branch snapped off just to his left, coming at him like a large spear. Traian moved with blurring speed, shifting to his right and standing tall and dignified.
“Is that your best? You really are losing your power. Come to me and receive the justice of our people.”
Malevolent silence answered him.
Traian tried one last tactic, knowing the vampire might disappear for many years, avoiding all contacts with hunters in order to survive. There was one last chance to call him into the open, and Traian used it, risking revealing his position to send a summons into the night. His call was pure and commanding, his voice that of an ancient in full power ordering the vampire to ground.
In his ancient tongue he called to the master vampire, naming him for what he was. Te kalma, te jama ńiŋ3kval, te apitäsz arwa-arvo—You are nothing but a walking maggot-infected corpse, without honor. Muonìak te avoisz te—I command you to reveal yourself.
Thunder boomed, the sound so loud it shook the ground and trees. Above him, for one brief moment the hideous creature was outlined in the sky, a ghoul as evil and sinister as centuries of deviant behavior and killing for the sake of watching others suffer could make him. He stared down at Traian with hate-filled eyes, his jagged teeth snapping together in defiance. Just the fact that he’d been unable to stop himself from resisting the ancient hunter’s command made him furious.
Traian went still. The vampire was changed over the centuries of being undead, but there was something familiar about him. Could it be? Vadim Malinov? A hunter from one of the strongest Carpathian families. It was difficult to tell, but if so, he would make a powerful and dangerous enemy the likes of which they’d never come up against. His family was known for their ability to plan battles. Their fighting skills were legendary.
More than any other, the master vampire loathed the hunter he’d tried for weeks, using a small army, to kill and yet still Traian triumphed. The master vampire threw back his head and howled with sheer rage.
A sound burst in Traian’s head, swelling in volume, a counter-command of death and destruction. Every cell in Traian’s body reacted. He was a jangle of nerve endings, paralyzed, forced to stand vulnerable out in the open, at the mercy of the vampire.
I am your master. The echo reverberated through Traian’s muscles and tissue, through every organ.
No! Joie’s whisper was a soft, sensuous counterpoint to the poisonous command. He took your blood. He’s using that as a weapon against you. Shut out his voice. He has no dominion over you, over either of us. I don’t care how strong he is, Traian, or what he is. We’re stronger. He can track you through your blood, but he cannot command you.
A part of Traian recognized that she was there with him, in his mind, ferreting out the memories of what this vampire and his pack had done during those days of captivity in the ice cave. The torture, enduring this master vampire feeding from his veins and taunting him every moment they were awake, always a shadowy figure to make him seem all the more dangerous and powerful.
Foolish woman. I own his mind. The master vampire, now that he had used his blood bond to restrain the weakened hunter, wasn’t about to lose his advantage. He is my puppet, and soon all the others will be too. He cannot touch me, but I can find him anywhere. And through him, I can find you and your pitiful family. Join with me. I will one day rule both Carpathians and humans alike. If you do not, you will kneel before me and I will show no mercy to you or yours.
Joie deliberately laughed, the sound like a breath of fresh air, ripping the dark dread from Traian’s heart and clearing his mind. You are the foolish one. There is only one for me. We will destroy you because you’re nothing but a rotten, empty shell. And you’re just nasty, if you ask me. The only way you managed, even for one brief moment to ensnare him, was through his wounds. He is far too valiant and strong for the likes of you, which is why he managed to command you to reveal yourself when you can’t get him to lie down and die for you. I’d rather be dead than spend a moment with you.
So be it.
Traian felt the monster’s rage, bursting in his