As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 5)

Again. No, not again.

Chill that had little to do with undead presence battled through her body, freezing her fingers and slowing her reflexes. One look at Anton?n’s face told her that no matter what trap he’d led them to, he hadn’t expected this.

“Stand up, you bloody fool,” Sebastian roared, yanking the vampire to his feet. “You’ll stand with us or see the end of my stake. ”

“But they’re… demons,” he said, his voice distorted by the rising wind. The horribly familiar black clouds stewed above them, wind tossing Victoria’s short hair wildly. “They’ll kill us. ”

“Or I will,” Victoria muttered, turning away from the ridiculous undead as the first swipe from the black-clawed, red-eyed creatures scored over her scalp.

She cried out and swung up with the sword. The blade sliced through, and ice shivered along her weapon, through her arms, and up into her body.

Staggering, Victoria stumbled into a tombstone and fell, crashing into another nearby stone. She screamed in rage and arced the blade up again. Fallen leaves and old sticks lifted from the ground, battering against her like pummeling fists. She pulled to her feet, using the point of her sword against a moss-covered stone, felt it scrape metal against rock, and battled back at the black demon.

Another swipe, and she slowed further, slicing the wraith’s head while accepting the paralyzing cold that trammeled through her body. Sebastian bumped into her and their backs came together. His warmth bled into her, and she was able to move again.

“Idiot,” he shouted at Anton?n, who cowered down between the cluster of stone markers. Sebastian swiped up with his own blade.

Digging beneath her coat, Victoria ducked as another black creature swooped close again. A small jug hung at her side, protected by a snug leather holder and a strap that went over her shoulder. She pulled it out, feeling Sebastian struggling against the demons above her, protecting her as she worked the cork free.

“Ready,” she called over the rising gale, turning toward Sebastian. He struggled for a moment, pulling out his own store of holy water as she sliced at one of the black creatures. Again the unbearable cold shocked her, staggering her.

Sebastian caught her arm before she lost her balance on the unsteady ground and spilled her holy water. They looked at each other for a moment, barely able to discern the other’s features in the maelstrom of leaves and fog, gauging the moment.

“Go!” shouted Victoria, and they both whirled, winging the holy water from their bottles up and around into the hurricane about them.

Sizzling sounds, fizzing and even a scream of rage… The winds settled as the water spewed into the clouds and onto Anton?n, who’d remained huddled against one of the taller gravestones.

Victoria considered leaving him, but instead, she grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him haphazardly behind her as they dashed around and through the cluster of headstones. She had to swing up with her sword only once more before they found the cemetery entrance. The cold wasn’t as daunting as before, but it slowed her enough that she gasped in pain.

Once they were out of the cemetery, as before, the demonic cloud lost its strength and remained behind them, rumbling and gurgling wickedly. Then, as Victoria watched, it swirled into itself and settled into the darkness below.

“Did you have to do that?” Anton?n cried.

Victoria turned and saw that the holy water had caught him straight in the face. His skin had peeled away, leaving one of his eyes sagging in its socket. He held a hand to his destroyed flesh, but seemed less concerned over that than the mass of evil they’d left behind.

And indeed, as before in London, they’d left it behind, weakened by the holy water.

Or it had chosen not to follow.

Victoria wasn’t sure which.

She shivered and whirled at the vampire. Before he realized what had happened, her stake was poised over his chest and a great handful of his shirt was clumped in her fist. “What kind of trick was that?”

“No trick, no trick!” he cried. “I swear it! Do you think I would have gone into that if I had known?”

“If you don’t take us to Katerina-” Sebastian began, but Victoria interrupted.

“No, he’ll come with us now, and we’ll find Katerina in the morning. When the sun is risen. ” She bared her teeth at the vampire, furious. “We’re in need of undead blood, and he looks more than willing to share. ”

Sebastian nodded and helped Victoria bind the undead’s hands together behind him.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he whined. “I’ve never seen it. I swear it. I heard something… Just let me go, and I’ll take you to Katerina. ”

“You heard something?” Victoria repeated as they climbed back onto their horses. She glanced back over the cemetery and saw that the angry cloud had all but dissipated. She hadn’t noticed the malingering fog when they’d arrived at the cemetery, although she’d been more distracted, having expected an ambush of undead… not one of the frightening demons. “What do you mean, you heard something?”

“Recently,” Anton?n said, “there have been incidents… I’ve heard about them. And Katerina seemed to be a bit worried about her cemetery. I didn’t lie about that,” he added defensively. “She usually is there at night. But I didn’t know. It was horrible. ” He shuddered. His vampire countenance twisted with fear, made all the more grotesque by the ragged flesh near the one side of his mouth.

Victoria ignored his last statement and looked at Sebastian. Her rising worry was reflected in his set face, even though she couldn’t see the details of his expression.