There was no room for us to move in the confined space and the Elite had the clear advantage with numbers. Valentina was long gone and I cursed myself for not killing her as soon as the spell over my soul was broken. But it had been too much to take in at once. So many memories and feelings coming back to me in that single moment. It was overwhelming and confusing and I hadn’t been able to process it quickly enough.
Erik ripped the toilet from the wall and launched it at the Elite as they tried to follow us into the bathroom. He kicked the door shut before they could recover and slid several heavy bolts into place, blocking the Elite out.
“That won’t hold them,” I snarled but he released a laugh as the Elite began to batter against the other side of the door.
“It will. That door has a steel plate inside it and I just secured it with four titanium deadbolts. This is Clarice’s emergency escape plan.”
“Well I’m mightily pleased that we are safely locked in a bathroom,” I replied as I ran some water into the basin and washed the venom from the bites I’d just received.
Erik watched me with a faint frown as if he was thinking about what Valentina had just been forcing us to do and I scowled at him.
“My eyes are up here,” I snapped.
“You don’t have to remind me,” he replied irritably as I rinsed the bite he’d just delivered above my hip bone.
“Well a few inches lower and you might as well have been sucking my-”
“I know! For fuck’s sake I know. Can we please just never fucking mention any of it ever again?” Erik demanded angrily.
“Fine by me.” If I couldn’t banish the memory of his mouth against mine then I would at least agree to pretend it had never happened.
I rinsed my mouth out with the water and spat it on the floor before picking Tempest up again.
“So now what?” I asked. The Elite continued to batter the door outside and we could hardly stay locked in here forever.
He pushed past me and moved to a long mirror which hung beside the shower. As he slipped his fingers behind it, a dull click sounded and the whole thing swung open on hinges, revealing a dark passageway beyond.
“I thought your kind had nothing to fear since you defeated the slayers. Why are you so prepared for an emergency?” I asked.
“After the hell you put us through, we learned never to take our safety for granted,” Erik replied as he stepped into the tunnel and I followed him.
“Where does this lead?” I asked as I closed the hidden door behind us and we were plunged into darkness.
The passage was narrow and my shoulders brushed against the stone walls on either side of it. I had to duck my head as I moved down a curving stairwell and cobwebs tickled my skin.
“To freedom,” he replied. “It’s time I got back to my damn wife.”
I hurried along the dark passage with Magnar matching my pace. The foundations of my heart had been truly shaken, but it had found its way back to Montana at long last. I didn't know what had happened to that necklace and I didn't much care. We were free. And I'd be damned if we were going to get caught again.
The path dropped down steeply beneath our feet and I pushed myself a little harder, careful not to outrun Magnar. We were united in our need to escape. For once, our hearts wanted the same thing. Besides, we'd both been through this bullshit together and no matter what he thought of me now, I held a strange kind of bond with the slayer after all we'd endured.
“Yes!” I gasped, darting toward the end of the tunnel where a heavy metal door stood in our way. I placed my thumb to a fingerprint scanner beside it with anticipation bursting through my veins. The screen glowed blue and the door unlocked before us.
“Where does this lead?” Magnar whispered as he followed me through the door.
“See for yourself,” I said triumphantly, gesturing to the underground parking lot before us as lights flickered on overhead. Every one of mine and my siblings' finest cars were housed right here. From Porsches to Aston Martins we had the lot. But the beautiful vehicles weren't what we needed right now.
I hurried to a large steel box on the wall, pressing my thumb to another scanner to unlock it. The front slid open and a rack of keys shone back at me. I plucked one from the bottom row and hurried across the lot past the cars.
“Where are you going?” Magnar hissed, keeping pace with me. “Let's just get in one and go.”
I kept running to the far end of the cavernous space, pausing in front of the beast I'd been looking for. The armoured truck was military grade. Its sleek black exterior built to withstand the force a bomb. We'd acquired it after the Final War, but never really had a need for it. The ramming bars on the front and back were just one of the features that would keep us safe from the Biters and Valentina's storms.
“Valentina could have an army waiting for us up there. But this beauty will get us through.” I opened the vehicle and hopped into the driver's seat as Magnar hurried around to get in the other side.
As we shut the doors a loud clunk sounded a host of locks sliding into place.
I started the engine and the truck roared as I drove us toward the exit. We scaled a steep ramp and the camera recognition released the steel gate before us, sliding up to reveal the road leading away from the castle. I pressed my foot on the gas and we tore out of the lot at high speed. I accelerated along the road through the woodland, the sound of our escape surely alerting every Biter in the area.
Magnar’s rigid posture told me how uncomfortable he was in the modern vehicle.
“You’re safe in here,” I said in an attempt to set him at ease. “Even Valentina’s storms would have a hard time rolling this truck over.”
“So long as you don’t squeeze my thigh to reassure me this time, I’ll be comfortable enough,” Magnar said with a hint of mocking to his tone.
“Much as I’m dying to feel up your massive tree trunk leg again, I’m pretty sure I can fight the urge.”
Magnar broke a laugh and I couldn’t help but join him as the gate in the wall came into view ahead. A row of Biters stood there, armed to the teeth. They aimed their guns at us and Magnar winced as they let their bullets fly.
A smile gripped my face as the bullets sprayed off of the truck's exterior as easily as rain.
I pressed my foot down and Magnar’s laughter grew as he realised what I was going to do.
The Biters split apart as the truck pelted at them full-speed. Two unlucky fuckers were dashed to pieces on my hood and we rammed into the gate behind them. It crashed to the ground and the truck bumped wildly as it rolled over the metal.
I took a hard right, heading for the highway as two SUVs took chase behind us, speeding up the road from where they'd been posted outside the castle walls.
I tapped a screen on the dashboard with one eye on the road as I loaded our defences. Guns raised at the back of the truck and a camera fed back the view behind us on the screen.
“Here, use this to shoot,” I commanded Magnar and he shifted toward the screen, his face falling into a grimace as he took in the technology.
“Just press the big red button,” I laughed and he responded with a noise of irritation before doing as I said. Gunfire rattled out behind us and the SUVs swerved violently to try and avoid it. The high-powered guns ripped their vehicles to shit and Magnar released a rumbling chuckle as he figured out how to aim the guns in different directions.
One of the SUVs turned sharply and hit a lamppost as the driver was turned to ash. The other one kept coming, but the windscreen shattered under the onslaught and the Biters inside exploded in a cascade of dust.
I raced down streets left and right then merged onto the highway. Hardly any cars were driving along it and I took advantage of the open road, the engine bellowing as we tore south as fast as the wind.
The city shrank behind us and a sigh of relief sailed from my lips.
“Six hours to Baltimore,” I announced. “But I can do it in four.”
The mega-highway my people had built
twelve years ago cut a direct path to Baltimore through the ruins. The raised road ran on stilts above the wrecked parts of Washington and Maryland. As we closed in on Baltimore, darkness swallowed the land but a lake was visible on the horizon, glittering under the light of the moon.
We didn't pass many cars as we sailed across the endless highway. The closer we came to Baltimore, the more the mark on my palm tingled. It bound me to Montana, assuring me I was getting nearer to her. And the thought alone sent a thrill dancing down my spine.
I was wrought with anticipation. I needed her in my arms. I needed to beg for her forgiveness for everything Valentina had caused me to do. The memories came to me in a haze and I hated to face them. The moment I'd ripped Montana's head off replayed in my mind over and over again. Would she hate me for it? Would she be able to see Valentina as the true enemy? The longer I thought on it, the more I knew it would be so. Montana was forgiving. It was her nature. But I'd still spend the rest of eternity making up for what I'd done to her under Valentina's control.
A tense silence had fallen between Magnar and I as we'd descended into our thoughts. The dark expression on his face made me wonder if he was struggling with a similar conflict in his mind.
“You alright?” I asked.
“I can't get the feel of Valentina's hands off of my body,” he snarled. “I think I smell like her too.” He shuddered and I noticed he was right. We were running from her bed and her sickly sweet scent was everywhere.
I eyed a junction up ahead, an idea coming to me as I veered off of the highway and circled down to the road below.
“Where are you taking us?” Magnar asked and I pointed to the lake up ahead.
“Fancy a wash?” I asked with a knowing grin.
He nodded keenly and I ate up the road between us and the expanse of gleaming water. The second I stopped the truck, Magnar left his sword in the footwell and jumped out of the vehicle. My brows lifted as I realised how much he trusted me now to leave his weapon here. I grinned as he ran straight into the lake, leaving his trousers in place.
I headed after him, dropping down from the truck and jogging into the cool water. When I was up to my waist, I sank down into its depths, scrubbing at my hair, my skin, my clothes. Everywhere Valentina had touched me.
I came up to the surface and the water streamed off of my shoulders, taking all of my anxiety with it.
Magnar turned to me with a sigh. “Who would have thought I'd be standing here with you and neither of us would want to kill each other.”
A smile caught my mouth. “Well I'm not glad Valentina took us, but at least we've found some common ground at last.”
Magnar chuckled darkly. “I'd still rather hate you than have the memories of her mouth on me.”
“Tough luck,” I jibed and he smirked at me. I eyed the bloody bite marks on his body and guilt rolled through me. “Sorry about that.” I pointed to the one on his midriff and he glanced down at it with a scowl.
“Oddly enough, I think I'm more disgusted by the ones Valentina gave me.”
“I think I'd rather have laid with you than her,” I said with a bark of laughter.
He snorted his own amusement. “Don't tell Montana that, she'll start thinking you want me instead.”
“I've had quite enough of you thanks,” I said and my smile fell away as I thought of my wife. “I'm dying to see her again.”
“The chances of us falling for two sisters is quite baffling. I hope the gods never intended for it to happen, I rather like the idea that it came down to chance,” Magnar mused.
“Well I certainly don't think Idun or Andvari would have desired it. Or if they did, they underestimated how much hatred can be put aside in the face of love.”
“Yes...” Magnar looked to me with a faint smile. “You don't think the others are still at the army base, do you?”
I bit into my cheek as I considered it. Valentina's Biters were heading there in droves. But my family and the slayers weren't stupid enough to remain there. “No chance.”
“That's what I suspected,” Magnar said, nodding firmly. “So how are we going to find them?”
I turned my palm over as the rune throbbed with heat. “This.” I showed it to him. “It tells me when Montana is close. I can sense we're nearer already.”
Magnar gave me a hopeful smile, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Then let's go find them.”
We headed back to the truck, soaking wet but feeling a whole let better to have Valentina's scent off of us. I didn't want to go to Montana like that. I didn't want any trace of that bitch left on me when I reunited with my wife. It was a shame Magnar would have the bite marks on his skin when he found Callie.
I started the truck and headed back to the highway. We were soon speeding along, closing in on Baltimore by the second. Before we got close to the army base, I took a road toward the farmlands instead, following the growing heat in my palm as we drove inland.
“I wish my head had been clear enough to take that chance to kill Valentina,” Magnar said in a gruff tone.
I sighed heavily. “By the gods, I want that woman dead more than anything.”
“She deserves the foulest of deaths,” Magnar agreed then released a noise of anger. “What she made us do...bowing at her feet, acting like miserable dogs-”
“It could have been worse,” I muttered. “One more minute in that bedroom and we'd have bigger regrets than that.”
“Don't I fucking know it,” Magnar growled and I turned to him with a snort of amusement. “What's so funny?” he demanded.
“Well at least we don't have to explain to Montana and Callie that the two of us screwed each other.”
His brow creased heavily then he released a dark laugh. “Yes thank the gods for that.”
“Not the gods,” I said gruffly. “They were the ones who got us into this shit.”
“Idun is a heartless bitch with a pathetic vendetta against me. I'm tired of her ways.”
I upped our pace in the truck, suddenly anxious that the gods might come after us now. But somehow I felt sure that we were safe. I didn't know how that could be possible, but a deep intuition in my heart told me it was true.
As we raced between fields and fields of farmland, the rune on my skin flared with an intensity that filled me with need.
Montana was so close. Before this night was over, I'd have her in my arms at last. And no one would ever take me from her again.
Our journey onwards was punctuated by a tense silence. Asking for Odin’s help was one thing but getting it was another. He wanted us to fulfil the prophecy and head to the mountain with the ring but he hadn’t made it clear if Erik and Magnar would be set free before or after we’d upheld our end of the deal.
I felt jittery. Like there was a storm brewing but I had no idea if I was going to get caught in it or not.
I needed to tell Julius the rest of the story about his mother. But I really didn’t think he’d appreciate an audience of Belvederes for that conversation. He deserved the privacy he’d require to take on the burden of that grief. It wasn’t fair of me to hold onto the secret though and the weight of it was hanging heavily on my heart.
Fabian was sitting in the front with Miles, directing him towards the house of the girl he used to love. It was funny to think of someone holding a grudge against him for a thousand years but I could understand why. I’d hate him forever too if he turned me into a monster.
I glanced at Montana guiltily as that thought crossed my mind but her situation wasn’t the same. She’d had no other option. Though that led to beg the question, if I was mortally wounded would I accept immortality as a solution?
I chewed on my lip as the answer came to me and I was a little ashamed to even think it after agreeing to it for Montana. But I knew in my heart it was right. I wouldn’t want to live a life as a vampire. Not if there was any chance that I could be stuck that way.
I wished to live and love, grow old, have children... die. I didn’t want to be froze
n in one place forever. Never being anything more than what I was at this very moment. My heart twisted with unexpected pity for the Belvederes. None of them had asked for this.
I glanced at Julius as he snoozed in the seat beside mine and wondered if I should tell him about that decision but I realised he wasn’t the one I needed to convince. He wouldn’t be the one trying to turn me if anything were to happen. The vampires were the ones who needed to know how I felt about it.
“Is something bothering you, Callie?” Clarice asked gently as I noticed her looking at me.
“No,” I replied instantly then regretted it. “Well, sort of,” I admitted.
Montana turned to look at me too and I dropped my head, backing out on the idea.
“What is it?” Clarice urged. She reached out to lay a hand on my shoulder and I didn’t even recoil from her touch. The vampires didn’t repulse me like they used to and I realised I wasn’t afraid in their presence anymore either.
“I think it might be rude to say it,” I muttered.
“Well now you have to tell us,” Warren said with a teasing smile like he expected me to say something embarrassing.
“Okay... But you all have to promise not to be offended by it,” I said, meeting Montana’s eye as I spoke so that she’d know I meant her.
“You can tell me anything, Callie,” she said, her brows pinching together in confusion.
I took a deep breath and raised my chin before I spoke. “I’ve just been thinking about the amount of danger this whole mess has put us in. And I can’t help but feel sure that getting to this mountain is only going be harder than everything we’ve survived so far...”
“I don’t understand,” Warren said with a frown.
Fabian turned to look at me from the front seat and I forced myself to finish what I’d been going to say.
“It’s just that the gods haven’t exactly been reliable up until now. And as much as I want to believe that we’re holding the answer to the prophecy in our hands here and that as soon as we get to the mountain your curse will end... I just can’t help but feel that maybe it’s not that simple. And if there’s even the slightest chance that this curse won’t end then I just need you all to be clear on how I feel about something-”
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 148