Hours passed so very slowly in the dungeon, and I wondered how long the torch would stay lit. How long before someone would come in to check on us? Or if they ever would. Maybe someone would come in to check on the zombies and remember us too, but we were pretty far back in the caverns.
We had been quiet for a long time. I called out to Andreas, “How far away are you from me?”
“Come forward to the bars,” he said.
I crawled forward and stopped when my shoulder hit the cold iron at the end of my enclosure.
Andreas said, “Put out your hand.”
I did, and within a moment my hand was resting in his. It was a wonderful source of comfort in this awful place. I happened to think, and asked him, “Do you need more blood?”
“Not just yet, but soon. I won’t be able to drink from you again, though. It will have to be living blood. I just didn’t want to leave you alone,” the vampire said thoughtfully.
“I appreciate that, but please keep your strength up. I don’t need you getting weak or going mad on me. And you’re much too beautiful to let yourself deteriorate in such a fashion,” I chuckled.
“Yes, yes. That is true,” he laughed.
We held hands even when I was tired of keeping mine outstretched. This one small comfort was all we had. We could hear the zombies shuffling around the front part of the cave, and I wondered what would happen if they came back here. Would they let us out? Or torment us?
“OK,” Andreas said, and gave my hand a tight squeeze before letting go. “I’m going to have to lie down and go feed. Will you be alright an hour or so alone?” he asked.
“Of course,” I said.
“I’ll try to be fast,” he said. And I felt him move away from the bars.
Here I was, alone once more. I thought about trying to sleep, but I was a little too scared and wound up for that.
I also didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention from the zombies while I was alone. They seemed harmless enough, but I wasn’t willing to test that theory.
So I sat in the quiet blue glow of the torchlight, and hoped that time would pass quickly.
After an unknowable duration, I heard footsteps coming my direction. They sounded too determined and fast to be a zombie. My heart sped up, and I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. I wanted Andreas to wake up.
The footsteps came closer and closer towards the room where we were being held. I wondered if it was one of the vampires, maybe even Grace or Boude. I got a little excited at that last thought.
I saw the light from a flashlight beaming along the floors and stone walls, and thought maybe it could be Soren or Billy.
I stood up and leaned against the bars of my cage, straining my neck to determine if I could see or hear anyone that I might be looking for me. I was terrified to speak, in case the person wasn’t who I thought they were. But the footsteps paused, and in a moment of desperation I called out, “Help us, please! We’re back here.” The moment the words were out of my mouth, I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.
The footsteps resumed in my direction once more; I didn’t like that the person coming for me hadn’t answered me back. My skin was cold and clammy, and I shivered with nerves, as well as the chilliness from the cold dungeon.
The light was growing brighter, and then it was shining in my face. I put my arm up to keep it from blinding me as I tried to see who was standing in front of me.
“Who’s there?” I asked.
I immediately recognized the voice that followed my question. “Thaddeus. I told you we’d be in touch,” he said simply.
I was simultaneously relieved and frustrated. Couldn’t he have shown up earlier? “Is your sorcerer friend going to help us?” I asked.
“When I first told her about the issue she planned to stay out of it, but for some reason your name intrigued her, and she’s agreed to help.”
I couldn’t see his face, but his voice carried a lilt that said he was smiling as he spoke. I hadn’t been able to place his accent the first time we met, but at times he sounded Southern—deep South, like Georgia. I wondered if he tried to hide his accent on purpose, or if he had just been dead so long he had lost most of it.
This was the first I had heard about the sorcerer he worked for being a she, not that I cared. I didn’t care if the sorcerer was freaking frog, as long as it could help me out of this cage and get us out of this mess. I started to ask what their plan entailed, but decided I didn’t care until I was out of the dungeon. “OK, get me out of here,” I said, my desperation clear.
Thaddeus walked up to the iron door and took a small crystal out of his pocket. He placed it in the lock and shoved. Slowly the iron started to glow red-orange with heat around the crystal. Then the door let go and swung open.
I stepped out and found myself fighting back tears of relief and gratitude. I wanted to grab Thaddeus and hug him, but he just didn’t seem like that kind of guy. So I simply said, “Thank you.”
He motioned for us to start heading to the exit.
“Wait,” I stopped him. “My friend is in the other cell; I can’t leave him.”
Thaddeus frowned at me, and made no move to open Andreas’s cell.
“Look, he’s part of this. He would have helped me even if you hadn’t shown up. I won’t leave here without him.” My hands were on my hips and my voice was steady. This wasn’t up for debate.
Thaddeus nodded and went to Andreas’s cell door, which he then opened in the same fashion as mine.
Once the door opened and Andreas didn’t emerge, Thaddeus looked inside the cell and then at me.
“He’s a vampire; he’s hunting,” I explained.
“Ah,” Thaddeus said, and went into the cell. In just a moment he emerged with a sleeping Andreas casually tossed over his shoulder. “Shall we?” He motioned for me to lead the way.
“After you,” I offered, a bit surprised and impressed.
As we walked towards our way out, I kept wondering where the zombies were and if we would have difficulty getting through them. The way out seemed much shorter than the way in, in part because Thaddeus had a flashlight, and partly because I wasn’t trudging along with my hundred closest zombie and vampire friends this time.
We soon found ourselves heading up the stairs and out into the light of the Vampire Quarter. Since I always found the Quarter to be a dark and dreary place, and it now actually seemed bright to me, that says something about just how dark it was down there.
“Where are the zombies?” I asked Thaddeus, who still had Andreas over his shoulder like a pretty sack of potatoes.
“She is sorting them,” he answered.
I despised vague answers, but I was also trying to be grateful for the help, and trying not to be too nosey. “What’s the plan now?” I asked.
About the time those words were out of my mouth, Andreas started to rouse from his slumber.
I saw him wiggle a bit and raise his head, golden locks tossed to and fro. He cleared his throat. “Um, excuse me? Do I know you? What’s going on?”
I walked over to him and brushed his hair out of his face. “We were rescued by Thaddeus while you were still hunting,” I smiled at him.
The look on his face showed that it all made sense. Andreas tapped Thaddeus on the shoulder, “Thank you, my good man. I greatly appreciate the rescue and the lift, but I can walk now.”
Thaddeus leaned forward to place Andreas’s feet on the ground, and as he stood back up, he let his hand slide up Andreas’s thigh and gently cup his ass. It was a smooth, fast movement, but I saw it. And Andreas definitely felt it, because I saw his honey eyes widen, and for a split second his mouth opened in shock.
I quickly covered my mouth to hide my smile, and bit my lip to keep from laughing. Andreas’s face covered emotions from anger to amusement.
“So,” I asked again, “what is our plan?”
“She said for us to meet her at Rasputin’s house, and all would be settled,” Thaddeus said as we followed him back throu
gh the Quarter. I so wanted to go home.
“Does she have a name?” Andreas asked.
“She does,” Thaddeus replied, but didn’t offer any more information.
“And you’re not going to tell us what it is?” I asked.
“It’s not my name to tell.”
I looked at Andreas and shrugged; that was actually a fair answer.
I missed Soren. I had been gone for hours, and I knew he was probably worried about me. I also knew that at some point he would come into the Vampire Quarter to look for me, and I so didn’t want to have to worry about him getting involved in this. Right now I just wanted what was going to happen to happen quickly, so that I could get on with my life—er, death… whatever.
“Can she really take care of all of this?” I asked Thaddeus. It seemed strange that there could be someone powerful enough to just swoop in and clean up this mess—someone we had never heard of.
“She can,” he said.
Thaddeus was definitely a man of few words. Andreas and I shared another look, and kept walking.
“So that’s where all the zombies went,” Andreas remarked as we approached Rasputin’s house once more.
All of the zombies were standing at full attention in neat, military style lines; not one of them was moving a millimeter.
At the front of the zombie army stood a woman. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. Her hair hung to her waist in long waves of rich mahogany, and her eyes were the color of dark chocolate streaked with caramel. Her skin glowed pale and lovely against her dark hair and royal blue gown. She was tall and elegant, and power rolled off of her like a fountain overflowing. Unlike Rasputin, though, you wanted to be near her—wanted her to be your friend. I trusted her the moment I saw her—I loved her the moment I saw her. I even thought a part of me fell in love with her the moment she looked into my eyes.
“You are Helena, Hel,” she said, and smiled at me.
I blinked at her, dazed by her enchantment, and woozy on the power she exuded. I wasn’t certain if she had spoken to me, or if I had only heard her voice in my head. Finally, I nodded. “Yes, I am Hel. Who are you?”
She pulled her shoulders back and set her staff down firmly on the ground. A sparkle caught my eye. The staff was made of twisted vines that came up to her waist, and on the top, carved from some type of stone, was a cut pomegranate. The seeds were shimmering rubies that had caught my eye. I knew who she was, even though I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.
Andreas knew as well; he went down on one knee beside me and dropped his head. “Queen Persephone,” he said.
I started to drop to my knee the same as Andreas, but paused when I thought maybe I was supposed to curtsy instead. Her hand on my arm stopped me.
“No, no. None of that. Please stand.” She offered her hand to help Andreas rise.
“I’ve organized this land to run on it’s own with very little help from me—although I knew there would be a day when I would have to step in on certain matters,” she said. Her voice was melodic and gripping. The kind of voice you wanted to sing you a song or tell you a story; the kind of voice that would most certainly bring you to tears if was cross and aimed at you. “I do not seek worship or praise, but I will not let what I’ve created be tarnished.”
I smiled at her, feeling immensely relieved to know she was going to handle this. Andreas was damn near speechless beside me. Thaddeus was standing statue-still at the Queen’s side.
“So, Hel,” she asked, “you say that Rasputin is the one who raised the zombies and started this whole debacle?”
“Yes: it was his plan to set the vampires and humans against each other, so that he could gain control of the vampires, and essentially be king of the Quarter,” I answered.
She nodded in understanding. “You are a reaper, correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You saw the zombies rise from the fields?”
“Yes, and before that, all of the dead were disappearing—even if their souls hadn’t been settled. Rasputin made some kind of deal with the other afterlifes through the wall about how he would send them so many souls in exchange for support and favors.”
Persephone’s face hardened and her eyes lit up with anger; she looked pissed. “Is that so?” She asked. And I was oh-so-glad that anger was not directed at me—although I had to admit I was really looking forward to watching her direct it at Rasputin.
The Queen of the underworld lifted her staff and tapped it on the ground with more force than I expected. I watched a ripple run through the ground in a straight line towards Rasputin’s house. It was like a very precise earthquake when it hit. His whole house shook as if it was trying to shake him out. Meanwhile the area where we stood just out front was completely still.
“Rasputin, it is time to show yourself,” Persephone commanded, and her voice echoed not just through the air, but throughout everyone’s entire being. There was no way he hadn’t heard her. And yet… nothing happened.
We all waited; something was going to happen. I worried about Rasputin having planned a surprise-attack, but most of his own followers were standing nearby watching everything go down—and they obviously wanted no part in this now that Her Majesty was involved.
“Rasputin, I command you to come out and defend your actions. If you do not, I will be forced to come in after you.”
Personally I thought she was being very lenient. If I had her power, I would’ve already dragged him out by his scraggly beard, or burned his house down with him inside.
Andreas gripped my arm so tightly I said, “Ow, fuck,” and tried to pull my arm back. That’s when I looked up to see the front door opening—only it wasn’t Rasputin emerging: it was Grace and Boude.
Grace looked terrified stepping outside the confines of the house. She gripped Boude’s hand with everything in her. Boude looked uneasy, but was trying to hold it together for Grace, I was certain.
I started to run to them, but Persephone’s voice stopped me. “Hel, who are they?”
“They’re my friends. Can I please go to them?” I begged.
She gave me a soft nod and I ran to my friends, grabbing them both in a big, tight, hug. “Are the two of you OK?” I asked, smoothing back Grace’s hair. Her makeup was streaked and her scars were bare; even the ruin of her eye was missing its usual outfit-coordinated eye patch.
“I’m afraid we’re in trouble, Hel,” she whimpered, and Boude pulled her in close.
I felt myself get lightheaded. No more complications please… “Why do you think that? Where’s Rasputin?”
“He’s dead,” answered Boude. “We killed him. The last time we spoke with you that was the plan, and we didn’t know anything had changed.” Boude was normally so proud and refined. Right now he was quickly losing his cool.
“If we had known the Queen was coming for him, we wouldn’t have done anything. I didn’t even know we had a Queen,” Grace rambled as tears fell from her untouched eye.
I hugged them to me again. “It’ll be OK,” I reassured them, and hoped I was telling them the truth.
I put myself in between them and held each of their hands as we walked towards Persephone. I wanted to have lunch with her, ask her about her life, find out what was true and what was myth. But first, I had to make sure she wasn’t going to punish my friends for doing the thing we had all agreed upon.
As we approached, Boude and Grace dropped their heads. I stood firm and looked her right in the eyes. “Your majesty, these are my dear friends, Boudewyn, and Grace. There is a lot to this story, but it comes down to this: Boude, Grace, Andreas, and myself knew that Rasputin was a great threat to the entirety of the underworld. We didn’t know you were the Queen, and that we should first seek your counsel. So we created our own plan. Boude and Grace infiltrated Rasputin’s home as spies, and essentially assassins. They built his trust, and on a hunting trip in the above world, they killed him.” I paused and looked to them for confirmation that that was indeed h
ow it all went down. Grace nodded. I continued, “If they must be punished, you have to punish me as well.”
Cries started pouring in from the vampires surrounding us. Up until now they had been silent. They wanted us punished; they wanted revenge for Rasputin’s death—they wanted our blood.
Persephone held up her long graceful arm, staff in hand. “Enough!” She said. The vampire crowd silenced. “The mortal world has enough rules and rulers. I might be the Queen of this place, but I will only step in if your freedom is in jeopardy. What these vampires did is completely acceptable in my eyes.” Then she looked to me. “But you…”
My heart tried to stop as she spoke to me. What did I do to upset her?
“You are not even a vampire, and yet here you are fighting to protect them and their way of life—even though most are too blind to see that’s what you were doing.” She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. It felt like tiny electric shocks where her lips touched.
The large vampire Martin stepped forward from the crowd. “I don’t mean to question your honor, Queen Persephone, but how do we know Rasputin did all the terrible things that have been said. He’s not here to defend himself; this could have been their plan all along.”
Persephone sighed and walked over to the zombies. “Do you sense your master?” She asked.
The zombie seemed to think for a long moment, and then answered, “No, I do not.”
“Good. I thereby break all your ties to him or her,” Persephone claimed, and touched the zombie with her staff. “Tell me: who called you from the grave, and what was your purpose?”
“We were called forth by the sorcerer Rasputin. We were told to threaten the disgusting vampires and tell them the humans were taking back the Quarter.” The zombie was emotionless, almost robotic.
“Thank you,” said the queen, turning back to Martin.
His head was down and he stepped away, obviously embarrassed.
Persephone faced the crowd of vampires. “Return to your lives. All is finished here. And next time, please do not let yourselves be so easily swayed by fear.”
Digging Up the Dead (The Gravedigger Series Book 2) Page 12