A Shade of Vampire 65: A Plague of Deceit

by Bella Forrest

  “What is your name?” I replied.

  “Marku,” he sighed.

  “Marku, you’ve done a great job so far with these ships, I’ll give credit where it’s due,” I said. “But, I’m sorry, we have to destroy them. The Perfects can’t leave this planet, not while Ta’Zan leads them and teaches them to kill and enslave innocent people.”

  “I understand,” Marku mumbled. “I would do the same, if I were you.”

  “Why are you still here, then?” Nevis asked. “Why didn’t you leave, like Amane?”

  Marku gave him a sad smile. “There’s someone here that I cannot leave.”

  Raphael stilled, his eyes wide as a grin stretched his lips. He’d just finished mounting the explosive charges on the second ship.

  “You’re in love,” the Perfect gasped.

  Marku shrugged. “Am I not allowed?”

  “I never said that. I’m just… surprised! You people didn’t strike me as the romantic type!” Raphael replied.

  “Well, you never bothered to get to know us much.”

  “How would you know if I did or not? You can’t see me. You have no idea who I am,” Raphael said.

  “Raphael, I’d recognize your voice in a sea of people.” Marku chuckled. “You forget how good our memories can be, my friend.”

  Awkward silence ensured. Raphael smirked, then positioned the rest of the explosive charges. He made sure to affix a stick next to each fuel tank, then pulled the wires toward us, connecting them in one bundle to set on fire.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  Marku turned his head to the side, as if to give me a look over the shoulder, even though he couldn’t see me. “My lover?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  “She’s probably finishing up in the prison dome,” he said.

  That meant she knew our people. If Varga’s account served my memory right, she was one of the four females who were frequent servants in the prison dome.

  “Marku, you do know you’re coming with us, right?” I murmured. He nodded. “Then aren’t you worried something will happen to her if you’re gone?”

  “If I am to leave on my own, she will be in trouble,” Marku explained. “If I’m taken, presumably against my will, she will be left alone. All eyes will be on you.”

  “And if—”

  I was interrupted by the sound of the double doors opening. We all froze. Marku quickly looked back, just in time to see four Faulties come in—his engineer colleagues. Once the doors closed, Nevis moved in position in front of it, pointing his weapon at them. They stopped and stared at Marku. They couldn’t see Raphael, who flashed them a smile while he secured the end of the collective fuse.

  “Marku, what’s going on here?” one of the Faulties asked.

  “I need you all to stay still,” I said, raising my voice.

  It had a startling effect on them, since they couldn’t see me. They huddled together, extending their claws in a defensive gesture.

  “Please, remain calm,” Marku called out. “They will not harm us if we cooperate!”

  “Who will not harm us?” the first Faulty replied, clearly alarmed.

  “You cannot see them. They’re using magic to stay invisible,” Marku retorted. “For once in your lives, do exactly as I say, and nobody will get hurt!”

  The Faulties were reluctant, but obeyed, nonetheless.

  “Put your hands up. If you make a move, you will be hurt or, worse, killed,” Nevis said from behind.

  Raphael finished preparing the fuse and raised an eyebrow at me. “Once this baby lights up, it’s forty-five seconds.”

  “Good,” I said, then pressed the weapon’s nozzle harder against Marku’s nape. “Marku, I need you and your people to come with us. All five of you, get to the door. Once we give you the go-ahead, you will punch in your access code and leave this hall, then head for the southwestern service exit.”

  “The one just past the textile storage halls,” Raphael clarified.

  Marku nodded, then calmly walked over to his colleagues. I followed, keeping my weapon up and aimed at him. Nevis moved to stand next to me.

  “Hold this,” I whispered to Nevis and handed him my weapon for a couple of seconds while I fished out five more pouches of invisibility paste, each carrying its own red garnet lens, gently attached with a string to the side. I put the pouches in Marku’s hand. “Each of you, eat what’s in the pouches and put the red lenses over your eyes. You’ll be invisible, like us, and you’ll be able to see us.”

  Marku stared at his pouch for a moment, while I got my weapon back from Nevis.

  About twenty seconds flowed ridiculously slowly, as I took deep breaths and prepared myself for the extraction.

  “Everyone ready? I’m about to set this thing on fire,” Raphael muttered.

  “Marku, eat the damn paste!” I hissed.

  The double doors opened again, bringing the entire operation to a screeching halt. A female Faulty came in, surprised to find the five engineers right there in front of her. She frowned, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, while Raphael, Nevis, and I stood still.

  “Marku, why’d you smoke the walls again? I believe Father was pretty specific about not abusing the security protocol,” she murmured, then paused, her eyes widening. “What’s wrong with you all?”

  “Isda… I need you to listen to me very carefully,” Marku replied, his voice surprisingly smooth and low, all of a sudden.

  My synapses were quick to make the connections, as the double doors slid shut behind Isda. I knew this Faulty. Well, technically speaking, I knew of her. She was the one who’d helped my brother escape. I owed her a lot, though I’d never met her until now.

  We still had the ships to destroy, and the five engineers to sneak out of the colosseum before anyone caught on. Our invisibility spells were a major advantage, but we couldn’t breathe easily until we got out.

  Isda’s and Marku’s auras caught my eye, glistening gold whenever they looked at each other. The realization hit me so hard in the head, I got woozy for a second.

  “She’s your lover,” I whispered.

  Isda blinked several times, probably trying to understand what was going on, especially since she was now hearing voices, too—the poor thing. This was a stunning new development, and I knew for a fact that it would work in our favor. We now had more than one reason to get Marku and his engineers out of here.

  Not just to piss Ta’Zan off, but also to help him and Isda. The universe seemed to be aligning itself in a formula designed to help us. But we had to reason with Isda first, and make her understand why she was better off separated from Marku.

  This wasn’t going to be easy.

  Elonora

  I wasn’t sure which of us was more shocked about the other—me, regarding Isda and her relationship with my people in the dome, or her, regarding my presence here, in the middle of enemy territory. On top of that, her relationship with Marku was an added bonus.

  “Marku… Tell me, please, what is happening here?” Isda asked, her gaze darting around as she tried to figure out whether the voice she’d heard was real, or merely a figment of her imagination.

  “My love, I need you to stay calm,” Marku pleaded with her again. “You cannot see them, but there are three outsiders in this room with us, right now. Well, two outsiders and Raphael,” he added, pursing his lips.

  “Morfuris,” I whispered, activating the invisibility spell’s “off” feature. It drew a gasp from Isda, who could finally see me. Raphael and Nevis uttered the same word, which Lumi had written into the spell for us to use—we had a limit of three utterings before the magic wore off completely, during which time we could activate and reactivate the invisibility as needed. “Isda, you may not know about me, but I know about you from—”

  “You’re Elonora,” she breathed, the shadow of a smile fluttering across her face.

  “Ah, so you do know me.”

  “You’re Varga’s sister. Claudia and Yuri’s granddaughter,” sh
e replied. “Your family thinks very highly of you. They often speak of you.”

  “They’re nice like that,” I muttered.

  “Tick tock,” Raphael cut in, reminding me that our time here was drastically limited.

  “What’s all this?” Isda asked, frowning as she noticed the explosive charges mounted on the ships behind us, along with the fuses.

  “We’re destroying the ships. We deleted all the engineering work regarding space flight, too,” I said. “It’ll buy us some time while Ta’Zan has to start over.”

  Isda nodded slowly. “You were brave to come here,” she murmured.

  “I need you to keep quiet about this,” I replied. “We’re going to sneak out of here now, and take Marku and his colleagues with us.”

  “I’m still not comfortable with this plan,” one of the Faulties grumbled.

  “Tough luck! We’re doing it!” Marku said, his tone firm.

  Isda was surprised by his demeanor. “Marku… You’re leaving?”

  “I have to, my love. You saw what happened to the others when they rioted.” Marku sighed, then took her hand in his. “It’s safer if I go, especially with the ships destroyed. Father might suspect we’re involved.”

  “Marku…” Isda moaned, tearing up.

  “What happened to the others?” Nevis asked. “And by others, are you referring to those who helped Derek and his group with their attempt to escape?”

  “Yes,” Isda replied. “They were destroyed. Turned to dust.”

  My heart ached. But the grief was quickly replied by a grim realization. “Ta’Zan must’ve used a version of the pulverizer, then.”

  “You understand, don’t you, my love?” Marku said to Isda. “If we’re still here after Father sees what was done to his flight plans, we will suffer the same fate. Our people are already suspected of sedition.”

  “No, it’s… it’s true. You’re doing the right thing.” Isda sighed. “I just… I’ll have a hard time without you. We’ve only just found each other, though we’ve been by Father’s side for so long, together.”

  “It’s for the best,” I said. “I promise we’ll keep Marku and his friends safe. And I’ll do my best to make sure you’ll be together again, once this is all over.”

  “And I will do what I can to help your people here,” Isda replied, giving me a soft smile. “Father won’t hurt them if they stay put. I have a feeling he’s too busy trying to take flight and to occupy other worlds, on top of trying to catch you, to devise repercussions for your people’s attempts to escape. After he killed the rebel Faulties, he certainly got his message across to the others. Unfortunately, it divided us further. Some are loyal and terrified of him. Others are angry. They were close to the rebels, and they’re itching for revenge.”

  “Good. Use that to keep the fire burning,” Raphael said. “The seed of discord will break Ta’Zan down, I promise you. Without a loyal people, he’s nothing more than a mad scientist with a god complex. We may owe him our existence, but that doesn’t mean we should lower ourselves to his level. Not anymore.”

  “Fortunately, I agree with you. I didn’t before, and I felt like I had nothing to pull me away from Father,” Isda replied. “But when Marku came into my heart, everything changed. It only took a few days for my mind to switch. It’s how I ended up helping your people, Elonora,” she said to me.

  I fumbled through my bag and took out an additional earpiece. I always carried extras, just in case I lost the one I was already wearing in my ear. I gave it to her, showing her the small round button on the side.

  “This is a communications piece,” I said. “Give it to my grandparents; one of them can wear it. My people are taking down the comms blockers as we speak. Soon enough, we’ll be able to speak to each other through these devices without anyone else knowing. It will take Ta’Zan days to restore the blockers, too. It’ll be more than enough for us to do what we have to do, undisturbed.”

  The grumpy Faulty engineer shook his head. “Father will want you dead after all this.”

  “Well, your father can go to hell,” I said. “This is minimal damage, compared to what we’re planning for him. He killed a couple hundred of our people, and he’s holding our families hostage. He’s looking to go out and destroy our worlds, too. Trust me, ruining his toys is nothing. And if it gets him angry, good. It’s the least he deserves!”

  “Time to go, guys,” Raphael warned us.

  “Yes. Okay, Isda, we’re all about to vanish now,” I said. “You need to get out of here.”

  She nodded briefly, then hugged and kissed Marku, as if for the last time. She then slipped the earpiece into her tunic pocket. Nevis, Raphael, and I murmured our Morfuris switch, while the five Faulty engineers ate their spell pouches and put the red lenses on.

  Within seconds, we all disappeared from sight, prompting Isda to exhale sharply, then press her access code into the control panel of the hall, one last time. The double doors slid open, and she rushed out, getting as far away from this area as possible.

  I heard the snap of Raphael’s fingers, then saw the fuse end catch fire. That was our signal to leave. Raphael took the lead, with Nevis and me at the back, and the Faulties between us.

  “Make sure to keep your distance from everyone. Keep your mouths shut and your feet light,” Raphael whispered.

  The Faulties obeyed without so much as a peep, as we snuck through the main hallway, then took a series of corridors leading back to the service exit we’d come through. Behind us, merely seconds later, a loud boom made the entire colosseum tremble. It was followed by others, just as thunderous and rippling, as the ground shook beneath.

  The ships had been destroyed, along with the physical computers. The data had been deleted, and the only one left with any knowledge of the blueprints was Amal, who, for the time being, was untouchable. I could live with that.

  We dashed out of the colosseum, while hundreds of Perfects rushed straight to the source of the booms—the emergency response was swift, but useless against the damage we’d just delivered. I couldn’t help but smile, thinking of the many curse words that Ta’Zan would soon hurl at the sight of what we’d done.

  Totally worth it.

  This was our first official win, in an ample campaign against a creature determined to destroy us. After what he’d done to our fleet, this was mere child’s play, but it was enough to set him back at least a week—the very time we’d spent hiding or running or fighting for our lives, while our families and friends languished in that damned diamond dome.

  This… This was only the beginning.

  Kailani

  The darkness felt comfortable.

  As if all my worries were gone. It was safe and quiet.

  But there was a longing in my heart that I couldn’t quite shake. And there was an emptiness in the pit of my stomach that didn’t feel right. A sense of urgency took over, as I willed myself to wake up. For a moment, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to ever come back.

  My eyes peeled open, and light flooded my consciousness. Birds sang somewhere in the distance—a variety of trills I hadn’t really paid attention to before. They were foreign, but pleasant to the ear, as if nature itself had assembled a band of feathered musicians to soothe my very soul.

  Hunter appeared before me, concern drawing deep shadows between his eyebrows. He must’ve noticed me coming to, because his frown melted into a warm, loving smile.

  “Hey, babe,” he murmured.

  I felt his hand caressing my cheek, and warmth filled me up to the brim. The sound of leaves rustling and a gentle breeze told me that I was somewhere outside. The birds I’d heard earlier told me of a jungle… it all sounded familiar.

  The darker emotions bubbling beneath the surface weren’t gone, though. They persisted, like mild aches in my chest, as I took a deep breath. Hunter helped me up into a sitting position. I looked around to find carbonized husks of what must’ve been Perfects. The comms blocker had also been burned to a crisp.

  O
nly when the smell of molten metal and plastic reached my nostrils did I remember what had happened—though I only had fragments. We’d come here from the edge of the jungle to help Cassiel, who was slightly overwhelmed by the number of Perfects he’d had to deal with in order to disable the last comms blocker and restore communications. Hunter got hurt in the process, and I… I blacked out.

  Dread clutched my throat and tightened its hold on me. I’d been through this before. I’d lost control in a similar fashion, not too long ago.

  “What… What happened?” I asked, glancing around again.

  There was no sign of the Draenir. Kallisto and Varga were still standing, looking at me with furrowed brows. Oh, something had definitely happened here, and my gut instinct told me that it was nothing good.

  “You’re okay,” Hunter said to me.

  “Where… Where’s Cassiel?” I murmured, not seeing the Perfect anywhere. I froze, then pointed at the carbonized figures. “Did I… Is he one of…”

  “What the—” Varga muttered, then turned around several times, his eyes glimmering gold. He cursed under his breath. “Dammit! When the hell did he bail?!”

  Hunter and Kallisto were equally alarmed.

  “He was right here, I swear,” Kallisto said. “He… He must’ve snuck out!”

  “But why?” I replied. “What the hell happened here?!”

  Varga exhaled deeply, his shoulders dropping. “Well, you kind of… happened here.”

  “Oh, no,” I mumbled, my worst fears confirmed. “Wait, hold on… I did this?!” I asked, pointing at the charred remains that, for some stroke of physics-defying luck, were still standing.

  “Hunter was injured, and you sort of flipped out again,” Kallisto said.

  It didn’t take a sentry to tell me that she felt sorry for me. Varga, on the other hand, had a perpetually raised eyebrow.

  “This isn’t the first time you’ve lost it.” Varga sighed. “I’m told your connection to the Word is a bit… sketchy?”

  I was already on the verge of crying, barely processing anything that Varga was saying.