Alice and Flo laughed.
When they reached the former governor’s quarters, Sully said his goodbyes and returned to his rounds, promising to meet them all later in Mother Wendy’s. Dylan held the door for the others, and they entered.
The place looked vastly different than when the governor had lived here. What had once been a pretentious display of wealth and power was now nothing more than shared living accommodations for Silver Creek’s underprivileged. Sheets and towels were strewn on the floor alongside bags of belongings. Some were empty, and others had people snoozing lazily in the mid-afternoon breeze.
Dylan led them towards the governor’s quarters—the place where the town had demanded that Caitlin take residence as a thank you for the liberation of her people—then headed left to a room farther down the hall.
This one had been offered to him, though he had refused to take it and instead chose his family home. Still, it hadn’t been touched by the people to keep the option available for him to take advantage of it whenever he liked. Despite his numerous protests, no one in Silver Creek would listen.
“Here,” Dylan said to Larry, waving him inside. “This can be yours if you like. You’ve got a bed, some space to do yoga if you wish and, what’s better…” Dylan closed the curtains, blocking out most of the sun. “If you want to wander around naked, then you’ve got a space to do so.”
“Cheers, Dill.”
“No problem. I can imagine that old habits die hard.”
“You betcha,” Larry strolled inside and immediately disrobed.
“Woah!” Ash said. “You couldn’t have waited a few minutes longer?”
Dylan laughed. “Okay, rest up everyone. We’ve had a long, hard trip. Get some shut-eye and reconvene at Mother Wendy’s at sunset. Deal?”
“Deal,” they all replied.
As Dylan made his way out of the governor’s quarters, he soaked up the smell, the sound, and the tastes of his home. He couldn’t quite believe how much had changed since Trisk had gone. His little town of Silver Creek now felt like more than a safe space in the midst of the forest. It felt like a little piece of heaven itself.
Little did he know that, as he strolled through the marketplace with his hands in his pockets, just a few streets down, a guard now scratched at the itch on his arm, watching as another boil appeared on his skin.
Chapter Fourteen
The Broken City, Old Ontario
Mary-Anne waited for night to fall.
She had heard every word while following the group around as nothing more than a shadow in the background. It was a skill she had acquired from her genetics as a vampire, but also one that she had honed over her many years of existence.
When the Madness came and the world went to shit, Mary-Anne had instinctively done what many of the remaining vampires had chosen to do. She’d retreated back into secrecy and lived a life of privacy. Long gone were the days of Weres and vampires living together in perfect harmony.
Well, maybe perfect was too strong a word.
Maybe even harmony was, for that matter.
At one point, some Unknown had gotten along with humans.
She remembered it now as she dashed across streets and hopped over debris and acknowledged how different her life had become. When the Madness first came, Mary-Anne hadn’t lived alone. She had paired with another vampire who made it all that little bit easier. Misery loves company—as the saying went—and those two were miserable together.
For months, Mary-Anne and Calliope had roamed through the land, hopping from town to town, never taking root in any place at all. They’d sneaked up on unsuspecting humans who wandered a little too far from home on dark nights so they could drink from their bodies—just enough that they could retain their strength and control their thirst. Not so much that the humans were damaged and alarms raised.
Until that fateful night in which everything had changed.
It had been three nights since their last meal, and Calliope had been in a particularly funny mood. Already, they had learned how to fight off the Mad, though neither, for the life of them, understood what the hell could have happened to make everything change. People had gone crazy as rapidly as if someone had simply flipped a switch. Humans grew more bloodthirsty than their vampire counterparts, and Mary-Anne and Calliope's death count had soared to three figures.
As they stood in the shadows and watched a tall, dark, handsome man with a rug of stubble stumble out of a local tavern, Calliope licked her lips and grinned.
“Dinner is served,” she said.
Mary-Anne had tried to pull her back, but she was too slow. She wanted to say, “slow down, wait until he hits the shadows”—she didn’t want to blow their cover, after all—but nothing could contain her friend’s excitement.
It was as Mary-Anne caught up with her friend who was now draining the man’s neck in the street, that she noticed something was wrong.
“Hey, Cali. If you’re trying to give the bloke a suck job, you’re at the wrong part of the body.”
The man’s head rocked back, and he groaned as the life juice spilled down his neck and onto the floor. But as Calliope groaned and sucked, the man’s head snapped up, his eyes a blazing red.
“Cali, stop,” Mary-Anne had said, watching with a heart now quickening its pace. “Cali!”
When Calliope looked up, her own eyes were red. She grinned at Mary-Anne. “This is better than KFC…” Her voice trailed away when she saw the man’s eyes, and she dropped him immediately.
Without warning, Calliope chomped at the air, her arms turning and reaching for Mary-Anne. It happened in seconds, a switch faster than Mary-Anne had ever seen in her life. Vampire to Mad.
Oh, what a world.
Mary-Anne blinked away the memory now, remembering the reason she had gone vegetarian in the first place. The fear of ending up like Calliope had been too much to ignore.
Should I go back to animals? Mary-Anne wondered as a rat ran over the toes of her boot. She looked up and saw a patrolman appear around the corner. Immediately, her mouth filled with saliva as she imagined the rush of drinking from his body and feeling her strength return.
Face it. You’re going to need all the strength you can get, the way things are going.
As the man neared, Mary-Anne retreated into the shadows.
Sure, she could grab him. It would be easy. Grab. Drink. Done. But what then? What if these people were important enough that she had to stay on their good side? What kind of first impression would that give to the city’s community armed with the first working weapons of that magnitude she had laid her eyes on in some time.
Nope. Stick to the shadows, Ma. Hunt and explore. Maybe you can make yourself useful and utilize the element of surprise.
She darted off, then, listening intently and training her nose to try and detect what she was looking for. She had heard Izzy and her gang’s speech regarding the Weres, and now, Mary-Anne was curious. Somehow, it sounded like they had hidden entrances into the city. It was a huge place. She wasn’t surprised that the others had struggled to find them.
But she was a vampire and hunting was what she did.
As she sped down the street, the patrolman looked back, believing momentarily that he saw someone disappear around the corner. He aimed his rifle, shrugged, then continued on his route.
The Broken City, Old Ontario
After a tour of the city during which even Jaxon failed to sniff out any hidden entrances, Izzy had taken them back to the library to dine with the others.
“But we need to find Kain,” Caitlin protested.
“Agreed,” Izzy said. “But we have no leads, and our stomachs are growling at us. We need to keep our strength up to hunt, or we’re of no use to anyone.” When she detected resistance from Caitlin, she added, “Maybe your vampire friend is making progress. She’s certainly not quick to join us at the table.”
“Mary-Anne has trust issues. Let’s just leave it there,” Caitlin replied, only feeling sli
ghtly better when she acknowledged that Izzy was probably right. Even though the vampire was choosing to remain hidden for now, the chances were that she was out there on the hunt for Kain at this very moment.
Dinner was a strange affair. It turned out that the community wasn’t only hidden in the main hub of the library but also on the roof, on varying floors, and in the adjacent buildings from where a decent vantage point could be had of the surrounding city. On a trip up the building next to the library—that turned out to be an office block filled with broken and discarded electronics—they had climbed the stairs, taken a few shortcuts over folded floors, and found themselves on the roof.
A man sat there at the corner of the building. He waved hello to Izzy, stood from his old deck chair, and greeted them all with a handshake. But that wasn’t what drew Caitlin’s attention. Her focus settled on the large squares of crops and vegetation which were arranged in neat rows directly beneath the setting sun. There was a thick carpet of soil, and small leaves and shrubs swayed gently in the breeze.
“Roof gardens?” Caitlin asked in shock.
Izzy explained that, in the city, this was the best way they’d found to keep their edibles growing. They had initially started with the fields just beyond the fence, but over the years, it had turned out too dangerous to maintain these and so they had gone for the safety of height.
“And if you look over there…” Izzy pointed to another roof where a shabby construction of wires created a cage which held large moving creatures on a carpet of trampled grass. “That’s one of the places we keep our livestock.”
Joe clapped his hands excitedly at the cows, great black and white things that seemed placid and content. “It’s been so long since Joe has suckled on the teat of a cow,” he exclaimed, licking his lips. “I almost forgots just how delish milk can be!”
“I hope it wasn’t directly from the source, Joe?” Tom said.
Joe looked around guilty. “Wherever I can get milk from, that’s where I goes.”
“Ew!” Laurie exclaimed.
The rest of them laughed.
Caitlin looked all around and, now that her eyes had been opened, she could see more farming patches across the top of the city—sheep, cows, pigs, and several more vegetable patches. It seemed so strange, so alien, but it made sense in a bizarre way. At least from that height, the animals and plants would always have maximum access to the sunlight. If they were to grow them down in the streets, they’d likely shrivel and die.
“What about predators? Eagles, hawks, and the like?” Caitlin shaded her face and looked at the sky.
“That’s what the gardeners are for. Get it? Guard-eners!” Izzy chuckled and rested her hands on her hips.
After the rooftop tour, each person grabbed a basket of produce and brought it back to the library where rows upon rows of tables had been set up between the aisles of books. The city folk waited eagerly, their chat a mighty babble that could be heard from way across the street. They all cheered as Caitlin and the others walked in, clearly ready for food.
They handed over the baskets and took their place near Izzy and her men. As they sat and tucked into plates of steaming, delicious grub, Caitlin felt a pang of guilt as her thoughts turned to Kain.
I hope he’s okay. He can take care of himself, surely? But what if the Weres who have taken him are stronger? Faster? Are there any out there that can still transform now? And, most importantly, why the hell did they take him?
Caitlin couldn’t understand it. Sure, Kain had hardly ever been forthcoming with his past, but it seemed strange for him to have been kidnapped. There must be a reason. There must.
It had to have a connection to the Weres. Were it merely humans beneath the city, no flags or alarms might have raised. But if Kain was to ever upset anyone, Caitlin could imagine it would be Weres. Hadn’t he mentioned a couple of times in passing how he disliked the herd mentality of the Were packs?
Caitlin closed her eyes and drowned out the conversations happening around her. She shut out Joe, Tom, and Laurie who seemed deep in some nostalgic memory over the foods they had enjoyed growing up as kids. She ignored the constant murmur of the city folk as they laughed and gossiped and occasionally, pointed at the new arrivals. Instead, she focused on the idea of more Kains…more dry-witted beasts with strength that surpassed every human under this roof.
Caitlin’s mind wandered to life in the sewers. Her mind churned with more questions and even more wonderings. Perhaps they were merely Weres who had caught wind of another of their kind and wanted more for their pack. Perhaps it was that simple?
That could make sense, she thought. If they were attempting to swell their numbers for an overthrow of the humans, they’d want all the help they could get. They already had Alicia, so could it be too far from the truth that a rising up of the Weres was in the works?
Jaxon licked the juices of meat from Caitlin’s fingers. She looked into his eyes and smiled. “Tonight, we hunt again, friend,” Caitlin said.
“Tonight?” Tom said.
Caitlin’s eyes widened with surprise, unaware she had said that out loud. “Yes. Tonight. If time is against us, then we need to carry on. We can’t sit on our asses, not knowing what Kain is doing. Whether one of our own is safe.” She studied Tom, then grinned, “Unless you’re scared of a little d-aaargh-k, that is?” she said, swinging her fist.
“Was that a pirate joke?” Tom said.
Caitlin nodded.
“Because of the eyepatch?”
She nodded again.
“Wow. That never gets old…”
Laurie struggled to contain her laughter, covering her mouth with her free hand. Izzy leaned forward to see what was going on, blocking Joe’s view. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Caitlin said. “You had to be th-aargh!”
Laurie fell into hysterics once more as Tom sat and blushed.
“You know I’ll find a way to get you back,” he said.
“Just try me.” Caitlin winked.
After they had finished their food, Caitlin spotted a group of young women doing the rounds of the tables with big pitchers full of drink. When they reached Caitlin’s table, she saw that it was wine.
“Fresh from the roofs,” Izzy said. “Try some. It’s the best you’ll find around.”
“That’s a bold statement,” Tom said cheekily. “What’s your frame of reference? Do you make many trips to the neighboring towns to compare?”
Laurie had already taken a mouthful and swirled it around her mouth. “Hmm. Nice. Full-bodied. And delicate on the tongue.”
Caitlin looked incredulously at her.
“I’m kidding. It all tastes the same to me.” She coughed slightly as the wine burned her throat. “Woah. Got some kick to it, that one.”
Caitlin smirked. “Aw. Wittle Lauwie can’t hold her liquor?”
“I can,” Laurie protested. “Big words coming from someone still holding their drink tightly in their hand. What? You scared it’ll go straight to your head? That you might do something you’ll regret?”
“Like what?” Caitlin said.
“Like Tom.” Laurie chuckled.
Tom’s turned red. “Or…or Joe!”
Joe’s ears pricked up and he withdrew his head from the goblet he had already drained. A thick stream of purple liquid clung to his beard and dribbled down his body. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with a good nights in the sack with Joe. Though if that’s what you’re lookings for I’ll politefully decline. My Violets would have a few words to say about that.”
Tom looked as though he was about to say something, then thought better.
Caitlin raised her cup to her lips and smelled it. It had a nice scent—fruity with a hint of an acidic bite to it. She took a mouthful, held it as she savored the taste, and swallowed, then went back for more. She couldn’t remember the last time she had drunk alcohol. It had always been more of Dylan’s bag to drain the beers and cheer with the men. Her father had often spent nights wobbling f
rom the booze while her mother rolled her eyes, with Caitlin watching with a grin from the floor where she played with her toys. But, truthfully, she had always preferred the idea of sobriety.
Ah well, strange times called for strange measures.
“It’s delicious,” Caitlin said, doffing the cup to the servers as they offered her a refill she gladly accepted.
“Easy now. Izzy giggled, already light-headed on her own wine. “You want to be careful. That’s stronger stuff than you give it credit for. You’ll be down on your arms and asleep in a few seconds.”
Caitlin waved the idea away. “Are you saying I’m not strong enough to handle myself? I’ll have you know I’m much stronger than you think.” She was surprised to find her words were slurring slightly. The others laughed into their cups.
A clinking of something metallic caught their attention, and they looked up to see a woman standing at the far end of the hall.
She looked fierce. Her shoulders were broad beneath the tumble of strawberry-blonde hair. At her side was a broadsword which Caitlin noted looked like it had never seen a day of battle in its life.
“Who’s that?” Caitlin whispered.
“Felicia,” Izzy replied. “Alicia’s sister.”
“Felicia and Alicia? Are you kidding me?” Before she could get a response, Felicia addressed the room.
“Thank you, citizens of the Broken,” Felicia said in a voice that seemed far too deep for her body. “What a blessing it is that we should be once again gathered together to celebrate the life we have been gifted, and to rejoice as brothers and sisters together under one roof.”
All around them the city folk raised a glass and muttered, “Hear, hear.”
Caitlin caught the questioning eyes of her crew, shrugged, and held her own cup up. “Hear, hear.”
“Hear, hear,” Tom, Laurie, and Joe echoed.
“It’s the same speech every night. Don’t expect any award-winning performances from our Miss Felicia.” Izzy grinned.
Felicia stumbled over her words for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing in a loud and steady voice.
Hunting The Broken: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 3) Page 13