by Mina Carter
Chapter 33
And the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass’d. - Lord Byron
Billy
“Don’t move, asshole.” Iridescent eyes level with mine flashed with the threat of retribution in the darkened bedroom as I dug the sharpened tip of my switchblade further into his flesh right underneath his chin so he had to tip his head back. I didn’t want him to forget who had the advantage. The guy was massively built. I wasn’t sure I could take him if it came to a hand to hand confrontation.
Fortunately for me, I had been on high alert since the sun had set hoping every single minute that Thyme would return. I had seen the curtain moving when my unexpected guest snuck in off the balcony. Otherwise, I never would have noticed him. He had kept to the shadows and he hadn’t made a single noise crossing the room. I don’t even think the floorboards had squeaked beneath his footsteps.
But I could be quiet, too. Years of hunting with my father served me well, well enough that I had the element of surprise working in my favor against my intruder, and well enough that I knew exactly where to cut to take him out quick if I had to. I learned how to use a knife before I learned to ride a bike without training wheels and trolling through seedy bars on my way up the rock slash country ladder had advanced my education. Folks didn’t call me Blade just on account of it being my last name.
Dude had made a big mistake picking the wrong apartment to break into tonight. After pacing the floor for hours, I was on the edge and had just about decided to go find the underground entrance to retrieve Thyme for myself when he had shown up.
“Take heed.” Though his words were strange, his voice was deep and deadly. I tightened my grip. “Thyme will hardly be pleased if you dispatch her most trusted ally.”
“Where is she?” I didn’t let up, but at the mention of her name every already overstretched nerve ending stretched even tauter. “Is she ok?”
“She’s hale, no thanks to you, and none too happy with me at the moment, I’m sure.”
“I don’t like that answer.” I kept my five inch self-locking blade right where it was. “I want you to take me to her right now if you don’t want to end up with your head hanging from a narrow strip of flesh.”
“A bold threat.” He chuckled, a low rumble that did not put me at ease. “I was of a mind to dislike you since you can’t control your more base impulses, but I kind of like your grit.” I heard a sound like a flock of birds taking flight. That and his eyes narrowing were the only warning I got before the shadow of his wings fell over me. Outstretched they spanned the room end to end, twelve or thirteen feet at least. “I could’ve knocked that toothpick from your hand anytime I chose. You’re not as focused as you might believe. She isn’t either. I was just testing you. Predator to prey. I wanted to see where your priorities lie. I think I’ve got a good idea now. Lower the blade.” His words were clipped and rang with authority. “And switch on the lamp. I want to talk to you, man to man, about Thyme.”
“Alright,” I complied after a beat, knowing that she trusted him swaying me. I clicked the blade closed and went to flick on the light. It was difficult but I managed to hide my response when I turned back around. The size of Thyme’s Dream Falcon was one thing, but it was his confident demeanor and the martial look in his eyes that gave me the most pause. I’d done enough tours for the USO to know a hardened soldier when I saw one.
“Where the hell is she, Morpheus?” I ignored his swagger. I wanted her. Everything else was secondary.
“Ah.” His lips slowly curved into a mocking grin. “I thought that she told you about me. I see that she forgot to mention how handsome I am.”
No, she hadn’t, but I kept that bit to myself. “She trusts you. But me? Not so much. Take me to her right now or…” I let that hang in the air.
“Or what?” He lifted a brow.
“Or I’ll find someone who will.” I needed to fix things with her after last night. “I want to see for myself that she’s ok. I don’t care who gets hurt or how many bodies pile up on my way to that goal. You get me?”
“Indeed, Blade.” His face split into a cheek to cheek smile. “You are truly difficult to despise considering that we seem to be of one mind when it comes to Thyme’s welfare.”
I didn’t know what to make of her friend exactly. I had been predisposed not to like him, too. It seemed I was a bit of a possessive caveman when it came to her. I didn’t like the fact that she was so close to another guy and that she lived with him. But Morpheus was a total badass. Hard not to be impressed with him and his call it like he saw it attitude. “You gonna stand there and pontificate or are you going to take me to her?”
“I’ll take you.” He gave me a tip to toe assessing scan. “It goes against my better judgment but it will no doubt please her.”
“Alright.” I sat on the edge of the mattress, grabbed my boots from under the bed and slid my socked feet into them. “Let’s go,” I said impatiently as I stood, spotting my harmonica on the nightstand and snagging it at the last minute feeling as though I might need it for some reason.
He pressed his lips together. “Apollyon has some of his aviators watching as we speak. I noticed at least one crow on the sill that might be one of Hades spies, as well. Thyme’s former abode has suddenly become subject to intense scrutiny which is worrisome. But they have no chance of keeping up with me. You on the other hand are another matter. I’m going to have to carry you. At least until we get to the entrance.”
Really…? “I don’t like the sound of that. How’s that going to work? You seem like an ok dude and all, but I don’t relish the idea of being carried by another guy. I’ll tell you that upfront.”
“I am hesitant as well, but I see no alternative. Do you? I can fly as fast as a jet. Apollyon’s gargoyles can also fly.” He paused to make his point. “Can you?”
“I can run pretty damn fast but I see your point.” I exhaled heavily. “Alright. How’s this gonna work?”
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he took me up in his arms like a lover, the way I’d carried Thyme to the bedroom. Awkward as shit. I should’ve gone with the running.
He strode through the apartment, clomped to the balcony in his heavy boots and launched us into the air as soon as he cleared the railing.
The air whooshed past my ears, the wind stinging my skin. The speed at which he flew made the dormered and vaulted rooftops of the French Quarter around me a total blur. I heard the sound of a couple of surprised voices, but they quickly faded into the background.
It seemed like only moments later that he was descending, diving down to the ground like a bird of prey ready to snatch up its dinner with its talons. Ha! I nearly tossed my own meal for certain.
He let go of me as soon as his feet hit the pavestone walkway inside the iron gates of St. Louis Cemetery Number One. I wobbled a bit in front of a pyramid shaped vault and we both looked away from each other for a moment. That had been extremely weird.
“Promise…”
“Yes!” I cut him off. “No way I’m telling anybody about that. Ever. As far as I’m concerned it never happened.”
His white teeth were a slash of white in the darkness. “This way.” He spun on his heel and immediately began threading through the rows of above ground tombs. Like most people, I’d read about how the water levels made below ground burials impossible in the city. Beyond the perimeter wall of stacked vaults, there was a variety of tomb styles: some simple rectangles with the length greater than the height, triangular and curved pediment topped ones, some resembling temples, one with a statue of a veiled woman with her head bowed on its roof. The style of the scaled down white washed mortar and brick buildings resembled those of the French Quarter. Here, though, the wrought iron fences and the solid cement doors only welcomed the nonliving.
A confluence of ghostly grey shapes suddenly arose from a simple tomb with a crumbled brick top. They didn’t seem surprised to see us and unlike Thyme, they
floated rather than walked past us.
When we got closer to the tomb, I noticed all the red x’s on its white walls and the empty lipstick casings scattered all over its roof. Morpheus stopped on the path in front of it and looked back at me, waving a hand for me to come forward.
“This is the main entrance to the underground. It opens at sunset and closes at sunrise. It should open to you. After all, you are one of us. Just remain at my side once we enter.”
He dipped his head and ducked immediately disappearing beneath the low overhang. Not wanting to lose him I quickly mimicked his movements, fingering the harmonica in my pocket as if it were a lucky talisman. Surprisingly, the seemingly solid concrete door shimmered in front of me going from white plaster to blacker than black. A cold blast of air hit me, blowing my hair back from my face and chilling my skin. I wasn’t repelled by the temperature or the damp wet earth smell inside. But my heart began to race with restless anticipation, something deep within me responding positively to what lay within.
In an instant, the outside world was completely gone, and the underground one I found myself in, right alongside Morpheus was like nothing I had ever seen or could have imagined.
“What is this place?” I asked him my tone reverential as I took in the view from the raised platform we had stepped onto. It overlooked a space that had to be at least five football fields long and half as wide that reminded me of a majestic cathedral. The ceiling was domed and illuminated like a planetarium, but the constellations it bore weren’t any that I was familiar with. Huge black trees five stories tall lined the hall on each side, their limbs stretching upward to those stars overhead, their trunks pulsing with dark emerald fire. Dark holes that looked like tunnel entrances lay between roots that dug deep into the gleaming ebony floors that reflected the ceiling’s light. But even brighter than the stars was the light streaming in from the arched windows that encompassed the top half of the wall opposite us.
“This is the Main Concourse to the Underworld,” Morpheus explained tapping my arm and gesturing for me to follow him as he jogged down the wide circular staircase to the lower level. “Try not to gape,” he warned conversationally while we strode down the center of the hall in the direction of that beautiful bright light.
It was a challenge to comply with that directive because it wasn’t just the surroundings that were mind boggling. An assortment of underground creatures hurried throughout the space among us. It was busy like New York City during rush hour. Most were moving in the direction we had come from, going above ground for the night I guessed. Some were scurrying down those tunnels between the trees. A few were heading the same direction we were, and those were the ones I got the best look at.
There were shades like Thyme whose voices I could understand here on the plane where they were at home and where strangely I didn’t feel too out of place, either. Everything Thyme had told me was true. Not that I doubted her, but believing in something and seeing it with your own two eyes are completely separate things.
Dogs as big as horses with red glowing eyes and black sharp looking teeth that everyone gave a wide birth. Guys with truncated black horns on their heads. A part woman part horse creature wearing long dripping weeds for her hair. Two women with skin that seemed to flush crimson as we drew alongside them.
Morpheus called out what they were under his breath. “Hell hounds, demons, a kelpie, demonesses in heat.”
When we got closer to the windows, the air got warmer and I saw the underground river. Its current looked strong. The water within it was black and it was so wide that I couldn’t see what lay on the other side.
“They’re waiting to say goodbye to their loved ones that are scheduled to cross the River,” Morpheus explained without me having to ask, pointing with his eyes toward the empty dock where groups of people and creatures milled about or sat on benches. He quickened his pace even more and so did I once we turned and headed into a round tiled tunnel with LED lighting overhead that was just wide enough to encompass both of us walking side by side.
“What river was that?” I inquired thinking I knew.
“The Styx down below. It wraps around the underground six times before it reappears topside as the Mississippi.”
“And the light from those arched windows, is it that bright on the other side?”
He nodded.
“What’s it like over there?” I asked. “Do you…” I trailed off as we exited the tunnel and a trio of guys wearing long black dusters, descended upon us. Two of them deferentially dipped their chins at Morpheus the way I’d noticed nearly every creature doing as we passed. The one between the others broke off from his friends and moved closer stepping directly in front of me.
I stopped. There was no one else around. It was dark behind them. The only light where we were now standing came from the tunnel exit behind us. This felt bad, like an ambush, but I didn’t know the rules down here. I waited on Morpheus to make the call.
“Who’s the stiff? A new recruit?” Middle guy with his shoulder length brown hair and red tinged eyes shoved a finger in my chest. My hands formed into fists. I didn’t know how to answer that question but I was itching to. I glanced at the Dream Falcon.
Morpheus hesitated a beat before nodding.
“Well, well.” The guy crossed his arms looking me over as if sizing me up. “What can you do, newbie?”
“He’s wise enough not to tell a newly turned vamp with incisors too big for his mouth my business,” Morpheus said. “Move aside, Crane. Your kind shouldn’t be out on the West Plain. You’re holding me up. I have important matters that demand my attention. I’m sure you remember what happens to those who cause me delays.”
Crane took a big step back bowing slightly and sweeping an exaggerated arm wide. “Arrogant buzzard,” he muttered under his breath.
Morpheus moved so fast I nearly got whiplash. Before I could even process, he had Crane on the dusty ground and a razor sharp talon to the guy’s throat. “Would you like to say that again?” Crane’s eyes were wide and panicked. “To my face? Man to blood sucking coward?”
“No. Morpheus. I’m sorry, sir.”
Morpheus flicked his wrist and I saw the drop of black blood that instantly appeared. Crane was howling as Morpheus hauled him to his feet by the front of his shirt and kicked him in the ass. “Consider that just a friendly warning. The next time I won’t be so understanding.”
He gestured to me as the vampires retreated. I jogged to his side. We veered away from the tunnel and were immediately plunged into complete darkness. “Hurry, Blade.” Morpheus called from a spot that seemed to be way too far ahead of me. “There are too many eyes out tonight. You’re a Dark. Your passage into the underground should activate your night vision soon. Use it. Let’s see how fast you can run. I don’t want pursuit.”
Night vision? I had no idea what he was talking about. But I didn’t have time to ask him more about it. I could hear the slap of his boots on the dry dirt getting further and further away from me. So I took off after him hoping there weren’t any pot holes and running at a dangerously fast speed given the uncertainty.
After a while, I realized I could actually see him up ahead. If my heart hadn’t been pumping so hard just trying to keep up with him, I would have smiled. I could see in the dark. Holy shit. It was like having on a set of infrared goggles. Everything was grainy and green tinged, but I could definitely see the flat land spread out wide in every direction all around me. After that I was easily able to keep Morpheus in sight dodging the occasional obstacle as he blasted across the desert plain in front of me.
I thought I did an ok job keeping up with him. No doubt he was quite a bit slower on the ground than he was in the air.
When we finally stopped, I wiped wind whipped tears from my cheeks and bent over my thighs trying to catch my breath and not hurl.
“Acceptable,” Morpheus observed not even sounding winded. “As a Dark Immortal, you will only strengthen in this clime.” His next words wer
e drowned out by the heavy sound of a door suddenly opening up in the rock face behind him.
“What the hell? That wasn’t there a second ago,” I commented as I followed him in and up a narrow stairwell that seemed to have been carved out of a mountain.
“It is warded,” he explained. “A sorceress owed me a favor and keeps the location secret because, you know…” He trailed off meaningfully casting a quick roguish grin over his shoulder.
We climbed for at least twenty minutes then turned a final corner into a dead end. “Where?” I began.
“There,” he cut me off pointing to a wooden trap door over our heads that was too high for me to reach. He leapt into the air and pushed it open before reaching back down and offering me his hand.
I stared at the black talons and hesitated recalling that howl by the vamp.
“Obsidian tipped.” He chuckled. “Potentially lethal even to immortals but I’ll retract them.” He grinned but it wasn’t a reassuring smile. “I promise not to nick you.” The talons no longer visible I took his hand and he swung me up effortlessly. “Unless you hurt Thyme.”
That was comforting…not.
I forgot all about everything for just a moment when I saw the incredible view from the rock outcropping. We were in a massive underground canyon. Thyme’s canyon. I could see and hear the rushing water from the waterfalls that ran like glowing ribbons down the rock faces on both sides. The bioluminescence was captivatingly close. I didn’t have to use the night vision here, but man, oh man, we were high up. It must have been hundreds of feet down to the canyon floor where I could just make out a winding river.
Morpheus noticed my expression and seemed pleased by my response. “Acrophobic?”
“I’m not afraid of heights.”
“Good, mind your step. It’s quite narrow ahead.” He pointed down at the long spine of rock no more than two feet wide that lay a big step down below my feet. “Thyme dislikes it, but it keeps us safe from ambush by more than one land bound enemy at a time.”
