Darklight 2: Darkthirst

by Forrest, Bella

  Zach looked tensely around at our gathered group. I gripped the comm tightly in my hand and gritted my teeth. It saddened and frustrated me that my parents didn’t trust that I had real reasons for my actions—that they seemed to still think of me as a child. I was young, yes, but I had my convictions and my honor and the logic that they had taught me to use. And it seemed my father trusted his brother immensely. Why wouldn’t he? Alan had never steered us wrong before. Maybe it seemed more convincing that a high-ranking official with decades of Bureau experience would be right over a younger soldier.

  “We just want you to come home safely,” my dad said, almost in a whisper.

  It was unnerving to hear him sound so upset.

  “Dad,” Zach said, “we’ll consider some of what you’re saying about manipulation since it’s you saying it. Has Uncle Alan told you anything else?”

  I winced at the mention of my uncle’s name. Zach’s insistence on smoothing things over was frustrating me. Was he trying to dig for information while keeping the peace? Or was he just capitulating to our parents out of trust or loyalty?

  Silent static hung for a moment, and then the comm crackled again. “We have to go,” my mother said abruptly. “We love you two so much. Please just think about it.”

  “I love you too,” I whispered back hoarsely.

  “We’ll be together again soon,” Zach promised, but the vagueness of the statement fell over us like a storm cloud.

  “Goodbye,” my father whispered.

  The comm went dead. I stared at it, waiting for it to give me a magical answer to what just happened.

  Anger. Sadness. Frustration. The feelings seemed to tear at me unrelentingly these days, and after that last word, they swirled inside me, mixing into a tangled mass I could barely comprehend or express. For a moment, I wanted to cry, hit something, or maybe just crawl into bed and never get out again. I didn’t, because I wasn’t the child my parents were worried I was. I understood their intentions. How could they not want their children to come home? But for them to assume Zach and I had been manipulated by the vampires so easily hurt. And it made me worry they had been fed a heap of misinformation before the call.

  “Why would you say there was a chance we were being manipulated by the vampires?” I asked Zach instead of adding more empty speculation to my repertoire, trying to keep my doubts in check. We were knee-deep in vampires here. It wasn’t exactly the best place to voice doubt. Especially when I wished he would talk to me privately about his feelings about the vampires.

  “We had to tell them something to calm them down. I lied to protect all of us,” Zach insisted. “Did you notice how quickly they got off the phone when I mentioned Uncle Alan?”

  I frowned, wanting to believe him but worrying that somewhere deep inside, he’d been swayed.

  Maybe he had been right to try to press them for more information. But something inside me felt that Zach secretly hoped everything would work out with the Bureau, that they weren’t all bad. If that truly were the case, our dire situation would be an easy fix. We could go back to our family. Even I hoped for that outcome. Uncertainty flickered beneath my brother’s outward composure.

  “Their father helped manufacture the weapon,” Myndra muttered. Sabal stared at me with an unnerving gaze. “Are we supposed to believe they didn’t know about it?”

  A string of whispers broke out among the vampires just behind Dorian.

  “Even if our dad was involved, we never knew anything about secret projects that were classified by the Bureau,” Zach said, rising to his defense. “Everyone can relax.”

  I studied the faces around me with worry. This wasn’t good for trust within the group.

  “Your parents worked at the Bureau, too?” Laini asked.

  I turned to see her eyes searching me, their violet hue brighter than usual. “It’s all we’ve ever known.” I swallowed a painful lump in my throat.

  “I’m not sure if we’ll ever agree with our parents again,” Zach murmured.

  I nodded unconsciously, wishing I could disagree with him.

  They’d sounded so sure of themselves on the comm. Just like Alan.

  “Bureau life is tough no matter who your family is,” Roxy said crisply with a bitter smirk. “My family never wanted me to be a soldier.”

  That took me by surprise. Roxy was a born fighter if I’d ever seen one.

  “They didn’t?” I asked. I would’ve thought Roxy’s family would’ve seen her natural aptitude and been proud of her stable job with the Bureau.

  Roxy snorted. “No, they thought it wasn’t good work for a woman. Ironic, since I raised my six siblings like a drill sergeant. I had to keep them in line somehow.”

  “I’m sure they loved that,” Louise mumbled.

  Roxy pretended to ignore her, but the comment must have stung. “My siblings know they can count on me for anything,” she said. “Or… they did. I wonder if they all believe I’m crazy now and am going to jail.”

  I fought the urge to say, You might be. Roxy knew that as well as the rest of us.

  Bryce smirked to himself. “My family is used to me getting in trouble. They’ve stopped worrying. I only need to call if I’m in over my head.”

  I recalled his conversation with his family, which had shocked Gina, Zach, and me. He’d seemed so close to them. “Does your sister call you often?” I asked.

  Bryce came from a Scottish military family. I imagined there were a lot of wild stories he could tell us. From the sound of it, all his siblings were characters, but his oldest sister topped them all.

  “Here and there,” he said with a wild grin. “I’ve returned the favor, of course. Once, I had to rescue Morag from a situation with a bookie. She’d bet on a horse when she wasn’t in her right mind, and the bookie knew it. We fought our way out of a bar while I was home on holiday from the Bureau. It was a fine Christmas morning. My mother was livid.”

  I chuckled at this story, as did a few other people. Bryce had successfully stolen the show, taking the attention off Zach, and I was grateful for it. Louise covered her mouth, staring in disbelief at our captain. Sike smirked.

  “Dorian once launched me as a spear to take out some childhood bullies,” Sike said with a sidelong glance at Dorian, who coughed suspiciously.

  “In my defense, you were the perfect size and shape,” Dorian explained.

  I stared at him with raised brows.

  He shrugged with a little grin thrown in. “I was a bit wild growing up.”

  Laini’s face darkened, and she took a step back from the group. For her, these memories probably included Dorian’s brother. Seeing that, Dorian’s humor dimmed.

  Arlonne listened keenly but said nothing. She must have her own story, with that injury, but it seemed she wouldn’t be sharing it today.

  “We lost a lot when the tear opened,” Sike said, his smile long gone.

  The crowd went silent. The trailing end of Laini’s dark hair disappeared around a corner. I strained to look past the gathered vampires, many of whom were taller than me, wondering if I should go after her. Laini had shown kindness even during the darkest part of our trial. I wanted to repay the favor.

  I didn’t get a chance to decide.

  Running footsteps pounded through the tunnels, accompanied by Bravi’s shouts of “Dorian!” She stormed into the cave, Vonn on her heels. His face was tight with unease. It was already clear something terrible had happened.

  “Where’s Rhome?” Dorian demanded.

  “He stayed behind in the Immortal Plane,” Bravi cried. “We need help. We have to save Rhome’s family!”

  Shock and worry flooded me. They had somehow finally found Kreya and the children, and from the sound of it, they were in trouble. Were Detra and Carwin safe? Wherever they were, were they scared? I imagined Detra from the beginning of our time at the facility, held down by guards and whimpering in fear and hunger, and the image tore at me.

  “I need every able-bodied vampire with me,” D
orian commanded. “Everyone who can fight goes.”

  There was no time for questions. Dorian divided everyone rapidly, assigning them to Bravi, himself, or Vonn in the upcoming redbill flock. A vampire clutched one of the children. They would have to stay behind with the humans. Hart scowled, too feeble to fight due to old injuries. He was stuck with us.

  “We’ll fly now,” Dorian said, looking stronger than ever as the shadows beneath his skin darkened. “We’ve got to save our own.” He shot a tormented look my way.

  I knew he didn’t want to leave us in case the Bureau tracked us here, but he couldn’t abandon his cousin. I would never expect him to.

  “Be safe!” I cried as he ran into the tunnel with his group. My chest burned slightly.

  “Take care of everyone,” Dorian yelled over his shoulder. There was nothing more we could say in the chaos. The vampires vanished into the tunnels. Dorian disappeared into the darkness.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I never knew waiting could be this unbearable.

  “Perimeter is clear on north and south sides,” Gina reported as she marched in with Zach. They shed the outer layers of their clothes from their trek outside. I glanced up at them two seconds later. My reactions were positively sloth-like. Maybe if I move slowly enough, I can waste time quicker.

  From Gina’s concerned face, she registered that I was off.

  “Thanks,” I said. “That checks off the midday patrol.”

  It had already been a day since Dorian and the other vampires left on their whirlwind mission to rescue Rhome and his family in the Immortal Plane. This was the longest the vampires had ever left us.

  I tugged at several tangles in my hair as I mulled over this unsettling fact. Whatever was happening in the Immortal Plane must be big, and I was sitting here, unable to do anything about it.

  “How are you holding up?” Zach asked, throwing himself beside me on the ratty couch.

  I shrugged, not hiding my anxiety well but not having the energy to care. It was a worrisome situation, and for now, everyone could just deal with my worry. Everything could go wrong for Dorian’s mission. We had no way of communicating with them, and the vampires could have already met their end in the Immortal Plane. Would they find Kreya, Detra, and Carwin? Every time I closed my eyes, Dorian’s face flashed before them, sometimes painful or hopeful memories, sometimes reflections of what I feared—his body slumped and unmoving, blood crusting his forehead…

  A dull throb hit my head. I rubbed my temples. The stress from fretting about what was happening with the vampires was taking a new physical toll on me.

  “Let’s talk things out,” Zach suggested. He patted my arm to comfort me. “What are you thinking about?”

  What wasn’t I thinking about at this point? I was worried the vampires were injured or dead in the Immortal Plane, despite their strength. The conversation with my parents only added to the pile of stress. I was used to my mother talking in a worried tone when times were tough, but even over the comm, there had been a hollowness to her voice that made my stomach twist with dread.

  “I’m worried about everything, honestly,” I admitted. “I keep replaying our conversation with our parents over and over in my head.”

  Zach nodded, clearly experiencing something similar. “They mentioned the same story Uncle Alan told you at HQ,” he said. His volume dropped. He didn’t want everyone to overhear us. “Do you think Uncle Alan was next to them when they were talking to us?”

  “I feel like he had to be,” I said with a frown as I imagined how that situation must have gone down. Alan placing the comm in front of them, informing them that they could have a few minutes to make contact with their children. Wearing his concerned face, the one I had believed in for twenty-one long years. “Zach… the Bureau’s gone too far. I’m worried it can’t be redeemed.”

  His serious eyes held mine for a moment. The Bureau was ripping more than our professional lives apart. Our family was at stake.

  I continued, “I feel like I’m mourning our uncle. Is that sick? He’s not dead, but I feel like he’s gone in my mind. He’s just… not there anymore.”

  “I want to believe there’s some good left in the Bureau,” Zach murmured, then his shoulders drooped. “I wanted to, but I’m not sure anymore. I feel like I’ve lost all sense of judgment. Our parents think the vampires are manipulating us, but we have the blueprints. I don’t blame you for mourning Uncle Alan. There are a million other ways he and the board could’ve dealt with things.” He sighed wearily.

  “At least we’re together,” I said. “I’m glad for that.” My stress eased. He’d apparently been thinking a lot about this since our last discussion. I knew what he meant about not wanting to believe our uncle was dark. If we admitted it, then it made it true.

  “I’m worried about our parents,” I said. “After seeing what the Bureau did to Roxy and her team, I’m not confident our family is safe… especially with the way our parents got off the call so quickly. Maybe we should try to get hold of them again, catch them at a moment when it’s less likely somebody is looking over their shoulders. Somehow.”

  Our apartment might be under surveillance if the Bureau suspected we might contact them. Before our fight with Alan at Phoenix HQ, I hadn’t thought he would ever put my parents in an uncomfortable position. Now, I wasn’t sure. Loyal Bureau soldiers had been hurt with his permission. If Alan was dark, he might not hesitate to use our parents against us.

  “Why do you think Mom and Dad are in danger?” Zach pressed. His brow furrowed. “They’re not dissenting soldiers, Lyra. They’re dedicated Bureau agents, practically since birth. The Bureau wouldn’t hurt them.”

  “Our parents are innocent, but—” My voice caught in my throat. “I’m worried Alan might use them against us, Zach.”

  Zach stared at me for a moment, his heavy gaze undecipherable. Finally, a wave of exhaustion broke over him. He dragged a hand down his face and let out a ragged sigh, more tired than I’d ever heard him before. “Uncle Alan might be doing what he thinks is best in his own warped mind. I can’t imagine him hurting our parents, though. Dad is his brother, after all.”

  I frowned, feeling my worry grow. Zach hadn’t been there for my meeting with our uncle. He hadn’t seen Dorian’s reaction to Alan up close.

  “I’m not so sure about that.” I was about to say more when I noticed Zach’s eyes dampening. I stopped abruptly. He cast his gaze downward and leaned his head into his hands. Our lives are unraveling. I reached out and placed a hand on his back. I wasn’t going to continue this argument if it meant upsetting my brother to this degree. We would have to figure this out sometime soon, but I was pushing too hard.

  “I don’t want to believe he’s dark,” Zach mumbled in a breaking voice. “It terrifies me that we could have spent our whole lives so close to someone and never known he is capable of such awful things.”

  I nodded, feeling grief come over me. “That makes two of us. I know it’s scary,” I said. “I’m terrified too. I wish everything could be okay again, but you’re right. Alan could’ve done things differently. He and the board made the decision to torture Roxy’s team. They made the plan to kill all the vampires and tried to hide it from us. We would’ve sent Dorian and every one of those vampires to their death without realizing it.”

  “The more I think about it, the more I don’t understand. I keep asking myself… if it had been you or me deciding what to do with vampires, would we have done anything like Alan has done? Every time, I feel the answer is no. We worked alongside the vampires peacefully and saw it was possible,” Zach said and shook his head. “My brain keeps turning it over and over. Why would they do this? I can’t find a good reason that explains the Bureau’s actions.”

  Our problem is that we don’t know, and we might never know. Alan claimed the vampires were dangerous and needed to be exterminated, but he’d failed to show us solid evidence.

  “I’m not sure there is a good reason,” I said. If Ala
n was dark, then evil drove his decisions. How could we find good reason in evil? “Not a reason that would satisfy us, anyway.”

  He nodded. “You’re right.” He smiled softly. “I feel better after talking about it. I hope our family will be safe.”

  My eyes scanned the cavern. It was probably something the others were dealing with, as well. Louise, Grayson, Colin, Roxy, Gina, Bryce… if the Bureau had turned against its own soldiers, would they go after our loved ones? They’d already killed Jim.

  Gina’s footsteps shook me from my worry. Her usual calm composure dropped as she sat beside us.

  “Sorry, I overheard you. I know it’s not easy,” Gina said. It wasn’t easy to keep a conversation intimate in a shared cavern. “I’m afraid for my family too. They’re not soldiers. If anybody tried to use them to get to me…” She reached out a gentle hand and placed it on my brother’s knee. He nodded, pulling himself together.

  “We’re going to figure out this stuff with the Bureau,” he said. “One way or another.”

  I stood up to stretch my stiff muscles. Without the vampires here, I had to admit the air in the cavern felt lighter than usual. Oleah’s snide comments and the twins’ whispers usually haunted our human movements.

  Grayson leaned against a wall, staring at our group. Louise was beside him, quiet but sharp-eyed.

  “Everything okay?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. His expression was troubled.

  He shuddered as if I’d caught him doing something wrong. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said.

  I shrugged. “It’s hard not to eavesdrop when we’re all next to each other.”

  “I’m worried about my family too,” Grayson admitted. “I’m terrified for them… with the Bureau and the vampires.”

  I leaned against the back of a couch. Grayson clearly had something against the vampires. I couldn’t say I blamed him. He’d never wanted to be here in the first place and had always been cautious of them. But if I could talk it through with him, it might improve his situation. The hard fact was, he couldn’t leave now. We all needed the vampires to protect and hide us from the Bureau.