Lowering my sword, I looked down at the two vamps, frowning. I looked toward the center of the graveyard, which was hidden among the tall monuments to the dead and tombstones which dotted the graveyard. I probably shouldn’t have killed the vamps—they could have given me more information on the trap set for Lucius—but I couldn’t stand listening to them talking about looking forward to Lucius’s death.
I now faced a choice. I could either go to the center of the graveyard and try to save Lucius from the trap, or I could continue stalking through the graveyard ruining the ritual lines and killing any vamps unfortunate to walk into my line of sight. I had already ruined a few lines, which should be more than enough to render the ritual useless, but I always thought it best to do a thorough job and make sure that neither Lady Hisara nor her minions would be able to activate the ritual tonight.
On the other hand, Lucius was my ally, however much I hated to even think that. If he had been anyone else, I would already be running over to the center of the graveyard to save him or warn him about the trap.
If Lucius walked into the trap and got killed, it wouldn’t be a very big loss to the world. But it would mean I would be alone against Lady Hisara and her minions, which was not something I looked forward to doing. And if Lady Hisara was smart enough to anticipate Lucius’s betrayal, then maybe she had a backup plan for the ritual, too.
Gritting my teeth, telling myself I was going to regret this for the rest of my life, I turned and ran toward the center of the graveyard. I just hoped I would get there in time and that Lucius wouldn’t be dead by the time I arrived.
***
CHAPTER EIGHT
I reached the center of the graveyard fairly quickly, but I didn’t barge in and show myself. I crouched behind a tombstone with a cross on top and then peered through the hole in the center of the cross, which afforded me a good view of the center of the graveyard. It was even easier to see thanks to the moonlight above, which was bright tonight and gave me enough light by which to see.
The center of the graveyard had, at one point, been full of tombstones and gravestones like the rest of the graveyard, but tonight, they had all been cleared away, leaving nothing but a barren, empty space with only a single granite pillar rising out of the ground. Newborns stalked on the periphery of the center, like guard dogs, while in the center of the circle were two familiar vamps: Lady Hisara and Lucius.
Lucius, as usual, stood off to the side, his arms folded in front of his chest and his expression as inscrutable as always. Lady Hisara, on the other hand, stood in front of the granite pillar, running a finger along its smooth surface. Looking more closely at the pillar, I noticed that it was covered in carvings that looked extremely ancient and remembered that Lucius told me that this pillar would play an important role in the ritual. Supposedly, once the circles were complete, the pillar would open a portal to the dimension where the Vampire Sword was kept, which meant that this pillar was vital to the success of the plan.
But I wasn’t here to destroy it, at least not yet. With the lines disrupted, the pillar was likely already useless anyway. I was here to save Lucius, though at the moment he didn’t appear to be in danger.
“Isn’t it beautiful, Lucius?” said Lady Hisara with a sigh. “The Pillar of Blood, one of the oldest and rarest vampire objects in the world. In itself, it is a significant piece of vampire history. It belongs in a museum.”
“Where did you get it from, anyway?” said Lucius. “Last I heard, the Pillar of Blood was thought to be missing.”
Lady Hisara turned around to face Lucius. “Didn’t I already tell you? The Vampire Council had it in their Vault. I stole it, just like I had you steal those texts with information about the Vampire Sword. It was actually rather easy to steal, so easy that Newborn could have done it.”
“I see,” said Lucius. “Tell me, do you think the ritual is almost ready to be completed yet?”
“Almost,” said Lady Hisara. She looked up at the sky. “The full moon isn’t quite at its apex yet. Once it is, then I’ll speak the chant which will activate the Pillar of Blood and open the gateway to the Vampire Sword.”
“And kill all of those humans in the process, right?” said Lucius.
“Of course,” said Lady Hisara. She frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about them, Lucius.”
“Of course not,” said Lucius, shaking his head. “I find humans a contemptible species, not even useful for their blood if you ask me. If every human in the world were to die tomorrow, I wouldn’t shed even one tear for them.”
Lucius was such a good actor that I had no idea if he actually hated humans that much or if he was just hamming it up to trick Lady Hisara. I’d heard other vamps say similar things about humans before, which was part of what made it so hard to know if he was being serious or not.
“Good,” said Lady Hisara with a slight but noticeable purr. “Ah, Lucius, I love hearing you talk about how much you hate humans. It’s so sexy, especially coming from a man as strong as you.”
Lady Hisara walked up to him until she was practically up against his body. She put a hand on the back of his neck, making Lucius look down at her with surprise in her eyes.
“Lady Hisara, what are you doing?” said Lucius, who sounded slightly nervous. “The ritual—”
“Won’t be ready for a few more minutes,” said Lady Hisara, running a finger down Lucius’s large chest. “In the meantime, perhaps you and I can have a bit of fun.”
I grimaced. Vampires were well-known for their incredibly strong libidos. They weren’t averse to doing it out in the public, even in the presence of other vamps. It was disgusting, but at the same time, also nice, because it was always a good opportunity to kill two vamps with one slash. I’d killed more than a few vamps in that way, though I always felt dirty about it afterward.
“I’m not sure,” said Lucius. “I think it would be wise to wait until after you get the Vampire Sword. That way, it will be more … exciting. At least, we wouldn’t have to worry about missing the timing for the ritual.”
“Perhaps,” said Lady Hisara, her voice as smooth and sexy as ever, “but who said you were going to live long enough to see the ritual completed?”
Without warning, Lady Hisara pulled a wooden stake out of her dress and stabbed Lucius in the chest with it. Lucius gasped in pain and shoved her back, causing Lady Hisara to stagger and fall onto her behind, but it did Lucius no good. The Pure grabbed his chest and closed his hands around the stake, but then his blood red eyes turned white and he fell over backwards onto the ground as still as a stone.
“Lucius!” I shouted. “No!”
I jumped out from behind the tombstone and rushed over to Lady Hisara, holding my sword tightly in my hands. One swing of my sword was all it would take and then she would be dead.
But before I could get very far, Lady Hisara stood up and whirled around, holding out her hand all the while. A flash of red exploded from her hand and I was briefly bathed in pure red light. In the next instant, the red light went away … and I was now completely visible.
“What?” I said, looking down at my now-visible body. “What happened to my invisibility spell? I didn’t turn it off.”
Lady Hisara lowered her hand, a vicious smile on her face. “Magic-negation spell. Did you think that only my ropes could do that? As a Vampire Lord, I can cast spells which can negate those pesky spells you sorcerers like to use to help you kill my people. When I heard you shout poor Lucius’s name, I knew where you were and what you were doing immediately.”
I gritted my teeth and glanced at Lucius. A stake to the chest didn’t usually kill a vamp unless the stake was coated with silver, which meant that I could potentially rescue Lucius if I could just remove the stake from his chest. Unfortunately, Lady Hisara was between me and Lucius’s body and I didn’t think that she was going to let me past her to help him.
“I love the look on your face,” said Lady Hisara, putting her hands together. “It is so typical of how
you humans look whenever your carefully laid plans are upended by your superiors. I hope you die with that expression on your face.”
I scowled. “How did you know that Lucius was going to betray you? He told me you didn’t know.”
Lady Hisara smirked. “Did you really think that I, Lady Hisara, one of the most powerful Vampire Lords in the world, was unaware that the Vampire Council and their little order of spies was really unaware of my attempt to find the Vampire Sword? Please. I used to work for the Vampire Council myself and am aware of how they monitor any and all potential threats to their power. When Lucius came, I did my own research on him and discovered his connections to the Order.”
“And then you pretended to be enchanted by him in order to make him think he’d tricked you,” I said. “Right?”
“Right,” said Lady Hisara. “But I’m impressed you figured that out. Most humans are too stupid to follow the brilliant and subtle plans which we Vampire Lords are well-known for creating.”
I shrugged. “I’ve been fighting vampires for five years. I understand how vampires think. And I hate it.”
Lady Hisara chuckled. “Inferiors always hate the way of the superior. That’s simply the way the world works.”
“I don’t care how you vamps treat each other,” I said. I took a fighting stance. “But I do care how you treat humans. And I’m going to ensure that tonight is the last night you ever harm anyone, human or vampire.”
Lady Hisara rolled her eyes. “Typical vampire hunter babble. Frankly, the only thing about Lucius that surprised me was that he went back and freed you. I didn’t think he would actually try to form an alliance with you, but I suppose that’s a Pure for you, willing to side with a dirty human—a vampire hunter, no less—in order to keep believing that he’s holier than the rest of us.”
“Nah, Lucius actually cares about his people, unlike you,” I said. “I never have anything good to say about vamps, but one thing I can say for Lucius is that he cares more about his fellow vamps than you. You’re just a would-be tyrant.”
“Call me whatever you like,” said Lady Hisara with a shrug. “I’ve been called much worse than that. And anyway, it doesn’t matter. The ritual is nearly complete. Once the moon is at the top of the sky, the Pillar of Blood will open the portal and the Vampire Sword will be mine.”
I glanced at the moon in the sky, which was still not yet at the top of its arc, and looked at Lady Hisara again. “Sucks to be you, then, because I ruined all those pretty lines you and your merry band of bloodsuckers drew on the ground. Once the moon reaches the apex of its arc, nothing will happen, although you might not have your head on your shoulders anymore by then.”
Lady Hisara folded her arms over her chest. A chilling smile appeared on her lips. “You’re assuming I don’t have other ways to open the portal.”
I frowned. “Other ways? What—”
A shrieking sound behind me made me look over my shoulder. A Newborn was flying toward me, its fangs open wide. Instinctively, I slashed Domination, cutting its head cleanly off its body. Its head and its body both fell to the ground, but just as I lowered my sword, I heard movement behind me and turned around in time to find Lady Hisara standing before me.
Lady Hisara grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the Pillar of Blood. I gasped and tried to raise Domination, but Lady Hisara slapped it out of my hand. She then increased her grip on my neck, cutting off my oxygen and making me gasp for air more frantically.
“I was lying earlier when I said that the portal needed a thousand human sacrifices to open,” said Lady Hisara in a low voice, her decayed breath washing over my face. “In truth, all it really needs is the blood of a vampire and the blood of a sorcerer stained on the Pillar’s surface. And yours and Lucius’s blood will do just fine.”
***
CHAPTER NINE
As soon as Lady Hisara said that, I felt something sharp pierce my stomach. I glanced down and saw her claw stabbing into my stomach. Blood was starting to leak out of my wound, but then Lady Hisara pulled her now-bloody hand out of my stomach and threw me aside. I landed on the ground a few feet away from the Pillar with a groan, clutching my bleeding stomach and trying to staunch the flow of blood, but my healing spells were currently being negated by the same spell Lady Hisara had hit me with earlier.
A mad laugh caused me to look up at Lady Hisara. She was holding both of her hands up now, her right one stained with my blood, her left one stained with someone else’s blood.
“Thanks for your sacrifice, Hunter,” said Lady Hisara. “With your blood and Lucius’s blood, I will now open the portal to the Vampire Sword and then the entire world will tremble at the name of Lady Hisara!”
Lady Hisara slammed both of her hands against the surface of the Pillar. Immediately, the Pillar started glowing blood red, the same shade as Lady Hisara’s eyes. It also started vibrating, like it was about to explode.
I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t let Lady Hisara get to the Vampire Sword. I slowly rose to my feet, still clutching my stomach. I picked up Domination on the way up, but I could only hold it one-handed as I was clutching my bleeding stomach with my other hand.
Lady Hisara looked at me. Her eyes were wide with insanity and triumph and she was laughing like a mad woman as the Pillar of Blood grew brighter and brighter with each passing second.
“Still capable of standing? Why, you are a stubborn little human after all,” said Lady Hisara, her voice full of mad glee. “If only you were a vampire. You would have made an excellent second-in-command, perhaps even a good lover.”
“Shut up,” I snapped. I held up my sword weakly. “I’m going to make sure that you won’t live long enough to even see the Vampire Sword, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
I stepped forward, but then three Newborns suddenly burst out of the shadows between nearby tombstones and surrounded me. They hissed and snapped at me, forcing me to step back, but I couldn’t run because one of them was behind me.
Lady Hisara smiled. “You can keep telling yourself that you will defeat me in that safe little circle that my Newborns have made. In the end, you will die, whether by my hand, the hands of my Newborn, or by the Vampire Sword itself.”
I gritted my teeth, but at the same time, I didn’t see how I could stop her. Lucius was immobilized, I had been stabbed in the stomach, and the Pillar of Blood was already active. Not to mention the Newborns surrounding me to make sure that I couldn’t get anywhere near their leader, but even if I could get her, I wouldn’t last long against her in a direct fight because of the pain in my wound slowing me down. My magic was still negated as well, so I couldn’t even cast a spell.
But I had no choice. If I gave up now, Lady Hisara would get the Vampire Sword and everyone—human, vampire, and sorcerer alike—would be in danger. Therefore, my only chance was killing Lady Hisara with my sword. I would just have to ignore my stomach wound and hope that I could kill Lady Hisara before I bled out and died. I prayed to God to give me the strength and stamina I needed for what I was about to do next.
Then I opened my eyes and, grabbing Domination with both hands and letting my stomach bleed freely, I yelled and rushed toward the Newborn standing before me. The Newborn had just enough time to look at me in surprise before my sword slashed its head off its neck. As the Newborn’s body collapsed, the other two Newborns jumped toward me, hissing and screeching like bats. I beheaded one, but the other managed to slashed at my shoulder. Its claw tore through the sleeve of my shirt, but I managed to jerk back at the last second so I only got a glancing wound rather than a deep gash.
Anger shot through me and I beheaded the Newborn in one swift stroke. Then I turned to face Lady Hisara, panting and sweating, and rushed toward her.
But before I could get more than a couple of steps toward her, a long beam of red light exploded toward the sky from the Pillar of Blood. The beam hit the clouds above and created a large portal through which I saw some kind of endless darkness, much blacker than eve
n the blackness of outer space.
But the place on the other side of the portal wasn’t merely darkness. I also saw a sword, shining brightly in the shadows, with a blade as red as blood and a cross guard shaped like vampire wings. That was how I knew I was looking at it: The legendary Vampire Sword, the weapon that Lady Hisara wanted to use to rule the world.
Lady Hisara let out a cry of joy and two large wings materialized on her back. She flapped them once and then shot into the air toward the open portal, laughing all the while.
Without thinking, I jumped into the air toward her at the same time that she flew up. Screaming, I slashed Domination at her right wing, cutting through only a small portion of it, but it was enough. When my sword cut through her wing, Lady Hisara immediately crashed onto the ground with a loud cry, while I landed on the ground opposite her.
But I nearly lost my balance when I did so. My blood loss must have been great, because I could barely think straight or stand up. I briefly felt my stomach, which was wet with my own blood, and I realized that I didn’t have much time before I lost consciousness.
A loud shrieking sound behind me made me whirl around to see Lady Hisara standing up. Her wing was still cut and her clothes were ripped and torn from her crash, which revealed more of her beautiful body, but I didn’t pay attention to that, because Lady Hisara was glaring at me with more hatred than I had ever seen in the eyes of another creature before.
“You got lucky with that one, Hunter,” said Lady Hisara with a heavy tone. “But luck always runs out. I would have preferred to kill you with the Vampire Sword, but if you are just going to keep getting in the way like this, then I have no choice but to eliminate you myself.”
Lady Hisara rushed toward me, her fangs bared and a sickening screeching noise coming from her throat. But I rolled under her at the last minute, allowing her to fly over me harmlessly. Rolling back to my feet, I ran over to the Pillar. I didn’t know how strong it was, but I hoped to destroy it or at least turn off the portal. I didn’t think I could beat Lady Hisara in a fight, but if I could close the portal, I would ruin years, maybe even decades, of her work.
The Last Hunt Page 5