“Countess, take care,” Adem cautioned.
“I must discover if she is here,” I answered, plunging into the rubble.
Adem followed, carefully maneuvering over the broken blocks of marble as I easily crawled over them like a spider. I was desperate and terrified. If Vlad had destroyed her tomb and let her burn in the sun, I would go to the castle and strike off his head.
At last I found her resting place. She was not there, nor was the great iron stake. The platform she had rested upon was empty. Only a scar remained deep into the marble, caked with dried blood, where the iron stake had pierced her body and pinned her. Gazing about, I discovered a bit of the roof. I could see an empty hole where the iron stake had once pierced the stone.
“He did this!” I shrieked at Adem. “He killed her!”
“You do not know that,” Adem responded calmly. “There is no ash. There is no sign that a vampire burned here. He may have moved her.”
“Do you know what he did to her? How he impaled her? The stake was driven through the roof down into the mausoleum, thrust into her body and into the stone beneath her. He kept her trapped. Did you know that?” I was furious, my hands clenched at my sides.
Adem shook his head solemnly. “No, I did not. No one did. We all presumed she was dead.”
“Death would have been a blessing compared to her torment!”
I fell across her former resting place. The reek of dried blood and decay filled my nostrils. I remembered her beauty and grace despite her terrible circumstances. Yes, she had been mad with pain, but she had urged me to escape Vlad. She had understood my need to abscond Vlad’s clutches in a way none of the other Brides could.
“Oh, Erzsébet,” I sobbed. “I have failed you.”
It was worse than I had imagined. I thought perhaps Vlad had hidden her away, but the destruction of her sepulcher brought me great dread. He had chosen me to be his wife. Perhaps he had decided to destroy her at last as some loathsome display of his fidelity. Despite Adem’s assertion that there was no ash, I no longer believed she may still be living.
Lying across the cold marble, I sobbed, bloody tears running down my face. Adem continued to rummage through the wreckage, seeking answers as I mourned. He abruptly ceased his search, craning his neck, listening. I stifled my tears, aware that he was alert to a possible threat. I dared not even speak his name, but gradually drew myself up to sit upon the platform.
A low hiss slithered through the night air.
Adem’s sword sang as it was drawn from its scabbard. Silently motioning for me to get behind him, he crept slowly toward the outer edges of the ruined mausoleum. I followed, careful to not make a sound.
Three ghastly creatures were gathered around a nearby grave. They were digging frenetically at the ground with abnormally large, clawed hands. Resembling humans, the creatures were mottled like corpses, wisps of hair hanging from their skulls. Their skin hung on their bony frames as the naked monsters dug deep into the grave with surprising speed.
“Hungry. Hurry,” one rasped.
“They’re all long dead. No fresh meat here.”
“Then why did he magick it to keep us out?”
The creatures spoke like humans, but their voices were oddly slurred.
Adem crept along the side of one of the remaining walls. I crouched, my gloved hands lightly resting on the cold stones. The wretched creatures continued to burrow into the dirt as they spoke in grotesquely lisping voices.
“He kept us out because he didn’t want us to feast on what he had hidden here,” one insisted as its large hands flung dirt aside.
“Foul vampire,” the other sniffed. “Wasted blood boil of a creature.”
I wanted to ask Adem what they were, but he was watching and did not cast his attention in my direction. My tears for Erzsébet were forgotten as I observed in horror as the three beasts pulled a moldering coffin from the grave and cracked it open against the gravestone. Bones and rotten cloth fell out onto the ground and one of the monsters grabbed up a bone. It was then I saw its great maw, full of hideously hooked teeth, open wide. The mouth split the creature’s face from ear to ear and I gasped.
Adem motioned for silence, his gaze never faltering from the three. The other creatures snatched up bones, crunching them loudly as they ate.
“Dry and old. Not tasty. What did he have hidden? I want to eat that.”
The terrible sound of breaking bones and chewing broke the silence of the graveyard. The wind increased slightly, rustling the tall grass, but not a sound issued forth from the forest. All the creatures were silent, perhaps in terror of these monsters.
I lifted my hand to wipe away the vestiges of my tears when I heard a gasp from one of the filthy things. Its large head swung around from side to side as it loudly sniffed.
“Blood! Fresh blood!” It screeched as it leaped onto a gravestone and inhaled deeply. The other two dropped their meal of dry bones and began to rush about the graves, their wide, blunt noses to the ground.
Adem cautiously backed toward me, the steel of his blade flashing in his hand. I finally comprehended what the creatures had smelled. It was my tears! Tears tinged with blood. I had only a moment to gather my thoughts before one of the monsters flung itself into the air and landed on the marble stone before me. In close proximity its face was far more terrible than I could have imagined. Its small eyes had no lids and the orbs were murky white. Its wide mouth drew back in a grimace, exposing its hooked teeth.
“Vampire!” it screamed with delight. “Delicious blood!” It lurched toward me, claws spread wide.
There was a flash of Adem’s blade, then its head fell from its shoulders and onto my lap. Shrieking with disgust, I leaped away just as another creature darted around the fallen wall and viciously slashed Adem’s back.
I rushed forward to defend him, but was blocked by another creature landing before me. It grinned with delight as it picked up its companion’s head, opened its hideous mouth, and took a large bite as if it were an apple. In a panic, I whirled about and scrambled over the rocks, trying to get away from the terrible thing. I heard the clash of steel against the strong claws of the creature attacking Adem.
Leaping onto the remains of the wall, I looked back to see Adem fighting the beast as the other one finished consuming the head of its fallen comrade. The foul creature peered up at me as it greedily crunched the skull between its teeth. Black blood, bits of skin and brain, and other foul things fell from its mouth.
Adem’s attacker knocked him down and howled with delight as it lunged forward, mouth agape. Adem raised his arm defensively and the creature’s hooked teeth caught his forearm. I cried out in terror as it ripped through his sleeve and tore a large bit of flesh from his limb. Adem’s grunt of pain spurred me into action. I sprang, my feet aiming for the creature’s head. The heels of my boots impacted with the creature’s forehead, knocking it away from Adem. I fell in a heap of petticoats near the thing, slicing my knees against the rocks.
“Poison! Poison!” the monster shrieked, spitting out Adem’s flesh. “It’s poisoned. He’s not delicious to eat!”
I barely recovered myself and stood when the creature originally pursuing me slashed me, its claws cutting deep into my arm. Crying out in pain, I threw up my power between us in an attempt to obfuscate myself. Behind me, the creature that had attempted to eat Adem was retching. It dragged itself away, hiding behind the wall.
“Still see you,” the foul creature crouching near me said with a fiendish grin and clicked its claws together.
Adem shoved me aside and swung his sword at the creature’s head. It evaded him, hopping backward onto the wall. It skittered along the top like a rat. Thrusting a dagger into my hand, Adem placed himself between me and our attackers.
“They’re ghouls,” Adem said tersely. “Eaters of the dead.”
“And undead!” one of the ghouls shrieked with glee.
“Vampire flesh and blood are a delicacy,” Adem continued grimly. “And vampire powers do not work on them.”
The ghoul on the wall let out a hissing chuckle. “We’re related. Blood of our blood.”
Clutching the dagger, I looked about for the other ghoul, my gaze sweeping over the ruins and graveyard. The ghoul on the wall, glared down at us, its long claws clicking against the marble.
The shadows gave birth to the shrieking form of the sickened ghoul. Adem thrust his sword at the creature; it evaded the blade and swung its clawed hand, attempting to gut him. The blade in Adem’s other hand slashed upwards, hacking off the limb of the ghoul at the elbow. It screamed in pain, but continued to attack. Adem deflected its blows, talons clashing against steel. My guard was agile and swift, attacking more than defending, keeping the creature off balance.
The ghoul on the wall threw itself upon me with an ungodly howl. I slashed at it with the dagger, feeling the silver blade slicing deep into its side. Its terrible claws slashed me across the neck and chest, cutting through my dress and deep into my flesh. Screaming, I thrust my dagger at it, but it swatted the weapon from my hand. Again, it raked me with its claws, drawing more blood, laughing fiendishly as it did so.
