“Nobody had been down when I found it op—”
“You have no idea what they’re c-capable of.”
“And nobody has been down here since I stepped from my ca—”
“You d-don’t get it.” His eyes stilled.
“Yes, Gabe, I do.” I ducked my head in the hope of holding him steady for longer. “I get it.”
“How can you?” he whispered.
My jaw tightened, my eyes, too, as his desperation spread to me like a virus. “Because Kyle’s already been summoned by them upstairs. I know what’s going on.”
“K-K-Kyle.” Each sound punctuated with a jerk of his shoulders.
What the hell have they done to him? “Yes.”
“Aw, shit.” His eyes flashed to the left, to me, to the left and back again. “He return? Is he okay?”
I nodded.
“Did he make it? T-Tell me he did.”
I reached in to take his face again, drawing him close. “He’s back. I just spoke to him.”
“But you think everything’s all right when it’s not,” he whispered. “They fucked me up, good and p-proper.”
In the high shine of his eyes I saw only terror, telling me a hell of a lot more about his condition than any words could. Controlling my breath took immense effort. “Soon as we get you out of here, Gabe, we’ll get you fixed up.”
He lifted a hand, tapped a finger against his temple. “C-can’t fix up what’s screwed on the inside.”
Murmuring started up somewhere to my rear. I ignored it, keeping my attention only on Gabe. “How much do you trust me?”
“With my life.” He met my eyes. “’S’how I knew you’d come.”
“If I tell you I’m going to make sure you’re okay, would you believe me?”
More words to my rear, a little louder, the scuff of movement. As long as I had Gabe’s focus, I couldn’t look away.
A few seconds passed before he nodded. “I believe you. You never lie.” His gaze wandered away again. “But I don’t think we’re getting out … don’t see how we—”
“I’ll get you home. I have to.” I waited until his gaze swung back and smiled. “I made a promise to your mother.”
His teeth flashed with his returned expression. “You never break your promises to her.”
Pain bubbled inside my chest as thoughts of Shelley threatened to explode into something greater. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Ethan?” Kyle’s hissed call rolled along the corridor.
Gabe’s attention darted aside as I whirled to look behind me. The aisle remained empty.
“Ethan?” The second call arrived in the smooth voice of Brook.
Both tones held insistence that prickled the nape of my neck.
“Something’s wrong,” Gabe said.
“Get back in your cage.” The order arrived in a duet of deep and honey.
“Now,” Kyle said, followed by Brook’s, “Get back in, now.”
“They’re coming,” Gabe muttered.
The boom of the double doors reverberated through like an invisible Kraken seeking its prey.
I spun back to Gabe. His lips moved with whispered utterances, and the evident panic and fear sent the jig of his eyes back into overdrive. I reached in with my hand, drew him forward until an inch from my face. “Listen to me, Gabe. I need you to hold it together for me, okay?”
Footsteps marched through the far side of the space—two sets, at a guess.
He gave me a jerked nod.
“Let me sort this, then I’ll figure a way to get you out of here. You will not have to go back upstairs for them. I swear.”
More up and down head bobs answered—an action his eyes joined in with.
The footsteps grew nearer. I thought them still far enough away before the curses began.
“What the—”
I blanked them, as well as the demands being made to those surrounding my deserted cage, kept my steady stare on the young werewolf. “Trust me?”
The pounding of feet hit the concrete like a ticking countdown to the shit about to fly. Thud, thud, thud, coming in my direction.
I turned to Joseph and the vampire who’d shot me in the hotel room. The latter had his stun gun, or whatever the hell it was, trained on my torso, evaporating any idea I’d harboured to fight.
My palms lifted in an attempt to placate, and I shifted forward.
They grounded to a halt. Mousey, on the right, lifted his weapon higher to his shoulder, peering at me through the lens.
Beside him, Joseph gave the smile I’d grown used to seeing on him. “Ethan?” A pleasant tone mixed with an underlying strain of tension. “What are you doing out here?”
“Perusing the neighbourhood.” My left sidestep matched a shift in the other vampire’s stance. “How about you?”
Joseph’s quiet laughter rolled past his lips, yet I didn’t relax the set of my shoulders or lower my hands.
“How did you get out?” The one on the right kept his view-finder on me. “More to the point, who the fuck let you out?”
“Nobody.”
“Bullshit.” His tone didn’t reflect his words but held only calmness, like my lack of restriction offered him no stress. “I know that door was locked. I took care of it, myself.”
I raised and lowered a shoulder. “I have no answers for you.”
“You expect me to believe you have no idea how you got out?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything, just as I doubt I’ll believe anything you have to say.” I turned my attention to Joseph. “Did you come to speak to me specifically? Or can I go back to being bored shitless now?”
He smiled, flashing the points of his half-extended fangs as his eyes performed for me. “The tedium getting to you, is it?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, you’re in luck. We come to offer reprieve to your boredom.” His dialect thickened for a moment. “Catherine wants to see you.”
This can’t be good. I rolled my shoulders. “Why didn’t you just say so, then?”
Another musical laugh from Joseph coincided with the tightening of the other vampire’s hand on his gun.
Keeping the tension from my face took effort as I peered back over my shoulder. Only Gabe’s outline showed from his skulked-to position at the rear of his cage, but I still sent him a wink in the hope he’d receive it, before turning back to my escorts. “Let’s go, then.”
“Stay in front.” Vamp number two gestured to his right with the barrel pointed my way.
“Whatever you say,” I muttered.
Joseph came to my left, keeping up with my strides.
I sent him a quick glance. “You sure I don’t need to grab anything en route?”
His smile glowed in the dimness. “Like?”
“Oh, I don’t know. My handbag from my room.” I folded my arms across my chest. “A bottle of wine, maybe?”
He laughed. “Just yourself will do.”
“Ethan?” Kyle pushed against his bars, panic in his eyes. His arm snaked out, and his fingers folded around my upper arm. One yank from him slammed my chest into the bars as his stare penetrated me with a concern I made effort to control. He leaned in closer until only his breath filled my senses. “Promise me one thing, buddy. Can you do that for me?”
Despite the urgency in his voice, I nodded. “Sure.”
“Promise me you’ll swallow your pride.”
What the hell does …
“There’s stuff you don’t understand.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Stuff you won’t understand. About who’s behind this.”
My heart gave an irregular thump against my chest. “Who?”
“Move along.” Joseph’s fingers clamped onto my arm, dr
agging me away from Kyle’s stronghold, and jerked my feet back into action.
I strained to look back. “Who, Kyle?”
“It’s not what we—”
With the rammed butt of his weapon against Kyle’s mouth, Mousey cut off the words before Kyle finished.
I went to stride back at Kyle’s grunt and wavered balance, but had managed only two steps when another sharp tug from Joseph returned me to my path.
“Don’t want to keep Catherine waiting,” he said. “She’ll only get pissy if you do.”
Lauren’s green eyes seemed the diameter of saucers as she stared out at me. I tried to smile, couldn’t quite get my mouth to obey as dread weighed heavy on my shoulders, and sent her a half-assed attempt instead.
From within Brook’s enclosure, only her eyes showed her position.
Promise me you’ll swallow your pride. What the hell had Kyle meant?
I halted, pivoting to bring him back into view, his bleeding face pressed against the iron rods, arms stretching through whilst his swollen eyes held the plea his split lips couldn’t form.
Although I had no idea what the agreement meant, I said, “Promise.”
20
Leaving the underground chamber didn’t exactly instil me with optimism. Beyond the double doors, two brick shithouses stood guard at either side.
I squinted against the blinding light and surveyed the duo.
Elongated and completely black eyes above high cheekbones suggested oriental descent for the one on the left. His companion, also of vampire origin, had the stockiest body I’d seen on any of their race. The broadness of his shoulders almost matched Kyle’s, which made them not much less wide than my own.
Both of them stood to attention on our exit, protruding fangs providing backup for the guns they pointed at me. My brain could have argued as much as it liked that dart bullets would do no more than put me to sleep, but it didn’t stop my shoulders stiffening at the affront.
On passing the goons, we turned right, twice, bringing us to a staircase. The stark, drab stone matched the décor of the space I’d just left.
I paused at the bottom and stared up but could see only the first landing illuminated beneath a single strip-light. A harsh jab to my shoulder blade with Mousey’s grunt, to, ‘Move’, urged my left foot into motion, and I caught up to Joseph on the third step. “We underground, down here?” I asked.
“You work that out on your own?” Joseph laughed.
Refusing to bite, I slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans. Tiny traces of gravel bit into my soles and saved me slipping on stone polished to a smooth finish. Odours assaulted my senses en masse, of all those who’d passed before me, but the high stench of blood held less potency—a result, I guessed, of the cool breeze that wafted through.
I lifted my face toward the freshness of the chilled air. “How many floors are there?”
“There’s the ground floor.” Joseph took my elbow at the first landing, steered me left around a u-turn, and gestured for me to continue. “Then, there’s a higher mezzanine level. That’s where you’re going.”
“What’s up there?” The next landing stood thirteen steps up, the space ending with a door that looked like it had been shipped in from the set of a medieval film. “On the mezzanine level?”
“Catherine’s up there …”
And what’s on the ground floor?
“… and that’s all you need to know.”
Another prod to my shoulder knocked me forward. Fists clenched, I swung to confront Mousey with his poke-happy barrel, a growl rumbling out before I could stop it. I barely took a step before a set of fangs shot out from each vampire.
For seconds, I glowered at my assaulter with thunder in my chest and thoughts of ripping out his oesophagus whirling through my mind.
His expression never wavered. “Turn around and walk.”
He stood close enough that I could have knocked his stupid weapon aside and grabbed hold of him before he even got a shot in. Where would that have gotten me, though? His pal on my back, and me returning to my cage in the same condition Kyle had?
Pick your fights, Ethan. Choose your moment.
My attention remained on the idiot as I cleared my throat against the lingering growl. “Quit poking me. Or you will be sorry.” Jaw tight, I dragged my arse away and resumed my climb.
Joseph stepped onto the top landing as I did and reached out for the huge, bronze, knocker-type handle of the door.
The moment the thick oak panel swung inward, my pulse lurched to speeds of Olympic standards beneath the bombarding stench of blood and death.
Bile rose in my throat. My eyes watered.
I slammed the back of my hand to my mouth against the retch, managing to retain the digested slops.
“You okay?” Joseph patted my shoulder like he gave a shit. The amused twinkle in his dark stare told another story. “Maybe it’s too much for you?”
My cheeks constricted each time my gag reflex tried to push forth another bout of vomit. I switched to shallow breathing through my mouth, and speaking through clenched teeth, said, “I’m good.”
Brown stone greeted us as we ducked into a shaded corridor that stretched east and west.
Joseph rounded my left side and tipped his chin to my right. “That way … for now.”
The domed stone passage reminded me of the gulley in Witchurch and offered an oppression that didn’t come from fetidness alone.
Tightness consumed my throat. I didn’t consider myself claustrophobic, but I’d never craved open spaces more than I did in that moment. The band of pressure spread to my chest, my unease expanding with each step I took.
Sconces bearing church candles adorned the walls either side, none of them aflame, yet light spilled into the upcoming curve. Upon rounding the bend, the corridor opened up on the right, and huge floor to ceiling windows explained the light source.
I lifted a hand to shade my eyes, and stared through the glass, searching for clues to our location. The bright solar glare could have made it any time during autumn sunlight hours, but the deep terracotta blush bathing the lawn beyond the glass suggested late afternoon.
“You sure that isn’t the way we need to go?” I nodded with my head and took a step toward the warm glow.
Joseph clamped a hand around my arm and steered me back with a chuckle. “Maybe if you ask Catherine very nicely, she’ll allow you to pee in the yard.”
“Amusing,” I muttered as I fell back into line. “You have many dog jokes?”
“Enough to keep you entertained for a very long time.”
The welcoming, open space disappeared with a few more strides, to be replaced once more by the asphyxiating low-domed ceiling.
“This is us.” Joseph grabbed the bronze ring handle of another heavyset door in the right hand wall of the stone tunnel, releasing the catch with a twist. “Please.” He inclined his chin. “After you.”
The way led to more steps, winding up, round and disappearing from view. Their spiral design reminded me of turret cases in old castles.
“Go on,” Mousey said. “Up.”
After climbing a few steps, a slight turn of my head, and shift of my eyes, showed Joseph a few notches below. Behind him, Mousey and his weapon.
A backward kick would send them both sprawling. Five ascended leaps would take me from their visual range before they’d have the chance to retaliate.
I smiled to myself as I took three steps in succession.
My hands unclenched in my pockets, and I adjusted them enough to ensure a quick-draw release when needed whilst my hearing absorbed the two footfalls in pursuit.
I took a deep breath, long and slow—enough to regulate my pulse.
One.
The muscles across my shoulders bunche
d to twanging. My breaths almost ground to a stop.
Two.
My left foot hit the next level. The cogs of my brain shut off their motors, idling to a speed that allowed time to slow down alongside them.
Showtime.
Muscles taut, I whipped my hands from my pockets, shoving against the upcoming steps for additional thrusting power, and swung my right leg back. The full-bodied boot of my sole impacted with Joseph’s too-pretty face.
With the crack of bone vibrating through my foot, Joseph’s head snapped back. His eyes opened wide. He threw out his arms, but the cylindrical centrepiece of the staircase offered no traction to save his flail.
A thunk arrived with the collision of the two vampires’ skulls, and the knock-on effect of my attack sent the duo falling like a bodied domino run.
With a chuckle, I spun back to face the way I needed to go, and two upward leaps took me around the next curvature.
Grunts, curses, and the clatter of the dropped weapon, all resonated up from below.
The staircase went two only ways—up, or down. I had no idea where up would take me, but down didn’t appeal, not with the pair of pissed off vamps lying at the base, so I made another upward spiralled circuit.
Feet pounded the stone and echoed up, bouncing off the solid structure.
With one hand pressed to the outer wall for guidance, I went higher, each propulsion of my left leg sending an ache through my muscles as it contrasted against each short hop of my right.
Thuds. More grunts. A shout of, “Bloody catch him, you fool!”
The pursuing beat of movement grew louder, faster, nearer.
Don’t look back. Keep going.
Lack of sustenance brought weakness that hindered my ascended race. The volume of my breath and my soaring pulse thrummed like a windsock during a storm.
Further climbing ensued until a hint of light invaded the shadow. Straight ahead, I saw only a dead end. With a shift to the left, my eyes found an arch leading away from the dimness.
One final leap took me onto the inadequate landing. The momentum crashed my shoulder into the cul-de-sac wall. Breath expelled from me with a grunted wince.
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