“Gregori’s death had nothing to do with them or their kind!” Zoey snapped. “Like it or not—despite all his wonderful qualities—he was an old and bigoted vampire with a vendetta against anybody that wasn’t a vampire! We’re at the cusp of a new chapter for this clan, and I suggest you shed all the unnecessary prejudices he taught you before they poison us any further!” She looked back at the therion and gave him a slight nod and watched as he started to change back. “Besides, Zane, we have the same enemy, and they can help us fight!” she shook her head angrily, “Assuming you didn’t kill all of them!”
Even the therion, still in the middle of his transformation, looked surprised at her outburst.
Zane scoffed, “Our enemy? Helping us?”
She had a determined look in her face, “It was Keith! He’s been manipulating them from the start! He was controlling Isaac—using him to give his pack commands against his will—until”—she blushed and looked at him—“he saw I was in danger.” She sighed, “Look, I can’t blame you for this—none of us can!—just like you can’t blame them! We’ve both lost allies because of Keith! They deserve a chance to avenge their own… and besides, we could use the help. Even you can’t deny that!”
“What I can’t deny,” Zane said with a disgusted sneer, “is that your boyfriend had better find some place to hide that thing!”
Zoey frowned and followed his gaze to Isaac’s rapidly changing body and turned bright red as she realized that he had no clothes.
“Seriously! I’m willing to let bygones be bygones if you’ll tell Babe Ruth here to put away the slugger before he puts somebody’s eye out!”
The therion finished his transformation, his skin tightening around his lean frame as several of his ribs noticeably shifted into place. Ignoring Zane’s remark and making no move to cover himself, he took in the carnage around him.
“Keith will suffer for every one of them!” he swore under his breath
“I’m suffering here and now, wild stallion! You want to put that thing in a stable so we can talk like civilized—”
Isaac glared, “Nobody’s asking you to look!”
“Oh, right!” Zane rolled his eyes, “Let’s try not to notice it! I’m surprised it hasn’t tried to bite me!”
Zoey blushed and stepped in front of him, “I’ll… uh, find him something to wear.”
“Please do,” Zane sighed, “And I’ll try real hard not to ask how you’re still walking.”
The auric’s already bright-red face blossomed with another flush of color and she started to herd the still-glaring therion down the hall.
“Send out a call to any survivors to meet us on the roof, if we’re going to work together than we might as well do it right.” He sighed and looked off towards the hole at the end of the hall and started towards it, hoping Serena hadn’t taken a turn for the worse, “And make it fast! This place looks ready to come down and I don’t want to be in it when it does!”
Stepping through the opening, he approached Serena’s unconscious body and lifted her easily and started towards the lobby to wait for Zoey. While he hated the idea of abandoning the clan’s headquarters—even more than how much he hated the idea of trusting a pack of therions to keep him alive—he couldn’t deny that it was the only option.
“C’mon, Serena,” he sighed, looking down at her face, “Let’s get out of here!”
9
Depths
The ragtag group of survivors—composed of the vampires of the clan lucky enough to survive the fire and the therions of Isaac’s pack fortunate enough to have survived Zane—were able to flee the building. After making sure to initiate the purge on any and all computers and equipment, Zoey utilized a psychic cloak that she and the other aurics had put around them to avoid being seen by the slew of humans that had begun arguing amongst themselves over how a fire of such magnitude could magically squelch itself. Though they were able to avoid being detected, the combined force of the auras was not able to shade them from the sun, and the sang vampires, who were far more sensitive to the sun’s radiation than any of the others, soon became restless and agitated.
Including Zane.
“Shit! Where the hell will we go now?” Serena frowned, her own skin beginning to itch under the UV assault.
“The only fucking place we have left!” Zane growled, glaring at Serena and growling when she glared right back at him. Finally, seeing that neither of them was about to back down from the other, he looked away, “Gregori had a backup plan for everything! Global battle, invasion, natural disaster… fuck, even Z-Day was considered!”
Zoey frowned, “Z-day?”
“Not now, Zoey!” Zane snapped at the skeptic tone, “The point is that he was prepared! And, given the shit we’ve found ourselves in, I’d say that what we need most is a place to hide and prepare!”
“Prepare for what?” A young blond sang trailing behind spat. Though he wasn’t of age to be a warrior, his brashness made it clear that he was eager, and, while Zane admired his tenacity, he was hardly in the mood for his attitude. “Our leader’s dead, our home has been destroyed, our clan has been reduced to a joke, and we’re planning on a full-scale attack on a Council member with the help of a bunch of ass-sniffing dogs! What is there to plan, huh? Who shoots who first? ‘Cuz if you’re the best we got, then I’d rather take the bullet right here, right now!”
Zane’s eyes shifted back towards him and his fangs extended as his rage grew, “Don’t tempt us, boy! I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with your shit and I’ve got more than enough ways to kill you and twice as many reasons to do so, but I’m hardly the one you should be watching out for.”
“Oh yea, tough guy? And who should I be watching out for?”
Zane smirked wickedly, “The ass-sniffing dogs. See, where I’m trained in a number of ways to kill you before you’d even know it; they’ve lived in the wild their whole lives; surviving by using tooth and claw to take apart anything that threatened that survival. So, you arrogant little shit, while you might not care if I end you with your dignity intact, I suggest you watch your fucking mouth around the ones that would tear you open and rape your insides with the sort of equipment whales would envy.”
The young sang stayed quiet.
Serena sighed and shook her head, “Dick!”
Zane grinned and nodded, “Exactly!” as they approached the outskirts of town and into the shady canopy of trees the sangs of the group let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, “Anyway! Though Gregori hated the wilderness”—he glanced back at the therions—“even though there’s nothing wrong with it; he also knew that many others shared his distaste. So, in the event of a takeover and the need to retreat to someplace less obvious and more secluded, he had this built.”
Stopping beside a large boulder, he smiled and laid his hand against its jagged surface.
Serena raised an eyebrow. “My father built a rock?”
Zoey was unable to stifle her laughter as Zane’s face sagged. When her bout of hysteria had died down to something more manageable, she gave Zane an apologetic—albeit insincere—look.
“Not just any rock, Serena!” she smiled as her aura emerged and wrapped around the boulder, lifting it and moving it several feet to one side, “A rock that hid the entrance to a reserve base!”
Serena frowned, noticing a perfectly-squared section of the ground that sunk in slightly. As she watched, Zane kicked some of the excess soil from its surface and, in doing so, uncovering a metal grate. Crouching down, Zane pried open a panel and revealed a keypad like the one Serena had seen him use in the clan’s elevator to access their base. Following the pattern he had before, the grate soon groaned as something on the other side shifted and allowed him to pull it open.
“My father built a second base in a hole?” Serena frowned, peeking over his shoulder at the tunnel that stretched beyond her range of vision into the depths. She frowned, noticing a series of polished metal rungs that served as a ladder for anybody crazy e
nough to want to go in, “Couldn’t he have at least put an elevator or something in this one?”
Zane shook his head, “It was hard enough to build this without being noticed. Too much construction would’ve gotten unwanted attention, so we had to skimp on a few of the more luxurious accommodations.” He sneered up at her, “So I’m afraid your royal Jacuzzi will have to wait.”
“Or I can just cut you open and have me a Bathory moment!” Serena stuck her tongue out!
Zoey laughed again.
Zane divided his glare between the two of them, “Are you done yet?”
Serena chuckled, “Far from it, grouchy-pants, but I think I’ll save the rest for when I’ve seen just what it is my father built that you’re so defensive about.” Though she tried her best not to show it, a lump formed in her gut as she stepped pass Zane and started to descend the ladder into the artificially lit tunnel. Zane growled, the sound echoing past Serena and making her all the more proud of being the cause of it. “Aren’t you coming? After your lovely description I’d imagine you’d be more excited to hunker down in your precious hole in the ground!” She heard Zane grumble something inaudible and it was a moment before she realized he was talking to Zoey. “What was that?”
“Nothing! Now hurry up!” Zane started after her as the others followed.
“He said he wishes he could lay you in a hole in the ground!” Zoey laughed, stepping in last and pulling the grate shut behind her, lingered a moment as her aura reached out. Serena frowned, confused, and cringed as the boulder that had been hiding the entrance was dragged back into place.
“I didn’t say lay her! I said put her in a hole! As in six-feet unde—”
Zoey giggled, “Not how I heard it.”
Isaac growled, “Can we move a little faster? Some of us aren’t used to small places!”
Zane nodded, looking glad to have something else to focus on, and motioned for Serena to continue.
“Zoey, get Isaac and his pack mates some fresh clothes while I get the other generators running. We don’t have too many rooms, so we’ll have to pair up and decide where everyone’s sleeping.” Zane instructed.
Nodding, Zoey motioned for Isaac and the others to follow as she started down one of four corridors that shot off from the circular lobby that the ladder had led them into. A series of fluorescent lighting fixtures adorned the ceiling and the tunnels, and Serena took these in with a frown.
“Who turned on the lights?”
Zane led her down one of the other tunnels, “I did. When I opened the door one of our smaller generators turned on to provide enough light until we could manually turn on the others.”
“Others?”
Zane nodded, “Mmhm. This whole place runs on energy provided by a bunch of generators. Most of them are like giant, magic batteries—ones that were charged with power from some of Vail’s aurics and store that power until we need it. But, as I’d said, your dad was always prepared with a plan-B. So he also put in a set of generators that store solar energy.”
Serena cocked an eyebrow, “Are you serious? Solar energy?”
“Yea yea, I thought it was ironic, too.” He chuckled, “Creatures of darkness going green and using the sun for power and whatnot. But, in the long run, it was the best way to ensure that we’d have a reserve if the auric batteries died out.”
“The auric batteries can die?”
Zane nodded as he stepped up to a series of consoles and began turning on the monitors, “Sure they can. Everything dies eventually. Leave a battery out too long and the energy begins to fade. It might take hundreds and hundreds of years for it to happen, but we were never sure when or even if we’d have to use this place.”
Serena shook her head, “So what was my father’s plan if the sun died?”
“If the sun died”—he gave her a condescending look—“then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Oh…” Serena blushed, “Right.”
As the control center came to life, Zane began toggling switches and typing commands. Taking this in for as long as she could manage, Serena soon became bored and turned away from him to explore the room.
“Wouldn’t have killed the old man to put a little color in this place.” She sneered, taking in the solid-white walls and ceiling—still illuminated by the just-as-white fluorescent lights—and a floor that seemed to be made of a single piece of cold, lifeless rock that reflected the light above it along its dull-gray surface.
“I think you’re missing the point of why this is here.” Zane sighed as a final keystroke was applied and the whirring of activity began.
Startled by the noise, Serena whimpered as the lights dimmed to nearly nothing before flashing brighter than before and leveling out once again. “Wh-what the—”
Zane took her quaking shoulders into his palms to steady her nerves, “It’s fine, princess! That was just the power shifting to the other generators. Everything should be up and running now.”
She blushed, biting her lip at both her reaction and Zane’s touch and she nodded, shrugging free of his hands. “Does this place have running water? I’d like to take a shower.”
Zane frowned and nodded, “Yea. We used preexisting sewer systems to avoid the hassle of putting in new plumbing and tapped a public water main that runs beneath the park. The boiler still needs to heat up, so it might be a little bit before we have hot water.”
“At this point I don’t care,” Serena laughed, “Just as long as I know that I’ll be able to wash this ash out of my hair!”
Though she shouldn’t have been surprised by outcome of the group’s pairing, she was nevertheless taken aback when she discovered she’d be sharing a room with Zane. Even more alarming was the realization that she wasn’t opposed to the situation.
As it turned out, a “limited” number of rooms turned out to be a dozen—the hall that Zoey had led the group down earlier forking off into two others which had six rooms sectioned each—and this meant that, between the group of 26 vampires and therions, every room was occupied by two—and in two of the more “fortunate” rooms, three—irritated Mythos.
Serena scoffed and shook her head as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair for the fourth time. Given all the facts, she found herself playfully calculating how long it would be before a fight broke out between their haphazard group.
Except for Isaac and Zoey, of course, who had all but leapt at the chance to share a room. While Serena was sure they were at each other’s throats, she was also sure that neither of them minded.
Chuckling at the sheer calamity of the whole mess, she grabbed the shampoo bottle to begin her fifth lathering. A dime-sized bead of the viscous, amber fluid landed in her palm before it choked out its last drop and made an obscene noise. “Fuck!” she sighed. No matter how many times she scrubbed and rinsed she felt hidden under a film of soot and grime. Giving her body one final rinse before deciding that nothing short of a fire hose would do the job; she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
At least she had a room attached to a private bathroom.
She rolled her eyes; the perks of bunking with her father’s favorite warrior.
The towels, like the bathroom—like the halls and like every square-goddam-foot of their underground safe-haven—were white. Cursing at the bleached prison, she violently snatched one of them up and began to dry; doing everything in her power to sully the immaculate cloth’s surface and failing miserably.
Perhaps Keith wouldn’t have to kill her, after all, since she would probably have a seizure when she was once again introduced to any color that was rapidly becoming a distant memory in her mind.
She grinned at the idea of ripping Zane’s throat open and putting a little red on the walls.
And then regretted it just as fast as she’d humored it.
What the hell was happening to her?
Slipping into a pair of sweat pants and a tank-top that Zane had given her, she tied back her hair and stepped out into the room.
Crossing the threshold, she shivered at the change in temperature and took a moment to adjust as she looked over to find Zane hunched over a desk in the corner of the room. Though everything—every-goddam-thing—was evenly lit by the all-seeing fluorescents, something in his features seemed shadowed and, as a result, aggressive. His gaze, locked between his palms, which lay flat on the table’s surface and shivered intermittently, seemed to be wilder and less focused than usual.
“Zane?” her voice came out as a whisper, though she hadn’t intended it to. He whipped his head towards her; his mismatched eyes flashing with the intensity and rage that she’d come to expect from his beast-state. She frowned and forced herself to take a step towards him. Even with all his strength and all the danger he wielded, she couldn’t bring herself to blame him for any of it. She knew he was tortured; tormented by whatever it was those tattoos were put on him for. “It’s okay. It’s going to be alright.” She walked over towards him; her bare arms tingling as her flesh tightened and left goose-bumps. Slowly, trying not to startle him, she placed her left hand on his shoulder and began to absorb some of his excess energy in an attempt to calm him.
Feeling the sudden drain, Zane’s eyes became tired and half-lidded as his body and aura started to lose their tension. She could tell he was trying to relax—could see enough into his mind to watch him regain enough focus to begin counteracting the effects of his rage—and he began clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly. When he reopened his eyes, they were a dimmer gold, looking suddenly tired and worn-out, and looked up at her face.
“S-sorry…” his speech was slurred from exhaustion.
Serena shook her head and slowly pulled her hand away, “Don’t be. I know it’s not your—”
“It’s… it’s anger. My anger. Mine! Not the damn curse’s; MINE!” His body tensed and went rigid as his aura flared and he snarled from the second wave of anger. Serena started to reach for him but he shook his head, forcing his eyes shut and inhaling sharply and continuing to clench and unclench his fists until he’d relaxed again; this time seeming even more drained from the process. “Th-they saw it; saw the real me and used it as a trigger. They booby-trapped my own anger to cause this...” he spoke, his voice coming out more of a growl and he forced an exhale and shook his head, “I couldn’t control it to begin with. But now… now the damn thing knows. It sees a way out and it’s doing all it can to do just that.” He looked up at her, his eyes sad and pleading. “I… I can actually feel it in my head, lurking about and trying to find the right triggers to push me over the edge. And… and I’m starting to want it; I actually want to let it out… but I don’t know if those are my thoughts or its. And I can’t help but wonder, wh-who the fuck am I anymore?”
Scarlet Night: The Complete Trilogy Page 14
