by Anna Santos
“We can’t lower our guard,” Anna said. “We don’t know how many other vampires will show up from the two secret doors in the brick wall.”
“We need to stop Alaric. He went down the hole,” Jessica pointed as she tried to kneel and get up.
“You need to take it easy,” Marcus said as he helped her get on her feet.
Shane looked down at the hole as he said, “I will follow them down.”
“Where’s the other girl?” Jessica asked, regaining her composure and looking around. “She must know where they are going.”
Marcus asked with a worried expression, “What other girl?”
“Beth.”
“Beth?” Anna’s attention peaked. “Dulce said something about Myra asking us to save Beth. But she said she would be in the dungeons. Sebastien was going downstairs to look for her.”
Jessica’s attention was on her friend. “She was here with us. Why does Myra want to save the girl?”
“She said Beth saved her, and that she knew about our plan. She saved Myra’s life and killed Vincent. Without her help, your plan would be discovered and Myra’s cover would have been blown,” Anna explained.
“What the hell! I just hurt the girl!” Jessica shook her head and tried to focus. She felt dizzy but Marcus’ hands on her waist help her standing up. “Follow the other passageways and…” before she could finish talking, Anna was already jumping into the platform where the empty chairs were.
“There’s a reinforced door behind a shelf. It must lead to more stairs which must lead to gateway tunnels,” Anna yelled up so they knew what she was seeing in that other room. “They closed the door behind, we’ll need to open it to go after them.”
“Help me get downstairs,” Jessica requested Marcus.
“You are hurt and bleeding.”
“Where?” she asked, putting her hand on her forehead and noticing that there was blood there. Her hand trembled when her eyes shut down momentarily. “I’m feeling lightheaded.”
“You were unconscious. The blast might have caused you internal bleeding and you can have a concussion.”
“We can’t let him escape. Moreover, we can’t kill him.”
“He’s not going to get away alive from this house, no matter what you’ve remembered about him, honey,” Marcus said with a stern voice even if his eyes showed compassion and love for her.
“You’re not understanding. His mate is pregnant. If we kill him, we will kill our grandson.”
“I’m going to follow him downstairs,” Anna warned, still in the lower secret floor.
“Not alone, you will not,” Shane protested, appearing from one of the secret passages on the wall. “This only goes downstairs to another bedroom. But the vampire who escaped using this door was already killed downstairs. Sebastien’s men caught him.”
“Was Beth with him?” Jessica asked.
“There was no female with him. He was alone,” Shane informed.
“Are you going to take too long coming down?” Anna questioned.
“I’m coming, baby,” Shane said, jumping on the platform.
“We are going too,” Jessica said, moving forward and being held by Marcus against his chest. “They will need me to immobilize him and make sure he won’t hurt anyone. I still need to finish the spell to end his curse. We need to grab Alaric and then I need to have a conversation with Valentina. The bitch is toying with us. The spell didn’t work.”
“You need to calm down,” Marcus whispered, hugging her and placing his chin on her shoulder.
It was then that Jessica understood that he was trembling. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? What’s wrong?” She was almost breathless when she asked him those questions.
Meanwhile, the sound of a metal door being kicked echoed from the secret room.
“Besides the fact that I thought you were dead when I first arrived here and saw you lay on the floor after hearing an explosion…” Marcus mumbled against her ear as he hugged her tighter. “You are still bleeding. Plus, you just told me that our son is going to be a father, and that we can’t kill him because we are killing an innocent baby. No. I’m not okay. I need time to process all this.”
“We don’t have time. Anna will kill him,” Jessica urged, turning around to face him and putting her hand on his face. “She doesn’t know that his mate is pregnant. I was trying to break the curse so we could spare his mate’s life. But I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Change back,” Marcus requested, pulling his face from her hand. “I don’t like to look at you wearing Valentina’s skin. I know that it’s you beneath it, I can feel our bond, but I don’t want to kiss you while you look like her.”
“How do you want me to look like?” Jessica asked.
“Like yourself. Like Jessie.”
Jessica nodded, closing her eyes and placing her forehead against his while reciting the words to reverse the reflection spell. Before she could breathe again and open her eyes to tell him that she was herself, Marcus kissed her and pulled her closer against his chest while using his fangs to cut his own lip and feed her with his blood.
She lost track of time as their mouths satiated the hunger for being apart. But as soon as his blood burned inside her, she broke the kiss and pulled him back so she could speak. “Marcus, I’m okay. Your blood will heal any damage that I might have. But we need to follow Anna and Shane. We can’t let them kill Alaric. I can’t live with the death of an innocent child on my conscience.”
“But we can’t let him live either,” Marcus declared. “He’s a monster.”
“I know, trust me, I know that even better now.”
The vampires, who Jessica had broken their necks, came to life and moved their limbs. Marcus must have heard their movements because his first instinct was to secure Jessica against his chest and growl to warn them that he would bite their heads off if they were stupid enough to attack.
“Surrender or die,” Marcus said, giving them an option.
Jessica turned around, recognizing the scum that she had knocked out. She had promised herself that she would kill them. They were rapists and overall disgusting beings. There was no surrendering for them.
“They don’t deserve to live,” she declared, raising her hands and casting her fire powers against them. Their bodies burned as they screamed in excruciating pain.
“Did they do something bad to you?” Marcus asked.
Jessica felt the fear in his heart rippled through their mind link. Thinking that someone could have hurt or molested her while she was there was excruciating to him.
Jessica reassured him, “They would have if they were allowed to. They said they would.” Turning around, she hid her face against Marcus’ chest.
* * *
MARCUS
The king's attention shifted to the communicator in his ear.
“Dad, the perimeter is secure and we have all the vampires in custody. At least, the ones who survived and surrendered,” Eric warned. “Have you found Alaric yet? Is mom alive?”
“Jessica is secured. I’m with her right now. Alaric ran away. He has secret passages that probably lead to underground tunnels. Did you put men scouting the gardens and the woods like I told you to?”
“Yes, I have. I’ve also called the choppers to help scouting the woods. Do you need me inside? Is someone pursuing him?”
“Stay there. Anna and Shane are after him.”
“I’ll send more men to your location.”
“I’m going after Alaric with Jessie. I’ll report if I have anything new to add.”
“Who are you talking to?” Jessica asked, looking up.
“Eric. He’s outside monitoring all teams. Just hold on to me, we are going to follow Alaric’s trail.”
Jessica nodded, securing her arms around his neck. Marcus lifted her feet from the ground and sped his way to the platform. Downstairs, he saw the destroyed door that gave way to dark descending stairs. Shane and Anika had already entered and they would need help.
/>
Chapter Twenty—BREAD CRUMBS
ANNABEL
The stairs seemed to have no end. It was dark and too silent for Anna’s taste. If she heard some kind of noise, other than what seemed to be bats and rats, she would understand that she was on the right track. But, maybe those stairs were there to mislead them to think Alaric was using that to run away when, in fact, he used another secret door inside the hundreds of rooms in that fortress.
“Can you hear the ocean?” Anna whispered, stopping and leaning against Shane’s body who was just behind her.
He placed his hand around her waist and sniffed the air. “I’m smelling it too.”
“Do we have any boats securing this part of the perimeter?”
“I don’t think so. The choppers are coming, though. I heard Eric talking through the earpiece before losing the signal.”
“Someone is descending… fast,” Anna warned, tensing and raising her sword.
“It’s the king and Jessie,” Shane said, nuzzling his nose against her neck. “Relax.”
“Where are they?” The king asked when he arrived behind them.
“We haven’t seen them yet,” Shane informed.
“Move faster,” he urged, passing by and speeding down.
“He’s more impatient than me,” Anna mumbled. “Can you keep up with us?” she asked, looking back at Shane.
“Lead the way, speedy,” he joked.
Anna sped down with him behind her. When they arrived, the king and Jessie were in the middle of a cave, staring at four different tunnels that lead to unknown locations. Jessica had a fire orb hovering in the air which illuminated the space.
“What path do we choose?” Anna asked. “Are we going to split up?”
“No way,” Jessie protested.
“We’ll be vulnerable. Besides, we’ve all seen movies, it never works. We are safer together,” Shane declared.
“That way,” Jessie pointed out. She was aiming at the second tunnel.
“Why there?” Anna wondered.
Jessica explained, “The girl is clever. She’s leaving a trail behind. There’s golden fabric on the floor.”
“What girl?” Marcus asked.
“Beth. She’s leaving a trail to guide us.”
“Or to confuse us,” Shane said.
“She’s a prisoner, she wants out,” Anna retorted. “Myra trusts her.”
“Alaric’s mate is her sister. She’s keen in protecting her own blood but I saw the desperation in her eyes…I don’t know who to trust right now, but if she left a trail, let’s assume that she wants our help.”
“Let’s make things easier,” Shane proposed, sniffing the air. “One of these paths leads to the ocean. He may have a boat there, waiting for him to escape as a backup plan. The rest of the perimeter is surrounded by our men and there are choppers in the air, scouting the woods. Wherever these other paths may lead, if I was Alaric I would choose the path that was more likely to take me to freedom.”
“So what path leads to the ocean?” Anna asked.
“The path with the golden fabric.”
“Grandpa, wait!” Anna warned before he could take off and leave them behind. “Sword,” she said, taking it from Shane’s hand the sword she had lent him, and throwing it to her grandpa. “We don’t know how many men he still has with him.”
“Once we are face to face with them, cover Jessie, don’t leave her vulnerable,” Marcus instructed. “I’ll focus on Alaric. I know you wanted to have his head, Anika, but he’s a lot stronger than you, and he’s my problem to deal with.”
Anna nodded.
“And don’t kill Alaric even if you have the opportunity,” Jessie added.
Arching an eyebrow, Anna asked, “Why not?”
“His mate is with child and I wasn’t able to break the curse.”
“Shit!” Anna swore, rattled by the news as Shane put his hands on her shoulders so she calmed down.
“My thoughts exactly,” Jessica mumbled, closing her eyes momentarily. “But we aren’t monsters like him and the child is innocent.”
“Then grab him and his mate alive,” Anna said out loud as if she was giving instructions to herself.
Jessica put her arms around Marcus’ neck and they sped down the tunnel with her glowing orb of fire chasing after them like a sparkling fairy and leaving Anna and Shane in the dark.
“Get the daggers from behind my back,” Anna said to Shane. “Use the rest of the darts on them if you must. Actually, try to aim at Alaric’s mate to put her asleep. But I don’t want you fighting bare handed.”
“I still have a gun,” he said, showing it to her.
“A rocket launcher would be nice right about now. I mean, before grandpa entered the tunnel, and I knew that Alaric was going to be a father. It would be a way to slow them down or blow them to pieces.”
“You are kind of violent today,” Shane joked, smirking at her.
Anna huffed, “He keeps getting away. It’s frustrating.”
“I know what you mean. Let’s go, before your grandpa has to face the enemy alone.”
“He has Jessie. Regardless of what he might think, Jessica can take care of herself, and she has the power of imploding the damn cave if she needs to.”
Anna was about to speed inside the dark tunnel when something caught her attention.
“Please, help me. Help me!”
It was a feminine voice coming from a different tunnel. It was feeble, probably from far away and just brought to their ears by the echo inside the tunnel.
Shane looked at Anna.
“It wasn’t my imagination, was it?” she asked him.
He shook his head, tilting his head in the direction of the tunnel to see if he could listen again.
“Help me!”
This time, the cry for help was louder and Anna did what was instinctive for her to do in this circumstances, she sped her way in the tunnel to aid.
“It can be a trap,” Shane said in their mind-link, following her close by even if she was faster than him when she was in her vampire form.
Suddenly, a loud sound of an explosion shook the tunnel, making dirt and small rocks fall around them. They stopped, leaning against the walls, looking up and hoping that it didn’t collapse and trapped them inside.
“Something is wrong,” Anna whispered, feeling the vibrations of the blast. “Do you think something happened to grandpa and Jessie?”
“I don’t know. But it’s not safe to continue.”
“Someone is in trouble. We need to see what’s going on and save her.”
“We can get trapped inside the tunnel with no way to escape.”
“Jessie and grandpa can be hurt too, but…do you smell it?”
“Water?” Shane asked.
“Yes. There’s water ahead and the sound of—water bouncing against rocks. Maybe it’s an underground river.”
“Help…”
“Someone is there, needing our help. Probably dying because her voice is becoming weaker. We need to help her,” Anna reasoned with Shane.
“I go where you go. The king can take care of himself, and I’m not leaving your side.”
“We’ve lost too much time reasoning about acting or not,” Anna sighed, grabbing his hand. “Let’s move.” She wrapped her arms around his torso and took him with her so he didn’t delay her running.
Seconds later they arrived, stopping on the edge of the tunnel, just above the rapids. The light was scarce to none existent but Anna’s sight caught a glimpse of a body over a rock. Despite the sound of the water and the splashing of the cold liquid around, she could also smell blood.
“Where are you?” she called out, listening to her voice echoing inside.
“Over here…” a feminine voice replied.
Anna looked at Shane and placed her hand on her chest. “Stay here. I’m going to jump over the rocks to get her.”
“I’ll go,” Shane protested.
“I’m the one with the feline DNA in m
y blood. I can also see better in the dark. I’ll go and you cover my back.”
“It can be a trap.”
“She’s hurt. I can smell the blood.”
“I can also smell it, but it may not be hers. And how did she get here all by herself?”
“We’ll ask her those questions after we’ve saved her.”
Anna jumped, not waiting for Shane to speak again. She effortlessly floated over the rocks and landed on a rock next to the girl. “Can you move? Look at me. Are you hurt?”
The pretty vampire girl, in the wet golden dress, stared at her, moving her hands from her stomach and showing her the wound. “He stabbed me when I fought him back.”
“Who?”
“One of Alaric’s men. I tried to delay them. I ran into this tunnel. Conrad ordered one of his men to kill me. I wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed my arm and then stabbed me when I tried to fight him back. We fell in the river. I was able to pull myself over a rock. But the rapids took him away. I hope he’s dead.”
The girl’s voice was deep and paused, though, she was experiencing pain and the bleeding didn’t seem to stop. She was also soaking wet.
“What’s your name?” Anna asked her.
“I’m Beth,” she whispered, scowling in pain. “It stings. I think I have shards of silver inside.”
“Okay, Beth, look at me. Give me your hands. I’ll lean forward and you’ll grab my hands. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes.”
Anna did her best to move closer so she could take hold of Beth’s hands and grab her. She still had to jump with her over wet rocks and pray they didn’t fall and got caught and dragged away by the currents.
“It hurts,” Beth breathed out, grabbing her stomach with one hand while the other was around Anna’s shoulders.
“Shane, we need something to help pulling her up,” Anna said loud enough for him to hear.
“I didn’t bring a rope!”
“Use your belt.”
It took a couple of minutes and some failed attempts to pull Beth back into the tunnel. Once the girl was secured, Anna was able to climb up with the help of Shane’s belt.