The Vampire Prince

When the vampires moved on, I stayed where I was, thinking hard. Talk of Kurda’s investiture had disturbed me. It had slipped my mind that he was due to be made a Vampire Prince. But now that I thought about it, things took ominous shape. I’d thought the vampaneze just meant to kill as many vampires as they could and take over the mountain, but the more I considered it, the less sense that made. Why go to all that risk just to take over a bunch of caves they couldn’t have cared less about? And even if they killed every vampire present, there were plenty more who could hurry to the mountain and fight to reclaim it.

There must be a logical reason for them being here, and I thought I knew what it was — the Stone of Blood. The Stone of Blood was a magical stone with which a vampire or vampaneze could locate the whereabouts of almost every vampire on the face of the planet. With the Stone, the vampaneze could track down and destroy vampires at will.

The Stone was also rumoured to be the only object that could save the vampires from being obliterated by the legendary Lord of the Vampaneze, who was supposed to arise one night and lead the vampaneze into a victorious fight with the vampires. If the dreaded Lord was coming – as Mr Tiny said – the vampaneze would naturally be eager to get their hands on the one thing which stood between them and total victory!

But the Stone of Blood was magically protected in the Hall of Princes. No matter how many vampires the vampaneze killed, or how much of the mountain they claimed, they’d never be able to enter the Hall of Princes and get at the Stone of Blood, because only a Vampire Prince was capable of opening the doors to the Hall.

Only. A. Vampire. Prince.

Like Paris Skyle, Mika Ver Leth, Arrow, or Vancha March. Or – the night after next – Kurda Smahlt.

That was the plan! Once Kurda was invested, he’d be able to open the doors to the Hall of Princes whenever he liked. When he was ready, he’d sneak the vampaneze up from the caves and tunnels – he knew ways into the Halls which no one else knew – lead them to the Hall of Princes, kill everyone there, and take control of the Stone of Blood. Once that was in his hands, vampires everywhere would have to do what he said — or perish disobeying him.

In less than forty-eight hours Kurda would be invested and the Hall would be his for the taking. Nobody knew of his treachery, so nobody could stop him — except me. Reluctant as I was to face the vampires who’d condemned me to death, it was time to return to Vampire Mountain. I had to warn the Generals and Princes before Kurda could betray them. Even if they killed me for it…

CHAPTER NINE

ONCE WE were back with the pack, I told Streak I had to leave for Vampire Mountain. The wolf growled and loosely grabbed my right ankle with his fangs, trying to keep me with him. “I have to go!” I snapped. “I must stop the vampaneze!”

Streak released me when I mentioned the vampaneze, snarling softly. “They plan to attack the vampires,” I said quietly. “They’ll kill them all unless I stop them.”

Streak stared at me, panting heavily, then pawed the snow, sniffed the marks he’d made, and yelped. It was obvious he was trying to communicate something important to me, but I couldn’t interpret his actions. “I don’t understand,” I said.