“Sounded like something in flight. Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
Rafael shrugged. “Sure.” He was not overly concerned. The cavern had only two tunnels leading to it. Jaden had gone down one, and with Talon down the other, both tunnels were safe. He continued working, collecting samples from the numerous plants scattered around the lake.
He was finishing up with the final plant when a strong hand landed on his shoulder. He spared it a quick glance and caught a glimpse of familiar pearlescent fingernails. “I’m just about done here.”
“Good,” a male voice—not Jaden’s or Talon’s—spoke with a low and resonant timbre. “Perhaps then you can explain to me what you are doing here.”
Rafael shot to his feet and spun around.
The vampire was as tall as he, but his wiry frame hinted at an eternity of near starvation. Faint slivers of gold shone in a head of hair of indeterminate color, and its pale skin showed smudges of dirt. Its clothes were stained with dust and grime, their original color nothing but a memory. “Where are the two who came in with you?” It spoke slowly, as if from a long forgotten language.
“Exploring.”
After a long moment, the vampire nodded as if finally recognizing the word. “You’re not like me. You smell different.”
“I’m human.”
A thin smile exposed white fangs. “You’re brave. And foolish.” Its head snapped up, and it looked in the direction where Talon had gone.
Rafael opened his mouth to shout a warning.
Like a flash of quicksilver, gnarled and misshapen fingers closed around Rafael’s throat and squeezed hard.
Rafael tried to pull the vampire’s hands away, but black spots flashed across his vision before coalescing into a curtain of darkness that yanked down around him.
Chapter 11
Rafael awoke with a start. A vicious headache pounded through his skull as he sucked in deep breaths of air. He was still alive, which was promising, considering that his last vivid memory was of a vampire’s pearlescent white fangs.
His body ached, but the absence of sharp pain implied bruises rather than open cuts or broken bones. His vision wavered. The walls and ceiling of the cave pulsed with color, as if alive. He dragged a hand over his eyes. Damn, he probably had a concussion.
It took him several moments to realize the problem was not with his eyes.
His surroundings glowed pale green, blue, and purple, a magical underground world flourishing with the color of bioluminescent algae growing upon the cave walls. The air was moist with a faint herbaceous scent; there had to be a water source nearby. The cave he was in was a fraction of the size of the cavern with the lake, and it was furnished, in a manner of speaking.
He pushed up on one elbow and examined the neat pile of cloth laid over the rough ground like a pallet. The faded hues confirmed that the cloths were old, but they were well cared for.
A large rock with a flat surface provided a stable platform for several bowls hewn out of stone. Colored pigments, probably created from plants or colored minerals, stained the bowls. Paint? Rafael looked up at the limestone wall. His eyes widened; his breath caught.
The painting covered the full length of the wall. Lush fields and dense pine forests surrounded the city of Aeternae Noctis and its distinctive central tower. The bat-winged shape of an icrathari soared over Malum Turris. In the background, snow-capped mountains with cascading waterfalls framed the scene.
It was the same image—the great lie of Aeternae Noctis—that had projected from the uppermost levels of Malum Turris for a thousand years, enveloping humans in the belief of a perfect world beyond the dome, giving them hope in spite of their captivity.
“Do you like it?”
Rafael tensed. How had he not noticed the vampire in his earlier scan of his surroundings? He pushed to his feet and turned to face his captor as it emerged from the deep shadows in the corners of the cave. “It’s beautiful. When did you escape from Aeternae Noctis?”
“Escape?” White fangs flashed. “I did not escape. I was discarded—buried outside the city and left to die.”
Buried outside the city. Rafael’s brow furrowed. His captor was not just any vampire. He was an elder vampire. An immortali. “How long ago?”
It frowned. “You are not afraid of me. Why?”
“Because you couldn’t possibly be any crazier than the two elder vampires I followed down here. How long ago?” Rafael repeated his question.
Shoulders shrugged in a graceful motion. “Too long ago.” It ran a finger around the rim of a stone bowl. Both its hands were misshapen; the fingers that would have been long and elegant—an artist’s fingers—were crooked. The crippling injury must have taken place before it was transformed; otherwise, it would have healed properly. The immortali did not look at Rafael. “Why are you here?”
“I’m an herbalist. I’m looking for plant species that don’t exist in Aeternae Noctis.”
“And did you find any?”
“Several.” Rafael paused, searching for the right words. “I’m seeking a cure for aconite blood poisoning.”
“Ah, the poison. So, it worked.”
A chill passed through Rafael. “Yes, it did. Where is the antidote?”
“There is none. The icrathari deserve death.” The creature looked at the painting, its dark eyes resting upon the image of the icrathari soaring above the tower. “So beautiful. So deadly. Liars and deceivers.” Its voice was quiet, as if speaking to himself. “To love them is to be cursed.” With a twisted hand, it caressed the painting of the icrathari, its touch gentle, and then rested its forehead against the cool limestone. Its eyes closed.
It may have been an immortali, but in that moment, it looked like a man who had lost in love.
Who had he loved? Ashra? Tera? Siri? Which icrathari did it want to kill?
The immortali raised its head. Without opening its eyes, it said softly, “You too love an icrathari.”
Rafael flinched. Damn his traitorous heartbeat. “Perhaps.” Yes.
“Then you are a fool.” Its eyes flashed open, the gleam self-mocking and full of despair. “I will kill you now to spare you the pain of their betrayal.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Rafael’s gaze searched the cave, seeking an exit.
The immortali advanced. Rafael retreated, matching each step, keeping his distance. He did not dare take his attention off the creature. Instead, his fingertips scraped along the walls as he edged along the perimeter of the cave. Damn it. Where was the opening?
The monster laughed. “You cannot escape. If you beg, I will kill you and save you the torment of going mad.”
Keep talking. Distract him. Buy time. Find common ground. “Do you hear silence?”
Blue eyes flared wide. A long moment passed before it answered. “Do you?”
Since he lost Stefan? “All the time. Like an old friend.”
Broad shoulders slumped. For an instant, the maniacal glitter in its eyes gave way to weariness. Rafael caught glimpses of pain that time could not dull—shattering loss; wrenching betrayal.
The immortali’s lips shaped silent words, and it took the creature several moments to realize that it had not spoken aloud. It wet its lips in a surprisingly vulnerable gesture. When it spoke, its voice trembled. “Do you respond? Do you speak back?”
“Sometimes.” Rafael flashed a grin. “It would be impolite not to.”
Laughter, an easy and natural cadence, rang out, but an instant later, the immortali’s gaze hardened. “What do you, a human, know of silence? Have you lived with it as your only companion for hundreds of years? Have you heard it talking to you, screaming at you, until the only thing you want to do is smash your head and gouge out your ears to end its resonance?” It laughed, and this time, there was nothing natural or sane in that sound. “Your companions, the vampires, may elude the daevas I’ve sent to hunt them, but I can make certain your ignorance perishes here.”
Rafael retreated as the immortali advanced. His back
hit the cave wall. He had nowhere else to go, no retreat. He raised his head and stared at the creature’s incisors as they extended, gleaming in the magical light of the cave.
Siri’s flared wings flared, slowing her rapid descent down the shaft leading to the daeva caverns. The silence that greeted her both relieved and alarmed her. Her nose wrinkled as she sniffed the air; the aromatic scent of citrus struck her as entirely out of place. The scent trail—most likely Rafael’s handiwork—traced a path along the left wall of the cavern, down one of the otherwise indistinguishable corridors.
She followed the trail though the winding, empty tunnels. Where was the massive gathering of daevas believed to exist in these caverns? Where could they have gone? More importantly, why would they have left when their superior numbers could have defeated any attempt on the part of the icrathari and vampires to take the caves by force?
Siri stifled a sigh. The daevas’ numeric superiority had not deterred two suicidal elder vampires and a foolish human. Personally, she was relieved she did not find significant opposition. Tera would have relished a fight. Even Ashra might have enjoyed it. Siri, on the other hand, preferred a battle of wits rather than one involving fangs and claws. Besides, she was not entirely certain of herself since she had been injured.
Nerves kept her alert, and she sensed the vibrations in the air as someone approached. The scent was familiar. She scowled at Talon as he turned the corner.
He had the audacity to offer her a taunting grin. “Ah, here’s one of the winged furies.”
Her scowl deepened. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Rafael says it’s easy to mock us because of our melodramatic natures. He makes a habit of laughing at me.”
She stalked up to him and wrapped her small fists in his shirt. “What in the Creator’s name were you and Jaden thinking? Leaving the city? Taking Rafael with you?”
“We didn’t exactly twist his arm. He came willingly.”
“You shouldn’t be out here.”
“Rafael has already found some plants that don’t exist in Aeternae Noctis.”
Siri’s eyes widened. “What?”
“He’s collecting samples right now.”
“Is Jaden with him?”
“No, Jaden went off to explore—”
“You left him alone?” Siri’s voice rose to a screech.
“He’s a big boy—”
“He’s human. He doesn’t have fangs and claws, or a vampire’s compulsion to pick fights.”
Talon rolled his eyes. “You’re overreacting. You know, that’s a typical symptom of unnatural attraction.”
“Unnatural what?”
“Infatuation. Lust. Love. Call it whatever you like. As you’ve pointed out, he’s human. What do you see in him?”
Siri’s heart lurched in her chest. Her chin jerked up. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Defensiveness is another symptom—”
“Shut up, Talon. Where’s Rafael?”
Talon laughed. “I’ll take you to him.”
Siri followed Talon along the trail to a large cavern with an underground lake. An open knapsack filled with small jars lay by the pool of water.
She stiffened. She caught Rafael’s familiar scent, as well as Jaden’s and Talon’s, but there was another smell, one she did not recognize.
There was no sign of Rafael.
“Oh, damn,” Talon said.
“Damn?” Siri echoed. With the slither of bone against flesh, her fingernails extended and curved into claws. “I am seconds away from ripping off your head. Why in the Creator’s name did you leave him alone?”
“Because he was safe. There are only two exits from this cave. Jaden went down one, and I went down the other.”
Siri snarled. “Save me from stupid vampires who think they are immortal.”
Talon thumped his chest and managed a flicker of his cocky grin. “I am immortal.”
“You won’t be if we don’t find Rafael.” Siri knelt to examine the knapsack and the plant samples Rafael had collected. Something teased her senses; she raised her head at the faint whiff of citrus and glanced over her shoulder at a cluster of rocks in a corner of the cave.
The scent grew stronger as she approached the dry riverbed. Frowning, she kicked at a stack of stones, but it did not tumble into a rockslide. Closer examination confirmed that the stones were glued together with something that looked and tasted suspiciously like daeva blood. “Hah,” Siri muttered. “And here I thought I’d have to hold Aeternae Noctis together on duct tape and spit.”
The rock pile, too massive for any human to move, posed no challenge for an icrathari. Siri nudged it aside to reveal a narrow tunnel winding down into the darkness. She looked up at Talon. “Go find Jaden and bring him back here. I’m going after Rafael.”
Talon nodded. “You realize that whatever was in here wasn’t a daeva. It smelled different.”
“I know. It was an elder vampire…an immortali.” And immortali were often far more dangerous than daevas. Never mind the lack of wings. Insanity could often tilt the balance of battle.
Talon gave her a grim look. “Be careful.” He turned and sprinted away.
Siri knelt to peer into the downward sloping tunnel, scarcely wide enough for one person. An icrathari was smaller than a human, though, and the cave provided ample space for her, wings and all. Notches in the cave wall provided handholds, not that she needed them. She drew in a deep breath and caught a tiny whiff of the citrus smell of lantana leaves mixed with Rafael’s familiar scent.
Damn, she hated physical fights and was not particularly good at it, but she could probably hold her own against an immortali.
She swallowed hard. Maybe.
Either way, Rafael needed her, which left her no choice at all. Her wings folded against her back, she jumped headfirst into the passage and glided through the tunnel as it curved deeper into the earth. Momentum and gravity accelerated her forward. The sharp turns scraped her skin and her wings. Siri bit back a curse as the deep shadows of the tunnel conceded to a pale glow, and she tumbled into a tiny cave gleaming with bioluminescence.
The two figures at the far end of the cave twisted around at her noisy intrusion. Rafael and the immortali stared at her, their mouths open.
“You came for the human?” The words tore out of the immortali, its whisper edged with shock. “Impossible!” Its talons ripped across Rafael’s exposed throat.
Blood spurted.
“No!” Siri screamed. She lunged at the immortali, but it leapt straight up into the small opening in the roof of the cave and vanished into darkness.
Siri caught Rafael before he hit the ground. His eyes were wide, unseeing; his chest heaved with each labored breath. Blood pumped out of him with every heartbeat, crimson staining his shirt.
Siri pressed her hand against the wound in his throat, but his blood spilled past her fingers. Panic clutched at her. She could not lose him. She would not lose him.
Her claws extended, and she drew a sharp fingernail across her wrist. Golden blood welled up. “Here, drink,” she murmured, holding her wrist to his lips.
His heartbeat was already erratic, his eyes glazed and unfocused. Blood trickled past his lips. Siri closed her eyes and breathed deeply through the startling sensation of blood rushing through her veins and into his body. Suddenly, he tore away from her. His eyes dilated; black swallowed the hazel of his irises. His pale lips, shimmering with her gold blood, trembled and shaped soundless words.
She could see terror take shape in his mind, its presence so real it was almost palpable. His breath quickened, and he choked on fear. A scream, shrill like a dying animal, tore from his throat.
Her mouth closed over his. She swallowed his scream and silenced his cries. His body tensed against hers, instinctively fighting back, rejecting her. “Hush, my love.” She cradled his head with one arm; with the other, she caressed his cheek. His skin burned with fever where moments before it had been cold and cla
mmy.
Like a wild animal, he fought her, his elongating nails tearing at her face, but she refused to let him go. “Hold on to me. I’ll get you through this.” Her fervent, desperate promise was as much for herself as it was for him.
Merciful Creator. I can’t afford to lose him. Don’t take him from me.
Dying would have been easier, a slow shutting down of his senses, but instead, he was alive, terrifyingly alive. His awareness screamed into overdrive, bombarded with stimulation from all sides. Sounds expanded to boom through his skull, vibrating it as if to shatter it into fragments. The pale blue, green, and purple bioluminescent glow exploded into blinding florescent colors. The musky scents of the earth, the metallic smell of blood, the citrus fragrance of lantana blended into a stench so tangible, he suffocated in it.
He was drowning in himself.
A scream welled up and ripped him apart.
The cry of a mad animal echoed through the cavern. His voice, he realized. Falling apart. Breaking into pieces. Going mad.
His cry cut off. Soft lips pressed against his. Her whisper cut through the deafening sounds in his head. “Hush, my love.”
Love? No, my love is dead. Ariel is dead. Stefan is dead. All dead.
Lies. All lies. Deception.
To love them is to be cursed.
He pushed her away, fighting her with all the strength in his changing body, but she did not let him go. Her words drove back the madness, held it at bay. “Hold on to me. I’ll get you through this.”
Siri. Her name roiled through his mind. If he could only scream her name, he knew he would wake from the nightmare consuming him.
The silent cry built a pressure so intense that he thought it would crush his rib cage. His tongue felt leaden. His mouth opened but no sound emerged.
Scream. He had to scream. He had to break free from a body transforming beyond his control.
The cry demanded more effort than anything he had ever done in his life. He forced it out, past a chest congested with fear, past a throat blocked by terror. It ripped out of him, a tearing scream for mercy. “Siri!”
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