The child’s eyes were full of fear, yet also penitence. She didn’t cry or scream, but fell prostrate to the ground. The vampire towered over her.
No, Adele thought. She wasn’t going to watch this child be killed and eaten. Adele stood over the child right in front of the vampire, still masked by the ley line’s embrace. She let the energy give her focus.
The vampire hissed suddenly, and snarled. He glanced around wildly, backing away. He raised his hand to strike, assuming the child was the cause of his discomfort. She slipped off her connection to the line, almost like stepping through a curtain, and the shimmer faded from her body. The vampire reared back in surprise as he saw her dagger slashing downward. He barely had time to shout before Adele’s Fahrenheit blade buried in his chest. She gripped his throat to prevent him from raising an alarm. He gasped like a fish as the heat from Adele’s hand seared him, smoke rising from around her fingers, and he stumbled to the ground. The glowing dagger flashed as it was yanked out and then arced across the vampire’s throat, cutting through vocal cords. Adele pressed him to the dirt with the weight of her body, knees pinning the vampire’s outstretched arms.
The Fahrenheit blade plunged once more where her anatomy lessons told her that his heart should be. And then again. Adele’s breath hissed through clenched teeth. Precious minutes passed before his struggles ceased, and she shoved herself away and sat panting, bringing herself under control. The rush of adrenaline coursing through her system was almost as bad as the rush of power struggling to overwhelm her.
She sought out the little girl, who was on her hands and knees gaping at her, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed. Then the child’s attention dragged up to stare into Adele’s warm brown eyes. The empress offered a faint smile, again pressing a finger to her lips, wondering what the child was thinking at this moment. The girl’s attention went from Adele to the dead vampire several quick times, and then she ran off.
Adele was almost disappointed. She hoped she had made a connection. Straightening, she grabbed the vampire’s arms and dragged him into a secluded corner of the church. There was ample rubble to cover him. Sweeping the sky for more vampires, she moved quickly back to the ley line, and felt the warmth of its embrace.
Her pace quickened through the churchyard, risking a serious fall on the ice. Finally she reached the steep rocky footpath going up the mountainside. The way was nearly vertical. The road, if that was what it could be called, cut jarringly back and forth, going several hundred feet one way before veering back again. She had to stay in as straight a line as possible, however, to access the full power of the ley line. Scrub brush and snowdrifts were deep, but still she moved decisively, trying not to disturb the bushes. She had no idea where vampires might be. Their excellent eyesight could easily pick up movement from a great distance.
Adele’s breath wheezed through her blue lips. Her gloves and shoes were wet and cold. She was in good physical condition, thanks to Mamoru’s strict training regimen, but she was still a product of the languid Mediterranean, not the frigid Alps. The cold wind was growing ever more bitter, and the altitude was taking its toll.
She had to go over the curtain wall in order to enter the Bastille. Numb quivering fingers dug into the cracks in the stone, and Adele pulled herself up with aching arms. Without warning, black shadows crossed her and she froze. She craned her head to look. A vampire hovered just to her right, staring at the wall but not at her, not exactly. Something had caught his eye. The wind buffeted his nearly weightless frame farther away, but he continually returned to his original position, still staring, still hunting. Two more vampires gathered beside him, curious as to what had attracted his attention.
Adele’s panic swelled. Her body shivered on the exposed stone wall. The wind cut through her as if she wore nothing. If she hung there much longer she wasn’t sure she would have the strength to make it to the top.
Suddenly the three creatures dove to the earth. Adele flung herself around, one arm clinging to the wall, the other reaching for her dagger, but the vampires darted past her and fell on a small deer hiding in the undergrowth. It died in a spray of crimson.
The vampires laughed and congratulated the one who had made the kill first, as if it were a contest of speed. They left the kill; animal blood offered no nourishment to vampires. It had only been sport. They rose into the air and drifted toward the sounds of battle.
Adele sagged with ragged breaths against the frigid stones. Then she twisted and resheathed her blade. Fingers wedged deep into the gaps without feeling any pain and she hauled herself up to the top. She lay shaking, repeating her meditation technique so as not to lose her concentration on the ley line.