Dark Legacy (Dark 27)

He glanced uneasily at Sandu, who shook his head. I think he's really that careless. I don't feel or see anything out of place.

Dragomir took the next two strands down. One remained. It floated in the air, looking like a string of knots.

Rosary, the ancients identified simultaneously. The weave had been taken from the prayer beads in the thirteenth century. Now it was called a rosary weave by those practicing to remove the safeguard.

Dragomir began to undo each knot slowly. Waiting. Watching. He just couldn't believe that the safeguards set were so careless. When we go in, fan out. He could be anywhere. He was uneasy, but he figured it probably had to do with the way his skin prickled in alarm, telling him the sun was close to rising.

Do you get a sense of who constructed the safeguard? Andor asked. You ran across them from time to time before they turned, Dragomir.

Dragomir hadn't liked them. But then, he'd lost emotion earlier than some of the others and by the time the Astors and Malinovs arrived, he was already an experienced hunter.

I think Leon. It feels like his signature.

Yellow vapor suits him, Sandu said. Whiny little brat. Always causing trouble and running from the consequences. When I heard he and his brothers turned, I wasn't surprised. I never ran across them after that. Figured they avoided me.

Everyone avoids you, Dragomir pointed out. They avoid all of us.

With reason, Afanasiv said.

No one spoke again as Dragomir took out the rest of the knots. Once the safeguards were down, he wasted no time in streaming through the crack. The others followed him. The crack opened into a narrow corridor. The sides of the small cavern were lined with cracks running up from floor to ceiling. The ceiling wasn't high. Had he been in his normal form, he wouldn't have been able to stand up straight.

The corridor narrowed again until a slight man or woman could have moved sideways through it. Three times there were narrow alcoves, just rounded spaces carved out of the rock by water that had long ago disappeared. Dirt had fallen from the sloping walls to the floor.

Sandu materialized in the small space, bent over, crouching low to examine the floor and run his hand up the side of the wall. Go. I'll make certain this one is clear.

Ferro took the second space, which was much smaller than the first one. His wide shoulders scraped on either side of the walls, but, like Sandu, he took his time exploring.

Nicu waved the others on and stayed behind to scrutinize the walls and floor of the third alcove. It looked as if someone had tried to form a grotto in the boulder. This was deeper and smoother, but there was also suspect dirt lying in crumbles all over the ground. It was easy to see where it had rolled off the sides as if something had disturbed it recently.

Dragomir kept going through that narrow corridor. Behind him, Afanasiv and Andor followed. Afanasiv stopped abruptly and materialized, his large frame taking up a good portion of the hallway. He was forced to bend over, and his shoulders didn't fit, so he also had to turn sideways as he crouched down to examine the floor. There was a large fracture zigzagging down the center of the passageway. All around it was dirt and debris. A few rocks. Nothing lay in the crack itself. No dirt at all. Dirt should have been caught in the fissure, but there was none. Afanasiv ran his finger down the fracture until he got to a tiny piece of rock that looked as if it had fallen in the crack, but the crack had formed around it.

I've got something, he said.

Dragomir stopped moving forward. He materialized beside him. The two barely fit in the narrow space.

Andor streamed past them. I'll check out the rest of this passageway and come back.

Dragomir concentrated on the fissure in the floor. It had been there for centuries. No vampire had constructed it, but they could easily have taken advantage of it. Even though they were in darkness, with a mountain on top of them, a barrier between him and the sun, he still felt the burn as the sun began its first journey.

Let's get this done. You ready?

In answer, Afanasiv waved his hand to open the crack. It widened a mere half inch. As it did, the entire boulder above and around them creaked and groaned. Dirt ran down the sides of the cavern to land on the floor. Dragomir was already streaming through the crack, Afanasiv behind him. They were used to traveling in complete darkness. They were used to tons of earth overhead. More, hunting vampires was what they were most comfortable doing.

Below them was space, lots of space. The boulder hid a cave beneath with no outside entrance. The cool air hit their bodies, feeling good after the heat of the narrow corridor. Dragomir knew instantly they weren't alone. Vampires had a stench to them. They were undead, their bodies often decomposing before they could figure out how--or bother--to overcome that little stumbling block.

The stench indicated the lair was used often--or by multiple vampires. The latter would be highly unusual, but then, he didn't discount the idea simply because in the past it hadn't been done. Vampires were vain and selfish. They wanted glory. They didn't want to share their victims. On the other hand, their biggest drive was to stay alive. Vadim had somehow connected with that drive and he'd built himself an unusual army. These vampires used modern technology, and they worked together. They had an acknowledged leader.

We're not alone, he warned. One, possibly more.

The attack came out of the darkness, a fireball that lit the world around him, exposing the cave to his vision. He instantly mapped it, committing every curve, every rock, the ceiling, floor and surrounding walls to memory even while he dodged the fireball and dropped straight down toward the vampire rising out of the ground.

It was Leon, and he wasn't alone in the chamber. Leon called out, and three spouts of fresh dirt rose into the air like giant plumes. In the dwindling light of the fireball, Dragomir recognized two of the three. One called himself Ravenous. He must have turned quite recently because he was disheveled and shaky as he came out of the ground. The second one he recognized was named Eugen, and he also must have turned recently. Both had been a few centuries younger, but they'd been impressive hunters.

Leon must be the master vampire, or at least moving in that direction. He gave the information to Afanasiv even as he drove straight at Leon. Leon squawked and hurtled a spinning spear of fire at him, dodging to the left and disappearing behind a large rock.

He wishes he was a master vampire, Afanasiv said. Collecting pawns doesn't make you good in battle. Leon and his brothers perfected the art of running away.

Dragomir had to agree with the ancient. Truthfully, though, he'd been out of the game for a while. His recent battles were the only experience he'd had since he'd entered the monastery. Yes, they'd kept up their practices, and they'd shared battle strategy and what they knew of various Carpathians and vampires, but he hadn't had actual practice in a while.

He pursued Leon, expecting an attack, but Leon circled around toward Ravenous and Eugen. Do you know the third one? He had some information on the other two and he imparted it immediately to Afanasiv. He shared the lesser vampires' weak sides, which weapons they favored, which battles they'd fought in, everything he could remember. Dragomir couldn't remember his past, growing up as a child, but he rem

embered battles. Wars. Weapons. He pushed what he had into the ancient's mind. It took no more than a couple of seconds to arm Afanasiv with everything he knew about the vampires.

The third one is called Kaiser. He was a hanger-on with the Astors. I'm surprised you don't remember him. He's a tricky devil. Well versed in warfare. My guess, he's been with the Astors, running interference for them for centuries. Watch him. He's probably the most experienced and the deadliest.

The spear had been thrown with such force it embedded into the wall of rock, throwing light through the chamber. Kaiser's lips were drawn back in a savage grimace as he saw who he faced. If he chose to stay and fight, he would be fighting two ancients with fierce reputations, with little help. If he ran, he would be chancing burning alive as the sun rose. He didn't have any good options.

Kaiser raised his hand and waved it toward the spear. It dropped to the ground and as it did so, the flame was extinguished, plunging the cavern into darkness again. Dragomir had no trouble seeing in the dark as a rule, but there seemed to be a thick veil covering the space, one difficult to penetrate without light. He waved his hand and light burst throughout the cave. Kaiser was nowhere in sight.

Leon flattened himself against the ceiling near the opening. When he realized Dragomir could see him, he screamed to his three pawns to attack while he crawled along the ceiling to the crack. Dragomir smacked his hands together loudly and the fissure closed with a clap of thunder, sealing itself, preventing Leon's escape.

Afanasiv dropped down fast, driving his fist into Ravenous's chest, fingers reaching through bone and sinew, talons scraping away flesh to get at the heart. He tore it from the vampire's chest and flung it to the floor of the chamber. Ravenous abandoned tearing and biting at the ancient to dive after the falling heart. Afanasiv waited until the vampire's outstretched fingers nearly connected before sending the fiery spear rolling right through the withered, blackened organ. The flames were white-hot, bright orange red, spilling glaring light across Ravenous's face. His lips were pulled back in a soundless grimace of sheer strain as he desperately tried to force his long, bony fingers into that fire to retrieve his heart.