Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
The human security force had weapons designed specifically to kill the vampires, and they were stationed along the top of the fence in safeguarded positions where they could defend the compound yet not get taken prisoner by the enemy. With the safeguards woven so tightly, it was nearly impossible for even a stray arrow or bullet to slip through to injure or kill one of them, yet they could fire their unique weapons at the vampires at will.
Ferro released Gary and Tariq so they could participate in the upcoming battle after Julija had woven safeguards to prevent anyone from inviting vampires into the compound.
Hold fire, Tariq ordered Matt, head of his security team, as the first wave of vampires approached the gates. Hold your men steady.
He clearly was still fighting the compulsion to open the gate. Julija countered the impulse in Tariq and Gary with a spell, helping to ease the need to obey that vicious hook in their brains.
It was always unnerving to see newly made and starving vampires coming all at once. They were hideous creatures with twisted faces, once handsome, some still partially so, but most decomposed and rotting in places, as they weren’t experienced enough to hold illusion through the desperate starvation they’d awakened with. Hair fell out of scabbed scalps, so only a few long stringy strands hung oily and loose. Teeth were pointed and jagged, the thin lips drawn back from shrunken gums. Maggots crawled on them, wiggling over the rotting flesh as they rushed forward, eager for blood promised to them—the rich satisfying blood of an ancient.
The newly made vampires were so frantic they would take any blood. Sergey had kept them in the ground for a longer period of time so they would wake starving. He wanted this killing frenzy, this madness, a desperation that would ensure they would kill and devour every living creature they came into contact with.
Sergey needed a bloodbath, the insanity of a chaotic seige, so he could slip in and reclaim Elisabeta. Once in the compound, he knew he could find her unerringly. He had lived with her scent, her soft, soothing presence, and he would never be able to live without it. She had been the one to give him the small details that allowed him to defeat his brothers. They had intelligence, but he had Elisabeta, his secret weapon, and he needed her back. He couldn’t continue without her. He had relied on her for all those long centuries and he didn’t know how to move forward without her.
He is furious. Do you feel him, minan päläfertiilam? Ferro asked Elisabeta to keep her grounded with him. Do you feel his fear that he has already lost you? You are too important to him. Do you know why? He cannot continue without you. He needs you. You are powerful. That is why he kept you starved and under his control. That is why he made you so weak and unable to care for yourself, made you so dependent on him for everything. You are much more powerful than he is, and he knows it.
“Hold steady,” Tariq ordered both aloud and then again telepathically to his security force protected on the walls. “Let them come close and think the gates will open for them. Stay sharp that those of us programmed will not obey the order to allow them inside.”
You plan on going out there to hunt him. Elisabeta made it a statement.
Ferro could not deny it. As long as he is alive, hän sívamak, he will continue to come after you. He cannot help himself. You are a necessity to him, just as blood is.
Ferro could feel her turning over the things he said to her, trying to absorb them, trying to believe them when her mind held such terror for the master vampire.
The terrible growls and snarls of the lesser vampires could be heard as they approached the compound, groups of them coming at the various entrances, some on the ground, some in the air, some clones, others very real. All had the same intent. The hunters were used to seeing those hollow, starved faces, nearly caved in, with sockets for eyes, but Ferro was a little surprised at Tariq’s human security force. They were stoic, waiting for the signal before they began to fire their specially designed weapons at the vampires.
The moment they did, the ancients dissolved into mist, taking to the air, while Julija wrapped her arm around Elisabeta, taking Ferro’s place as he streaked into the sky toward the wooded area by the lake where Sergey had stayed while his army had prepared to take the compound.
Tell me where he is, Elisabeta, Ferro ordered, staying merged with her, making it an order so that she didn’t have time to dissolve into terror because he was no longer physically with her. We do this together. He kept his voice calm and matter-of-fact.