“The woods!” a voice shouted from up the hill. The Outer Guard had found them.
They reached the cover of the trees. Guns fired, breaking away chunks of wood that flew through the darkness, throwing the shadows into confusion. Raina ran ahead of them. Nola could only keep track of her by the shimmering of her hair in the pale light of the domes.
“Leave me,” T panted. “They’ll catch you. Please leave me.”
“Not gonna happen.” Beauford shoved Nola aside, lifting T in his arms and charging forward.
“This way.” Nola took the lead, weaving through the trees as she followed Raina.
Shots cracked against the trees, but their trunks were too closely packed for the silver darts to find their marks. “Why are they firing at us?” Nola asked, her words coming out in gasps. “They can’t hit us.”
A string of sharp blasts sounded up ahead.
“They’re corralling us,” Catlyn said, running forward as fast as ever, a slight hunch of her shoulders the only sign that she knew the shots could hurt her.
They were getting close. With Bright Dome over to the left, they were nearly there. But they were too far back in the trees. They would need to run farther out to get to the way across the river.
“Come on.” Nola ducked through the trees, barely making it in time to see Raina disappear into a shadow in the side of a tree.
Nola dived into the darkness, not stopping until she ran into a wall. She knew there were steps beneath her, but there was no way to see them.
Hands closed around her waist, lifting her over and down just as another person entered the darkness, panting. A faint grunt and thud told her Beauford and T had arrived.
“Slowly, down the steps,” Raina whispered, so softly Nola could barely hear the words over her own breathing.
Nola reached her toe into the solid black, her hands stretched out in front of her, searching for a wall. She found one stair, and then another.
“Nola!”
Nola froze, teetering between steps.
“Nola!” Jeremy’s voice ripped through the darkness. “Nola, where are you? Nola, please come out!”
He wasn’t far away. She could hear him as though he were standing just beyond the tree.
Nola held her breath, waiting for lights to beam down on them and tiny silver needles to pierce their flesh.
“Raina, if you give Nola back to us unharmed, we will let you go. You can run off into the darkness and hide, and we won’t ever come looking for you. But if you make her go with you, I will tear apart every piece of this planet to find her. When you sleep, I’ll be hunting you. Where you feed, I will be tracking you.”
There were shouts in the distance, men running the other way.
I hope they don’t find a poor outsider.
“Nola,” Jeremy called, his voice tighter than it had been before, “I know you’re mad at me, at the domes. I know you think what we’re doing is wrong, but it’s not. You aren’t one of them, Nola. Maybe they made you think you are, but you are a citizen of the domes. And whatever they have manipulated you into believing is a lie. I will fight to bring you home, Nola. With everything I have, I will fight for you. I love you, Magnolia Kent, and when you figure out everything they’ve been telling you is a lie, when you want to come home, I’ll be here waiting. I promise.”
Pain stabbed through her chest, puncturing the void that had protected her heart. He was shouting to the night that he loved her. That he would wait for her. But he didn’t yet understand what she had done. And when he did…
He’ll keep waiting for me.
Nola buried her face in her hands to muffle the sound of her tears. A cold hand took her elbow, leading her down the last few steps. A tiny scraping filled the darkness. It should have made her afraid, but she couldn’t feel beyond the terrible pain in her chest.
The cold hand pulled her forward again, and the air changed, the chill tingle of outside air replaced by the stench of forgotten darkness.
Shuffling of feet and another faint scraping as the door shut behind them, then a clink as the door locked. It was done. Nola Kent had returned to Nightland.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Can they get through the door?” Catlyn’s whisper broke the silence.
“If they can find it,” Raina murmured mere inches from of Nola’s face.
Nola gasped and stepped backward onto a foot.
“Watch it,” Beauford said.
“Sorry.” Nola stretched her hands out in front of her, moving away from the group.
“Well, if they can get through the door, don’t you think we should get out of”—Catlyn’s voice faded for a moment—“wherever it is we are?”
“It won’t be easy in the dark. But hey”—Nola could hear the smile in Raina’s voice—“who better to lead you through the dark than a creature of the night?”
“Comforting,” Nola whispered.
“Take my hand, and follow the leader.” Raina’s cold fingers closed around Nola’s wrist. She wanted to shout at Raina not to touch her, but she needed Raina to lead them.
A warm hand found Nola’s other arm and moved down to take her hand.
“Catlyn?” Nola asked.
“It’s me, Miss Kent,” Catlyn said.
“Let me down, Beauford,” T said from behind. “We aren’t running now. I’ve caught my breath. I can walk on my own.”
“Are you sure?” Catlyn asked.
“Positive,” T said.
After a rustle of movement, Beauford said, “Ready back here.”
“Look, an adventure in Nightland, how novel,” Raina purred from the front. “You know, I really didn’t think I’d ever come back here. It’s not as homey without lights.”
“Are we in Nightland?” Catlyn spoke just loudly enough for her voice to carry to Raina.
It hadn’t occurred to Nola that the others wouldn’t know where they were. She had told them she knew a way under the river. But she hadn’t told them how. She was too afraid that, were they given the information, they would leave her behind. Or worse, turn her in. They had slipped through a hidden shadow in a dead tree, and now they were in the dark. Gratitude swelled in her chest, and she squeezed Catlyn’s hand. They had trusted her with their lives.
“We are in Nightland,” Nola said. “At least a tunnel that leads to the main part under the city. This tunnel will take us under the river to the place where all the vampires used to live.”
“Magnolia Kent, tour guide of darkness,” Raina snorted.
“I never knew there was a tunnel to the other side of the river,” T said. Her voice sounded shaky, but they didn’t have time to stop and let her rest.
“It wasn’t something Emanuel liked to advertise,” Raina said. “Only a handful of people knew about the way to get to the domes. Hundreds of hungry, angry vampires living packed together, and you tell them it’s only a short walk to make a meal out of the people they hate? Emanuel didn’t think most would be able to resist the temptation. He didn’t tell the masses until it was time to attack.”
“Massacre,” Nola said without anger in her voice. “It wasn’t an attack. It was a massacre done by thieves. You weren’t just killing guards.”
“If you think that was a massacre, you clearly need to spend more time on the streets,” Raina said. “Out here we call that a Thursday night.”
A low laugh sounded from the back of the group.
“Oh, the big guy thinks I’m funny,” Raina said.
“It’s Beauford.”
“Hmmm.” Raina didn’t say anything else as the tunnel sloped downward.
Nola shut her eyes against the darkness, trying not to think about the thick layers of dirt looming over her. But the air wasn’t freshly filtered here like it was in the tunnels of the domes. The stench was enough to tell her the river above could kill them if it chose to.
“How did you even dig this?” Catlyn asked, as though reading Nola’s mind for the question she hadn’t wanted answered.
“A few
old geologists and a lot of muscle. A few people dying, too, of course, but these things happen.” Raina’s words turned Nola’s spine to jelly.
Each step became harder as her body decided on her behalf that there was no point in walking any farther. That the tunnel was just going to cave in and kill them anyway.
But Raina kept pulling her forward, keeping a steady pace, never seeming to doubt which way her feet should be going.
Then the tunnel angled upward.
“When we get to the other side of the tunnel door, there might be some people around,” Raina said. “Try not to get killed or lost. I’m not going to waste my time running around Nightland searching for lost lambs.”
“We just have to get through Nightland to the street,” Nola said. “Once we get up there, you can take us to Emanuel.”
“Absolutely.” Raina’s pace slowed. “I just have to run one little errand first.”
“Errand?” T asked.
“It’s only a little out of the way. And besides, you can’t go anywhere without me.” Raina stopped suddenly, and Nola rammed into her back.
“Fine,” Nola said, “but make it quick. If the Outer Guard find the tunnel and figure out where we are, we won’t be able to get to the street. Then we’ll never find Emanuel.”
“Quick as a genetically-modified bunny.” Raina let go of Nola’s hand.
The high screech of metal grinding against stone cut through the darkness. The air changed again as Raina led them forward. The dampness lessened, replaced by the stench of filth and stale blood.
“This way.” Raina took her hand again, pulling her through the pitch black.
Nola knew where they were now. In the main body of Nightland, where tunnels split off in every direction. There were dozens of halls and hundreds of doors.
“Will you be able to find your way in the dark?” Nola asked as the door scraped shut behind them.
“Do you have a flashlight you’ve been hiding?” Raina said.
“No.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll have to find my way in the scary dark,” Raina said. “Try not to ask stupid questions while I’m concentrating.”
Nola bit her lips together and followed obediently. She hadn’t packed a flashlight. It hadn’t even occurred to her while she tossed what she thought she would need for the outside world into a bag.
What else did I forget?
“There used to be electricity down here,” T said. “In all the tunnels I ever saw. More electricity than we had in the houses aboveground. I wonder why it stopped running.”
“No one to keep it going?” Catlyn said.
“Or the guards cut it off,” Beauford said.
“Not all of it,” Nola said, squinting as far up the tunnel as she could see. A dim light glowed in the distance, flickering like some kind of flame.
“Well, shit,” Raina said.
“Wha—” Before Nola could fully form the word, a shout sounded from the back of the group.
“Beauford!” Catlyn screamed.
But thudding and grunting were the only response.
“Dammit.” Raina let go of Nola’s hand and a swish sounded, like a knife clearing its sheath.
Someone screamed, but Nola couldn’t tell who. Her hand fumbled for the knife in her waistband. Before she could find it, something had grabbed the back of her pack and thrown her against the wall.
“Don’t touch me!” T screamed. “I am carrying a child of Nightland!”
Her words made the sounds of the fight change but didn’t stop a hand from closing over Nola’s mouth and wrenching her head sideways. She kicked back as hard as she could, sinking her teeth into the hand that held her.
The sickening taste of blood filled her mouth, but the person holding her only laughed. With a twist of her arm, she pulled her knife free and plunged it behind her. The thin blade cut into flesh, but the one holding her kept laughing. A high, maniacal laugh accompanied by warm breath that touched her neck and crawled across her skin.
Nola pulled the knife back out and stabbed again, and again. On the sixth stab, she managed to hit higher than before, and the one who held her finally seemed to register the pain. With a howl, he pushed her away. She flew sideways, tripping over something that lay on the ground before hitting the opposite wall. Her knife slipped out of her hand. In the darkness, not even a faint shimmer of metal told her where it might have landed.
“You pricked me!” a low voice growled.
Nola dropped to her knees, feeling frantically around in the dirt. A person lay on the floor, warm blood pooling around them, but Nola didn’t have time to wonder who the person might be. Her fingers found something hard as a hand closed around her neck.
“What makes you think you can stab me?” the voice shouted, at the same time another voice that sounded horribly like Catlyn’s screamed.
Nola grasped the metal thing as she was lifted into the air by her neck. The sharp blade of the knife cut into her palm. She wanted to drop it, to make the shooting pain stop, to claw away the hand that choked her so easily.
But she grabbed the hilt of the knife with her other hand and swung it down toward the arm that held her. The blade cut deep into the man’s flesh, the force of it nearly pulling the knife from her grip. The fingers loosened, and she crumpled to the ground, but she didn’t drop the knife this time. She dove into the darkness and stabbed. The man bellowed in pain as she sank her knife into every part of him she could find.
A scream tore from her throat, but she didn’t know how to make the noise stop. The only thing she could think was to kill the man. Kill the Vamper so his hand couldn’t close around her throat again. She couldn’t see where his heart would be, so she knelt and stabbed again and again. Cold hands closed around her wrists.
“I’ve got it.” Raina lifted Nola off the man’s chest. “Give me some space. It’s not easy decapitating someone in the dark with a knife.”
Nola sat back on the ground. Both of her hands touched blood. She was surrounded by it, a sea of unseeable red.
“Is everyone okay?” Nola’s voice wavered.
“I’m fine,” T said from farther down the hall.
“One of the Vampers bit me,” Beauford said. “But I’ll live.”
“I think,” Catlyn wheezed from right behind Nola, “I think I might not.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“What?” T said. Footsteps sounded as she came closer.
“What happened?” Nola felt her way toward Catlyn’s voice, climbing over a body in the darkness. “Where are you hurt?”
“Too many places, Miss Kent.” Catlyn coughed a laugh. “I don’t know which bits are bleeding worst.”
“Catlyn, you’re going to be all right.” Beauford’s hands brushed past Nola, reaching for Catlyn. A sharp intake of breath told Nola what he felt wasn’t good. “We need Vamp. Raina, we need Vamp.”
“Give her to me,” Raina said, moving past Nola who felt Catlyn’s body rise as Raina lifted her. “I know where there’ll be some.”
“No Vamp,” Catlyn said. “If you can’t save me, don’t give me Vamp. I won’t live without the sun.”
“We have ReVamp.” Raina ran down the hall.
Nola took off after them, charging toward the distant flickering light.
“ReVamp is different,” Raina said, not showing any signs of being out of breath, despite carrying a full-grown woman while she ran. “You’ll still be you. No personality changes, no violent urges. You’ll have to deal with drinking blood and living in the dark, but it’s a hell of a lot better than death.”
“Not for me,” Catlyn croaked.
“Then we’ll help you without Vamp or ReVamp,” T said. “We’ll clean the wounds and bandage you up and you’ll be just fine.”
“You know better than that, T,” Catlyn murmured.
“I won’t give up on you.”
They reached the light just in time for Nola to see tears streaming down T’s face as they ran.
Nola g
lanced back at Beauford. He ran slower than the rest, barely keeping up as he tried to stop the blood that flowed from a bite mark on his arm.
Torches lined the halls here. The torches hadn’t been there when Nola had walked the corridors with Kieran. Someone had left them. People were living in Nightland again.
We can’t survive more Vampers.
“Catlyn!” T shouted as Catlyn’s eyes drifted shut. “Catlyn!”
But Catlyn didn’t open her eyes, and her head bounced with each step Raina took.
“Who’s down there?” a voice called from around a corner.
Raina dodged into a side hall and kept running. The electric lights were still working in this corridor though half of the bulbs had shattered.
“Where is the Vamp?” Beauford asked.
“I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get into Emanuel’s house,” Nola said. “If there are people living down here, I don’t know a place more appealing than Emanuel’s.”
“That’s not where the ReVamp is.” Raina turned another corner, ducking into a side passage when the sounds of boisterous laughter carried to them from up ahead.
“She needs it now,” Beauford said. His steps had grown uneven, and blood dripped from his fingertips. If it got much worse, Catlyn wouldn’t be the only one who needed a dose of ReVamp.
They turned into a narrow corridor. The few doors that lined the walls hung loosely from their hinges. Dark stains coated the ground. Chunks of the stone wall had been knocked free.
Raina slowed to a walk.
“We don’t have time for this.” Beauford moved past Nola to Raina.
“We’re here.” Raina laid Catlyn on the ground.
The weight of all the earth above them crashed down into Nola’s stomach.
A ragged bite marked Catlyn’s neck, a deep wound on her shoulder looked like nails had ripped her flesh away, and a gash that reached from her ribs to her stomach left her entire torso drenched in blood.
Crack.
Raina kicked the wall five feet away from Catlyn.
Crack.
Dust and rocks fell to the ground.
“Please don’t.” T stepped forward, but Raina kicked the wall again.
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