by Jen Pretty
Suddenly, a giant lion was standing on my hair.
“Shit!” I yelled, and the massive lion stepped over me, slipping his furry body between Frankie and me.
“Singh!” Frankie shouted. The lion wiggled until he made enough space for himself between us, then he huffed and put his head down on the pillow where I had been laying.
“You jerk,” I said rubbing the back of my head where his giant paws had pulled some of my hair out.
Frankie laughed. I had to sit up to see him over top of Singh’s mane, but Frankie’s eyes were closed, and he was giggling like a crazy person. I couldn’t help joining him, and weird snorting laughter forced its way out of me too. God, Singh was the worst pet and person ever.
It wasn’t long before I shut off the movie and we all went to sleep. Frankie made his way back around to my side of the bed, but we kept it PG for Singh’s sake. Sleeping beside Frankie was like a luxury. His warmth and soft breath on my neck. It wasn’t the same as sleeping with Singh. It was so much more.
“I’m glad,” Frankie muttered. I rolled over to face him. His eyes were still closed. I craved the closeness he offered. He didn't hold himself back from me, and I didn’t want to hold myself back from him. But the cold light of day sent doubts through my mind.
Frankie groaned and turned his face into the pillows, reading how my thoughts drifted.
“I’m sorry. You know it's complicated with Vernon, and Vincent is mad.”
“I would love to be the only one you thought of all the time,” he complained.
I ruined everything.
“No, you don’t, Lark. You are perfect.” He sighed, and his eyes traced my lips like he wanted to kiss them again. I wanted him too. I wanted to stay wrapped up in this blanket, in this hotel with this man and never leave. I wanted to have a normal life.
“I want that too,” he whispered.
But I would never have a normal life. I would always be one step away from running out the door or across the world to chase after some buffalo or a vampire or who knows what.
Frankie smiled sadly. His place was with his coven. We both knew that. It didn’t make it any easier.
I sighed. Life got in the way.
“Let's have breakfast. I can stay for a few more days, and I want to spend them with you unless you need to go hunting. I understand you know.”
“No, let's order breakfast and spend the day here. The buffalo demon and Vernon will still be out there tomorrow.” I rolled over and realized we had lost Singh.
“He left about an hour ago. You were sleeping. He said he would be back, but didn’t say where he was going.”
Well, he was a big boy, he could take care of himself.
I rolled off the bed and grabbed the menu and phone, then climbed back in beside Frankie.
I needed bacon and eggs. And maybe some fruit or something, My diet had been pretty shitty lately. Ninel had been handing me protein bars in the tunnels. I think Kelly was stocking his backpack with them for me. I spent so much time in the sewers, I was hardly at the mansion for meals.
After I ordered food for Frankie and me, I curled up in the blankets to wait. When there was a knock at the door, Frankie got up and went to answer it. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his pants hung low on his hips, so his broad chest and toned abs were on display. I stared, it was the least I could do. He smiled at me and shook his head before he walked across the room to answer the door.
He pulled the door open, I expected room service, but instead, a furious vampire pushed past him and scowled at me.
“Looks cozy,” he said, his eyes taking in Frankie’s appearance and mine.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I came to talk to you, I assumed you would be alone, but I guess I was wrong.” He turned on Frankie. “Did you come racing in to save the damsel in distress?” his voice was cold, and his eyes blazed. “Or maybe you have been conspiring with the Mahishasura all this time?”
Frankie shut the door and raised his hands. He walked into the bathroom and closed that door behind him, leaving me to deal with the angry vampire. Chicken. I hoped he heard that.
“Seriously, Vincent? You are being unreasonable. Your brother is beyond redemption. Durga has already decided. I have decided. Whether he is under the control of Mahishasura is irrelevant. He is fallen. I can not save him.”
“How do you know unless you try?” He hollered.
I rubbed my forehead and sat on the edge of the bed. His anger didn’t even touch me. Durga was so close to the surface, I felt more like her than myself. My back straight, I raised my chin and locked eyes with him. His resolve to save his brother was as clear as my resolve to end him. This wouldn’t end well. I couldn’t.
I tried to think of a way around this. There was a good chance Vernon would run, anyway. Maybe I would never catch him.
“OK, Vincent. I will try to save your brother.”
His shoulders relaxed first and then a moment later he crumpled to my feet.
“Thank you, Goddess.”
“Do not thank me,” Durga said, shocking me. She was so close that she barely moved when she took over. “I would rather be rid of his sickness, but Lark does not wish to hurt you. Do not thank me. If your brother is not immediately remorseful, I will slay him against Lark’s wishes and lose no sleep.”
Vincent nodded, biting his lip. His eyes were still downcast. I wanted to reach out to him, but Durga wouldn’t let me move my hands. She and I may get along, but she was still the one in control. She decided if I lived or died as much as she decided among the vampires. It was a depressing thought.
Durga whisped away and left me to my own devices which meant that when Frankie came back out of the bathroom, the sight of my hand in Vincent's hair and his head in my lap as he knelt at my feet greeted him.
His face said everything.
I was the worst kind of shit.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“It’s fine, Lark. I’m just going to go, ok?” Frankie said, picking up his shirt off the floor and pulling it over his head.
Vincent rose to his feet. “I’m leaving,” he declared too.
“Just… shit.” I said as I followed them to the door. Vincent reached out to open the door, glaring at Frankie, when the door burst open, and Singh walked in.
“Honey, I’m home,” he said with a grin. “What are all these people doing in your bedroom?” he asked, mocking horror as he covered his mouth with his hand. I hated him more at that moment. I flipped him off, and he chuckled before crossing the room and flopping onto the bed as he shifted into a lion.
When I turned back around Vincent and Frankie had left. I crossed back to the bed and threw myself down on it beside Singh. Maybe I could just go back to sleep and wake up all over again. I was trying to figure out how I could have handled the situation better when there was a knock at the door. I jumped up and strode across the room, flinging the door open.
Outside the door was a small oriental woman pushing a cart with the smell of bacon wafting from it. I stepped back, and she pushed the cart in before she turned on her heel and walked back out again.
“Thank you,” I called, closing the door and turning back to get to the food before Singh stole all the bacon again.
As I munched and Singh licked his plate clean, I decided. “We should get back to the tunnels.”
Singh stopped licking his plate and looked up at me, a tiny blip of his tongue sticking out between his whiskered lips.
“I need to get this over with,” I said. He licked his lips. “Be a human for two seconds so I can talk about this. You are the worst embodiment of my will and determination ever.”
Singh huffed and shifted.
“Well excuse me. I thought we were having breakfast. From now on I’ll be ready to jump to work at a moment’s notice, but if I pass out from lack of food, it will be your fault.”
“You ate three helpings of bacon and then half of mine.”
“Fine, you need waterproof cl
othes though. Let's go shopping first.” Singh pulled out Vincent’s credit card. Who knows how he got his sticky paws on it, but I would not complain. I would never get the million dollars Vincent owed me if I killed his brother and according to Durga, we wouldn’t have a choice.
“We could go back to the mansion. We don’t have to stay here,” I reminded him.
“Kelly won't make me bacon,” he whined, leaning back in his chair.
The laugh jumped out of my mouth before I even had time to acknowledge it was coming. “You are such a cat. Follow the food.”
He grinned, then stole my last piece of bacon.
As I was getting my boots on, there was another knock at the door. Singh opened it to reveal Ninel, Vilen and Alex.
“Hey, guys. Come to join the party?” Singh asked as they filed in.
“We heard there might be a hunting party,” Alex said.
The wall of muscle behind him smiled, their eyes twinkling at the prospect of violence.
I finished pulling on my boots, and we left the hotel. Parked in front was the giant hummer, full of all our gear. I guess we didn’t need Vincent’s card.
We went back to the place we found Vincent.
Entering the tunnel system in a different area had me completely turned around. Alex had a hand-drawn map of the tunnels around the Red Square, but the small tunnel wasn’t on the map, so we had to approximate its location.
The entrance was a grate in the park, and there was no ladder down, so Ninel tied a rope around my waist and lowered me down. The rope cut into my sides and pinched the skin under my arms. I spun a few times before my feet touched down in the water below.
Singh jumped down after me with a splash, and the vampires dropped into the water with a splash, one at a time. It took a while to find our bearings in the tunnel. The sewers looked the same once you were in them in this area. Faded red brick and mortar arched over our heads. Hard water deposits etched the walls, and as we moved towards the old mine, the stalactites grew longer. The meters of stone and soil above our heads muffled the sound of traffic above. When we found the turnoff to the mine, I oriented myself and pointed up.
Singh stood by the wall beneath the drain and lifted me so I could pull myself up into the tight space. The crawl through the narrow sewer was drier than the last time, and I paused at the grate below the highway and tried to send out my senses. I didn’t like going in there without being able to sense anything, but it was still a dead zone — a complete black hole. I continued, and as I tumbled down, I swung my headlamp around, it was, thankfully, empty. I wasn’t ready to meet up with Mahishasura yet, but I worried that Vernon had already left the tunnels or even left Moscow. He stayed nowhere long.
I swept my headlamp around the room. The wall where Vincent had been pinned like a butterfly was bare except for the holes where the stakes had been driven in. Dark stains ran down from them. A sharp pain in my stomach reminded me what had happened in the room. I put my hand to my stomach and closed my eyes. Durga flashed on my eyelids, her reminder of the pain Vincent had caused. Like that would be enough to change my mind about him. He wasn’t in his right mind when he did that. Durga vanished, disgusted at my resolve not to blame Vincent.
“Look at this,” Ninel said from the other side of the cavern. I walked over and found markings on the wall. There was a straight line and below the line were curls and dashes. It looked like writing, but I didn’t recognize it.
Durga flashed forward, turning my vision red, she inspected the markings. Words poured from my mouth in a strange language, and a glow radiated from the marks. We all took a step back, and the glow expanded to cover the whole wall. A sharp squealing sound emanated from the smooth cement and the light split upwards from the floor and then across the ceiling and back down again in the shape of a large garage door.
I held my breath and waited. The magic was thick and palpable.
The cement wall faded until it disappeared revealing a second cavernous space. As my headlamp illuminated the space, several pairs of red glowing eyes reflected back. A low growl came from Singh behind me. A hissing noise rose from the depths of the shadows beyond the new doorway.
“Oh shit,” I whispered. A loud squeak shattered the silence. Several more followed and the red eyes launched towards us. My headlamp caught on a furry body about the size of a large cat just before it cleared the door and jumped for my face. My knife was in my hand in an instant, and in the next, it was slicing through fur and flesh until it scraped across the bone. The animal screamed and fell to my feet. Its long, skinned tail quivered a second before it was still. I didn't have time to be disgusted by the rat because dozens more flooded out of the doorway. The sounds of fighting filled the cavern. Singh’s roar deafened me as another rat launched towards me. I swung my knife down again and sliced across its neck before it got to me. The next rat was swifter and got its foul teeth into my arm. Its breath was like death as it filled my nose and churned my stomach. It bit down and held on. I shook my arm as another rat grabbed onto my leg. Durga, having had enough, pushed me out of the way and took over the job of killing giant rodents. She sliced and diced the rats as they came forward. I had never seen so many rats, and they continued to flood the tunnel. The blood sprayed, and the dying animals screamed. They weren’t magical creatures but to be acting so out of character they had to be under the influence of magic. I was willing to bet that the witch who had captured Vincent was behind this disgusting display.
The guys behind me cursed and roared, fighting off the gross sewer rodents. I left Durga to do the worst of the work.
She kicked a rat sneaking up on me while she stabbed another. Blood sprayed and coated my headlamp, sending me into darkness. I could make out the figures scurrying around me like I was a rock parting the river of fur and rat tails.
The viscous liquid dripped into my mouth, and I sputtered and spat as the last of the giant rats moved by. I swung around and watched as they scaled the wall and out the drain, we had entered from. I reached up and cleared the blood from my headlamp and made sure everyone else was ok. Singh had a dead rat in his mouth. He shook it one last time before dropping it with a plop. Gross.
“That was disgusting,” Alex commented. He wiped his knife on his shirt and tucked it back into his boot.
Ninel and Vilen stepped between the rat bodies and moved towards the doorway to the new cavern. I swung back around and illuminated the space with my headlamp. It was now empty of rodents. We crept forward. Squishy rat poo coated the floor. The stench was overpowering, burning my eyes, and I prayed there was an exit on the far side. It was so much darker like the room was full of fog. I put my hands out and felt someone’s back, but I couldn't be sure who it was because my vision had gone to zero.
“Lark, I don’t like this,” Alex said. Singh’s huff alerted me to his presence at my side a moment before his furry mane touched my hand. I threaded my fingers through his fur and stepped forward. Durga stayed close to my surface. Her presence, along with Singh, bolstering my confidence, but I was sure something would jump out at me from the darkness. I was fine with monsters, but I wasn’t fine with them sneaking up on me.
I reached up and wiped at my headlamp again, but the darkness wasn’t because of a dirty light. It was this place. It was dark magic that hung in the air. I put my hand out again, but could no longer reach the back in front of me.
“Ninel?” I whispered. When I got no reply, I tried again. “Ninel?” I called louder. My fingers were still threaded in Singh’s fur. I held on, his low growl, almost inaudible, rumbled under my hand. I wanted to turn and run. Leave and never come back. The air grew thick until I was struggling to take each step and each breath was laboured. I knew it was magic, but that didn't stop the desire to flee.
I took another few steps with my arm outstretched before I felt the familiar back of Ninel’s jacket. Grabbing onto it, I let him lead me through the dark. It was several more steps of total blackness before my headlamp seemed to come back to life a
nd fight through the magical darkness to illuminate an immaculate subway line. This was nothing like the dingy one that took people from one end of the city to the other. This one was mint.
We found Metro 2.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The ceiling in this tunnel was not like the others. It was square and modern. It wasn't wet and fractured or dirty. Tracks gleamed under recessed lighting that illuminated the dim space. The sound of feet on the cement floor of the tunnel alerted us to people coming, and we all turned. Soldiers armed with semi-automatic weapons came towards us, their guns drawn and pointed. They wore pristine uniforms and looked like commandos in their helmets, fatigues and boots. Masks and goggles covered their faces. As they marched closer, they yelled in Russian. Their voices echoed through the tunnel, and I watched as Alex, Ninel and Vilen got on their knees and laced their hands behind their heads. I stood and waited beside Singh. The men surrounded us and continued yelling. Singh yawned, and a few of the men backed up, but they didn’t stop yelling.
“Just get on the ground, Lark,” Alex said, his voice rising over the horde of soldiers.
I relented and got to my knees. Some soldiers approached us, pulling our hands behind our backs and cuffing them. The rest kept them kept their weapons trained on us. Singh sat down and yawned like it was the most boring day. The fact he wasn’t a lion skin rug yet was strange. It was as if they were expecting us and knew what Singh was.
“Stand up,” the man behind me said in English once he cuffed me.
They marched us through the tunnels to a set of stairs leading up to a metro station. The markings painted on this platform were the same as the ones civilians used all over the city. Once on the platform, they pressed us into a freight elevator which took us up into a building. According to my approximation, we were under the Kremlin.
The elevator door opened, and they ushered us down a long corridor and into a massive room I recognized as the grand Kremlin from photos in the travel brochure in the hotel. It was a building within the fortress in the city's center. The floor was ornate and glossy in gold and blue patterns. Our feet tapped off the surface, sending sound around the vaulted ceiling.