The City Beneath

by Melody Johnson

  I scowled. “Why Paerdegat Park?”

  “It makes sense that you’d want to visit that location for further investigation, so Kaden won’t suspect a trap, and since police barriers are still present, it’s more remote than most,” he explained.

  “I doubt I’d ever want to return to that location,” I muttered.

  “You might.”

  “I don’t.”

  Dominic’s eyes blazed. “It doesn’t matter if you truly want to or not. What matters is that Kaden believes you might.”

  “Fine,” I conceded. “So I go to Paerdegat Park for further investigation. What happens when Kaden shows up? He isn’t the witty conversationalist I’ve found you to be.”

  “You let him drink your blood.”

  I blinked, not sure I’d heard him correctly, but his expression didn’t falter. He was serious. “You want me to let him attack me.”

  Dominic hesitated. I could see the indecision in his eyes as he weighed his next words against what he knew I’d want to hear. Finally he said, “Yes, you must allow him to attack you. He will only be weakened after having tasted a large quantity of your blood. The more, the better, but not so much as to completely incapacitate you. I will intervene if necessary.”

  “If I’m at risk of dying, you’ll stop him?” I clarified. I didn’t want to die because we differed on the definition of “completely incapacitate.”

  “Yes. Unquestionably,” Dominic stated. “I’ll subdue him, heal you, and return to the coven.”

  I raised my eyebrows, surprised. “And what will I do after you’ve done all that?”

  Dominic shrugged. “Whatever else you have planned for the night,” he said simply.

  “You’ll let me simply . . . go on my way?” I asked carefully, thinking of Walker’s plan to infiltrate the coven.

  “For tonight,” he said, his smirk widening.

  I fought not to react to that comment. “If I go along with your plan and put myself at risk to help you regain control of your vampires, I’ll want to see the fruit of my efforts. I’ll want to see Kaden’s death firsthand to know that the city is safe from him and his followers.”

  Dominic stared at me for a long, uncomfortable moment, long enough that I wondered whether he knew my ulterior motive for wanting access into the coven, before he finally whispered, “That can be arranged.”

  I nodded, and the rush of relief trembled through my arms. My aim wavered. “It’s a decent plan but completely dependent on Kaden’s motives. What if he’s not interested in hunting me?”

  Dominic snorted. “I have no doubt he’ll hunt you tonight.”

  “As comforting as that is, there’s another assumption I’m worried about,” I said, licking my lips. “What if Kaden doesn’t want to turn me after last night? What if he simply wants to hunt me to kill me, and I die before you can ‘intervene’?”

  “I’ve known Kaden for ninety-six years, and I’m certain that he wants to turn you. He wants someone strong and capable and powerful to support his cause, as do I. He wouldn’t waste you on revenge, especially after last night.”

  I glanced down at my five-foot-two, one-hundred-and-forty-pound frame of plump curves, and laughed. “Strong, capable, and powerful?”

  Dominic didn’t so much as crack a smile. “Vampire abilities are rooted in your blood and mind, not physical appearance. You’ve displayed natural abilities without any training, as well as abilities that no other night blood in my reckoning has ever displayed. Simply put, you are astounding. I believe that the vampire who transforms you will be transforming the future of our race, and I do not intend for Kaden to be that vampire.”

  “Oh.” I bit my lip.

  Dominic cracked his knuckles. “Whether you help me or not, you’ll certainly be attacked by Kaden. The only difference is whether you’re attacked tonight while I’m present to intervene, or on a night of his choice while you’re vulnerable. Wouldn’t you rather he attack you tonight, as a part of our plan, rather than while you’re unprepared and alone?”

  I laughed suddenly, helplessly amused with my options. “I’d rather not be attacked at all.”

  Dominic’s expression remained stoic. “I wasn’t joking. I believe those are your only options.”

  “I wasn’t joking, either.” I sighed grudgingly. “But I think you’re right.”

  He cocked his head to the side in a quick, fleck-like movement, similar to how birds target their prey. “You think I’m right,” he said, his tone devoid of inflection. “Yet your crossbow hasn’t wavered from its mark on my chest.”

  Dominic might be on my side for the time being, but putting up my weapon in his presence felt fundamentally wrong, like cuddling with a cobra because it promised with a hiss and a wink not to bite. My finger stroked down the trigger softly, and I gritted my teeth, trying to keep that finger steady against the frantic, pounding bass of my heart.

  Dominic must have felt my tension. He spread his arms wide. “How can I trust you without a display of trust?”

  “I’m trusting you with my life. My willingness to cooperate is display enough,” I said, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to willingly lower the crossbow. He was too close and the attacks on me had been too recent. I thought of his fingers breaking and twisting and lengthening into talons. I remembered those talons piercing through my shoulders to pin me against the wall, and I shuddered. “Once you leave, I’ll meet you at Paerdegat Park, and—”

  “I’ll follow you to Paerdegat Park. He may be inclined to attack with bystanders nearby before you reach your destination.”

  I hesitated. “You think he’ll attack that quickly?”

  “I think he enjoys making my life difficult.”

  I opened my mouth to squabble over the definition of “life.”

  “And frankly, I’ve never known Kaden for his patience. He’s young compared to most vampires with his abilities, and he often still feels the urgency of time from his humanity. He wants you, so he’ll take you. He isn’t going to bide his time.”

  I bit my tongue. “Fine. You’ll follow me to Paerdegat Park, and you’ll subdue him when he attacks me.”

  Dominic nodded.

  “And you’ll heal me if I’m injured, before you leave with Kaden,” I clarified.

  “Yes, of course. I won’t leave you injured.” Dominic stepped forward.

  I jerked my crossbow to keep aim. “And under no circumstances are you to turn me into a vampire.”

  He raised his hands, but he continued walking toward me. “If it’s in your best interest to become a vampire—”

  “Being human is in my best interest,” I snapped. “Don’t come any closer.”

  “If aiming your weapon at me makes you feel protected, then by all means, keep aiming. I have something you need more than crossbows and wooden stakes and silver nitrate and anything else that boy could hope to give you.”

  “Dominic Lysander, stop where you stand,” I snapped. The link between us opened, but Dominic reflected the command. It hit me and disintegrated, useless because I was sitting, not standing, but he continued moving toward me. “I will shoot.”

  He reached out to me, a casual smirk stretching his lips because he didn’t believe I would shoot.

  I pulled the trigger.

  The mechanism actually gave some kickback, and my shoulder slammed into the wall. The wooden sliver jetted through the air faster than my eyes could track it. One moment, I felt the kickback and adrenaline spike, and the next moment, Dominic was holding the wooden sliver in his hand, its sharpened, pointed tip over his heart.

  I blinked, my brain shorting out as it processed what had just happened. We were at close range, mere feet apart, and Dominic had snatched the sliver in midair before it could even puncture his skin.

  He snapped the stake in half with his fingers like the sliver was a toothpick, tossed it aside, and continued walking closer.

  I scrambled back, trying to reload before he reached me. Dominic was deliberately taking his time
. The speed he’d just displayed was incomprehensible, yet he was walking slower than human slow, step by excruciating step when he could have easily appeared next to me faster than brain synapses could fire. I struggled with the crossbow. Walker had shown me how to reload and watched as I’d practiced, but Dominic was walking toward me now. My hands were shaking, and no matter how much I’d practiced, the arrow refused to lock.

  Dominic knelt in front of me. We were almost at eye level, him on the balls of his feet and hovering slightly over me as I still struggled to hook the stake in position. He reached out. I flinched back instinctively, and my back slammed hard into the wall. A heavy blanket of damp pine scent settled thick on the air. I cringed and held my breath as his hand came closer. My heart throbbed. I felt sick and petrified and angry, so angry into the deep aching hollows in my bones, an anger that had been festering long before I’d ever had the misfortune of meeting Dominic.

  He covered my hands with his icy, strong fingers, and locked the sliver in position for me.

  I froze, stunned dumb and offended that he’d reloaded the crossbow. Could he still stop the stake midair at such close range? Even Master vampires must have limitations.

  “Stakes and silver are effective but obviously not always sufficient weapons against us. This is why we need your blood to dampen Kaden’s defenses. He’s almost my equal otherwise, and if he’s my equal, you certainly don’t stand a chance, with or without your weapons.”

  He opened his hand, and in the center of his palm was a small, crystal-like vial filled with an opaque, crimson liquid I suspected was blood. The vial was about an inch long. Its cap was silver-colored with symbols etched around its surface, and it hooked on to a matching, wraith-like silver chain. The chain was piled around the vial like metallic spaghetti on his hand as he offered it to me. A faint, burning stench wafted from his palm, and I realized that the chain wasn’t just silver-colored. The chain was made of actual silver.

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “It’s a gift.”

  “What is it?” I asked, trying not to flinch away from his hand as he held it closer to me in offering.

  “It’s one swallow of my blood. If something unexpected or untoward should happen to me or to you while I’m incapacitated or unavailable, I want you to have this with you, always.”

  I shook my head.

  “You don’t want to lie alone in an alley, dying, and with your last heartbeat, regret that you didn’t have a last option, a last hope at life.” Dominic shot me a bland look. “At the very least, a means of healing your wounds. My blood works much in the same way as my saliva when applied directly to the wound.”

  I flinched, that comment about dying in an alley hitting a little too close to home after last night. “I don’t want a last option,” I lied. What I wanted was a different last option.

  “You say that now because you don’t need that option. Take this. When the time comes, you can choose to drink it or not, heal yourself or not, but the point is that you’ll have the choice.”

  I opened my mouth to refuse. “I don’t—”

  “Wear it along with your crossbow and stakes and silver. Carry all your weapons at all times, and if you’ll carry his, you must carry mine.” When Dominic referenced Walker, his voice deepened to a rough, almost wet tone. The muscles in his jaw popped and stretched.

  I nodded, quickly agreeing before his face completely transformed. Dominic slipped the chain over my head easily, and once around my neck, the vial fell under my shirt and rested low between my breasts. The back of Dominic’s knuckles traced my collarbone as he smoothed the chain in place. My nipples tightened. I felt them stiffen against the fabric of my bra and blushed.

  Dominic smiled as if he knew my body’s rebellious reaction to him. With his heightened hearing and sense of smell, he probably did.

  Two hours later, I was still pacing the police tape at Paerdegat Park, my nerves a wreck with each passing minute that Kaden didn’t appear. Every car horn was Kaden behind me. Every rustle was Kaden approaching. Every siren was Kaden’s attack. The anticipation was fraying my nerves to split threads. I took some pictures of trace evidence with my cell phone to help pass the time while I waited for Kaden to arrive: a boot imprint on a hardened patch of dirt, stained blood spatters still clinging to the grass, and bald patches in the landscape, either from the attack or simply from poor maintenance. I knelt on the inner edge of the tape to inspect a thin burger wrapper, as if it might hold crucial, case-changing evidence that everyone had missed instead of just ketchup stains.

  I continued this charade investigation for a few hours, but Kaden never showed. Maybe he wasn’t as interested in me as we’d all believed. Maybe he suspected the trap. In either instance, Dominic had insisted that I remain at Paerdegat Park all night. If Kaden did suspect a trap, which was likely, he was more likely to attack when I gave up the ruse and left the park. If that occurred, we’d lose home court advantage and increase our chances of incurring witnesses, also according to Dominic, so I continued the ruse even though hours of snapping pictures with my cell phone both felt and probably looked ridiculous.

  I crouched next to a strip of police tape, automatically moving my hand to keep my leather shoulder bag behind my back, and I remembered for the fourth time, as if it was the first, that I’d left my bag at home. Used to its presence, I kept reaching to touch it, open it, or move it out of the way. However convenient it usually was, the bag was cumbersome. If my experience with Kaden tonight was anything like my previous experiences, I didn’t want it weighing me down or getting lost, like it had in the past.

  Without my bag, I tucked my phone into my pocket and continued my faux investigation. While inspecting another boot print in a long line of similar boot prints, the glow from the streetlight reflected off something in the grass. The brief flash gave me pause. Actual evidence should have been photographed, tagged, bagged, and taken to the station. If this had been any other scene, I wouldn’t have given the flash much thought because Greta was thorough and competent, but since I was the only one who’d remembered the bite marks, it stood to reason that Greta could’ve potentially missed something else, something equally as important.

  I strained to see the reflective object without crossing the police tape. My heart dropped into my gut when I recognized its shape. Heedless of the damn police tape, I ducked under the parameter and swiped the metal off the ground. No, no, no, no, I thought, but I couldn’t speak. I stared at the initials “ND” on the silver cuff link and felt a scream sear the back of my throat.

  Something slammed into my body, like being sideswiped by a silent eighteen-wheeler, and I dropped the cuff link. The impact was gut-punching, unexpected, and debilitating. I heard the crunch of my ribs snap with the hit. My feet slammed out from under me, and I hovered for a suspended moment over the grass, my ribs crushed, my breath shot, and my brain in hyper-drive.

  A million thoughts crashed through my mind as I fell, mostly about work and Nathan and a little about Walker, but the most prevalent thought was of Dominic and his promise to heal me. The protection offered by the crossbow on my wrist, the retractable stake, Walker’s silver-woven gloves, and Dominic’s cold, silver chain was only a mirage. My head snapped back as I hit the ground. Kaden pounded me into the earth with his crushing weight and ground home the certainty that with or without my weapons, Dominic would have to keep his promise if I hoped to survive the night.

  Kaden disappeared as quickly and silently as he’d appeared. I was smashed on my back in the grass like a twitching bug. The sky overhead was vast and matte black, blending with the bursts of black that speckled my vision. I tried to cope with the ache in my side, but I couldn’t breathe. I could barely think.

  Dominic and I should have better defined “incapacitated.”

  I braced myself for Kaden’s return. My stomach knotted with fear and pain and trembling anticipation, but even after several minutes of tense silence, he didn’t attack.

  I struggled to si
t up, and my ribs screamed in stabbing, white agony. Breathing hurt. Moving hurt. Remaining still hurt. I panted from the pain, but my desperate, popcorn-gasps weren’t inhaling much oxygen. My head spun. I’d have to calm my breathing or risk hyperventilating, so I pushed past the pain and took slower, shallower breaths.

  The vial of Dominic’s blood suddenly seemed prominent against my skin, but I eased the silver nitrate spray from my pocket instead and slowly rolled onto my hands and knees. I told myself that I’d survived worse. I told myself that after tonight, I would listen to Walker and take a sick day. I told myself a lot of things, but in the end, the only thing that got me standing was to grit my teeth against the pain and stand anyway.

  I took an unsteady, listing step forward, and stumbled into a jog. My legs threatened to buckle, so I stiffened my resolve and hobbled on, building a slow momentum. I was nearly at the gate when Kaden took me out again. He appeared from thin air, and before I even knew he was there, I heard the wet pop of my left knee shatter.

  Hot, sickening pain shot through my leg. I screamed and aimed the silver spray as I fell, but Kaden reached through the spray and wrenched the can from my hand. I hit the ground hard on my side. A sharp stab tore through my ribs. I opened my mouth, intending to scream or breathe or wield another weapon, intending to do something, but I couldn’t inhale enough to do anything. A high squeak leaked from my lungs as they tried and failed to find air. Kaden looked down at me, watching me struggle. I couldn’t read his expression. His hand still holding the silver spray was burned. Welts had boiled on his charred skin, but he just stared, stoically ignoring his burns to focus on me.

  My lungs finally adjusted from having the wind knocked out of them, and I screamed.

  Kaden smiled a small, strange sort of smile. He watched me scream and cower from him, and his smile widened. I angled my wrist, so the crossbow was aimed even as I rocked in agony. I braced for his attack.

  He disappeared suddenly, taking the silver spray with him.