Dark Oblivion: The Vampire Prophecy Book 3

by G. K. DeRosa

  “Fine by me.” It was easy to forget about everything that was going on out there when we were huddled in here. It was like our own personal bubble. As much as I wanted to hide out here forever, Kaige was right. We had to keep moving if we wanted to survive—if we wanted our people to survive. “Okay, okay. Let’s get going,” I huffed.

  Kaige zipped over to the packs and returned with water and synth plus our last remaining sandwiches. “I wish I’d been more prepared. I never thought we’d lose the jet.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll make it back to Draconis in a few days and there has to be something along the way, right?”

  Kaige’s lips pressed into a grim line and unease flowed through the bond. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  Trudging through the remains of the old city, I couldn’t help but think back to our first time crossing the Shadow Lands. It had been just over a month ago and yet it seemed like a lifetime. I’d been prepared to say goodbye to Kaige that day at the wall, and now the idea of life without him made it hard to breathe.

  Kaige’s warm fingers tightened around my hand, and the blood bond pulsed. I didn’t think it was possible, but after last night, our connection had become even stronger.

  “How long do you think it’ll take us to walk to your summer home in—”

  “Valanda.”

  “Right, Valanda. How long?”

  His brows furrowed as if he were doing the calculations on the spot. “If we walk at a steady pace for seven or eight hours a day, we should arrive at the Draconis border in five days. I’m hoping we’ll run into some royal guards, and they can escort us to our second home.”

  My mind flashed back to Hazon and the rogue royal guards. They didn’t seem to have any desire to serve their king. We’d been gone for days now—who knew what we’d find within the boundaries of Castle De La Divin?

  The nocturnes knew about Kaige and me, and undoubtedly blamed us for breaking the laws set forth by the prophecy. Would they still be loyal to their king?

  “Stop.”

  I halted and turned to face Kaige. “What?”

  “I can feel it through the bond—all your apprehension and fear.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “I’m still the king of Draconis, and I will be obeyed. You are my human and my love, and every single nocturne from the nobles to the taranoi will respect you. Or they’ll suffer the consequences.”

  I nodded, and he coaxed me forward. I just hoped there would be people left to rule after all of this.

  Kaige stared up at the sky. The murky day was quickly turning to dusk. “We should probably start looking for a place to stop for the night.”

  “Yes!” The word popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Blisters ate at my ankles, every step already excruciating after our first five-hour trek.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were tired?” The stricken expression that passed over Kaige’s face made me wince.

  “It’s fine. I just don’t want to hold us back.” I forced my feet to move forward as he hovered anxiously at my side.

  “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget you’re not built like I am. You’re so strong and determined—nothing like the fragile human I’d imagined when we first met.”

  “Thanks, I think.” Before I could stop him, he’d swung me into his arms, cradling me like a baby. “I’m okay really. You don’t have to.”

  “Please, like I’d pass up the chance to have you pressed up against my chest.” He shot me a wink and took off down the desolate road.

  I must have fallen asleep for a second because when I opened my eyes, Kaige was lowering me onto a cold cement floor. “Where are we?” I scanned the dim space, unable to make out much of anything beyond four cement walls.

  “Just a small building I found off the highway. We can stop here for the night.” Kaige’s head whipped toward the blown out entryway, his eyes widening like huge silver saucers.

  “What?”

  He pressed his index finger to his lips. I froze, my heart rate tripling. He held his hand up for me to stay put and crept toward the entrance.

  A scream tore through the quiet night, shooting a tremor up my spine. I darted to Kaige’s side as he peered out into the street. Pounding footsteps echoed down the road, and I inched my way to the opening.

  A frail figure shot past us, two more dark shadows right behind. Kaige yanked me back behind the safety of the cement wall.

  “Help!” A woman’s cry pierced the heavy silence.

  “Oh gods,” Kaige muttered. “It’s a human.” He sniffed the air, his nose crinkling. “A sick one by the scent of her.”

  “What’s a human doing this far out into the Shadow Lands?” I peered around Kaige’s shoulder to try and get a better look.

  “Running—just like us.”

  “Are those taranoi chasing her?”

  He nodded, his expression grim.

  “We have to help her.”

  A muffled scream and a sickening crack carried down the street. I tried to push past Kaige, but his arm was like an iron bar across my waist. “It’s too late. I’m sorry.”

  Tears burned in the corners of my eyes, and I sucked in a sharp breath. My chest tightened, and I sank into Kaige. “Why are they hunting the sick anyway?”

  He shook his head, guilt seeping into the bond. “They’re starving and out of their minds. They’re attacking anything that moves.” He pulled me back inside the building and eyed the dark interior. “We need to go further inside. There must be a staircase somewhere. I can’t risk any taranoi catching your scent.”

  “Okay.” I followed him through the murky black shell of a building until we found the crumbling remnants of what used to be stairs.

  He cursed, his fangs slipping out. “This isn’t going to work. We can’t stay here. It’s not safe.”

  “You want to go out there?” I pointed out the entryway into the dark streets, the woman’s screams still ringing in my ears.

  “No.” He motioned toward the floor. “I want to go down there.”

  Chapter 29

  Solaris

  The sharp screech of metal grating against concrete made my ears ring. The heavy manhole cover teetered for a minute before landing on the asphalt with a crash. I skeptically eyed the dark shaft as Kaige stood over the opening.

  “How did you know about these?” I asked.

  “We’ve passed dozens of them along the way. You never noticed?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “The Shadow Lands have an intricate network of tunnels running underneath them. They were part of the old sewage system.”

  “So that’s what they taught you in prince school.” I chuckled.

  “Exactly. And it’s what’s going to save your pretty little neck.” He offered me his hand and led the way down the rusty ladder.

  I landed in the tunnel, my Converse splashing in nasty lukewarm water. “Eew!”

  Kaige took the lantern out of his pack, lighting it. “Don’t worry, it can’t be real sewage. There hasn’t been a working sanitation system in ages.”

  Somehow it didn’t make me feel any better as I wiped the brown water off my legs. Dank, moist air swirled around us, and I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of gross creatures lived down here.

  Kaige held the lantern up to light the murky passageway. The tunnel split in three different directions.

  “Where to?”

  “Let’s try this way.” He gestured to the left. “The ground seems to be going slightly uphill. Maybe we’ll find a dry place to rest for the night.”

  Dry was good. “Lead the way, prince of darkness.”

  After a few hundred yards, the squishing sound beneath the soles of my shoes fell away. Kaige had been right; we were headed uphill. A small alcove appeared to our right, and he slowed down. It was a five or six-foot recess in the wall, providing the perfect cover. “This could work.”

  I restrained myself from jumping for joy. Every muscle in my legs and feet screamed for me to stop and
rest.

  Kaige pulled a blanket we’d grabbed from the crumbling mansion from his pack and laid it out on the floor along the old brick wall. I stretched out on it, a big yawn escaping before I could stop it.

  Kaige sat down beside me, his back against the wall, and gently ran his hand through my disheveled hair. “Get some rest.”

  I lifted my head up. “You’re not going to sleep?”

  “Not right now. I’ll keep watch for a bit.”

  “Kaige, you brought us down here because it was supposed to be safe. You need to rest too.” Dark circles rimmed his eyes, the long trek and lack of sufficient synth getting to him also, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

  “I will; I promise.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, and a contented sigh filled my chest.

  My eyelids drooped, the weight of hours of hiking too much to fight. Within seconds, blissful darkness blanketed my vision.

  A hand clapped over my mouth, jolting me awake. Kaige’s wild eyes bored into mine, his index finger against his lips. I nodded, attempting to slow my frantic heart as he pulled his hand away.

  I sat up and Kaige motioned for me to back up against the wall. I did as instructed, still not fully comprehending what was happening. Then I heard it. Hushed voices and footsteps filtered down the tunnel.

  My heart hammered against my ribs, my entire chest shaking. Kaige shot me a narrowed glare and placed his hand over my sternum. Crap. Whoever was coming could probably hear my pounding pulse.

  “They’re everywhere,” said a male voice. “Something major has happened in New Isos to send nocturnes and humans fleeing to our lands.”

  “One of the taranoi almost got Ava today. They’re so crazed from starvation they’ll attack anything with a pulse,” said a woman.

  I clapped my hand over my own mouth to keep from gasping. Who were these people?

  “There’s something wrong with the humans. They don’t smell right,” added a third voice.

  I tugged on Kaige’s shirt, and he spun around. “What are they?” I mouthed.

  He shook his head, his brows furrowed.

  Their footsteps drew closer, and my heart rate accelerated. Kaige pointed at my chest, and I took a slow, deep breath but it was no use. My heart had a mind of its own, and it was desperate to escape the confines of my ribcage.

  “Do you hear that?” The woman’s voice carried down the passage. By the sound of it, they couldn’t have been more than a few yards away.

  The footfalls stopped, and the tunnel went silent.

  I held my breath as Kaige’s gaze remained intent on the opening to the passageway. A mix of fury and panic swirled through the bond as the seconds dragged on.

  Three dark figures leapt around the corner, blocking the opening. Kaige reached for me, yanking me into his back. His fangs descended, and a deep growl tore out of his throat.

  The woman moved forward, a curtain of raven locks framing her pale face. Short fangs slid out from beneath her upper lip as she eyed Kaige and me.

  Kaige’s body strained with tension, every muscle taut and poised to spring. “Stay away from her, or I will end you right here.”

  The woman glanced at her companions then back at us. They nodded, their gazes intent on Kaige. “My, my, I never thought I’d live to see the day the king of Draconis would set foot in the Shadow Lands. And don’t worry, we have no desire to harm your human.”

  “Who are you?” Kaige growled, not backing down from his protective stance.

  “My name is Ebony and this is Dax and Nikko.” The woman gestured to the men on either side of her, showing off swirling black tattoos. Then her striking golden eyes fell on me, and a ripple of goose bumps erupted over my skin.

  There was something about her—the fangs obviously gave her away as a vampire, but there was something else. Something strangely human about her.

  “And you must be the newly crowned king of Draconis, Kaige Stramonox,” she finished.

  Kaige’s gaze flitted from one vampire to the other. The crease between his brows deepened with every pass. Confusion flooded the bond, eclipsing the rising panic in my chest.

  “You’re not taranoi and you’re certainly not nobles. What are you doing out here?” he asked.

  One of the men stepped forward, blue and purple strands of hair peeking out from under platinum locks. Dax, I think. “We live here. The question is, what are you and dozens of nocturnes and humans doing out here?”

  “You don’t know what’s happened?” I peered out from behind Kaige, unable to hold my tongue.

  “It takes longer for word to travel out here, human,” said Dax. He shared the same golden irises as Ebony and yet they held no familial resemblance. He was twice her size with sharp angular features.

  “So what’s happened?” asked Nikko, the youngest looking of the three but with the same piercing golden eyes.

  “Are you familiar with the prophecy?” The words tumbled out of my mouth without my approval.

  Kaige cleared his throat and tightened his grip around my wrist. “The humans are sick. A disease is rapidly spreading across their population, and there’s no blood to formulate the synth we need to survive.”

  A gruff chuckle burst from Dax’s mouth, the golden ring that pierced his brow dancing in response. “I don’t know how you nocturnes live off of that vile manufactured stuff.”

  That’s what he took from Kaige’s explanation?

  “You nocturnes? What do you live off of?” asked Kaige.

  “We only require a small amount of human blood to survive.” Ebony peered around Kaige, her gaze meeting mine. Unlike the other nocturnes I’d met, she didn’t look at me like a tasty meal. It was more like curiosity.

  “How?” Kaige cocked his head, and I could almost see the gears grinding.

  The threesome retracted their stubby fangs, and the gold swirling in their irises disappeared almost in unison.

  A smug grin slid across Ebony’s porcelain face. “Because we are nocturne-human hybrids, and we don’t need it to survive.”

  Chapter 30

  Kaige

  The dank, narrow tunnel led to a set of stairs, each step creaking beneath our feet as we descended. The hybrids were in front, throwing surreptitious looks our way, especially the blonde. His pierced brow arched every time he glanced at Solaris.

  Their heavily soled boots barely made a sound as they walked, a talent attributed to their nocturne blood, no doubt. All three sported tattoos in varying shapes of black swirls along their pale skin.

  The hybrids were apparently the blurs I’d seen dashing through the Shadow Lands, which means the myths about monsters haunting the old ruins were false.

  I swallowed hard. Unless these beings weren’t as tame as they seemed.

  My hand tightened around Solaris’s, ready to yank her back and retreat the way we came. I didn’t know these creatures, and I had no idea what could possibly lay within this subterranean dwelling.

  “How much further?” My clipped voice echoed along the grimy cement walls.

  “We’re almost there.” Ebony shot me a wink over her shoulder. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, King Nocturne.”

  Solaris’s lip curled at the hybrid’s coy attitude.

  I fought back a smile, finding Solaris’s jealousy cute. She should know I was hers in every way possible and no other girl could compare. She’d made sure of that last night. My blood heated simply thinking about it.

  “How long have you hybrids been here?” Solaris asked, ignoring the rush of emotions flooding the bond. This was not the time to let our guards down no matter how distracting the memories were.

  “We actually prefer the term lumenocs.” Ebony’s nose crinkled. “Hybrid sounds like we were created in a lab.”

  “We were made the old-fashioned way.” Dax’s head swiveled toward Solaris as he licked his lips. “You know what I mean?”

  My free hand curled into a fist, imagining smashing it in his smug face.

  “Don’t be rude.”
Nikko playfully shoved him. “We grew up here. Other lumenocs came, and some left.” He shrugged. “Just like any other place.” He ran a hand over the tips of his short, golden brown mohawk.

  The staircase ended, landing at another set of tunnels. Instead of going left or right, Ebony marched forward and ran her hand along a rough wall.

  “Others?” Tension spread through my body. “How many lumenocs inhabit the Shadow Lands?”

  She grasped a hidden lever and pulled the door open with a grinding sound. “Come see for yourself.”

  My jaw unhinged as we stepped into a cavernous opening. Scraps of metal welded together covered the walls, and the floors were smooth concrete. Halls that were once sewer tunnels branched off to other parts of what must be a massive bunker. Light bulbs hung from the ceiling, spilling light onto the industrial setting.

  Several more lumenocs milled about, their eyes flickering toward us and momentarily flashing gold.

  “Holy crap.” Solaris pretty much summed it up.

  Ebony grinned and opened her arms wide, a network of lacy tattoos running across her skin. “Welcome to our humble abode.”

  Lumenocs slowed as they passed. Most donned piercings and tattoos. Even the ones that were only a few years older than Zabrina had black ink scrawled somewhere. The offspring of humans and nocturnes had created a whole new race in the same way vampires and humans created nocturnes.

  I tore my gaze away from the strange onlookers and examined the intricate web of wires running across the ceiling beyond the dangling bulbs. “How did you build this?”

  Ebony snickered. “A lot can be accomplished with a little ingenuity and a hundred years.”

  “And the Collective isn’t as smart as they think,” Dax said with another annoying wink at my human. “Stealing power from them is a piece of cake.” He motioned us forward. “Come on. Let’s get to the food hall. Your human looks like she’s ready to start eating her own arm.”