by Bocco, Diana
He stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “Belle, let her go.”
“No!”
She tried to jerk her arm free, but Marcus anticipated her move and held on to her tight, dragging her towards him and away from the table.
“She’ll be dead in a minute,” he told her and that seemed to work, because Belle stopped resisting and eased back against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her and felt the soft tremor running through her body. He half-expected Belle to start crying, but the slight shivering was the only indication of how she was feeling.
He remained still, holding on to her and feeling the warmth of her body slipping into his. She fit perfectly against his body, every curve sliding into the right place and producing the right amount of electricity. Her body was struggling to remain still and it was obvious she was making a tremendous effort not to show any emotions.
Without letting go, he leaned his head forward, moving his lips towards her ear. Even now, her smell was intoxicating, the softness of her essence sending an electric pulse down his body.
“It’s OK, Belle. You don’t have to be brave.”
Her body tensed for a second, then relaxed back into his arms.
“I want to get out of here.”
He let her go so she could turn around to face him. “I’ll get somebody to take care of this.”
She swallowed hard and took a step backwards. “How?”
“We have to burn the bodies,” he explained. “Burying them would attract the rabids. They can track smells underground.”
Her whole face contracted in a gesture of revulsion, but she said nothing. Instead, she looked at the girl one more time, frozen forever in a gesture of pain and desperation. She extended a hand forward, as if she was planning on checking for a pulse one more time, but the movement stopped before she reached the bloody skin. “I want to get out of here, Marcus.”
He didn’t have to be told again. “Let’s go.”
Before she had time to think, he grabbed her hand and walked towards the tunnels. She flinched for a second but made no effort to get free. Instead, she moved closer to his body as they approached the darkness of the underground.
And Marcus found himself thinking that he actually relished the protector role much more than he had expected.
Chapter 11
The idea first crossed his mind the second he had seen her working on the girl on the gurney. Now that she was back in her room and he had a chance to think things through, the idea was back and stronger than ever.
Not that he needed to explain his decisions to anybody, but Miles wouldn’t be happy to hear what he was thinking.
Because he was seriously considering bringing Belle into the lab.
He had a lot of great scientific minds working in the lab, but none of them was a trained physician. In fact, none of them was truly an expert in the human body.
Up until this very moment, there had never been any alliances between vampires and humans—and with good reason. The more humans knew about vampires, the more chances they had to fight against them. A few centuries ago, he wouldn’t have even considered letting a human into his secrets.
But these were different times. Desperate times. And letting a human work alongside his scientists could be the only hope both species had for survival.
He grabbed the back of his neck and sighed. He could feel things slipping out of control a little bit more every day. If he didn’t find an answer soon, everybody would be in trouble.
He groaned and sat back against his chair.
This was far from his dream of a vampire-run world. It was a lot closer to his idea of a nightmare.
A soft knock on the door brought him back to reality.
“Come in.”
Miles had two guards with him when he stepped into the room. They looked somber and Marcus could smell the blood on his clothes. Vampire blood.
“What happened?”
Jaco took a step closer. “Two rabids got into the compound.”
Marcus stood still, absorbing the news.
“How?”
The guards wavered slightly under his gaze.
“We don’t know, My Lord. We have guards on every corner. And the rabids are not exactly the quietest, but we still didn’t hear them getting in.”
Marcus turned to Miles for an answer.
“I don’t know what to say,” Miles answered. “Jaco’s right. We have no idea how they got in. Unless…”
“Unless they got in through the tunnels somehow,” Jaco interrupted.
Marcus’ expression hardened. “How could they get in through the tunnels? There are only two exits to the outside through the tunnels and they can only be opened from the inside.”
Then he paused and studied Miles’ face for a second. “Are you saying somebody let them in?”
“I don’t know,” Miles said. “Maybe.”
Jaco shook his head. “And if that’s the case, we have bigger problems ahead, because we found two more rabids right outside the compound, near the east wall.”
“They put up quite a fight,” Miles added. “And we lost two humans in the chaos. Shredded to pieces in seconds.”
“Three humans,” Marcus corrected, remembering the girl on the gurney.
Miles studied him with interest, but said nothing. “We managed to kill all the rabids we found, but unless we figure out how they got in, I don’t think this will be the last time we have to deal with them.”
“They’re getting desperate, My Lord,” Jaco added. “And the hungrier they get, the bolder they’ll get too.”
Marcus knew it. It could only get worse from then on unless something changed. It was time to stop waiting and start moving.
“Miles, put a search party together and send them out. Make that two groups, actually, and send them in opposite directions. Canvas the surroundings and search for hiding places. They’re hiding somewhere, so let’s find out where before they decide to attack again.”
Miles nodded. “I can take a search party up north…”
“No,” Marcus interrupted. “I need you here. I want to spend some time figuring out the safety of the tunnels and the walls. Jaco can take one of the groups, and find somebody to lead the second one.”
Miles groaned softly but said nothing.
“Grayson would do,” Jaco said.
Miles nodded. “I agree.”
Marcus got up and walked towards the window. The compound was quieter than usual. He figured all the humans were hiding, trying to cope with the events.
“What’s the nearest town?” Marcus asked without turning around to face the guards.
“Franklin, I think,” Miles said. “About four hours away, but it’s been abandoned for years.”
“Even more reason to search it, then. The rabids who are still somewhat lucid should be looking for safer sleeping places, so search in dark basements and attics. The sicker ones might be less careful, so look in houses. They’ll be following any remaining human smell they can catch. Look in schools and hospitals too.”
Miles looked at Jaco and a silent acknowledgement passed between them.
“Drive, don’t walk,” Marcus added. “I don’t want you to take any unnecessary risks.”
Miles groaned. “Cars will just slow the groups down.”
“They will also serve as shields. I don’t want the groups to get to town only to discover there’s a hundred rabids there. Park near the edge of town if you’re worried about noise. And if things get tough, get out. We’re not looking for war right now. We’re not ready.”
“Kill only if we have to?”
“Kill if you can,” Marcus corrected. “But not at the risk of anybody in the group. I’m more concerned with finding out what we’re up against.”
He turned around and backed away from the window.
“Send the groups out and then come back here,” he told Miles. “We’re going to go on a little exploring trip inside the tunnels. I’m ready to make so
mebody pay for this.”
Miles gave a short nod. “All I need is thirty minutes to get things ready.”
“Go,” Marcus said. “I’ll be ready when you get back here.”
The guards turned around and marched right out of the room.
The truth was that he was glad for the little time alone to get his thoughts in order. Belle. Even now, the memory of her skin, feverish under his touch, kept looping through his mind. What he really wanted was to head over to her bedroom and get into bed with her. Hold her, fuck her, drink from her. Over and over again.
He’d thought that once she was his, the hunger would recede. Instead, it was getting stronger. Her blood was intoxicating, but so was her taste and the smell of her body reacting to his. His body tightened at the memories of what had happened just hours before. Then his thoughts trailed off to his teeth sinking into her inner thigh, the silky blood flowing into his mouth.
He groaned and walked back towards the window. The predator in him was awakening and he had to fight to push it down. Not now. The pleasures of the flesh would have to wait, because he had other things to tend to.
Other pleasures.
Like finding the one responsible for tonight’s attack.
In fact, he was looking forward to peeling the skin off the traitor before he bled him to death. Human or vampire, it didn’t matter. He was hungry for blood and ready to kill.
Chapter 12
As she wrapped herself in a towel, Belle turned around and looked at the bathtub. Blood water, she thought. Then she immediately pulled the stopper to let the water stream out.
It had been a long time since she’d played savior and failed. Sure, she had lost patients in the ER, but the loss there had felt much different. Not because those lives had been any less precious to her, but because here, in the aftermath of destruction, each human life lost was a different kind of tragedy. Every time a human died, they were all a step closer to extinction.
Funny that after centuries of destroying the oceans and polluting the Earth, humans were going to disappear before many of the other creatures on the planet. In fact, she suspected many animals were now thriving, thanks to the low number of hunters walking around.
She stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, looking for some clean clothes in her ridiculously well-stocked wardrobe.
When the invasion had first begun, she—and everybody she knew—had fantasized about escaping to far-away lands. They had even concocted plans of setting off towards some deserted island somewhere, where the chances of running into a vampire would be lower. That was back then, when the monsters were focused on attacking the cities. It didn’t take long before the roads became just as dangerous and they had no choice but to hide.
They had lost TV and internet signals before it was clear what was going on around the world. So she lied to herself, even though a little voice inside told her there was no safe place left anywhere, no utopian land where people still reigned.
So yes, every human life lost was a tragedy, now more than ever.
She slipped into a soft pink shirt and a pair of jeans, then lay back on the bed. She wanted to go out, to search for the two women she’d seen with Lori. But there was a guard right outside her door. She knew because she’d already tried to get out—and had been told, in just a few words, that she wouldn’t be going anywhere unless Marcus authorized it.
Marcus. She hated that she now thought of him as an individual with a name. He was no longer “the king of the monsters” or “a vampire.” He was Marcus. Marcus who could make her feel the most exquisite of pleasures. Marcus who would go out into the compound to pick up a dying girl and then lead her into a secret room. Marcus who held her while she was breaking down and whispered sweet words in her ear.
Where was the monster? Why wasn’t he there? He appeared too composed, too sane, too… human. And it was scaring her more than she ever thought possible.
Don’t think of him as human, she reminded herself.
But deep down, she knew it was too late. He was already Marcus.
If she was going to kill him, it had to be soon, because she could feel her resolution wavering, breaking down by the minute. By the second.
Part of her wished he would do something heartless, let the monster come out. Give her a reason to plunge a knife—one you don’t have, she reminded herself—into his heart.
Her stomach tightened at the thought of hurting him. She cursed and stood up with a heavy sigh. If she could at least get out of the room, she could try to figure out the compound better. She had a feeling that the secret door they had gone through wasn’t the only one. Hadn’t Miles materialized into her room a couple of times? And on the first morning, she’d found a fire crackling and her clothes gone.
She walked towards one of the walls, looking for anything that could trigger a locking hidden mechanism. If there was a concealed door there, she would find it. After all, she had all the time in the world.
~*~
The darkness of the tunnels loomed in front of Marcus for what seemed like miles. To humans, the labyrinth of cavern-like tunnels would be impossible to maneuver, but not only could he see in the darkness of the underground, both Miles and he knew the tunnels extremely well. If he wanted, he could run to the other end with his eyes closed.
Tonight, though, they were both stepping lightly. If there was somebody—or something—hiding in the shadows, Marcus wanted to make sure they’d surprise him.
They turned around a corner and Miles pointed out something in the distance. A sliver of light. Impossible for human eyes to detect but very clear to them. Marcus nodded in response and then crouched in the darkness, waiting for the slight creak of something moving in the tunnels.
Five seconds. Ten. The tunnels were dead quiet. He glanced at Miles and saw him nod. Then both of them got up and kept moving forward. They stopped along the way a few times to search for whispers in the dark, but there was nothing there. After the third or fourth time, he was convinced they were alone down there. And if that was the case, the light back at the end of the tunnel was nothing but the moonlight, streaming through a scrape in the door.
The musty odor of the tunnel was slightly milder tonight. He narrowed his hearing to concentrate on the direction of the door. The world outside the compound was quiet—at least for now.
He turned around to face Miles, who was right behind him. “What do you think?”
“Everything looks normal.”
“I smell vampire blood.”
Miles nodded. “There were guards patrolling down here less than an hour ago.”
“Let’s go check the other tunnel, then.”
The second tunnel was just as quiet as the first one. If rabids had gone through it, their smell was long gone, diluted by the steps of the vampires that came right after them. And one thing was certain: there was no warm human smell down in the darkness. If somebody had opened the door to let the rabids in, it had been one of his own.
“Fuck,” Marcus said as they stepped back into the courtyard.
Miles was back to his usual quiet self, his eyes prodding into the surrounding darkness for anything unusual. “I’ll send some guards to watch the doors.”
Marcus moved away from the wall and into the inviting softness of the night. Belle’s light was off but the moonlight glided into her room, giving him a peek into the darkness. “Who do we really trust?” he finally asked.
Miles hesitated for a second longer than he would have liked. Marcus knew what that meant: his friend was also having doubts about the loyalty of the vampires in the compound.
“I have a few names in mind,” he said. “Do you want a list?”
Marcus shook his head. “No, if there’s anybody I trust, it’s you. Just get somebody there tonight.”
Then he looked up again and saw the curtains in Belle’s room flicker for a second. He wanted to go up and check on her. No, that wasn’t true. He wanted to feed on her, slip into her, savor her. But he knew th
at if he stepped into the room, he wouldn’t be able to leave for hours.
He looked at Miles. “And keep the guard outside her door.”
“She can’t be charmed, can she?”
Marcus’ gaze narrowed. “Who else has noticed it?”
“Nobody, as far as I can tell. Not yet anyway.” Then, after a brief moment of hesitation, “How did you get her into bed without charming her?”
Marcus remembered her thundering heart as he got closer. “Oh, she came very willingly.”