particles shimmered and blew away on the breeze.
Dante’s panic appeared to spread to Luk, who, with one last glare of hatred, grabbed Dante by the arm and ran, protecting his creation with his own body. Saloman contented himself with throwing his stake at one of the fleeing vampires trying to keep up, and felt a certain satisfaction when he turned to dust.
He stared after the running vampires until he could no longer see them, then slumped against the nearest rock. He had a plan for everything. For every possible contingency in the human and vampire worlds. Except killing the beloved cousin it might just be possible to save.
Luk was in Dante’s control, recovering his memory and his power; he threatened Saloman’s life and Saloman’s rule; he threatened the world.
And yet there had been a moment. . . .
Saloman closed his eyes, floundering for the first time in centuries. What do I do? Elizabeth, what do I do now?
Chapter Six
E lizabeth opened her eyes with no clear sense of what had awakened her. It might have been the dog in the yard next door, emitting a kind of whimpering half bark, as if unsure whether it felt threatened.
She and the hunters, having lost the trail early and left Saloman to pick it up again—against Konrad’s better judgment—had driven home and fallen into bed. Like the others, Elizabeth felt a sense of frustration, having traveled so far and come so close to the enemy, and yet failing to engage. And Saloman worried her. After sending his signal to guide her, he’d broken it off, only to communicate telepathically a little later that he’d killed a couple of the vampires but was still on the trail. And then, only a little after that, had come the advice to go home, because the vampires had separated, with Luk and Dante heading suddenly northeast, and the others south, closer to the hunters’ base. Saloman was following Luk, but advised Elizabeth to look for signs of vampire attack in the villages inland from Fethiye. It was possible Dante, or even Luk, had instructed them to create a fledgling army to distract the hunters.
Konrad especially had bridled at being “advised” by a vampire, but in fact, as István pointed out, it was the only sensible thing to do. Although there were hours of darkness left, pursuing vampires who moved much faster than humans was a thankless task at the best of times. They had to be tracked and ambushed, and that night the hunters had simply gone too far off the right path. At Elizabeth’s urging, Konrad had finally phoned Mustafa to let the Turkish hunters know Saloman’s warning about Fethiye. After which, exhausted and irritable, they’d all retired, aware that they might have to spend the next night executing violent yet more or less defenseless fledgling vampires.
But Elizabeth could have been asleep for only a couple of hours. It was still dark outside; no call to prayer sounded; even the cockerels were silent. She lay still for a moment, straining her ears. Her heart began to beat faster as she wondered if Saloman had returned. She slipped out from under the sheet and padded across the cool floor to the window. No familiar dark shadow lurked on the balcony or in the garden below. Moving quickly across to the other side of the room, she felt ridiculously disappointed to see no sign of him on the swimming pool side of the house either.
She should go back to bed and sleep. Only . . . Only, something felt wrong. Straining for Saloman’s presence, she was sure she sensed something else. Something she didn’t like. She moved silently to the bedside table and picked up the stake she’d kept close ever since her early encounters with Saloman. Holding it made her feel better. But not for long.
A clash of broken glass rent the air, followed closely by a male yell.
Konrad .
Before the thought had passed through her brain, she was out of the bedroom door and leaping down the spiral stairs so fast she should have broken her neck. Konrad’s was
Dante’s panic appeared to spread to Luk, who, with one last glare of hatred, grabbed Dante by the arm and ran, protecting his creation with his own body. Saloman contented himself with throwing his stake at one of the fleeing vampires trying to keep up, and felt a certain satisfaction when he turned to dust.
He stared after the running vampires until he could no longer see them, then slumped against the nearest rock. He had a plan for everything. For every possible contingency in the human and vampire worlds. Except killing the beloved cousin it might just be possible to save.
Luk was in Dante’s control, recovering his memory and his power; he threatened Saloman’s life and Saloman’s rule; he threatened the world.
And yet there had been a moment. . . .
Saloman closed his eyes, floundering for the first time in centuries. What do I do? Elizabeth, what do I do now?
Chapter Six
E lizabeth opened her eyes with no clear sense of what had awakened her. It might have been the dog in the yard next door, emitting a kind of whimpering half bark, as if unsure whether it felt threatened.
She and the hunters, having lost the trail early and left Saloman to pick it up again—against Konrad’s better judgment—had driven home and fallen into bed. Like the others, Elizabeth felt a sense of frustration, having traveled so far and come so close to the enemy, and yet failing to engage. And Saloman worried her. After sending his signal to guide her, he’d broken it off, only to communicate telepathically a little later that he’d killed a couple of the vampires but was still on the trail. And then, only a little after that, had come the advice to go home, because the vampires had separated, with Luk and Dante heading suddenly northeast, and the others south, closer to the hunters’ base. Saloman was following Luk, but advised Elizabeth to look for signs of vampire attack in the villages inland from Fethiye. It was possible Dante, or even Luk, had instructed them to create a fledgling army to distract the hunters.
Konrad especially had bridled at being “advised” by a vampire, but in fact, as István pointed out, it was the only sensible thing to do. Although there were hours of darkness left, pursuing vampires who moved much faster than humans was a thankless task at the best of times. They had to be tracked and ambushed, and that night the hunters had simply gone too far off the right path. At Elizabeth’s urging, Konrad had finally phoned Mustafa to let the Turkish hunters know Saloman’s warning about Fethiye. After which, exhausted and irritable, they’d all retired, aware that they might have to spend the next night executing violent yet more or less defenseless fledgling vampires.
But Elizabeth could have been asleep for only a couple of hours. It was still dark outside; no call to prayer sounded; even the cockerels were silent. She lay still for a moment, straining her ears. Her heart began to beat faster as she wondered if Saloman had returned. She slipped out from under the sheet and padded across the cool floor to the window. No familiar dark shadow lurked on the balcony or in the garden below. Moving quickly across to the other side of the room, she felt ridiculously disappointed to see no sign of him on the swimming pool side of the house either.
She should go back to bed and sleep. Only . . . Only, something felt wrong. Straining for Saloman’s presence, she was sure she sensed something else. Something she didn’t like. She moved silently to the bedside table and picked up the stake she’d kept close ever since her early encounters with Saloman. Holding it made her feel better. But not for long.
A clash of broken glass rent the air, followed closely by a male yell.
Konrad .
Before the thought had passed through her brain, she was out of the bedroom door and leaping down the spiral stairs so fast she should have broken her neck. Konrad’s was
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