The Damned Read Free

as there had been for Antonio. God had chosen them; let God take them.
    “My evil priest,” Sergio had murmured adoringly. Antonio’s sire had accompanied him to each vicious death, to observe, to savor, to gloat. He said that Antonio killed with the style and grace of a flamenco dancer or a matador .
    At the time Antonio had not known that all seven men were descendants of Catholics who had been active during the Spanish Inquisition. Descendants of the religious who had tortured and condemned heretics to burn at the stake. Sergio nursed a personal grudge against the Inquisition, the details of which he had never shared with Antonio, his protégé.
    No one held grudges like Sergio.
    No one mourned those deaths like Antonio. He remembered their faces, and prayed for their souls. Antonio had taken the rubies when he’d escaped, thinking to sell them to pay for lodging. Instead he had found shelter at the University of Salamanca and had had the rubies made into an earring, to remind him that he had fallen—and could fall again.
    As he crossed himself, he and Jenn ambled past the entrance to another alley. Holgar was keeping pace. Ahead, Jamie dropped a cigarette to the ground. Antonio could smell the burning tobacco; the onions, garlic, and piquillo peppers cooking in the kitchens of the clubs and bars; wine; a dozen fragrances on the women. And vampires.
    Then Jamie looked over his shoulder, turned, and straightened. Skye was flying down the street in her scarlet petticoats, black lace-up boots, and black velvet jacket.
    “They’re coming!” Skye screamed, her white-blond Rasta braids bouncing like coiled springs as she raced toward them, waving her arms. “We’ve got to get the people out of here!”
    “Oh, God, it’s happening now ,” Jenn said.
    God, protect her , Antonio thought. Let me die for her, if need be. But keep her safe.

CHAPTER TWO
    For it is written that in the Blood Times we shall walk in the light with our gods, and all shall be as has been foretold. We cast down the scourge of humanity, and inherit the earth. This is our holy calling, and our crusade.
    —from the diary of the Unnamed ,
sire of the Vampire Kingdom
    P AMPLONA , S PAIN
T EAM S ALAMANCA : J ENN AND A NTONIO , S KYE AND H OLGAR , AND J AMIE AND E RIKO
    “Prepare for battle! Spare all innocents!” Jenn shouted. The air was charged with terror as waves of humans ran toward Antonio and her, faces contorted in fear. Jenn grunted as the Spanish girl who had been window shopping slammed into her from behind. The boyfriend grabbed his girl’s hand and dragged her toward the dark alley beside the jewelry store just as Holgar burst out of it. He looked human, but the girl began screaming, clinging to her boyfriend’s arm. Then Jenn saw the army of rats scurrying before Holgar as if eager to join the fray. They bumped against Jenn’s ankles.
    “Go, go, go!” Jenn yelled to the young couple.
    “Go into the alley!” Holgar shouted at them, forcibly herding them out of the chaos. Then he galloped ahead of Jenn and Antonio, waving his arms. “Stand in the doorways! Get away from the crowding! For helvede, amigos! ” He was stressed, mixing his English, Danish, and Spanish.
    At the back of the mob Cursed Ones were laughing, shouting, “¡Toro! ¡Toro!”
    Jenn knew they must have moved in precision to start the hysteria, invading the clubs and restaurants, driving the patrons into the Pamplona streets.
    From overhead something hit Jenn’s head, hard, and she staggered, then caught up to Antonio. Blood dripped into her eyes, and she shook her head fiercely as she ran, trying to clear her vision. Droplets went flying; one of them hit Antonio on the cheek. He snarled, eyes suddenly awash with red bloodlust.
    It’s too much for him , she thought frantically. All the vampires, and the blood, and the fear.
    Antonio turned and scanned the crowd. He and Jenn moved against the tide, looking for their team. “I see Eriko and Jamie,” he