Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her nerves.
“We go in here,” Tyson said, getting down on all fours, then disappearing into the obscurity.
She stood there for a moment trying to get her wits about her as she wiped the sweat from her brow. If Connor was in there, nothing would stop her from getting to him, especially stupid bugs.
Shutting her eyes, she concentrated on her heartbeat. The extra one thundered in her chest, and as she began to relax, her limbs started to tremble. She knew within her soul that she was in the right place, and if she could get a hold of her fears, she’d find Connor. No longer a child, she’d have to be the one to free herself from her worries and uncertainties.
But what about her pack?
She could drag it in behind her as she crawled into the cave, but then thought better of it. To make it through the tiny space, she’d have to keep her wits about her and focus on not letting her fears overtake her. She didn’t need to be worried about her supplies.
Sliding her backpack off, she decided to hide it. If someone came along and took it, she wouldn’t be able to take care of Connor. If he needed immediate attention, she’d send Tyson out to grab it, or come and get it herself. However, she would be taking her knife. Maybe she could use it to fend off the bats if necessary. She considered taking her flashlight, but holding both the knife and the light would be cumbersome while crawling through the abyss. Did she want protection, or illumination?
The weapon won out, and she placed her backpack behind some bushes.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned over and tried to see into the darkness once again. A damp, musty smell met her nose, which made sense if the waterfall came directly out of the mountain.
Of course, that could also mean snakes, frogs, pond skaters …
“You can’t think about it,” she said as she dropped to her knees. “Just get in there, or you’ll lose Tyson.”
As she entered and the darkness swallowed her up, she searched for any type of light, but saw nothing but blackness. Almost immediately, she was overcome with panic and looked over her shoulder at the beautiful sunshine just a few feet behind her. She almost let the overwhelming urge to turn around rule her, but instead, she persevered into the unknown.
Sweat dripped from her brow into her eyes. She swiped at them with her hands, which only added dirt to the mix. Her pupils burned, causing her eyes to tear and the dirt to run down her face into her mouth. She wanted to spit, but complete anxiety had taken hold. Her chest clenched so tight, she began to fear she wouldn’t be able to breathe soon and would suffocate.
She still couldn’t find any sort of light ahead, and as she looked behind her, darkness had engulfed her there, as well.
She laid her head in her hands in the dirt, still clinging to the hilt of the knife. The tears flowed freely now as she thought about dying, which only produced more mud that caked on her cheeks. No one would ever find her in this crawlspace. Her body would slowly decay, eaten away by bugs and animals.
Don’t collapse now. Don’t completely fall apart and lose it. Go get Connor.
Those thoughts fueled her, and she got back up on all fours and moved forward. After a couple more minutes, her shoulder hit the side of the cave, indicating that it swung to the right. As she felt the cool, rock walls and maneuvered her body to follow the correct trajectory, the air changed, and she saw the end to the darkness up ahead.
Sighing with relief, she kept her gaze trained on the doorway out of her own personal Hell. She inhaled deeply. Although the oxygen didn’t feel as fresh as the clean mountain breeze she’d left a few minutes ago, it wasn’t quite as musty as the tunnel.
She quickened her pace, not paying attention to the way the dirt scraped up her palms, knees, and shins. In fact, she didn’t even care what may be waiting for her once she emerged from this torture just as long as she could get out of the tight space.
As she surfaced, her tears started again, but this time, they fell in gratitude. She’d never been so happy to be out of a situation.
Standing, she wiped her palms on her jeans, gritting her teeth at the sting from the cuts and scrapes. She swiped at her cheeks as her anxiety faded, and took a look around.
She stood inside the mountain, this area of it made up of black rock, unable to see how far up the ceiling went. She heard the fluttering of wings above her in the darkness. Small rays of sunshine burst through little cracks in the rock as droplets of water fell all around her.
Tyson was nowhere to be found. There were three ways leading out of this area, and she had no idea which to choose.
“Connor!” she yelled as she moved to the tunnel to her right. “Connor!”
“Sami!” he answered, “Run! Get out of—“
His voice seemed to bounce all around the rock walls, and she had no idea from which way it originated.
“Connor!”
Fear gripped her chest as she listened for him to answer, but only quiet greeted her.
The silence seemed deafening, the water dripping from the walls the only sound.
“Connor!” she yelled again, hoping for some sort of sign of which way she should go.
Just as she decided to follow her original plan and head down the cavern to her right, she thought she heard footsteps coming from her left.
As she concentrated on the sound, it seemed to draw closer, but now, she couldn’t tell which tunnel it originated from. She backed up toward the way she’d come in, her heart now thundering in her chest, her limbs trembling. She was close to Connor, but she had a feeling that the person coming toward her wouldn’t be him. The footsteps seemed light and quick, like a woman’s, and definitely not Connor’s loud, strong, assured strides.
She gripped the hilt of the knife, yet kept it out of sight down by her thigh. Her whole body tensed, a fight between fear and wanting to get Connor raging within her. She yearned to run, but she wouldn’t do so without him.
Now certain the footsteps came from the left, she positioned herself to meet their owner.
Shock rendered her paralyzed as a woman appeared but stopped before she entered the cavern. Long, black hair cascaded around her shoulders, her skin a similar shade to Sami’s olive tone. Dark eyes met hers, the woman’s striking facial features—high cheekbones, a full mouth—taking her breath away. She wore a long, black robe that covered her from her collarbones to her black flats.
The woman smiled, revealing the longest, whitest fangs she’d ever seen as she threaded her fingers in front of her.
“Hello, Sami,” she said. “I’ve been expecting you. Welcome to my home.”
21
“You need to shut up,” Tyson hissed at him.
He then punched him in the mouth again, causing more blood to pool on his tongue. Connor turned his head and spit it out, furious at his inability to do anything to help himself, or Sami.
Just moments ago, Tyson had come running into the area and immediately disappeared into the darkness.
As Connor was once again lowered to the ground, he had sagged in relief against the cool rocks.
Tyson got to his haunches.
“She’s here!” he whispered. “She followed me here! I’ll get my reward from my Queen!”
Connor stared up at his lost friend as fear clenched his stomach. The last thing he wanted was Sami here. Neither of them would make it out alive.
Panic raced through him as he heard her voice echo throughout the chamber.
“Connor!” she had yelled.
He’d tried to warn her, but Tyson had shut him up with a fist to the face. His only hope was that she had heard him and that she’d taken his warning.
But, for some reason, he doubted she had.
Sami tried to wrap her head around what was happening. Obviously, this woman was a full-blooded vampire. She’d never seen fangs so long. She’d also never, ever heard of a vampire living in a cave. All vampires she knew hated being outdoors for various reasons ranging from the risk of being caught in the s
un, to the bug and snake factor. Nature should be enjoyed inside, looking out a window, or maybe through a nice vase of flowers.
“Come with me, Sami,” the woman said with a thick Middle Eastern accent, lifting her hand and beckoning her.
“Where’s Connor?” she asked, determined not to go anywhere with the woman until she had some answers.
“He’s tied up right now, but you’ll see him soon. I promise.”
Sami narrowed her gaze at the woman. “How do you know my name?”
She assumed that Connor had said something about her to the woman, but she wanted to be sure because suddenly, there was an air of familiarity about her.
The woman grinned and folded her hands in front of her again. “I’m sorry. Let me start over. Sami, my name’s Selene. I am your great-great-grandmother.”
Her knees went weak. Selene? Sami didn’t think it could possibly be a coincidence that she and Connor had been working a case where someone named Selene Ambrogio had been involved.
And if she put two and two together … They’d thought Pedro was the head of the organization, but once again, they’d been wrong.
And her great-great grandmother? She didn’t recall her mother ever speaking of the woman, which only set off her radar further. Her mother had told her a lot about her lineage, but never mentioned anything about a great-great grandmother, nor anyone from her family living in the United States or even back in Turkey.
“Please come with me, Sami. As a full-blooded vampire, I can’t be out in the light.”
Sami glanced up to see the sun’s rays still filtering through the cracks. She hesitated, not wanting to go any further into the mountain, especially with a woman who called herself Selene.
“Please, child,” she said, stretching out her arm. “Come with me, and I’ll explain it all, then take you to Connor.”
It seemed like there weren’t any other options available to her. She had no way of knowing what lay in the labyrinth of the mountain.
“I want to see Connor right now, and I want to know why he’s here. Is he a prisoner or something? Is he hurt?”
Her voice sounded much stronger than she felt. Although the woman was beautiful, a dark energy—an almost diabolic aura—emanated from her. Sami would have gone scrambling through the passageway and down the path the moment she met Selene if it hadn’t been for Connor being somewhere inside this damn mountain.
Selene’s smile faded a moment, but then returned, as if she had to force it. In that brief period of time, Sami noted the wickedness in her eyes.
“Like I said, Sami, please come with me. I’ll explain everything to you, and then I’ll take you to see Connor.”
No, there definitely didn’t seem to be a choice in the matter.
She walked toward Selene, a sinking feeling taking place in her stomach. Why did she feel as if she were strolling toward her own execution?
Selene smiled, then turned.
As Sami followed her down the dim passageway, she was able to keep her anxiety at bay thanks to the ray of light at the end of the tunnel. When they reached the area, Sami realized the glow came from torches lining the walls. A small table and two chairs sat at the far edge of the cavern, while a slab of rock looked like it had almost been carved out to resemble a bed, or maybe a sitting area. A smell she couldn’t place filtered through the air, and she tried not to grimace as it attached itself to her throat and tongue.
Could this dank area with such rough conditions be Selene’s living quarters? If so, she didn’t know whether to pity the woman, or to be even more afraid. It would take a level of toughness that she couldn’t relate to in order to live in such an environment.
Three more tunnels led out of the space. This place seemed to be a maze, and she needed to make sure she paid close attention to where she was going and where she’d been.
“Sit,” Selene said, pointing at a rickety, wooden chair.
Sami wondered if it could hold her weight, and slowly lowered herself onto the seat.
“Very good,” Selene continued as she took her place across from Sami and laid her hands on the table. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”
Setting her hand down on her thigh, she maintained a tight grip on the knife.
“I want to see Connor.”
Selene smiled. “A silly human man is more important than taking a few moments to get to know a member of your family?”
She found it hard to believe that Selene could be her great-great grandmother, let alone a member of her family. First, the woman didn’t look a day over thirty. Her mom had resembled a fifty-year-old woman when she’d died, and she had been a hundred and twenty in vampire years. However, she hadn’t been a full vampire. Selene had said she was, and if she was truly Sami’s great-great-grandmother, how old did that make her?
However, her familial duty pulled at her, and she could practically hear her mother telling her to be more polite.
But why hadn’t her mom ever mentioned the woman?
“Fine,” she sighed. “Why am I here, who are you, and where is Connor?”
The smile faded once again, sending a shiver down Sami’s spine, but Selene quickly replaced it.
“I’ve told you who I am. I’ve also explained to you that you will see Connor in a bit. Now, let’s talk about you. Tell me about your life.”
Sami fought against the urge to roll her eyes.
Honestly, there wasn’t much she could tell. It wasn’t like she could let the stranger in on the fact that she’d been hunting rogue vampires the past weeks, and she had a sneaking suspicion that Selene was involved.
In fact, she found this whole discussion a waste of time. Connor was somewhere in this mess of caves and tunnels, and right now, that was the only thing concerning her.
“I see you aren’t going to be very forthright,” Selene said, “which, I can understand. I’m sure it looks to you like I’ve kidnapped your friend and held him against his will.”
“That’s exactly what it seems like to me,” she spat.
Selene grinned, a smile that came across as heartwarming and kind, but it didn’t fool Sami. This woman was evil to the core.
“Well, if you let an old lady talk for a few moments, I’ll then take you to him.”
Sami nodded as frustration welled within her, but said nothing and tried to keep her features neutral. It would seem the sooner she let the woman speak, the faster she’d find Connor.
“My whole family abandoned me in Turkey,” she began. “One by one, they left. Some headed for different parts of the world, while others came to the United States. As I grew older and became lonelier, I decided to follow.”
She still didn’t fully trust the story, so she decided to question Selene. “And why did they leave?”
Although her mother had given her the standard answer of craving a better life, she wanted to see what Selene had to say.
“I’m not certain.”
This smells like a heaping pile of bullshit.
“I know that they didn’t agree with many of my philosophies. Most were caught up in their religious beliefs and didn’t want to listen to me.”
Sami furrowed her brow. If Selene wanted someone to listen to her so-called philosophies and their religion didn’t allow for it, she couldn’t help but wonder what precisely her views were.
“And what exactly did they disagree with?”
Selene sighed and looked around the area. “Many things, Sami, but most of all, our place in this world.”
She gripped the knife under the table, confused by what Selene had said. She didn’t even know whether to believe she was related to the vampire.
“What was my mother’s name?” she asked.
Selene furrowed her brow. “Eris. Her sister was that shrill, unpleasant woman, Aida. From what I recall of her, she always had to be the center of attention, always so demanding of others. A completely horrid creature who hung onto her religion as if believing in a God would save her nasty soul.”
> Well, at least they agreed on something. Sami had never liked her aunt, either.
“You know, vampires originally didn’t practice a religion. We were our own religion, we believed in ourselves. Religion was just another way that the human race polluted our own.”
She didn’t know how to answer that. Her mother had been a Muslim, although one who didn’t practice the religion to exactness. Her father had been an agnostic. After she’d seen what Dedou had been capable of with her spirits, Sami felt that she had no choice except to believe there was something greater than everyone, whether vampire or human, or any other entity running around this planet.
Instead, she decided to go back to the original subject. “What do you mean? Like your family’s place in the world?”
Selene shook her head. “No. Can I please show you?”
Sami hesitated for a moment. Was the woman trying to prolong her seeing Connor?
If she needed to have Selene describe her place in the world, then fine. It seemed the quicker she placated the vampire, the faster she’d get to him.
22
Selene picked up a small bell from the table and rang it. She smiled serenely at Sami, folding her hands on her lap as if she waited for something.
A moment later, Tyson entered, and Sami studied the empty look on his face as he stared at the floor. Selene must have put him in a vampire trance. However, Tyson’s stupor was different from anything she’d seen before. The vampires who she knew held the ability couldn’t force their subjects to remain in the state of mind for long, and they had to be present in order for the humans to stay that way. Tyson seemed to walk around in a hypnotized frame of mind without Selene in his company. It explained his behavior when he’d met her down by the lake and brought her up to Selene’s lair. Since hindsight was twenty-twenty, she certainly should have realized Tyson’s state of mind, but she would have also bet every last dollar she had that a vampire would never live in a dank cave.
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