Page 26 (1/2)

Chapter One

When Zoltan Czakvar entered the araze automatically shifted to the arrow that had killed his father Barely visible where it was mounted on the far wall, the arrow still made him stop in his tracks Stilldown, toss it into a fire, and be done with it

Since he was auntil a job was done, the arrow served as a painful reminder of his one major failure He’d never found those responsible for e Unfortunately, those events had transpired in 1241, so any chance at success seeone

He had tried God, how he had tried Starting at the age of fourteen, he’d traveled with that daht knohere it had originated A curious design was carved into the wooden shaft of the arrow, nized it It re him of all he had lost

With a sigh, he set down the ice chest he had carried down the dimly lit spiral staircase When this part of the castle had been completed in the fifteenth century, this cavernous room in the cellar had becoone, but an assort with a modern array of firearms and ammunition

Like most of the castle, the cellar was noired for electricity He switched on the lights Although the far corners of the rooleamed with an iht and eased his sour mood Like loyal friends, they had served hiood sas still the weapon of choice for him and his older undead companions His modern friends were different

He glanced at his watch Tentime

The supplies he’d brought down the night before were neatly arranged on the long wooden table A few knives A box of cartridges for an autoun shells and hand grenades And a long box containing modern arrows He moved the ice chest to the end of the table The dry ice inside would keep the bottles of synthetic blood cold for days

“Hey, Zoltan,” a voice emanated from the spiral staircase “Are you down there?”

Dauy Zoltan turned to face the huge were-bear as he bent over to keep fro his head on the low entrance into the rooht you were taking your wife out to eat”

“I aaze wandered about the rooered on the supplies on the table “So this is the armory”

“Yes” A week ago, Zoltan had hired Howard’s wife, Elsa, and her tea east wing and tower They’d jumped at the chance to feature a real Transylvanian castle on their home improvement television show Meanwhile, Howard had barely seen his wife for the past six us MacKay of MacKay Security and Investigation, had asked Zoltan to accept the were-bear as his new head of security so the couple could enjoy soether

Zoltan knew that was only an excuse For the last three centuries, he had served as Coven Master for Eastern Europe One of his duties was protecting his constituents from the evil vampires known as Malcontents, so he’d pissed off his share of enemies over the years More recently, he’d broken up a band of Malcontent hue, so he expected Howard to do a complete overhaul of the security measures at both the castle and Zoltan’s townhouse in Budapest

Zoltan had reluctantly agreed How could he decline, when Elsa had begged hiree with such a hopeful expression? She’d been excited all day, waiting io Bad ti, as far as Zoltan was concerned, since he had a secret ht minutes

“I’er to be with your wife,” he told the were-bear, “so I’ll give you a tour of the castle toive you a tour in the ”

Howard nodded “I just met him upstairs Hetalks a lot”

Zoltan winced inwardly No doubt Milan had been trying his best to keep Howard fro downstairs “Why don’t you take one of e is”

“He already offered to do that” Howard frowned “You know, as your new head of security, I have to tell you I’m shocked by the lack of it around here I’ve spotted only one surveillance caate—”

“The portcullis, yes”

“And it’s not working”

“I see, well” Zoltan walked toward hi toward the staircase “We can discuss it to”

Howard didn’t budge “As far as I can tell, everyone in the castle knows you’re a vampire”

“Yes”

“And that restaurant you recouy asked if I was staying at the castle with the local Vamp”

“There was no need to call There are only two streets in the village and one restaurant You can hardly miss it”