Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Marius was relentless. He thought himself skilled. No one had believed Benedek was adept enough to hunt the way he had. Sometimes he’d watched his family for hours, right out in the open, so still, blending in with his surroundings, his energy so low he couldn’t be detected. It was a skill he continued to develop throughout the centuries that stood him in good stead when hunting.
The insects burst from the walls of the cavern and the dirt rose inches as something moved beneath it seeking to find them. Benedek carefully observed the stinging beetles. They were definitely mutations of the original insect. He studied them, paying attention not only to the way they looked and acted but how they felt. Often vampires used the same dark spells to corrupt insects or rodents, ensnaring them to do their bidding, but they didn’t mutate the insects themselves. If the bugs were fed their blood or the blood of humans, that could contribute to their mutations, but these beetles appeared to have been bred specifically as hunters.
Lilith again. Her demonic ways. She had armies of demons and vampires who had been trapped in her world. She used insects she created as well as rodents and other hapless creatures to aid her in gaining a foothold in the world. She wanted to rule her own empire, not play second fiddle to her husband in the underworld. Benedek had to hand it to her. She’d been at it for centuries and no matter how many times she was defeated, she always seemed to come back with an even more reprehensible plan.
Benedek drifted from the cavern through the crack now lined with beetles. They didn’t detect him, not by movement, scent or energy. Centuries of hunting and perfecting his art paid off in moments like this one when he was the perceived prey. Mataias had appropriated the lightning whips from the second cloud and was in place.
Any direction on the vampire? Lojos inquired. I can’t find him.
He is hiding in the rocks just above the cave, Benedek answered. The energy there is blank. No natural feel whatsoever. But I cannot pinpoint his exact location.
Do you want us to hunt him? Tomas asked.
Benedek gave it the briefest moment of consideration. They might get the vampire, but he wasn’t a sure thing. The demons were, and destroying them would impede Lilith and hopefully lessen the compulsion on them.
We go after the demons, and if the vampire reveals himself, Mataias will attack him with the lightning whips until one or all of us can join in that battle.
The others indicated their approval and waited until they were all in position. The vampire was having difficulty maintaining the ferocity of the storm while he was actively looking for the five hunters. The clouds were rolling with less aggression, and the rain, although continuing to fall, didn’t pound down as it had before. The fury of the storm lessened even more as the vampire turned his attention away from his spies to seek the hunters.
Benedek and Nicu simultaneously struck at the demons in the cloud. Benedek emerged behind the three who were peering down at the boulder, one sniffing continuously and one leaning out, turning his head the way an owl might. The third cocked his head from one side to the other to better catch a sound through the din of the rain.
Lojos and Tomas positioned themselves just as Benedek and Nicu had—one in front of the demons and one behind them. When Benedek and Nicu emerged from the clouds, they did as well, striking at their targets without hesitation.
Benedek took the head of the demon with the best eyesight, slicing through the neck with a crystal sword he had forged in a replica of Safia Meziane’s blade. Safia was lifemate to Petru, one of the brethren from the monastery. Safia had passed her knowledge and skill as a demon slayer to him and the others, knowing they might be heading to another battle with Lilith and her army.
He continued with the sacred blade, in one powerful motion, taking the demon with the nose for tracking and then the one with acute hearing. Lights burst from the sword, scattering across the sky and mingling with the dark, roiling clouds. The colors streaked through the various shades of gray. Although he couldn’t see them for himself, Benedek knew they were various colors because Safia had shown them to him in her mind. The colors pierced the clouds like spears, surrounding the bodies of the demons, penetrating their mass, so that holes began to appear in their chests, arms and legs.
Benedek was adept with weapons. Killing demons wasn’t the same as destroying them. To prevent them from returning to Lilith, where she could either punish them or destroy them herself out of sheer anger, the hunters had to ensure the demons were completely extinguished. That meant using the crystal sword Safia had so graciously shown them how to forge and use.