Page 73 of The Shadow of the Count
Donnie leaned on him, shaking, but calm enough to make it through. The wolf never wavered, never got too far ahead as to be out of sight, and Peter prayed this wasn’t a decoy. The wolf had helped them with the trap. Surely he wouldn’t take them right into another.
The narrow cave slowly opened, Jeb using a huge Bowie knife to hack away at what must have been centuries of cobwebs.
They emerged into the night, all of them sucking in huge gasps of clean air. They were behind the castle, where visibility was so much less, and the access would be more difficult, but they could approach unseen. They climbed the rickety steps, single file, the torch unlit now as not to give them away.
There were only two men stationed at the back guard rail, and Jeb dispatched them quickly, making Richard turn his head away and not watch. Yes, he understood. They might be bad men, but unlike the count and his wives, they were just men. It was hard to see them in the same way as a—a vampire.
He shuddered to think of the blood on Jeb’s hands. The man seemed to bear the weight of that work on his broad shoulders. Jeb and Clark.
They were…well, he’d been appalled by them both when he’d first met them. Peter had thought himself above such pursuits as those they seemed to follow.
Now he admired them more than he’d ever thought possible. They were warriors. Guardians.
The icy rain began as they slipped inside, the clouds bubbling and boiling, covering the sun.
Yvgeny put his pack down, quickly handing out jars to Jeb and Clark. Right. Destroy the coffins first, and quickly.
Peter nodded and hurried forward. He had intimate knowledge of where the count’s wives rested, and he could lead this charge. He took the torch and the jar of gasoline. It was time to scorch the very earth.
Jeb followed closely on his heels, a solid presence he knew he could rely on. The idea bolstered him, and he headed down the back stairs, the twists and turns taking them deep into the earth where the coffins lay. Where the evil hid, hopefully slumbering.
The women were beginning to stir, two coffins open, the others creaking as the lids were being pushed up. The gasoline smelled strong as the jars were opened and lit, the burning weapons hurled onto the coffins. The women within screamed, the sound pure terror and fury.
The screeching rose to a level that threatened to burst his eardrums, but they had to keep moving. They could finish anyone who survived after they went for their real prey.
“Where does the count sleep?” Yvgeny barked out, beginning to choke.
Peter pointed. Just beyond in a room all his own.
Jeb nodded, and Peter saw a drop of blood fall from Jeb’s fingers to the ground. “Go. Take the stairs. I’ll meet y’all upstairs.”
“Jeb,” Clark began, but Jeb cut him off.
“Go, dammit. I’ll make it.”
Clark stared at Jeb for a long moment, then nodded grimly. “Take us to him, Peter.”
Peter turned resolutely toward the count’s chamber, knowing they had a battle ahead of them. The count would not be taken so easily.
“I can hear him,” Donnie moaned. “He’s calling.”
“Let him call. He can lead us right to him.” Richard’s lips were tight. “Clark, you do know Jeb is…”
“Hush now. We have business upstairs. Business first, then the rest.” Clark grabbed Donnie and brought him to the lead. “Now, Donald. Do your job.”
Peter closed his eyes and prayed. Please. Let them do their jobs, all of them.
Twenty-Five
Donnie’s heart raced, and he clutched a carved wooden stake in his hand. Yvgeny had given it to him along with a crucifix, which he’d wrapped around his other hand.
He was in the lead now, and he had a deep resolve to see this to the end. The count had to die, even if it killed him too.
Which he felt it might. The bite had connected him to the count, for ill, he knew, not good. He had to sever the bond. Now.
The darkness beckoned him, the storm raging outside and in, the scent of smoke beginning to slide up along the stones. He climbed to the big studded door at the top of the stairs, which was the count’s chamber. He stopped, shuddering.
Come to me, my love. Help me defeat them.
