From Earth to Oblivion

by Amber Lynn

  Neither’s claims that they could take more punishment were being met, which was why Krinla had asked Krinton to fill in for her. When he said no, she even asked Rya, sending the little girl into a laughing fit.

  Apparently, Rya was certain Hunter would end up in a pile of tears. Those were her exact words, which elicited chuckles from the humans who hung around the fringes of the room. The Draculs in action on the mat did their best to stay away from the spectators, but every once in a while a human got in the way and needed to head to the infirmary.

  Krinla was facing the direction of said spectators and saw their clenched fists as they silently rooted Hunter on. There wasn’t a woman among the group and the testosterone in the air was almost enough to cut through. It only helped elevate her determination.

  Her arms and legs were locked in place, but her head was still free. She struggled enough that Hunter’s head was lined up close enough behind hers that she could use her hard skull to hit him in the cheek. It would’ve been more effective if she got his nose, but there was enough force to at least shock him into loosening his grip.

  Once she could wiggle free, she bounded to her feet at the same time he did. The grin on his face seemed a little out of place in what was supposed to be a battle, but she didn’t let it faze her. He wanted to wrestle instead of throwing punches, something that would do him absolutely no good against Hulin, so Krinla had to show him what it truly meant to be a Dracul.

  The time to play around was over and she tried to reiterate that point by backflipping across the room to a table that had a few blades on it. The metal used to make them didn’t meet Krinla’s approval, but they would still do temporary damage.

  The black one she first picked up molded to her hand fairly well, for the split second it was in it. She threw it in Hunter’s direction fast enough that she hoped he wouldn’t see it coming. Between his refined senses and their connection, he anticipated the move and did a front flip just before the knife hit him.

  It was a move meant to show off more than dodging the blade, which ended up embedding into the wall behind him with a loud noise. Krinla was surprised the impact didn’t collapse the wall somehow.

  Knowing that throwing more blades would be met with similar outcomes, Krinla grabbed a pair of the black blades and ran their edges along each other to see if the simple move would flaw the blades. They seemed to hold up fair enough, so she darted to make up half the distance between her and Hunter.

  The amused look on his face hadn’t diminished. In the three days of training, with only small breaks for food when their energy supplies were depleting, they hadn’t brought weapons into the fight. There was no doubt Hulin would use multiple blades when it came to trying to kill Hunter, but Krinla had hoped she’d feel more comfortable with Hunter’s general fighting ability before taking things to the next step.

  “You have my memories, so you know everything I do about our enemy. He’s a coward, which means there’s no chance he’ll fight fair.”

  Krinla had never seen Hulin in a fight, but she knew enough about his character that it was easy to cross-reference him with pieces of what she’d learned from Hunter. He didn’t have a lot of interactions with people outside his family and school, but he watched a ton of television and movies.

  She lunged at him with the blade in her right hand outstretched. It was a diversion tactic. As he moved to block her hand, she jabbed the blade in her other hand into his side. It was a wake-up call for both of them as pain from the cut radiated not only through Hunter, but Krinla felt it in her side as well.

  The good news about the pain was that it was enough to set Hunter off. The menacing growl that came from the man excited Krinla. He pulled the knife out of his wound and tossed it across the room.

  “Krinton, it’s time for you to step into the ring.”

  Hunter’s words weren’t a request. They were a command. Krinla didn’t look away from Hunter’s eyes as they waited to see whether the call would be answered. When Krinla had asked before, Krinton had indicated the last time that if Hunter asked for him, he would fight. At the time it seemed like he was just saying that to keep her from asking again.

  No matter what she had just done to hurt Hunter, she didn’t want to see how much pain he could take. There was a big difference between her being in control of that pain and her father. As much as she didn’t want to fight Hunter, she realized having Krinton in charge of things was going to be even harder for her.

  She tried to tell Hunter with her eyes that he needed to rescind the words. He could read her mind, so it wasn’t like she needed to beg, but the firm set of his lips told her he wasn’t going to change his mind.

  Krinton didn’t say a thing, or give any indication one way or another to those watching him. He was standing by Rya one second, and the next Hunter’s body was flying into the air. No words were said as a brutal mock fight took over the mats. Krinla remained frozen in place in the middle of all the action as she watched her father tear the other half of her into pieces.

  Hunter showed a lot of heart, and it was clear he wasn’t holding back whenever he tried to land a punch. It was a good sign to see, but being a Dracul for less than a week put him at too much of a disadvantage against someone who had been one for almost a century.

  When Krinton was done teaching Hunter a lesson, which only took about a minute, the younger man was pinned to the ground with a blade at his throat. He’d done what he could to fight free, but his strength waned. As much as she hated to admit it, the lesson was a good one for everyone in the room.

  She had to remind herself of that as she rushed over to see to any wounds Hunter had. Both men were smiling, so Krinla knew things weren’t permanent, but there was blood leaking out of multiple wounds as they worked to seal themselves up.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  It took four more days before Hunter managed to land solid punches on Krinton consistently. Once Krinton stepped into the action, Krinla wasn’t allowed to play anymore. The conflicting emotions that ran through her as she sat on the sidelines were almost enough to drive her crazy. She understood completely why Noah had never joined the other humans for the show.

  His absence didn’t mean they didn’t have a huge audience. Even Liam showed up after they wired his mouth shut to help his bones heal. His inability to talk was a vast improvement.

  “As supportive as Noah seems to be, it does hurt him that his only remaining family is leaving tomorrow,” Rya whispered to Krinla.

  They were off to the side of the room as Krinton and Hunter were performing one of their daily battles. Krinla could see the improvements, but they were slow coming. Every cycle that went by gave Hulin more chances to plan whatever revenge he had in order.

  The ability to control exactly when they landed back in the future hadn’t been discussed. Krinla wanted to go back to before Hulin was born and make sure it never happened, but that suggestion was always shot down. The very little real conversation they’d had on the subject varied between whether they were going back to the exact moment they disappeared or letting the week or so they’d lived in the past echo the same time in the future.

  From what Krinla saw, it was going to be a while before the question mattered. One or two punches landed out of five didn’t compute to a positive outcome. She barely registered that Rya said something about leaving the next day. There was no way they’d be ready for that, so she thought it was something Rya added to see if she was listening.

  “Did you hear me?” Rya said, nudging Krinla with her arm.

  Krinla had to think if there were any hints of something said after Rya mentioned something about Noah and their expected departure. Her mind was so focused on what would happen when they went home that she found herself preoccupied more than usual.

  “About Noah?” Krinla asked when she couldn’t come up with any other options.

  “Yes, about Noah. I thought I’d wean our way into a conversation about my worries about the elder Burnett. For wanti
ng to spend time with his son before we leave, he hasn’t made a single attempt. He’s also working away from the lab lately. It’s like he’s gone underground or something. I can feel him out there, but I can’t pick up anything about what he’s doing.”

  For being worried, Rya’s voice seemed calm and collected. Krinla glanced down at the girl, who didn’t bother looking up. The humans were on the opposite side of the room, so there was very little chance they heard any of the conversation. Krinton and Hunter would be able to, but they were busy seeing if there was any hope for Hunter when he was the one wielding weapons.

  “I’m sure Noah just doesn’t want to see how gruesome fighting is for us. If Hunter is really the last of his family, it can’t be fun knowing that this kind of thing may be his new way of life.”

  Krinla focused back on the men in the room. She wasn’t sure what Rya was trying to get at. Noah’s reaction when he saw Hunter with fangs was a little odd, but Krinla didn’t think there was anything devious about it. The man was in the middle of dealing with an epidemic running rampant through his people, so it wasn’t surprising he had other things on his mind.

  “I brought it up because I’m planning on investigating what’s going on behind the closed doors around here. The humans are a little too cautious when it comes to what they say or do.”

  As if Krinla didn’t have enough going on, Rya wanted to play conspiracy theorist. The humans were different than Draculs, but that didn’t mean there was something going on.

  “I know I’ve been preoccupied, but didn’t you say something about us leaving tomorrow?”

  Krinla cringed as Krinton lifted Hunter into the air by his neck. She was proud of Hunter for keeping occupied with the fight while she and Rya stood around talking about his father. His attention hadn’t seemed to waver, but the current match looked like it was about over.

  “Depending on what I find, it could be today. While they finish up, I’m going to explore a little. I doubt anyone will miss me, but if they do, tell them I went to the bathroom or something.”

  The idea was so ridiculous Krinla simply waved in Rya’s direction as she focused on what was going on between Hunter and Krinton. Hunter hadn’t given up, but Krinla didn’t see a lot of sense in his leg wrap around Krinton’s midsection. It looked like it was trying to squeeze the breath out of her father.

  If it was a human opponent, the move would’ve been useful, but all Krinton did was laugh like the vice grip tickled. Krinla didn’t find anything funny about her future husband hanging in the air. There was something at least moderately humorous about said man bending backward with her father’s hand still around his throat. Humorous really wasn’t the right word, but what Krinla witnessed was something that didn’t seem physically possible.

  Krinton didn’t let go of his throat as Hunter’s hands touched the ground and the men paused momentarily upside down. Krinton was still laughing, but it died down as gravity took over and both men fell to the ground. Hunter was quicker to right himself and deliver a kick to Krinton’s side as the other man got up.

  Nothing was held back as Hunter went on an all-out onslaught. It was far from what Krinla thought she’d see during the fight, and it gave her some hope that they’d be able to leave soon. Not long after the aggression was unleashed, Hunter had Krinton pinned on the ground with his forearm pushing into her father’s throat.

  For some reason. Krinla had no problem seeing her father in that situation, but when Hunter was on the ground, she wanted to rush in to help him. From what she’d witnessed, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sit back and watch Hunter fight Hulin without stepping in to influence the battle.

  “There are ways you can help him without getting physically involved.” Rya’s voice startled Krinla as her attention remained on her father’s fight to get out from under Hunter.

  The younger man was using his legs again as leverage to keep Krinton from moving around enough to buck him off. Krinton’s hands were still free, so there were numerous punches landing on Hunter’s torso.

  “I thought you ran off to investigate the human’s secrets.”

  Krinla didn’t look away from the fight. She was hoping it was about over so they could break for a little bit.

  “I did. It’s worse than I thought. We’re going to have to grab the guys and try to get back in the lab so we can get out of here as soon as possible.”

  Krinla assumed it was Rya’s words that immediately stopped the fighting. Krinton’s right hand tapped on the mat. It was the agreed upon gesture to say the fight was over. Hunter didn’t seem ecstatic about the win, and Krinla couldn’t blame him. Krinton still had life in him before Rya came back and opened her mouth.

  The humans clearly didn’t know something was up because a cheer echoed through the room. Krinla rolled her eyes and turned to look at Rya. She’d only been gone for a minute or two and suddenly the world seemed to be coming to an end. Her voice still didn’t dictate that, but her words did.

  “We need more time here so he can finish his training.” Krinla knew there had been improvement, but she wanted to make sure there was no question whether Hunter would be ready.

  “What’s going on?” Hunter asked as he and Krinton joined the other Draculs.

  The crowd of humans seemed fine just clapping each other on the back and talking about the various moves they’d witnessed during the fight. None of them were particularly concerned about what caused the Draculs to huddle.

  “Rya’s gone into full conspiracy theory mode and thinks we need to leave.”

  Krinla tried to play it off as a joke, because that was what it sounded like to her. She couldn’t think of a single thing the humans could be up to that would cause their plans to change.

  “What did you find?”

  Krinton was willing to placate the girl. Krinla had learned there were times Rya seemed like more his daughter than Krinla. She still needed to find out the full story about how she was born and how they’d kept her hidden for about a decade, but those questions were secondary to getting things in place for their trip back home.

  “They’ve got a basement full of people they’re doing all sorts of tests on and I’m pretty sure they’re just waiting to catch us unaware so they can add our blood to their experiments.”

  Krinla rolled her eyes again. After sharing Hunter’s memories, she knew they had doctors trying to find a cure, so Rya’s news didn’t have a bit of shock value.

  “I know about the hunt for a cure Hunter’s aware of,” Rya said as she focused on Krinla. “This is something different. They already have a few Reborns down there and a Beast. I heard some voices talking about how they were trying to keep the wolf monster in wolf shape long enough that his blood developed a higher level of some antibody thing.”

  Krinla stared at Hunter to see if he had any response to the claim. The faction names were known to him through Krinla, so the confusion on his face couldn’t be coming from them. It was good to see he honestly didn’t know what Rya was talking about.

  “We didn’t even know about the different factions until I started traveling a couple weeks ago. How in the world would they know to find them?”

  “Just because you didn’t have names for them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist here already. How much do you think they know about us, Rya? You mentioned you thought they were working hard to make sure their thoughts were focused on particular topics. Do you think that means they know one of us can read minds?”

  It was surprising that Krinton bothered saying the words out loud instead of asking Rya in a fashion that couldn’t be overheard. Krinla looked across the room to see if anyone was growing concern about their conversation, but most of the men seemed to be waiting for the next fight to begin.

  “I think it means that war you’ve neglected to mention to anyone else is getting ready to start. We need to get out of here before we have to get involved with that mess.”

  Rya didn’t address the question, which seemed to be her modus operandi
. Whatever she had to say was almost more important than the questions she ignored.

  “What is she talking about?” Krinla’s question was directed at Krinton, who in turn ignored it.

  “Can you run the machine without your dad around?”

  Krinla didn’t appreciate being ignored, but Hunter reached out and grabbed her hand to help calm the anxiety that was starting to bubble up. He nodded his head without adding to his answer. Krinla thought about dropping her walls to see exactly what he was thinking and feeling, but they didn’t have time for her to deal with two people’s thoughts rolling around in her head.

  “You’re sure about this, Rya? Eventually, my father and Hunter’s will broker peace between our kinds, but that’s going to be a long way down a very deadly road.”

  “I’m aware of what happens, and, yes, I think we’re right in the middle of it starting. You know as well as I do that would mean our way out of here isn’t going to be around much longer.”

  No one else said a thing as Krinton grabbed Krinla’s free hand pulled her out of the room with Hunter trailing just behind them. Rya didn’t need to be led as the girl’s footfalls could be heard rapidly moving to keep up.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Trying to stop the train in motion was a fruitless endeavor, so Krinla didn’t bother slowing down their process. The dozen or so men who’d been watching them took a second to jump into action, but they were yelling as they made their way into the hallway after them. The group of Draculs ignored them and ran a little faster to ensure they wouldn’t be caught.

  It was silly for the humans to think they could stop the quartet, especially after all the fighting they’d spent days watching. They still wore their guns, like the metal bullets inside of them would do damage. The idea that they were on the brink of some war made the weaponry make a little more sense.