Free Dark Descent by Christine Feehan Page A

toward the temptation of the pulsing crystal orb. Shafe drew closer, closer, reaching out to the visions and promises of wealth and power swirling inside the globe.
    Triumphantly the vampire placed his palms around the beckoning crystal. The moment he touched the globe, the shadow warrior threw back its head and roared. For a brief moment the smoke around it cleared. It stood tall and straight, dressed in glittering multihued scaled armor. And then it was smoke again, rushing across the wide expanse of floor, not quite touching the ground.
    Valenteen, the older vampire, oozed from the black pool, shifting into the form of a snake. It slithered to the nearest wall and began to burrow through the earth. Joie strained to see below her, to see the shadow warrior as he reached the undead cupping the crystal ball.
    Your light. Turn it off.
    Her heart jumped. We need the light.
    I see fine in the dark. We want to escape this chamber. I can take us through the air shaft and do not want to chance drawing the warrior’s attention.
    As she doused the light, Shafe screamed hideously. Colors glowed in the rising mist. A dark blood-red stain slowly began to invade the smoky fog. It spread like a virus. A violent clash of light and sound conjoined as the vampire’s voice shrieked and wailed until Joie buried her face in Traian’s neck.
    She was trembling. His gut knotted. We are almost out. Do not look. This is a trap and we will seal it up so no others can find it.
    You’re thinking you’ll come back tomorrow night and find out what the vampires were searching for.
    I have to find out. I have been in these caves several weeks, fighting the vampires on and off. I destroyed more than one, yet they remained. That is highly unusual and it worries me. Worse still is the fact that Valenteen was not the only master. There was another in the group, Gallent. I was able, after several battles, to destroy him, but he was clearly with this group. And I sense another...
    Joie sighed and hugged him tighter. This is not happy news. Sounds like our gang problems. We’d better start looking on the Internet for a site called vampires of the world, unite.
    Above her head, he smiled. It had not occurred to me to check there, but if we find such a thing, are you volunteering for undercover work?
    She made a small growling noise of dissent and bit his shoulder hard.
    The air shaft was narrow, but he angled their bodies until they slipped through, taking them to the upper levels. As soon as she felt the ground beneath her feet, she turned on her light, caught his hand, and sprinted through the tunnel toward the entrance.
    “Valenteen is not following us. Although he is a master vampire, he will not attempt to fight me alone.”
    His words stopped her. Joie wanted to make sure that Jubal and Gabrielle had made it to safety, but the idea that a creature as hideous and lethal as a vampire wouldn’t fight Traian alone was frightening. What did she know of him, after all? He was a voice speaking to her in the night. A man who drank blood and shifted shapes.
    “I am a man of honor. A man who has found the one woman. The only woman.” He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I know this happened too fast and you do not altogether trust it.”
    “If I don’t think about it, I trust it, and that scares me, Traian. I’m not particularly a trusting person. All this time I thought I was still in control after all, I did rescue you. But now you’re saying those creatures won’t attack you while they’re alone.”
    “I am an ancient hunter. I have been tried in battle for more years than I care to remember. I know the ways of the vampire and I am much skilled in what I do.” There was no arrogance or bravado in his voice, only acceptance and truth.
    “And these vampires?”
    “Should not have been together. They should not be here, in the Carpathian Mountains, so close to our prince and many of our males. I was returning to my homeland when I first came