Deep In the Woods

by Chris Marie Green

  It was only up to her to make sure he wouldn’t remember afterward, when he was healing, as a vampire surely would heal, because unlike the human college boy, Frank wouldn’t die from this feeding. Besides, she would give him her blood in exchange, nursing him, bringing them together again.

  Eva’s throat closed with emotion. Her husband. The man she’d never stopped being married to in her heart. And she’d been given this ability to join with him again.

  Silently, she thanked the man from the wine bar who’d chosen her, then slid her other hand beneath Frank’s shirt, touching his cool skin and hearing him moan with the beginning of what she knew would be unbearable ecstasy for both of them.

  THIRTEEN

  THE NEW LEAD

  MERATOLIAGE.”

  When Dawn first heard the word, she was in a daze—not really asleep, but not so much awake, either.

  She sat up in her bed as Kiko said it again. “Meratoliage!”

  He scrambled off his bunk and toward Dawn’s while still holding her clothing. Natalia followed.

  “I got it,” Kiko said, banging into Dawn’s mattress and shoving her shirt at her. “I hit some blood from that custode, and BINGO—trance time! ‘Meratoliage.’ ”

  “What does that even mean?” Dawn’s heart was working double time; Kiko’s excitement was contagious.

  “I don’t know!” he said optimistically.

  He kneeled on the floor, closed his eyes, touched Dawn’s black shirt again. She didn’t want to think that he was desperately trying to overcome his screw-up status, but Kiko had tried to compensate for the effect his pills had pushed on him before. Now it was about the lulling, not meds, but the mea culpa was the same.

  Natalia kneeled by Kiko. As he concentrated, she put her hand on his shoulder, closing her eyes, too, as if to ride his mind.

  Dawn looked away, almost like they were kissing or something, and her gaze landed on Claudius, who still reclined on his bunk, staring straight ahead. He was in “pause” mode, too seemingly weakened or permanently damaged by being worn down after Dawn’s initial treatment of him.

  But why did his eyes look a little wider? Did he seem . . . scared?

  Trying not to disturb the psychics, Dawn rolled off of her bunk, sauntering over to him, her blood pounding now, mostly in her temples.

  “You see that?” she said. “We’re going to find what we need to with or without you.”

  No blinking. Just staring.

  Dawn bent lower, the scent of the Friend who was binding Claudius especially strong. In the background, the sound of the air turning on was like a dragon breathing, and it made her feel like they were all in the concrete belly of a beast.

  “I know what you’re up to,” she said. “You’re taking your revenge out on everyone before you die. You don’t want to go down alone, so you’re getting great pleasure in working over Costin, your blood brother. Or maybe you really did send him to the Underground to destroy Mihas, who betrayed you.”

  Claudius’s eyes flicked to Dawn’s, pistoning her heart as she looked away just in time. His facial features seemed to melt from male to female, but he didn’t shift all the way.

  As a half-and-half creature, he softly said, “You’re so very young, aren’t you? Young enough to avoid what you’re headed for.”

  There wasn’t any charm in his voice. Was Claudius being . . . sincere?

  Hah. Right. He was just trying to get out of more questioning.

  Claudius went on. “Why do you strive for him when he never hesitates to leave you behind?”

  “He did that for a purpose.”

  “They’ll always leave us behind, don’t you realize that?”

  Claudius was setting a trap for her, right here, right now. But she wouldn’t fall into it.

  She hardened herself as he continued.

  “Once the separation happens, it’s a shock to the system. You crave him more than anything. You think you would move mountains to get him back. But then the miracle occurs. You realize that you’re still functioning, standing on your own, finding strength in staying true to your own beliefs, even if you never realized you had any.”

  Maybe it was a sign of insanity, but Dawn could almost imagine Claudius/Claudia as an older advisor, one who spoke the truth until it hurt.

  “And what’s your belief?” Dawn needed to twist this back to the Underground and away from her.

  Claudius tilted his head, his voice going even softer. “I believe that, when you kill me, Ms. Madison, you will do it quickly and cleanly. You still have that much compassion in you, and I would request it.”

  That hadn’t been what Dawn meant at all.

  As the master vampire’s seemingly honest statement hit home, Dawn thought she should say something off the cuff and quippy. Something to show she’d kill him however she wanted to for Costin’s sake.

  But her new marks tingled on her face, her neck, and she wondered if she would enjoy the actual kill as much as she’d reveled in the buildup to it.

  Stomach knotted, Dawn watched Claudius’s gaze float over to where Kiko and Natalia were communing. The half-man, half-woman vampire seemed to be deep in thought.

  Was Claudius mulling over what waited for him in true death?

  Or was he thinking about Mihas?

  When the vampire shifted into a full male again, Dawn thought it was some sort of big statement. Final independence from Mihas, who’d accepted the “Claudia” version of him more than the “Claudius” one.

  She whispered, “What do you really believe in, Claudius?” The vampire’s strong features went resolute just as, in the background, Kiko and Natalia mumbled something at the same time, both of them still in their trance states.

  “Dragon.”

  What?

  Then they screamed it. “Dragon!”

  Claudius gaped, and Dawn wondered if Natalia had somehow picked up on the power of the vampire’s answer to the question “What do you really believe in?” Had the master vamp inadvertently added psychic power to Natalia’s, and then from her to Kiko? Had Claudius’s mind wandered and joined with the vibes they were getting off of that custode blood?

  Dawn didn’t take her gaze off of the vampire as she talked to her team. “Keep going, you two. See if you can get any more.”

  Then she turned her attention on Claudius, her head swimming. This was a new method of questioning, and she hoped to God it’d finally work.

  “Meratoliage. Is that word connected to the dragon and the custodes, too, since that’s the blood of one of them on my shirt?”

  “No.”

  “Are we getting closer to them, Claudius?”

  He bared his teeth. “No, you’re getting farther away . . . from him.”

  “From the dragon?”

  “Not the dragon.”

  Dawn didn’t have to ask who he meant. Claudius was back to psychological warfare, attacking Dawn through Costin. Preying on every doubt she’d had when she suspected that maybe she was in the relationship because she believed it was only going to end badly. It was a form of self-sabotage, but Dawn had already known that, because if you were with someone who was bound to abandon you, you could fulfill your own prophecies when he did leave. Right?

  Claudius was smiling again, and it was because he was positioning her right where he wanted her.

  Hardly.

  “Here’s the thing,” Dawn said. “I’ve been through all lanes of this mystery maze with you vamps. False leads, like the Highgate Vampire, then Thomas Gatenby, who turned out just to be your stooge.” Costin had confirmed this information during his own interrogation. “But I can see you’re frightened now, because this is the real thing, isn’t it? Your community is going down, whether you’re trying to protect it or not.”

  A slight hiss came from between the vampire’s lips. A warning.

  This went beyond Mihas, Dawn thought. Maybe Claudius did respect the vow he’d made to the dragon, and now that he’d lost everything else, he’d desperately returned
to it, like a fallen believer coming back to his true faith in a time of crisis.

  “No . . . dragon,” the vampire said from between growing, needled cat teeth.

  The Friend on duty pushed Claudius back, and Dawn minded her distance, remembering that nip she’d gotten the last time she’d been too close.

  Claudius chafed under the confinement. “No . . . dragon in our house!”

  Both Kiko and Natalia gave little shouts, but Dawn kept guard on the vampire as the psychics rushed over with Dawn’s clothing in hand.

  Adrenaline seemed to bind them together, and Dawn’s heartbeat surged.

  Claudius was shaking his head, as if the harder he did it, the more they’d disbelieve their theories.

  “Know what I saw?” Kiko said. “An estate. It had sweeping lawns and a fancy study where ledgers of birthrights and history books fill the shelves. And guess what? Them books also contain procedures, spells, information about alchemy.”

  Dawn jumped in. “An Underground location?”

  Natalia stared at the vampire, avoiding his unfiltered gaze. “No, the estate is not the Underground. Not directly. But it has resources that could lead there, and the information is housed only in the ground-level study.” The new girl narrowed her eyes. “This vision you helped us with could put an end to the murders of the young, recruited girls your group pulls from the streets. Girls like Kate.”

  Kate Lansing, their initial lead, again. But if it lit a fire under Natalia, all the better. The psychic had grown up hearing voices from the dead, and being unable to help them until now had tortured her.

  Cocky Kiko sounded off. “You must’ve really been thinking over here, Claudius, because we felt your vibes and saw some real good shit.”

  Natalia didn’t even mind the cussing. “Meratoliage. It’s an old family name that they don’t use publicly anymore, and these people live in a big country house with gardens and pastures in . . .”

  “Kent,” Kiko said. “Near the River Darent.”

  Claudius blinked. The reflex gave him away.

  Unless he was lying again.

  Dawn grabbed on to both Kiko’s and Natalia’s shoulders, so proud of them she wanted to bust right open. Then she pulled them away from Claudius and went for a weapons locker, calling for some Friends who’d just returned from resting at the old headquarters.

  She asked Kiko and Natalia to give the spirits a full description of the house and other details they’d gotten in their visions, then the Friends took off to the Kent area, where they’d concentrate their search near the River Darent. After isolating the house, they would enter it, then track down where exactly one could find these books and documents.

  After they returned to brief the team, it’d be time for a field trip. They only had until dusk to get this done.

  Kiko said, “We’ve got some prepping to do before we go there.”

  “Not we,” Dawn said. “Me.”

  “What—?”

  “Listen, Kik.” Dawn bent to rest a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve got to go. I’m not sitting around here banging my head against the wall with Claudius when there’s a lead outside. Claudius is impossible, so we’re going to have to take another route. In the meantime, though, someone’s got to stay here to keep working on him, just in case he’s pulling our legs and we need to take another run at him. He needs to stay worn down. Besides, maybe someone else besides me would be more effective in their questioning techniques.”

  “Kiko,” Natalia said in that practical way of hers. “You’re in no shape for a field trip, anyway. Dawn should go.”

  Then she glanced hopefully at Dawn, as if expecting an invitation to accompany her.

  “No,” Dawn said.

  Kiko already knew that arguing with two determined women was fruitless. “What if the place is guarded by vampires or . . . something else?”

  “More custodes?” Dawn asked. “I’ll be ready.”

  A Friend whizzed up to her.

  “I’ll be ready, too,” Kalin said. “Bein’ round ’ere’s punchin’ a ’ole in my ’ead.”

  “You don’t have a head for any hole to punch into,” Dawn said, then went right back to Kiko and Natalia. “Looks like my back’s going to be covered. While we’re gone, just keep on Claudius.”

  “But—” Kiko said, offering one last try.

  “We’re so close,” Dawn said. “Can’t you feel it?”

  Without waiting for an answer, she went to a weapons and costume locker to see what was on hand for her field trip. She’d wear a disguise outside, in case they were being watched. Also, until she got to the estate, she’d don a pulser, which would throw off her body rhythms should vamps be around to listen to them. Hopefully, Kalin’s jasmine would confuse any scent tracking, if the vamps were near or if Shadow Girl had any way of using smells to find them.

  Then again, Dawn thought, the saw-bow did get a piece of the shadow thing. Maybe she was out of commission for the time being.

  Dawn grabbed a crucifix necklace out of the locker, intending to wear that, too.

  A tug on her shirt got her attention. It was Natalia, who was looking up at her with those serious, dark eyes.

  “Dawn,” the new girl said, “don’t take unnecessary chances while you’re out there.”

  “Who me?” she asked, trying to laugh it off.

  But Natalia was a bulldog under all that girly stuff. “What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t try to save everyone except yourself. Use caution.”

  Dawn thought about what Claudius had told her about Costin always leaving her behind.

  God, maybe she was always trying to catch up by doing dumb things. . . .

  “Saving everyone’s all a part of insanity, Nat,” Dawn said, wondering if she was joking.

  And also wondering if she wasn’t.

  UNDER the ground, Jonah had taken over for Costin and was now at the bars, his hands wrapped in the long black coat he’d dressed in before they’d started on their Underground journey. With the help of the Friends, he was again attempting to pry open the cage with his vampire strength.

  Costin had submerged himself in the body, resting in case Jonah did set them free. If that happened, and if Jonah found the Underground, the boss would need all the strength he could get.

  All the same, Costin was still awake down there. Jonah could feel it.

  He pulled at the bars again, shaking with the effort, but they wouldn’t give, even with the push of the Friends.

  With sighs, the spirit girls backed off. They were getting tired and needed to go back to their portraits to rest.

  As they all sank to the ground, Jonah realized an invisible cloud of jasmine still haunted the air.

  Breisi.

  He imagined her as she’d been as a human—a Louise Brooks Latina, with her dark hair bobbed. A petite, rosy skinned hellcat mad scientist with a lady’s manners and a bunch of weird shirts boasting everything from Disney characters to teddy bears.

  “Not giving up?” Jonah asked her.

  “Not yet.”

  She swirled around the cage, probably looking once again for any way to trip the trap. He didn’t ask why she was so anxious because he already knew—and it wasn’t because she longed to get back to her portrait. It was because of Frank. She hated being separated from her boyfriend, and it didn’t help that Eva, the former wife, was back at headquarters with him.

  And then there was also the matter of bringing havoc to the Underground. She loved her job.

  “There’s got to be a release lever,” she said in that whirly voice while she combed her essence over the walls.

  Jonah felt like an ass for being the one who’d stumbled on the catch in the first place. It’d been buried in the floor, and he’d been too excited about fighting alongside Costin—not against him for once—to take his time and notice it. Earlier he’d mentioned Indiana Jones to his body mate, but Jonah hadn’t added that he felt a lot like Short Round, tripping traps and putting them between a rock and silve
r-barred hard place.

  What a hero.

  “Well,” Jonah said to Breisi. “We’ve tried everything on this contraption.” Blades, a revolver he’d packed, but none of them had been of any use.

  As Breisi continued exploring the walls, Jonah sat down again, checking his watch. Hours away from dusk, when the team had Costin’s permission to let loose. It’d been a desperate option, because if Costin failed in his bid to decimate the Underground, the vampires would be on higher alert. They’d probably be ready for more attacks, and that put the team in double the danger.

  But who else was there to slay the masters and then the dragon?

  From deep inside, Costin rolled, as if giving up on his rest.

  “You are just as invested as any of them, aren’t you, Jonah?” he said, as if surprised by that. But he couldn’t be. Both of them shared almost everything: a body, thoughts, knowledge. It was just that when it came to things like feeling physical sensations—touching a woman’s skin or drinking blood—the submerged entity couldn’t enjoy it.

  And that was the real problem between him and Costin.

  “Investment is why you chose me, though, right?” Jonah asked. “Because I had ideals and what you used to call a pure heart at the beginning.”

  “Before you became overzealous about taking over? Yes, I did believe you would be a perfect host.”

  Jonah shrugged, a loaded gesture. “I tried to be. I really did.”

  Costin weighed heavily in Jonah, too. “I know this. You did it in your own way. But then . . . matters grew complicated.”

  He was thinking of Dawn. It used to be that Jonah had wanted her only because Costin had her. But lately . . .

  Well, Dawn had come to mean more. Maybe it was because she’d seen Jonah as his own man or whatever you called what he was.

  “When this is over,” Jonah said to Costin, “what do you think’ll happen?”