The Rest Falls Away (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles 1)

At any moment his face would change… his eyes would turn a burning red, and his canine fangs would grow, ready to sink into the pure white flesh of the woman.

Now. She must move.

Gripping the stake, Victoria launched herself from the shadows, arm high above her shoulder, her eyes focused on the broad chest of the vampire. And just as she moved, as she was ready to thrust that stake home, the woman's mouth opened with a flash of white.

Stunned, Victoria managed to pivot at the very last moment, whirling toward the tiny blonde, whose eyes glowed red and canines shone lethally. It happened so fast that the vampire did not have the chance to recover from her surprise. Using the force of her sudden change in direction, Victoria slammed the stake into the woman's bosom.

It drove into her skin with sickening ease. Victoria felt a minor resistance, a small pop, and then the weapon slid in. It was like shoving a wooden pike into a bowl of sand.

The vampire froze, her mouth open in shock and pain… eyes wide and glowing red. And then, suddenly, with a small poof! the woman disintegrated. She crumpled into dust and was gone.

Just like that.

Victoria stood, panting, staring at the place where the vile creature had been.

She had done it.

She had killed a vampire.

Her knees wobbled. Her breath shook. She looked at her stake to see if there was any blood on it.

It was clean.

"You were going to stake me, weren't you?" came a chill voice.

Victoria looked up and saw that the man was glaring down at her with a decidedly unkind expression. "I…" What did one say to the victim one had just saved from being bitten by a vampire?

"You thought I was a vampire."

Victoria forbore to point out that it was an honest mistake; with his gleaming black hair and sharp-planed face, he looked dangerous and untrustworthy. "One would think you would be a bit more gracious, since I just saved your life," she replied stiffly.

His laugh was sardonic. "That would be a fine day… one that I needed a girl to save my life. From a vampire." He laughed harder.

At that moment, Victoria noticed that he was holding something in his hand. Was that a… stake? "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Maximilian Pesaro, master vampire executioner."

Chapter Two

In Which a Piercing Commitment Is Made

"It was merely a precaution, my dear," Eustacia said as she lowered her creaking joints and aching muscles into her favorite chair. Favorite, indeed, because of the well-padded seat and generous cushioning on the arms, and because of the small piecrust table next to it where she kept her spectacles, her cross, and a polished white hawthorn stake.Old habits died hard.

Kritanu was putting Victoria through her paces here in the kalari, the well-curtained ballroom of the Gardella home, which had been outfitted as a practice arena. Some of her dark curls had fallen from their moorings, just as Eustacia's had done when she had trained for her hunting activities… oh, decades ago. Victoria wore skirts during these training sessions, since, due to society's dictates, that would most often be her attire. Eustacia knew that trousers made it much easier to spin and kick, but that would come later when she began to learn the Chinese martial-arts technique of qinggong, in which she would fairly glide through the air, seeming to fly.

Victoria's porcelain skin was flushed dark pink, and her forehead and neck were damp with sweat, but the murderous expression on her face spoke volumes. Eustacia couldn't blame her for being annoyed. Maximilian had chosen the worst possible way to notify her of his presence; but then, that was nothing more than Max's character. Everything was perfectly black or white to Max, whereas most people, including Eustacia, were able to find different shades of gray. It made life more tolerable when one could recognize charcoal or a light mist color.

Victoria had shown excellent promise with Kritanu in her education and training, or kalaripayattu, in the month before her coming-out; but as she'd never faced down a real vampire, Eustacia had felt the need to have plans for contingency purposes at Victoria's debut. It turned out those precautions had been needless; and indeed, perhaps had served to confuse the issue at the ball last night. But Eustacia would have done it again had she the chance.

The pride of a new Venator was a poor price to pay for the safety of her guests.

Kritanu watched with his sharp, dark eyes as Victoria took an offensive stance, then as she flew into action, pivoting, kicking, and whipping her foot into a stack of cushions next to Eustacia's chair. The cushions went flying, and Victoria stopped whirling, hands on hips, right in front of her chair. "Aunt Eustacia, I nearly staked him! Though it would have served him right."

"Now, Victoria, that's over and done with. You'll need to learn to move on, to put your anger and frustration aside if you are going to be a fierce Venator. Focus and strength, quick thinking and bravery… these are all characteristics you possess, but you must refine them. Learn to use them."

As a Venator directly descended from the first Gardella, Victoria had been born with the innate fighting skills she would need to be a formidable vampire hunter. Agility, strength, and speed were already inherent in her; the purpose of Kritanu's training her in various martial-arts forms was to refine and hone those skills… draw them forth and teach her how to use them. And the vis bulla she would receive would provide her with additional protection and strength.

Victoria ducked and spun about to meet a rear attack from Kritanu, mumbling something like, "I'd like to refine him," but of course Eustacia wasn't about to acknowledge that kind of talk.

Instead, she allowed herself the pleasure of watching her lover and companion propel himself into smooth, lethal action as he dodged Victoria's defense and sent her tumbling to the floor. Kritanu, a wiry, muscular Calcuttan nearing seventy-five years old, was a daunting opponent even at his age. He wore an amulet that differed from the vis bullae given to Venators, but which gave him additional strength; but even without that, he was still quick and strong.

Nearly sixty years ago, he'd been sent to Eustacia to train her in kalaripayattu, the Indian martial-arts form favored by Venators who fought the inhumanly strong vampires, and the Chinese qinggong. He'd remained at her side as her companion ever since. The fact that he also shared her bed was an item that they kept discreet; although Eustacia sensed that Max suspected the depth of their relationship. Kritanu's nephew, Briyani, had been Max's assistant for three years, and the trio of men spent much training time together.

Eustacia looked at Victoria, who was pulling herself to her feet. Her hair straggled over her shoulders, but her face was set with determination. "Kritanu, I think she's had enough for the day. Thank you."