Although he was apparently safe in the bed next to mine, I couldn’t shake the fear of not knowing if Bryce was alive beneath the crumpled redbill body. Was that my last memory? I twisted my mouth, trying hard to think. There was Bryce, the memory of a splash. My breath hitched with alarm, heart rate rising once more. No. My last strong memory was of Dorian’s face, warped with pain as he fell to the ground. Dorian had felt that pain. I knew the sensation, how the body tensed when the chest pain arrived.
I pawed at my face, pressing the heels of my hands into my eye sockets. I hoped Dorian was okay. How long had I been out?
I needed to figure out where we were. I inhaled to calm my racing mind, settling my breathing.
One thing I knew for certain—this was definitely the Immortal Plane. There was something about this place, a heaviness to my bones that meant I wasn’t home. It meant we were either captured in enemy territory, hidden in neutral territory, or had found allied territory. The only potential allies I was aware of, however, were the mysterious group of vampires that we’d found no trace of so far.
Immortal hunters would not have tended to our wounds and placed us in pleasant rooms with open doorways and no guards. I frowned up at the ceiling. Unless this was a mind game? Were these lights secretly leeching my every memory of the Mortal Plane before they disposed of my body in a shrieking decay’s food bowl? Or was some gladiatorial-type combat waiting for me on the other side of the open doorway?
“Hard pass,” I mumbled, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, carefully avoiding the vomit on the floor.
I had to find Dorian. Had he passed out, too? He must have if he’d been in as much pain as I had. Concern flooded me with guilt close behind. Even though I knew it wasn’t my fault, it still felt terrible to be a liability to the person I cared for. Brushing off my own pain was almost easy now. When Dorian described his distress at seeing me hurting, I’d thrown his concerns to the wind, knowing I could handle my pain. For our partnership and relationship, it had been a burden I was willing to bear. Now? I knew exactly how Dorian had felt when he saw me wince or pass out from pain. The thought occurred to me that maybe I’d been too dismissive of his concerns.
Something had changed since we came here. I failed to understand why he would suddenly begin to feel pain like me. Maybe the pain was always more severe in the Immortal Plane. Maybe it was because he’d fed so recently. Maybe it was because our relationship was growing stronger than ever. Who knew? It wasn’t like we had a manual on human-vampire relations.
Fresh beads of sweat dotted my brow. Even the small effort of sitting up had taken a toll. I wiped them away roughly.
First things first. I had to find Dorian and the rest of the team to make sure they were okay. I glanced at Bryce, who still slumbered peacefully. Did it mean anything that they, whoever they were, had separated the team? I slid out of bed, grimacing at the strange texture of the floor under my bare feet. My body protested the entire way. My muscles ached, dull with lack of energy. Okay, not off to a great start. I plucked Dorian’s stone from the bedclothes and placed it back into the bag around my neck before tucking the bag into my shirt. It stayed cold. I almost wished it were warm for some comfort.
Along with the shirt, I wore a knee-length pair of soft brown shorts. I couldn’t see my boots or any other kind of shoes anywhere. Stepping carefully, I crept to the chamber’s uncovered entrance and poked my head out, tensed for any attack or unexpected trap.
The corridor stretched before me with a similar rounded ceiling as the room, the same glowing lichen lights growing along the walls and illuminating everything in a lavender shade. Seeing and hearing no one approaching, I stepped out of the room, revealing the full length of the corridor. At the far end to my left, some fifteen or so feet away, another door was cut into the wall, marking the end of the hallway.
Glancing around for some kind of weapon, I saw a rough broom leaning against the wall near another doorway to my right. Picking it up, I clutched the smooth handle as I began to step cautiously down the corridor, eyes searching for any shimmer or strangeness that could indicate a trap set behind a glamor. I’d nearly made it to the door when a woman popped out of it, alarming me enough that I brought the broom handle sharply up toward her face. In a swift movement, she caught the handle. Curly brown hair fell against brown skin, and startled amber eyes narrowed at me.
I blinked, finally recognizing her in the dim light. “Arlonne,” I whispered hoarsely. My voice was as weak as my muscles.
Arlonne raised an eyebrow. “Doing a little cleaning to thank our hosts?”
I sagged against the wall, my energy temporarily sapped. “What happened to Dorian?” I blurted, concern ringing in my voice.
Arlonne chuckled. “Hello to you, too, Lyra,” she said sarcastically. “Precious Dorian is in a meeting right now, so I don’t think it’s good for you to rush over there.” She visually assessed me, as if trying to gauge my condition. “He’s okay now. After the battle, he was out for three hours.”
Three hours! I pressed a relieved hand against my heart. Perhaps we hadn’t lost much time.
“How long was I out for?”
Arlonne frowned, setting the broom aside. “You’ve been out for three days. The healers did what they could, but they have limited knowledge of your funny human anatomy and internal workings. They weren’t able to do much besides ensuring you got some rest and monitoring you.”
Three days? It seemed to be my magic number.
Silence passed between us as I processed the bad news. I’d known the curse was difficult to deal with, even if I didn’t know that Dorian could feel the pain too. At least he had only passed out for three hours.
I’d told myself the curse was manageable, but I hadn’t been exposed to its full strength lately. Dorian’s lack of feeding had afforded us a false sense of protection—of hope. A feeling that was falling away from me now. I wondered if my heart had stopped this time. Had Dorian been afraid as he lost consciousness, wondering how long it would be until he woke up, if he was going to wake up?
I abruptly realized Arlonne was staring at me, her brow furrowed with concern. I shook myself free of my manic thoughts and snapped back to the present. The lavender lights fell across her broad face, the color softening the scars and making her skin gleam.
“Where are we?” I asked.
The corner of her lips lifted into a small smirk as though she’d been waiting for me to ask. “They call it the Hive.”
“You found the refugee vampires while I was unconscious?” I asked as I rubbed my temple. Arlonne’s style of speaking was blunt and often lacked details.
“They found us, actually,” Arlonne added. “The vampires here have formed an alliance with aquatic wildlings and watched our fight from the lake.”
“Aquatic?” I echoed, trying to imagine the funny stone golems underwater.
She nodded. “With their help, the Hive scouts were able to hide under the water during the battle. They emerged afterward to offer assistance.” Her face pulled into a disapproving scowl. “The cowards.”
“But they helped?” I insisted. I knew she valued action and courage, but they’d likely had their reasons for not wanting to get involved.
She gave an unimpressed huff. “After they let us struggle. They wanted to save their own skins. With their help, we could have killed those hunters. No one would know we were on this plane, but now the Immortals know there are strange vampires and unknown creatures loose near Lake Siron. We’re all in danger, thanks to their hesitation.” She exhaled slowly from her nostrils, her anger fading slightly. “The Hive scouts brought us back here, but they had the nerve to blindfold us while they were at it. And now… they’re not exactly helpful.”
That didn’t sound promising for Dorian’s hope that the vampires in hiding would aid us. Technically, they already had to some extent, by patching up our injuries and sheltering us here. And now Dorian was facing the problem without me.
The crunch of ap
proaching footsteps sounded near the doorway behind Arlonne, and a moment later Roxy marched through the rounded threshold. She spotted me and gave a wicked grin. Either ignoring or not noticing the tension from the conversation she’d interrupted, she barreled over and wrapped me in a hug.
“Hello, lovebird!”
The force of her embrace nearly sent me into the wall, and I had to brace myself with a hand. “Good to see you, too, but I’m not exactly at a hundred percent right now.” Though I was beginning to feel stronger, being on my feet.
Roxy whistled, looking over my unsteady posture. “I can see that, but I’m glad you’re up. I’m sick of being the only conscious human in the Immortal Plane.” She offered her shoulder for me to lean on. “Kane sent me to grab Arlonne for the council meeting. He’s acting all grumpy and demanding again, like a royal pain in the ass. He wants us immediately. Dorian’s going to try to convince them to help us in Itzarriol. If you’re up for it, you should come with us.”
Arlonne hesitated at first, evaluating me, then nodded in agreement. My muscles wanted me to go back to bed, but with the news that the Hive vampires were being unhelpful, I couldn’t afford to be out of the loop any longer. I needed to see this so-called council meeting for myself and catch up on the situation.
I wiggled my naked toes. “I need to find some shoes… and I might have puked on the floor.”
Arlonne wrinkled her nose. “I always forget how much humans are like babies.”
Roxy snorted. “Nonsense! We’re as tough as nails—when we’re not in love with vampire boys who make us swoon.” She winked with a snicker. “I’ve got your gear bag and weapons, but I put your clean uniform and boots under your bed. I doubt they moved. As for puke,” she looked around, “I’ll… find someone to deal with that.”
I went back into the room, crouching to grab my boots and uniform from where Roxy said they would be. I changed quickly, somewhat uncomfortable with my former captain on one side and an open doorway on the other. Once again dressed in my camo uniform, I cast one last glance at Bryce. He continued to sleep peacefully. The lights from the chamber cast a pastel glow on the stark white bandages around his injuries.
“What’s the word on Sike and Bryce?” I asked, joining Arlonne back in the hall and keeping my voice low. Bryce deserved to sleep.
“Sike has made progress in the past three days, but he’s still a mess from his idiotic bravery,” Arlonne said with a curl of her lips. She was frustrated, both with the Hive scouts for not helping in our battle and with Sike for drawing the hunter’s full attention. “His arm is broken in four places, and he was stabbed and slashed several times. He also broke his nose and is growing back at least three teeth from the beating he took. The healers are fussing over him, which he’s rather enjoying. He’ll heal up fine and pretty quickly.” She looked toward the room I had just exited. “Bryce will require much more time. He’s been conscious, moving around a little, but he has broken multiple ribs and one arm. He’s probably bruised a lot of his internal organs as well, judging from the amount of pain he’s in when he’s conscious, but the healers can’t be sure about that because they have no experience with humans. We have no idea when he’ll be in fighting condition again, since humans heal so much slower than vampires. He’s alive, though.” She shrugged. “That’s what matters.”
I needed to stop passing out for three days at a time. I always ended up missing so much.
“Bryce is tough,” I muttered. “He’ll be back to kicking ass in no time.”
Arlonne gave me a knowing look. “Oh, I know all about that one. When I tried to haul him out from under the dead redbill’s wing at the end of the battle, he was ready and waiting with his gun. Almost mistook me for a hunter. I thought he was going to shoot me in the face.” She rolled her eyes wearily, but there was also something like amusement and admiration in the expression, in a half-formed smile.
Maybe she was beginning to warm up to the humans in our group. After everything that happened to her at the hands of humans at the Bureau, I didn’t blame her for taking a while to trust us. All the humans on this mission were ex-Bureau, and I was directly related to the man who had arranged the experiment that involved amputating her arm without pain medication when she was little more than a teenager. It was good to see her reservations slowly disappear, though.
Roxy reappeared as I pulled on my boots and knelt to tighten the laces.
“I found someone who will clean up your puke, so we’re all clear to go to the meeting.” She tapped a nonexistent watch. “I’m not getting yelled at by Kane. Come on.”
“I’m almost done.” I hurried my pace, fighting with stiff fingers over the long laces of my combat boots.
Arlonne cleared her throat. “You know, it was your quick thinking during the battle that probably saved us all,” she said.
I looked up, surprised to see that her gaze was warm. She looked… impressed.
“Taking out the wildling with your gun freed us of those vines.” She traced a finger down the length of her collarbone, pointing out the divots in her brown skin where the thorns had torn her flesh. The wounds had scabbed and healed over already, thanks to fast vampire healing, but they were still a reminder we’d been in a very tight spot that could have ended very badly.
“Thanks,” I said and waved my hand to brush away the praise. “I was just doing my job.”
Roxy helped me up, making sure I wasn’t going to sway and fall before she let go of my arm. Arlonne simply gave a nod of thanks, and while I could tell the conversation was over, pride bloomed in my chest. Her respect meant a lot to me. This might be the longest I had ever personally spoken with the quiet, proud vampire.
“The meeting,” Roxy stressed, jerking her thumb toward the hallway door.
“Fine, fine, let’s go.” I followed her as quickly as I could manage. My boots felt too heavy for my feet, an unpleasant reminder of my strange dream, but I pressed on.
My momentary pleasure at Arlonne’s kind words faded as we headed to find Dorian.
I needed to figure out what had happened between us and what was unfolding in this hive of hidden vampires. I had a feeling I wouldn’t like what I found.
Chapter Twenty-Two
As Roxy led the way to the Hive council meeting, I studied my surroundings as much as possible to glean any hint about what kind of characters made up the Hive. How different were they from the vampires I’d met through Dorian? Arlonne already thought of them as cowards.
Like elsewhere, the walls, floors, and ceilings consisted of the same thick, papery material, and everything was lit by the glowing lichens. We took a sharp right turn, ducking through another rounded doorway into a wider hallway with numerous doors in the wall on the right-hand side. Here, in addition to the lichens, light was provided by lanterns made of the same amber glass as the windows in Vanim, affixed to the floor every few paces. For a moment, I was concerned by the idea of having flame anywhere near the likely flammable material of the Hive, until I recognized the familiar glow. With a sense of awe, I crouched down by one. The casing was about as tall as my shin, the panes of golden glass held together with strips of dull bronze. Inside, floating like a luminescent jellyfish, was a soul. It was difficult to get a sense of its shape as it pulsed and drifted within the confines of the lantern, a mixture of bright light and swirling darkness. Somehow, being unable to define it seemed fitting, considering that this was the soul of a once-living being. This person had had a name, a job, a family, a first pet, weird habits, a song that made them cry—they’d made mistakes, obviously, or they wouldn’t be trapped here in the Immortal Plane, but who knew how they’d reached that point in their life, or whether they wished they could go back and undo those mistakes.
Carefully, I put my fingers against the glass, part of me expecting it to be hot, but both the glass and the casing were room temperature. Something Inkarri had said during our battle came back to me. She’d mentioned bottling soul-lights and asked Sike how he’d managed to co
ntain so much. I assumed she had been talking about the human energy brought by Roxy, Bryce, and me, but now I knew why she had been so interested. In the Immortal Plane, the energy created by souls was more than just supernatural calories. They could provide literal power.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Roxy bent to examine another lantern. “Not going to lie, they do creep me out a little.”
“I don’t think they’re creepy,” I said, standing slowly, taking a moment as a rush of lightheadedness overtook me. “It feels more like they’re… I don’t know. Sacred, I guess. The essence of a whole life lighting our path.”
Arlonne said nothing in response, and Roxy just scoffed, but I noticed her paying a little more attention to the lanterns as we continued.
The corridors curved in a dizzying repetition of brown walls, floor, and ceiling. It was nearly impossible to tell the corridors apart. Roxy’s knowledge of the hallways both impressed and unsettled me. I was relieved that she knew her way but upset that she was three full days ahead of me in terms of exploration. I’d definitely need a guide to get around, and I didn’t like losing my independence like that.
At one point, we passed through a hall with windows to the outside. Pausing for a moment, I peered outside to see a vast, dim cavern below us. I reeled from the sheer scale of the area. How much weight could this papery material hold? Far below, yellow-and-blue water rippled, glowing the same shades as the lake. The colors lit up the cave, the steaming water several stories beneath us, while the top of the cave was lit by more of the familiar lichens. I couldn’t see the edges of the massive cave through the haze. It could go on for miles.
“How are we suspended up here?” I asked.
Arlonne chuckled. “This is literally an abandoned hive that the vampires took over,” she explained and pointed at a large teardrop-shaped construction hanging from the ceiling of the enormous cavern we were in. I hadn’t noticed it at first, as it was at the very edge of the illumination provided by the water and the lichens. Its exterior was a pale yellow, like whipped butter. “That’s what it looks like from the outside.”
Darklight 3: Darkworld Page 23
