Vampire heart

: Teeth i

't stay i

y blood-debt or oath. They traveled by truck at night, passing the city's edge and cutting through rural highways. Th

nestled between cliffs. There, hidden beneath the ruins

cked in stone. Guarded by a vampire seer who had

dreams anymore. They had weight, sensation, grief. He could smell the temple fire now. Hear Mal

f the memories-but of wha

d just befo

broken roofs of huts. Malakai led him to the church, its wooden b

lakai said, pressing

slab shifted, revealing a narrow

Creepy secret tunnels. C

ed. "Afraid

life couldn't have been reincarna

once-then began the descent.

to a chamber lit by green flame. The walls pulsed faintly with carved symb

aited in t

thers, skin the color of charred earth.

kai said quietly. "The

d in a voice like wind through old trees. "Incl

is head. "I broke

o. "You wear Elijah's soul like a s

ng on it,"

effort. You'll need cou

figured. But if you can

"It's not a place yo

wned. "

himmered, becoming liquid. Images flickered-memories not his, not Malakai's.

," Nyasha said. "It was a k

" Ayo wh

love. Even when t

flame flickered. Somet

sharply. "We'

, the scent of ash ro

res, but not like Malakai. Their eyes were s

akai growled.

irst

d against the wall, stone cracking. Nyasha hissed and raised a h

ter snarled

g. He grabbed a chunk of stone an

sed by

t struck the hunter'

n the third, driving

ecovered, sprin

fro

ancient tongue. The air thickened-time stuttered-and the vamp

nce

ond body, panting. The oth

leeding,"

ine," Malak

salt remains. "Rami move

g," Malakai said. "He'll

through fire," Nyasha said.

epped

ide lay a black stone pendant-small, heart-shaped, worn

ring it to Malakai. He saw hands brushing, lips mee

er this,"

s you," Nyas

pulsed once,

do with it?

id. "And when the final ch

o Malakai. "

ned. "The kind that

e before dawn, shado

as they walked, the weight of mem

like the same

was

there, Rami was

choice w

, Ayo wouldn'