The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) by Clay & Susan Griffith;Clay Griffith;Susan Griffith (9 page)

"Yes," Greyfriar said quietly. "They can die."

"My army is the greatest in the world. My grandfather conquered
India and my father conquered Africa. We intend for all humans to join
together and kill the vampires."

Adele turned away from Greyfriar. It wasn't right for him to see her
so emotional. She was a princess, and so her voice stilled. "Once I'm
married to Senator Clark, all the vampires will be killed so people can
live in the north again. And live in the snow. My brother was desperate
to see snow." After a while, she said, "I've seen pictures of snow and I've
seen it on mountains, but not up close. It's too dangerous; there might
be vampires."

"I have seen snow."

Adele looked imploring. "What's it like?"

"It's quiet. And lonely."

"How long have you been fighting?"

Greyfriar took a deep breath. "A long time. Most of my life."

Adele smiled at him. "Amazing. That you're still alive. You must
know a great deal about them, about vampires. We could use a man such
as you in the coming war."

The swordsman lowered his head and continued pacing, accompanied by the creaking of leather and the clashing of his weapons. "I do
what I can from here. These are the people who need me the most."

"But you must have a great deal of intelligence on vampire society. We have some concept of how it's structured, but you could be very
helpful. You must know about how they"-Adele sneered with con-
tempt-"organized themselves into their clans after they conquered the
north."

"They were organized before the Great Killing, although not quite
so rigidly as now."

"So these things have always lived next to us?"

"Yes. The clans have existed on the fringes of the human world from
the dawn of time."

Adele leaned forward with her eyes sharp and bright. "What about
now? Where is the center of vampire power?"

Greyfriar shook his head. "It's not that simple, Princess. Each clan has
its own king and nobles. They sometimes unite in common cause, as they
did for the Great Killing, but the vampire north is not a single entity. And
that doesn't even account for the clans in America and Asia."

"America and Asia will come in time. I'm concerned with Europe.
If you had an army, where would you strike to cripple them? Paris?
Vienna?"

Greyfriar leaned on a table, hands spread wide, as if at a war council,
and said to Adele, "Paris is decayed. Their king died decades back, and
a power struggle has diminished them. Vienna is a necropolis. Even
vampires have deserted it."

"Then who? Where is the heart of their power? London?"

The swordsman paused in thought. "Perhaps. London is strong and
unified. King Dmitri has maintained his hold on his throne. His lords
are loyal to him. Or loyal to Dmitri's son, Cesare."

"Cesare. I've heard his name before," Adele said.

"I'm sure that would please him. During the Great Killing he took
control of the British clan, which he continues to rule through his father,
Dmitri. There is an older son, Gareth, but he is of no matter. Cesare is
the true ruler. He was the one who ordered every man, woman, and child
in Ireland to be slaughtered."

"My God," she whispered. "I've read about that. Could that be true?
It seems an impossible act of barbarism."

"It is true. There is no act too barbaric for Cesare to contemplate. There are nearly no humans in Ireland still." The swordsman glanced up
at Adele. He paused before saying, "Then you are not aware that Flay
was the vampire who led the slaughter in Ireland."

"The one who is chasing me?" Adele's voice seemed far away.

"The very one. I'm sorry. But rest assured I will protect you."
Abruptly, Greyfriar turned. "I have to go."

"What? Where are you going?" She had lost everyone she relied
on-Simon and Anhalt-and now Greyfriar was leaving.

"To scout the area."

"But you'll be back, right?" Adele knew she sounded desperate, and
she hated it. This fear inside her was like a living thing suddenly, and
she had kept it at bay for so long that it now seemed impossible to
control.

"Yes, I'll be back."

"Of course." Adele sat up straighter. "I'm sorry. I sound like a lost
little girl."

Greyfriar's head tilted a bit as he regarded her. "You have the right.
You've been through an ordeal. The fear will ease in time. Never be
ashamed of fear. Use it as a weapon. Let it give you strength and resolve.
I've seen you manage it these past few days. You are much stronger than
you give yourself credit for."

Adele smiled, grateful for his words. It pushed back her anxiety and
made it bearable again. "You deserve a reward for your own bravery. I
could recommend my father to make you a duke. Would you like to be
viceroy of Somaliland?" Her smile broadened with a trace of personal
amusement, almost embracing the little girl again. "Or we could give
you a palace. We could throw Lord Kelvin out of his. He's terribly
annoying, but he has a beautiful mansion on the Rue Victoria. It's got a
garden with-"

Greyfriar held up a gloved hand and laughed, a low rumbling in his
chest. "Thank you for the offer. But I don't need a palace."

"I wish Simon had been able to meet you, the legendary Greyfriar. He
would have been thrilled." The girl looked out through the open window
and was cast back to the battle and her poor brother's limp body. "I couldn't
save him. I was so helpless," she said quietly, almost to herself.

"On the contrary, I've never seen a human perform so well against
vampires."

"You think so?"

"Yes. Your decapitation with a saber was amazing. If I had been in
your place, even I would have had trouble hearing that vampire. But you
turned and struck cleanly and surely. You were certainly more effective
than your soldiers. So whatever disciplines you are studying, the imperial army would do well to study them too."

His words removed some of her dark guilt. Adele stretched and
pushed the plate of food away. It had tasted delicious. Amazing how
such simple fare could seem so divine after a brush with death. Everything tasted more intense and flavorful. All her emotions seemed
stronger and at the same time more sweet.

Adele saw the swordsman arranging several packs that he had left
near the door. "What's in the bags?"

"Ammunition." Greyfriar stroked one pack with care. "And a book."

"A book?" Adele's face lit up with curiosity.

"A gift." He opened the pack and removed a leather-bound folio.
"I've kept it here. But now I'm going to take it with me."

"What is it?" Adele leaned forward.

"An anatomy text." The man held the book open, facing her.

Adele's eyes widened at the sight of a masterful pen drawing of a
cadaver with its chest cavity split open. The princess squinted at the picture. "What is that?"

Greyfriar turned the book away from Adele and studied the dissection plate. "It's Randolph's Treatise on Homo Nosferatii. I'm told the finest
text on the subject of vampire anatomy. Apparently, Dr. Randolph has
dissected more vampires than any other human. At your own Academy
of Sciences, by the way. He is a very learned man."

"Sir Godfrey Randolph? Yes, I've met him. He's retired now, but I
believe he lives near Cairo. I could arrange for you to talk to him."

Greyfriar leaned forward in consideration. "A gracious offer but
impractical. Thank you. His book will have to do for now."

"Why do you care about vampire bodies?"

The swordsman closed the book and replaced it in his rucksack. "You must know your enemy." He donned his cloak again, apparently
eager to go.

"So you like books?" Adele asked quickly.

"Yes. Books are very rare in the north." The swordsman opened the
door, but then paused and turned toward her. "Sleep well tonight. I'll
return in a short while."

And he was gone. Adele felt an immediate loss that she knew
instinctively was silly. Such fondness was only due to the dire circumstance they had shared and his selfless acts to save her life. But still she
enjoyed the emotion. It was one she had never felt so strongly before. He
made her feel safe. Which was an amazing feat in this day and age.

DEL JERKED FREE from a nightmare of running barefoot
and alone through charnel halls of ships with the screams of the
dying ringing in her ears. She sat up in the bed and encircled her knees
with her arms. She was fully dressed, feeling too vulnerable to shed her
clothing.

"It was just a dream," she whispered. "Just a dream."

The simple house in Riez was quiet, cold, and dark. Adele knew she
should rest more. Greyfriar had sent word of her survival to Equatoria,
and soon an army would be about her that would rival a full-fledged
invasion. Her father would take no chances. Vampires would never be so
bold as to attack the huge force he would send to retrieve her.

It made her ill to think of how close they had come.

Suddenly in the dark came a hard thunk. Adele straightened immediately, straining to hear more. Perhaps it had not been the dream that
woke her. Someone was awake downstairs. Greyfriar, she thought, back
from scouting. She rose to her feet and padded to the bedroom door,
hoping to hear whom it could be awake at this hour.

Another loud thump. This time there was a low moan and an
abruptly hushed cry along with it. Adele's eyes flew wide, and she threw
the lock on the door. She scrambled back to her bed, drawing out the blade she had hidden under the pillow. Something large and dark flew
past the window. Flinging herself to the shutters, she fumbled with the
latch as her fingers grasped the knife tightly.

They had come for her! They were in the house!

She let out a shrill scream to wake everyone, lest they be caught in
their sleep. It would give her position away, but that couldn't be helped.
She screamed Greyfriar's name as loud as she could. Abruptly there were
screams all around her as the house woke and found themselves facing
horrors at their bedroom doors.

Then a sound reached Adele's ears that plunged her hope to the cold
ground: terrible hissing right outside her door. She pulled herself back
into a corner of the room, silent now. The handle lifted up and down.
Then something shoved hard against the door.

Should she wait here, or should she flee? She chose the latter and ran
for the window, throwing back the shutters and yanking it open. She
looked about for a ledge. There was a balcony just below her, small but
manageable. She had one leg over the sill when the wood of the door
splintered apart as a vampire clawed its way inside.

Adele slid out the window, dropping a few feet to the balcony below.
Her room was only two stories up, so she could reach the ground with
one more drop. She climbed the wrought iron rail of the balcony and
hung as low as her arms could take her before dropping. It would be
only seconds before they were after her.

The princess hit the ground and collapsed, going as limp as possible
to absorb the impact of the fall. Her teeth snapped shut; luckily her
tongue had not been caught in them. She tumbled twice, scrambled to
her feet, and ran. She didn't dare turn to look behind her. It was best to
assume the vampires were right on her heels. What she needed was a
defensible position until Greyfriar came. She believed he would come.
She just had to stay alive long enough for him to reach her.

Adele heard hissing close behind. One of the creatures had found her
and was signaling to its brethren, but the hissing also gave its location to
her without having to look. She suddenly stopped and spun. Her glowing
blade flashed straight across the vampire's throat, and the hissing
stopped. The thing clutched the gaping slash with both hands, his eyes wide with surprise. Adele had no desire to stand and gawk. There were
sounds of chaos all around her. Screams and shrieks assailed her ears. The
village was under attack. She knew she couldn't hide. If there was anything to be done, she had to try. Adele ran along the street to find it
awash in blood. Bodies were everywhere. Adele kept to the dark places to
hide from watchful eyes above. Every few seconds shadows would slink
over the ground as a vampire drifted overhead looking for prey.