by Dannika Dark
While my Vampire vision was good, it was too difficult to see anything beyond the bright lights directly above. I walked to the side of the building and searched for a way up since the roof would give me an ideal vantage point. This wasn’t a big train station by any means, so it wouldn’t be hard to find a good climbing spot.
An elderly couple sitting on a bench watched me like a hawk, and the woman clutched her purse a little tighter. I skirted around the side of the building, searching every dark corner. Carol was small and easy to miss, especially with her black jacket and hood. She might have slipped out to smoke a joint. I really didn’t know a damn thing about these kids or what kind of life they led. I hopped onto a large air-conditioning unit and jumped until I caught the edge of the roof. My shoes gripped the brick wall with ease as I pulled myself up.
When I reached the other side of the roof and looked down, I spied a couple facing each other. I almost turned away until I noticed that neither of them had luggage.
“Carol?” I shouted.
When they looked up, the lamppost illuminated a young man’s face. Next to him, a familiar young teen with a ghostly-white complexion and a crown of blond hair. Carol looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Get away from her!” I growled at the man. “Carol, go inside,” I said, emphasizing every syllable. “Christian, if you can hear me, I need you on the west side of the building. Carol’s out here with some random guy.”
Fearing this joker might grab her and run, I assessed the edge of the building and decided that risking a broken leg by jumping wasn’t an option. Not at night, and not when Niko wasn’t around.
“Dammit.”
The only way down was to aim for the tree branch. It wasn’t very thick, but in my experience, even thin branches were strong.
I squatted and measured the distance in my mind. The branch was a few feet lower but close enough that I could land on it. I’d scaled trees all through childhood, so not having a fear of heights always worked to my advantage. When I jumped, I felt like a cat leaping out a window. I scrambled for the branch, landing on it so hard that it snapped but didn’t break in two. It merely hung like a floppy arm, taking me with it.
I hit the sidewalk and went rolling into the dirt.
“That one likes to roll in the mud like a pig,” I heard Christian say.
I dusted myself off and stood up. “What are you doing out here?” I gave Carol a scolding glance.
Christian had a grip on her jacket, and she looked startled by the sudden turn of events.
Her breath frosted in the cold night air, and her cheeks turned bright pink. “I just wanted to see where we were.”
I looked around, but the man was gone. “Who was that guy? What did he want?”
Christian nudged her toward me. “Romeo took off into the parking lot. Want me to go get him?”
I looked over my shoulder and sighed. “No. Viktor doesn’t want us running off.” I straightened Carol’s black hood and tucked her hair inside. “Are you okay?”
“We were just talking,” she said.
“You need to stick with us. Got it? I know you’re curious about the outside world, but right now it’s dangerous. Viktor doesn’t want you guys wandering off. And no talking to strangers. Even cute ones.”
“If he had kidnapped me, would you have gone looking? Or would you have finished delivering Adam and Eve?”
She looked a little dejected, so I put my arm around her and led her to the platform as a train whistle sounded in the distance. “There’s no way anyone’s taking you from us. Think about it. We’ve got a Vampire, a Chitah, a Mage, a Sensor, two Shifters—you couldn’t be in safer hands. And if someone did snatch you, they wouldn’t get far. Claude owns your scent.”
“Ew. What does that mean?”
“You probably didn’t notice him doing it on the train. Chitahs can pull in a person’s scent and put it to memory. Forever. It’s why they’re excellent trackers. No matter how many years pass, anytime he catches even a whiff of your scent, he’ll know and he’ll find you. Just stay close to the herd from now on.”
She glanced over her shoulder and then tucked her hands in her jacket pockets. “How long is this trip gonna last?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is that Vamp your boyfriend?”
“He’s my partner. Why would you ask that?”
Christian and I had been careful about not displaying affection in front of the kids.
Carol met eyes with me in our reflection on the glass door at the rear of the building. “Because he looks at you like he would die for you.”
I smiled as we went inside. “He almost has.”
She stopped and peered up at me with earnest eyes. “That’s when you know it’s true love. When you care about someone else’s life more than your own. When you’d do anything to be with them.”
Kids and their romantic notions. Someday Carol would learn that love was more complicated than that.
Viktor beckoned us over to the front doors. Everyone had gathered up their gear and was waiting for us. We hustled across the room until we caught up with the group. Blue passed me my bag, which was light enough to toss over my shoulder with ease.
Viktor glowered at Carol. “And where did you go off to?”
She gave him a sheepish grin and shrugged. “I dunno.”
He palmed the back of her head and nudged her toward the other two. “Kids always know everything. But when you ask them a question, they suddenly don’t know anything.”
As soon as we poured outside, the squeals of excited teenagers filled my ears.
Eve hopped in a circle, clapping her hands. “Is this ours?”
“Whoa!” Adam walked along the camper and let his finger glide across the surface. “Sweet!”
How were we all going to fit in that thing? I’d grown up in a single-wide trailer and knew how long people could comfortably dwell in a confined space before they wanted to murder each other. It wasn’t one of those luxury bus-sized motor homes but an RV with a standard front end that resembled a van or truck. I guessed the vehicle to be about thirty feet long.
Viktor and Shepherd formed a huddle.
Shepherd finally patted the front end. “Let’s roll.”
He rounded the front to the driver’s side and got in. Viktor pulled out his wallet and tipped the delivery driver before the man and his buddy sped off in a small Toyota.
When Blue opened the door, the kids piled in first. She turned and noticed the look of concern on my face. “If it gets too crowded in there, I can always fly. It just depends on what Viktor says and how long our trip is.”
Once inside, I noticed the front cab was sunken down and had a sleeper over it. The small built-in sofa in front of the door was beige vinyl, and the stench of stale cigarette smoke lingered like a bad memory. The second sofa to the left curved around with two seats on either side. It probably had a pullout in the middle that converted it into a bed.
Carol sneezed and headed to the rear bedroom. Adam kept himself busy flipping all the light switches while his sister followed Carol. The sleeper above the cab had a privacy curtain and a TV. Two kids could easily fit up there and keep busy, which gave me a bit of relief that this might not be such a bad ride after all.
“I could live in one of these.” Blue surveyed the kitchenette, hands on her hips. “Sink, stove, fridge, cabinets—everything a person needs. Look, there’s even a microwave.”
Adam jogged to the back.
I sat on the sofa and stared at the open door. “I forgot to bring the popcorn.”
Blue opened one of the overhead cabinets. “Someone left a few potato chips in here if you’re hungry.”
I snorted. “Don’t say that too loud. The kids will eat it up in thirty seconds.”
“They’re probably expired.”
“I doubt they care.”
When Claude entered the trailer, he had to tilt his head to the side to keep it from touching the ceiling. “Looks
like I’m sleeping on the floor.”
I smirked at him. He looked like a tall man trapped in a short man’s world. “We could always strap you to the roof.”
Christian was the last in and locked the door behind him. “Jaysus wept. Will you take a gander at this obscenity? I still remember when people traveled in wagons.” He scanned the room and looked displeased with all the modern conveniences. “At least the fridge is big enough to fit a body in.”
I crossed my legs. “Do you mean dessert?”
He flashed his fangs at me in jest.
Claude plopped down on the U-shaped couch to my right. “In my day, trains were the only way to travel in style.”
Adam stood in the hall and opened a frosted-glass door. “Is this the bathroom? I’m not showering in the hallway. If I have to take a piss, we’re pulling over.”
Eve peered into the bathroom. “I hope nobody ate any beans.”
Viktor climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door. “Drive.”
Since the engine was already running, Shepherd put it in gear and headed out. The jolt from him hitting the gas made Christian lose his balance.
Carol ambled from the rear of the camper and yawned as she unzipped her black jacket. “Are we staying in here the whole time? I get claustrophobic. I need to walk around in an open space and use a real bathroom. When’s our next stop?”
Adam knocked into her as he jogged toward the sleeper. “Is that a TV? I got dibs!” He hopped over my legs and put his hands on the bunk. “How do you get up?” Without waiting for an answer, he stepped on the couch and climbed up the incorrect way. Then he dropped a ladder over the edge. “Hey, Eve, check it out. We can watch TV.”
As soon as she climbed up behind him with their bags, they slid the privacy curtain closed, and the sound of an old movie blared, followed by bickering.
“Turn it down,” Viktor ordered, knocking his fist on the roof. “I cannot hear myself think.”
Carol opened the fridge and found a can of root beer. “Can I have the bed?”
The four of us looked between each other. Christian and I didn’t need to sleep, so it was up to Claude and Blue.
“I’ll go with you,” Blue said, rising to her feet. “I could use some shut-eye.”
“You’re wearing an axe,” Carol said, eyeballing the tomahawk.
“File a complaint.” Blue patted her shoulder as she walked past. “Kid, the axe stays with me at all times. But I’ll take it off. Come on. We’ve probably got a long drive ahead.”
Claude found the cushion for the center of his sofa and was attempting to curl up and get comfortable. That didn’t leave anywhere else for Christian to sit except beside me.
He took a seat to my left and put his arm across the back of the sofa. “Maybe Viktor will let you ride on top later on if you ask him nicely.”
“You only live once.”
“Aye, but when you’re an immortal, you can die a thousand times.”
Viktor turned in his seat and handed Christian a map. “I cannot see the tiny print. How far until we reach Interstate 77?”
Christian didn’t need anyone to turn on a light to see the map. He gave it a firm shake and held it up. “Wouldn’t Route 460 be faster?”
“My contact specified we not go that route. There is a band of rogues who know that Potentials are smuggled across state lines on that highway. They do not know where we take them, but they ambushed the last group and kidnapped the children. No one survived. We do not know how they found out, only that someone on the last team must have leaked information. That is why I’ve taken every precaution.”
Christian straightened the map and studied it. “If I had to guess, two hours. And where do we go from there?”
Viktor twisted around in his seat. “The less you know of the specifics, the better.”
I glanced at the map and quietly spoke to Christian. “It’s not a big state. If we’re there in two hours, we could probably drive all the way across the state in less than four hours. That means we’ll be wherever we’re going by morning.”
He folded up the map. “Unless there’s more to the trip.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Did you ever wonder why he chose a camper?”
“So we’ll blend in with all the tourists?”
“It’s a little early in the year for camping, and we don’t exactly pass for hunters.”
“We can always buy some flannel and camo at the next gun store.”
Christian reached behind us and pulled the shade out so he could see the road.
I just didn’t understand why anyone would go to great lengths to get their hands on these kids. Then again, people who lived outside the law did all kinds of crazy shit. My stomach turned when I thought about the last caravan transporting children to this location.
Not a single one had made it through alive.
Chapter 11
Gem’s lungs ached and burned as she coughed up water. She gasped for air, but the process was like breathing for the first time. Now she knew why newborn babies cried. Expelling every drop seemed like an impossible feat, as if the water lived inside her. With her face to the floor, she retched. Water gushed out, throwing her into another coughing fit. Her throat hurt, her nose burned, and all she could do was sit there and tremble.
“You were out a long time,” a man said.
She peered up through her stringy hair. A man with a broad chest was sitting on a short stool, peeling a red apple. The tattoos on his biceps looked Polynesian, but his features weren’t of that origin. Gem had spent many years researching cultures, and she even knew how physical features evolved through the centuries among a people, especially as strangers began migrating to new lands. His eyes were narrow and unkind, and when he sneered, he revealed gaps between his teeth. Something about his features felt distinctly Mongolian or perhaps Tibetan. His bronzed skin was aged by hardship and not time, so she couldn’t discern how old he was.
She lowered her head, palms on the ground, and coughed up more water.
“Unpleasant, isn’t it?” He gave a haughty laugh. “Young immortals know nothing about survival. You are so ill-equipped and weak that you would have never survived in my time.”
Gem sat back and shuddered. The last thing she remembered was struggling for air in the pool, but this wasn’t the same man who had held her down. She tried to speak, but the undulation of her fragile throat muscles forced out another cough.
The man ate a slice of his apple, watching her with great amusement. “Who am I? Where are you? Right? Let us start from the beginning. My given Mage name is Cyrus, but it is not my birth name. I was once part of a nomadic tribe under the rule of Genghis Khan. We fought many great battles and earned the right to inherit this world. Even as mortals, we refused to die. We drank the blood of our horses to keep from starving. I was a good hunter, but I was an even better warrior.” Cyrus studied his knife for a painfully long moment. “My Creator forced immortality on me, but I turned that curse into a gift. You see, white men know nothing of the seeds they sow with their wickedness.” He sliced off another wedge of apple and savored it. “One day, they will reap everything they deserve.”
Gem tried to figure out where she was, but the room provided no clues. Cyrus was sitting with his forearms resting on his knees. She briefly eyed the sharp blade in his hand before averting her gaze to the four walls. Lanterns hung from them, so this was probably his perverted dungeon in the city. Unless they were in the Bricks. Just the thought of it gave her the heebie-jeebies. That would make escape impossible without fighting off other rogues, especially if this dwelling was underground.
“Nikodemos hasn’t told you about me, has he?” Cyrus inquired. “Very sneaky, that one. He is loyal to no one but himself. Always keeping secrets, even from those with whom he breaks bread. I know this all too well, for Nikodemos once betrayed me.”
Gem swallowed hard and curled her legs beneath her red gown. She couldn’t shake the cold, and her sk
in looked ashen. “Why am I here?” she managed to say.
Cyrus kept his eyes on the apple he continued slicing. “You’re not a good listener, are you? Arcadius—the man who captured you—has a special gift that allows him to use his energy to breathe underwater. Like a Mage scuba suit. Is that what they call those contraptions around their heads? The only way to capture you quietly and efficiently was to render you unconscious. Lucky for us, you’re a creature of habit. Though you haven’t been sticking to your routine these past few weeks, have you?”
Gem thought about her nightly swims. Had this man been watching her? “You drowned me.”
He studied his knife. “Drowning is an illusion to a Mage. Your core light simply won’t allow it. But I can see you’ve lived a sheltered life. Ancients like me have tested the boundaries of our own existence. We’ve been hanged, shot, disemboweled, drowned, and even partially burned.” Cyrus sliced off the last chunk from his apple and ate it.
Gem scooted away from him in case he had a mind to use that knife on her.
“The one thing you can’t do without is your head,” he pointed out. “Just ask that man of yours with all the lip rings.”
Her stomach dropped. “Hooper?”
“I cannot respect a man who grovels and begs for his life.”
Gem’s rage circulated through her body like a fiery cyclone gathering speed. “You killed Hooper?”
Cyrus set the knife down and nibbled on the meat of the apple around the core. The smile in his eyes tipped her over the edge.
Gem cupped her hands to form a destructive ball of energy and drew back her arm as if she were going to pitch him a baseball. But nothing happened. Then she noticed the absence of light from within. She felt as cavernous as the Grand Canyon. “What did you do to me?” Horror swept over her when she thought about Raven’s gift as a Stealer. Had this man rendered her mortal by removing her core light? He couldn’t be using his Mage gifts to suppress her energy. That would be impossible since she was a Blocker and immune to such gifts.
Cyrus tossed the apple core on the ground and spit out a seed. He studied her for a long moment. “I wonder what you might do with that hand if you had your power. Hmm, little Mage?”
