"Let me go in alone, figure out what's wrong and ..." She began, mouthing the words rather than speaking them aloud or telepathically. She still didn't want Traian to be privy to her private conversation with her siblings and she didn't know how strong his psychic abilities were-but he felt powerful. She had to find the man, but she didn't trust strangers with her siblings' lives.

Jubal held up his hand to stop her and indicated with a hand signal for her to proceed. She looked at Gabrielle's resolute expression. No, they weren't going to leave her. They were in it together, good or bad, they stood with her. She took a breath, nodded and stepped into the water-carved tunnel.

Bands of green and blue in wide circular stripes surrounded them and ordinarily would have had all three examining the beautifully constructed tube, but the moment they entered the hallway, all of them felt the presence of evil. Joie's mouth went dry. She touched her belt, a.s.suring herself her knife was close at hand.

I guess I'd best pull your b.u.t.t out of trouble and get the heck out of Dodge.

Traian sighed. You do not act like any of the women I know.

Thank you, I appreciate your saying so. Her stomach was in knots.

Evil permeated the narrowing hallway, so that every breath drawn in was foul, the air dense-thick with poisonous breath. The tunnel narrowed and the ceiling dropped considerably, making it impossible to walk upright. Joie dropped to her knees and crawled through the tube on her hands and knees. Jubal and Gabrielle followed close behind. The steady drip of water reminded Joie of the clicking of the branches at the theater the night she was shot. There was a peculiar rhythm to the drops, almost as if some unseen hand, not nature, guided the water's descent. The tube began to widen until she could once again stand.

A strange growling noise a.s.saulted her ears, sounding like a cross between a hyena laughing and a dog growling viciously. Immediately she held up her hand behind her, signaling Jubal and Gabrielle to stop while she scooted closer. She used the tall columns of rock and ice formations as cover as she worked her way into a position to be able to see into the chamber.

A man-and it had to be Traian-was literally pinned like an insect to a wall of ice, his feet actually off the floor. Blood ran down from each shoulder and leg where sharp, twisted stakes had been thrust through his body. It was the most horrific form of torture she'd ever seen. Joie held her breath to keep from crying out in dismay. It was no wonder she could feel the pain radiating from him. Every movement of his body had to be excruciating. Who would do such a thing? And far beneath the earth in an ice cave, it was bizarre, unreal and too cruel.

She could see something that resembled a man-or at least had a man's shape-prodding at Traian's wounds with a bony finger, dipping it in blood and licking with a grotesque, purple tongue. A shudder ran through her body.

She forced herself to look at the terrifying apparition holding Traian prisoner. He was nearly as tall as Traian, but his body appeared skeleton-like, as if his skin had shrunk over bones. His clothes were filthy and tattered, thin strips of material that should never have been worn in an ice cave. The thing-she had no other name for it-had longish strands of hair sticking out haphazardly in all directions over his misshapen skull.

The thick perversion of evil emanated from the creature. The apparition turned slightly and she could see the fingers ended in long, wicked-looking nails, almost like a bird's talons, very sharp and yellowed and stained. It was hard to control the pounding of her heart. She'd faced many human monsters, but this-this thing-was not human, at least not any more.

She knew Traian was aware of her presence, but he didn't make the mistake of giving away her position by so much as glancing toward her. He watched the creature hovering over him with cool eyes.

"You seem nervous, Lamont," Traian observed in a low, amicable tone. He sounded polite, almost friendly and just a little bit amused.

The creature hissed, a low, ugly expression of hatred. Without preamble he bent his head to Traian's neck and sank his teeth into the pulse beating there. Joie could easily see the long canines stabbing into flesh; something she'd only seen before in films. Her heart pounded so loud she was afraid the thing would hear the drumming even above the sound of water and cracking ice.

She dropped to the ground, crawling on her stomach, using her elbows to propel herself across the floor between two columns of ice to get into a better position for attack. She came up on her knees behind a large ice formation, her gaze fixed on her target. It took her a couple of tense moments to quiet her shaking hands. She'd been afraid many times in her life, but always-always-her body was as steady as a rock. Facing this hideous apparition, not knowing what it was or how to kill it, was quite frankly terrifying.

He is very dangerous, especially now when he is filled with the blood of an ancient. Traian's voice was calm in spite of the ghastly creature tormenting him. He is very angry with me because I killed his master, Gallent.

Joie stared at the hideous thing closely now that she could see more of it, grateful for the steadying sound of Traian's voice in her head. The creature was tall and emaciated, the skin shrunken around its skull, almost as if it were dead. Tufts of hair stood straight out, a curious gray-white color, while the rest of the hair hung in oily, twisted ropes. He gulped down the blood, smearing it on his lips and stained teeth, all the while making growling noises in his throat. Definitely more animal than man.

My family always warned me if I hung out underground too long I could end up with a troll. At the risk of seeming shallow, I have to say he isn't very handsome and doesn't appeal at all to me. She was rather proud of the fact that she managed to sound amused instead of slightly hysterical, which was exactly how she felt.

Her hand went up to the back of her neck, sliding down between her shoulder blades in a well-practiced move, and came out with one of the knives she always carried.

The creature lifted his head alertly and looked around the large gallery with suspicious eyes. Joie froze, remaining motionless, hardly daring to breathe, praying her brother and sister wouldn't make a sound. They were still safe in the twisted tunnel, but Jubal would be worried by now. The cold air rushed through the chamber and touched Traian and the creature with icy fingers. Immediately Lamont caught at one of the stakes pinning his victim to the ice floe, pushing at it viciously.

"None of your tricks, ancient one. Your blood belongs to us now. The others will be back soon with a victim to force you to do our bidding. You are far too weak to resist."

Joie closed her eyes against the ripple of pain on Traian's face. She swallowed bile and forced air through her lungs. What is he?

He is vampire. The undead. And there are several more. You must get your family out before the others return.

Traian watched his tormentor intently. The vampire leaned close to the gaping wound in Traian's neck, his breath a sickly green vapor as he licked at the blood with a thick, dark tongue. "I just might kill you instead. A stake through the heart for what you did to my master." He lifted a lethal-looking stake over his head and gave a maniacal laugh.

Vampires are difficult to kill. You will only get one chance. Go for his heart.

Joie didn't dare hesitate. She didn't want to lose her nerve, or risk waiting and allowing the terrible creature to kill Traian. She threw the knife with deadly accuracy. It hummed as it rocketed across the chamber and buried itself deep in the vampire's chest. The creature screamed, the sound cracking the ice so that sharp daggers broke from the high ceiling and rained down like deadly missiles. Joie flung her body against Traian's, in an effort to protect him from the falling ice. The vampire went down hard, thrashing wildly, the sounds echoing through the cavern, and then there was sudden silence. Once again the sound of water was overloud in the chamber.

Joie moved back slowly, slipping a second knife from the scabbard on her calf. "That didn't look so difficult to me." She drew in a couple of deep, shuddering breaths and managed a small, tentative smile. "If you want, I'll give you a lesson or two."

"What took you so long?" Traian asked.

She made her way cautiously around him, kicking aside the bigger chunks of ice. "Bad directions. You know how traffic in these places can be." She leaned close to study one of the stakes slicing through his shoulder to hold him to the wall. "I hate to point this out to you, but you're in a bit of a mess. What was all that he-man macho c.r.a.p telling me to stay away? If you ask me, you're in serious need of rescuing."

Joie! Answer me now, Jubal demanded.

I'm good. You'd better come in here, she a.s.sured him. How was she going to explain any of this to him?

Traian arched an eyebrow. His skin appeared pale, and he was clearly weak from loss of blood. Unattended wounds from a recent battle leeched away more of his precious life fluid. He shook uncontrollably, unable to maintain his body's temperature. His hair was black and matted with blood. "I am certain I would have thought of something. He has friends. They will be returning soon, and when they see him, they are not going to be happy. And if I do not incinerate his body immediately, he will rise again."

"Lovely thought," Joie said and turned to keep a wary eye on the repulsive corpse. "Lucky for you I travel with a doctor. My sister Gabrielle is quite mad, always peering into microscopes and lecturing us about how we're parasites on earth, but she does have certain skills."

Jubal entered, coming in low, gun in his fist, his features hard and determined. Gabrielle peered into the chamber and gave a soft cry when she saw Traian's b.l.o.o.d.y body. Immediately she started across the floor to him, but Jubal caught her arm, halting her.

"Explain." A single word. A command.

Joie did so quickly, stumbling over the word vampire. The creature lay on the floor, looking foul and scary, but her brother hadn't seen his teeth tearing into Traian's neck as she had. She pressed her lips together, watching Jubal closely.

"We have to hurry, Jubal," Gabrielle said. "He can't stay like that. He needs medical attention right now."

Joie noticed Traian didn't attempt to plead his case to either of her siblings, he was conserving energy and leaving her to do the explanations.

Gabrielle made the first move, her compa.s.sionate nature getting the better of her. She pushed past Jubal and, carefully avoiding looking at the vampire, stepped right up to Traian, studying the wicked stakes pinning him to the wall.

"You do know the strangest people, Joie," she murmured softly. "I don't even want to ask where you met him."

Does everyone in your family have the same weird sense of humor?

Joie nodded. Pretty much. We've had to find humor in everything to get by. It's that or cry. Laughing is better.

Gabrielle frowned and stepped closer. "I'm going to touch this. I'm sorry if it hurts you." Her fingers probed gently around the wound in his shoulder where the stake had gone through his body. "Jubal, you'll have to pull these out. They go all the way through and are buried pretty deep into the ice."

"If I pull out the stake, is he going to bleed to death?" Jubal inquired. He had followed Gabrielle into the middle of the chamber, but stopped beside the vampire, crouching down to study the undead. "This guy is twitching. I don't think he's dead."

"Twist the knife in deeper and cut out the heart. That will buy us a little more time," Traian suggested.

Jubal's gaze jumped to his face. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, he's going to rise again and soon. The only way to kill one permanently is to incinerate the heart." Traian closed his eyes, took a breath and slammed his body forward against the stakes holding him.

Blood oozed around each of the stakes and Gabrielle jumped back, nearly tripping over Joie. "Don't! You're going to make it worse. Jubal, you have to help us."

"You have to cut the heart out of his body and do not get any of his blood on you. It acts as an acid and burns through flesh and eventually bone."