“Still, we can guard the dock from closer in,” the second vampire said. “That way we can do our job and watch the action. I want to watch. He’s so close to breaking after that woman jumped in front of his sword.”
“Fine, but if the Master comes and asks why we are not where he told us to be, it is on you,” the first voice growled in warning. They moved off back towards the fort, leaving Tula free to lead the men farther along.
As Catherine broke the connection, her body sagged, and Kendi moved swiftly to catch her. “Your nose,” he whispered in her ear. “Do not let Charles see.”
Quickly, she reached up a hand and wiped away the blood dripping from it.
“Why have you stopped?” Charles whispered harshly.
“I was watching to be certain the guards did not return,” she replied stiffly. “Unless you want us to get caught. Is that part of your plan?”
He glowered at her as his men pushed past, still following Tula. He hadn’t noticed what she had done. Being inside a person’s thoughts was one thing, but she had never realized that the ability to control someone, manipulate their mind was part of her ability as well.
“Are we nearly there?” he asked, turning to Kendi.
“Yes, close now, as long as your men stay quiet. The tide is moving in and we are running out of time,” Kendi said pointedly. “Stop wasting it and follow your men.”
Charles’ hand gripped the hilt of his sword and Catherine tensed, waiting for him to draw it. She was ready to step between him and Kendi, but he released it and motioned for them to go first. Catherine nudged Kendi forward when he hesitated, and they fell in line with the rest of the men. The path to the tunnel was tricky as the coastline grew steep. The water rose to Catherine’s knees and she knew before long it would be too deep to easily find the tunnel entrance. She worried that after so long away, perhaps the tunnel had been closed off, but when she glanced up, Tula stood to the side of the rocky shore and waved the men to his right. They disappeared underground and she sighed in relief.
We’re coming Bastian, we’re so close to you now, my love, just hold on.
Tula waited until Catherine and Kendi reached him before he ducked inside, hurrying to get ahead of the line of men again, gathered in the wide space. Charles brought up the rear of their group, sloshing with a curse through the rising water.
Catherine hissed at him to be silent. “These are not men above us, they are vampires and they will hear you if you do not watch your tone.”
“I want them to hear me,” he grated through his teeth with an angry whisper.
“Not until we are inside, otherwise we are dead,” she replied.
“Where to now?” he asked Tula over her shoulder.
“The tunnel will lead us to a store room towards the northwestern corner of the fort,” he told them. “From there, we must use caution. There is little cover. The door opens straight into the courtyard.”
Catherine stepped to the side of the tunnel and closed her eyes again. It was dangerous, seeking out Antony, but she needed to know where he was so Charles would take his men straight for their target while she went after Bastian. His thoughts weren’t hard to discern from the others. No one else had such a horrid mess in their heads. So many memories flooded his mind’s eye and most were not his own. He struggled to remain focused on his task for the evening and when Bastian’s name drifted across her mind, she stiffened. It was true then. Tonight, he was either going to break Bastian or kill him.
“We are running out of time,” she hissed, as her eyes opened.
“What were you doing?” Charles asked, suspicion glinting in his eyes. Though it was dark in the tunnel, she could see his face plain as day and he did not hide his emotions well. He had sworn that he and his men were ready for this, but the fear covering his face told her otherwise.
“I was seeking out your target,” she told him. “For the moment he is in a private room near the docks, second level.”
“How do we get there?”
“I can’t see the fort like a map,” she growled. “All I can do is pinpoint where someone is.”
“We’ll do with that I suppose. And your lover? Where is he?”
Catherine’s hands tightened at her sides, but in this cramped space, all the men had to do was draw their swords. They may manage to duck under the first few blows, but for her, it would not end well. She could not fight or move as quickly as Tula or Kendi yet.
“He is being held prisoner,” she bit out.
“You know where exactly?”
She nodded stiffly, not sure where he was going with his questioning.
“Then I will accompany you to find him. After all, he is the only reason you’re really here and if I lose him, I lose you. My men will take Tula and Kendi to find Antony,” Charles ordered.
Tula’s face did not change, but Kendi shifted on his feet. That was not the plan. Catherine would not send her men to their deaths. Antony was Charles’ problem, not theirs, but she was out of ways to lie.
“If we are doing this,” Tula said quietly, “then we must move quickly.”
“Tula,” Catherine argued, but his eyes flared red and he hissed, silencing her arguments.
“Find Bastian and save him from himself,” Tula told her. “We will see you in the courtyard when the Master’s head has been separated from his body.”
She wanted to believe him, but every fiber of her being said this was going to go horribly wrong. Her palms itched and though her heart did not beat any longer, it sank like a stone in her chest. The stench of death filled the air and she could not tell if it was from those already rotting in the fort or a premonition of the night to come. When Victoria attacked the island, she’d been terrified, not knowing then how strong she could be. Now, the same terror consumed her. She was one of the undead and she was…different, but would it be enough? A glimpse of the old Catherine appeared in her thoughts, the woman she used to be in her village.
That girl was still buried inside her somewhere, with a fear of the unknown and of losing those she loved; a fear of standing by, unable to save anyone. Her whole body stilled as she glared blankly ahead and closed her eyes tightly.
Catherine, do not be a fool, Liam’s voice whispered across her thoughts.
Liam? No, you are dead. You have to be dead. I burned you, she mused, wondering if she too was losing her sanity from the mess that the Master had dragged them all into. Pain overwhelmed her, remembering Liam’s body being eaten by the flames. Somewhere in the distance someone called her name. But she ignored it. You are not real, you are gone and buried and I am losing my mind.
No you are not losing your mind! You are stronger than that and you know it, he argued hotly.
How is this possible? she asked, wanting to open her eyes and see him standing before her.
Do not question it! Stop letting your fears from the past override your courage in the present.
I let you die, she hissed and her eyes scrunched shut even tighter as guilt swelled in her chest. I was supposed to keep you safe and you died.
She could almost see him shrug as he always used to. Guess it was my time. Don’t think I wanted to be a vampire anyway. Listen, Catherine, if you do not stop this bastard tonight, he will kill so many more innocents, he and Charles both. You have to find a way, any way you can to end this. Tonight. It cannot go on.
What are you saying?
I am saying that within you and within Bastian is unbelievable power, Liam told her. You both can end this and do so much more. What do you think will happen if the Order and vampires such as Antony are allowed to remain alive?
Catherine imagined a world torn apart, bloodied, and destroyed from ceaseless wars. Villages burning, bodies littering the ground, and an endless battle between the undead and the Order flashed through her mind. She saw images of herself on a battlefield, dodging attacks as she killed one after the other, but still they kept coming and still they fought on. The Order was growing, Charles even told her so
the night before. He told her of how many swelled the ranks now and that they stretched across the globe. Soon, they would be everywhere and unnatural beings who simply desired to live out their lives, would be hunted down and slaughtered. And what about others existing? Tula himself said he saw something being tortured by the humans.
Not vampire, but more.
An entire undiscovered world might be out there, of beings the Order would find unclean and wish to kill simply for existing.
Please, Catherine, Liam whispered, you have to stop them before it’s too late.
Why us? I do not want this life.
I do not think you can run from it now. You and Bastian are destined to be together for a reason. Have faith in yourself, I always did.
I am so sorry, Liam, I’m sorry.
No, stop being sorry for me. I’m with Mary and we are happy. Do not let guilt over my death stop you. The night it happened, your anger echoed through the very wind itself. Feel that again. Use it…use it and end this…
His voice trailed away to nothing and Catherine struggled to find the connection again, but he was gone. She was not even certain if it was real or imagined, but in those few moments, hearing his voice so full of confidence in her strength, in her power, it did not matter.
“What is wrong with her? Catherine, open your eyes, damn it!” Charles snapped in her ear.
Catherine’s hands tightened into fists at her sides and when her eyes opened, Charles flinched and stumbled backwards with a curse. The crimson was so bright it lit the tunnel, and even Tula and Kendi took a step back in shock. Catherine knew who she was now and she embraced it. Every dark desire, every yearning, every thought she’d been taught to shy away from, she allowed to surround her soul like a stone wall, and she stood on the parapet, glaring out over the vastness of a world made to tremble in her wake.
“Tula and Kendi...Antony will be ready for you,” she whispered, her voice deeper than before, coursing with power.
“How? He cannot know we are here?” Charles argued, but she ignored him.
“Your best hope is to catch him off guard. His mind is in shambles, he is weak.”
Tula nodded. “We will ambush him.”
“I will find Bastian and break him out of his cell. Then we end this,” she hissed fiercely.
“Once Antony is dead and the other vampires submit, remember our agreement,” Charles said as he reached out and snatched her arm. “You are coming with me.”
Catherine stilled, her gaze slipping to his hand on her arm, then she raised her eyes and glared at him until his eyes widened and he released her. “Of course, I swore I would go to Rome,” she whispered and sneered. “And to Rome is where I will go.”
Never in the course of their conversation had she sworn to do his bidding. She would find a way to Rome all on her own and then she would destroy the Order before any more innocents were tossed away.
Water rushed in at their feet and Tula warned that they had to move. The tide was sweeping in swiftly behind them. With him leading the way once more, Charles told his men to follow the vampire’s lead, but the tone in his words told Catherine they planned on killing Tula and Kendi once Antony was dead. Catherine reached out to Tula’s mind as they hurried through the darkened tunnel and let the warning brush over him. He gave no indication that he knew, except to picture all of Charles’ men dead instead.
She laughed quietly and Charles stiffened beside her. “Why are you smiling?”
“No reason, Charles, no reason at all,” she whispered.
“You are different,” he told her again.
All throughout their long conversation the night before, Charles had continued to tell her repeatedly that she was no longer the Catherine he had known. It ate at her then, thinking she’d lost herself somewhere along the way in all the darkness surrounding her. Now, as they charged headfirst into the den of the enemy, she knew she’d simply found who she was truly meant to be. She was not the quiet girl from the village. She was a fighter, a leader, and she would take back what was stolen from her.
“We will correct you once we return to Rome,” he muttered and nodded, assured of his own words.
“And if you cannot? If this is the true me that has been buried all along?”
“I have faith your humanity will be restored.”
She snarled and grabbed him by the shirt, shoving him hard against the wall. The men in front and behind drew their weapons and aimed them at her, but she did nothing, except growl in Charles’ face.
“My humanity is not the one in question, not anymore,” she whispered, and let him sag against the wall. Storming away, she growled for the men to let her pass. They did so after a quiet order from Charles.
Kendi stood on the other side of them, smirking. “Was that necessary?”
“No, but I feel Bastian would have done the same if a man in his presence continued to cross the line,” she said.
“That he would,” Kendi replied. “Find him, Catherine.” He squeezed her hand briefly then trudged on ahead.
A ladder appeared out of the gloom and a dim light shone down from an open trapdoor in the ceiling. Tula was already up there and waved for everyone to follow him quickly. The storeroom was large. Cobwebs covered the sacks of grain and the crates of supplies, currently unused. It was a tight fit, but everyone managed to get inside.
Catherine shifted through the bodies of men until she reached Tula’s side at the door.
“Guards?” she asked in barely a whisper.
“Three I can see,” he replied, peering through a slim crack in the timber. “I hear more, but cannot see them.”
Catherine glanced over her shoulder, but Charles was standing towards the back of the room. She closed her eyes and stretched her mind once again. She easily found the three guards just a few steps from the storeroom door, but when she moved further, she cursed and pulled her mind back quickly.
“We have a situation,” she whispered.
“How bad?”
“We are out of time,” she hissed. “Antony has left the room and the courtyard is swarming with vampires. He is going to break Bastian, or kill him and we are too late to stop him.”
Chapter 6
Catherine cursed their luck and paced in the tiny space that she had, as ideas raced through her mind. Bastian was still in his cell, but Antony was in the center of the courtyard making his final preparations. What else he had planned after turning Bastian, she could not find easily in his mind, and poking around too much would certainly alert him to their presence…if it hadn’t already.
“We cannot hide in here forever,” Tula hissed beside her.
“No we cannot,” Charles agreed. “If we are going to attack, we must move, now.”
“The courtyard is filled with over fifty vampires,” she told him plainly. “You have thirty men.”
“My men are highly skilled in subduing and killing the undead,” Charles told her as he straightened. “We can take them all on and easily win.”
She knew he believed it to be true, but he was going to get his men killed. A distant part of her pitied the men at his side, but the plan all along was to let them be killed. “The vampires are in the courtyard. The other corridors surrounding it will be empty. If we can make our way in there undetected, perhaps we have a chance of catching them off guard.”
Charles nodded and told his men to make ready to move.
“However,” Catherine cut across his words, “your target is now in the midst of them all and if what we heard is true, all those vampires out there are under his control.”
“They can manage this,” he assured her, and the men surrounding him nodded and leered, excited for the fight to come. “I am still coming with you to free Bastian. I will not have the two of you escaping.”
“Fine,” she snapped and turned to the door. “I pray you can keep up.”
Even if they moved from the storeroom without a sound, the risk of being spotted by one of the nearby vampires was high, and t
his would ruin their plans. Catherine tilted her head one way then the other, loosening her neck, before she silently slipped from the storeroom and stood before the door. The vampires standing a few steps in front of her blocked the others’ view from the courtyard so she only focused on the ones she could see. She slipped easily into their minds, and once her command was given, she ensured they kept their eyes on Antony, for his safety. She then waved her fingers forward and one by one, Charles’ men sneaked from the room.
One of the vampires suddenly pushed against Catherine’s order and she waved her hand again. The steps behind her ceased and she struggled to keep the vampire facing forward. His body shook, fighting against her in his mind, but she was stronger still. Catherine took a step closer, ignoring Tula’s hissed warning to stop, but she had no choice. The shaking movement drew the attention of several other vampires and soon Catherine was forced to press into their minds as well.
When their bodies stilled and their eyes remained on their Master, she urged for Tula to move the men out of the storeroom quickly. “I cannot hold them forever.”
The rest of the men left the room in a rush and Catherine cursed at the noise they made. Several of the vampires she held knew they should turn around and look, but she forced them to remain still. Wetness dripped from her face and she tasted the coppery tang of blood on her lips, but she did not release the vampires, not yet.
“What are you doing?” Charles whispered beside her.
“Do not speak to her,” Tula warned. “You will distract her. Move out of sight, now.”
Catherine waited until their steps faded and was about to release the vampires when another presence in their minds drew her back in. She knew that particular thread and crept closer to it as it wound through their thoughts.
“Antony,” she whispered without meaning to, and the thread tightened suddenly.
Catherine broke the connection and moved quickly out of sight just as she heard steps rushing towards the storeroom. She pressed her back against the wall of a nearby corridor, keeping her hand on Charles’ chest to still his movements, and waited. When the vampires disappeared inside the storeroom, Catherine pushed Charles in the opposite direction towards a deserted corridor. Tula and the others were already gone, moving to surround those in the courtyard. She reached for Tula and for a staggering moment, saw through his eyes. She cursed, missing a step and stumbled into the nearby wall.
SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire Page 37