The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) by Clay & Susan Griffith;Clay Griffith;Susan Griffith Read Online Free Page A

the dagger from Adele's trembling fingers,
sending it skittering across the floor. Simon was yanked away from her,
and he crashed against the splintering bulkhead. Claws tore at the wood,
widening the hole behind Simon.
    Adele staggered to her feet and tore through debris for another
weapon. Without one, she and Simon would be lost. Her hand landed
on something metal, slender, and over two feet long; it was a marlin spike. She spun it around and jabbed the closest vampire arm. The small
grunt that echoed gave her hope that she could hurt them.

    "Adele!" Simon shouted in a panic as he struggled to keep himself
from being pulled through the ever-widening hole. The vampire on the
other side didn't seem to care that he didn't quite fit. It was desperate to
have him.
    Adele struck again at the hand gripping Simon's shoulder. "Hold on,
Simon!" There was less than an inch of space between her brother and her
target, but the steel tooth hit its mark and plunged through the thin
wrist. The claw released Simon, and the boy scrambled around his sister.
    Adele held onto the spike like she had gaffed a thrashing fish. The
hand twisted unnaturally and grasped the tool, ripping itself free of the
spike and tearing its own wrist to shreds before pulling its arm back
through the wall to safety.
    Glancing wildly about for the direction of the next attack, the royal
siblings backed away, though there was little space for them to go.
    Then a wide portion of the weakened bulkhead close to the deck
shattered in a cloud of dust and wood splinters. Through the haze of
smoke and dust Adele was looking at the female vampire face that she
had seen through the spyglass while on deck earlier. Now there was
nothing to stop the vampire from coming in.
    Adele dragged Simon with her as she retreated. He was softly crying
against her. She could feel her brother's fear mixing with her own. But
there was no time for comforting words, because the face of death
appeared in the hole, head and shoulders visible as a long bony arm
clawed for purchase.
    Determined to protect her brother, Adele reared back with the spike
and stabbed again. The spike sank through ribs and flesh and embedded
deep into the wood, pinning the female to the deck. The creature bared
her teeth and hissed, thrashing in anger, but she couldn't free herself.
    The ship shuddered and threw Adele and Simon to the deck. Their
stomachs lurched as the big vessel dropped sharply. Everything in the
cabin started a slow slide. Adele grabbed a mattress and tried to use it
to shield them.
    "We're going down!"

    HMS Ptolemy hit the ground.
    The impact tore Adele and Simon from under the mattress,
throwing them into the air and slamming them against bulkheads.
Adele tumbled for what seemed hours. Her world was noise and pain.
She no longer knew up or down.
    When everything finally stopped, Adele lay still in the flickering
dark and choked, "Simon! Simon! Are you all right?" There was no
answer. She heard nothing-no screaming, shooting, or explosions.
Clawing at the mattresses and rolled hammocks around her, she struggled to stand but was unsure how or where to put her feet. She could
smell smoke; the ship was on fire. They had to get out.
    Adele saw a small leg sticking up awkwardly into the air. The
frantic girl scrambled to it and grabbed the ankle. Tearing at the
wreckage, she reached down, feeling along her brother's torso, and gathered the front of his robe. With all her strength, she pulled Simon up
out of the maw. She stared at his face; his eyes were open.
    "Are we dead?" he asked her, coughing against the smoke and dust.
    Adele pressed her face against his heaving chest. "No. We're fine.
We made it. Now we just wait for another ship to come and pick us up."
It was a pale attempt to reassure him, and her eyes darted around them.
But no frightening faces stared back at her.
    Together, the imperial siblings took unsteady bouncing steps across
the jumbled