Dark Descent Read Online Free PDF Page B

inferior.” She signaled to Jubal even as she flashed a smug smile at Traian. “I have a gift.”
    Jubal took hold of the stake in Traian’s left shoulder with both hands and yanked with all his strength. Blood spurted, but Gabrielle pressed her palms over the wound hard. “The first-aid kit is in my pack, Joie, but I don’t know how we’re going to get him to the surface. He needs blood as quickly as possible.”
    “Just take them all out,” Traian instructed. “We really have to hurry.”
    “Do what he says, Jubal.” Joie caught the sense of urgency emanating from Traian. Little white lines were etched around his perfectly sculpted mouth. “Vampire babe is twitching.” To her horror, the knife was vibrating, wiggling back and forth as if slowly emerging from the rotted flesh. “Hurry—we may have a little problem with handsome. He seems to be coming back to life.”
    “Pack the wounds with mud. Hurry,” Traian said.
    Joie didn’t want to take her eyes off the ghoulish creature, but the dark compulsion in Traian’s voice alarmed her. Gabrielle obeyed him. Always meticulously careful of germs and microorganisms, she scooped up handfuls of gooey soil and, before Jubal could stop her, smeared it over Traian’s shoulder and the rest of the gaping holes in his flesh.
    Without warning, Traian reached out and dragged Jubal close to him, murmuring something Joie couldn’t quite catch. He bent his head toward Jubal’s exposed throat. Neither Jubal nor Gabrielle protested; rather, they stood quietly, as if enthralled.
    Fury burned through Joie. “You blood-sucking fiend! Touch him and you die! I’m not kidding you. Let him go or I’ll tear your heart out. And don’t try using your voice on me, because it won’t work.” As she hissed the words out in a low, smoldering voice, she moved to aim the knife she had drawn from the sheath strapped to her calf. At the same time, she tried to keep the vampire in sight.
    “If I do not get blood, we are all going to die,” Traian said calmly. He looked at her, his gaze steady and honest.
    She let her breath escape between her teeth as she reached out and jerked Gabrielle away from him, thrusting her sister behind her. “Release them now.”
    “We have only minutes.”
    “Then don’t waste time.” Her hand didn’t waver. Neither did her stare.
    Traian spoke softly to Gabrielle and Jubal, and both reacted immediately, Jubal hurrying to safety.
    “Tell us what’s going on,” Joie said. “It isn’t as if we didn’t witness the zombie man on the ground here, doing his sorry imitation of Dracula.”
    “I am Carpathian, of the Earth. All the stories I told you were true, not made up to entertain you. I lived the battles; they were not fiction. I need blood to survive, but we do not kill for sustenance. I have fought the vampire for hundreds of years.” His voice was every bit as steady as his gaze. “This one will rise again, and he has friends. You cannot stop them, nor can I without blood to build my strength.”
    Jubal caught at Joie and tried to drag her backward, away from the wounded man. She held up her hand. “He’s telling the truth, Jubal. I can feel them coming— can’t you?” She handed her knife to her brother, ignoring her trembling hand. “If I’m making the biggest mistake of my life, I expect you to avenge me.”
    She made her way to where Traian remained slumped against the blue ice, pulling off her helmet as she did so. “Go for it, but remember, my brother can hit a bull’s-eye every time.”
    Traian touched her then, circling her wrist with his long fingers and drawing her slowly, inexorably to him. Joie’s heart skipped a beat, then began to pound, whether in fear or excitement, she didn’t know. She knew only that her mouth went dry and her insides were melting at an alarming rate. His eyes went dark, focused on her completely, shutting out everything else. Everyone else. He pulled her into the shelter of his large frame.
    Joie