The Chalice (Luna Vampire Series)

by Christine Asher

  If Petrus's muscle bound enormity or William's cunning shrewdness still remained, it'd make extricating ourselves from my rooms an impossibility. Lucien couldn't take either of them in a fight. I know he'd do his best, but he wouldn't be the victor.

  My uneasiness aside, we opened the bedroom door to find a living room free of the pair. Thank god! Step one complete. On wobbly legs, Amelia made her way to the keypad, her fingers shaking as she typed in the numbers. And, well, then there was diddly-squat. Merely a red light and an angry beep. Shit! Shit! Shit!

  "You said you got the code!" I hissed, suffering a full-blown meltdown.

  "I did, uh, I'll try again. Maybe I entered it wrong."

  "You better have!" Lucien reprimanded harshly. "I didn't go to all that trouble for nothing. Plus, this might be the only opportunity we get. A few hours with my virus and they'll most assuredly uncover its creator."

  "I'm sorry," she shrieked, hysterically pounding on the terminal. "Give me a minute."

  We all held our breath and, luckily, this time her efforts were rewarded with a green light followed by the blissful click of the lock disengaging. Whew! I almost had a heart attack! Swiftly, Lucien popped out, peeked in both directions, and gave us the all clear. Seconds later, we were in the hall allowing him to take the lead and pace us at a brisk walk.

  "Shouldn't we be running?" I whispered, eyes darting around.

  "No, it'll raise too much suspicion," he thought to me. "This is the fastest Amelia can go and it'll look odd if I carry her through the tunnels. Just keep your head down and don't talk unless you have to."

  Emanating determination, he stiffened his posture and moved us forward as if we had every right to be there. Up until that moment, I'd never viewed his lanky build as powerful. But that he was. Amelia, on the other hand, seemed to be her normal meek self. Well, except for the fact that she needed to steady herself by hanging onto the wall while she walked. I really I shouldn't have fed from her. Sigh.

  Soon after our first turn off the main tunnel, I noticed a tall figure approaching us. Crap! Adrenaline spiking, my mind searched for a solution. There weren't any other tunnels to hide in and suddenly about-facing to hightail it back to my quarters was totally fishy. Damn! A sheen of sweat broke out across my body, the form growing closer and closer.

  In short order, I realized she was a vampire I'd never seen. So, I concentrated, striving to mimic the weird mojo Lucien had pulled on the vamps to make himself look human. C'mon, I'm a nobody. Don't recognize me. Just ignore us. As she passed, I kept my face positioned away from her, letting go of a jittery breath the instant we were out of earshot. Thank you jesus!

  A couple more turns and we finally came to the tunnel with the security cameras. Grasping Amelia's arm to stabilize her, Lucien increased our pace, rushing us toward a red metal door and the promise of freedom. A mere fifty yards to the keypad. Thirty. Twenty. Ten.

  Amelia's fingers sped over the keys. "I'm going to get it right the first time," she promised, giggling nervously a second or two ahead of yielding us a beautiful green light.

  "Good, now climb on," Lucien instructed, hunkering down for her. "We'll want to run with all our strength when I open the door, since I can't predict the number of guards awaiting us." Doing as he said, she positioned herself in a way reminiscent of little sister getting a piggyback ride from big brother. My pervasive feelings of anxiety notwithstanding, watching the two of them warmed my heart.

  Once outdoors, we were fortunate to find no guards in our immediate vicinity, enabling us to run unhindered across what appeared to be a cement drive. Cool wind stung my face while I struggled to keep up with Lucien, the scenery blurring as though we sprinted faster than people usually drove in cars. Man, that boy could move!

  And, in spite of the night's pitch blackness, the star speckled sky helped me survey the area. We were surrounded by average, run-of-the-mill farmland. There wasn't a single building above ground and, considering the door had been half-buried, I could barely make out where we'd come from. Sadly, there also weren't any vehicles in sight and a ten foot tall chain-link fence encircled us, blocking our path.

  And, let me tell you, this wasn't a plain old fence. It had loops of scary looking barbed wire adorning its top, reminding me of the type of stuff they utilized when securing prisons. Moreover, it sported a matching barbed wire gate that was conveniently guarded by four of Tsedaka's lackeys. And, of course, they were a mirror image of the old man's other puppets. Well, apart from their leather coats and vicious swords, that is. Jeesh.

  Upon seeing the group, our momentum slowed to a screeching halt, with Lucien freeing himself of Amelia prior to their approach. "Stay behind me," he warned, morphing into a fighting stance protectively in front of us.

  "You may go no further!" one of the guards boomed. "If you surrender now, you will not be harmed."

  "I'm the princess," I yelled in an authoritarian voice. "I command you to open this gate." Granted, I had serious reservations about whether or not my commands would actually work. But, I still needed to give it the ol' college try.

  "The king's orders are to keep you on the property," another guard grunted, instants before the drones fanned out around us. So far, I'd remained partially optimistic. However, when they synchronously drew the swords from their hip-holsters, reality set in and I knew we were screwed.

  "Oh my," Amelia quavered, gaping at the display in apparent horror.

  Refusing to give up, Lucien discharged a fiercely guttural growl. Not a smart move. The guards returned his outburst with loud snarls and inched toward him, similar to a wolf pack readying for their kill. Quick on the trigger, my protector dodged the first vamp, planting a roundhouse kick straight into the guy's stomach. Then he surprisingly got a few punches in on a second one which was pretty impressive, if you ask me. I mean, I'd only seen people fight like that on martial arts shows. Regardless, his skills weren't hardly enough.

  A guard at Lucien's back swung a sword directly at his neck, while another one attempted to stab him through the chest. He can't evade both attacks! They're gonna fucking kill him! "Stop," I shrieked, simultaneously tackling both Lucien and Amelia to the ground. "I give up! I'd rather us live than escape!"

  Promptly standing and raising my hands in surrender, I noticed something bizarre. The world surrounding us was frozen. Well, more precisely, everything except Lucien, Amelia, and me. The guards' sneers and grimaces were absolutely unmoving, freakishly resembling characters in a movie on pause. What in the hell? Speechless. Confused.

  In a state of shock, I watched as Lucien righted himself and helped Amelia up in the process. After which, he examined our new frozen reality and gave me a deep bow. "I apologize, I know you hate formal recognition. It's just that if there ever was a moment deserving of it, it'd be this one," he chuckled, squeezing me into a tight bear hug. "Thank you for saving me."

  "You mean, I did this? I froze time or whatever?" I was completely taken aback. I truly believed I wouldn't develop powers for several months. Beyond that, nobody ever uttered a word about freezing people in place.

  "You're a time walker," he replied, pointing to my left forearm where my birthmark rested beneath my coat. "You can manipulate the causal flow. Although, no moon-born has possessed the ability to suspend it entirely for generations."

  I couldn't even begin to process the effect this might have on my life. At first glance, the new power stuff sounded kinda fun. Nevertheless, I knew that I was a baby swimming in the deep end when it came to understanding how to utilize it. Would I be able to switch it on at will? Or only in stressful situations? Could I hurt people accidently if I misused it? God, I felt a migraine coming already.

  "We should go," Amelia cautioned, turning to Lucien. "We don't know how long she can hold it for."

  "You're correct," he agreed as he slid open the gate. "Climb on, let's move."

  Chapter 15

  Following rigorously on Lucien's heels, I sprinted down the gravel road that led away from de
ar old daddy's high court. It'd only been a couple minutes since we'd made it past the gate. Nevertheless, we both were completely out of breath.

  "Concentrate on holding time at a standstill," Lucien barked, his exhalations visible in the air.

  "Seeing that I've got absolutely no freaking clue how I froze stuff in the first place," I wheezed, flashing him a sideways glance. "Sure, I'll get right on it."

  "The trick to vamp powers is manifesting your will into reality. Earlier, you stopped time by forcing your desire upon the world. Just keep doing it."

  Yeah, okay. But this is me we're talking about, not some preternatural indigo child. "Look, can we slow down?" I huffed, cold air burning my lungs. "I don't know how much longer I can take this."

  "No, we have to exploit our advantage and acquire as large of a head start as possible. Once they reanimate, Tsedaka's guards will hunt us with a vengeance." He shifted Amelia's weight on his back. "This conversation is merely wasting energy and distracting you. Please, girlie, center your mind on controlling time."

  "Whatever," I grunted, rolling my eyes. Lucien had a point, although, in my opinion, slowing to a jog would've been acceptable. I mean, yesterday I could barely stand on my own.

  "Quit complaining and focus," he snorted, pushing us faster. "I realize your energy won't last, that's why we must travel as far as we can. My strength is waning too."

  And so, we ran for what felt like eons yet was probably only around ten or fifteen more minutes before finally laying our eyes on a small farmhouse, dimly lit by a yellow porch light. Luckily, an old work truck was parked in the driveway, ready for the taking, and we rushed toward it. Transportation, thank god!

  Upon arrival, Lucien toppled Amelia to the ground and subsequently doubled over to catch his breath. "You guys stay here," he panted. "I'll go retrieve the keys. Beyond everything, girlie, keep time suspended. I don't want to get caught in there."

  "I can't make any promises," I gasped, suddenly woozy as my legs buckled beneath me, causing a graceless fall onto the crunchy winter grass.

  Unfazed by my condition, Lucien wiped the sweat from his face and climbed the creaky wooden steps of the house's wraparound porch. Seconds later, when he opened the conveniently unlocked door with ease, I was oddly stunned. I guess country folk weren't too worried about security. Even so, tomorrow they'd be greeted by their missing truck and learn a bit of a lesson.

  Under normal circumstances I would've felt guilty for our dirty deed. However, we were in dire straits. Plus, they'd get their vehicle back some day, right? It's not like we were gonna drop it off at a chop shop or anything. They'd report the truck stolen and the cops would find it. No harm done or, hopefully, very little.

  "You okay, Luna?" Amelia asked, crawling to my side once Lucien had disappeared. "You're really pale."

  "I'm tired, that's all," I puffed, meeting her scared eyes with the understanding that she wasn't in tiptop shape either. "Some rest and I'll be raring to go."

  A delicate smile spread across her wind-bitten cheeks. "Good, just checking. So, can you believe we actually made it? I figured we were finished when they caught us at the gate."

  "Yeah, so did I. This whole time freezing thing has totally taken me by surprise..."

  "Get in the truck," Lucien ordered, abruptly interrupting us as he strode out jingling the keys. "We're leaving."

  "Well, that was fast," I grumbled, secretly yearning for a few more moments of recuperation.

  "They were hanging on a peg right inside the entryway," he explained, already opening the driver's door with a metal on metal screech. "Come on, you slow pokes, kick it in gear."

  With an exhausted sigh, I clambered to my feet, happily discovering Amelia's willingness to sit on the bench seat in the middle. Scooting in beside her, I waited for the engine's roar before peering through the dusty interior at my companions. Like me, Lucien continued to heave in raspy breaths. Amelia, on the other hand, visibly shivered from the cold, teeth clacking together noisily.

  "Are you sure about driving?" I asked, squinting at Lucien. The last thing we needed was a car accident. Who knows if he'd ever even operated a vehicle, considering he'd been raised on the compound.

  Shaking his head in disbelief, he muffled a laugh. "No worries, I can drive perfectly fine. It was a part of my training." Pausing, he swiftly positioned the dial on the truck's archaic heater to full blast and backed us out. "A little warm air should make you feel better. And try to relax, girlie, I've got this under control."

  Reluctantly deciding to acquiesce, I watched the drab fall scenery as we traveled along the gravel road, a trail of dust lingering at our rear. All the while, we remained silent, simply allowing the miles to separate us from Tsedaka's facility and the warm air to thaw our weary bones.

  Ultimately, Amelia fell asleep, using Lucien's shoulder as her makeshift pillow. And me, well, I wasn't that fortunate. Surprise, surprise. Instead of much deserved rest, each mile brought with it a stronger throb in my temples and worse queasiness in my stomach.

  "Lucien, um, I'm not feeling so hot," I eventually mumbled. More like death frozen over and reheated in the microwave. Nonetheless, pride kept me from complaining that much verbally. Crap, he'd probably heard me anyway. Damn telepathy.

  He chuckled softly. "You're undergoing the effects of power strain. And, seeing that we're fifty miles away, we've gained a fairly decent advantage. Therefore, I think it'd be safe for the flow of time to carry on."

  Incredibly relieved, I concentrated and thought, "Okay, time, restart or whatever." Then I looked around, wondering if my command had been successful. There weren't people, or cars, or even animals within my field of vision to use as a gauge. Deep inside, though, I felt less shaky and my migraine was subsiding. Could stopping and starting the world really be this straightforward? Nah, it seemed too easy. There had to be a catch, right?

  "I can see a highway up ahead," Lucien cautioned, pointing to an overpass in the distance. "Should I take it or stay on gravel roads?"

  "Let's go on the highway, we can drive faster. Beyond that, there'll be other cars to blend in with."

  "And state troopers," he added. "I doubt they'd risk attacking us around human authorities..." With his words trailing off, he merged us onto I-70 in the direction of Lawrence, a midsized town where I'd frequently gone bar hopping during college. And, yeah, the traffic on the interstate was moving briskly, a confirmation that time had in fact resumed.

  "Do you think they'll catch us?" I asked, warily envisioning another stint in vampire hell.

  Lucien's lips tightened into harsh a line. "I don't know, I wish this old clunker would go faster. The pedal's on the floor and we're hardly traveling sixty miles an hour."

  "Well, at least they aren't aware of which way we went."

  "True," he mumbled noncommittally. "So, what's our plan? We spent most of the time scheming our departure. We never really discussed what we'd do now."

  I had no freaking idea. All I knew for certain was exhaustion, in both mind and body. "I think we oughta find a place to rest first. After that, we can come up with something. Of course, we can't go to my house or any of my friends' houses; I'm sure Tsedaka's been keeping tabs on me for awhile." The comprehension that I'd need a clean break from my old life, brought sadness to my soul. "Nothing from my past is safe."

  "I'm sorry this is happening to you," he soothed, reaching across Amelia to pat me gently on my knee. "Since we're short on cash, perhaps we can locate an abandoned building or an empty house."

  "Might be a good..."

  "Boom! Thwack, thud, thud. Whoosh, shhishhhhsh." And, almost instantaneously, thick black smoke was billowing from beneath the hood and we were rapidly losing speed.

  "This rickety piece of crap," Lucien growled, slamming his fist hard against the steering wheel. Exuding hostility, he guided us onto the shoulder with our remaining momentum. Then he promptly jumped out to give the engine a look-see, inadvertently welcoming a surge of icy air into the cab.

&n
bsp; Amelia, having been jostled awake by the excitement, gazed up at me with blurry eyes. "What's wrong?"

  "The truck died," I muttered, a sense of foreboding creeping into my emotions. Just my luck. Just my fucking luck.

  We waited anxiously as Lucien banged around under the hood, grunting and hollering obscenities like, "fucking clunker" and "damn white trash hillbillies". This went on for a bit, eventually culminating in him slamming it shut. After which, he met my eyes, the dejected expression on his face telling me everything. We were screwed.

  "There's no way to fix this junker!" he yelled, kicking a tire. Another flood of cussing and he was at the passenger door, motioning for us to join him. "The last sign said we were fifteen miles outside of town. We'd better start hoofin' it if we intend on being in a safe place for daybreak." He nodded toward the knee-high grasses surrounding us. "We have to walk out there; our black clothing will help us blend in."

  "What about hitch'n a ride? Somebody's bound to give us a lift," I offered as Amelia and I climbed from the cab, preparing to follow him into deer tick heaven. For real, could vampires catch Lyme disease?

  Outwardly laughing, he pulled me from the road by my arm. "Quit being such a wimp; we've had several hard freezes, so most of the creepy crawlies are dead. Regardless, with three of us, it'd take hours for us to thumb a ride. And staying here in the open is far too dangerous."

  "Fine," I retorted flatly, wrenching away from him in a huff.

  Fuming, I stomped off into the lead, considerably more irritated with myself than anyone else. I should've thought through my convoluted escape plans a lot more. However, in spite of my psychological turmoil, it wasn't long before my attention transferred to my burning legs and my painfully dry mouth.

  Compounding an already bad situation, the underbrush slowed us to a snail's pace and, a short distance later, it became apparent that Amelia couldn't keep up. "Lucien, can you carry her?" I finally asked, eager to move faster.

  "I'm sorry, girlie," he apologized, his facial features heavy with fatigue. "I haven't fed and carrying her earlier took nearly everything out of me."