CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sam marched beside Rexius, Samantha and Judas down the cobblestone entranceway to Pontius Pilate’s palace. Followed by a dozen members of Rexius’ coven, they marched like a small army, dressed in all black, right down the center of the stone plaza. It was dark out, late into the night, the walkway was lit by flaming torches on either side of them. They came to a big arched gate, in front of which stood a dozen Roman soldiers.

To Sam’s surprise, several of these soldiers had the temerity to step forward and form a wall to block their approach.

But the vampires kept marching, never even pausing, and as they did, Rexius merely smiled and held up a single hand before his face. Sam watched as the soldiers suddenly collapsed, slumping to the ground.

Sam marched with the others right over their bodies, and he could feel their soft corpses beneath his feet. They continued marching, across the big circular stone plaza, past the Roman fountains, past the perfectly trimmed cypress trees. They