The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) by Clay & Susan Griffith;Clay Griffith;Susan Griffith (10 page)

A young woman darted in front of Adele, looking behind her in sheer
terror. She screamed as a dark form fell on her, bearing her to the ground.
Adele plunged her dagger into the creature up to the hilt, again and again,
blood and smoke splattering around her. The thing hissed and arched
back, more out of aggravation than pain. Adele grabbed him by the
shoulder to better anchor herself, and suddenly the vampire began
screeching. The vampire writhed and threw himself away from the
princess. He rolled and scrambled to his feet, slipping away into the darkness with amazing quickness. Adele helped the poor woman to her feet.

"It's you!" the woman screeched. "You're the stranger! You came
with the Greyfriar! They're here for you! You're the reason they've
come! "

The accusation bit deep into Adele because the woman was right.
She had saved one, but ten more died beyond her reach.

Adele shook the woman to get her attention. "Hide yourself and stay
quiet."

She had to find Greyfriar. No doubt he was somewhere protecting
those he could. Or he was coming for her. Maybe she should stay where
she was so he could find her. Fate took that decision from Adele.

Three people fled their home no more than twenty feet in front of
her. In a matter of seconds, a female vampire descended upon them. One
man died instantly from her sharp claws. Another man screamed as the
vampire turned to him.

Adele ran forward, hoping to do something, anything. The vampire
sensed her approach, raising a bloody hand and licking the red as her
attention turned to her new victim. The princess didn't slow, but rushed
forward, her right arm drawn around in front of her and resting on her
left side. It didn't rest for long. As soon as she was close enough to strike she brought it around in a wide arc. The Fahrenheit dagger ripped
through the vampire's abdomen, slicing through coat and flesh.

The beast looked down in surprise. Adele was already spinning for
a second sweep. But the vampire blocked it. Adele kicked out and struck
where her blade had cut. The female screamed as she was flung backward, smoke rising from the wound. As Adele came forward, the creature scrambled away. Then more shadows glided over the street and two
vampires lit on the ground beside their whimpering brethren.

Adele knew she was outmatched. She backpedaled, lifting her weapon
toward the first creature as it rushed her, trying to see the other one too.
The blade cast a green hue to her attackers' faces, making them even more
horrific. Her blade blocked the first, but her stance was too awkward to
avoid the second. The vampire surged toward her legs.

Then a cloaked shape rushed past her shoulder and slammed the
second vampire to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Greyfriar!"

His tall figure leapt, and he drew his rapier while in the air, the
blade falling as he came down. A bloody head lolled to the side. The
swordsman didn't stop moving but rushed the vampire Adele was barely
holding at bay. The creature withdrew from her and turned to face the
cowled vampire hunter. Clawed hands rose to strike the man across the
face, but Greyfriar ducked and thrust through the chest of his opponent,
twisting the blade to destroy the heart. The body fell to the ground, and
Greyfriar turned to Adele.

She wanted to run to him and collapse in his arms. Her breath was
ragged with spent adrenaline. Her hand reached out to touch him and
he flinched.

"I couldn't find you," she whispered.

"I shouldn't have left," was his pained response. "We must go."

"Princess."

Her title was practically whispered from a dark silhouette along the
stone wall. Adele's skin crawled as the word slipped over her.

"You will be leaving, but with me." It was a female voice.

Greyfriar shoved Adele behind him as Flay stepped out of the
shadows. The tall figure entered the moonlight, her skin almost white in its reflection. Her black braid was still perfect, not a hair on her head
displaced.

"No, not this time, Flay," Greyfriar informed her.

Flay's mouth quirked slightly and she regarded the swordsman.
"You are only one man." She almost spat the last word.

As if on command, several vampires drifted down on both sides of
her, all of them flecked with gore and streaks of crimson across their
mouths. Some stood, while others crouched like animals, hissing and
licking at the spots of blood on their bodies.

"There is no one left alive to help you." Flay took another step forward. "As if they could or would."

Greyfriar said, "You killed an entire town just to get one girl?"

"They were in my way. As are you."

Flay did not attack, but her minions did. They rushed Greyfriar like
rabid animals. Adele was actually shoved aside by the vampires scrambling after their single purpose, to kill her companion. He fought back,
blade flashing in the moonlight. Blood sprayed as steel sliced into the
pack of vampires.

Flay screeched a command at an underling, and the male stepped hesitantly toward the princess. Adele raised her blade to strike, but suddenly
her arms were pinioned from behind amid a horrible hiss of agony. The
vampire in front of her lashed out with blurring speed. She braced for the
pain, but the thing only ripped open her heavy blouse, seized her stone talisman, and pulled it off her neck. As the thing flung the crystal pendant
into the night, the vampire was already screaming and falling to the
ground from a pain that wasn't just physical. Adele's arms were released,
and she suddenly felt defenseless without her talisman.

Adele surged forward, her blade raised high, but she was seized by her
hair and thrown into a wall. Bright light and darkness exploded. Adele
tried to get to her feet. Dust from the shattered stone fell over her like
pixie dust. Again she was picked up by her hair, her feet dangling. Her
wrist was twisted until the glowing dagger dropped from numb fingers.

Adele's eyes focused on the face of Flay.

"You are dangerous no longer, and now you are mine, Princess." Disdain dripped from Flay's lips, and she threw Adele to two vampires who had just drifted down. They pulled the khukri scabbard from her belt,
tossed it aside, and started dragging the girl away.

"Greyfriar!" Adele screamed.

"Princess!" Greyfriar struggled to free himself from the mire of pale creatures. His feet slipped in the blood that pooled on the ground. He swung his
blade in a wide arc, decapitating one. Leaping high into the air, he twisted
around, frantic to come to Adele's aid, but four more vampires surged after
him, dragging him down. His rapier hacked and battered in ways most
unbecoming to its usual poetic dance. There was no time for finesse.

Gaining only a moment's respite, Greyfriar craned his neck around,
trying to see Adele, but she was already gone. Another trio of vampires
advanced on him. They were meant to delay him. And it was working.
Flay stood behind them, her lips pulled back in joyful satisfaction.

Through her haze, Adele saw an airship at rest. It was a small derelict sloop
or brig painted black and carrying no lights. A vampire carried her up the
gangplank and dropped her roughly onto the grimy deck. One creature
knelt next to her, putting a clawed hand sharply against her back and
pressing her down. The beast shouted orders in slurred English.

Adele watched human crewmen scurry about. She felt the bile of
anger rising in her throat. Bloodmen. Humans who willingly served the
vampires. Vampires could not-indeed, would not-fly an airship. That
was menial human work, so they had menial humans to do it.

The princess heard the telltale sound of chemical bags filling overhead. The deck swayed and the ship gathered upward momentum.
Humans clambered into the rigging to set the sails.

When the ghostly craft was well away, the vampire released his grip
on Adele. She immediately leapt to her feet and raced for the rail. Something grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back. Before she could lash out,
a pair of strong arms seized her and spun her around. She felt the hot
breath of a human on her face. Standing close in front of her was the
haunted figure of the airship's captain in a ragged costume that was a
mockery of a true naval uniform.

"Don't," he said to her.

Adele spit in his face. He didn't flinch; he was accustomed to derision. He didn't even wipe the spittle from his cheek.

"Don't," he repeated. "You are their prisoner now."

"I would rather die!" Adele screamed the words, knowing that her
strength was leaving her and soon she wouldn't be able to shout her outrage.

"They won't let you." The captain stepped aside.

Two bloodmen manhandled Adele below and locked her in a bare
cabin. She fell against the damp wood of the deck. In a matter of minutes, her life had stopped. All alone in the dark, she wept, sure that no
one could see her.

A hissing of chemicals made Greyfriar glance upward. As the rotting
airship passed overhead, the swordsman knew he had failed. Flay hissed
orders to those nearby who were still capable of responding. They all
floated up into the air like a child's balloons suddenly released from the
grip of a small hand. More and more of the creatures began to drift up
out of the village, leaving the slaughter where it lay. The breeze caught
them, and they wafted away as if they were dead leaves.

Bloody and torn, Greyfriar clutched his longsword. His chest was
heaving, his breath ragged. Flay backed away from him, but not out of
fear. The vampire stared angrily at the swordsman.

"Someday I will have you." With that, she too lifted from the ground.

As he watched Flay vanish into the dark sky, Greyfriar ceased his harsh
breathing immediately, as if it were a mere affectation. He was no more
winded than the dead around him. He surveyed the area-five vampires
wounded so mortally their recuperative powers would not save them.
Using his pistols, he dispatched them without remorse. Now the town
around him was dead, silent as the new grave it had become.

He picked up something from the bloodied dirt. Greyfriar replaced
Adele's Fahrenheit dagger in its scabbard and slid it into his belt. He
would take the time to bury the villagers. He was in no hurry now to
pursue the princess. He knew where Flay was taking her.

S RANGER, A twenty-four-gun frigate, was expertly
crafted and manned. Cutting through the air like bright
American steel, its white sails billowed while the chrome cage containing its sleek gasbags sparkled.