Carpathian 11 - Dark Descent

doing, Gabriele. You know I've always relied on my instincts. I know this is right. I don't understand any of it, but maybe I've been preparing for it al of my life. I fit with him. You're right, I don't know him yet, but I fit with him." She rubbed her face, smearing mud across it. "A one and only sort of thing. Sily, but true."
    Jubal groaned. "Joie, I never thought you'd turn al mushy romantic on us."
    Gabriele exchanged a long look with Jubal and turned to Joie. "Wel, I suppose your life with him wil always be interesting."
    “My sisters have already put gray in my hair. I won't survive Traian hanging around, howling at the moon, biting Joie's neck. And, just for the record, stay the hel away from mine, Traian. Having a woman bite my neck might be a turn-on—kinky, maybe, but I could handle it. Having a man bite my neck is out of the question. Doesn't do a thing for me," Jubal said dryly.
    "Ouch. That hurts, Jubal," Traian said. "I was realy looking forward to a snack later." He leaned down to brush the top of Joie's head with his chin. He had to touch her, keep reminding himself she was real. Even when they were speaking telepathicaly while he searched the complex of caves for whatever the vampires were frantic to find, he almost believed he had made her up.
    Gabriele managed a grin. "Wel, he fits in with our weird family, Joie. I can't wait to see Mom and Dad's reaction."
    "I need to seal this area off, slow the vampires down, and get al of you out of this cave," Traian said.
    "I'm not so eager to leave," Joie responded, studying the huge body of the dragon. "This is a treasure. There must be other fascinating things down here."
    "You are being hunted," Traian said severely. "I am getting you out of here now. I wil come back later and find whatever the vampires want so badly."
    "When you're alone," Joie said.
    "When I am alone," Traian confirmed. He urged them through the narrow hal. "You must not touch anything, no matter how inviting it appears," he added as a precaution.
    Jubal glanced at Joie. "It isn't like you to agree to stay behind. Are you certain he doesn't have you under a spel?" He groaned. "That sounds so melodramatic and stupid. I can't believe I said it."
    "I'm a professional, Jubal, and I don't need to make a point. This is his area of expertise, not mine."
    The hal opened into a galery. Tal columns in a Gothic style were carved into the wals. The high cathedral ceiling was impressive. Pilars of ice and crystal formed two rows down the room, each holding several round globes of varying colors. Joie peered into one of the largest, a milky blue natural sapphire. As she stared at it, the color deepened, darkened, began to swirl with alarming speed. Mesmerized, she moved closer. The ground beneath her tilted, rippled. She felt a puling, a drawing as if the swirling sphere caled to her.
    Traian clapped his hand over her eyes and puled her away from the globe. "Do not look at them. Gabriele, come away from there." There was urgency in his normaly calm tone. "Jubal, just pul her with you. I can feel the aura of power in al of these objects. Until we know what they are, we need to give them a wide berth."
    Joie was stunned that she had been so quickly puled into the globe's influence. "I thought wizards were supposed to be good."
    "Absolute power corrupts. It is something one learns when one's life spans hundreds of years." Traian crowded close to Joie, keeping his body between her and the tal pilars.
    Joie laughed. "Don't let Jubal or Gabriele hear you say that. If you tel them you've been alive for a few hundred years, they might change their minds about us."
    "I heard it already," Jubal said. He was pacing right behind Gabriele, pushing her through the long, wide-open room. There were clear crystal sculptures of mythical creatures. Smal, blood-red pyramids made of stone were set into chiseled-out archways in the wals. It was difficult not to stare at the gems and strange objects surrounding them, but Traian was obviously fearful of their safety, and they were ever conscious of the deadly creatures folowing them.
    A deep boom shook the network of caverns. They stopped in the last one and stared at a solid wal in front of them. "There has to be a way out," Traian said. "Wizards were not able to shape-shift or fly. They were much as you are. There must be an opening leading to the surface."
    "We have our gear," Joie pointed out. "We can use it to climb."
    "Not with vampires so close on our heels. They