geyser after geyser exploded upward. Out of the raining debris vampire after vampire stepped, fiery eyes glowing red in the dark, staring at him, raising heads to sniff the blood dripping from his wounds, pulling back thin lips to bare blackened, stained teeth.
“Join us,” they whispered, hands stretched toward him.
Feet stomped the ground, setting up a peculiar rhythm. The sound echoed through his mind, like the dripping of the water in the cave and the clacking of the branches, a hypnotic, mesmerizing sound evading his mind. The vampires swayed to the beat, blurring images until all he could focus on were the red eyes streaking back and forth as the bodies moved in unison.
“Join us.” This time the entreaty was louder, moving through his mind. “Join us. Join us.” The refrain became a chant echoing through the forest and reverberating from the roiling clouds to the rolling ground.
Traian shook his head, trying to get the terrible buzzing out of his mind. The ensnaring refrain moved through his mind and his blood seemed to respond, reaching toward those calling to him. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement and his brain filled in the pieces. This master, strong enough to command another powerful master vampire, had taken his blood. He could reach inside of him through the blood bond, influence his movements, track him at will and push him toward taking that last step to giving up his honor.
He forced a laugh. “You think to trap me as you would one of your pawns? I am a hunter with centuries of experience.”
“Join me or die an ugly death and I will strip the very flesh from your lifemate and feed it to my dogs,” the voice taunted from the safety of a vantage point close by. There was a hint of anger as the master realized Traian wasn’t as far under his spell as he’d hoped. His confidence was a little shaken.
“You have enough dogs to do your bidding and still, as many times as you have set them upon me, you have failed. Sooner or later they will tire of your continual defeats and see you are all words with no real power.”
Traian clapped his hands together hard and thunder boomed in answer. A white-hot whip of lightning streaked across the sky and slammed to the earth in a large circle, striking the master vampire’s apparitions with a vicious, well-aimed cut. The illusions burned like paper dolls, dust flying into the air along with ashes from the debris.
He spun to face the lesser vampire coming at him out of the dark, springing like a great jungle cat. Before the creature reached him, Traian shifted as well, taking the heavier form of a tiger, teeth and claws meeting the smaller leopard in midair. The two bodies crashed together, raking at one another’s bellies, trying for a throat hold. The force of the larger cat drove the leopard backward and as they fell, the leopard landed on its back.
The two cats rolled together, the growls and roars shaking the ground as they tumbled, each fighting for a hold on the other with vicious teeth. As they rose up a second time on hind feet, Traian gripped the throat with his larger muzzle, driving the teeth deep, puncturing the neck of the other cat. At the same time, he shifted one great paw back to his true form. He drove his fist through the armor of fur, muscle, and sinew to go after the heart of the undead.
The leopard stiffened, arched its back, and tried to shift, but Traian was too fast and brutally strong, ripping the heart from the vampire and tossing it high into the air as the bolt of lightning streaked toward it. The vampire still tried, shifting to the form of a winged bat, great drops of black acid blood trailing behind him, as he tried to reach his heart before the whip of lightning did.
The bat reached the heart just as the white-hot energy struck, incinerating the heart and bat simultaneously. Traian shifted, crouching on the ground, trying to drag air into his lungs and keep a wary eye out for the master.
“I think you are losing your dogs. Perhaps you might want to show a little courage and come after me yourself,” he challenged, standing slowly, bathing his arms in the white light to remove the acid burns. He looked as nonchalant as he could with rips and tears all over his body.