know when a big ugly is going to fly into your face with them fangs snapping." She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a small rosary. She rolled the beads between her fingers and smiled. Two kills for the day so far, and night hadn't even fallen yet.
James stood at the mouth of the first tunnel, peering forward into the darkness beyond the edge of his lantern's halo. Behind him, Ben faced the silent collection of mine carts, his silver dagger in his hand. Cora was glad he'd remembered to bring it. A crucifix was a handy tool against vampires, but nothing could top sticking them with a length of holy silver.
Walking past the nervous group of men, Cora joined the two of them by the tunnel entrance. "Any good ideas, boys?" she asked in a low voice.
"I found what I believe to be the vampire's tracks," James said, pointing to the dirt covering the floor of the tunnel. Something had clawed at it, leaving narrow streaks through the pebbles. "It would appear he came at us on all fours."
"Ain't the only one come through here, either," Cora said, pointing at another spot. "If that ain't a boot print, I'm the Queen of Sheba."
James bent down for a closer look. "Could have been made by one of the miners."
"No, it's a riding boot," Cora said. "Heel's too high for a miner's boot."
Before James could reply, the sound of scraping gravel echoed from deep within the tunnel. They both looked up, but the shadows blocked their view beyond a few yards.
"Look sharp, boys!" Cora called over her shoulder. "Pack in tight and watch our rears." The men obeyed, forming a semi-circle around the tunnel entrance. They fingered their crosses as they peered at the vast darkness around them.
"Keep them steady," Cora said to Ben. "I don't want them spooking and running off to get themselves killed."
Ben nodded and stepped back to join the circle. As she stared into the tunnel, Cora's fingers closed around the rosary. She thumbed back the Colt's hammer with her other hand as the echoes grew louder.
When the first vampire broke into the lamplight, time seemed to slow to a crawl. She could see the pebbles flying from beneath the vampire's hands and feet as it rushed toward them, fangs bared. Cora took aim at the soulless face, a psalm coming to her lips.
"Save me, O God, by Thy name."
She squeezed the trigger.
"Judge me by Thy strength."
The cylinder clicked as she pulled back the hammer.
"Hear my prayer, O God."
She took aim at a second vampire.
"Give ear to the words of my mouth."
The vampire tumbled to the ground.
"For strangers are risen up against me."
Another flash.
"Oppressors seek after my soul."
Thunder. The empty pistol fell from her hand.
"Behold, God is mine helper."
Her saber flashed in the light.
"He shall reward evil unto mine enemies."
She charged forward over the ruined corpses and into the oncoming rush. Human shapes lurched out of the shadows, and she cut them down, the sanctified blade carving smoking gashes in the unholy flesh. A thrust through an undead heart, a slash across a rotting neck, a cry for the joy of battle, and the tunnel was silent once more.
"For He hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen His desire upon mine enemies." Cora's voice echoed off of the stone walls. Head bowed, she stood amid a pile of smoking corpses. The rosary hung from her left hand, her palm pressing the beads into the hilt of the saber.
Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the group. Her eyes glittered in the lamplight. "You boys OK?"
They stared at her in stunned silence.
"We ain't got all day, now," she said. "I reckon these ones here was only half their numbers, and we still ain't found the big bad pulling their strings."
"My heart, Cora," James said. "What just happened?"
"I was earning my pay," Cora said. She cleaned off the blade and slid it home. "You was expecting something different?"
"You've just slain over half a dozen vampires, and in a matter of seconds," James said. "I've never even heard of such a thing being done by one person."
"You ain't reading the right books, then," Cora said as she retrieved her fallen revolver. She dumped the spent shells on one of the corpses and pulled fresh rounds from her belt. "Hell, we've done this plenty of times. Granted, we was hunting a pack of hellhounds, not vampires, but you still go about it the