Carpathian 08 - Dark Legend

himself into thinking his twin would be unable to get past what he had wrought. Lesser vampires would be hurt, trapped, and probably held until the dawn could bring them justice, but not Lucian. In two thousand years no trap had ever successfully held him and there was no safeguard that he could not unravel.
    Gabriel rested his palms on the wrought-iron railing and stared down at the greenery below him. The garden was beautiful, colors exploding even in the night air. He found himself smiling. Francesca. She had a way of making everything she touched alive with beauty. Of course she would choose flowers that could bloom at night. She would want things pleasing and soothing in her house and in her garden, no matter what the time of day or night. It mattered to her that others were comfortable, were surrounded by beauty.
    He filled his mind with thoughts of her, and of course she filled his heart instantly. She always put others before herself, before her own needs. She had tried to be so tough with him, but from the moment Francesca had entered his life, she had been the one continuously giving. She soothed those around her with her spirit alone. She didn't have to do anything other than simply be who she was, yet she did so much more. Even now, she was allowing him to go, knowing he might not return to her, selflessly giving him to the world when she wanted him so desperately beside her. She was with child. His child. If he were to die this night, she had promised to continue without him even though the separation would be agony for her.
    His body ached for her even though he had just spent hours with her, precious, wonderful hours that had given him so much more than he had ever thought possible. His heart and soul ached for her. This house was his home. These people were his family. But out in the night, creatures were stalking the innocent and he had no choice but to stop them.
    Gabriel watched the heavy fog moving through the city. It was not a natural fog, but one created to allow the undead to move unseen by their prey. He lifted his face to the shadow of the moon and drank in the beauty of it. He was a hunter of the night. A natural predator. He leaped easily onto the railing and spread his arms wide, embracing the air as he stepped into space.
    At once his body shimmered, becoming transparent so that the heavy fog could be seen right through him. He seemed to dissolve into millions of droplets; which streamed through the sky, weaving in and out of the dark clouds and the heavy fog. He flew out over the city, scanning as he went, looking for "dead" spaces that might indicate where the enemy was hiding. The small group of vampires that had banded together in the city were hunting for victims, for live prey to be used and discarded.
    Gabriel was determined to rid the city of the undead this night, and he wanted to find Brice. He knew Brice's fate weighed heavily on Francesca's conscience and he was determined that he would put things right. He freely admitted he had little use for the man, but Francesca felt affection for the doctor and the things he had done lately had been committed under the influence of a vampire. Perhaps even Lucian, although Gabriel doubted it. He would never have sent Brice to the house to take Skyler from them and then aid Gabriel in sending him away. There was no point in such a move.
    A few nightspots were teaming with life, the perfect hunting grounds for the vampires. They would find prey to their liking, young men and women they could manipulate into all kinds of deviant behavior just for the perverse pleasure of making them squirm before giving them death.
    He moved through the city in silence, scanning for the undead even as he searched for a hint of Brice. Twice he moved over the hospital, knowing Brice often spent long hours there, but, instead, he found him in the cemetery, drawn, no doubt, by his connection to the unclean nosferatu. Gabriel stayed high in the fog, carefully examining the area for one of the undead. Brice was shuffling over the uneven ground, stumbling like a drunken man, muttering to himself, and constantly batting at his body as if he still felt the crawling of bugs over his skin.
    Gabriel had withdrawn that illusion as soon as Brice was off the property, but one of the vampires controlling the doctor must have picked the memory out of his head and used it to punish his failure to obtain Skyler. Gabriel felt the malevolent presence of one of the