Something pulsed beneath them.
Did you feel that? I asked my wolf as I slid my hands to another location trying to sense what was happening. Her blood is feeding something. Another small vibration flittered under my palms, like a heartbeat. Holy shit. Whatever they hooked her up to just got a payday with my blood.
“What’s in there? What’s feeding off her?” I called. The marble jumped under my hands again, this time much stronger. It knew I was here and it was angry. But it wasn’t formed enough to break free, and I just stopped its food supply. It had been so close. Too close.
“The Strigoi stir.”
“The soul wakes.”
“It is always hungry.”
Oh, dear gods. A Strigoi was the spirit of a dead vampire. In the lore we called them Screamers—vamps whose physical bodies died a true death, but their spirits hung around to wreak havoc on the living. Just like the ones floating around me now, except myth stated that Screamers could still feed on blood. “Can a Screamer really become corporeal if it drinks enough blood?” I urged. I knew only a few stories, but they were legendary. Hideous bloodsuckers with incredible strength that couldn’t be killed. “You have to tell me. How dangerous are they?” I gave an inward shudder. When the ghosts didn’t answer, I yelled, “Tell me!”
At my raised voice, the marble top bounced, jutting to the side. The platform wasn’t attached to the bottom of the altar.
No more time.
We have to drain her blood out of this thing, I told my wolf. I don’t think it’s full, but I’m not taking any chances. No more blood, no more Screamer. I crouched down and peered inside the hole, keeping a good distance away. The blood was moving and sloshing around in earnest now. We have to smash it with something near the bottom so it drains quickly. I hoped it would be enough.
It had to be enough.
I jumped up and scanned the room. My fist might get through the thick marble in my Lycan form, but now wouldn’t be the time to break my hand to pieces. Once the deed was done, I had to get Naomi out as soon as possible. I didn’t have time to regenerate. “Is there something to smash the marble with in here?” I asked the ghosts. No one answered. For the first time I noticed everything had gone completely quiet.
One lone whisper came flitting into my ear. “They have gone. We fear the Strigoi. They hurt us.”
I made my way around the mausoleum, my hands brushing against the smooth walls searching for something strong enough to bash in the marble. “You stayed. So help me,” I told the ghost. The entire room was roughly thirty by thirty. “We have to find something that will withstand me smashing it into the altar. Is there anything hooked to the walls?”
“Look up,” the voice whispered.
18
I angled my head toward the ceiling. Right at the very top, secured from the midpoint of the roof, was a marble gargoyle head. “It’s not alive, is it?”
“No.”
“Thank goodness for small favors,” I muttered. It hung about fifteen feet above me. I glanced around. Okay, we come at it from a run, kick off from the altar and grab it. We have to tear it off in one jump. My wolf barked her agreement. I jogged back to the corner and took off, springing to the edge of the marble near Naomi’s feet and leaping, reaching it easily. My hands closed around its pointy ears and on the way down I cranked like I was twisting the top off a jar and the chunk of marble gargoyle head snapped off in my grip.
I half expected it to yowl at me and come to life, but it didn’t.
One small win in this sea of insanity.
I hit the ground on the balls of my feet, landing in a crouch. Here we go. I rushed around to the back of the platform where the hole was, because it seemed like the logical place to drain the gunk out.
Naomi hadn’t moved at all. Not even so much as a twitch.
It was hard to look at her. She was gaunt and spent, like a real corpse. We better be able to bring her back. Let’s drain this thing and get it over with. I squatted, angling both my arms back, my wolf fueling me, and swung the marble gargoyle, snout first, into the bottom of the altar.
There was a massive crash as the face hit structure, stone on stone.
The altar cracked—a teensy bit.
Damn, someone had to have heard that. We have to move faster. Several pieces of the gargoyle had broken off on impact, but it had worked to our advantage. Now there was a nice sharp angle protruding from the head. Smash the pointy part into the fissure.
Unfortunately, now the Screamer knew exactly what we were trying to do—take his only ride to freedom away. The altar started to rock and jump like a seismic tremor. Blood splashed out of the hole and cracks I’d made. Yuck. We need to finish this now. I reared back and smashed the sharp angle into the crack with all my strength. The gargoyle face exploded on impact, sending shards of marble everywhere, but it was enough to split the altar open like a broken dam.
Blood flowed everywhere like a torrential river, gushing all over the mausoleum floor. I sprang too late. Blood saturated my leggings and dripped down my legs. Okay, that’s completely nasty. I moved farther out of the way, right as a terrible trembling vibration started to build from inside the altar. A low, creepy moan hit the air a second before a shout from outside the crypt filtered through the main door.
We were out of time.
I bent over and scooped Naomi up in my arms and sloshed through the blood coating the floor, still flowing out of the marble housing at a rapid rate. I bounded for the trapdoor, trying not to slip. If the Screamer became corporeal, whoever was outside would have their hands full.
Better them than us.
“Close the hatch behind me,” I yelled to the only ghost left. I had no idea if it had stuck around. “Are you strong enough?”
“Yes.”
The opening wasn’t big enough to jump through with her in my arms, so I maneuvered her to a vertical position and lowered her down the earthen steps, angling her over to the side as much as I could. Then I jumped down next to her. Once there, I hoisted her carefully over my shoulder and started to move, not pausing to see if the ghost was doing its job.
I flew down the steps. Right after my feet hit the dirty tunnel floor, the wrought-iron door behind me slammed shut and all the ghostly voices returned.
“Must free us now.” Fingers grabbed at my arms as I ran.
“Feed the vampire. She is dire.”
“The Strigoi is angry.”
Ghostly hands prodded me, shoving me off balance. “Hey, back off!” I yelled, still racing through the tunnels. “You didn’t stay and help, so I’ll get to you when I can. Right now I have other priorities to deal with.”
After two more bends, it was time to stop.
I laid Naomi carefully on the ground and brought my wrist up to my mouth. I was in my human form again and ripping through my skin with my dull teeth was going to hurt, but it would save time. This is going to sting like a mother, I told my wolf. Brace yourself. She sent a jolt of adrenaline through us as I tore through my flesh. “Gahhh,” I cried as I bobbed my wrist in front of Naomi’s mouth, rubbing the flowing blood between her lips.
After a moment she moaned.
“Thank goodness. Naomi,” I said, “I need you to feed.” In the next breath she clamped on to my arm, sucking furiously.
“You must free us now.”
“The earth trembles.”
“The battle is coming.”
These guys weren’t going to leave me alone until I fulfilled my end of the bargain. “I need you to deliver us safely back to the mansion,” I said through a clenched jaw. Naomi was pulling hard. “And then I’ll try my best to break whatever barrier is holding you in, just like I promised.”
Naomi’s eyes began to flutter as a loud crash sounded behind us. I wrenched my neck around to investigate the disturbance, but the tunnel was curved and I couldn’t see.
“They come.”
“You must hurry.”
“Come on, Naomi,” I urged, infusing power
into my words. “You need to wake up. We are short on time and need to vacate the area.”
Her eyes blinked open.
She unlatched and sat up quickly, appearing a bit stunned. “Ma Reine, what,” she stammered, “…what are you doing here?”
“I’m breaking you out of Cryptville. But there’s no time to explain right now. Can you run?” I asked, pulling her up before she could answer.
“Of course,” she said without hesitation as she stood. She looked composed and ready. “Your blood has fortified me. All aftereffects are gone.”
We took off.
So far vamps could go from incapacitated on the brink of true death to moving more easily than any supe I’d ever come in contact with. Naomi had already proven that after the winged devils attack and I was thankful for it.
“Naomi,” I called over my shoulder as we ran. “Please forgive me for making you come back here. It was a rash mistake. I put you in danger, caused you harm, and I’m so sorry.”
“I do not believe you made an error in judgment sending me here,” she answered, her voice firm. It surprised me enough to slow down.
“You can’t be serious,” I said. “They tortured you and fed your blood to a Screamer. It was a disastrous decision to send you here without a plan or to think Eudoxia would see reason. I made a huge mistake.”
“Non,” she replied, “I believe I am here because fate deemed it to be so. I do not begrudge the outcome. I have waited too long, and been through too much, to question what my future holds.”
I thought about that as we continued to run. Fate played a huge role in supernatural lore. Most believed they had a fated path. I knew my father did. He believed his being Alpha had been no accident, and I tended to agree with him. With the Prophecy recently uncovered, finding Rourke, changing Ray, it was likely fate had played a role in everything I’d done so far. But Tally had recently told us Maggie couldn’t predict time as an oracle because choices affected outcomes. If the outcomes were set, choices wouldn’t matter. That meant there was wiggle room, or more than one path set for each person. Maybe, in the end, no matter which path you chose, you always came back to your fated destiny. Or maybe you didn’t. “When I think about the role fate plays, it makes my head hurt,” I said. “It’s a complicated labyrinth of possibilities, all of them seemingly muddled and unclear.”
“Indeed,” Naomi answered. “But I believe your path is true, and you will continue to make the right decisions when faced with very difficult choices.”
No pressure there. “Your faith in me astounds me, as usual. I have no idea if I’m ever making the right choices. I’m just choosing what makes the most sense.” I didn’t want to think about making the wrong decisions. They could have life-altering consequences. “Like finding Ray. He’s my top priority now. Do you have any idea where they might have taken him?”
“Non,” she replied. “There are many likely spots, all of them equipped to keep a vampire confined. It is hard to know what they will do to him. Valdov was very unhappy he had become a vampire.”
I took the next turn, following my own scent trail. The ghosts weren’t objecting to my direction, so I kept going. “Which way now?” I called into the air when I came to another fork. “Going back through the Trows is not an option.”
“Here.”
“We will lead you.”
“You must crawl.” Something grabbed my shirt, guiding me to the left.
“I do not know, Ma Reine,” Naomi answered, clearly not having heard the other voices. “I have never been down here before. It is forbidden. There have only been rumors of what lies beneath the graveyard. The Queen has always kept the tunnels well guarded.”
“Can’t you hear the ghost voices?” I asked, glancing at her. “They’ve been guiding us the entire time.”
“What?” Naomi said, stumbling as her voice caught for a second. “I hear nothing but your voice.”
“Um…” I hesitated, not wanting to upset her. I don’t care how strong a supe you were, ghosts were freaky no matter what. “We’re surrounded by dozens of trapped spirits. I’ve agreed to try and break the barrier holding them here, in exchange for finding you.”
Naomi was quiet, her face pensive.
“Do you think I should do it?” I prodded. “Break the barrier, I mean? Is it a good idea?”
“The Queen has always stated that she keeps her vampires safe by protecting us inside her power shield. If you destroy it, I do not know what will happen,” Naomi finally offered. “But I will follow your decision, Ma Reine. As always.”
“She lies.” The ghosts were agitated.
“The Queen keeps us to do her bidding.”
“Free us and it shall come true.”
“What will come true—” A hunk of dirt exploded from the wall right next to us, exposing a hole no bigger than four feet wide. The shock of it took me by surprise and I eased out of my fighting stance.
“You must enter.” Fingers prodded at my legs, unsuccessfully trying to force me to kneel. Next to me, Naomi stilled. “They want us to go through here.” I gestured to the new hole the ghosts had blown in the wall. “To be honest, I’m not sure if I should trust them, but there aren’t too many other options presenting themselves at the moment.”
By her expression Naomi had started to pick up on the energy from the ghosts swirling around us. “As I said, I will follow you, Ma Reine. You must honor your word to these spirits and I will help you if I can. It is the correct thing to do.”
I knelt down. It was too dark to see much of anything in the new tunnel. Before I started forward, I reached back and grabbed on to Naomi’s wrist, pulling her gently down beside me. She lowered herself easily. This close I could see her face flush with my blood. Thank goodness I hadn’t been too late. Finding her had been the right decision, any later and it could’ve been disastrous.
“Listen,” I murmured. “I appreciate your willingness to support me no matter what, but I want you to know you always have a choice. If you disagree with me, you can say so. I don’t expect you to follow me blindly. In fact, I don’t want you to. I value your input way too much. This isn’t a monarchy, and it will never be. Honestly, most of the time I have no idea if I’m making the right choice. The only thing I have to rely on is my gut, which is made up of an extremely bossy she-wolf, and common sense. My wolf is the equivalent of your vampire tutorials, except I don’t always understand what she’s trying to tell me. It’s been a steep learning curve and she’s the first one to call me slow on the uptake. I do promise to make the best choices I possibly can, but I can’t always guarantee they will be the right ones. Do you understand?”
“I do.” She nodded. “But the difference is I have faith that you will make the right choices, where you are still unsure. Your confidence will bloom over time.” She smiled. “The Hag was very clear those many years ago when she told me I would have a choice to pledge myself to someone who was worthy. I did so, and I have no regrets. You are worthy of my pledge in every way. I will follow you.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “But I want you on my team, not as a silent follower. If you believe fate has steered our paths together, and we are in this ridiculous tunnel together for a reason, then I need your help. Vampires, ghost, barriers, magic, politics—I need an intelligent guide by my side to make sense of it all. I have limited knowledge of how the supernatural world works and my only real concern right now is keeping my father alive. He’s the entire reason I’m in this place.” I gestured around the earthen walls. “We have to make sure he lives, and to do that we need to talk about the barrier and why we should or shouldn’t blow it up. I feel like this is a huge decision and it will affect him in some major way.” Whether or not to blow up the barrier was beginning to nag at me.
The ghosts whispered around my body, not liking that I’d taken a short break. I hadn’t heard anything after us in the tunnels, so we had a minute more to spare.
“You must go.”
“The barrier mu
st come down.”
“You cannot wait any longer.”
I ignored them as Naomi nodded. “Forgive me for not being so vocal,” she said. “It is difficult to shed hundreds of years of servitude. The Queen has never asked for our opinions on anything, so it does not come naturally to me.”
“I understand,” I said gently, “but I’m asking you now.”
“We were told the barrier was to keep us safe, that it was dangerous and unthinkable to tamper with it.”
“Is the barrier the ward I felt when I first came over the wall? Are we talking about the same thing?” Now that I thought about it, that ward carried the same tartness as the other curious spells.
“Oui,” she answered. “It is the same. Only, it is not a standard ward. It acts as a shield over the entire Coterie, like a protective dome.”
“It has to be extremely powerful if it can keep incorporeal beings trapped inside. But I was able to pass through it no problem this morning. The boys couldn’t until the Queen let them in. Why do you think I was able to cross it?”
Naomi shook her head. “It shouldn’t be so. It keeps out even the strongest supernaturals. It is very old and has been in place since this mansion has been in our possession. There are rumors it’s been crafted from the Queen’s own blood.”
“But vamps can’t wield spells.”
“Eudoxia is not … ordinary,” she said, her voice dropping automatically from years of obedience. One does not gossip about their Queen freely. “She is able to cast spells. Some believe that spell casting is her special gift. Others believe … she is more than vampire.”
My eyebrows jumped to my hairline.
That was big, gossipy interesting news. More than a vampire meant she had been something supernatural before she’d been turned. “I’ve seen her power manifest physically,” I commented as I thought back to our first meeting when she’d shot her white light straight into my chest, “but I figured it was because she was so old. That her power had grown so much it had manifested itself physically.”
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