“Your Highness,” Heathcliff added, “Astrid is ready and we need her. Samuel is right.”
Ethan looked up and his eyes bored into mine. “You will be with me.” He left no room for argument. “We will move in groups of two. After ten minutes, unless someone signals, Unit Two will follow with Unit Three close behind. We have the element of surprise on our side. Move silently and quickly.”
We wore small black watches on our wrists. They were mini computers with communication capabilities and alarm signals built in. Vampyres adored electronics. I almost asked if we had flashlights. Thank God that didn’t pass my lips. I would have been thrown into Unit Five Hundred if I’d asked a question so stupid. Vampyres could see better in the dark than in the light.
The tunnels were unbelievable, truly one of nature’s miracles. I reached out and ran my fingers over the calcite stalagmites and stalactites. They looked like crystals and diamonds hanging from the ceilings and walls and bursting out of the floors of the caves. No one, no matter how talented, could out-do Mother Nature. I could feel the power flowing through the currents in the air. It felt good and I felt strong
The six of us entered together and immediately split into our groups of two. I could make out sounds in the distance . . . screaming, laughing, gunfire and . . . slapping? I felt for my weapons and gently pressed my fingertips to my wings. I had a feeling I’d be using brute strength and Magic more than anything else.
“You will stay behind me at all times,” Ethan informed me in a harsh whisper.
I yanked him to a stop and got right up in his face. In these tight quarters, my breasts were pressed firmly against his chest. I did my best to ignore the jolt of pleasure that ripped through me at the contact. “You are full of shit. I am the Chosen One. My job is to protect you,” I hissed at him. “We will watch each other’s backs and we will focus on the job at hand . . . not our problems with each other. Do you understand me?” I demanded.
His burning gaze made me fear I’d gone too far. I didn’t want to fight him. I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t
“I understand you.” His voice was terse. I could tell he wanted to say a lot more, but I walked ahead and didn’t give him the chance.
We moved quickly together through the tunnels. I was losing my human self. My eyes turned green and my fangs descended. My senses sharpened. I was a Vampyre now and I was okay with it. It was the first time I think I truly accepted and embraced what I had become. I could see, hear and smell with more accuracy than I ever had.
As we moved closer to the noise, I could smell Vampyres and mortals. I scented anger, hatred, hunger, lust and fear. At first, I was unsure if the humans were alive or dead. From the agonized screaming I heard, I guessed that even if some were alive, it wouldn’t be for long.
I kept one hand on Ethan so we didn’t lose each other. We were moving very quickly. I planned to save humans, kill Rogues, and protect the man I hated. I realized that I would die for him. Happily. That’s how much I hated him. Why did he have to be such an ass?
We neared what sounded like one of Dante’s Circles of Hell. I could never have been prepared for what I saw. We came to a ledge about forty feet above the carnage below. The Rogue Vampyres were so agitated and involved in their feeding frenzy that they didn’t scent or see us. I was able to take in the horrific scene.
It was dimly lit by torches. There were four or five mounds of human remains. They had been drained and some had flesh missing. They’d been eaten. There were fifteen to twenty bodies in each mound. The stench of rotting human flesh was revolting. I gagged and felt an anger begin to build in me like I’d never known.
There were about twenty Rogues down below and just as many barely alive humans. The Rogues were letting the mortals try to escape. It was sad and horrifying to watch the hope in those poor people. They ran around like caged rats, moaning and crying while the scum of the earth Rogues laughed maniacally and picked them off one by one.
I moved to enter the cavern, but Ethan held me back. Not yet, he mouthed and very quietly punched a code into his watch. We waited and he watched the sick activity below with a look of horror and disgust on his face equal to my own.
His watch beeped softly. He looked at me. There was a lot in that look that I had no time to decipher. He took my hand and whispered, “Let’s go.”
I touched my wings and pressed hard. I had no plans to leave any Rogue alive, not after what I saw they were capable of. We flew down from our perch at the same time as the rest of the Alpha Unit flew down from theirs. I had heard the term ‘all hell broke loose’ many times before, but I’d never seen it happen until now. Gut-wrenching screams erupted from mortals and Rogues alike as we took the room by storm. Fangs were snapping and blades were flying.
I tapped my chest and my shield surrounded me. No weapon could touch me. I wondered if I could extend it to my team. I knew I’d have to make physical contact with them to make it work. I was closest to Ethan. I quickly turned to him and watched him rip the head off of a Rogue Vampyre with his bare hands. Well, I supposed that was one way to do it. I touched him and cast the protection shield. He jerked once and then turned to me with awe in his eyes. He nodded. It worked.
I felt a blade slice up the back of my calf. What the fu . . . ? How in the hell did a blade break my shield? I realized that by transferring my shield to Ethan it no longer protected me. There was no time to reset my shield around myself, nor did I want to. I wanted it around him. I pivoted and shot hundreds of silver bullets from my fingertips into the heart of a female Vampyre who looked familiar to me. I squatted down to get a good look at her after she was dead. Did I know her? No, but she looked like somebody.
Holy hell . . . she looked like me.
I unsheathed my katana and cut her head off, just in case the silver hadn’t shredded her heart. Without a thought, I quickly beheaded two more Rogues and pinned three others to the wall with Magic. The other two Units had arrived. I vaguely saw Paris and Venus kicking ass and taking mortals to safety.
I approached the pinned Vampyres with care and they eyed me warily. I had two silver throwing stars in one hand and my silver dagger in the other. What the fu . . . ? Why did all these Rogue Vampyres resemble me? Dark brown hair, gold eyes, full lips, long lean bodies . . . but the worst part was the mole. They all had a mole high on their left cheekbone, just like me. Was I losing my mind? They seemed to recognize me. They grinned at me.
“Who are you?” I demanded, placing my dagger next to one of the male’s throats.
“We are you, you stupid bitch,” he spat as he laughed maniacally. “We are everything you could ever hope to be and more. It’s about time you got your slutty whore-ass back home.”
Oh. My. God. He was the second person to call me a whore in less than a week. This was not working for me. Like I told Cathy, I was many things, but whore was not one of them. He was not me. I was not like these things. I was a good person. I felt everything slip. My brain was racing and I needed to stop these monsters . . . forever.
Did my need to destroy them mean I was no different or no better than they were? My anger felt like fire inside me and I couldn’t see straight. Without thinking I let my body take over. I wiped the smiles right off of their familiar faces as I shredded their hearts with my silver dagger. This did not even begin to quench my rage. I kept picturing them mutilating and torturing the humans, and in my fury I made them explode . . . literally explode with Magic.
How in the hell did I do that?
I turned and saw two approaching Samuel from behind. No one fucked with my Samuel. Before I could react, they ripped Samuel’s right arm off. I aimed my throwing stars and took their heads off before they hurt him anymore. Samuel quickly turned and saluted me with his left hand.
“Goddamn, I’ve had that arm for over five hundred years,” he shouted, grinning from ear to ear, before taking off after two Rogues trying to escape. The severed heads of his attackers rolled back to my feet and mocked me with their golden eye
s. I kicked them away in disgust.
Was I supposed to be one of them? Had Pam and The Kev saved me from this?
I lowered my head and went inside myself and something clicked. I did know these people. I could have been like them. These Vampyres were part Demon, like me. They did not have an Angel or a Fairy. I closed my eyes and let my spirit seep out of me and enter them. Their souls were black, desolate, cold and angry. This is what I could have been. There but for the grace of God go I.
As I let all my fears go, somehow I let my spirit enter these horrible things that were so similar but so different from me. Burning, acid pain shot through my body and I doubled over, grasping at the limestone floor. My fingers began to tingle as I absorbed the Magic trapped in the rock. An eerie calm washed over me, creeping through every part of my body, replacing the acid with a gentle warmth that filled me. I knew what I needed to do.
With every bit of strength I had left, I stood up and looked at the bloody carnage around me. Several Cressida House Vampyres lay dead among the mortals and Rogues. I pressed my wings and I raised my arms above my head. I screamed, and flung my arms out from my body. The pain was . . . Oh my God, burning and burning. I was blind, the pain in my head excruciating . . . and then I heard it. It was music to my ears. I tried to smile, but it was more like a grimace. The entire cave rumbled like thunder, and every Rogue Vampyre, dead or alive, exploded into a million little pieces.
Everyone froze and stared at me.
The Rogues did not deserve to live, but did I? It was over and I had ended it. I felt strangely empty and sad. Of course there was no one left to question, but that was probably better. They may have known things about me I didn’t want to learn. Maybe I just destroyed part of myself.
Shit . . . I wasn’t sure an immortal lifetime of therapy would be enough to get rid of these new revelations and images.
Samuel ran to me, wrapped his left arm around me, and laid a huge wet one on my cheek. His right one had already started growing back. Venus, Princess Lelia and Princess Raquel were right behind him. I was numb and in shock.
Where was Ethan . . . was he okay?
“That was the most amazing fucking thing I have ever seen in my long life. You are a freakin’ Terminator,” Lelia yelled as she group-hugged me and Samuel.
Raquel concurred, “Damn, I’m glad you’re on my team. You are a walking, talking death machine. I thought I was good, but you could kick my ass.”
“I never thought I’d hear that come out of your mouth. Ev-ah.” Lelia laughed at her sister and hugged me some more. “Are you okay, Astrid?” she asked.
“I am,” I told her. And I was okay. Tired, but okay.
I looked around at the carnage I’d caused and it shocked me, but I was fine with it. The dead Vampyres had begun to turn to dust. That was what we did when we died, within a half an hour after death a Vampyre’s body disintegrated to a fine powdery dust. I had kept the majority of my people safe. I had saved the humans. And I had destroyed the bad guy.
“Why is your calf bleeding? No weapon should be able to penetrate your shield,” Ethan said angrily. Everyone backed away from him. Everyone except me. He may be intimidating to some, but after what I had just done it would take a lot more than a pissed off Vampyre Prince to scare me.
“My shield was protecting you,” I replied evenly, not moving an inch.
“Did you know you couldn’t protect yourself if you extended your shield to someone else?” he demanded.
“Found out tonight,” I snarked, looking him straight in the eye. Everyone watched our exchange with fascination. They still couldn’t get over someone talking to their Prince like he was a person.
“You should have taken it back.” He pierced me with his eyes, waiting for my reply.
“I chose not to,” I said, walking away.
Shit, shit, shit, why did I say that? I may as well have said, I love you and wanted to protect you, or something equally as stupid like, Didn’t you know I’m attracted to things that hate me? Just ask my mother.
“Come back here,” Ethan said, “I’m not finished with you.”
“Oh yes you are,” I muttered, “and so am . . . ”
“Somebody help me. Please,” Heathcliff cried out from across the cave. Was he hurt? I’d be devastated if he died. I literally flew to him. It was Cathy. She had a silver dagger sticking out of her chest, but she wasn’t dead . . . yet. Heathcliff was bent over her holding her completely still. The tension in his body was palpable.
“Stand back,” Ethan commanded. We did.
“It hasn’t shredded her heart,” Heathcliff whispered. “If I can get her to the compound, they can save her.” His eyes never moved from his sisters as he spoke and his body didn’t move a millimeter.
“If you move her she’ll die,” Lelia said quietly. “We could try to remove it here.”
“No,” Heathcliff was breaking. “You don’t have the Touch . . . you’ll kill her.”
“There’s no time to wait for someone with the Touch. She’s going to die,” Raquel said gently.
Cathy looked at Heathcliff with adoration. “I love you, my brother,” she whispered. “Tell Father that I love him too.” She smiled at him and he broke.
I had no idea what in the hell somebody with the Touch was. Some kind of Vampyre doctor? I watched Cathy and Heathcliff and I knew I had to do something. I was fairly sure I could get Cathy back to the compound without physically moving her and I could do it quickly. I moved in and squatted next to Heathcliff.
“I can transport with her. I’ll get her to the compound in less than thirty seconds and then the . . . um . . . Touch people can save her.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Heathcliff was shaking.
“She’s going to die here anyway. Let me try.”
He looked down at his sister. Her eyes had closed. “Please try.”
“No,” Ethan said. “No, I won’t let you do it. You have never transported with anyone. It could kill you.”
“And?” I challenged him.
“I said no, I won’t let you do it.”
“You don’t ‘let’ me do anything. I do what I want, when I want. I want to save her, so that’s what I’m going to do. Besides, Your Highness, we are no longer mated so if I die it will not affect you. I would assume your life would be easier if I were not around. Can’t have any tainted Demon blood in the Royal Family.”
“Astrid.” Ethan approached me. He was not happy.
I pushed him back with Magic and everyone gasped.
“You are my mate and I am your Prince. You will not do this,” Ethan informed me.
I laughed. “I dissolved our mating. You are not the boss of me.”
I flung my arms out and Glitter Magic flew everywhere. I carefully curled myself around Cathy and we disappeared.
“What in the fuck was that about?” Princess Lelia yelled at her brother. “There’s no such thing as dissolving a mating.”
***
After Astrid disappeared, Ethan fell to his knees and began to pray.
Everyone around him froze and watched Ethan. If he didn’t die in the next thirty seconds, that meant she had made it safely back to The Cressida House.
“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty,” Samuel counted, grinning. “Astrid did it!”
“Let’s go,” Ethan said.
Chapter 31
Where in the hell was I? In some bizarre alternate universe?
Jewel-encrusted torches bathed a huge white marble hallway in golden light. The floor was so shiny it looked wet. Floor to ceiling murals of Demons and Angels and Cherubs adorned the walls, some bloody and violent, some beautiful and peaceful. I felt tiny. The molding on both the floor and ceiling was a thick, burnished gold. Whoever lived here had the big bucks.
Was I dead? Where did everybody go? Did I transport to the wrong place? Shit, where was Cathy? Did I kill her?
“Hello,” I called out tentatively. My voice echoed eerily though the grand hallway
. “Is anyone here?” God, what a stupid question; of course someone or something was here . . . the torches were lit. What if this was a trap or a test? And if I failed everyone I loved would die . . .
Whoa Nelly. I was totally freaking myself out. What in the hell did I have to be afraid of? I was a Vampyre for God’s sake. I was hopped up on a butt-load of Angel and Fairy blood, making me one screwed-up and moderately unstable magical force to be reckoned with.
But how could I be here? I could only transport to places I’d been before and I was fairly sure I’d never been here.
Oh my God, I was for real dead. I had to get out of here. I took off running at full speed down the marble hallway.
“Fuck,” I yelled, flying backward and landing hard after I ran face first into an invisible barrier. So much for no pain when you were dead. That hurt.
Maybe I wasn’t for real dead after all, or maybe I was on another planet, or maybe my Demon daddy was going to jump out and scare me into a coma . . .
Coma? Why did I say coma? Good God, I wasn’t making any sense. I was confusing myself and I needed to . . .
“Baby Girl?” a familiar voice called.
I froze. Now someone was screwing with my head. I sat up carefully. If I’d been human, the violent run-in with the barrier would have killed me or at the very least knocked me out. Being a Vampyre, I only had a headache. I slowly scooted across the floor on my bottom, plastered myself against the wall and stayed low.
“Baby Girl?” the voice called again.
I was either for real dead or insane.
“Astrid,” she said, “please say my name so I can come to you.”
“Nana?” I whispered, not trusting myself to speak louder. I was tingling with fear and anticipation.
A sparkling orb approached me, not unlike Glenda the Good Witch’s bubble in The Wizard of Oz. It floated down the hallway toward me, leaving what looked to be a glittery diamond dust in its wake. It might be coming to kill me or eat me, but it sure was pretty. Then it spoke.
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