Blood Awakening by Tessa Dawn

Author:Tessa Dawn [Dawn, Tessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ghost Pines Publishing, LLC
Published: 2011-07-05T22:27:52+00:00

fifteen

The males surveyed the oddly-shaped underground cavity in silence. Having entered the mountain beneath a thin, arched doorway at the back of the Red Canyon cliffs, just beyond a waterfall, they had followed the familiar limestone tunnels to their destination: the ruined sacrificial chamber of the Dark Ones.

Marquis watched as Nachari moved about the cavern, gathering and reading energy. When his little brother’s eyes scanned the ancient limestone birth-slab, he knew exactly what he was thinking of: Shelby and Dalia. The last place his twin’s destiny had lain before her brutal death. To his credit, he betrayed no emotion. His deep jade eyes simply regarded all of the damage to the gigantic chamber with cool objectivity.

While several of the white limestone columns still stood like statues, randomly erected about the chamber, the ceiling of the cave had collapsed in on itself, scattering jagged pieces of stalactites about in hazardous piles of debris. The smell of blood still mixed with the musty scent of sulfur in the stagnant pond at the back of the cave, and two of the three, low-lying ledges that led to the steep cliffs remained intact.

Napolean gathered the males at the rim of the eastern-most ledge. “Marquis, Julien, Ramsey, and Nachari: I want you to split up into one team and take the eastern tunnel. You are to proceed in the order I have called you, and as the senior warrior of the team, Marquis will be in command.” He glanced at the remaining vampires. “Myself, Nathaniel, Santos, and Saxson will descend the western cliff and proceed parallel to the first team.” It went without saying that Napolean would lead the western charge. “From this point on, maintain cloaked appearances and speak only with telepathy.”

The males nodded in unison. So be it.

With that, Napolean and the second team dematerialized.

Marquis waved his warriors close, carefully eyeing the males on his team. They were each dressed in black fire-retardant leather with diamond-inset collars around their necks, wrists, and ankles to help maintain their invisibility as they approached the Dark Ones. While vampires could easily cloak their personas from humans, other Nosferatu—especially those who were ancient—could easily pick up on subtle shifts in the energy field around them, or measure slight variations of temperature in a cold room to detect the presence of a warm body. The diamond collars would block infrared detection and provide a secondary barrier from energetic projection.

Julien shifted his taut, muscular frame, twitching in anticipation as he fingered the edge of his M4-carbine and deftly slid the handle of a time-worn battle ax into the palm of his hand. The others followed suit, adjusting sickles, spiked bolas, nine millimeters, and one AK-47, along with numerous hidden daggers for hand-to-hand combat. While guns were virtually useless when used by humans against vampires—the species was simply too fast to hit—all bets were off when they fought each other: Bullets had their use as a tactical decoy, and fired in rapid enough succession, they could stun an enemy long enough for another vampire to step in and take the head or heart.

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