Her Warrior for Eternity

by Susanna Shore

  Chapter Twenty

  Héctor stood by the cloakroom, pointing at the empty wall. “It’s through here.”

  “There’s nothing there.” Jeremy went to take a closer look, but the wall looked whole. There was no door.

  “Exactly. There’s absolutely nothing. Including no Might.”

  Jeremy ran his hand over the area. Héctor was right. There was emptiness the size and shape of a door there. “Shouldn’t the void feel more unpleasant, like usually with renegades?”

  “Who cares, let’s just see where it leads.” Zach began to search for a lock or a handle to open the door.

  “Here, let me unbind the magic first.” Mateo concentrated and then moved his hands as if literally unbinding something. Jeremy felt a slight change in Might as it moved in to fill the void, and suddenly the door was there.

  “Wow. I didn’t know sentients could do that.”

  Mateo sneered. “Sentients can’t.” A fair reminder how dangerous the trackers could be.

  Héctor went in first on the assumption that he would be able to sense any traps, and that he wouldn’t die even if he failed to notice them in time. Jeremy was a close second. He wouldn’t wait at the back when his mate was in danger.

  A steep spiral staircase led down right from the door, so narrow that Zach and Nick were having trouble fitting in properly. If they were attacked, they would have to defend themselves one at a time. Only a couple of dim bulbs illuminated the place, but the vampires didn’t need more than that, and Jeremy assumed that Mateo was able to see well enough too. At least the bloke didn’t hesitate getting down the steps.

  The sense of foulness was strong, but the void had filled already. Even so, the small space felt unpleasant. Jeremy lifted his shields and was able to breathe more easily.

  The steps led deeper underground than the cellars of the building. At the base, a straight corridor led away from the building. It was narrow and so low that Zach and Nick had to bend their heads, and Jeremy felt his head brush the ceiling from time to time too. Jeremy counted his steps and estimated that they were soon underneath the next building. A little farther away, the corridor ended at a door.

  This one wasn’t shielded with renegade magic, so Jeremy was able to unlock it with his own. He opened the door and again Héctor went in first, but there was nothing sinister on the other side, just another corridor, at a ninety degrees angle from the first.

  “We’re going across the street,” Jeremy noted aloud.

  “More important, we’re headed towards the City.”

  They followed a series of similar corridors for what felt like an eternity. They zigzagged, but in general they were heading towards the City and were soon under it. “I thought I knew London like my own pockets, but I had no idea there were tunnels like this here.”

  The Circle warriors searched the tube and the sewage and maintenance tunnels in and around the City regularly for renegade activity, but their enemy seldom used those. No wonder, if they had their own tunnel system in place. Every once in a while the tunnel would fork or lead above ground, but they followed the strongest trail. At one exit, Zach called in all patrols that were in the City and warriors filled the tunnels, searching the rest of them.

  Jeremy’s anxiety rose as the night went on. He tried to reach Cora’s mind from time to time, just in case she was somewhere near, but he got no response. He prayed to the All Mother – probably for the first time ever – that it meant she was simply out of reach, not that she was already dead.

  “She’s a vampire now, not a human with promise,” Jas noted at some point, understanding his thoughts perfectly.

  “Then why capture her at all?”

  “Well, it must be the same renegade she met at the club when she worked there. He must have detected her promise then. Maybe he didn’t have time to notice that the situation had changed.”

  “If he’d gone through the trouble of engaging Lisa just to get to her, he probably wouldn’t.”

  His mind filled with gloom, Jeremy almost bumped into Héctor when the conscience suddenly stopped. The corridor they had been following was a dead end. “We have to turn back and try another one,” Héctor said.

  Jeremy frowned. “Are you sure? Maybe it’s covered like the door at the club.”

  Héctor shook his head. “If it is, I can’t sense anything.”

  “The trace leads here and I don’t believe they would’ve made a tunnel this long just for fun. There has to be a door somewhere near here.”

  They all began to search for it. Jeremy opened his vampire sense, his Rider doing its best to detect even minute changes in Might. The overall foulness of renegades filled the corridor so fully that it was difficult to sense anything else, let alone any intricate black magic.

  “I think it’s here,” Zach said when Jeremy was beginning to lose hope. “But I’ll be damned if I can see it.”

  “You’d have to be damned to see it,” Nick said dryly.

  They made room for Mateo and Héctor to work on the magic. They studied the empty wall for a long time, as if they could actually see the magic warding it, trying to find a weakness in it. “This is hopeless. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  “Think Dad would be able to unravel it?”

  “Well, he’s the only one who might. But I suggest you start looking for alternative routes in too.”

  They retreated to the nearest exit and climbed up. Zach contacted his father while the rest of them took their bearings. They were farther in the east than Jeremy had thought, in Spitalfields where new estates stood side by side with old industrial buildings, some of which were converted to expensive living quarters too. The Spitalfields Market was a block to the south from there, and the Shoreditch High Street was only a narrow alley away to the east.

  Across the street from the building they had emerged out of stood a run-down housing block waiting to be demolished, its windows covered with plywood and its brick walls with graffiti. The tunnel had ended underneath it, so it must be their target. The building stood behind an empty lot, next to a busy road and a railroad. Renegades wouldn’t even need magic to hide their activities.

  “This is farther from the City proper than I thought we would be,” Zach said when he had finished the call.

  “But if I recall correctly, one of Jack the Ripper’s victims was found around here,” Jeremy noted.

  “What, you’re actually saying that Jack the Ripper was a renegade targeting women with promise?”

  Jeremy shrugged. “Just because we didn’t make the connection back then doesn’t mean it wasn’t so.”

  “You mean they’ve been trying and failing all this time?”

  “Or someone found out about the experiment and thought to try anew.”

  Pippa shook her head. “I wish I could bring this up at the station. I would love to see the faces of some old cops who have tried to solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper all their lives.”

  “I doubt they would accept the explanation even if you could bring it up,” Jas consoled her. “I’m not sure I buy it myself. I saw a couple of his victims. They looked much worse than the current ones.”

  While they waited for Alexander and the rest of the backup to arrive, they searched the perimeter. There wasn’t much renegade activity above ground that they could detect, but now that they knew about the tunnels, they weren’t surprised. They located the most obvious entrance to the derelict building, and Mateo and Héctor removed the magic warding it. Then the tracker and his conscience took off.

  “We’d better not be here when his lordship arrives,” Mateo said with a smirk. “I don’t think he’s lifted the death sentence on trackers yet. I’d rather not risk finding out the hard way.”

  Soon after, Foley arrived with Christian Eliot, the Circle’s chief lawyer. The two of them didn’t often participate in day to day patrolling, as running the Crimson Circle took too much of their time, so seeing them in leathers instantly electrified the warriors.

 
Zach led his father to the door they had located, and Jeremy followed with a couple of other warriors. Gabe and Marcus would lead the raid above ground, but Jeremy was absolutely certain that the tunnel would be the fastest way to his mate. He tried to reach her mind again, but got nothing in return.

  Frantic with worry, he couldn’t stay quiet. “Hurry up, will you.”

  Alexander turned to glance at him. Power washed over Jeremy, forcing him to his knees, and he pressed his head down. Then it was gone. “When I’m good and ready,” said Alexander.

  Jeremy didn’t dare push his leader again, and only stood tense as Alexander studied the wall and the dark magic covering it. Then Alexander concentrated, and the power rose again. But the magic warding the door was strong, almost stronger than Alexander. His face strained in effort and a bead of sweat formed on his forehead.

  Without thinking, Jeremy went to his leader, placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed Might energy into him. Others instantly followed suit. The contact allowed Jeremy to feel Alexander’s power, almost painful this close, but he wouldn’t let go. That door had to open.

  After an eternity, Alexander sighed and the power retreated. A door appeared in the wall that had previously been empty. No one said a word. No one wanted to acknowledge that renegades might have access to magic so strong it had almost defeated the strongest among them.

  Alexander rolled his shoulders, gathering himself. Then he took the handle, and pushed the door open. They were in.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Corynn recognised the man instantly. He was the renegade she had met at the Nightingale Club, the one who had frightened her and caused her to be fired. And now he had captured her too. Everything that was wrong with her life was his fault.

  But because of him she had met Jeremy. Her heart ached when she thought of him. Dying and being made vampire, he was worth it. She only wished she had a chance to tell it to him.

  We’re not dead yet.

  The renegade was an average-size man, slightly taller than her and in good shape, but she had been around the huge vampires for so long that he seemed almost small. He was still wearing the expensive suit, which made her absurdly hope that he wasn’t here to kill her. Who would butcher a woman whilst wearing a suit?

  Then she saw his eyes, utterly devoid of any warmth. He didn’t feel as evil as he had earlier, as if it was something he could switch off, but the eyes made her terrified of him.

  “I must say, I was a little disappointed to discover that the vampires found you first.” His tone was conversational, if laced with upper class pretention, and he said ‘vampires’ like it was something distasteful.

  It took her a moment to wrap her mind around his meaning. “You were looking for me?”

  “But of course.”

  “Why?” Was this about her pouring the ice bucket on him?

  “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find women with seed?”

  “Seed?”

  He cocked a contemptuous brow. “The gene that makes you a two-natured. Didn’t the warriors tell you that?”

  She wanted to lash out, tell him that they had told her everything, but her Rider – Adam – made her hold her tongue. “They just call it a gene.”

  Why do you say ‘they’?

  To let him believe I don’t think myself as one of them.

  “Of course they do. Pedants.”

  Corynn stifled a smile, the reaction unexpected but encouraging. She couldn’t be that frightened if she was able to smile.

  “It’s annoyingly time-consuming to search for women with seed, so imagine my delight when I found you at the club. Only to find out you were fired.”

  “That tends to happen when one pours ice over a customer.”

  “Yes. Most unfortunate. By the time I realised you weren’t returning to the club, you had disappeared from your home too.”

  Her stomach dropped. “You know where I live?” If she lived through this, she would never call Jeremy hysterical again for taking her away from there.

  He smiled. “I have my little fiancée to thank for that.”

  “Lisa?” She wondered if her friend was safe, but doubted it.

  “Yes. She proved to be most helpful, with proper encouragement.”

  “You mean the engagement.”

  “Naturally. You don’t think I’d normally engage a human, do you?”

  “So there are women … of your kind?” It occurred to her that renegade was only the warriors’ name for them.

  He sneered. “Not yet. But I believe we’re about to get the first one.”

  She stopped breathing. “I thought all your experiments failed.”

  “Yes, but that was because we had the wrong test subjects. With someone who has already been made a vampire, we’re bound to succeed.”

  “What is it you’re actually trying to achieve here?” Her voice remained steady, thanks to Adam, despite her frantically beating heart.

  “Isn’t it every man’s dream to create?”

  “I have no idea. Is it?”

  He ignored her sarcasm. “Sadly, Dark Blood favours the stronger sex. So far, the attempts to have females of our kind have failed.”

  Dark Blood?

  Shut up and concentrate.

  “And you need … Dark Blood women?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even though you think they’re weaker?”

  “There are uses for your sex.” His gaze swept down her body. She wanted to cover it, but she couldn’t move her hands.

  “What’s in it for me?”

  Her bold question startled him. “Why should there be anything for you in it?”

  “Well, since I would be abandoning my kind for yours, I think I should get something out of it.”

  “You say that as if I was giving you a choice.” His smile was amused, making the words that much scarier. “But don’t worry, you’ll have your reward when you feel the sun on your face for the first time.” His promise filled her with longing and she hated herself for it.

  Impatience leads to the dark side, my young Padawan learner.

  Thanks, I needed that. Though it’s fear that leads there.

  Same difference. You fear you’ll never see the sun again and think maybe the price isn’t too high to pay.

  She cleared her throat. “So, what other ways do you differ from vampires?”

  “What does it matter?”

  She tried to shrug, but she couldn’t even move that much. “Humour me.”

  He sneered. “You think you’ll be saved by your warrior friends. You’re trying to fish information to have something to offer them so they’ll take you back. That will never happen.”

  She didn’t know if he meant she wouldn’t be saved or that the warriors wouldn’t take her back. Both options made her heart ache, but she had learned to control her emotions even without Adam’s help. So she just regarded the man calmly and he shrugged.

  “Fine. The speed is there, and other enhanced senses. You need to drink blood occasionally too. The magic is better, stronger. And you get rid of that annoying second nature.”

  Tempting….

  Don’t you listen to him. You’ll get used to me.

  The man frowned when she didn’t immediately declare her preference to his kind. “Enough of this chitchat. Time to get you ready.”

  “For what?”

  “For becoming one of us.”

  The moment he releases the magical binds, I’ll take over, Adam said. Don’t try to resist me.

  But the renegade never released her binds. He simply picked her up and carried her out of the room.

  Our chance will come.

  Corynn clung to Adam’s optimism. It was the only thing she had supporting her. That, and the conviction that Jeremy would find her. Should I try to contact him mentally?

  It can’t hurt. But try as she might, she wasn’t able to reach him. Maybe they’re blocking your connection to him with their magic.

  She truly hoped so. The ot
her option, that he had no idea where she was, was too upsetting.

  He carried her to a larger room. The moment they crossed the threshold, evil settled on her, as if the room was saturated with it. It pressed her bones, burned her lungs, and made her fear like she had never before. If she had been upright, her legs would have collapsed.

  Since she couldn’t move her head, she only saw the ceiling – concrete with fluorescent lights that somehow couldn’t permeate the darkness. Her nose wasn’t working properly, but she sensed there were other people in the room too.

  Open your vampire senses. I’ll take a look.

  What’s that?

  Never mind, just do it.

  Since she had no idea what Adam was talking about, she gave him permission to do what was needed. It was as if a veil lifted from her eyes. Every sensory input became clearer than she had ever experienced them, smells, sounds and sight. But the foulness multiplied too.

  Ugh, make it stop.

  Adam adjusted whatever he was doing and she felt slightly better. Okay, there are four other men in the room, dressed in black robes. There’s an operating table and some instruments by it.

  Since she was already being lowered onto the table, his information came a little too late. What kind of instruments?

  Alchemical.

  What is this, the Middle Ages?

  Black magic.

  Not even Adam could control her fear now, not that it was trying to. I need to be ready to get free so I think it’s best you switch on the background.

  Fine, but if we survive this, I’ll get to be in charge again.

  We’ll see about that.

  I’m not turning into a raging monster just to save myself. I’ll rather die.

  Sheesh, dramatic much. Fine. I’ll allow you to be in charge once I’ve saved your sorry arse. Better?

  Better.

  While they were arguing, the men had gathered around the operating table where she lay immobile. They were wearing robes with hoods that shadowed their faces, but that was fine. She didn’t want to know what they looked like.

  She had no recollection of her promise being fulfilled. She had asked Jeremy, but all he had told her was that it required a complex combination of blood and potent magic. Magic was definitely in abundance here, though the black kind. Would there be blood too?