Sweet Oblivion (Shady Arcade Book 2)

by Sharon Stevenson

  He walked past, took a prodding from the gun and kept moving. The passage seemed endless and was poorly lit with sconces that seemed to literally be naked flames. Strange things to see in a vampire’s basement, he thought.

  “Where are you taking me?” He asked, wishing he could come up with a plan. He had no weapon, and no defence against Mitch’s compulsion. He was a dead man walking.

  “None of your damned business.”

  The gun poked him when he slowed his pace. He kept moving, trying to keep his breathing steady.

  “I think I’d rather you shot me right now,” he said, not sure what he was trying to achieve beyond trying to avoid a full-blown panic attack.

  Mitch laughed. “I bet you would, but guess what, Little Z? It would only be the start. I could kill you right here in this passageway. Turn you. If you force me to, I will. If you’d rather have a more pleasant turning, you’d best get moving.”

  “You like being a vampire?” He could already tell this guy did.

  “No more talking,” Mitch commanded, poking him again. “Slow down even slightly and I’ll pull the trigger just to test this thing is still loaded.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Mark moved through the house, wondering why the hell it was so quiet. The entire place seemed to be empty. His footsteps echoed as he walked. The guards usually on duty out front were missing. There was a car out there, not even parked well. The bad feeling that came over him as he moved towards their clan leader’s favourite room only grew as he realised there was no noise in the room either. He pushed the door open.

  The mess of several un-makings littered the floor and sofas around the room. The room reeked of death. His mouth fell open as he took it in. The TV was muted and spattered with blackened vampire remains. The medical soap opera on the screen was the best clue Mitch could have left.

  “Shit.” He didn’t know what was worse. That his arrogant brother had killed his clan, or that he was planning on turning their own nephew just to become a more powerful vampire than he clearly already was.

  The car out front suggested Zack had already been brought in. He had to figure out where his brother had taken him. This was one of those times when he wished they had been ‘typical’ identical twins, with a ‘special’ bond. He couldn’t figure that prick’s mind out unless he delved into it, something he was less and less happy about doing, but right now his promise to Audrey depended on it.

  “Shit,” he cursed, heading out of the room of death and concentrating. His thoughts picked up Mitch’s almost instantly. Apparently, their special connection was there, he just hadn’t wanted to know about it. Reading his thoughts now, he realised he still didn’t really want to. Mitch was wondering exactly how he wanted to kill Zack. He couldn’t seem to decide if a shot to the heart or the head would give him the biggest power-boost. The evidence had been murky on it.

  Mark concentrated harder, to be able to see through his brother’s eyes. His murderous thoughts were not helpful. Mark needed to see where he was to be able to go after him. To stop him.

  He hoped against hope he’d get there in time to stop him. If he didn’t, killing Zack would be the only way to end this. He didn’t think he could do that to Audrey. But he’d promised. He sighed.

  Mitch’s surroundings finally came into view and it took Mark a minute to realise exactly where he was. “Shit.”

  He ran towards the back of the building. Mitch was in the passageway under the mansion. He was taking Zack out of the building.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  By the time the car slowed down to drive into the property, Chloe’s mind was racing and her stomach was unsettled. She opened the door before the car stopped, just behind Kenny’s, and ran out, stumbling towards the house with the phone still in her hand.

  She ran into the house, followed by Larry who grabbed her arm as she glanced around the empty hallway. Where was he, exactly? She didn’t know and she couldn’t even begin to hazard a guess.

  “Zack!” she screamed into the building.

  “Chloe,” Larry said, with a wince. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to warn them we’re here.”

  “Warn who?” Turner asked, closing the door behind them. He took a breath. “Chloe, there are no vampires here.” He cocked his head and shook it. “No, wait. There are three vampires here, four if you include Larry.”

  She stared at him. “What?”

  “You didn’t go through the advanced training.” He sighed. “Follow me, I think I know which vampire’s trail to follow.”

  “Trail?” She frowned as she followed, Larry bringing up the rear.

  A little black cat walked down the hall and she turned and frowned at Larry.

  He wasn’t paying her any attention, he was already picking the cat up and giving it baby-talk.

  She shook her head as she followed Turner.

  The narrow staircase he walked down looked precarious. She followed and frowned at the bloody mess at the bottom of the steps. Someone had bled profusely down here. She shuddered as he led her into a passageway. The shadow of a figure was visible up ahead. She opened her mouth and Turner shushed her. Larry shrugged his shoulders at her. She wanted to tell him to drop the cat, but she just rolled her eyes. They had bigger problems.

  Turner took off after the disappearing figure and she took off after him. The chase seemed to last forever. The passageway was long and winding. She gasped in a breath as she caught up to Turner.

  “Mitch! Where’s Zack?” She glanced down the passageway.

  “It’s Mark, actually,” he managed to get out, his voice strained by Turner’s choke hold. “Mitch is further away…”

  “Shit!” She ran off down the corridor, her heart hammering in her ears. The twists and turns kept coming and she heard Larry cursing under his breath behind her. With no idea how close they were, she couldn’t force herself to slow her pace for even a second. Her breathing was becoming ragged and her vision was blurring around the edges. She saw Mitch from behind and collapsed to her knees, sucking in breath as Larry jumped over her.

  “This is the guy?”

  Chloe nodded, unable to speak. Larry turned back to him and Mitch smiled at him.

  “Oh hi, mall-cop. What are you doing here? Know what? Doesn’t matter. Go bite Chloe over there. I’ve heard she’s quite delectable.” Mitch grinned at her as Larry moved towards her, his gaze out of focus.

  She frowned at him, hauling in a deep breath before she opened her mouth. “Larry, stop.”

  The vampire stopped, confusion on his face. She wheezed in another breath as she stared at Zack’s horrible older brother.

  “Let Zack go, Mitch. Send him over here.”

  He laughed, “You think you can order me around, necromancer? Get a grip. I’m nobody’s bitch.”

  He looked at Larry. “Go to sleep.”

  Chloe watched Larry fall to the ground. She saw Zack past Mitch’s shoulder. He was alive. For now.

  “You look tired, Chloe.” Mitch smiled slyly. “Sleep.”

  She fought the command but it got her anyway. If she’d ever wanted to know what was so special about psychic vampires, now she knew. Her head swam as she tried to get to het feet. She fell forward before she could rise from her knees. The gritty ground hit her in the face as her eyelids dropped shut.

  “Sweet dreams,” Mitch whispered in her ear as she lost consciousness.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Zack ran the second Mitch got distracted. His stomach recoiled at the thought of it, but he knew his best chance to have the guy leave Chloe alone was to force him into a chase instead. Getting her to fall asleep was one thing. He didn’t want any harm to come to her.

  “Oh, come on, Little Z,” Mitch called after him. “Don’t you know vampires can run faster than stupid humans?”

  Zack didn’t bother to answer, he just ran. And Mitch caught up with him in less than a minute, the sound of a gunshot rocketing through the passageway. Zack winced, waiting for the bul
let to hit. The wall seemed to have caught it, sending a little flurry of dust and stone into the air.

  Mitch’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Stop running.”

  He slowed to a walk at his insistence, though it frustrated him to obey the command.

  “Who are you, really?” Zack asked.

  Mitch snorted. “I’m the face of your doom. And I’m going to rule the whole damn world.”

  “Forget I even asked,” he muttered.

  “How ‘bout this one; I’m your father.”

  Zack shook his head. Even if he wasn’t pulling a Darth Vader voice, he knew that wasn’t it.

  “Fine. I’m your uncle. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but whatever. We’re family. That’s what matters.”

  My uncle? Zack frowned as he walked, trying to figure out what Mitch was trying to do exactly.

  “Almost there,” Mitch told him. “Climb the ladder and unscrew the hatch at the top. Get out and wait for me.”

  Zack looked up at the hatch before he started to obey his orders. Mitch seemed to have a vice-like grasp on his will. He couldn’t break the command no matter how hard he tried. He was going to have to figure out how to. He couldn’t just have the creep put him to sleep to turn him.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Mark rushed through the passageway, his captor following. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so close to catching his wayward brother only to be thwarted by someone thinking he was Mitch. He shook his head as he ran. He winced as he rushed over and past Chloe and Larry. He didn’t have the time to check on them. Every second counted. The clock was ticking down now.

  He sped up once he was past them, coming on the end of the passageway and the hatch just as it closed. He bolted up the ladder and waited. He knew if he opened the hatch right now, Mitch would just compel him. He’d lose the chance he had to get the best of his brother. He waited, counting down seconds in his head. A minute passed before he risked turning the lock.

  He pushed the hatch open, climbed up and saw his brother disappearing into the woods beyond the property. He came out, closed the hatch and a hand landed on his wrist. The human was bleeding to death. His face was pale, but there was determination in his eyes. The smile seemed to back up the intent in his eyes. Mark cursed his mistake. Not human, necromancer.

  “Turn me, vampire. I command you.” His last breath came an instant later, but his command refused to be denied even as he slumped to the ground.

  Mark bit into his neck and began the turning process, his brain screaming at him that Mitch was getting away, that the world was in the hands of that maniac while he was stuck performing a command given by a selfish prick of a necro.

  Please, don’t let me be too late. He pushed the body away when he’d done what he had to, and ran into the woods.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The booming voice awoke Larry with a start, making him glance around. It took a second to remember where he was and who he was with. His dreams had pushed him backwards through time, to earlier in the night when Amira had come over. Kenny hadn’t shown up this time. The night had been about to come to a far happier ending.

  “Shit. Is Chloe okay?” She was out of it, it seemed.

  Turner shook his head. “I can’t break the order he put her under. We need to leave her where she is. We have to stop the vampire who took Zack.”

  “I won’t leave her here,” he said, dusting himself off as he got to his feet.

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  He frowned at the guy.

  “The world is at risk, son. We don’t have a second to spare.” He moved on. “Follow me.”

  The order made him move. “I’m really sick of all this being pushed around,” he muttered.

  ***

  The storm wouldn’t let up, hadn’t let up all night. Chloe listened to the thunder claps and wondered how close it was getting. Zack’s hand stroked through her hair and she smiled against his chest.

  “It’s getting worse out there,” she murmured.

  Rain had been pelting the windows all afternoon. There’d been no crack in the clouds, there hadn’t been a hint of blue in the sky all day. Not that Chloe would have noticed if there had been.

  “I think it’s passing,” he told her.

  She glanced up, raising her eyebrows. “You do?”

  “How long can it keep this up?”

  She kissed him and relaxed back against his chest as the thunder got louder. She closed her eyes. He was right. It couldn’t keep up like this for much longer.

  ***

  Larry groaned as he exited the hatch. Turner was running off towards the woods. He didn’t like the thought of leaving Chloe. It was bad enough that they hadn’t even looked for Amira yet. He got that this thing with Zack was important, he’d listened in the car when Chloe and Turner were talking about it. But he didn’t have to like that it was the priority, or that he was being led around like a dog on a leash.

  He glanced down at the body by the hatch. If anyone deserved to be lying there dead on the ground, it was that arsehole, Kenny. He didn’t give him a second glance as he chased off after Turner.

  ***

  Kenny awoke on the cold grass, his stomach clenching painfully. The thirst that tore through him was undeniable. He’d been turned and he had to drain someone or he was going to go insane. He could hear a heartbeat, faint but close by. The hatch that was open in front of him seemed to be where the noise was coming from. He moved quickly to enter it, dropping down, instead of using the ladder. The passageway was lit in a decidedly patchy way. The dark sections were short but complete. He could sense a human a little further along the way. Mostly he could hear the heart-beat. The sound was maddeningly sweet to his enhanced hearing. He moved quietly, afraid to scare away his prey. He needn’t have worried.

  His lips twisted into a grin as he came upon the sleeping girl. “Hey, Chloe. Nice to see you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Where are we going?” Zack didn’t understand. He’d thought their trek would have ended after the hatch, but it seemed Mitch wanted to get him further away from the house than that.

  “Well, Zack, here’s the thing,” Mitch said, poking his left side with Kenny’s gun to point him in the right direction. “I could have taken over Midnight clan. I mean, that was an option. But who wants to be in charge of a bunch of whiny-ass vampires anyway? I’ve got better things in mind.”

  Somehow Zack doubted his idea of better things and Mitch’s were even vaguely similar.

  “So, you have a new place?”

  “I have an old place,” he said, poking Zack again to veer him to the right way forward.

  “What do you mean by that?” He wished he had some inkling of what Mitch was talking about. Audrey had stopped speaking to him, so he didn’t bother asking her either. He assumed she didn’t know.

  “You’ll see. It’s nice and morbid. I think you’ll like it.” He snorted. “You always were a weird kid, Z.”

  Zack wished he still had the umbrella. He doubted he’d be able to wield it quite as well as Chloe had on Bridget, but half a chance would be better than none.

  “Stop right there.”

  Zack stopped moving and turned, only to have Mitch poke him. “Did I tell you to stop moving? Get going.”

  The guy coming through the woods was Mitch’s double and sounded almost exactly like him too. Mitch scowled and prodded Zack with the gun again.

  “It’s only Mark. You can ignore him.”

  “I won’t let you do this, Mitch.” Mark rushed towards them, which was no easy thing through the twisting trail of close-knit trees.

  “You always did like to spoil my fun.” Mitch shrugged, grabbing Zack’s arm in one hand and turning to aim the gun at his brother with the other. “I guess this is so long.”

  He fired and the bullet passed through his double, though Mark moved quickly to avoid it. Apparently, vampires were not quite faster than speeding bullets. Zack held his breath. Th
e guy who looked like his captor had fallen and he hadn’t gotten back up. In the darkness, there was nothing to see on the ground. Mitch shrugged.

  “Think I got him. Get moving.”

  “Where are we going?” He was starting to see a road through the trees.

  “We’re going for a drive, Zack. There’s somewhere you need to be.”

  A chill settled over Zack as they walked out of the woods, towards a car parked on the other side of the road. This whole thing had been planned. Mitch knew exactly what he was doing. Zack only wished he knew what the hell it was.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “What are they doing?” Larry kept his voice low. He didn’t get why they were standing back, hiding in the bushes when Turner had been so gung-ho about rushing after them in the first place.

  He was hushed as they watched them get into the car. Once it was driving away, Turner sighed. “Go run and get my car.” He tossed Larry the keys. “At your fastest pace.” He walked out to the road.

  Larry ran, at super-speed through the twisting trail of trees, barely noticing he’d picked up a tail until he was at Turner’s car. The three-minute run to the car hadn’t had any negative effects on him, but the state of the guy who’d followed him was a different story entirely.

  He got into the car, still following Turner’s orders, glancing back at his follower.

  Mark was bleeding from the chest, his face turning colours. He opened the back of the car and fell in, sinking into the seat with a groan as Larry started the engine.

  Oh well, he didn’t tell me not to pick up any hitchhikers.

  He drove around to pick Turner up, surprised when the guy didn’t boot him from the driver’s seat. He got in the passenger side, rolled down the window and told him to get driving.