Seeing she was defeated yet again, Frost curled her hands into fists, making her knuckles stick out under her skin. “Very well,” she said coolly. “He may remain under medical supervision.”
“If I may,” Paris said, raising her voice to be heard, “I think I should be the one to watch over him.”
Mrs. Knight’s expression brightened, suggesting she felt the same, but Frost immediately pursed her lips. “Absolutely not. Do you think you’re the only qualified physician in this facility, Dr. De Lange?”
Paris’s glare could melt flesh. “No.”
“Then you are to keep your mouth shut, and join Sergeant McAllister in the dungeons.”
My heart sank, and then something occurred to me, filling me with fragile hope. According to Paris, Orion was being held prisoner in the dungeons. And since she needed to collect a blood sample anyway…
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” I said, giving Paris a pointed look. She made a face, and then recognition dawned in her eyes. She pressed her lips shut, nodding once.
Seeming satisfied, Frost leaned back in her seat, waiting for us to be escorted out.
As they took Paris and me away, I glanced over my shoulder.
Aden was staring back at me, something warring in his blue eyes. Time seemed to slow, like those precious few seconds were the last memory I would ever have of him.
Then we turned a corner and Aden disappeared from view.
***
Rook didn’t say anything to me as he led the way down into the lowest level, where the dungeons were. The base was tiered like an inverted pyramid, with the dungeons being on the bottom level; higher up were the medical labs, followed by the hospital wing, which was on the ground level. Above that was the training academy, and then Frost’s office sat on the top like a wicked queen’s watchtower.
People stopped to stare at us as the guards led us through the halls and into the side stairwell, though I thought they were more surprised by seeing Paris in cuffs than me. At one point, they would have welcomed the sight of seeing my wrists bound – before I risked my life to save Mrs. Knight and proved myself as more of an ally and not an enemy. Now, the look in their eyes said, “Well, that’s no surprise. She is a vampire hunter, after all.”
I kept my eyes trained forward, too distracted by the escape plan forming in my mind to pay much attention to their stares. Maybe they would lock us up close enough to Orion for me to be able to procure a sample of his blood. Then maybe Paris could fake being sick, and I could somehow manage to glamour all the guards and –
I groaned inwardly. Sloane, these are terrible ideas. You barely managed to glamour one guard last time. What makes you think you can control five, ten, or however many they’re going to have down there?
Feeling anxious and agitated because I couldn’t do anything right now to help Aden, I blinked to adjust my eyes as we spilled into a darkened hallway. The shadows were so thick I could hardly see anything. Vampires kind of had a thing for concealment. I knew from memory that cells lined the walls to our right, and tiny bulbs shot beams of yellowed light onto the floor, casting everyone’s faces in shadows as we passed under them. There was something “off” about the air. Vampires tended to put out an almost telekinetic hum, which I had grown used to since becoming one, but this was different. It smelled funny, like bleach and rusting metal.
It was very faint, but there it was: the metallic glint of light off the red bars of the cells. A shudder rolled through me.
They’ve replaced all the bars with Scarlet Steel.
It must have cost a fortune. I didn’t know exactly what chemicals went into making Scarlet Steel, but I knew it was an involved, costly process.
The guards jerked me to a sudden halt, popping my wrists as they pulled back hard on my arms. A low growl rose in my throat, but I bit down on my lip, taming the instinct to punch them.
Rook walked all the way down to the next-to-last cell, where a ton of guards stood waiting, their weapons at the ready. I eyed the barrels of their guns warily, betting my life they were loaded with Scarlet Steel bullets.
Rook mumbled something to the guards on duty and waved us over. The two holding onto me pushed me forward roughly, and I felt the cuffs behind me loosen with a click right before I was shoved hard into the now open cell. I stumbled, barely managing to catch myself before I smacked into the cinder block wall as they hurtled the door shut behind me and locked it.
The cell door next to mine rumbled as they did the same with Paris, only they didn’t roughhouse her quite so much. I guess they were afraid of messing up her manicure.
Without meaning to, I caught Rook’s eyes.
I didn’t know what I was hoping for. He had given no indication of wanting to help, of being anything other than a cold, trained soldier. My breath caught as I held his gaze.
Please, Rook.
All the times we had hung out together as humans came crashing through my mind: the laughing, joking, and flat-out being there for one another through thick and thin.
For a moment, I thought maybe he was going to react, but then he blinked and I let out my breath in a downhearted rush. Without so much as a backward glance, he turned his back on me and strode out of the room, leaving me feeling more alone than I had in a long time.
CHAPTER 4
I hated sitting in prison. Being forced into confined spaces with nothing to do had never set well with me. There was always the itch to be doing something, though I was definitely capable of my lazy moments.
They had held me prisoner down here before, but this was ten times worse. I wanted to scream or hit something. All I could think about was that Aden was upstairs dying while I was stuck down here, waiting on a Council that obviously didn’t care there was a potential epidemic on their hands.
“Stop pacing,” Paris said. Two of the walls in my cell were made of bars, allowing me to clearly see her. She sat cross-legged on the little metal bed in her cell, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. “You’re making me nervous.”
“We have to do something,” I said, biting my nails while I moved about like a tiger in a cage. “We can’t just sit here.”
“Well, it looks like you have no choice,” said a smooth, male voice.
My sneakers squeaked as I came to a sudden halt, frozen.
No. No, that voice, it can’t be…
Without wanting to, I looked around. There were nothing but black walls and a plethora of guards, all watching us so diligently that I didn’t even know if they were blinking.
“Over here, Sis.”
The hair on my arms pricked upright as I squinted at the wall. It seemed to be speaking to me.
That’s when I saw it – the flash of two red eyes as light reflected off them.
Eyes narrowing, I took a cautious step forward. “Orion?” I whispered.
I noticed a narrow slate had opened up in the wall, revealing a hidden room on the other side. Feeling my shoulders slacken now that I knew my brother wasn’t actually in my cell, I walked right up to the wall and peered through the gap.
A handsome young man with the same caramel-colored skin as mine sat at a table eating a steak dinner. Jagged scars twisted the skin around his neck and jawline where a Rogue attacked and nearly killed him a few years ago. His disheveled hair only made him look more striking, as did the pinstripe suit he wore. An ugly red splotch stained the front of his jacket, right where his heart would be.
Right where I shot him – and missed.
I frowned. Part of me was happy to see my brother alive. I mean, come on, he’s my twin. But the fact he had been hell-bent on killing Aden – and every other vampire – only a few hours earlier made me pause.
Blood gushed out of the steak, which might as well have been a raw chunk of cow, as Orion cut another slice off. He stuck the dripping square into his mouth, looking at me while he chewed with a big smirk on his face. Swallowing, he delicately reached up with his pressed linen napkin and dabbed at the streak of blood that had
dribbled down his chin. “It’s good to see you’re looking well,” he said, dark eyes glittering. “Though I can’t say the same for our comrade, Captain Knight. Tell me, how is your beloved?”
“Go to hell,” I hissed, which only made him laugh.
“Hell couldn’t handle me, sweetheart,” he said, rising and tossing the napkin onto the now empty plate. He walked over to me, putting his hands in his pants pockets, with his thumbs hooked over the sides.
I suddenly wanted to spit on him, right in his eyes, but that seemed childish. “What are you doing here?” I asked tightly.
He glanced over his shoulder at the table. “It would appear I was having dinner.”
“I shot you,” I snapped, in no mood for his games. “With Scarlet Steel, at which point you fell at least twenty stories out of a building.”
His eyes fixed on mine, dark and dangerous. The slow smile spreading over his lips made me uneasy. “Yes, somehow I had forgotten that part. Thank you for reminding me of your affection.”
Guilt twisted my heart. I didn’t know why. He deserved it, and yet I couldn’t erase a lifetime of memories together, most of which from when he was less of a monster.
“How did you survive?” I asked. My voice sounded strained because my throat was so tight.
Orion’s eyes flickered red, reflecting like a cat’s would. “Because I am a ‘god walking amongst mere mortals’. As you could be, if you chose to embrace our heritage.”
My eyes flickered to the spot beneath his suit, where I knew the forget-me-not birthmark was. He was referring to our supposed ancestor, the first vampire that ever walked the earth. Many believed in the myth so deeply it was nearly a religion, but I wasn’t sure what to make of the fabled vampire yet.
“I am many things, but not a murderer or a psychopath,” I said coldly.
He leaned forward, dropping his voice to a whisper. “You think you’re better than me, but you’re not.” Gracefully, he reached through the slot and toyed with a strand of my hair. Something flashed silver; a ring stamped with the forget-me-not emblem rested on his middle finger. I held my breath, trembling from a combination of loathing and fear. “There’s an animal inside all of us, waiting to be unleashed. And when it comes for you, dear sister, you’ll hate the vamps as much as I do, and you’ll wish you had let me follow through with my plan.”
His words sent chills racing across my skin as I recalled the barely human monsters that roamed the Red Sectors. At one point in time, they had all been people.
Just like me.
Did they know they were going to become mindless monsters? Was that the future I had to look forward to?
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “No. No, I could never be like that.”
His smile turned knowing. “Are you sure? I hear you killed quite a few of my best men at the Knight residence.”
I felt my cheeks cool as I paled, remembering the feeling of slaughtering several men with little more than my bare hands. Killing seemed natural at the time, and I hadn’t thought anything of it.
Until now.
A dark chuckle interrupted my thoughts, and my eyes snapped up. “There it is… bloodlust.” He sighed the word, making it sound romantic. Running his thumb once more over the strand of my hair, he released it and let it flop back down over my chest. “It’s okay to be what you are. Those men were insignificant, and you are a goddess. We are more than any of them will ever hope to become.”
It was growing very warm in here, and for some reason, my heart started to race at the memory of their blood splattered all over the living room and kitchen. I took a shaky breath, feeling a hard push deep within me to feed, to savor the warm, syrupy sweetness of their blood as it drained down my throat…
I blinked hard. What the hell was I thinking? I didn’t want to be a vampire. The one time I had fed on a human – without meaning to, I might add – it was one of the most horrible things I’d ever done, or at least it felt that way to me. But now…
“Stop it,” I hissed, putting my hands over my ears. “Stop messing with my head.”
Orion smirked. “We’re twins. I’ll always be inside your head.”
And with that, he slammed the slate shut. I heard the click of his shoes as he walked away, leaving me feeling shaken. Hugging myself, I turned and leaned against the wall, sliding to the floor.
If anyone said anything to me, I didn’t hear them. All I could hear in the prison of my mind were the screams of at least a dozen total strangers as I tore their lives apart in a flash of fangs and a bloodstained smile.
***
“Sloane…”
I was drifting. All around me was a murky black ocean, and for some reason the air felt cooler. I felt calmer here, lost somewhere in the realm between waking and dreaming.
“Sloane, can you hear me?”
My breath caught.
“Aden?” I asked, my voice echoing through the darkness.
Far-off, directly in front of me, a beam of sunlight rained down on a green field sprinkled with red dots. The tall grass rippled in the breeze, blowing the scent of wildflowers toward me and ruffling my hair.
I squinted.
There was a figure standing there, with his hands inside his pockets. I was too far away to see his face clearly, but I knew without a doubt who he was when I saw the white glow of his too-blond hair.
“Aden!” I called, reaching out for him.
***
Screams woke me up with a jolt.
I had no idea when I’d fallen asleep. My back was stiff from leaning against the wall, and when I sat up too fast, a nerve in my neck pinched. Gritting my teeth, I looked out through the bars right as a body was thrown at them and hot blood sprayed all over me.
Gasping out of shock, I staggered to my feet, looking down in disbelief at the red streams coating my clothes. The smell of fresh blood – hot red drops full of life, with that odd metallic tang – tickled my nostrils, and I inhaled deeply, feeling the desire to feed grow stronger within me.
Gunshots fired, snapping me out of the fantasy, and I dove for the floor as a shower of bullets hit the wall. From the corner of my eye, I could see Paris was also on the floor, covering her head with her hands while keeping her face down. There was a rush of air as a dark shape moved in front of my cell, and then the firing abruptly ceased as the shooter released a strange scream. It was distorted by a gurgling sound, like he was yelling underwater. I jumped as his body landed in front of my cell, his dead eyes turned right at me. His throat looked like it had been completely ripped out.
That should have disgusted me. I should have felt pity for him. But as I stared at the growing pool of blood beneath his face, all I could feel was the telltale ache in my gums that said my fangs were elongating, accompanied by the almost uncomfortable urge to lap up his blood.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Fight it, Sloane. You don’t need it.
Swallowing down my urges, I opened my eyes and shakily stood.
There were bodies lying all over the place, some not completely intact with all their limbs. That did make me sick, and I pushed back the bile that had risen in the back of my throat. Blood covered everything; the walls, the floor, the lights. One lightbulb was dripping blood onto the little puddle of scarlet below. The sound was too loud in the almost eerie silence filling the hall. Beside me Paris was standing, but she almost fell because she was shaking so badly. Her breath came in shallow, shaky gasps. Even from here, I could hear her heart beating much too fast, at nearly the same pace as my own.
There was movement at the corner of my eye, and my eyes snapped to my right, seeing a man, barely alive, crawling over to the alarm on the wall. Raising the lid, he slammed his palm down on the red button right before a blur came out of the darkness and snapped his neck.
Red lights flared to life along the ceiling as a siren began wailing, so loud it felt like it would scramble my eardrums. Covering my ears and gritting my teeth against the sound, I looked up as the shadow straightene
d and turned to look at me.
My breath left in a rush. “Orion.”
“You look surprised, Sis,” he said, flashing a smile.
“How did you…” The question died on my tongue as my mind tried to wrap itself around the fact my brother was standing outside the bars.
Free.
“Escape?” he finished. “It was easy. I glamoured them. Their weak minds were easy enough to control.”
“Glamour alone wouldn’t be enough,” I said. “What else did you do?”
He shrugged. “Our glamour is stronger than most vampires since we’re descended from the first king. That being the case, we’re also stronger and faster than ‘lesser’ vampires.” He kicked one of the corpses out of the way with a look of utter disgust.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I growled. “You deserve to rot in a cell for the rest of your long, wretched life for what you’ve done.”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so, Sis.” He knelt and grabbed a bloody security badge. Wiping it off on his jacket, he lifted it up to the scanner while it was still around the man’s contorted neck. “I have far too many plans to be inconvenienced for much longer.”
The little light turned from red to green, and a door slid open.
“Sloane!” Paris yelled. “If he escapes, I won’t be able to find a cure!”
My eyes widened and I whirled around. “Orion, stop!”
He paused at the door, turning just far enough to give me a bitter smile. The red light brought out his glowing crimson eyes and bloody fangs, making him look like a demon. “No, Sloane. I’m never going to stop, not until they pay for taking my dreams away.”
Then he stepped out the door, along with the only chance I had at saving Aden’s life.
CHAPTER 5
It’s weird how life has those moments that seem to move both incredibly fast and slow at the same time.
I stared at the now closed door my brother had just left through as the sirens blared and red lights flooded the prison ward. The ruckus disoriented my surroundings, but not to the point that I couldn’t see the set of keys lying in a pool of blood in front of my cell.
Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) Page 4