Dark Slayer Page 0,73

to gain the heart.

Sergey slammed his fist into her chest, intending to drive not only the arrow deep into her heart, but his own hand, using his strength and speed to outrace her for her heart. For a moment the crosses coated in holy water burned through his hand, straight to the bone so that he howled and screamed in rage, spittle running from his mouth. He flung back his head, enduring the pain, trying to push past that holy line of defense.

A flame burst from the sky above them, a fiery blast that slammed hard into Sergey's back. The vampire was driven forward onto Ivory's arm. Her fingers scraped the edge of the withered organ. Elated, she ignored the agony as the razor-sharp bands tightened around her hand and wrist and dug deeper.

Sergey screamed, the sound blowing apart the rest of the house, reducing the wood to spears, hundreds of them flying through the air from every direction at both Razvan and Ivory. With his last remaining strength, Razvan threw a barrier around Ivory's back and the top of her head to prevent penetration of the sharp spears. Half a dozen drove through his body, staking him to the floor.

Sergey swept Ivory's legs out from under her. She went down hard, slipping in the pools of blood covering the floor. Sergey staggered back, his face a twisted mask of hatred. Before he could slam his fist deep into her chest, she surged to her feet, leaping in the very motion Sergey had taught her as a young child.

Ivory smiled at him, deliberately locking her gaze with his as he had when he'd licked at Razvan's blood. She knew there was a gaping hole in her chest where he'd tried to reach her heart. Blood dripped steadily, yet she taunted him with a smile. She took a step and went down on one knee, still holding his gaze, watching his eyes narrow, watching the cruel thoughts move through his mind. Keeping their gazes locked, she drove her hand and wrist deep into the welcoming soil. She knew the soil intimately, knew the healing properties. She had lain companion to the minerals and elements for a hundred years.

She whispered to the earth in the ancient language, the language she knew better than any other, a language close to the earth.

Ema Maye, en, lanad, omasak Teteh. Jalleen jamaak-Mother Earth, your daughter stands before you wounded once again.

Maye mayed-Earth to earth.

Siv sived-Heart to heart.

Me juttaak elidaban es kalmaban-We are bound together in life and death.

Pusmasz ainam, juttad lihad-Heal this body, bring together this flesh.

Te magkoszunam, sivam sivadet-I give thanks from my heart to yours.

She continued, her voice rising and falling with the ebb and flow of the earth's blood.

Twist this root, break and bend, Fit the wood to my hand. Hone the edges, make them sharp, To pierce deep within that which is aged and dark. I name you need, fit to my will, Your making is to stop the evil that would kill.

Sergey came at her as she had known he would, believing her distracted by her wounds, muttering to herself beneath her breath. As he bent toward her, she jerked her hand from beneath the soil, newly healed, all traces of the deep lacerations gone. In her fist was a root, twisted and sharpened to the finest blade, honed down to the finest ice pick, and in one smooth, easy move, she thrust it up and straight into his left eye.

He slammed his fist into her throat, knocking her back and down as he whirled away from her. As he came down he viciously kicked at Razvan's head. Razvan was already wielding the heavy sword, swinging it in a brutal cut at the vampire's calf. Sergey barely moved his leg in time to avoid most of the blade. The edge caught him enough to cut into his tendon. The vampire leapt into the air to escape another blow.

Coming down in a fighting crouch, her weapon already blazing, Ivory added another letter in the word traitor to his forehead. The laser cut the R so deep it dug into the skull itself.

"Before we are finished here, you will bear the mark of the traitor for our brothers to know that they taught me well. They will be amused that you could not dispatch a woman, your sister-child, so easily," she taunted.

Vampires were vain creatures, especially master vampires. Her brothers had always had large egos, believing they would do a better job ruling