a dog growling viciously. Immediately she held up her hand behind her, signaling Jubal and Gabrielle to stop while she scooted closer. She used the tall columns of rock and ice formations as cover as she worked her way into a position to be able to see into the chamber.
A man—and it had to be Traian—was literally pinned like an insect to a wall of ice, his feet actually off the floor. Blood ran down from each shoulder and leg where sharp, twisted stakes had been thrust through his body. It was the most horrific form of torture she’d ever seen. Joie held her breath to keep from crying out in dismay. It was no wonder she could feel the pain radiating from him. Every movement of his body had to be excruciating. Who would do such a thing? And far beneath the earth in an ice cave, it was bizarre, unreal and too cruel.
She could see something that resembled a man—or at least had a man’s shape—prodding at Traian’s wounds with a bony finger, dipping it in blood and licking with a grotesque, purple tongue. A shudder ran through her body.
She forced herself to look at the terrifying apparition holding Traian prisoner. He was nearly as tall as Traian, but his body appeared skeleton-like, as if his skin had shrunk over bones. His clothes were filthy and tattered, thin strips of material that should never have been worn in an ice cave. The thing—she had no other name for it—had longish strands of hair sticking out haphazardly in all directions over his misshapen skull.
The thick perversion of evil emanated from the creature. The apparition turned slightly and she could see the fingers ended in long, wicked-looking nails, almost like a bird’s talons, very sharp and yellowed and stained. It was hard to control the pounding of her heart. She’d faced many human monsters, but this—this thing—was not human, at least not any more.
She knew Traian was aware of her presence, but he didn’t make the mistake of giving away her position by so much as glancing toward her. He watched the creature hovering over him with cool eyes.
“You seem nervous, Lamont,” Traian observed in a low, amicable tone. He sounded polite, almost friendly and just a little bit amused.
The creature hissed, a low, ugly expression of hatred. Without preamble he bent his head to Traian’s neck and sank his teeth into the pulse beating there. Joie could easily see the long canines stabbing into flesh; something she’d only seen before in films. Her heart pounded so loud she was afraid the thing would hear the drumming even above the sound of water and cracking ice.
She dropped to the ground, crawling on her stomach, using her elbows to propel herself across the floor between two columns of ice to get into a better position for attack. She came up on her knees behind a large ice formation, her gaze fixed on her target. It took her a couple of tense moments to quiet her shaking hands. She’d been afraid many times in her life, but always—always—her body was as steady as a rock. Facing this hideous apparition, not knowing what it was or how to kill it, was quite frankly terrifying.
He is very dangerous, especially now when he is filled with the blood of an ancient. Traian’s voice was calm in spite of the ghastly creature tormenting him. He is very angry with me because I killed his master, Gallent.
Joie stared at the hideous thing closely now that she could see more of it, grateful for the steadying sound of Traian’s voice in her head. The creature was tall and emaciated, the skin shrunken around its skull, almost as if it were dead. Tufts of hair stood straight out, a curious gray-white color, while the rest of the hair hung in oily, twisted ropes. He gulped down the blood, smearing it on his lips and stained teeth, all the while making growling noises in his throat. Definitely more animal than man.
My family always warned me if I hung out underground too long I could end up with a troll. At the risk of seeming shallow, I have to say he isn’t very handsome and doesn’t appeal at all to me. She was rather proud of the fact that she managed to sound amused instead of slightly hysterical, which was exactly how she felt.
Her hand went up to the back of her neck, sliding down between her shoulder blades in a