Vampires Don't Sparkle: Deathless Book 3

by Chris Fox

  “Like hell you will,” Trevor shot back. “You’d backstab me at the first opportunity, and we both know it. I’m wondering why you’re even still alive, now that I think about it.”

  “That’s a great question,” Jordan said, taking a threatening step toward Irakesh. “Why is he walking around free? Hell, why is he even still breathing? Or not breathing, I guess.”

  “It’s so nice to see you two getting along,” Liz said, beaming a smile their way. “Maybe you can bond by ending this pathetic twerp’s life.”

  “Wait,” Irakesh said, raising a hand to forestall them. He reached into a satchel hanging from his belt, and removed two golden items. The collar, and the bracelet. He offered the bracelet to Trevor. “If you need assurance that I won’t betray you, then use the collar to control me. It’s preferable to death, and my situation is still better than it was under Steve. You’ll treat me better than he did, and maybe someday I’ll earn your trust.”

  Blair was taken aback. “You’d go into slavery? Willingly?”

  “Of course,” Irakesh said, snapping the collar around his own neck. “Isn’t it preferable to the alternative? Death is very final. With life, who knows what will happen?”

  Trevor stared hard at the bracelet, then looked up. “Jordan, you wore one of these things. What do you think we should do?”

  Jordan looked surprised, then gave a shrug. “He won’t be able to escape. God knows I tried. It’s still possible for him to cause mischief, but if you keep an eye on him you’re probably safe. He might even be an asset, since you don’t know what you’d be walking into. If nothing else, he proved he had more honor than Steve. He refused to serve Set, even though it cost him his freedom.”

  “Liz? Blair?” Trevor asked, turning to them.

  “I say let him live,” Liz said, she turned to Blair as well.

  “I’d agree,” Blair finally said. “If it were Steve I’d say kill the fucker, right here and now. Irakesh is different. He’s evil, but at least he has some honor.”

  “All right then,” Trevor said, snapping the bracelet around his wrist. “Looks like I’ll be heading to the cradle. What about the rest of you?”

  “I need to find out where we stand with Mohn,” Jordan said, folding his heavily muscled arms over an even more heavily muscled chest. “The Director probably died in the explosion back in London. With him and Osiris out of the picture, that means the person most likely to be running the show is the Old Man himself. I need to find out if that’s the case, and what Mohn’s operational directive is now. Can I hop a ride with you two to San Francisco?”

  “What about the key to the Ark in Peru?” Liz asked, rising shakily to her feet. She took a big step back from the mess she’d made. Blair did the same.

  “Good point,” Jordan said, heaving a sigh. “I guess I have a responsibility too. The thing is, we don’t know what’s gone down while we were away. At the very least it makes sense that we stick together, in the short term anyway. I’ll head to San Francisco with you guys.”

  Blair gave Jordan a nod, then turned to Liz. “Of course. Liz, I assume that’s where you want to go?”

  “Yeah, we need to see what happened with Angel Island, plus you have an Ark to run. If possible, we need to rebuild there. They need leadership, and we can provide that. Not to mention, Jes’Ka is still asleep. We have to decide what to do about her,” Liz said, eyes taking on that determined cast.

  “When we get there, do you want to grab dinner?” Blair knew it wasn’t the right time, but was it ever?

  “Are you finally asking me on a date?” Liz brushed her hair from her face, looking away for a moment. Was she blushing?

  “Hell yes, I am,” Blair said. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “Yeah, I’ll have dinner with you. Just take me somewhere nice,” Liz leaned into Blair. It felt good. Damn good.

  “Ka-Dun, if I may interrupt,” Ka said, a hint of impatience leaking into its tone. Blair turned toward the hologram, giving it a nod. It bobbed its head once, then continued. “The signal broadcast from the Arks just prior to our first encounter has had time to arrive at its intended destination. The Builders are now aware of the state of affairs on this planet. They will be coming.”

  Dead silence fell as everyone took that in. Trevor took a step closer to Liz and Blair, Jordan joining them a moment later. Even Irakesh looked frightened.

  “In addition, this planet’s magnetosphere has been unstable since the First Ark’s detonation,” Ka continued, frown deepening. “I believe you will find much has changed in your absence.”

  Epilogue

  Mark came awake by degrees. He felt different, though it was difficult to say how, precisely. It was dark and moist, wherever he was. He reached out, fingers probing some sort of membrane. It gave a little at his touch, but refused to tear. A shiver of anger lanced through him, and claws burst from his finger tips. They were long and dark, much longer than they’d been when he transformed into a vampire. How was that possible?

  He used the claws to shred the membrane, gasping at the cool air that rushed into the strange cocoon. He tried to lean forward, but something on his back prevented the movement. He felt an odd tingling back there, and realized he could feel something he shouldn’t have been able to. An extra pair of limbs. He flexed them experimentally. Were those…wings?

  Mark scrambled from the chrysalis, clawing desperately at the membrane until he tumbled free. A slick substance coated him and made it difficult to grab onto anything. Mark fell heavily to a stone floor, dimly aware of a reddish glow in the distance. Where was he? Panic and revulsion warred within him as he struggled to understand.

  “Ahh, you’re awake,” came a gravelly voice. He squinted up at the speaker, an elderly man with a thick beard and long white hair.

  “Who—who are you?” Mark rasped. His throat felt strangely unsuited for speech.

  “I am called Hades,” the old man explained, kneeling next to Mark. “Do you know who you are, or where you are?”

  “I’m…Mark Phillips,” he said, the full name coming to him from the dim recesses of his mind. “I don’t know where I am. Or what’s been done to me. What the hell was that thing?”

  “Ahh, the chrysalis. Set sent you here to be reborn, one of his final acts. The chrysalis has changed you, made you far stronger than you were,” Hades explained with the tone of a concerned grandfather.

  It has also gifted you with me, Set-Dun. A deep voice thrummed through his mind. The voice was familiar, yet different. It didn’t sound like the risen he’d been given when Osiris transformed him. This, whatever it was, felt darker. You have been elevated. You are the first to survive the transformation, the herald of our return.

  Mark didn’t respond to the voice, but he knew for damn sure he didn’t like it. He focused on the old man instead. “What happened to Set?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” Hades said, resting a hand on Mark’s goo-covered shoulder. He looked at that shoulder, eyes widening as he took in the smooth, black skin. It had the tough, marbled texture of a lizard’s hide. Mark shuddered, appalled by what he’d become.

  “I’m not sure,” Mark’s thoughts were racing. Where was he? What had happened?

  “What of Isis and Ra? Osiris?” Hades asked, betraying a bit of concern. His grip tightened on Mark’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know,” Mark replied. If the plan had worked, then England was nothing more than a crater, and they were all dead.

  “No matter,” Hades said, releasing Mark. He rose to his feet. “Come, you have much work to be about. Our enemies are many.”

  Mark took his first awkward steps with his horrifically deformed body. They emerged into a wide tunnel that passed between pools of lava. Mark found himself enjoying the unbearable heat. “Our enemies?”

  “Yes,” Hades said, turning to meet his gaze. “All sentient life on this planet. It must be eradicated.”

  ires Don't Sparkle: Deathless Book 3