Nicu, Benedek and Silke gave an inner sniff of derision.That wouldbe a mistake,Nicu said.You know better, Tomas. Lilith will have put some major surprise inside of that demon like a Trojan horse.
There is something,Silke said.Crouched inside him. Waiting to be released.
Benedek caught glimpses in her mind. She was still merged with the demon, reading his thoughts, the programming done to him, waiting for that moment when she would catch a glimpse of what was waiting for them.
The cracks widened and flesh tore away, leaving long, gaping holes in Castello’s body. The smoke began to spin like mini tornadoes pouring out of the fissures. Several blasted loose, targeting Silke, looking like arrows of spinning smoke as they shot toward her.
Benedek moved to shield her, blocking the whirling gray missiles from hitting their target. Two struck the barrier so hard he felt the impact.
Silke once more stepped out farther onto the middle of the porch where Benedek’s body didn’t block her. The dragon lily petals spit fire as the smoke tornadoes burst from the demon and shot in all directions. As the smoke hit the air, each grew in a whirling mass, stacking the smoke on top of each other to form copies of Castello. They were everywhere, on the porch, clinging to the ceiling, out in the yard. Once fully formed, they turned their glowing eyes on Silke.
She had managed to destroy several of the emerging demons with the dragon fire, but now Castello’s body contorted and seized.
This is what the ultimate goal has been,Silke said to the others.Castello knew he was the sacrifice. Whatever is coming out next is the one Lilith is certain will slay me.
She must believe you’re a grave threat to send an army after you,Benedek said.
Use dragon fire to kill them,Silke advised.They have to be fully incinerated to the finest of ashes.
All the while she spoke, she moved like a dancer, mirroring the steps of two of the closest Castello replicas. In the yard, as the clonesturned their attention toward Silke, hurrying to intercept her from behind, the air was filled with dragons. Mataias emerged from the clouds riding on the back of a phantom red stone dragon. The dragon maneuvered through the shrubbery easily, homing in on one of the clones.
A matching stone dragon appeared, the color of phantom violet, a shade that blended with shadows and yet looked vibrant when the moonlight hit it. Tomas flew the dragon low and with great skill. He came in from the west, targeting two clones who were running to gain the porch.
The third phantom-colored stone dragon was green. Lojos flew him through the taller trees and lush shrubbery, his color blending with the shadows and flora so that it was impossible to keep the dragon in sight, even though it was large. Lojos homed in on a target climbing the side of the house to gain the porch roof.
Nicu’s dragon was clearly wolf. He’d never seen Nicu with a wolf dragon, but it didn’t surprise Benedek that he had one for a friend. Wolf dragons were reputed to be ferocious as well as loyal to those they included in their pack. Few agreed to work with a Carpathian or human, especially after they had been hunted nearly to extinction. It was only a privileged few who could ride a wolf dragon.
Tora’s dragon was sleek and elegant, streaking through the air to protect Silke. Its colors were that of a sunset. She appeared like glass, or mirrors, so that one moment she was there and the next she disappeared, only to be seen thirty feet away.
Benedek held his ground. Unseen. Unmoving. He had a bad feeling. He’d had it all along, and it had grown to an enormous warning clamor shrieking at him. He didn’t allow the chaos happening in the yard to interfere with his focus. Castello’s body broke apart, the strips of flesh, bone and muscle igniting with the crystal dragon fire.
There it was. Time seemed to stand still. Around him everything ceased to matter, just this hulk of a shadow emerging from the fire. It came out in the form of ash and smoke, but Benedek was ancient and he knew the feel of that enemy.
Silke, get behind me now.
She didn’t hesitate to obey. She made the leap, allowing his body to totally block hers as the vampire was spewed in a volume of ash and smoke from Castello’s husk. This was no ordinary vampire—it was…more. Justice? Not Justice. He knew Justice and this wasn’t the legend, but he was a Carpathian ancient who had lived far too long and turned more beast than man. He had sold out his honor in the end, beast overtaking man.
Benedek shared the information with the others as the ancient warrior-turned-vampire shot straight at Silke.
His name is Emil,Nicu informed them. He rarely used a surname. I invited him to the monastery a few centuries back, but he refused to go, even for a respite from killing. He was already addicted to the rush of battle.
Benedek was invisible and the vampire hadn’t had a chance to orient himself. He struck quickly, determined to kill Silke and gain his freedom. Emil hit the barrier harder than Castello’s clones had, shaking the house, shaking the ground. He roared with rage and stared at Silke as he fully materialized. His eyes were red and his teeth were stained black. He didn’t seem to care to make his appearance pleasant, like most vampires did. His entire attention was centered on Silke.
She smiled at him. “Ah, at last I get to meet you, Emil. I’ve been waiting ever since I saw you crouched like a toad inside Castello. Hiding from little old me.”
Her sweet, soft voice belied her scathing words, throwing the beast off for a moment. He threw back his head and howled his fury, taking a step toward her. “You will come to me.” He opened his arms wide as he commanded her.
She frowned at him, not retreating. “Seriously? That’s your voice? You sound like a goat bleating.” She dropped her voice an octave. “You know you can’t defeat another ancient. You hide from them because you know how powerful they are. You must open your arms to ask for justice.”
Her voice was sweet and compelling. At no time did she appear tonotice the dragons flying through the sky, the bursts of flame as they engaged with the demons. Her entire focus seemed to be on the beast. The red in his eyes deepened to bloodred when his arms began to open. He threw back his head and roared, shaking the house. He charged her. Benedek had been waiting for that move, and he stepped into the vampire, his fist driving deep as he solidified. He’d used the momentum of the charging beast to bury his fist deep. Killing a beast such as Emil would not be easy.
When he continued forward into Emil’s chest, he kept moving, driving the vampire backward until he was stumbling off the porch. They both went down to the ground, Benedek combining the momentum of the fall, his enormous strength and sheer power to force his fist deeper into the chest cavity. He managed to get his fingers around the heart before the beast sank teeth into his neck and ripped.
This kind of vampire was what he feared he would become. He knew if he didn’t kill Emil immediately, chances were he would slay Benedek and his brethren and get loose in the world. Benedek had the element of surprise going for him, and he was just that little too close to being the beast that Emil was. He had a certain ferocious attitude when he went into battle. There was no stopping the almost euphoric feeling rushing through his veins when he went head-to-head with an evil opponent.
Blood spurted from his neck and shoulder as Emil tore strips of skin and muscle from him, as the teeth sawed through flesh and bone. Benedek remained stoic, ruthlessly extracting the heart as Emil twisted and turned in an effort to dislodge his opponent’s body.
Emil changed tactics, slamming both palms hard into the ground’s surface. They’d fallen just off the path of stones that might have protected the earth from Emil’s assault. The ground shook with such force that wide cracks opened. It was only the carefully woven safeguards that prevented Visser and Bakker from falling into an ever-widening abyss.
