“What should we do, Assa?”
She stared at Tirin and the others. They needed her to decide their course of action, but all she could think about was the broken bodies of Jexin, Refeu and Tim that they might find at the end of this tunnel.
“Assa? We should spend as little time as possible in here.”
Rachel shook her head, trying to clear it. How did Dasek do this? Make decisions that would mean life or death for others?
Life or death. Her mates’ lives were in her hands now.
Rachel’s knees suddenly stopped shaking. “Dig this tunnel out. If they’re in there, alive or dead, we’ll find them and bring them home.”
She knew by the looks of relief on the guards’ faces that she’d made the right decision. They didn’t care that she was asking them to risk their lives, they just wanted to get Jexin out. He was their commander, and she knew how much they respected him. She also suspected that they wanted to get Tim and Refeu simply for her sake, no matter what it meant for them. Humans could do to take lessons in loyalty from vampires.
“Assa, please, come outside and wait while we dig. I will send someone to call you the minute we clear a path through here.”
“No. I’m staying.”
Tirin’s mouth twisted in displeasure, but he nodded, unwilling to argue.
Rachel paced as the guards dug. She would have helped, but there was only space for two or three people at a time to work at the opening. The others walked back and forth, taking the rubble outside.
“Isn’t there a quicker way to do this?” She tried her best not to snap, but it was difficult when the men she loved could very well be dying while they took their sweet time digging up the collapse.
“I believe this is the best way, Assa.” Tirin didn’t quite meet her eyes.
“I didn’t ask for the best way, I asked for the quickest. Is there a faster way or not?”
The guards and Gali all exchanged sidelong glances. Rachel folded her arms and waited expectantly. “Well?”
“There is a way, Assa, but it could increase the danger.” Whatever it was, Tirin was reluctant even to tell her.
“What is this way? Explain, and quickly.”
“Many generations ago, the Bokir family tried to take these caves as their own. It would be a huge advantage for any royal family; they could ask any price for the afesu, and the other royals would have no choice but to pay it, if they didn’t want their donors to die, which they are honor-bound to prevent in any way possible.
“The attempt eventually failed, but they came up with a method to get through rock rubble like this. They experimented for a while, and eventually found that a certain frequency weakens the rocks here, something to do with their composition. Anyway, if they all yelled at this frequency while pushing on the rocks, they could clear a tunnel in remarkable short order.
“The news got out, somehow. Other bloodlines, including yours, have tried the same thing, but they ran into the same problem as the Bokir. Such an attempt would help in the short term, but in the longer term, it simply made the caves even less stable. No one but the Bokir is insane enough to do it anymore. They don’t care for the lives of their servants.”
Rachel cared. She didn’t want these loyal vampires to die for her, but she also couldn’t stand the thought of her mates dying. “How much time would we have? Could we get them, and then get out?”
“Maybe a few hours. Without knowing how much rubble there is here, Assa, there is no way to tell. It’s possible we’ll get out, but if we do it, and we don’t get out soon after, we’ll be buried alive.”
Jexin, Refeu and Tim were already buried alive. At least, she hoped they were alive. “Do it. Hurry, grab them, and then we’ll run before there is a collapse.” She glanced at Gali, seeking reassurance.
“If they are injured, Assa, I will do everything I can for them. I will make sure I’m one of the first people to get to them. But Assa, what about the afesu? Remember, Tim needs it to live.”
She had forgotten about that. “We’ll deal with that later. If necessary, we can wait until the collapses have finished and send in a team to dig their way through the tunnels manually for the herb. For now, we don’t know if my mates are hurt, or even dying. We have to get them out.”
Tirin gestured for the guards to move in closer. “As you wish, Assa. If you are sure?”
She nodded firmly. “I’m sure. Do it.”
Chapter Twenty
Tim
The sound of people picking through the rock rubble was the most welcome noise Tim had ever heard. He didn’t realize how tense he’d been until he blew out a long breath of relief. “They’re coming for us,” he whispered. “We should have known. Rachel would never have left us here.”
Jexin let out a shaky laugh, and Refeu felt around until he grabbed Tim’s shoulder, squeezing it in wordless relief.
“How are you both doing? It may take them several hours to dig through all of that. Will you last?”
“I will.” Jexin sounded positively giddy. Tim could only imagine what it felt like to be delivered from imminent, near certain death.
“I will, too. We’ll probably be unconscious by the time they reach us, but they will take care of us. I hope they thought to bring a healer.”
“If Tirin didn’t, I’ll personally skin him alive.” Jexin chuckled, but it turned into a painful cough. “Don’t worry, there will be a healer. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Gali herself.”
Tim knew that he would be getting a serious lecture from Rachel about running off like he had, but right now, he’d welcome it, just as long as they were all safe and unhurt, or at least on the mend. He just hoped she got here soon. Jexin and Refeu were sounding weaker by the minute. The sooner Gali was tending to them, the better. He wondered if they’d thought to bring a donor.
“What about the blood you need? I’m sure you’re right about them bringing a healer, but they wouldn’t have any reason to think they’d need to bring a donor.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Jexin’s voice was weak, but he still sounded confident. “Gali is skilled enough to stabilize both of us until we can get back to the palace. If necessary, we can feed from Tirin or one of the other guards. They will not object, I am sure.”
That caught him off guard. “Vampires can feed from other vampires?”
When Jexin only wheezed painfully, Refeu answered. “We can. It’s not commonly done, because it’s simply not efficient. Say Jexin feeds on Tirin; then Tirin would have to feed from a donor, getting back the exact same amount of blood. There isn’t much point, except in emergency situations like this. Tirin may be weak and hungry after being fed on, but he can survive that discomfort long enough to get to a donor, and his blood will buy Jexin and me time to survive.”
It sounded like everything was well in hand, which was why Tim didn’t understand when both Refeu and Jexin gasped and went stiff beside him. “What? What’s wrong?”
Neither vampire answered, but Tim could just make out a faint noise, like a bunch of people yelling. Or singing. It was a long, monotonous note that went on and on. He didn’t know what to make of it, but Jexin and Refeu seemed terrified by it.
“What? Tell me what’s going on!”
“That’s not a rescue party.” If Jexin hadn’t been so close, Tim doubted he would have been able to make out the words.
“How do you know?”
“The Bokir.” Refeu’s grasp on Tim’s shoulder was painful now. “They’ve found us. They’re going to strike at Rachel by hurting us. The fools. This will start a war – if not with the Cherki bloodline, then with the Alabsa one. My family won’t let my death go unavenged.”
“Wait, wait. Slow down here. What has suddenly made you so sure that it’s the Bokir out there?”
“The noise. They’re breaking through the rocks.”
Tim wondered if Jexin was becoming delirious, but if he was, Refeu was too, because Refeu’s next words held the same certainty and dread.
“How do you know it’s the Bokir?” Tim insisted. He had to be sure this wasn’t just some fevered delusion from two very injured vampires, before he did something that couldn’t be taken back.
“The chime they’re singing. It breaks through the rock. Only the Bokir use it. No one else would be suicidal enough to do it. Even if they don’t kill us, we’ll likely be buried in here.”
Tim still didn’t understand everything, but now wasn’t the time to go into details. He could hear rock falling away on the other side of the tunnel at an alarming rate.
“Feed on me, quickly, both of you!”
“Tim, we’ve been through this! Refeu is the one who will feed on you.”
“No. Things have changed, now. Even with Refeu at full strength, he and I can’t fight off five vampires together. I don’t have your speed, strength or training. We’ll both be killed. The only chance for two of us to survive is for you and Refeu both to feed. Recover from my blood and fight your way out. Leave my body; you can come back for it once you’re safe.”
The fact that neither of them argued told Tim that he was right. “Come on, hurry up and do it.”
“Not yet.”
“Jexin, you know that it makes the most sense –”
“It does, and you’re right, we will do it if necessary, but I won’t spend your life any more easily than you’ll spend mine. The method they’re using to break through the rock makes the entire cave unstable. They’re sure to cause a collapse. It’s possible that they will be killed, and we will survive, in which case we may still live long enough for Assa to rescue us.”
“Unlikely, but possible,” Refeu agreed. “When they get close, if there still hasn’t been a collapse, we will feed.”
“If you feed now, you’ll be strong enough to try to find another way out of here. You could escape them without having to fight. You could even take my body with, if it doesn’t slow you down too much.”
“This is a dead end, remember? Even Jexin and I can’t dig our way through solid rock. Rubble, maybe, but to get through a cave wall, we’d at least need powerful tools, tools we don’t have here.”
The small flash of hope faded. Tim hoped that the Bokir would leave his body be. He didn’t know how Rachel would ever recover if she couldn’t even bury him. Surely, they wouldn’t see any point in taking his body?
“Then we wait,” he agreed. A wave of exhaustion went through him, and while he was sure that some of it was to do with his condition, Tim knew that the day’s events – reeling from hope to despair, to hope again and back to despair – were wearing him down just as surely as the problem with his blood.
“How long until they get here?”
There was silence for a few moments as Jexin and Refeu listened.
“Two hours. Maybe a bit more, but not much less.” Refeu sighed. “When they are half an hour away, we should feed. That should give us enough time to recover, as well as a margin of error.”
“You’ll have to pull this shard out of my belly, Tim. The wound will start healing as I feed, but I can’t have it healing around the rock.”
“I understand.”
“Is there…” Jexin hesitated. “If there’s any last message you want us to give to Assa, you should think about that now. Refeu and I will tell her your last words.”
Tim’s voice was too choked to speak without crying, so he simply patted Jexin’s arm in thanks. He was going to die, and terror was reigning through his mind. What happened after death? Humans had so many theories he could barely keep track of them. What did vampires think?
Before he could ask, Refeu spoke in soft, calm voice. “When I was younger, there was an apple tree in the gardens. It was tall, too high for me to climb. My parents forbade me, but I was never good at following rules…”
Tim smiled as he listened. The story itself was unimportant. It was a distraction from his fear, a distraction he sorely needed. Refeu was giving him one last gift, and Tim loved him for it. He didn’t know how long he listened for, but eventually, Jexin broke in, reluctantly, it seemed.
“It’s time. Refeu?”
“Yes.” Judging by his voice, Refeu was trying hard not to cry. “They are less than half an hour away. We can’t wait any longer. Tim, do you have anything you want us to tell Rachel?”
“Just that I love her, but she already knows that. We have nothing unsaid between us. Bring my body back to her, if you can, and take care of her.”
“We will, brother. You have my oath. Assa will have our support, and in time she will recover.”
“And you have mine. We will help her through this.”
“Then let’s do this. Jexin, hold still. Show me where the rock shard is.”
Jexin’s hands found his and guided him to the long, thick shard that was slick with blood. “Do it quickly. Don’t hesitate.”
Tim didn’t. Jexin’s scream could have woken the dead.
“Quickly, before you bleed any more than you already have.”
At Refeu’s urging, Jexin moaned groggily, and Tim helped him position himself by his neck. “Wait,” he whispered. There wasn’t time, but he had to say this. “There’s something you need to understand first, and you need to believe it. Promise me you will.” Both Jexin and Refeu promised without hesitation.
“I forgive you,” Tim said softly. “I would never blame you for my death, but I know you will blame yourselves. I forgive you.”
Next to him, Refeu lost his battle against tears. Jexin was shaking so hard that Tim suspected he was crying too. His own eyes were dry. The terror that had seized his heart before was gone, leaving only a feeling of peace. Yes, he would die, but he would die to save two people who he cared deeply about, and more importantly, who Rachel loved.
“Do it. Don’t wait any longer, and please, for me, when all this is done, forgive yourselves.”
They were both so close that Tim could feel Refeu and Jexin nodding. They whispered soft goodbyes in his ears before each of them bit into one side of his neck. There was a moment of pain, which quickly dissolved into pleasure.
Tim only wished he could have seen Rachel one last time.
Chapter Twenty-One
Rachel
Everyone was tense as Tirin and the other guards pulled away the last few shards of rocks. It had taken them two hours to get through, as opposed to the days it would have taken otherwise. Already, the caves were grumbling ominously, and she worried they wouldn’t get out before there was another collapse.
Tirin and Gali rushed in first, with Rachel right on their heels.
The small chamber was barely tall enough to stand in, and the three of them hardly fit along with the three already there.
The sight wasn’t what she was expecting. Jexin and Refeu – both pale and covered with blood – were standing side by side, weapons drawn, looking ready for a fight. She could just see Tim, even paler than them, lying behind them.
Instead of relief, when they saw her, both went even more ashen than they already were. Refeu swayed and collapsed into the wall while Jexin fell to his knees, his head in his hands.
Rachel ran to them, the space so small that she was able to reach both at once. “Jexin, Refeu, what’s wrong?”
Refeu didn’t appear capable of responding; his mouth opened and closed. He stared at her like she was a vision of horror rather than the woman he loved.
Jexin’s shoulders were shaking. “What have we done? Assa, forgive me…”
That was all she could get out of him. Rachel swiftly turned to Tim, hoping to find him conscious and able to explain the situation.
He was conscious, but barely. “Rachel?” His breath wheezed in and out painfully.
“I’m here, Tim. Don’t worry, everything is going to be ok.”
“Forgive us. We didn’t know. I fear it’s too late now.” His vo
ice was so weak that Rachel had to lean close to hear him, even with her vampire hearing. She pressed a hand to his chest and recoiled in shock. Tim’s pulse was barely there.
“Gali!”
Gali rushed over while Tirin attempted to comfort Jexin, who was still inconsolable, mumbling incoherently. Refeu was staring into space, and Rachel was grateful when one of the other guards knelt down next to him, trying to draw his attention. They were both in extreme distress, but it seemed to be more emotional than physical. Rachel didn’t know what had happened to them, but the emotional, they could deal with later. Right now, she was more worried about Tim, whose ailment was clearly physical and urgent.
Gali moved to Tim’s side, examining him quickly. All too soon, her hands dropped to her sides. “I’m so sorry, Assa.”
“What do you mean –?”
Gali gestured urgently to Tim, and something about her manner stopped Rachel’s words in her throat. Tim’s eyes were closed, and his chest rose painfully slowly.
“I love you,” he breathed out. She waited for his chest to rise again, but it didn’t. She pressed a hand to his chest, just in time to feel his heartbeat falter, then stop.
“No. Tim, NO! Wake up!” Rachel shook him, but he was limp in her arms. Her distress seemed to be affecting Jexin and Refeu horribly; Jexin started screaming and Refeu banged his fist against the rock wall repeatedly, so hard that his knuckles were soon a bloody mess and he had to be dragged away by three guards.
Rachel made an effort to control herself but failed miserably. “Gali, do something! You’re a healer, you have to save him.”
“Please believe me, Assa, if I could, I would. If I could give my own life for his, I would.”
“No. No, I won’t accept that!” Rachel tilted Tim’s head back and blew a breath into his lungs before starting compressions on his chest as she frantically tried to think. “There has to be some way to bring him back,” she said between compressions.
Her Royal Blood Page 12