Nikita put Samantha down and the three of them walked speedily down the slope and into the overwhelming stench. The liquid waste came up to their shins. The putrid air was humid, the stink burning their nostrils.
Samantha started to gag, but kept her food down.
“Try not to think about the smell,” Leisha advised. “You’ll get used to it.”
Samantha gave her an unbelieving look but stayed silent. She didn’t splash much as she kept a good pace with them.
The sewers had openings and doorways here and there, letting in some dim illumination from the sun. After, a mile or so, Leisha heard several sets of feet pounding in their direction. Their assailants had used a different way to enter and were close.
They stopped at an open spot that led to several different tunnels. Leisha went behind a large, dry crate and ordered, “Nikita, take Samantha and go on. I’ll jump them here where there’s room to fight. I’ll catch up in a bit.”
“But if you can catch our scent, won’t the other vamps be able to track us just as quickly?” Samantha trembled as she asked.
After a brief hesitation, Leisha answered. “They’re humans, Samantha.”
The girl’s eyes widened in comprehension. “My father found us.” She gulped as Nikita nodded.
As if summoned, a gate about forty feet down one of the tunnels opened and Mason Campbell jumped down, along with ten other soldiers trickling in behind him. Before anyone could respond, one of the soldiers pointed some kind of launcher toward them and fired. Within a second Nikita threw Samantha to the filthy ground and lay over her.
Leisha tried to dive away but wasn’t fast enough. The blast threw her into a wall. A small, open pipe skewered through her back and stuck out the right side of her chest. She gave a ragged breath as she glanced at the dull object protruding from her. The damage wasn’t permanent, but it was certainly painful and made her more vulnerable.
Samantha rushed over to her. “How can we help her?” She asked Nikita.
In response, Nikita grabbed Leisha by her shoulders and quickly pulled. She grunted as the pipe slid quickly, grinding against her organs and ribs. Looking down at the blood she was losing, Leisha knew she wouldn’t have the fortitude to fight the men that were quickly splashing their way nearer and nearer by the second. If she was unable to exchange blows, then she wouldn’t be able to protect Samantha. Coming to a decision she never thought she’d have to make, Leisha glanced at her young friend.
It was difficult to speak since her lung was practically non-existent, but she forced herself to talk over the pain. “Samantha,” Her scratchy voice was lower than a whisper. “I need to draw your energy to heal.” Blood threatened to choke her the more she spoke. “I have to do this so I can protect you, understand?”
Lips trembling, Samantha nodded without any hesitation. Nikita, meanwhile, had assembled a screw-served machine gun from Leisha’s bag and was pouring rounds down the tunnel at the soldiers that were almost upon them.
Biting her lip, Leisha placed her left hand over Samantha’s and began to pull in the girl’s energy. As she did, she could feel the torn muscles and ligaments healing. Her lung and bones weaved themselves together until there was only raw skin where the wound had been. She was tempted to draw more energy to heal it completely, but forced herself to stop.
She looked up to see Samantha was pale and shaking. She helped the girl down to sit in the putrid water. “Wait here,” she instructed before standing. “I’ll keep you safe, Sam.”
Eyes showing too much white, the teenager nodded.
Leisha stood and turned, meeting Mason’s gaze across the way. His blue eyes were fiery with contempt. No doubt he’d witnessed what they’d done. Leisha wasn’t sure if his research had covered the relationship between a vampire and her human servant, but he could probably deduce that Leisha had somehow used his daughter to heal.
The soldiers were almost upon them.
Leisha grabbed a handgun and a long, curved katana and joined Nikita.
“I’ve got this,” she said as she eyed the men. “Get Samantha out of here right now. I’ll catch up.”
He was moving to obey before Leisha finished speaking. Her two companions grabbed their bags and hurried down a corridor to the right. Leisha surveyed the men and Mason. This would not take very long. They stopped about ten feet in front of her, positioned in two rows. Their guns pointed at her chest, she crouched into a defensive position. She wondered why they hadn’t assaulted her yet.
“Remember, I want her alive.”
Mason’s order gave Leisha a vivid flashback to her capture six months ago. She promised herself she wouldn’t endure Mason’s sick experiments again. Especially now that a child was growing within her womb.
Their aim shifted slightly. A man on the end of the second line opened his mouth to give the order to fire. Just as his strong voice started to sound, Leisha rushed into the middle of their formation, making it impossible for them to shoot her.
Ignoring the protests of her still healing muscles, Leisha raised the sword in her left hand and decapitated two men before they had time to defend themselves. She heard a man stalking her from behind. Without turning, she slammed her sword into his sternum and up to his heart. He gurgled blood as he died, the weapon was still embedded in him. Another soldier kicked her sword hand, forcing her to lose her grip. Maybe it was because she was injured, but the impact felt stronger than it should have.
He raised his gun toward her when she turned. She shot him in the head at point blank range. His shot veered to the right as he toppled, the bullet hitting a pipe in the process. A thin stream of water hissed into the air.
Before she could make another move, two men grabbed her from both sides in bruising grips. They pulled her arms behind her at painful angles. One of the men tried to pry the weapon from her fingers, but she refused to let go of the gun. The other soldiers closed in around them, aiming their weapons.
Leisha kicked out to her right at the man’s knee, his scream echoing over the sound of his bones crunching. He promptly let go of her gun hand and fell to the ground to clutch his broken leg.
She swiveled and shot the other man holding her. The bullet landed between his eyes, gray matter erupting behind him before he collapsed.
The last two soldiers began firing. Pitching to the side and down, she avoided being hit anywhere vital. One bullet lodged in her thigh and the rest grazed her arms. The old brick wall behind her exploded where the last of the bullets struck, bits of clay pelting her back.
Leisha sprang forward from a crouch, firing the rest of her rounds. She hit two men, but they must have only been flesh wounds since they continued to approach. Tossing the empty weapon, she targeted the man in the middle and brought her knee up to flip the gun out of his hands. Before he could respond, she punched his nose with the heel of her hand. He grunted as the cartilage cracked and blood gushed over his chin. Pressing her advantage, she hefted herself onto him and used him as an anchor. Her body parallel to the ground, she spun around her human pillar, her legs almost working like scissors, kicking the other man squarely in the side of the head. His neck cracked.
A cacophony of yelling commenced as she knocked out the first two men. Some of the soldiers were grunting at the pain, and others were shouting orders that couldn’t be deciphered through the chaos. As she kicked a third man in the chest, someone grabbed her from behind and spun, throwing her into the air.
Using that momentum, Leisha grabbed and held on to a brick beam from the low ceiling and slanted her legs forward to land on one of the men’s shoulders. She squeezed her thighs together until the bones in his neck made a familiar crunching sound. Letting go of the ceiling, she used her hands to crush the throats of the men rushing in on both sides.
She landed on her feet and felt a bullet go through her side. She ran and darted into one of the corridors faster than a human could track. Just inside the archway, she jumped on the ceiling and pushed her weight into either side of the
walls to prop herself up. Two men came through and shot their weapons every direction but up. She dropped and landed behind them, splashing in the sewage. The men turned. As they fired, she jabbed stiff fingers into their temples, coating her digits in sticky matter. They fell to the ground as the bullets hit both of her shoulders.
Three remaining men came behind her, firing. She rushed them in a frontal assault. Several bullets grazed her body, one hitting her in the elbow. Leisha kicked her leg up to knock their weapons out of their hands and flipped her leg around, collecting the guns in the crook of her knee. She stood up straight and let the guns clatter to the ground. Before they could attempt anything else, she bashed two of their heads together as hard as she could, the sound resembling smashing pumpkins.
The remaining man was the guy whose leg she broke. Despite his injury, he moved swiftly. He jumped on her, knocking her on her back to the filthy ground. His hands squeezed painfully around her neck, his legs straddling her body.
Leisha thrust her body to the side, lifting her arms up above her head, and pulling his hands off her. She then elbowed his head, which should have knocked him out. But it didn’t.
Brown eyes blazing, he lifted his body off her slightly and punched her in the jaw. Leisha’s head snapped to the side, half of her face becoming covered in the muck. She propelled her knee up into his butt, making the man fall forward. Before he could land on her head, Leisha stood and spun. The soldier was rising from his hands and knees. The vampire stepped forward and broke his neck with both of her hands. He fell into the murky water with a loud plop.
Her injuries burned, and she pressed her lips together to control her panting. She must have been slow with her reflexes. She shouldn’t have been shot so many times. At least it was with regular bullets and no tranquilizers this time.
Walking over and pulling her sword out of the man she’d practically gutted, Leisha looked around. There were only eight lifeless bodies and the smell of smoke from the launcher. Nothing else. Mason and some of his men must have gotten past while she’d been fighting.
Cursing herself for killing all the humans before drinking from them, she limped after Samantha and Nikita.
Chapter 16
Samantha had no strength to walk, let alone run, but Nik said he didn’t mind carrying her. She knew he wasn’t moving as fast as he could and wondered if it was because there were so many twists and turns down here.
Leisha taking her energy had been, for lack of a better word, draining. Her mind felt fuzzy, and she was having a hard time focusing her eyes. Her body was fatigued to the point of shaking. However, it was nice that she could help Leisha. She often felt like a useless damsel in distress, sitting in the corner while everyone else fought, so being able to contribute was a great feeling. But Samantha hoped she wouldn’t have to go through that experience again.
When they came to a fork in the tunnels, Nik stopped and looked at each corridor.
“How do you know which one we should take,” she asked.
Nik shrugged. “I don’t. But I’m trying to decide which direction would give us easier access to get above ground again.” He paused and angled his head. “Some of them are catching up to us.”
He went right, but again, didn’t use his super vampire speed. After several more twists and turns, he put her down. “They’re still keeping up with us,” he explained. “I need to get rid of them. Stay here and wait for me.”
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Can’t we simply outrun them?”
He shook his head. “It isn’t working. But I can get rid of them quickly.”
Even in their current circumstances, Samantha was surprised to discover that she actually condoned his intention to kill their pursuers.
She nodded and he moved to leave. On an impulse, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down towards her face. She pressed her lips to his. Nik hesitated at first, then kissed her back. It was soft and tender, but it ended too soon and he returned to where they had come.
While waiting, she put her fingers to her lips. They still felt warm and tingly from the kiss. She sat thinking about that kiss, so engrossed that she didn’t notice the minutes slipping by.
A sudden explosion ripped Samantha from her reverie. She jerked and almost fell, slapping her hand on the wall for balance. It took a moment for her sight to clear before she took a few steps forward. She could already smell the acrid scent of smoke mingled with the sewage.
“Nik?” She called softly. “Are you okay?”
No answer.
“Nik!” she called more loudly this time.
She exhaled at the sound of footsteps approaching. But it wasn’t Nik who stepped into the light; it was her father. She gasped and stepped back.
“You know,” Mason said, his brown hair covered with bits of debris, “it’s sad to see such a reaction from my own daughter.” He raised a gun and pointed it at her chest. “Of course, knowing that you serve those creatures makes me cringe when I see you, too.”
Staring at the gun, she backed up until she felt the wall behind her. “So now you’re going to kill me, is that it?”
Mason scoffed. “Hardly. No, I have something planned for you.” He took a few more steps toward her. “And once it’s all said and done, Samantha, I think you’ll thank me for it.”
“What did you do to Nik?”
“If you’re referring to that male vampire, we took care of him.” He smiled. “We’ve developed some weapons that even vampires aren’t immune to.”
Breathing was suddenly difficult as she leaned into the curved wall.
“Your beloved Leisha should be dead by now, too.” He scratched his chin. “I wonder if you’d be as sad for my death as you are for those monsters.”
Tears pouring down her face, she glared at her father. “You’re just as much of a murderer! You have no morals, like some kind of government-approved sociopath!”
He pointed the gun at her again, shaking in anger. “Watch your mouth. The only reason I’m here is to save you!”
Frustration mounting, she burst out, “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”
“We’re family, my girl. I’ll never leave you alone.”
“You did a first rate job of it for ten years.” Something was off, nagging at her brain, but Samantha couldn’t figure out what it was. Her mind was still muddled.
“Things are different! You’re with vampires. How can I ignore that fact? And look at what they’ve done to you!” Mason pushed a hand through his hair. “But don’t worry, Samantha. I think I can fix it. You need to come with me.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
They both turned to see Nik slowly walking towards them. He’d obviously been injured in the blast and was limping, but her heart lightened to see that he was alright. She smiled at him, and then it finally hit her. She’d had a vision about this.
She saw her father, glaring at Nik. She screamed a warning, even before he raised his gun, but it was too late. Mason fired. Samantha looked back at Nik to see him staring at his chest in surprise. The red liquid quickly oozed across his chest and down his stomach as the vampire fell to the ground.
“No!” Samantha cried and rushed toward him. A firm grip around her arm prevented her from reaching her destination. She pulled against Mason’s grasp. “Let me go! I hate you! If I see you again, I’ll be the one to pull the trigger!”
She saw a flash of hurt in his eyes, but they quickly turned back to steely resolve. “You don’t know what you’re saying.” He turned and pulled her with him as he began walking.
Samantha continued to struggle and punched his arm and shoulder with her free hand. It seemed to have no impact on him while Samantha’s strength quickly waned.
They had gone forward about twenty feet before something crashed into Mason from behind, making him lose his hold on her arm.
She looked down to see Leisha pinning Mason on his stomach, half his face in the dirty slime. The vampire reached toward his head, then h
esitated and looked at Samantha.
The question in her eyes was evident. Should she kill him?
Even though moments ago, Samantha’s dearest wish was to see her father dead, she now hesitated. Though Leisha would be the one to twist his neck, Samantha would be giving her the go ahead. She would be the one responsible for her father’s death. She knew she wouldn’t be able to live with that.
She shook her head.
Leisha turned back to Mason and lifted his head by his hair. She slammed his face into the ground, making a loud smacking sound. Samantha grimaced but didn’t say anything. Of course, they would have to knock him out so he couldn’t to follow them.
She pivoted away from her father and searched out Nik. He was still lying in the same spot, covered in his own blood.
Moving over to him, she knelt by his side. “Are you okay?”
He was clearly in pain, but held on to his usual passive expression. “It will heal.” He turned his head to Leisha. “He moved faster than a mere human.”
Leisha nodded. “A couple of the men I fought were able to sneak up on me. They shouldn’t have been able to.”
Feeling the blood drain from her face, Samantha shuddered. “What has my father done to those men?”
They were quiet for a moment. Samantha figured they were all contemplating her question.
“We need to get out of here,” Leisha said. “We’ll have to find a different way to travel, since they’ll be checking all the outgoing flights.”
Samantha leaned down to help Nik, but Leisha stopped her. “You’re still weak. I can handle Nikita.” Grabbing their bags, Samantha turned to follow. She noticed that Leisha didn’t look very well, either. Her friend had blood and filth all over her body and the girl couldn’t tell how many injuries the vampire had taken.
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