by Jen Pretty
“BLAGODARYU VAS,” Vilen said as the human handed him a set of keys. Vilen then opened the door and held it for me. I walked through, but a scuffle behind me made me turn back. Singh had shifted and had Vilen by the throat. When Vilen went limp, Singh walked over the Russian man and out the door to sidle up. He rubbed his furry head on my stomach and purred.
“You could have used your words,” I said, petting the bad cat anyway. Vilen stood up and dusted off his pants, then nodded once to the lion and we were all a happy family again. Vilen's neck was whole and unmaimed. Having seen what Singh could do, his restraint impressed me. The big cat licked my hand and rubbed one more time across my stomach. Pecking order established now, we all crammed into a Hummer parked in the driveway as the gate to Vaughn's mansion slid open.
“Where would you like to start?” Vilen asked from behind the wheel.
“I need to get clothes. Let's start there. If we have to go into the sewer, I will need waterproof boots too.” I looked down at Drew’s boots. He would need some too. I couldn’t believe we were going down in the sewers like the freaking ninja turtles.
The hummer sailed through the city, past some incredible architecture and pulled into a parking space in front of a glass building. We all piled out, and Vilen pointed to what looked like a blocked off-road. People moved in and out between the posts that blocked out traffic.
“Mall in Red Square,” Vilen declared with a look like he had single-handedly saved the day.
“Thanks,” I said, moving past him across the street and down a narrow alley beside what turned out to be the state museum into a long wide courtyard. Hundreds of people walked around here — tourists with cameras and cell phones taking photos of the buildings and scenery. The building that Vilen pointed to was a castle. It would still hold out to an army attack. The stone walls looked ancient. I glanced towards the end of the Red Square and saw the stunning Saint Basil Cathedral. It looked like it belonged in a theme park — colourful turrets and spires, topped with gumdrops in green and red and gold stripes and patterns. I had never seen anything so beautiful and filled with history. I hoped we would have time to tour the buildings in the Red Square before I left.
Wind swept through the square, chilling me to the bone and pushing me into the giant mall. Once I was inside the design of the old structure again struck me. I could see clear up to the sky through the arched glass ceiling several stories above. Escalators carried people up and down to the various floors of food, clothing and all manner of things.
“Can you find me a clothing store?” I asked Vilen. The place was huge. I would be here all day. He nodded and took us on a tour of the building, going up three floors and walking along the glass balcony railing, we weaved through the other shoppers and teenagers mulling about. We even passed a group of senior women who were striding along at a brisk pace. We came to a halt just inside the doors of a department store.
“Perfect,” I said as I walked into the women's clothing section, Singh and Drew went to the men's department on the other side of the aisle. Vilen and Ninel followed me around as I grabbed pants and shirts and underwear. That wasn’t awkward at all. I went to the back of the store and found the shoe section, selected some tall rubber boots and tossed it all into a shopping cart that Ninel had procured from somewhere. Singh and Drew caught up to us at the cash register. I put all of our items on Vaughn’s credit card.
“I got these for you,” Drew said, holding up a pair of waterproof pants. That was a smart idea.
“Thanks, Drew.” I smiled at him, and he nodded.
The woman behind the cash spoke in Russian. I assumed it was how much I owed her, so I handed her Vaughn’s credit card, and she seemed happy enough with that.
We were all set. We left the department store each carrying two bags. I admit most of the items were mine, but that happens with you pack in two seconds and dash out the door on a crazy mission to find a guy who has ghosted you.
I stopped walking, struck stupid by that thought. What if he was taking a vacation? I had brought a lot of drama into Vincent's life. He left me a letter and took off.
“Lark,” It was Drew, he stood at my shoulder looking around like we were just enjoying the scenery. “What's up?”
“He doesn’t want me to find him?” I said.
“How do you know?” he asked.
I thought about it for a moment. I didn’t know that. But what if this was all a huge mistake and when I found him, he was angry or worse, didn’t care?
“I haven’t known Vincent that long, but I don’t think it's in his character to just drop off the face of the earth, do you?”
I shook my head.
“Then let's go find him, ok?”
I nodded and took a step forward. Everyone else walked again too, but Ninel kept glancing back at me. Not meeting my eye, but more like he was making sure I was following. Vilen just continued his scanning of our surroundings. He was full security guard all the time.
My mind kept slipping back to thoughts of Vincent. Would he be upset I came? Durga reminded me of the time I walked in to see him drinking from a tall blond woman. Stupid Deity. She was the worst bff in history. I pushed them all out of my mind. I was here to catch Vernon; get him for all the pain and suffering. For blowing up the vampires in Canada and for killing Randy and my Yoga studio. I was here for revenge. Not to get some guy.
Ok, I was here a little bit to get the guy. Whatever. Oh my God. I needed to stop. New brain, please?
We got back to the hummer and tossed all the stuff in the back.
Ready or not, it was time to see about some sewage tunnels.
CHAPTER FOUR
We drove through the city; I didn't know where we were going, but leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes to search for Vincent again. It was no use. Either he wasn’t here, or my tracking was on the fritz. I wanted to believe it was the latter. If he wasn't here, there was a whole world I would have to search.
I opened my eyes, realizing the hummer had stopped and everyone was just sitting there waiting for me.
“Let's go,” I said.
We gathered our new rubber boots, waterproof gear and flashlights. At least someone was thinking ahead. I had forgotten flashlights.
When we were all geared up, Vilen grabbed a crowbar from under the seat in the hummer and shut the trunk. He locked the doors, and we followed him and his ominous crowbar to a back alley where he popped off the sewer drainage grate, uncovering a deep dark hole into the underbelly of Moscow.
Singh descended first, followed by Ninel and then Vilen waved me down while he held the grate. I placed my foot carefully on each rung of the ladder. My boots squeaked on the old steel, and I gripped tighter. It was twenty feet before I splashed down into a puddle of something, I didn’t think too hard about. Ninel was watching down the tunnel while Drew held his flashlight so I could see what I was doing.
“Thanks,” I said when he pulled an extra flashlight out of his pocket and handed it to me. The ceiling in the tunnel was high. I hoped it wasn't because the city experienced a lot of flooding. I was not ok with swimming in these temperatures though it was warmer in the sewer than on the street.
Once we were all in the sewer, Ninel led the way on a twisting tour through the underground. We came out of the narrow sewer into an old subway station. A ticket booth still stood at the bottom of a set of wide stairs, though the stairs had been bricked off. There was dust on the ground, but otherwise, the platform area was pristine.
Ninel pressed in one of the bricks, and a doorway opened in the wall, leading into another platform, crowded with people. Not people, Vampires.
We walked through, and the door swung shut. Music echoed through the hollow underground room. Its fast beat matched the vampires dance as they lurched and shook around each other. I noticed humans in the mix. Durga stirred inside me, unhappy with the humans being in here with so many vampires. Coloured lights shone out of recessed pot lights in the ceiling high above, but other than the c
ement walls, it was set up like a nightclub.
“We keep the balance, Durga,” Ninel said. His voice didn’t have such a deep accent. It shocked me in its softness.
I could only see half his face as the other half was in shadows, but it reminded me of the flash Durga had sent me of the man destroyer. Durga came to the surface and reached out to lay her hand on his face, cupping his cheek. The coloured lights turned a shade of red as she took over control of my body and spoke to the vampire. The loud beat of the music seemed to fade away as the world slowed down and only Ninel was in focus. The look on his face spoke of centuries of camaraderie and companionship. It felt like a homecoming.
It was almost uncomfortable to witness, like a private moment that I wasn't a part of.
“You have always kept the balance. I am proud of you, Ninel.”
Ninel let out a ragged breath and tipped his head into my hand.
I would need to hear this story. There was more to Ninel and Durga than they told me. Durga's image flashed on the back of my eyelids and nodded before she settled in her place, and I looked at Ninel through my normal eyes. I went to drop my hand, but before I could, he put his hand on mine and pressed a kiss to my palm. Then he turned away and surveyed the underground nightclub.
Still in shock, I watched his profile for a minute before a purring rumble alerted me to Singh, as a lion, standing close beside me. The vampires closest to us noticed him and pushed away into the crowd, but soon every vampire in the place was staring at us, and the music stopped. We were standing in silence, flashing lights zipping across the crowd.
“Hey there,” I said, waving.
Singh moved forward and parted the crowd. I followed behind him, and he led me up to a table where the DJ had been playing records. Singh shifted and grabbed a microphone. He flicked it on and blew into it. The loud feedback that made everyone cover their ears.
“Oops, sorry about that,” he said into the microphone. “Here is your Goddess. She has a few words to say.”
I scowled at the lion. I didn’t have things to say to anyone. He shoved the microphone in my hand and nodded towards the crowd.
I turned around, and they were all waiting for me to speak. Fuck.
“Hi there,” I said too closely to the microphone. More feedback rang through the echoing chamber. “Sorry, look, I'm just trying to find Vincent. He looks exactly like Vaughn. You all know who he is?” There were affirmative replies and heads nodding. I didn’t know much Russian, but it seemed like they knew enough English I got my point across. I gave them a thumbs up and set the microphone down on the DJ table. It rang a loud squeal through the room and Singh grabbed it up and flicked it off before setting it down again.
“Sorry,” I said again as I followed Singh back through the crowd to where the team stood. Drew gave me a double thumbs up. Great, that probably meant I made a fool of myself.
“Come on, Lark. Let's go look around the tunnels, huh?” Drew said. He was way too keen to be down here. I sighed and followed behind them as we moved along the wall. The music started back up again, but most people kept watching us until we were out of sight. We took another quick turn, and the sounds faded, except for the splashing of our boots in the water that trickled along the same direction we were going. They made the walls in this tunnel of red brick and mortar. It curved above us, well beyond my reach, but Vilen had hunched so his head wouldn’t hit any of the hanging ice stalactites.
We walked along for miles, it seemed. The sound of our boots splashing through the water and the vague scent of scum assaulted my senses. As we walked, my neck prickled like someone was watching me. I glanced over my shoulder, but there was no one behind us.
"What is it?" Drew asked.
"Nothing," I replied.
The tunnel narrowed until we had to walk single file, splashing along through the little stream of water at our feet.
The second time I felt someone watching me, I spun back abruptly. There was still no one there.
“What's wrong?” Drew asked.
I put my finger to my lips, and I sent out my senses. Someone was there. A vampire. Just beyond the bend. I pointed back to the last corner we had turned. Vilen had to lift me to get past in the narrow space. He set me back down and crept back towards the turn. The puddle at our feet should have splashed and sloshed under his steps, but it was silent.
He had turned into a hunter. Stealthy and focused, he stopped at the corner.
Singh moved in beside me, pressing me into the wall of the tunnel with his giant head. His thick mane tickled my hand, and I shivered at the rumble of his silent growl.
In one swift movement, Vilen swung around the corner, and the spy squeaked like a stepped-on Pomeranian. Vilen came back around the corner and stomped through the slosh of water carrying a skinny vampire by the front of his coat. His feet held off the ground, the vampire squirmed and mewled. Vilen set his captive back on his feet and turned him, so he faced me.
The vampire had spiked hair and his legs, clad in skinny jeans, looked like toothpicks below his heavy coat. His eyes fell on me, and he took a step forward, raising his hand like he would touch my face.
Singh growled at his boldness, and he took a step back, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry. Don’t eat me.”
Durga pushed forward and had a look at him, then sunk back. She rarely took an interest unless someone had been breaking her laws, so I took a second look at the weird skinny vampire. He wasn’t thin the way Trevor had been. It was more like this vampire just moved so much. He burned off his meals. He stood there fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot.
“What do you want?” I asked. Singh rubbed his face on my stomach again, like he was marking me as his. I tried to push him away, but that just made him lick my hands, so I gave up and let him rub his damn head on me.
“I just… uhm. This will sound strange.” The spike-haired vampire was fidgeting twice as much now. Scratching his neck, biting his nails, tapping out a rhythm in the puddle under his feet.
“Spill it,” I said.
The nervous vampire startled. “I saw a witch once. She told me to look for you. That I would crown the king. That’s what she said. I would crown the king and save the Lark. Crown the king, save the Lark. See I remembered it all this time.”
“What’s the matter with you?” I asked.
“I’ve been waiting here a very, very long time.”
Of course, Drew could be counted on to ask the question I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to.
“How long?” Drew asked.
“243 years,” he said, smiling. He looked kind of demented when he smiled. His fangs were a yellow colour instead for the white of normal vampires. I wished he would stop, but he kept on smiling.
Vilen stepped up behind the sketchy vampire and put his hand on the smaller man's shoulder.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
The vampire looked back at me, calmer now. Like having Vilen's hand on him had grounded him and made him more normal. “My name is Alex.”
“How are you doing that?” I asked Vilen. I wasn’t sure he was doing anything. But Alex stood quietly, his arms at his sides and a relaxed look on his face.
“He is sketched. Has been out of direct contact with another vampire for too long. He needs to hold hand for a while,” Vilen said with a hearty chuckle.
“There are plenty of vampires down here,” I said.
“They don’t like me much,” Alex said leaning towards Vilen.
“Why is that?” I asked against my better judgment. I was sure I wouldn’t want to know the answer to that one.
“Because I will save the Lark and crown the king.” He smiled again, but now it was a sleepy smile.
“Am I collecting vampires now? This is ridiculous. Wait, what are you doing?” Vilen had picked up the smaller vampire and tossed him over his shoulder.
“We take home sketched vampire,” Vilen said.
“If he is telling the truth, he
will save your life, Lark,” Drew said. “We both know those powerful witches see things. Besides, if he waited here all those years, you can’t leave him behind, can you?” Jerk. He knew I couldn't stand a sob story like that. This vamp was another stray for my collection. Durga pressed forward and used my tongue to speak.
“He is mine,” she declared and retreated again. I was tired of her popping in and out, and I expressed my displeasure by giving her a shove. She didn’t care. I was sure I couldn’t hurt the ancient deity that lived inside me. I imagined I could sometimes. It brought a smile to my face.
The waterproof pants were brilliant. I was still dry. The narrow tunnel went on for miles but eventually opened into what seemed to be a bunker. Vampires were laying on bunk beds or sitting on old sofas that must have been carried down through the tunnels. Alex, who had been doing an impression of a dead person, looked up. He patted Vilen’s arm, and Vilen set him on his feet.
“Look guys! I found the Lark!” He said to the vampires in the room. Then he held out his hands towards me like I was the top prize on a game show.
“Holy shit,” one of them whispered. The rest sat up and stared at me like I was a ghost.
“I’m looking for someone,’ I said. “He looks like Vaughn, your city leader.”
After some head shaking and mumbled apologies, I sighed and turned to go. This was a bust.
“You check Metro two?” A Russian voice called from the back.
“You can’t get in there anymore. It's a myth,” Alex called back.
“Not myth,” grumbled the same voice.
“What is Metro two?” I asked.
“It’s government tunnels. Everyone knows someone who says they know someone who can get in, but it's sealed up. It’s impossible to get in,” Alex replied.
One thing Vincent had taught me, nothing was impossible if you knew the right people and had enough money.
“Ok, let's get out of here. I’m freezing my ass off,” I said.