by Lucy Lyons
“Dom, remember when we were the most respected clan in the world of hunters?” She nodded at me and frowned, as if she was trying to remember something she’d forgotten. She turned away to look at her remaining backup and I yanked Clay off the cot he’d been resting on. He lunged for the window and I watched Nicholas wrap his arms around the hunter and throw himself backwards out the window.
“Oh, snap,” Simi gasped. I laughed nervously.
“Yeah, that move takes some getting used to.”
I watched Professor Eldritch’s SUV pull away from the curb as the tires squealed and smoked. Dominique jerked me out of her way and searched the street below. She shoved me back and paced the floor, her gun in her hand.
“Sucks, doesn’t it, when someone refuses to be a bargaining chip?” I asked. She raised her gun and sighted in on my face.
“Why can’t you just be smart about this?” She shook the gun and lowered it. “Why couldn’t you just act for all our survival?” Her comment stung.
“If you’d told me what you knew, instead of trying to hoard information the way you hoard power, I would’ve known when to fight, and when it was safe. But, you couldn’t let me surpass you, either.”
I walked past her out the door. At the top of the stairs I looked back and Somayo was coming out to join me. Simi followed him and I motioned back a rat who tried to follow us.
“Oh, wait.” I dug into my side pocket where I’d let the little rat ride with me, grateful that despite forgetting her, I hadn’t caused her harm. “She came to me in the ventilation system, asked for a ride.” I handed her to the were rat, who cuddled her and scoffed, looking at me in shock.
“Only were-rats can talk to wild rats.”
“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure she understood me. But, she climbed into my lap, so I figured she must be someone’s pet.”
“We don’t subjugate other animals.” I started to apologize, but instead just shut my mouth and nodded. “Of course.” She reached out and grabbed the tip of my finger in her paws and gently nibbled the tip.
“Whatever she is, she’s very sweet. After meeting her, how can you not love the little things?” I walked away with the sense that I’d obtusely tripped over something that was important to the were-rats. I made a mental note to figure out what and apologize once we were all safe.
I headed down the stairs with the Venatores best remaining hunters at my side. Where we were going, we needed Dominique, and I started to turn back and ask for my mentor to come with us. But she’d chosen her own struggles over the safety of the Venatores and I couldn’t force her to change her mind, however much I hoped she would.
An escalade with tinted windows pulled up in front of the building and I glanced at Simi, who shrugged and climbed in without hesitation. Somayo got in the back with her, so I opened the front door to take shotgun.
“Hey there, Sis. Ready to kick Glory’s ass back to hell where it belongs?” I choked on my greeting and stared.
“Colette!”
“Well, you don’t have to sound so disappointed. Can’t we be friends, yet?” I scoffed and climbed up to the seat, grateful it was a captain’s chair and not a bench seat.
“Colette, far as I can tell, we are friends. It’s not always easy being friends with a psycho who would eat you as soon as look at you.” I sighed.
“Now you’re just flirting,” she replied. I jumped as I felt a hand high up on my thigh.
“Colette, if something happens to Nicholas because you held us up, I swear to God there is no hell you can imagine that will compare to how I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your immortal existence,” I warned her and she removed her hand, pouting prettily at me.
“You could at least be a little fun, you know.” I shook my head and watched the city fly by my window.
“Someday, I promise, I’ll show you exactly what I do for fun.” Colette understood enough to stop flirting, and we made it to Exotica in relative silence, marked only by the sounds the phone made as we approached our destination.
Chapter 12
Colette parked down the street and I showed her and Somayo the schematics, since she was the one with the photographic memory. We split up and entered the club through different doors, Somayo and Simi heading down the alley, while Colette and I walked up to the front door and demanded to be let in.
Sure enough, the professor had been right. My name was on the list and Colette was my plus one, or at least that’s what she told the bouncer when she slipped her arm through mine. He let us through the gate and gave me directions of where to meet Glory. I glanced at the building plans once we were well inside. The room he’d suggested was a torture room and even Colette rolled her eyes and suggested I head underground instead.
As we made it to the first sublevel, a sickly, miasmic smell washed over us. Colette wrinkled her nose and I gagged and held my sleeve over my face to filter the stench out of the air I was breathing.
“What’s up with the noxious odor, Colette?” I asked in a muffled voice. I had to put my arm down in case I had to fight, but the smell alone was enough to make me want to admit defeat.
“It’s death, Caroline,” her voice was small and the way she stayed glued to my side made me think she was genuinely worried.
“What could possibly bother you about death?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m so glad you asked,” Glory’s voice came over a loudspeaker system. “Wave to the camera!” she giggled maniacally and shut off the microphone she was using with a high pitched electronic squeal.
Colette began to tremble, then sank to her knees. A scraping sound in the distance grew closer and closer until I could finally see the grotesque creature masquerading as a man in the tunnels below the club.
“Demetrius,” Colette whimpered. Her whole body shook next to me on the ground as I focused on not panicking and joining her there. I tried to call out to Nicholas, but something in that gaseous substance that permeated the tunnels made it too difficult to concentrate. I couldn’t even connect with Colette, let alone find Nicholas and speak with him.
“Is Demetrius your old master?” I asked in a whisper. Colette had lived for centuries with a master so cruel, he’d turned her into a sexual sadist and driven her insane. She nodded and I swore under my breath. I dragged her down the corridor farthest from the sound of chains across the stone walls and prayed that I wasn’t dragging her towards something worse.
Down the new tunnel, the air was cleaner, and the ponderous Demetrius was far enough away to give us breathing room. I handed Colette my Beretta and moved the Glock to the front of my pants, angled for a right-handed draw.
I took out a flashbang and shoved it in my jacket pocket, hesitant to use it around Colette. The Venatores made the grenade to flash with the same light makeup as natural sunlight, sure to burn and blind any vampire stupid enough to let you pull the pin.
Along with cleaner air to breathe came the gentle touch of Nicholas on my mind. I nearly cried with relief at resuming the connection that was so much a part of me, I took it for granted. I communicated with him that Demetrius was in the tunnels with us and fought to hear him through his confusion.
“Caroline, Demetrius is dead.”
I looked at Colette, terrified, clinging to the gun I’d handed her like it was a lifeline in an otherwise empty ocean. I showed Nicholas what I could see, and like I did on our dates, let him sense what I smelled, heard, even tasted. His horror did nothing to calm my fears, but it seemed to spur him on.
“I cannot believe she would willingly do such a thing. Caroline, you must leave, immediately. If what you say is true, Glory has lost her mind.”
I sighed and repeated his words to Colette, who managed a weak chuckle.
“We’re going to die here, Caroline,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I would never have wished this on anyone.” It was so strange to hear her, not flirting and manic, but almost as human-sounding as Rachel was.
“I’m not going to let him get you, Colette. Either
we go down together fighting, or we run together, and possibly still die. But you’re sounding so sane, you’re actually scaring me.” Colette looked at me with hurt in her eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll get through this and you can say something terrifying and cruel to make me question my own sanity, and we’ll be square again.”
She didn’t answer, just sagged against a wall and stared forward. I glanced down around the corner the way we’d come and saw the monstrosity shambling towards us. His body was bloated and the skin had burst in places, pus and rotting fluids pouring out of him as he walked. Horrified, I forced myself to reach out with my psychic ability to sense his power, perhaps his age. My power flowed over him like he wasn’t there. No power of his own, no age. Just a puppet with someone else driving.
I reached further, following that connection the way I would find Jeremy or one of his people. The thread was sickly, virulent, like a virus with a tail holding two cells together until the host cell degenerated too much to hold the connection.
I reached further still, but as face was forming in my mind’s eye, a wall slammed into place, locking me away from the architect.
“Okay, Colette, I have good news and less good news.”
“What is it?” I hated hearing the fear in her voice. Colette wasn’t my friend and I didn’t particularly trust her. But I knew how she’d gotten the way she was, and in her own way, I knew she recognized my value to her master, and she’d protect me at all costs, for him.
“Demetrius is dead.” She scoffed and leaned back to see me.
“That’s your good news? I’ve known that for a hundred years. I killed him.”
“That’s the good news. You get to do it again.” She glared at me and I explained to her, “He’s just a puppet, with some asshole pulling the strings. The connection is already weak. I think our stopover to get Clay made us late. Let’s put that rotting hunk of meat down once and for all, and then go get the puppeteer.”
I watched the light turn on in her eyes as she steeled herself and glanced around the corner.
“I can’t. Caroline,” she panted. “I can’t make my feet move.” I drew my gun and slid a blade out of my hair.
“It’s okay, Colette, I can. He’s not meant for me.” I pivoted around the corner and unloaded my 9 mm into the head and body mass of the bloated zombie-creature. It slowed, but didn’t stop. I looked at the small blade in my hand and swore. “The connection isn’t damaged enough for small ammunition to work. I need more bang to bring it down.”
“Do those bright light grenades blow things up, or just flash?”
“They just flash. No real damage. Which usually, is good in a place like this. You don’t want to bring the ceiling down on yourself.” She shrugged and I pulled a flashbang out of my fanny pack. “It couldn’t hurt, right?” I motioned her back and pulled the pin. I released the trigger and tossed it down the tunnel, ducking back around the corner before I could see how far the cylinder rolled before it exploded with a loud bang, followed by a wet splatter that rocketed the virulent fluid past the opening we hid behind.
“That’s disgusting,” she whispered. “Does it do that to vampires?” I laughed and shook my head.
“No, it just stings a little.”
“Yeah, right. And you call me a sadist.” I snorted and offered her my arm.
“Sadist or not, right now, you’re under my protection. It’s gonna be okay. Nicholas will find us sitting on top of the pile we make of our dead enemies.” She gave me a beautiful smile, one that would usually have chilled me to my core. Tonight, it meant she’d survived her worst fear. I could handle the creepy crawly feeling down my spine to see a victim win.
The PA system screeched and we both covered our ears.
“Poor little Colette, didn’t get a chance to say hi to dear old dad. Caroline, you must be punished for that.” Another shriek from the mic and we were alone again.
“Colette, do you see any cameras?” We both searched, but couldn’t find any surveillance.
“How do they see us?” She asked.
“The same way we see each other, when we’re not together. The puppet master.” I scrubbed my face with the palms of my hands.
“I can’t get through their wall. I can’t even tell if they’re really there, or if I’m just imagining things.” I examined the tunnels around us. “We have to keep going and find Glory. The witch will be there too.”
Colette nodded and switched the gun to her left hand, cupping her right under it. She nodded and I moved along the wall ahead of her, trying not to focus on the fact that a vampire who had threatened me on more than one occasion was covering my back, with my own gun.
The tunnels were quiet and we reached another door after only a couple of turns and one dead end.
“Is this too easy?” I asked and Colette nodded.
“Something bad is on the other side of that.”
“But we have to go,” I began.
“But we have to go.” she agreed. I pushed the door open and begged Nicholas to hurry. They were almost to the camp where they’d drop off Clay, but I couldn’t promise him I was going to survive another twenty minutes.
We stepped out of the tunnels and into a designer penthouse suite. The vaulted ceiling and skylights made it feel like we were no longer underground. It wasn’t until you saw the lights above the skylight change colors and dance that you realized you were directly under the club.
“Holster your weapons, watcher, you might get a shot off, but I’d still drain you dry and live to talk about it.” Glory sat in an actual throne at the top of a dais, like the one I’d seen when I was kidnapped for Nicholas. At her side was the puppet master himself.
“You should know, David, Clay’s going to be just fine. Gave him a scare, though.” David scoffed and came down the steps towards us.
“You just can’t do us all a favor and die, can you?” he sighed. “But, I finally have something you don’t. A full-blood connection to a master vampire.” He wiggled his fingers in front of my face and I felt them inside my head. “How do you like me now, Care Bear? Is it as much fun to be on the receiving end as it is to poke around in other people’s heads?”
“I wouldn’t know, David. I’ve never been one for spying where I’m not invited.” He snarled and hit me so hard, my head snapped back and I fell to my knees.
“Liar. You told them all about me. You made me sound like a freak and you ruined my life.”
“Not a liar, just observant. I’m a vampire hunter, David,” I croaked, my head still spinning from the blow to my face. “You’re just another kind of vampire. You’re not even careful. Made my job easy,” I hissed. He raised his hand for another strike, but the blow never fell. His face was contorted in rage and fear, as he stood perfectly still with his fist raised above his head.
“That’s what it means to be a servant, Caroline,” Colette whispered. “No wonder you won’t do it.” David bellowed and spit on me as I knelt at his feet and I clenched my hands until my knuckles were white.
“I don’t want you to beat her up, David,” Glory said. “Any of my people can do that; she only weighs, like, 90 pounds? She gave her master an animal to call. You said you were stronger than her, so show me. Because up to this point, you’ve been rather disappointing, aside from that parlor trick where you suck the happiness out of pretty young girls.” Glory sighed heavily and looked down on us, already tired with her new playthings.
I felt David’s hand in my head again and I pushed back. He laughed and the sensation of fingers inside my brain was replaced with an image of myself, alone in a room. I shook my head, but the room expanded until it filled my vision. I was inside the room. I reached out a hand, searching for Colette, but couldn’t find her. I took a deep breath.
Dominque had given me maze tests before. I simply had to find my way out and I would win. I stood up and walked to the wall directly in front of me. Even though I knew it was just inside my mind, I reached out a hand and touched the cool, smooth surface.
Every wall was the same, no windows, no doors, and I was left wondering what the objective was.
Panic started to cling to my chest and I focused on my breathing to slow down my racing heartrate. I reached out to Nicholas and felt a presence in the room with me. I spun around and there was Nicholas, wearing only a pair of leather breeches. He walked toward me and I was confused by his appearance. He never appeared to me that way in my dreams.
The closer he came to me, the more afraid of him I was. My sanity narrowed down to one thing. To keep him from touching me. I backed away, but the room got smaller and smaller, until I had nowhere to run. Nicholas reached out to me, and as he stroked my face and throat, he became the creature from the tunnels.
I screamed, because even though I knew it wasn’t real, I couldn’t make the assault stop. Nicholas’ rotted hand strayed down the front of my shirt and I felt a split second of disconnect, when I refused to let my clothing be taken from me. For an instant, I knew it was David in my head and that broke his control. I fell forward and landed on my face on the marble floor, grateful for the sensation of cold on my skin, despite the bruise I was going to develop, if I lived through this.
I shuddered and retched on the floor, crying and screaming for Nicholas. Glory laughed at me and offered Colette her hand. The vampire stood and let Glory escort her to the dais, where she offered Colette her throne.
“Would you like me to kill this hunter for you, Colette?” She asked, and Colette stared down at me with curious detachment.
“Will that kill Nicholas too?” She asked.
“In theory.” Glory replied with a reptilian grin.
“Then we should definitely test the theory, right?” Colette asked innocently. “I know I’d want to see it firsthand.” Glory gasped with delight and clapped her hands.
“I am so glad we chose you to play with. David was convinced that Caroline felt protective of you,” she confessed, stroking Colette’s hair while the vampire stared forward with a completely blank stare. “We were going to kidnap you in the first place, but you changed your plans that day.” Colette nodded and ran her fingers over Glory’s arm.
