"Easy now, darling. I've got you." Clark's voice came thick and muffled from behind the gas mask as he gathered up the princess in his arms. "I'm taking you home."
Senator Clark raced for Ranger. Adele's head lolled against his shoulder. His troopers were scattered about the castle, searching for the very thing he had cradled in his arms. As he neared his ship, the crewall glowing proper human red-smartly ceased their fire and a bugle sounded recall.
A blue shape landed effortlessly in front of Clark, interrupting his daydream of a successful hero's return. The vampire soldier straightened its tall frame with a cruel smile and even had the audacity to hiss at him. Clark never even heard the second vampire swoop down on him, its claws ripping into his shoulders. He was lifted off his feet and lost his grip on Adele. He swung his pistol and fired wildly above him. The lithe female vampire tossed him forty feet to the side.
Clark tumbled halfway over the precarious edge of the battlement. Even as he clutched at the stones for his life, he snapped his head wildly about, searching for Adele. He saw her in the grip of a slim male vampire who dragged her toward the decrepit bloodmen ship. Clark scrambled back onto the rampart of the decaying castle, but he knew he would never make it in time to rescue Adele. He shouted in rage as the sails of the enemy ship gathered wind. He would break his gunners for not turning the vampire ship into unflyable kindling.
At the same instant, Flay bulleted toward Ranger, easily eluding the regrouping commandos as they converged on the drop lines hanging beneath the frigate. She settled aloft to shatter some of the ship's spars. She propelled off a mast and ascended, raking billowing sails with her clawed hands, leaving them fluttering loose in the wind.
"Kill it!" screamed Clark, dragging his mask from his face as he limped toward his ship. "Blast it out of the sky!"
His answer was a volley erupting from multiple barrels in a cloud of green smoke. Flay glided from the airship's rigging into the open air as bullets whipped around her. Some troopers heard her laughing over the sound of the gunfire. She spiraled away from Ranger as the crew made the crippled ship ready for a desperate launch.
The princess was thrown at Cesare's feet on the deck of the bloodmen airship. It didn't matter to the prince if she was alive or dead. He was pleased enough with the victory. He was going to win, despite Clark the great human vampire killer, despite the human hero named Greyfriar, and despite his treacherous brother.
As the bloodmen ship rose into the twilight sky, a streak of grey and steel flashed across the battlements. Greyfriar leapt from a crumbling tower in a desperate grab for a trailing mooring rope.
Flay approached the bloodmen vessel and actually paused in midair, staring in disbelief at the figure dangling from the airship. Her face grew sharp and hard. Her eyes slitted with hate. She gathered speed and flew at Greyfriar. Incredibly, even while flailing on a wind-blown rope, he pulled a pistol and took a shot. She eluded it all too easily and came in like a banshee, raking him across the shoulder and back. The sheer force of her attack knocked the pistol from his hand and almost made him lose his grip on the line.
Greyfriar immediately drew his sword, but he was in an awkward position. Flay took full advantage of that, her clawlike hands ripping as she darted past him. Her delighted laughter flashed loud and then faded as she flitted in and out of range. He couldn't release and meet her in battle. His burden of arms would slow him down, and he would lose the ship, and lose Adele. If the princess returned to Cesare's domain, she would never be seen alive again.
Flay arced against the skyline as she turned, and Greyfriar let his sword droop as if he were near defeat, as any human would be with his terrible injuries. With a smirk of glee she dove for the kill, hands raised, claws dripping. When she came into reach, he swung the blade up, a solid strike, slicing her from hip to shoulder. Flay screeched. The blow sent her tumbling, screeching with her hand tightly pressed to her blood-drenched chest. She bolted up to the airship.
Adele watched Flay land on the deck and stagger as if badly hurt. It struck Adele as odd that the first thing the war chief did was seize the lashed end of a mooring rope that dangled off the side and begin to shred it with her claws. The sheer peculiarity of it compelled Adele to struggle to the rail and look over. She saw Greyfriar trailing far below, climbing as fast as he could.
The sight of Greyfriar spawned a surge of warmth spreading through Adele, similar to the Canterbury swell she remembered so fondly. The uncanny wave of comfort banished her pain and numbness, filling her with a euphoric strength that let her focus on action. She was shocked to realize her Fahrenheit blade was still in her belt. Cesare was too vain to search her, and the bloodmen were incapable of action without direct orders. With fingers tight about the hilt of the dagger, she straightened on unsteady legs. Then she shoved off and catapulted herself blade first at Flay, and the khukri sunk deep. Flay's snakish eyes dilated from the damage and darted to Adele. One claw slammed the princess back to the deck.
Adele cried out as darkness closed in. Pain flared in every nerve. She struggled to hold onto consciousness because Gareth needed her. As the war chief reached down for her, Adele threw all her strength into the sizzling blade and plunged it into Flay's throat.
The vampire staggered back, and blood gushed through her sharp fingers. Adele knew she wasn't strong enough for this fight, but she had to buy Gareth time. She struggled to her knees. Flay seized her by the neck, trying to throttle the remaining life out of her even as the vampire screamed from the touch. Adele didn't even try to grab Flay. Instead her instinct for survival directed her hand to the cross she had rescued from the dust in Greyfriar's Kirk.
Through her spiderwebbing vision, Adele looped the cross around Flay's neck with a fervent prayer on her lips. The princess felt a spreading warmth bringing strength and comfort while Flay screeched in pain. The vampire released the young girl and slammed against the side of the ship, frantically tearing at the object encircling her. Adele put her booted foot against Flay and shoved the vampire over the rail. Then the young woman collapsed across the gunwale, watching the vile Flay plummet like a rock and disappear screaming into the clouds below.
Then Adele's gaze drifted to Greyfriar, just below her. She grabbed the end of the rope just as it snapped.
"Don't let go!" Gareth shouted. "I can't keep up with you."
The hard cord sliced Adele's hands. The pain awakened her lagging senses, but it didn't give her any strength. She was going to lose him. Fresh blood welled from her hands and made the rope even slicker. She cast about for anything to assist her. All she saw was the bloodmen crew.
"Help me!" she pleaded. Surely there must be some sliver of humanity in them. But they merely gaped at her before returning to their duties.
A dark shape slithered on the deck behind her, its shadow crossing her.
Cesare.
He snarled and grabbed Adele, throwing her to the deck. He ripped the rope away from her and tossed it over the side.
"No!" she screamed, scrabbling futilely after the vanished rope.
Cesare regarded her emotional outburst for a rope with confusion. He peered over the side. A sword flashed upward and pierced his chest. Cesare fell back, stunned at the weapon protruding from his flesh.
Gareth struggled with one hand to gain purchase on the rail. His wounds were severe, and he had lost a great deal of blood. He was weak, unsure if he could climb the rest of the way up.
But suddenly Adele was there, reaching down with her good arm, desperate with hope. "Hurry!"
Gareth didn't hesitate, grasping her offered hand and lifting himself onto the deck. He climbed to unsteady feet as Adele slumped to the deck, her reserves finally spent.
Cesare yanked the blade from his chest. He saw no vampires around. None of the Pale had survived the American attack. Cesare screamed to the human drones about him, pointing at Adele and Greyfriar, "Kill them! Kill them now!"
They obeyed: no thought, no reason. They attacked as a surging mob.
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Greyfriar didn't want to kill these humans, but he had no choice. Nothing must stop him. Adele must survive. Blood, flesh, and steel rose in the air until abruptly there was stillness, with only Greyfriar standing, drenched in the blood of the newly dead. Cesare stared in horror. He was alone now.
Cesare was wounded, but Greyfriar was worse. With a bellowing roar, Cesare charged his enemy.
He had never fought a human with such strength and quickness. Greyfriar dodged slash after slash of Cesare's claws. The human's forearm slammed into Cesare's stomach, doubling him over. Cesare righted himself with a wicked slash at Greyfriar's face. The human warrior dodged, and the claws ripped into his chest instead, staggering him. Vampire reflexes saved Cesare a nasty riposte of Greyfriar's blade. The human just kept coming, no matter what damage Cesare inflicted. Blood flowed from both of them, both scarlet in color, both a sign of their dwindling life.
The unmanned airship floundered in the wind, pitching to the side. The weakened Cesare dropped against the bulwark hard. He glanced at Adele. He needed only a moment to feed from her to regain the advan tage. He started to scramble to his feet, but the shadow of Greyfriar came over him with blade raised for a killing stroke. Gareth was free to put an end to his brother's life, but he stepped back, his blade dropping.
"Go," Greyfriar said wearily. "Go now and you'll live."
Cesare stared, dumfounded. He contemplated taking advantage of the human's foolishness. But he was rational enough to know he didn't have the upper hand; it wasn't a sure kill. And Cesare never fought unless he believed he had a sure kill. Better to wait and fight again. And if this Greyfriar was giving him that opportunity, so be it.
Cesare sneered. The human called the Greyfriar was weak. He had the vampire prince at his mercy, but he couldn't bring himself to kill. The fool! Cesare decided he didn't need Adele after all. The die was cast thanks to the aggression of the humans, particularly Senator Clark striking the vampire homeland on three different occasions. The clan was Cesare's for the taking. The war would go forward with or without the wretched princess. Cesare leapt into the air, letting the air currents take him far out of the human's reach.
Gareth watched his brother flee. Adele struggled to stand beside him.
"Why didn't you kill him?" she asked, grasping Gareth's arm as the ship pitched again with a gust of wind.
"I won't kill Cesare as a human. When I kill him, I'll do it with my hands." Gareth slipped to one knee. Adele sank down with him. "And I can't move another step."
Adele squeezed his arm, offering her own dwindling strength. She understood. This was more than a battle between families; it was a battle between nations. When the time came, all of his kind would have to know that it was Prince Gareth who challenged their vile traditions. Then it would shake the vampire nation to its core and give it a chance to become something more. Killing Cesare as Greyfriar would only fuel the war between humans and vampires, not end it.
Gareth gripped her hand lightly and gazed at her. "You're alive."
"I've been better." Adele tried to smile wanly. "But I think I'll survive. A few of Morgana's meals and I'll be fine."
Gareth searched out his brother's diminishing form, and then he gazed in the other direction. The sails of Ranger were visible aft. The frigate was catching the foundering wreck of an airship.
"No," he said. "You have to go home." Gareth stood, pulling Adele up with him.
Adele turned to watch Ranger draw close. Her face drained of the exhilaration of victory. She exhaled and dropped her head in defeat as boarding hooks slammed against the rails.
Senator Clark swung across with a team of commandos, all flashing saber and revolver, white cowboy hat trailing behind. Gareth tensed for the fight. Senator Clark reached out and grasped Gareth's hand gratefully, shaking it with pride.
"The Greyfriar, I presume! I'm Senator Clark. Thank you for your help, sir. We got the devils on the run!"
"And the princess is safe," Gareth noted.
"Yes, yes!" Senator Clark turned to Adele. "Thank heaven for that." He pulled the fragile girl into his steely arms and delivered a powerful kiss on the blood-caked face of his future bride.
Adele grimaced as Clark's passion aggravated her wounds and his beard scraped her face. She fought not to squirm, and her return kiss was just above catatonic.
Clark immediately pulled back. "You were lucky, my dear, that you were not more seriously hurt when that filthy vampire used you as a shield."
Adele's eyes sought out Gareth's, but he had turned away.
"I'll have you transferred to Ranger, where our ship's surgeon will tend you." Clark lowered Adele to the deck and crossed to the gunwale, waving to his crew to rig a transfer basket.
Adele turned to Gareth and mouthed, "Don't leave me. Come to Alexandria!"
"I can't," he replied quietly as he came close.
"But I love you."
"You mean Greyfriar."
"No. It's always been you." She didn't care about the obstacles standing between them. Suddenly all she wanted was to be with him.
Gareth's head bowed low at this revelation; he touched her face rev erently, consumed with regret, and his hand shook as it trailed slowly down her cheek. As quickly as his joy at these words blossomed it was replaced with sorrow. He knew what must be done, and he prayed he had the strength to see it through, struggling to keep his voice devoid of the fervor that blistered him. "We have to save our nations first. Someday we may meet again, but for now, it is best you return to Equatoria. At the very least, we can both work to prevent a full-scale war between our races."
She bit back her despair. "But I'll be forced to ... marry." Her eyes tracked toward her Intended, who was still bellowing orders. With gentle hands, she lowered his mask just a few inches to reveal his mouth. She took his face in her trembling hands and kissed him hard.
The footsteps of Senator Clark echoed on the deck as he approached them. Gareth slipped his mask back on.
"We're ready to leave," Clark informed them with a quizzical glance.
Greyfriar nodded. He quickly lifted Adele in his arms and strode past a surprised Clark to gently deliver her into the basket. Greyfriar watched as the Americans carefully winched her out of his reach into the dizzying maw between the airships. Adele's gaze did not leave him even after the crew of Ranger lifted her from the basket.
His heart agonized as he watched her taken away, his eyes darkening with the sting of it.
Clark clapped an iron hand on his shoulder. "Come with us, Greyfriar. We can exchange a few war stories while your wounds mend."
Greyfriar shook his head, fighting the urge to sweep the hand off, but sadness weakened his limbs. "I wish you well, Senator Clark. But I leave you here."
"Look here, this ship is done for. We'd tow it as a prize, but it's not even worth breaking up for salvage. You can't stay on this wreck."
"Thank you, but my place is here."
"Well, I hope we'll meet again someday. Keep fighting the good fight!"
The big American laughed loudly as he grasped a line and swung across to the rail of Ranger. He waved farewell to Greyfriar as he placed his arm about Adele's shoulder. "I'll not let her out of my sight again," he shouted to Greyfriar.
Adele's eyes remained riveted on Gareth. The frigate gained headway and hove off.
With his keen vampiric eyesight, Gareth could watch Adele farther than she could him. She was crying at the rail, now alone, as her ship vanished into the clouds.
CHAPTER
M MARVELOUS day indeed," Sir Godfrey exclaimed as Mamoru entered the chamber deep inside the Great Pyramid. "Congratulations to us all!"
Mamoru bowed his head to the old gentleman. Even Nzingu the Zulu was smiling as she clapped her lace-covered hands. Sanah the Persian clung to the shadows and stayed quiet.
"We are fortunate," Mamoru said. "Selkirk performed magnificently. And we can, even against our better judgment, thank the boisterous Senator Clark as well as the mysterious Gr
eyfriar."
"This Greyfriar chap needs to be brought into the circle, I should think," Sir Godfrey said.
"Perhaps," Mamoru replied. "If even half of what I've heard is true, he is more extraordinary than any other man alive."
"What of the princess?" Nzingu asked, a bit too abruptly to show true concern. "What is her condition?"
A calming breath helped Mamoru collect his thoughts before he spoke. "I am unsure. The senator's telegram from Malta indicated that Her Highness suffered grievous wounds, but he feels certain those will heal. He was, I'm certain, more concerned with the impending marriage than by Princess Adele's well-being. I am amazed by her strength of body." The samurai paused with a troubled sigh. "But emotionally, she cannot be unchanged."
"As we might well expect," Sir Godfrey consoled. "How could anyone endure what she must have in the north? But perhaps the ordeal has tempered her mettle, yes?"
"We can hope," Nzingu said. "She always seemed ... insubstantial. Too weak to do what must be done. Maybe her tribulation will be a blessing. And it will bring out the true girl."
Mamoru cast a dark eye at the Zulu quickly. "It remains to be seen what Cesare has done to her. Certainly none of us have experienced what Princess Adele has."
Sanah said, "Do you fear that she has grown past the bond you shared?"
Mamoru regarded the Persian for a very long moment and considered the clarity of her question. "I only worry that she is not yet properly trained to accept the necessary knowledge. To direct it."
Sanah replied, "Perhaps she has a strength that even you did not perceive. There are springs in the mind from which others cannot drink."
"True enough." Mamoru gave a professorial tug on the cuffs of his jacket. "However, we are dealing with a power that can't be fully appreciated until the moment it is unleashed. And then it will be too late to realize it has been badly prepared. This is not a poem. This is a rigorous doctrine. And it will bring about the end of the world. For good or bad depending on how I ... on how we remake Princess Adele."
The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) by Clay & Susan Griffith;Clay Griffith;Susan Griffith Page 29