“Actually, why don’t you come with me.” Leah motioned to the vampire to follow. “Our next experiment should be about ready to begin.”
Commander Steel looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Leah could read his thoughts as clearly as she could read her own. He was debating on the odds of whether or not he had already outgrown his usefulness.
“I’m not going to kill you.” Leah rolled her eyes and made for the door. “You’re much to valuable for that.”
Leah reached the thick, wooden door and let herself out into the hall. Her facility was located underneath the palace. To anyone unfamiliar with the grounds, it was a labyrinth of twisting halls and large rooms. For Leah, it was home. She began traveling to where the latest experiment waited for her.
A few steps from the room, she could hear Commander Steel’s boots on the stone floor behind her. They softly echoed off the walls with each one of his strides.
Leah didn’t feel a need to turn and validate his decision. He was a dog simply following his master.
With Leah in the lead, the two maneuvered through the turns and twists of the many halls and passages. The halls were wide, no rugs underfoot. Mage-powered lights hung from the walls or off the vaulted ceilings, providing enough light to make one think they were outside during a sunny day.
Leah made a note to herself as they traveled down the barren halls. She would have to do something about the décor soon. More paintings would be a welcome addition to help liven up the dull scene.
While she was debating on how many paintings to purchase, she arrived at a set of double doors at the end of one of the halls. She straightened her black robe and walked inside.
The smell was the first thing that hit her. The stench of a decomposing body was nothing new to her. With her extensive work in the area of resurrecting the dead, she had gotten used to everything besides the initial shock of the putrid odor.
The room they walked into now was at the very rear of the dungeon’s lower level. Stairs met her feet as she walked down into the mouth of a cave. Instead of a room greeting the witch and the vampire, a massive cavern with hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites jutted up from the ground and hung from the ceiling. The room welcomed them like some giant mythical creature’s open maw.
Leah moved down the steps to the dirt floor below. Just past the smell of the rotting body was the deep earthy scent of the rich soil.
“My God,” Commander Steel said, following Leah. “What are you doing down here?”
Leah smiled at her work. It was something she had only tried successfully once before with Brenda Emerson. It was her resurrection room. It hadn’t been used in years, mostly due to the strain it put on her body and the failed outcome with Brenda’s experiment.
A table sat in front of her with a lifeless form underneath a white sheet. Wires ran from the body to a podium with matching golden handles pointing up from the desk.
More wires ran over to ten glass cylinders, each showing the silhouette of a sleeping person inside.
Commander Steel moved slowly toward the cylinders. With the sleeve of his uniform, he rubbed away the condensation that had gathered on the outside of the glass holding cells. “You have people—children in these? Are they dead?”
“Not dead. I’ve induced them into a sleep state. I’ll need each and every one of them very much alive if I’m going to bring our subject back from the dead.” Leah moved to the podium. She rolled up the long, black sleeves on each of her arms before placing her hands on the two golden grips on top of the podium. “You may want to stand back for this.”
“Your vicious drive to harness the unknown never ceases to amaze me.” Commander Steel took a step back from the wires and cylinders. “And who are we bringing back from the dead, exactly?”
Leah ignored the question. Already she began bending the magic inside of her to do her bidding, both hands gripping the handles on the podium. Leah let out a long, slow breath, allowing the raging magic inside of her to gather.
Dark purple swirls of magic began oozing from her hands like a dozen tentacles, while warmth prickled over her body, the sensation promising the coming wave of sweat that would follow her struggle to channel life from one point to another.
The wires connecting her podium to the table and the cylinders began to glow with a bright purple light. Leah’s hands shook with the amount of effort she poured into the experiment as she first pulled life itself from her victims and then pushed it into the body on the table.
The only other time Leah had tried the experiment successfully, she had left the ten children inside the test tubes, awake. Their screams as their life was sucked out of them were too distracting. Leah preferred her new method now. Despite her own beating heart she could hear in her head and the hum of the magic as it raced across the wires, it was silent.
Pulling the life from so many at once was more difficult than Leah remembered as she wrestled the life force away from her victims one at a time, the children desperate to hold on.
The second part, giving the life force to her experiment, would be easy. After all, everyone wanted life, even a cold corpse that didn’t know it.
The first step complete, Leah now channeled the power of existence into her experiment. She bore down on the podium—hard. Sweat gathered behind her neck and at her forehead as she willed life into the dead.
As suddenly as the experiment had begun, it ended, and Leah released her hold on the podium, breathing hard. Her knees gave out, and she sunk to the floor.
“Are you all right?” Commander Steel ran to her. “Did it work?”
“I’ll be fine.” Leah waved the commander away. She stood on her own power and pointed an outstretched finger to the table. “Look for yourself.”
The figure under the white sheet was stirring. Muscles that had not been used for a while began to twitch with life. At once, the figure sat bolt upright. The sheet stayed intact, still harboring the person’s identity.
“He shouldn’t remember who he is. Brenda Emerson had no idea,” Leah whispered to Commander Steel. “If somehow he did retain his memory, be ready.”
Commander Steel swallowed hard. His face free of any fear but awed in wonder.
Leah walked slowly to the sitting form. With one slow motion, she pulled the sheet from her latest experiment. “Do you know who you are?”
Underneath the sheet sat Marcus Walker still in the clothes he had been buried in. His suit was dark brown with a white shirt underneath. His wild, dark brownish-grey hair and beard were combed perfectly. His eyes roamed around the room, confused.
“I know this is going to be a lot to take in.” Leah placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But you should know that you’re very special. You are among friends. Do you remember anything?”
“No … I—” Marcus looked down at the palms of his hands, turning them over as if they had the answers to so many of the questions he searched for. “Did I die? No, I know I died. How … how am I here now? Where am I?”
“You’re safe inside the queen’s palace in New Hope.” Leah took a step back and motioned Marcus from the table. “You did die, but I was able to bring you back. I’ll explain everything to you, but we should hurry. There is work to be done.”
Chapter Two
Sloan
“I can’t help but feel like we’re prisoners.” Kade chomped down on a sandwich as he walked alongside Sloan, Kimberly, and Aareth. “I mean, have you seen the way the Azra guards have been looking at us? It’s like I ate their last sandwich.”
“You did eat our last sandwich,” corrected one of the guards escorting them to the Azra capital building. “Along with half the cookies and fruit.”
“You’re not going to fat shame me, if that’s what you’re trying to do.” Kade shrugged, stuffing the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. “I’m immune to bullies. It’s my secret power. Outside of shifting, that is.”
The guard rolled his eyes at Kade.
Usually Kade’s good nature was enough to make
Sloan at least crack a smile, but she had too much on her mind at the moment to be amused by his shenanigans. Since the refugees of Term had arrived at the city of Azra a few weeks before, the city leaders had met them with anything but a warm embrace. In fact, they hadn’t met the city leaders at all. They had been placed in a large, empty apartment building at the outskirts of the city while they waited to meet with the governor of Azra.
Their lodging was decent enough. It was an apartment structure with adequate rooms and facilities, but these were families. Families who needed to begin their lives from square one. They would need to find jobs and move out on their own to find knew homes as soon as possible, though they were being told they needed to wait to have their meeting with the governor before they were able to do so.
On top of this, Sloan was having the urge again—that thirst that tickled the back of her throat. It reminded her of the monster she really was, told her she would need to drink again, and soon.
“Despite our situation, the view could be worse.” Kimberly walked beside Sloan, opposite Kade. She wore a giant cloak that shielded her from the sun’s rays. “Azra is a beautiful city. Not as welcoming as Term, but nice in its own way.”
Sloan still stayed quiet. She had taken time to notice the sea breeze as it drifted into the city. Azra was located on the water’s edge. The city sat on a hill and had an amazing view of the sea as it stretched out as far as the eye could see. But Sloan wasn’t interested in the view today. Her mind was reeling with ways to get the citizens of Term integrated into the society as soon as possible, figure out a way to curb her thirst, and above all, get back to New Hope.
“Shaggy beast-man.” Kimberly looked over to the fourth member of their party. “You seem unnaturally quiet today. Is all well?”
“I’m fine.” Aareth squinted over at the gargoyle. “I’ll be fine.”
“Trouble with the woman again?” Kimberly scratched the underside of her jaw. “You know, if you want some sound gargoyle advice—”
“No,” all three members in the party said at once.
“Humans.” Kimberly shook her large head.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence as the four elected leaders of Term accompanied by the contingent of city guards continued up the hill.
The building they headed for was at the very top of the knoll, in the center of the city. A white, spiraling roof set it apart from any other inside the city borders. Compared to New Hope, Azra was just as large, though it seemed the streets weren’t as crowded—no smokestacks from refineries emptied their pollution into the air; the hustle and bustle Sloan was so used to in a city this size was nowhere to be found.
Instead, people walked by with smiles. Others nodded at the guards, and even at the four refugees from Term. Everything seemed brighter, cleaner here. The guards wore colors of white-and-gold, their long axes hanging from their hips, swaying like tails with each stride.
Sloan was trying to remember what she knew of the city as they reached the outside gates of the spiral-roof building. All that was coming to mind was that Azra was the largest city outside of New Hope and relations between the two had never been friendly; they were like siblings that had to put up with one another, and so they did.
“We’re coming with the elected leaders of Term, to see Governor Theo,” the guard in lead of their party said to the guards manning the steel gate. “He’s expecting them.”
They were waved on without further delay. The guards stationed at the capitol building gave the four hard looks through different shades of eye color. Sloan had noticed most of the inhabitants of Azra were either marked as shifters by their eyes, or were members of the paranormal, ranging from gargoyles trying to stay hidden from the sun’s ever-present light, to gnomes scurrying about their daily tasks.
“You going to be okay?” Kade nudged Sloan with a playful punch. “You haven’t said much since we started this hike.”
“Yeah,” Sloan lied, pushing back all of her worries and doubts. “Sorry, I’ve just got a ton on my mind. I need to focus on what’s happening in this meeting.”
“We’ll figure out a way to curb that thirst of yours.” Kade gave her a wink from one of his bright orange eyes. “I promise.”
Sloan found herself taking comfort in his words. Not that she believed they would actually find a cure for her, but that there was someone willing to stand with her, someone who genuinely cared for her personal interests.
The group traveled through the outside gates and were sent inside a pair of massive double doors. The interior was exactly what Sloan would have guessed from the city’s architects: large, open windows—even portions of the ceiling open to allow in the cool sea breeze—clean, white floors and walls, and plenty of open space.
Officials and attendants scurried about the premises. Every time they passed one of them, they were given nods or friendly smiles.
“These people are too happy,” Aareth growled under his breath. “It’s starting to piss me off.”
“Take it easy, Aareth.” Sloan came to a halt in front of yet another pair of double doors with the rest of the group. “The last thing we want to do is ruffle any feathers.”
Two more guards opened the set of doors for them and ushered the group into a room with coliseum seating. There was a slight downward slope to the room. Rows and rows of seats opened up on either side as they continued down to where a large man sat behind an even larger desk.
He was nearly as tall as Kimberly and as wide as Aareth. Where Aareth’s frame was mostly muscle, this man had his fair share of extra weight. He carried it well, however, and made for an intimidating figure.
His clothing was simple—comfortable-looking black pants with a brown-colored shirt. His top button was open, displaying a puff of brown fur. His long hair was gathered behind him in a ponytail and his beard met in front of his chin in a similar way. His eyes were a bright brown, hinting at his shifting capabilities.
The only other person in the room was a female gargoyle standing at his right side.
“Awww, so here they are.” The governor of Azra rose from his desk and greeted all four of Sloan’s party with firm handshakes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. You understand, a governing body rules Azra. Although I hold the title, I have to answer to a board of overseers in the city.”
“You’ve already decided what you’re going to do with the refugees, then.” Aareth folded his arms over his chest. “Lets just cut the bul—”
“Thank you for seeing us.” Sloan skewered Aareth with a look that would have melted ice. “I think what Aareth is trying to say is that we’re eager to get the refugees of Term integrated into their new lives.”
“Yes, and we plan to do so.” Theo ignored Aareth, and instead, smiled at Sloan. “Azra has welcomed everyone who has decided to take up residence within its walls, and we do not intend to stop now.”
There was a long pause as Theo rested against his desk.
“I sense a ‘but’ coming our way.” Kade looked over to Sloan. “A big ‘but.’ Am I right?”
“Yes, there are … complicated factors surrounding the arrival of the refugees from Term.” Theo nodded toward Kade. “We have no love for New Hope or the way Queen Eleanor Eckert treats the cities in the Outland. With that said, we can’t be harboring fugitives. Once we do so, it will escalate things with New Hope to all-out war.”
“The Queen has already sent riders?” Sloan felt a hit of adrenaline amplify her senses. Her sword had been taken from her before they left for the capitol, but she was a living weapon now thanks to the vampire elixir and phoenix serum that had changed her. “You intend to turn us over to her?”
“Wow, wow, wow.” Theo threw his hands up as the gargoyle next to him reached for her axe. “Everyone calm down. The queen has sent word to us asking to turn you and your friends over, but we have no intention of doing so as long as you help us.”
“Help you do what?” Sloan allowed herself to relax for a brief moment. “What is i
t you want from us?”
“Just you two.” Theo pointed to Aareth and Sloan. “Reports say that you were part of projects in New Hope. Our city has understood for a long time a conflict with New Hope has been inevitable, and we’ve been fending off the encounter for as long as we can. We could make a good showing for ourselves, but the queen’s superior numbers would eventually see to Azra’s defeat.”
“But if you can create more like Aareth and Sloan,” Kade jumped in, picking up Theo’s train of thought, “you could make your own weapons, your own vampire and … well, whatever it is that Aareth turns into… soldiers.”
“Right you are.” Theo gave all four members of their party a beaming smile. “And of course we’ll ask your consent every step of the way. We want to learn and to aid our city, giving it the best chance of survival, but not at the expense of compromising our morals. Everything will be carried out as efficiently and as safely as possible.”
“No.” Sloan didn’t even have to think about the offer. “I won’t let you turn more people into whatever it is I am. They don’t deserve that.”
“They would be volunteers.” Theo tried giving Sloan a winning smile. “We would take every precaution. There would be safety measures in pla—”
“No,” Sloan said again.
“The reason why you’re refusing is admirable.” Theo cleared his throat. “But there are already reports coming in from New Hope, whispers that the queen is continuing to grow her vampire soldier ranks. More than that, we have intel hinting at more experiments in the process. We need to even the playing field if we’re going to survive.”
“I’ll do it.” Aareth took a step forward. “I’ll be your guinea pig, if it means getting these people settled faster and taking down the queen and her sister.”
“What’re you doing?” Sloan looked past Kimberly to Aareth. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“What? Here?” Aareth looked around the room to the many people staring at them. “Are you sure you want to do this now?”
The Complete Vampire Project Series: (Books 1 - 5) Page 52