Dark Legend Page 0,44

keep from moving forward, to keep from obeying that soft, gentle voice. The voice of death. It went on and on. Soft and persuasive, persistent, compelling.

Francesca knew she should obey Gabriel. She dissolved into a fine mist, and moved farther away from the combatants. She had never seen anything as terrifying as the vampire. He exuded evil, yet Gabriel stood calmly, tall and straight, unbelievably beautiful in his light and truth. She saw him as an angel with a sword, a dark guardian of the gate, defender of those less powerful. He took her breath away. And she was truly proud of him. Proud of his decision to make the sacrifices that he had.

The vampire did his best to evaporate, found he could not do so. It was as if his cells and tissue would no longer respond to his commands. The hunter had somehow managed to ensnare him, to trap him with his voice so that his flesh-and-blood body would only respond to the purity of those notes, to that perfect tone.

Furious, the creature turned its hideous face back toward Gabriel, its head swaying back and forth like a reptile's, his eyes glowing with fury. A long slow hiss escaped between his jagged, broken teeth. Over Gabriel's head a large tree branch cracked ominously and plummeted to earth.

Francesca felt her heart slam painfully, the air catch in her lungs, but Gabriel merely lifted his hand so the branch was deflected away from him, flung off to the side a good distance from where he remained so calmly. "You are young to have chosen such a path. Losing one's soul is for the aged and weak, yet you made your choice so soon. Why is that?"

"The only chance of salvation any of us have is to acquire a woman. The Prince has chosen his favorites to give the women to. There is no hope for the rest of us unless we take one for ourselves." The undead surreptitiously dropped his hand to his side to see whether he could shape-shift if he concentrated on one area of his body. His arm rippled with fur, his nails lengthening.

There was a rush of wind, unexpected, off the surface of the lake. The wind hit the creature full in the chest, driving deep, a heavy blow more heard than felt. The vampire blinked and stared at Gabriel, who was standing directly in front of him, his arm extended at full length. Shock spread across the undead's face. He looked down, wondering why he couldn't see the hand on the end of Gabriel's arm. It was buried deep in the wall of his chest.

There was a loud sucking sound as Gabriel extracted the vampire's heart, stepping away at the same time. The vampire screamed and screamed, the sound hideous. Tainted blood spewed into the air like a geyser. The creature reached for the hunter as he fell, his body flopping helplessly. Above their heads lightning arced from cloud to cloud, slammed to earth in a bluish white streak of pure energy. It incinerated the heart even as it bathed the hunter's hands clean of the poisonous blood.

Gabriel's movements were graceful and flowing, revealing power and coordination like those of a dancer, a warrior. He lifted his hand once more and directed the bolt to the body of the hapless creature. It turned to ash at once, disintegrating before his eyes.

He turned then slowly, a lonely figure against the night sky, his face in the shadows as he looked at the spot where Francesca remained. She shimmered into solid form, her large eyes locked on his. "Are you all right?" She moved fast, a mere blur as she came close to him. Her hand found his, her fingers lacing through his.

At once he felt peace stealing into him, deep within his tortured soul. She had a healing power unlike any other he had ever experienced. He had taken a life, one of so many. Gabriel had dedicated the remainder of his life to hunting his twin. Over the years he had chased Lucian almost exclusively, only rarely stopping to destroy the undead he came across. It had been years and it was the first kill he had made since finding his lifemate. He felt emotion. Not guilt exactly. He accepted his duty as a sacred responsibility. But the taking of a life in front of someone like Francesca bothered him. She was so pure, so compassionate, so good. She had been healing for all the