Carpathian 11 - Dark Descent

she concentrated on figuring out how to tel her parents that she was essentialy married.
    Gabriele stuck her head in the bathroom. "Hurry up! Jubal and I are getting tired of waiting for you two. And you'd better not be doing anything perverted in that tiny little shower stal." She sounded more hopeful than anything else.

    "How did you get into my room, you peeping Tom?" Joie threw a wet washcloth with deadly accuracy. "It was locked."
    Gabriele squealed when the cloth hit her square in the face. "I'm picking up your bad habits. Are you in there alone? Because I don't want to see any naked bodies."
    "Traian already went back to the cave."
    "If he wasn't so drop-dead gorgeous, I'd be afraid he was a trol, he likes to be underground so much. What are you going to tel Mom and Dad?" This time there was glee in Gabriele's voice.
    "I've been rehearsing," Joie admitted. She emerged from the stal, wrapped in a bath sheet. "It has occurred to me to lie to them. And I thought you preferred skinny men. I saw you ogling Gary last night."
    "I don't ogle," Gabriele sniffed indignantly. "I never ogle. I just thought he was rather on the cute side." She sighed heavily. "Oh, to be model-thin and beautiful."
    Joie glared at her. "You are beautiful, you idiot. You're just crazy. Is Jubal hanging out in the bedroom, because I need my clothes."
    "I'l get you something presentable." Gabriele disappeared.
    Joie heard her giggle. Gabriele never did anything so undignified as to giggle. Unashamed, Joie found she could hear just by consciously thinking about it. Gary had joined her brother and sister in her bedroom.
    Joie stalked to the door. "Helo! I hate to remind you al, but I'm stuck here, naked in the bathroom. Vacate or toss me some clothes."
    Jubal groaned. "You are so sick, Joie. I didn't need that visual. Gary, you ought to try having a couple of sisters bent on tormenting you. They gang up on me like you wouldn't believe."
    Gabriele blew him a kiss. "We keep your life from being extraordinarily dul and boring."
    Joie caught the bundle of clothes her sister tossed inside the bathroom. "Thanks for remembering me."
    "I remembered. It just didn't seem al that important."
    Gary stood up when Joie entered the room. "Traian left already, I take it? I figured he'd rise as early as possible. There were clouds blocking the sunlight. They sometimes arrange the weather to protect their sensitive eyes." He smiled at Joie. "He wants me to get you to drink some juice this evening."
    Joie pressed a hand to her stomach. "I don't think that's going to happen, but I'm sure Gabriele and Jubal are hungry."
    "Starved," Jubal agreed instantly. "I thought Joie was going to sleep forever."
    "You'l get used to the different hours they keep," Gary said. "I work in the lab and forget the time myself. If I'm on to something promising, I don't seem to need sleep."
    "I'm the same way," Gabriele said. "Sometimes I look up and it's two days later." She exchanged a long smile of complete understanding with Gary.
    Jubal threw his hands into the air. "It's getting a bit thick in here. I'm for food. Come on, Joie. Whether you're hungry or not, we need to stick together."
    They waited while Joie found her calf scabbard and strapped it to her leg. Gary raised an eyebrow, but Gabriele just shrugged, her grin sheepish. They were used to Joie, and she was nearly always armed with something lethal.
    Joie was aware of the exact moment the sun set. She didn't see the orange and red hues, but in the midst of the laughing conversation going on around her she simply knew.
    She felt the sudden shuddering of the earth as the vampires rose. Her heart leapt in fear. Traian! She reached out to him. Touched him. Felt his immediate reassurance. He had not discovered the resting places of the vampires. They had not gone to ground in the cave of the wizards.
    "Joie?" Gabriele touched her hand. "Are you al right?"
    Joie looked across the table at her and managed a smile. "I just wish I was with him." She didn't need to say his name.
    A dark shadow passed over the inn, moving fast, so that for a moment silence fel in the dining room and people looked at one another uneasily. Gary reacted instantly. He caught Gabriele's wrist, rising so fast his chair fel backward. "Come with me, right now." He tugged Gabriele to her feet and began to weave his way through the tables, dragging her with him.
    Jubal looked at his meal with regret as Joie smacked the back of his head. "It might be your last