Night of Never

by Megan O'Russell

  Tears rolled down T’s face.

  “That’s it.” Nola took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the chill morning air. “If someone is out there watching us, waiting to let us in, now would be a really great time!”

  The cawing of frightened birds echoed from over the next rise.

  “We’ve come from the domes, and for all we know there are Outer Guard chasing us—”

  “Maybe not the best thing to mention,” Raina said.

  “My name is Magnolia Kent,” Nola shouted. “I have Raina with me, and T who is carrying a child of Nightland. I have an Outer Guard who abandoned his post to come with us. If you’re fool enough to think Emanuel won’t want to see me, then I pity the punishment waiting for you if you leave us out here to die!”

  Raina leaned against a tree, her face caught somewhere between amusement and disgust. “You just had to push their hand didn’t you?”

  “Push whose hand?” Nola asked. “You say this is the entrance to where Nightland is. You’re from Nightland, T’s got a Nightland baby. Emanuel owes me after the hell he put me through—”

  “Does that mean we should leave the other two to die?” A low voice carried from above.

  A dark-skinned man holding a long staff stood on a ledge ten feet above them. Bald headed with scars dotting his skin, the man smiled as he looked down at Raina, showing his sharpened fangs. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Desmond.” Raina grinned. “I thought you were smarter than to listen to such nasty rumors.”

  “Hmm.” Desmond’s black eyes turned to each of the other four in turn, leaving Nola for last. “Nola Kent, none of us ever imagined we’d see you here.”

  “I never imagined it either.” Nola kept her voice steady.

  Now is not the time to fight, Nola.

  She forced her hands to unclench.

  “But I didn’t think the domes would order my execution either,” Nola said. “So, I guess it’s been a really surprising few days for me.”

  Desmond laughed, the low sound more like a lion than a man.

  “Desmond, you know me,” Raina said. “How many years did I fight by your side?”

  “Too many to count.”

  “Then you know I would never betray Emanuel. I’ve come home, old friend. Let me in.” Raina and Desmond stared at each other for a long moment. “I’ve got tons of fun stories about being locked in a concrete cage, and I’d hate to die in the sun before I can tell them.”

  “What do you want me to do with the Domer?” Desmond pointed his staff at Jeremy. “Hang his entrails out for the birds? Bleed him for a snack?”

  “No.” Nola stepped in front of Jeremy. “He saved my life, and he can’t go back to the domes.”

  “And?” Desmond said.

  “And…” Nola glanced behind.

  Jeremy stared at her with sadness in his eyes. He didn’t open his mouth to defend his own life.

  “And he has information for Dr. Wynne,” Nola said. “About the drugs they’ve been giving the Outer Guard. If you leave him out here to die, the information dies with him.”

  Raina raised an eyebrow at Nola. “See, massively important information.”

  “Do you trust him, Raina?” Desmond asked.

  “I trust my ability to kill him if he steps a toe out of line.” Raina shrugged.

  “Good enough.” Desmond stepped back, disappearing behind the edge of the ledge.

  “And in we get.” Raina strode over to the slant in the mountainside.

  From below, it didn’t look like the ledge should be able to hold a person’s weight. Covered entirely in moss, it seemed like nothing more than an overgrown lump of foliage.

  Raina jumped, grabbing the ledge and pulling herself up in one easy motion. “Domer, give us the baby maker.”

  Jeremy nodded. T didn’t argue as he led her to Raina, or as he took her waist, lifting her high overhead and into Raina’s waiting arms.

  Beauford walked up to the ledge.

  Jeremy held out his hands, offering to lift Beauford.

  “Not a chance.” Beauford stared at the ledge.

  Jeremy shrugged and made a step with his hands.

  “Fine.” Beauford stepped on Jeremy’s palms. Raina grabbed his wrists before he could reach for the moss, lifting him straight up.

  Nola laughed as Beauford’s feet wiggled in the air before he disappeared.

  Jeremy looked to Nola. Her laugh dissolved.

  “Are you mute now?” Nola strode over to the ledge.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  The hollow tone of Jeremy’s voice slammed into Nola’s gut. Like someone had punched her right where the wolf’s knife had pierced her flesh.

  “Let me help you.” Jeremy reached for Nola’s waist.

  “I can do it myself.” Nola looked up to the top of the ledge.

  “Thank you,” Jeremy whispered. “For vouching for me. For not letting them leave me out here. It’s more than I deserve.”

  “I—” Nola dug her fists into her eyes. “Wanting you to not die and forgiving you are two very different things.”

  “I know.”

  “And I don’t…” Nola’s words faded away as she looked at Jeremy. The lines of worry etched in his face were more than any seventeen-year-old should bear. His shoulders were rounded, like someone had shattered the strong Outer Guard he had been. Dark blond stubble coated his cheeks.

  Nola knew what his face would feel like against hers. Where on his shoulder her head fit so perfectly.

  “I don’t want you dead, Jeremy. I’ve never wanted anything bad to happen to you. I don’t know if I could stand it.”

  “Nola—”

  “So don’t pull any asshole guard moves with Emanuel,” Nola said. “I know you’re strong, but so are they. And he’ll do whatever it takes to protect his people. He already murdered people in the domes. I don’t think he’ll mind killing you.”

  “Are the two formerly known as lovebirds done?” Raina said. “Some of us would like to get moving.”

  “Right.” Nola didn’t look away from Jeremy.

  He nodded, offering his hands as a step as he had done for Beauford.

  “I want to do it on my own.” Nola turned to the ledge.

  “Aim a little higher than you think you need to. Try and get your palms on top, not just your fingers on the edge. Use your momentum to push up from there.” Jeremy stepped back.

  Nola stared up at the moss, feeling foolish.

  I’m not strong enough to do this on my own.

  “Don’t think, just go,” Jeremy said.

  Nola bent her knees and jumped, sure she would fall flat on her face.

  But the strength in her legs carried her up into the air. It wasn’t until she neared the ledge that she remembered she was meant to grab hold. Her fingers tangled in the moss at the very edge.

  “Yes!” Jeremy said. “That was great, Nola.”

  The moss she clasped in her fingers shifted, tearing from the stone beneath, as she pulled herself up.

  With a crack, the moss ripped free. Before she could fall, Jeremy grabbed her feet, lifting her so her torso landed on the rock.

  “Graceful.” Raina stared down at her, shaking her head.

  Nola crawled forward onto the ledge. A gap cut deep in the rock leading to an entrance that had been invisible from the ground below.

  “It was my first try.” Nola leapt to her feet. Her hands didn’t ache from trying to cling to the side of the ledge.

  Jeremy jumped up in one smooth movement as Raina had. “She did great.” A smile flickered across his face.

  Nola searched his eyes for the twinkle that should have been there. The joy of being with her.

  “Come on then, super girl.” Raina bowed them toward the cave.

  Nola walked into the darkness, grateful she couldn’t see Jeremy anymore.

  “Nola?” T said.

  Even in the darkness of the tunnel, Nola could see T’s silhouette.

&n
bsp; “I’m right here.” Nola took T’s hand, walking next to her, trailing her free hand along the rock walls.

  The path sloped up, leading them deeper into the mountain.

  A hint of panic seized the edges of Nola’s heart.

  You’ve already died. The middle of a mountain can’t hurt you any more than the world already has.

  “Are you the only welcoming committee?” Raina asked.

  “Don’t be offended,” Desmond said, his voice rumbling from up ahead in front of the shadow that was Beauford. “We didn’t think it was really you. Once I knew it was, too strong a greeting—”

  “Seemed likely to get whatever hot headed children Emanuel put this far out on the perimeter killed?” Raina said.

  “It’s good to see your time with the Domers didn’t change you,” Desmond said.

  “Some things never change, old friend. It would take more than concrete walls and starvation to break me.”

  Light glimmered in the tunnel up ahead. Nola squinted, trying to decide if the light was electric or only torches like the ones she’d seen in the tunnels of Nightland far beneath the city.

  “How is he?” Raina asked.

  “Triumphant.”

  Nola could almost hear the smile in Desmond’s voice.

  They rounded the corner, and the source of light came into view. Neither of Nola’s guesses had been right. A section of the tunnel wall had been cut away, giving a view of the valley beyond.

  Far below, at the bottom of the mountain’s slope, the limbless trees met the field of brambles. Then the woods with trees fighting to survive where they had met the Vampers hours before.

  Beyond the trees, glinting in the light of the rising sun, the city peered up.

  “It’s still burning.” T tightened her grip on Nola’s hand.

  “It’s been burning for a few nights,” Desmond said. “We thought the whole place might be done for.”

  “It almost was.” Nola watched the gray smoke twisting into the sky.

  “It looks so small from here,” Beauford said. “I lived my whole life there, never even crossed the river until the domes came for workers.”

  “I can’t see the domes behind the smoke,” T said.

  Nola squinted through the gray. A glint touched the hill on the far side of the river, but she couldn’t see the sweeping glass domes that had been her home.

  “They’re still there,” Raina said.

  “They were built to survive the end of the world,” Nola said.

  “Like warts from a disease,” Raina said. “Awful to get rid of.”

  “Come on.” Desmond moved beyond the light.

  The path continued, stretches of darkness broken by swatches of light where windows had been made to view the outside world.

  As the sun grew strong, Raina and Desmond hugged the inside edge of the tunnel, carefully keeping out of the light.

  “What would happen if you stood in the light?” Nola asked as the bright beams warmed her face.

  “Have you ever seen someone with an allergy be stung by a bee?” Raina said. “It’s like that, but with a lot of bleeding.”

  “It won’t be like that for you.” Jeremy stepped up behind Nola’s shoulder, speaking softly though there was no chance of Desmond and Raina not hearing. “You’ll always be safe to be in the light. I promise.”

  Desmond’s footfalls slowed. “I’m sure Dr. Wynne will be interested to hear what’s left your blood smelling so strange.”

  “I smell?” Nola sniffed the back of her hand. “What do I smell…”

  The question drifted from her mind as the tunnel in front of them widened to an open door leading to a cavern large enough to swallow Bright Dome whole.

  Chapter Six

  The roof of the cavern towered forty feet overhead. Electric bulbs strung together with thick black wires shed light on every corner. A few tables with chairs and a few dozen cots lined the sides of the great room. Cages filled with weapons from Guard guns to crossbows and swords had been cut into the stone walls. The center of the cavern had been left open. Painted squares marked the floor, boxing in sparring pairs.

  All sparring stopped, and sixty vampires stared at them as Desmond led them into the cavern. All had black eyes. All held weapons.

  “This is more like it,” Raina said.

  “Desmond.” A woman with platinum blond hair sauntered forward, a sword held in each hand. “Did you make some new friends, or find us a snack?”

  Jeremy stepped in front of Nola, his hands raised and ready to defend.

  “Friends,” Raina said. “I’m surprised they’ve started letting you touch the pointy objects, Stell. Weren’t you just meant to be a pretty face?”

  Stell growled.

  The other vampires moved in toward their group.

  “Raina, you’re alive?” asked a man with blood dripping from a cut on his head.

  “Yes, I know, quite a miracle.” Raina stepped in front of Desmond. “I’m alive, and I’ve brought some presents for Emanuel. You”—Raina pointed at a reedy-looking boy who didn’t appear old enough to have survived being given Vamp—“run ahead to the library. If Emanuel isn’t there, find him and bring him to me.”

  The boy bowed and ran toward the back of the cavern.

  “Bring a snack, too!” Raina shouted after the boy.

  “Where have you been?” the bleeding man asked.

  “Hell,” Raina said. “And I’ll tell everybody all about it, just as soon as I’ve told Emanuel. Now, give it up, lover boy.” Raina reached for Jeremy’s belt.

  Hs face flushed bright red, but he didn’t fight as she unfastened his belt and took both holstered guns.

  “Make a little stash for me.” Raina tossed the holstered weapons to the bleeding man.

  He bowed and headed for the weapons cages on the side of the room.

  The crowd parted as Raina led them forward. Not even Stell stood in her way.

  Nola kept her eyes front as they passed through the vampires. All of them held weapons. Any of them could kill her if they wanted to.

  Jeremy won’t let them. Even without weapons he’ll protect me.

  She didn’t realize she had drifted closer to him until the back of her hand brushed against his.

  Don’t be stupid, Nola.

  She tucked her hands behind her back.

  New blood shone red on the floor, spattered across the brownish-black of dried blood from older fights.

  “Back to work!”

  Nola jumped at the shout. Before they’d made it to the far side of the cavern, the clang of steel on steel echoed off the walls.

  “What are they training for?” Nola whispered.

  “We’re not naïve enough to think the domes will leave us alone forever,” Raina said. “The domes will try and attack, or the wolves, or a hoard of zombies will catch the scent of blood and come looking for a feast. Arriving in Utopia doesn’t end the battle. It only gives you more to lose.”

  A thick metal door set into the stone wall waited open at the edge of the cavern. The metal was four inches thick, and the wall had been carved to receive six heavy bolts to fasten the door in place.

  “How long have you been building this?” Beauford asked. “You didn’t decide to dig these tunnels right before you attacked the domes, or even in the last year.”

  Desmond took the lead through the tunnel. Electric lights had been set into the ceiling, bathing the smoothly carved stone walls in an even glow.

  “I’m really starting to like you, big guy,” Raina said. “Emanuel has been planning for a better world for a very long time.”

  “Then why is he just now coming here?” Nola said. “He could have left the city ages ago. There would have been no fighting with the domes—”

  “And you’d still be safe behind glass?” Raina said.

  “It would have been better for everyone.” Pain cut through Jeremy’s words.

  “They didn’t move into the domes until the final pane of glass had bee
n sealed in place,” Desmond said. “We couldn’t move until everything was ready.”

  “And that took a very long time,” Raina said. “I’m so glad I didn’t die before I got to see the wonder of the true Nightland.”

  “Where is everyone else?” T said.

  “If you’re hoping for a cafeteria, you’re out of luck.” Raina glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t worry, baby machine, I’ll put out a call for the sperm donor and see who can find him.”

  “Thank you.” T dragged her fingers through the tangles in her hair.

  “How many people live here?” Nola took T’s hand.

  “I think I missed the census,” Raina said.

  “Over a thousand, including vampires, non-changed humans, and children,” Desmond said.

  “There are humans here?” Beauford asked.

  They reached a fork in the tunnel. Desmond led them down the right hand side.

  “Some,” Desmond said.

  Lambs living amongst the lions. Normal people sleeping in the safe haven made for those who would use them as a meal.

  “Are you keeping them locked up?” Jeremy asked. “Are you keeping the humans caged as food?”

  “Yes, little piggy, and you’ll be next,” Raina said.

  “Emanuel wouldn’t do that,” Nola said. “Vampires in Nightland aren’t allowed to drink from unwilling humans. Most live off animal blood. If humans are bleeding to feed vampires, they’re making that choice themselves.”

  “Well done, Nola,” Raina said. “Emanuel will be pleased to know all his work on you wasn’t wasted.”

  “Was this work leading up to Emanuel blasting away part of the domes and killing innocent citizens, or was it some other thing?” Jeremy said.

  Desmond tightened his grip on his staff.

  “Something quite different.” Raina laid a hand on Desmond’s shoulder. “Emanuel had a strange notion that Nola might be proof there’s hope for humanity. One heart that hadn’t been so frozen by privilege it could no longer bleed.”

  “Well, he should congratulate himself then.” Tears stung the corners of Nola’s eyes. “My heart keeps getting torn apart again and again, and it always bleeds like hell.”

  T squeezed Nola’s hand.

  The tunnel branched off three ways. Desmond took a sharp left into a wider tunnel. Wooden doors dotted this corridor, and people moved through the hall.