Giles’s momentum and his own incredible strength to punch forward. In the split second before the vampire got to his fist, Dominic materialized, his clone dissolving. Giles impaled himself on the extended fist. Dominic seized the heart before the undead knew what was happening. He extracted the withered, blackened organ and tossed it a distance from the master vampire, directing the lightning to the putrid object.

Giles screamed hideously, the cry reverberating through the forest. He staggered across the ground, his hands seeking his missing heart. Slowly crumpling to the ground, he spat at Dominic before his body succumbed to the loss. Lightning jumped to the body, incinerating it. The vampire writhed and twisted in the searing flames, as if a part of him still lived. The fire hissed and spluttered in protest, but burned quickly, reducing the undead to ash.

Dominic dropped to one knee, his head down, dragging air into his lungs. He still had to wait for Josef to signal it was safe to destroy the laboratory and get Solange to safety.

Dominic!
Her voice gave him the necessary incentive to move.

Giles is dead. I am returning to the battle.

I can hear the weariness in your voice. Do you need blood? I can come to you.

When we are finished here.
The idea of her blood, that incredible healing force flowing into this body, energized him. He strode back through the trees to the laboratory as he allowed his clone to dissolve.

Solange breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention back to the chaotic scene at the laboratory. Screams of terror filled the air and the scent of blood permeated everything. Bullet after bullet rained down from the roof. The undead, now riddled with bullet holes, looked up to mark the guards as prey. She had wanted these men dead, but not like this, not in such a horrific manner. The vampires had lost all control, devouring everything with blood. She couldn’t spot either of the jaguar-men. They had definitely made themselves scarce at the first sign of trouble.

She fit the rifle to her shoulder again and squeezed the trigger a split second after a guard fired. A volley of shots drowned out hers. Lightning slammed into the downed vampire. She searched through her scope to try to find one of the vampires Dominic had wanted destroyed. It was difficult to identify any of them now. The images had faded, leaving them as rotting corpses, skin peeling away, sunken eyes with tufts of gray or white hair sticking to their skulls.

Blood was everywhere, on their clothing and faces; their hands were slick with it. She went by clothes recognition, hoping she had it right. She spotted the one she thought was Carlo standing at the foot of the building, under the eaves, out of sight of the guards. He went up the side of the building fast, skittering up the wall like a lizard, leaping onto Felipe’s back, teeth tearing at his neck. The first shot got him through the back of his skull, the second through his back and straight through his heart. His form shattered, he spun around, face covered with blood, eyes blazing madly, looking toward the forest. He leapt into the air, beginning to shift when the lightning struck him, incinerating him so that ashes rained down into the mass of frenzied vampires ripping and tearing, gulping bright, hot blood.