David stepped through the wall. The same cobweb-covered feeling engulfed him. Resisting the urge to wipe off the nonexistent webs, he pulled his .45 from its holster. He was not sure what good it would do him against magic, but having it out made him feel better.
Finn tottered down the maintenance stairs to the floor below, following a thin, pale ribbon. Another shimmer layered the door. He walked through but did not come back for David this time.
David walked through, praying no ambush lay on the other side. Nothing but a thin ribbon to lead the way. He put his back to the wall and made his way down the silent, dark hall. The air was close. He smelled the smoke clinging to what remained of the place. The floor felt stable enough beneath his feet, but he still took careful steps.
Finn stopped in front of an open elevator shaft. He laid down face-first on the floor and scooted to the edge. Nothing happened. The ribbon trailed over the edge like a waterfall.
“Tell me you have a way to get down that doesn’t involve climbing like a spider,” Finn almost begged in a harsh whisper.
“I do have some reinforced cord, but I don’t think it will go all the way to the bottom, if that’s what you mean.”
“Thought not. Oh well. Pick me up and get this over with,” Finn said quietly, standing with arms held outstretched.
David holstered his .45 and slung Finn up like a backpack once again. Stepping to the edge, he laid his hand on the shaft’s rough walls. What mortar had squeezed out between the bricks here had not been neatened up, as it had been on the outside. No one was meant to ever see this part. It made the decent much easier.
The ribbon faded after a few floors. “Where to?” David whispered. He did not know whether to get out of the shaft here or follow it down lower.
Finn chanted his spell again in hushed tones by David’s ear. Several floors below them, the trail picked back up. It lay across the top of the bottomed-out elevator car and led out of the shaft at what David assumed was the basement.
It made sense. They would have to keep Liz somewhere out of the daylight. The windows in older buildings did not have the UV protection. Replacing them would be a dead giveaway of a vampire in residence. A windowless basement made the perfect hiding place.
David stopped above the exit, turned sideways, and peered into the empty space. He heard mumbling from the old laundry room. Two male voices mingled with a female voice. David lowered them to the floor as quietly as he could. Neither of them dared to breathe.
* * * *
Cassy’s plunge landed her in a thicket by the lake. Brambles scraped her cheek, causing it to bead with blood along the cut. Her hair tangled in the stems and twigs of the bush nearest her. She managed to free herself and decided to take the time to braid her long tresses. Pulling a tie from her back pocket, she thanked the stars she always kept an extra for just such emergencies. Small animals fluttered and scurried away from her. She hoped their startled cries did not give her away.
The sky glowed a soft, silky, golden pink. Dark purple clouds hung in the air. No light source, like the sun, explained the brightness. It seemed more like a well-lit twilight than day. The light did not hurt her eyes or sting her skin. She felt safe here, as promised.
From her vantage point, she saw the gated passage Ronan had spoken of, but not the far shore of the lake. The mist hid everything outside of Avalon. A few feet away, the dark surface of the water disappeared from view as she searched for the far shore. It lapped at the banks of the island. A finger of water stretched up a canal to her destination.
She followed it to the gated entrance. The thick, ornate bars were spaced far enough apart to allow her to slip through. To prevent a splash, Cassy sat down and eased into the tepid water. She tested the bars below the waterline with her feet. They seemed to go all the way to the bottom of the canal with the same spacing they had at the top.
Cassy eased herself between the bars. Inside, a stone walkway ran the length of the tunnel. She debated getting out of the water or just swimming the distance. As she did, she felt slightly sleepy and opted to get out of the water.
Once on the stone walkway, the sleepiness lifted. She patted her pocket to ensure the medallion and amulets were still with her. The coinlike medallion reminded her of its purpose, a charm against sleep enchantments. Cassy promised herself to give Mills’s mom a big hug the next time she saw her.
Everything started off according to Ronan’s instructions. The walkway ended at a boat dock. The stairs led to an empty corridor lined with burning touches. Cassy followed it to the appropriate door, a massive English oak with heavy iron hinges and a pull ring for the handle. Given its size, Cassy expected it to be hard to open at best and most likely locked. It surprised her to find the door swung open with hardly a touch. The heavy oak doors closed behind her without even the slightest squeak.
Fine silks draped to cover the drab stone walls. Four beds with intricately carved canopy posts sat in a row, each surrounded by thin, white tulle curtains. Three beds held an occupant that seemed distinctively female stretched out in the same restful pose. Each one held a different herb in her slumbering hands.
Cassy noted the aroma of parsley from the first bed, rosemary from the second, and thyme from the third. On the fourth bed laid a bundle of sage. The plants obviously held meaning or said something about the woman holding the bundle. Rifling through her memories, she hoped to find the connection.
Parsley stood for the spiritual. This had to be Alena. She possessed the most faith in the universal divine and believed against all hope in the power of righteousness. As a child, she dreamed of being a nun cloistered away in an abbey.
Cassy pulled back the curtain to find her flushed pink, almost human in color. Her golden-blonde hair was braided to one side. She was dressed in a pale pink satin gown with princess seams. A plain gold circlet lay on her forehead. Her fang points protruded from her upper lip. Her wedding ring seemed to be missing.
Cassy placed one of the amulets around her neck, laid one of Alena’s hands between hers and the opal, and said the trigger word. She assumed Alena needed to be the one touching the stone for the magic to work. She did not want to risk being the one sent back and having to repeat the process.
It would have been nice if someone had explained the procedure a little better, she thought.
“Baile.”
Alena faded into nothingness. Cassy watched in astonishment. She did not know what to expect, but the peacefulness of the transition amazed her. She moved to the next bed.
Rosemary wafted as she pulled back the curtain to find Martina. An herb for remembrance suited her. She neither forgot a slight nor forgave. Someone braided her black hair in the same manner as Alena’s. Her dress and circlet were the same, save the dress color. Martina’s was burgundy velvet. Her wedding ring, also, seemed to be gone. Cassy repeated the process with the same result. Martina simply vanished.
Nadia was the only one left to send home. Cassy thought of Nadia as sweet and meek, not courageous. The thyme bundle in her hands seemed out of place, but then again, the sage made no sense either. Martina’s mousy sister never conjured images of power and strength.
Nadia’s chestnut-brown hair had been more intricately braided than the other two and had gold beads braided into the thick stands. Instead of a plain gold circlet, she wore a finely wrought gold filigree circlet adorned with oak leaves, another floral symbol of bravery and courage. Even her dress looked different. The cut was similar but made of a rare, high-quality spider silk in rich orange, a confident color. Cassy wondered if the person dressing Nadia knew her at all.
Cassy laid the opal amulet on her chest and repeated the enchantment to send her home. Nothing. She made sure the chain was secure around her neck with her fingers in contact with the gemstone.
“Baile,” Cassy repeated.
Nadia remained on the bed.
Ronan’s warning replayed from the recesses of her mind like a record full of pops and white noise. She closed her eyes, th
ought of his face, and concentrated on the sound of his voice in her head.
“Know this, Princess. The women may only leave Avalon if they wish to return home. Elsewise, the amulet will not work. Free will must be allowed at all times and granted to all. The violation of free will is one of the reasons some of us oppose what has been done,” Ronan had said.
“Oh, Nadia,” Cassy sighed when the realization struck her.
Something struck her from behind, burning her wherever her skin was exposed. Cassy shrieked and fought to get away from what touched her. The more she struggled, the more of it there seemed to be.
“Stop fighting the net, or we will be unable to remove it until you do,” a male voice commanded.
Chapter 11
David placed a single finger to his lips, making sure Finn knew to keep quiet. He eased the .45 from his shoulder holster, keeping an eye on the old laundry room. He pressed his back firmly against the wall and slowly made his way down the short hall. He heard low voices speaking in hushed tones.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t just give her to the elves, too,” a husky voice complained. “I mean, the money thing I understand. You gotta eat when this is all over with, but kidnapping the wife of the Crown Prince and keeping her here goes way beyond crazy.” The man paced the floor. His tone sounded agitated.
“Yeah, what he said. She’s been asleep since she got here, but how are we supposed to feed her. Even if you are planning something big, if she comes to, we’re lunch. She’s not going to stop to ask us what’s for dinner, because it’s going to be us!” The second voice was deeper but smoother than the first. Both men were now pacing. Someone was jingling the change in his pockets.
“Sit down, both of you. What I do is my business. You are being paid to make sure no one comes to get the little darling. Seamus and Stilt should have been back by now. Max said they needed to collect the last piece of the puzzle before we could make our move. I don’t want any more screwups. The money transfers were supposed to go undetected. Kyle assured us that using Max’s sister’s accounts would go unnoticed, but that didn’t work. Now, he’s missing, too. We have to stay below the radar. Got that?” The woman’s voice held a silky, dangerous edge.
“Jo, why didn’t you just give her to the elves? They were expecting four women. You told them four wanted to go live with them. You had all four spelled into an enchanted sleep. You already took the money. What good is she here?” The husky voice rose in pitch. Worry and anxiety colored his tone.
“They were supposed to get the fourth when Seamus and Stilt came back. Max didn’t say it had to be Elisabeta. They can have that good-for-nothing sister of his. If I have the baby, I control the dynasty. Without her, Max is free. Without her, I can be a queen. We don’t have to live like second-rate citizens anymore just because we were made and not born. Even the less-than-halves can have a life. Are you really so narrow-minded?” She all but shrieked at them by the end of her speech.
David heard her taking deep breaths and muttering to herself to calm down. He needed to do the same, only without all the noise. They talked about Cassy, about giving Cassy to the elves like a prized trophy. Anger filled him. A drowsiness came out of nowhere, tempering his fury. As quickly as it came, it eased. David knew the feeling was from his constant bond with Cassy.
Her amulet must have worked, David thought.
Someone came out of the door. With no good hiding places, David scrambled up the wall, reaching down to lift Finn out of the door’s line of sight. He pinned the leprechaun to the ceiling with his body and prayed no one looked up. It strained him to hang onto the unhappy, wriggling little man, but somehow, he managed to hold still.
A tall, curvy woman in her early twenties jerked the door open and slammed it behind her. In the dark hall, David had to rely on his acute sight for an ID. She seemed to have black, short hair cut into a shoulder-length bob. Her round face held wide-set steel-gray eyes. Her features looked very Slavic in nature.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, squinting her eyes as if she had a headache. Her pale, white skin almost glowed in the dark corridor. The navy-blue pinstripe pant suit was paired with a white, low-cut vest she used as a shirt substitute. If David saw her out on the street, he might guess she worked in an office.
“Jo! You forgot to tell us what to do!” The smooth voice called out behind her.
She flapped a hand in the air as if she shooed away an insect. Her nose wrinkled, and she gave an irritated snarl. Her fangs flashed.
“Just do what you have been, and keep out of sight,” Jo ordered.
As she walked away, David heard her mutter under her breath, “Stupid fucking half-breeds.”
David waited until he was sure they were alone in the corridor before lowering Finn to the floor. Dropping down beside him in a crouch, David whispered as quietly as he could.
“Can you freeze these two like Seamus did us?”
“Yes, Master David, I have that power. I cannot create a portal. Getting home will require using the portal we came through. I can winkle myself but no other. We may be on foot, if getting to the portal proves impossible,” Finn admitted.
“I’m going to roll a few flash-bangs into the room. Your job will be to freeze anything moving in that room. Don’t worry about me. Just make sure nothing in there can move, and secure the door. When I kick in the door, shut your eyes and cover your ears. Move in when I move. Got it?”
David watched as the little man nodded. Standing, he pulled two small, round, black cylinders from a pouch on his belt. He gripped the metal rings firmly with his teeth, yanked them free as he kicked in the door, and gave them a toss. He moved at top speed, backing out of the room and pressing his back against the wall outside the door. Shouts from the two men were followed by a bright flash and a deafening bang. David charged in with his .45 out.
“Don’t move! Stay down! Stay the fuck down!” he yelled, pointing the .45 at them.
Finn rushed in and brushed his legs as he moved into position. Pointing a finger at each of the men in turn, Finn spoke in a language David did not recognize. The men froze in their disoriented state like statues. He turned to the door and uttered different words in the same strange language. A red light glowed around the edges, and a milky film covered the opening.
“Nice job, Finn!” David complimented. “Check on Elisabeta.”
Finn’s stubby fingers checked for a pulse and laid his hand on her stomach for a brief moment. He turned back to David and gave him a thumbs-up sign.
He tugged at an arm of one of the frozen men. It moved without having to undo the spell. He whipped out the zip ties and secured the two men’s hands and feet. He pulled the first man, a broad, burly man of six-foot, up by the shirt.
Burly’s eyes were the same odd shade of blue-gray as the last half-breed vampire David knew. Compelling him was easy. Staring him in the eyes, David pushed his will into the man’s mind. Burly’s eyes slid out of focus, and David knew he was in control.
“You will not try to move. When the spell is lifted, you will not resist. You will answer the questions you are asked as fully and as honestly as you can,” David commanded. He noticed the thinner man’s matching eye color and repeated the process.
David gave Finn a nod. The leprechaun pointed the same stubby finger at the men David thought of as Burly and Slim. A few choice words lifted the spell. Neither of the men moved.
“Who is Jo?” David asked Burly, holding him close by the shirt collar.
“She’s somehow connected with the royal family,” he replied.
“How is she connected? She’s made, not born. Is she a servant?”
“I’m not sure. She talks about the Crown Prince a lot and uses his nickname. She says they use to have a thing for each other, but that was before I was born,” Burly said.
“Why did she send the other three women to the elves?” David tried to keep his tone easy and relaxed. What he really wanted to do was to break the man’s jaw.
&nbs
p; “She got Kyle to put them into an enchanted sleep so they wouldn’t be able to talk. Then she had Kyle go to Avalon and tell Queen Mab she had political refugees. The elves have been having problems like the vampires. Mab gave them asylum, hoping the new DNA would help the elves. Mab was told they wanted to go. That’s all I know,” Burly mumbled.
David dropped the broad man. He landed with a thump. David made eye contact with him again and pushed his will back into his mind. David felt the tiny threads of power twist in knots.
“You will forget we were here. You will go straight to the local vampire police and tell them what you have done. In fact, confess every crime you have ever committed and ask that no mercy be given. When I cut your ties, you will not run. You will wait until Slim over here and I have had a little talk and go together. Got that?” David worked hard to keep his temper under control, now that he had heard what they had planned to do to Cassy.
Burly just nodded.
Lifting Slim up in the same manner, David asked him the same series of questions and received similar answers. Slim seemed to know Jo’s full name.
“Jo is short for Josephine, Josephine Corvinus,” Slim said.
“I don’t know that name,” David thought aloud.
“I do,” Finn said, looking frightened. He fidgeted with a coin, using it like a worry stone. “She is old. I mean really old. Like almost-as-old-as-Vlad kind of old, and bad news to boot. We have to get out of here now.”
David felt a sudden itching from head to toe, like the cobweb feeling he had after using the portal. Only this time it itched and echoed of a burn.
“Cassy! Finn! We have to get back!”
* * * *
Cassy stopped struggling against the metal net. The rings, she realized, were made of silver. They sapped her strength and burned the longer they were in contact with her skin. She needed them to remove it as soon as possible.
Scion's Avalon [House of Dracul 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 9