David L. Robbins - Blade 03 by Vampire Strike

Author:Vampire Strike
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Polidori halted in front of a pair of huge wooden doors. He turned and grinned at the captive. “Are you ready?”

“Quit playing games and open the damn door!” Grizzly snapped.

One of the four Vampires behind the mutant, one of the quartet assigned to serve as his escort to the banquet, snickered. “He doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, does he?”

“No,” Polidori mentioned. “It’s pitiful.” He made a show of sniffing the musty air. “At least he had the decency to put on some cologne.”

The quartet laughed.

Polidori faced the doors, gripped the metal knob on the door on the right, then shoved.

Grizzly, expecting a dilapidated banquet filled with slovenly Vampires, was genuinely astounded. He walked through the doorway, surveying the impressive setup.

“Not bad, huh?” Polidori said with evident pride.

“Not bad,” Grizzly mumbled.

The banquet hall was enormous, 100 yards wide and 50 yards from the front doors to the rear wall. A vaulted ceiling arched above a white, tiled floor. Eight radiant chandeliers, brimming with candles instead of light bulbs, were suspended from the ceiling at twelve foot intervals the width of the chamber. Large wooden tables, aligned edge to edge, had been arranged in a horseshoe shape with the open end toward the front doors. Hundreds of Vampires and dozens of humans were milling about the hall, males and females.

“Corpus had this built,” Polidori said to Grizzly. “Most of the material came from the towns and settlements we’ve raided.”

A bell suddenly pealed, the notes vibrant and clangorous.

The Vampires and humans immediately took seats at the tables, the humans pulling out the wooden chairs so the Vampires could sit down. Then the humans seated themselves.

Grizzly stared at a veritable sea of pale countenances and sinister eyes, and for a second his confidence wavered. An uneasy sensation developed in the pit of his stomach.

A tall Vampire at the head of the horseshoe was the only one standing. He beckoned with his right arm. “Come in, Grizzly. We have been expecting you.”

Polidori prodded the bear-man by slapping his left shoulder. “Get a move on! Don’t keep Corpus waiting.”

Grizzly walked toward the tall Vampire. He ignored the hungry gazes fixed on him by the Vampires, but he could feel his skin prickling just the same, especially under the fur at the nape of his neck.

“Welcome,” the tall Vampire said. “You are our guest of honor tonight.” A large golden bell on a metal tripod was visible to his rear.

Grizzly appraised the tall Vampire as he approached the table from the opposite side. This Vampire was different from the rest. Grizzly could see the difference in his handsome, regal facial lines, in the square thrust of his shoulders, in his alert green eyes. He wore a brown loincloth that was immaculate. While not exceptionally muscular, he was superbly proportioned. His long hair, unlike the dark hair of the majority of the Vampires, was white. Grizzly stopped behind a chair directly across from this unique Vampire. He nodded once. “So you’re the head scumbag.”

Abrupt intakes of breath punctuated the assembled Vampires and humans.

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