Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles)

by Krystle Jones

  Against all reasoning, I grinned. “In the cells back there,” I whispered.

  His mouth rolled up into a sneer, and he backhanded me hard enough to pop my jaw.

  Leo’s hand curled into a fist, but his face was stony as ever.

  My heart jumped as I stared at his hand, but then McGuiness grabbed my chin and jerked my face back around.

  There was a sharp flare of pain as he pulled the knife free and pointed it beneath my chin, right where my throat started. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Where is your nest?”

  I pressed my lips together, staring back at him defiantly.

  His eyes turned cunning. “All right,” he said, straightening. “I can’t say I’m surprised. You always were reckless and smart-mouthed, much like Rinaldi here until he reformed himself.”

  Leo gave McGuiness a proud, frigid smile.

  My heart twisted. What has he done to you, Leo?

  McGuiness flipped the knife closed and stowed it in his pants pocket, then leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Well, if you’re unwilling to talk to me, then perhaps what you need is a little girl time. Takihara, care to do the honors?”

  “Gladly,” said the girl, flipping her sai about her thumb so the point was facing out. She moved over to me with all the easy grace of a trained predator. She tapped her short, hot pink nails across the top of the cuff, making the steel rub up against my already raw wrist. “Tell me,” she said softly and looking me dead in the eyes, “how is it you came to be bitten?”

  That was easy. “I went into the Red Sector to look for my brother, and I was attacked by a Rogue.”

  “And did you find him?”

  “… No.”

  “You’re lying.” She reached around to her hip and drew a second sai, crossing them against my throat. Instantly, I felt the bite of the steel against my windpipe. I tilted my head back as far as I could, knowing that in seconds the steel would eat away my skin and start to work its way through my esophagus. “We both know you’re hiding something. So, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”

  “Sure,” I said through gritted teeth, rolling my eyes down to look at her. “One: Your outfit is ridiculous. You’re in the Black Cross Guild, not going cosplaying. Two: Go to hell.”

  The girl stared at me for a second before her face morphed into a glare. She lowered her sai and I gasped for a breath, which hurt like hell considering it felt like my throat was on fire. The girl brought one sai back, the point aimed for my heart, when Leo rushed forward.

  “Out of my way, Arika,” he snarled, shoving her to the side. “I can pry it out of her.” He drove his elbow into the hollow of my throat, pinning me against the back of the chair. For a minute, I thought he might be about to roughhouse me. Then he leaned forward and whispered, “Just play along.”

  My breath caught, those three little words filling me with hope. Maybe he was on my side after all.

  “Enough.” McGuiness walked forward. Leo looked at his leader and promptly backed away, bowing his head. “If she won’t tell us what we need to know,” McGuiness said, “then she’s as good as dead to us. After all, the only good vampires are dead vampires.” With a smirk on his face, he pulled a very large, serrated Scarlet Dagger from his belt.

  I confess – my eyes bulged at seeing it. It looked like something you’d use to hack through the jungle or slaughter animals with. The teeth of the dagger gleamed in the light, looking that much more menacing.

  A sly look came over his face. “Except I’m not the one who should take care of you, McAllister. I haven’t earned that right.”

  I frowned, puzzled. My confusion morphed into horror when he turned and offered he dagger, hilt first, to Leo.

  “Care to do the honors?” McGuiness asked.

  A sinister smile spread over Leo’s lips as he took the dagger. “Gladly.”

  My heart started pounding harder as he moved toward me, slowly, a predator sizing up its prey. I tensed as I tried to follow Leo with my gaze as he walked around the back of the chair, at last coming to stand beside me.

  McGuiness leaned against the wall, his arms behind his head and a large smile on his face. “Ain’t nothing like watching a vampire explode into a pile of goo. This is going to be better than the Fourth of July.”

  My imagination conjured up that image and I gulped. The air seemed too thin; it was becoming more and more difficult to breathe. A shadow fell over me as Leo came around the front of the chair and leaned in, placing the dagger to my throat. I felt its teeth dig into my tender flesh, searing it away. The smell of burning skin permeated the air, making me want to gag, and I clenched my jaws in an effort to keep my vomit down.

  Leo’s eyes stared into mine intensely.

  I didn’t dare blink, for fear I had only imagined what he’d said to me earlier.

  Holding my breath, I waited, praying, hoping, and wishing I wasn’t wrong about him.

  Leo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his throat looking as tight as my own as his breathing picked up. I could hear his heart pounding as he angled the blade, preparing to slice through my windpipe, possibly even take my head clean off.

  I held his gaze, begging him with my eyes. No matter what, don’t you dare close your eyes.

  “What the –”

  I heard a thump right before McGuiness slumped to the ground, unconscious. A nasty welt was rising at his temple from where Arika had hit him. She tucked her sai back into her belt.

  Leo let out a long breath. “Took you long enough.”

  Arika knelt and took McGuiness’s keys from his belt. “Did you see a better opportunity sooner?” she said coolly, twirling them around her finger.

  He tucked the dagger in his belt. “Well, I don’t know, when we first walked into the room would have been a good time.”

  She looked at me, a slight smile on her petite pink lips. “No, I think it was better to wait a bit, let McGuiness think he had the upper hand.”

  She enjoyed watching me suffer.

  I stared back at her warily, still not sure if she was a friend or foe.

  Arika walked to the door and peered out into the hall. “We need to get going, before the others realize something’s up.”

  “I’ll meet you out back in a minute,” Leo said. “Go get the others out.”

  With a scowl on her face, Arika reluctantly jogged out of the room toward the jail cells.

  Leo produced a slender key from his pocket and began unlocking my cuffs. Part of me still couldn’t believe this was happening, like it was too good to be true. I flexed my wrists, wincing as my skin sealed up with little tufts of smoke. Though the main injuries were gone, my skin was left pink and very sore.

  “What the hell was that?” I said.

  “Me saving your ass. Again.” My feet were freed with the click of two bolts, and I stretched my legs out in front of me. He was referring to the time he helped me escape from my mother’s mansion.

  He stood, offering me his hand. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”

  We bolted down the hallway toward the holding cells. My legs were wobbly from the aftereffects of the steel, and I had to use the wall to help maintain my balance.

  Apparently, McGuiness hadn’t trusted Drake to guard Rook and Dezyre all by his lonesome. Three other guards were with him – on the floor, out cold.

  Arika was just getting Rook’s cell unlocked when we got there.

  “Hurry!” Leo shouted.

  She grumbled something, then tossed him the keys. While he unlocked Dezyre’s cell, she undid Rook’s Scarlet Steel binds.

  Rook winced and shot her a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

  She scowled at him, not saying anything.

  Rooks brows rose. “I think.” He looked at Leo warily.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “They’re going to help us.” I hope. I silently prayed it wasn’t some part of an elaborate ploy to get us all alone so they could kill us.

  Leo freed Dezyre. “Let’s move,�
�� he said, helping her stand. She grimaced, which I thought was supposed to be a smile, as we gathered in the hall and started to leave.

  “Hey!”

  Arika and I, who were in the rear, whirled around.

  Three hunters stood there, their eyes wide with disbelief. “What are you doing?” one of them yelled, coming forward.

  Arika drew her sai and sprinted forward, knocking one guy in the back of the head before he realized what had happened. As he fell to the floor on top of his comrades, she spun on her heel, hooking one of the prongs around another hunter’s gun and yanking it from his grasp. She flipped the sai back around, to where the point was resting along the inside of her forearm, and punched him in the face with the pommel. As he gripped his bloody nose, she spun and kicked the approaching girl hard in the stomach, sending her flying into the wall. Her head hit with a crack, and her eyes rolled back as she slumped to the floor, knocked out. Bloody Nose was starting to recover, so Arika tucked her sai away and reached out, pressing her thumb and index fingers to two points along the curve of his shoulder. In a split second, his legs went limp, and he too slumped forward, unconscious.

  The rest of us stood there, brows raised.

  “Damn, girl,” Rook said.

  “Not ‘girl.’ Arika. Arika Takihara,” she said, sauntering back toward us.

  Leo was all grins, looking like a proud papa bear. “She’s my newest protégé. She’s something, huh?”

  I felt a twinge of jealousy at the pride in his voice. Leo had also been my martial arts teacher.

  Arika caught my eye, giving me a smug smile.

  I glared at her, and then Leo said, “There’ll be more where they came from. Let’s go.”

  We followed him out through a door at the other end of the hall. The moment we turned the corner and starting climbing a set of concrete stairs, I heard voices coming from behind us.

  “They know you’re gone,” Leo said to us over his shoulder. “It won’t be long before they sound the alarm.”

  Right on cue, the lights dimmed and turned red, accompanied by a screeching alarm.

  A metal door stood a few steps away. Leo leapt for it, cracking it open before it could bolt shut. “Hurry!”

  He held the door open, and we poured into the alley. When we were all out, Leo joined us and the door slammed closed. The metal vibrated as the bolts slid home, locking it from the outside. Voices shouted behind the door, followed by heavy banging as the hunters wailed on the door.

  Dezyre eyed the door nervously. “Can they get through?”

  Leo shook his head. “No. Someone has to override the security code for them to be able to unlock it. It won’t take long, so we need to be gone before that happens.”

  He took off toward the end of the alley, and we sprinted after him. The buildings standing out on the adjoining road were lit up by a weird orange glow, like firelight. As we neared the street, a cacophony of shouts drifted down the alley.

  I glanced at the others, their faces mirroring the fear and confusion I felt.

  As we turned the corner, spilling out onto the street, my eyes widened.

  We had stumbled into a full-blown riot.

  CHAPTER 9

  I swear if I saw another painted sign or crazed protester, it would be too soon.

  The mob was packed so tight that we could barely maneuver our way through them. They stood clustered in front of the jail, somehow making the dilapidated brown brick building look that much more run-down. It was still well over in the night. The sky was stained red with Scarlet Steel particles, giving everything a dull pink glow. The smell still burned my nose and throat, though it didn’t seem so bad now after having felt Scarlet Steel melt off my skin.

  I winced whenever someone bumped into me, or when I brushed my still hot pink skin against something. The crowd was restless, the sound of their cries deafening. The chaos was so great I couldn’t even tell what they were angry about. Probably life, and the fact the Apocalypse kind of came and stayed on an indefinite hiatus.

  It was hard to make sense of what they were saying; the words “unjust,” “tyrant,” and “slavery” seemed to be used more than others. People milled about, jostling us like we were in the mosh pit at a rock concert. Some people were running around with torches, setting abandoned cars and whatever else they could find on fire. Others threw bricks and rocks through the windows, breaking the few glass panes the jail still had intact. A short distance above us stretched I-376. A line of hooded figures stood there, silent and still, their black scythes standing in tall arches over their heads.

  I ran cold with fear. The Scarlet Guard.

  I always thought the Guard, which was essentially our “police force,” was more robotic than human. The big, bucket-like helmets they wore could probably be blamed for that.

  Long, wide white ribbons sewn with the Allegiance to the Sovereign stretched down the front of their red robes, fluttering in the ember-spotted breeze. The skirt of their robes was cut into four sections, allowing them easier mobility. The gloss of their tall black combat boots shone in the firelight.

  I watched them uneasily as we followed Leo to the front of the crowd. Though they all wielded scythes, I knew better than to think that was the only weapon they carried. Beneath the robes, I knew they had a veritable arsenal of guns and knives.

  I wondered what time it was. Civilians had a set bedtime – 12:00 a.m. Judging from the location of the moon, I knew we had to be past it by now, possibly around 3 a.m. or so.

  Beyond us, the Monongahela River rolled by, its surface mirroring the scarlet moon. Thanks to the red tint of the sky, it made the river look like blood.

  Leo shoved his way through the crowd with surprising agility. If they didn’t move, he’d grab a pressure point along their shoulders or arms to make them.

  “Where are we going?” I shouted.

  “My Jeep’s nearby,” he said.

  Leo’s uncle, who was loaded, had bought him a Jeep for his birthday. He was one of the few people I knew who still had a working car, aside from political officials and the Scarlet Guard. Some of the people who lived in the slums – or the outer areas of the White Sector –managed to somehow keep old buses, cabs, and police cars running, but with gas prices getting steeper, running at fifty dollars per gallon, I knew it was only a matter of time before only the wealthy could afford cars.

  A megaphone cracked to life above, commanding our attention. “This is your last warning,” came the cold, authoritative voice of one of the guards. “Abandon your cause now, or we will open fire.”

  “What?” I shouted incredulously. Open fire on unarmed civilians? Were they bluffing?

  It wasn’t unheard of to hear the Guard threatening people. I’d even heard rumors they’d shot civilians before who had gotten out of hand. But mostly, they just enforced the bedtime rule, supposedly arresting anyone who was caught outdoors after hours.

  Leo quickened his pace, blanching. “We need to get out of here before all hell –”

  I couldn’t hear if he finished the sentence because right then the Scarlet Guard let a barrage of bullets rain down upon the crowd.

  “Leo!” I screamed. I dove for him, knocking him to the ground, using my body to cover his. Beside me, Rook did the same with Dezyre while Arika hit the pavement, body pressed flat and eyes wide with fear despite the calm expression on her face. I bet she was one of those people whose expressions never changed.

  Civilians dropped all around us, some trying to dodge the fire while others fell dead.

  “This is murder!” I shouted. I started to get up. “I have to help them!”

  “No!” Leo clamped down on my wrist. “That’s suicide and you know it. Your picture’s been all over the news, Sloane. The Scarlet Guard will recognize you.” He pulled me closer. “I can’t risk you being taken away from me again.”

  I stared at him, taken aback.

  A flash of headlights came at us from the side. I turned my head just in enough time to see a car b
arreling toward us.

  “Look out!” I shouted.

  We dove apart as the wheezing Toyota blew past, full of fleeing protesters. The side of the car lit up with sparks as the Scarlet Guard turned their fire on it, and a moment later, the car swerved erratically and slammed into the side of the jail. The hood was bent up like a ribbon, and smoke billowed up from the engine.

  Leo took my hand. “My Jeep’s too far away. We’ll never make it. Come on.”

  We rose and ran toward the car. Leo pried the door open. Blood was splattered against the windshield and windows; all of its occupants were dead. The smell of blood was stronger now than the scent of Scarlet Steel, awakening my inner demon.

  I clenched my fists.

  Leo’s eyes caught mine, flashing with concern. “Hey, are you okay?”

  Maybe it was because I knew it was coming, and I was ready for it. But whatever happened, I pushed back my instinct to feed. “Yeah,” I replied, smiling weakly. “I’m fine.”

  He didn’t look convinced, but we both knew we didn’t have time to argue.

  After I helped Leo clear out the car, I climbed into the backseat. Warm, fresh blood soaked into my pants, reminding me of how we’d come by this car. I felt incredibly bad for dumping the bodies onto the street. It made me feel dirty and inhuman, which I technically was, being a vampire. Those people deserved a proper burial. In a civilized world, they would have received it.

  Rook went over to the other side and paused when he opened the door. He glanced over his shoulder, his jaw clenching. “We have company.”

  Several old vans were pulling up as the media gathered to pick the bones of the story like vultures. Being the Sovereign’s daughter meant added time in front of the cameras, and I hated reporters the most. They didn’t seem to have any decency, always waiting and ready to pounce at any moment. One time someone had snapped a shot of me standing in front of my bedroom window, drying tears on my face. By the next morning, some elaborate story had been made up about my “unstable” mental state. Rumors began to circulate about my mom and me, about how I never came around much because I was mentally ill or had some kind of deep, dark secret she didn’t want people to find out about. She had slapped me hard for that one. What the paparazzi didn’t know was that I was crying because it was the one year anniversary of the day I’d lost my father to cancer, the man who had sacrificed everything to raise me.