The green vampire that had fallen on the road picked itself up and chased after us.

We were almost to the pillars.

A shadow fell over us.

Curran spun. His head melted, reshaping into a lion’s head. The Beast Lord roared.

The sound was like thunder. Deep, primeval, arresting, it froze the marrow in my bones. My instincts screamed and tried to drop me to the ground in a small quivering ball.

The draugr screeched to a halt.

We dashed forward.

The pillars flashed by our sides. I ran to a stop and turned around, my ribs hurting.

The undead giant strode toward us.

The pillars flashed with deep amber.

The draugr smashed into an invisible wall. Streaks of orange lightning clutched at his flesh. A deafening wail slapped my ears.

“I will kill you! I will gnaw the flesh off your bones! I will pick my teeth with your femurs!”

I vomited onto the ground.

Next to me Curran patted my back, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The vampire next to me collapsed. The gashes on its body knitted together. A new pale skin slid over the cuts and began to smoke.

“You owe me vampire blood,” I told him.

“Yes, yes.” Ghastek sounded sour. “Do hand me that canvas before he burns to death.”

I jerked the canvas off the cart and held it up. “I just want to hear you say it.”

The vamp squirmed.

I shook the canvas a bit.

“Fine. The draugr do exist.”

“And I was right.”

“You were right. The canvas, Kate.”

I draped it over the vampire and looked at Curran. “Did you hear that?”

“I heard that.” Together we picked up the vampire and heaved the bloodsucker into the cart. “I still don’t believe it, but I heard it.”

Two vampires dashed past the raging draugr, one purple, one orange. The remains of Ghastek’s super-squad.

“Over here,” I waved. “Run to safety!”

“Could the two of you gloat a little more?” Ghastek said.

“Oh I could,” I said. “I definitely could.”

The vampire pulled the canvas back and peeked out, staring in the direction of the glade. “Double or nothing.”

“What?”

“Double or nothing, Kate. I can take him.”

Ghastek was a gambler. Knock me over with a feather. I sat on the cart. The draugr would rip them to pieces in ten minutes, tops.

“Knock yourself out,” Curran told him. “We’ll wait right here.”

“Don’t take too long,” I told him. “We have a child to save.”

CHAPTER 10