vampires mage 02 - witch hunter by c n crawford Page A

“Queen Erish said she was protecting our city. She said the Brotherhood are coming—”
    “Who has protected you in the past?” Caine cut in.
    “You, sir. And the High Lord.” The guard took a deep breath, holding Caine’s gaze. “In the southwest corner—”
    In a lightning-fast gesture, the other guard plunged a stake right through his back. A bloodied wooden tip protruded from the white-haired guard’s chest, and he crumpled to the ground.
    Rosalind took a step back, ready to grab for her knife, but Caine already had the killer by his neck. He lifted him into the air, then punched through the vamp’s ribs into his chest.
    Rosalind’s blood drained from her head. Caine was gripping the vamp’s heart. “What did she promise you?” he snarled.
    A thin stream of blood ran from the corner of the vamp’s mouth, and choking noises echoed off the ceiling.
    “Tell me.” Caine’s voice was low and soothing. “And it will all be over.”
    “Daywalking—” the vamp choked out.
    Caine’s mouth twisted in a dark smile. “You thought Erish would help you become a daywalker?”
    The vamp managed a nod before Caine pulled his heart from his chest, blood dripping down his arm. As the vamp crumpled to the floor, Caine slid his sword from his back. He sliced through the vamp’s neck, severing his spine, before glancing at Rosalind again. “I guess we’ve got to find the keres on our own. How many vampires do you think she made these promises to? I’d wager she’s manipulated all the prison guards, maybe more.”
    “If a lot of soldiers knew about this, surely someone would have told you or Ambrose.”
    “There has been a lot of discord among the soldiers. They’re not happy with us.”
    “Why?” she asked.
    “Ambrose promised to make them daywalkers. And it hasn’t happened. I’m sure by now some of them think Queen Erish could do a better job of it.”
    Rosalind nodded at the white-haired guard. “He said something about the southwest corner.”
    “So we’ll check that part of the dungeon.” Caine sheathed his sword, then began striding down the hallway. “There may be some sort of hidden entrance in the ground. There’s nowhere else in the city that they would have gone unnoticed.”
    His footsteps echoed off the ceiling. The narrow hall was barely large enough for the two of them to walk abreast, and her arm brushed his. As they walked, the distant shrieks grew louder—frantic, animalistic noises, half human and half beast.
    The narrow hall opened to a wider corridor with a packed-dirt floor, lined on either side by iron cells. Gray, emaciated arms clawed between the cell bars, scratching and grasping at the air. They seemed to be reaching right for Rosalind, and with a twist of her gut she realized why they’d been screaming. They’d been starved down here, and they could smell her blood.
    Caine turned to look at her. “I suppose I don’t need to tell a former hunter to be careful around starved vampires.”
    “I gathered that.”
    The vampires’ shrieks sent a cold shiver up her spine, and she stepped into the corridor, walking as fast as she could. Her heart thumped wildly. Frantic hands reached for her, but she wouldn’t meet the vamp’s eyes. She didn’t want to see the desperation in them.
    She crossed her arms as she walked, her gaze on the dirt floor, until a frantic banging noise interrupted the silence. Finally, she gave in, glancing to her right. A gaunt female vamp with wild brown ringlets was throwing herself against the iron bars, howling. Her fangs were bared, and her eyes burned with a bestial ferocity.
    Rosalind swallowed hard and walked on, quickening her pace.
    At last, the corridor opened into a central atrium. Five guards stood in the center, forming a circle, with each of them facing outward and surveying a corridor. Cell-lined hallways branched off from the atrium like spokes on a wheel.
    The guards gripped silver pikes, and their shoulders straightened as Caine