by Ilana Waters
“No, I didn’t.” Rattler took a step forward and leaned towards her. “I drew you a bloody map!”
“Yes, and the part where the entrance was supposed to be wasn’t there.” Camilla folded her arms across her chest. “It was just a bunch of rocks.”
My skin started leaking perspiration and my heart began to pound. Plan Bs raced through my mind as I realized I had only seconds till they figured this out. Slowly, I tried to slide the detonator out of my back pocket. Ferox was looking from one arguing vampire to the other with an intrigued expression.
“A bunch of . . . rocks?” Rattler turned his head slightly in my direction. “Were they piled on top of each other?”
“Yes, exactly,” said Camilla. “If there was an entrance there, it was plugged up a long time ago.”
“Or maybe more recently.” Rattler narrowed his eyes at me.
“And there was something creepy about it,” Camilla said with a shiver. “Just a feeling I got, like it was covered in—”
“MAGIC!” shrieked Rattler. With lightning speed, he turned away from Camilla and lunged for my throat. I grabbed his forearms and tried to send enough painful magic through them to stop him.
“What did you do to Stavros?” Rattler demanded. He gritted his teeth against the spell’s sting, which barely prevented his sharp nails from penetrating my throat. The other vampires moved closer to us, lips curling back. Some of the men were pushing up their sleeves. Ferox’s intrigued expression was gone now, replaced by a much darker one.
“Actually,” I coughed, “it’s more like what did Stavros do to us. George and me, that is.”
“You saw what was down there,” Rattler growled, pushing my head back against the wall. “You blocked the entrance.”
“Now, now, you didn’t think your plans for world domination were going down without a fight, did you?” I stared directly into his hateful eyes, watching him grimace as I pulsed a wave of heat through his veins.
“How much do you know?” asked Ferox in a low voice, very close to my ear. “And for how long? Eriel!” he barked to one of the male vampires. “Confirm the whereabouts of anyone else who’s not present. That irritating little earth witch has been gone for too long.”
He’s right, I realized, my chest tightening as Rattler’s fingers constricted my airflow. I hope she was able to do what she needed to, and that those three other vampires didn’t kill her instead.
Eriel whipped out his cell phone and began jabbing at the screen. I really must talk to my service provider, I thought as my heart rate slowed from the lack of oxygen. First the Council, now a band of vampires. How are they getting reception down here? “Perdita was supposed to text me,” he said frantically. “I can’t imagine where she could be.”
In a pile of ash in one of Rome’s most exclusive clothing stores, I thought, still struggling to breathe.
“She and the others should have been back by now,” Ferox said sharply.
I closed my eyes. So Ferox had no idea about Perdita. And he was about to find out at the worst possible moment.
“Wait, there’s a message,” said Eriel, holding one finger over the phone. “Some of the text is cut off, but it seems like . . . she found it! The crystal was in the Hassler’s hotel safe!” He lifted his head and looked at Ferox, who slowly turned in my direction.
Ferox gazed at me in newfound amazement, as if he’d never seen me before. “I knew it!” he breathed. “I knew Aurelius wasn’t telling the whole truth when he said he had a son. So that’s how you were born. Whoever has the crystal must possess enormous power.” He was feverish with delight, his eyes and voice taking on a wild, crazed quality. “The Opener of Doors. If it can create the miracle of life, imagine what it could do for me!”
Ah, therein lies the rub, I thought, running out of air magic to both hold off Rattler and keep breathing. I could indeed imagine what Ferox would do with the crystal’s power, and every scenario was more terrifying than the last.
“And to think, you’ve been lying to us the entire time,” Ferox hissed, his fangs inches from my face. “Starting with that smell.”
“What smell, Sire?” asked Eriel.
“Exactly,” said Ferox, his eyes never leaving mine. “There’s hardly any. You’ve been bringing corpses down here for weeks. Even with modern embalming methods, this whole place should reek of death. Why doesn’t it?” he snarled. Eriel and a few other vampires started tearing through the body bags, ripping away the cotton batting.
“What the hell?” said Eriel. “This isn’t a corpse. It’s . . .”
“A bag full of explosives!” cried Camilla. “Master, they all are!” Her eyes went wide, and several other vampires let out cries of anger and fear.
“Where is that crystal?” Ferox demanded. He banged his fist on the wall of the cave right next to my head, leaving a sizable dent. “Give it to me!”
“I don’t have it,” I gasped. The magic I was sending through Rattler’s arms was fading, his grip growing tighter. A malicious smile lit up his face as tiny white specks floated through my vision.
“You’re the clever one. Titus surely gave it to you for safekeeping,” Ferox snarled. “Perdita said it was in the hotel safe, which means it isn’t there anymore.”
“I think you’re putting too much emphasis on the word ‘was.’ ” My voice was a choked whisper. Does Ferox really expect us to have a conversation when one of his minions is throttling me? “Do you really think I’d be stupid . . . stupid enough to bring it down here where you could . . . could . . . ?” I could barely get out the words. I managed to send one last burst of magic through Rattler’s arms, then kneed him hard in the groin. He doubled over, and his hands fell away from my throat.
As fast as I could, I pulled the detonator out from my back pocket. It looked a little like the remote control I used for my toy car as a child; at least, I used it until I figured out how to magic the car into flying. Before the vampires realized what was happening, my fingers flew over the keys in the order George had shown me. The clock on the detonator started counting down. The bags of C4 lit up with bright red lights, visible through the vinyl. They blinked on and off like terrifying Christmas decorations.
Rattler swung his head from side to side, looking at the flashing lights. The gravity of the situation finally dawned on him. He stood up and punched me in the stomach. His fist probably would have gone right through me if his arms weren’t still feeling the effects of my magic. I groaned, but before he could strike again, I bashed him in the face with the detonator. It knocked off his cap, broke his nose, and partially gouged out his eye. He covered his face with his hands and fell howling to the floor.
At that point, I thought it best to take my leave.
“AFTER HIM!” Ferox screamed as I ran through the cavern’s only exit. The detonator was cracked and dangling wires, but still counting down. I shoved it into my inner jacket pocket and started running through the underground as fast as I could. But I knew, sooner or later, the vampires would catch up to me.
As I glanced over my shoulder, I could already see them gaining. Rattler had even recovered enough—or was angry enough—to join in. His nose was bent at an angle, his loose eye hanging out of its socket. He smashed his fist through the edge of the cavern’s entrance, making the rocks above it shake. I noticed there was a medium-sized one over the door holding several larger ones in place, like a natural capstone. Too bad Rattler hadn’t dislodged it completely. It might have trapped at least a few vampires inside.
I threw bolts of magic behind me to slow them down. I saw the sparks fly and light up, heard the vampires’ cries of pain. But over that was the sound of Ferox, still screaming:
“DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY! HE HAS THE CRYSTAL!”
The shrieking seemed to fill the underground, making it seem as if Ferox were everywhere. I doubted the fact that I didn’t presently have the crystal in my possession would calm his rage. As I shot more magic behind me at the walls, sections of them burst apart,
spewing rocks and boulders everywhere. Some of the vampires flew over them. Others were hit and tumbled to the ground, hurt or dazed.
But striking the walls might have been premature; Ferox’s inhuman cries were causing them to shake and expel much of their contents. Dirt and debris fell from the ceiling, and I managed to duck certain objects only to trip on others. It didn’t help that I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and cover my ears in response to the unearthly screams.
This was the true Callix Ferox, the one hiding beneath the surface of the polite gentleman. His lies about roaring because he was hungry when he first awoke had been just that: lies. His whole persona was a careful construct to disguise his real nature. It was why he’d seemed more relaxed than Titus remembered him. It hadn’t really been him at all.
I was running out of steam. I pumped my arms and legs as hard as I could, but they felt as heavy as the stone all around me. My lungs were burning, sweat was stinging my eyes. My heart felt like it was trying to pummel its way out of my chest. The magic I’d made to light my way hovered in front of me, slowly dying. I lifted my jacket open to look at the detonator’s time clock. Two minutes and thirty seconds.
I desperately hoped Abigail was having more luck with her vampires than I was with mine. Just as I was considering flying out of there, I realized that I was inadvertently leading the vampires away from the explosives—the exact opposite of where they needed to be. So I did the sensible thing.
I doubled back to the room full of C4.
Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but . . . oh now, you needn’t look at me like that. After all, I had a plan. Sort of. And if it worked, I would still have time to get out before the blast hit. Depositing “bodies” for the past few weeks had familiarized me with the underground, so I went in a circle, forcing the vampires to chase me back to the C4. Then I went into the cave of devilish twinkling lights and waited.
It wasn’t long before I caught the sound of vampires running towards the room and snarling. I felt beads of perspiration run down the sides of my head, as if someone were tracing their fingers along my skin. But at the cave’s entrance, I heard the vampires come to a halt.
“What are you waiting for?” Ferox barked.
“But Sire, the bombs . . .” Camilla said.
I peeked at the detonator. Two minutes.
“I said bring me that crystal!” shouted Ferox. This time, the vampires ran into the cave. I wondered why Ferox wasn’t concerned about getting himself away from the explosives. Perhaps he assumed he was old and powerful enough to survive a blast. Really, I thought he underestimated modern weapons. Obviously, he didn’t care if his so-called children got blown to pieces. As the vampires dashed inside, I saw them looking around frantically for me while trying to avoid the perimeter lit up with C4.
“Where is he?” snarled Rattler. Blood had run down his face where I’d broken his nose, which made it even harder to look at him.
“He’s not here,” said Camilla.
“That’s impossible!” yelled Rattler. “Damn you all, look around!”
I waited until every last vampire was in the room. Then I removed the don’t-look spell I’d placed on myself, and ducked out from where I’d been hiding just next to the entrance.
What’s that? No, I couldn’t have become invisible when the vampires were chasing me through the underground. They would still have heard me. Remember: having supernatural powers is nothing without the brains to back them up.
I saw Ferox on the other side of the entrance. Before he could react, I pushed him hard into the cave. I heard—and felt—his angry screams layered upon those of the other vampires. I pulled back my arm and threw the biggest bolt of magic I could at the capstone above the door.
There was a streak of light and a crack as the capstone tumbled to the ground. Larger stones rained down around it, sending up a small mountain of dust. I held my hands in front of me, pressing the stones together and sealing them with earth magic. The vampires were screaming and pounding on the rocks, but I kept pushing, my arms and shoulders begging for relief. Then I ran the hell out of there. I knew the seal wouldn’t hold them for long, but then again, it wouldn’t need to. I looked at the detonator a third time.
One minute and thirty seconds.
***
Mom? Mom! Where are you? I’m almost at the truck, I said as I ran like mad through the underground. I searched for her with my mind, but got no response.
Mom, are you there? I started to panic. Had those three vampires killed her?
Joshua? I heard her call weakly to me.
What happened? The craggy stone walls were little more than a blur as I raced past them. I set off the bombs and trapped the vampires. We have to get out of here now!
Just keep going, Joshua. Her thoughts were even fainter now, but I knew it wasn’t because I was farther away. Forget about me.
I stopped dead in my tracks, and for a moment, my heart did, too. What are you talking about? Where are you?
I’m at the bottom of the aqueduct, the one we flew over with Arthur. I managed to kill . . . kill the vampires, but it was harder than I expected. I fell. Magic softened my landing, but I’m too weak to fly back up. There’s also a damn rock on top of my leg and I can’t . . . can’t get it . . . I could feel the pain in her thoughts.
I know where you are. I’m coming. I spun 180 degrees and ran back to the aqueduct. Don’t move.
Of course I can’t move—wait! No, Joshua, you can’t come here. You have to get out! The tone of her thoughts was nearly hysterical, but I kept going.
When I arrived at the aqueduct, I spotted Abigail below and flew to her side. Now we were almost down to what I judged was the level of the C4 room. It seemed no matter what we did in the underground, we always ended up right back where we started.
Is there no escape from this sodding hellhole? I thought to myself.
The ball of light beside Abigail was barely glowing. She was indeed pinned under a large rock, which I magically heaved off her with a loud grunt. I winced when I saw her calf was partially crushed, but it didn’t matter. We could always heal it later—if we survived.
“Joshua, I told you to get out of here,” she rasped, eyes flashing angrily. Her face was bruised and scratched; whether it was from fighting the vampires or the fall, I had no idea.
“Good thing I don’t always do what I’m told.” I helped her to her feet while she leaned on my shoulder. I looked at the detonator again.
“Thirty seconds left,” I said tonelessly. “It doesn’t matter if I run or fly with you up there. We’ll never make it.”
Abigail’s face crumbled. “Is there no way to defuse the bombs once they’ve been activated?”
“Mom, George fashioned a magical trap so tight, a Wiccan Houdini couldn’t get out of it. You remember what he said about not leaving a fail-safe.” In my mind, I swore all sorts of oaths at him. Sure, his trick meant the vampires couldn’t escape, but now, neither could we. Unless . . .
“Mom, quick: help me put a protection spell around us.”
“Oh, Joshua.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head against my shoulder. “It won’t help. And I barely have enough magic left to—”
“Just try, Mom, and I’ll do the same.” I wrapped my arms around her, looking at the detonator in my left hand over her shoulder. She whispered some ancient words, while I mentally snatched at the air, spiraling it in a cocoon. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist, the fingers on my other hand digging into the detonator. I could feel the spell hardening, solidifying. I winced as pain shot through my skull. Too much magic, too fast. But I couldn’t stop now. It might not be enough as it was.
“I’m . . . I’m so sorry, Mom,” I choked. “I tried. I really did.”
“I know you did, Joshua.” She stroked my hair, her face buried in my shoulder. “Don’t feel bad, baby.” Her voice was muffled; my shirt grew wet with her tears. “Look at it this way: we did the right thing. We saved a lot of lives. The world will be a better pl
ace because we were here. How many people can say that? I only wish your father—oh God! Titus!” she sobbed.
“Hold on, Mom. Hold on as tight as you can.” She clutched me so hard I couldn’t inhale, though that might have been from the lump in my throat.
“I love you, Joshua,” she breathed. She spoke with such constrained agony, I could feel the ache squeezing in my own chest. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I want you to know that.”
“I love you, too, Mom,” I whispered. I couldn’t believe I was putting her through this, not that it would matter for long.
So this is how it ends, I thought to myself. What a short life it was. All the things I thought I’d have time to do. I wonder how Father will react when he finds out, or George. Or anyone else I’ll never see again, like Colle—
As if the moment couldn’t get any worse, we looked up to see Ferox and the rest of the vampires running along the aqueduct. They began jumping off and racing towards us, with Ferox in the lead. His hair was in complete disarray, his previously flawless suit torn and filthy. The other vampires were in a similar condition, with Rattler being the worst-looking among them. Their outstretched nails and hands were bloody from tearing through the rocks. Ferox was wild-eyed, unhinged. The final vestiges of civility had been stripped away. He looked like he was leading a pack of mad dogs down the last sprint before a kill.
There was no time to turn invisible; besides, it wouldn’t stop the bombs. We were perfect sitting ducks, standing there with our arms around one another. But I couldn’t risk moving and breaking the spell. I stared at the detonator as if trying to will it to count down faster. You’ll see why in a moment.
5 . . . 4 . . . 3
C’mon, c’mon! I begged. The master and his minions were only feet from us now. The ground beneath us started to shake, and Ferox’s hand—like the claws of a feral thing—snatched at us.
“Audaces fortuna iuvat,” I whispered in Abigail’s ear. Fortune favors the bold. Then I saw Ferox, his hand, and the rest of the vampires swallowed up in a screaming ball of fire.