Still I paused to the side of the door and closed my eyes. I guided my air element so that it would bring back any information I could use. It was an office and Volod and Drago were the only two Vampires in the room.
“Is it safe, Volod?” Drago said in a firm yet respectful tone. “No one can find it?”
“Of course.” A chair squeaked and I pictured Volod leaning back in an office chair. “Not even you shall know of its whereabouts. I alone will see to its safety.”
I could almost see Drago frown. “Do you not think another of our kind should know where it is hidden?”
“Such as you?” Volod asked and I couldn’t read his tone at all. “Do you believe I should share with you what I have done with our prize?”
“Yes.” Had to give Drago credit. He didn’t hesitate. “I think it prudent that at least one other should have that information.”
“I do not—”
Volod stopped speaking. Through my air magic I could picture his sudden stop and that he was looking at the door, sensing me again.
My heart was going crazy. I couldn’t let him find me.
Keeping my glamour tight around me, I turned and ran. I bolted back down the hall to the ballroom, too fast for him to possibly discover that I’d been there.
Well behind me I heard the door open, followed by Drago’s, “What is it?” and Volod’s reply, “Nothing. It is nothing,” before the door closed again.
I made a point of ignoring the four Vampires and what they were doing to the humans in the ballroom as I passed them and made it to the stairs. It took a lot of pretending that nothing was wrong just to make myself go on. I am a protector by nature and to see innocents hurt or worse, and to be unable to help them, was almost impossible to bear.
The only thing left for me to do here, the only thing I felt I could do, was find out where the paranorms, and possibly more norms, were being held.
It was like being in some kind of maze or rat trap as I jogged around the area where I’d first come in. A library, study, parlor, sitting room, and the enormous ballroom were on that level.
After I checked those rooms out, I located another doorway, this one leading down a level where I found a huge kitchen where several Vampire cooks were busy at work. I started to wonder why Vampires would need such a large kitchen when all they did was drink blood, then decided I really didn’t want to know why.
Next I came to a very large infirmary with a doctor and two nurses but no patients. Why would Vampires who could regenerate need any kind of hospital? It wasn’t like their heads could be reattached. Missing Vampire hearts couldn’t be replaced with a Jarvik artificial heart. I hoped.
Maybe it had something to do with a Vampire’s weakness other than the two everyone knows about. Maybe they could treat holy water and garlic sickness, and cross burns.
Once I left the infirmary I found a set of locked double doors. I sent my air element in to search for me at the same time I peered through the clouded glass in the doors. It was empty of Vampires but appeared to be a scientific research center.
After our last case, anything to do with scientists—even Vampire scientists, maybe especially Vampire scientists—hit too close to home. My skin crawled and I just wanted to get away from there.
Later. I could bring a team in and we’d take care of anything that might need to be done.
Another set of stairs down brought me to catacombs. It was a nest of passages with rooms and recesses, coffins in every nook and cranny.
I shivered. This was where the Vampires slept.
Several coffins were obviously new, others ancient. Some were well-kept while many appeared neglected. I began to notice a pattern as I walked through the honeycomb of burial chambers.
Many of the coffins had an odd symbol on them. I couldn’t read the symbol, but these were the coffins that for the most part looked dusty, old, and untouched, although some were more recent. The coffins probably housed their “dead.”
The other coffins in the catacombs were generally in better shape and likely for their “undead.”
I wondered which coffin might be Volod’s. Now that would be some very useful information.
At the end of the network of burial chambers, I saw a set of stairs leading upward. I frowned. Shouldn’t the prisoners be down here somewhere? A lower level maybe? Prisoners were always kept in dungeons. I should know. I’m from Otherworld which remains in medieval times, disdaining the modern.
I’d searched with my earth magic as well as by foot, and there was nothing below the catacombs. So I went for the stairs.
I headed up.
And up.
And up.
Eventually I realized I had to be aboveground in the pyramid. The walls slanted and the stairs were leading to the center of the structure.
Based on what the outside looked like, I’d expected to be able to see out. But the pyramid was made of granite so thick my elemental magic couldn’t penetrate it. The mirrored surface must be a way to escape detection.
The fact that the walls were made of granite that I couldn’t get through with my magic set my nerves on edge. I’d been locked in a granite room before, with all of my elements taken away from me, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I didn’t care to repeat it. No thank you.
As I climbed higher, I heard noises. Faint at first, then louder. I came to a door. The stairs continued up to more floors above me, but the noises were loudest here.
I listened and reached out with my air magic. No one stood on the other side of the door, close to it, but there were beings in that room. Not paranorms but norms.
Slowly I pushed open the door, holding my breath as I hoped that the hinges wouldn’t squeak or someone would notice a door being opened by, well, by nothing.
I let out my breath as I slipped inside the dimly lit room.
Cages.
Empty cages along with a cage filled with three bound and helpless norms. One was crying, another whimpering, the third silent.
My heart hurt. I held my hands to my chest as I looked at the norms who would be killed if we didn’t save them. Again I wanted to set everyone free, but again I had to remind myself that I couldn’t.
I hated this impotent feeling. I was so used to being a paranorm version of a superhero, able to leap buildings in a single bound—sort of. It was my job to protect those who needed it. A job I took on because I wanted to help make things right in the world.
And this was wrong. So very wrong.
I set my jaw. I’d make it right again. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too late for these norms.
Forcing myself to turn away from the norms, I slipped back out the door and headed up another level. It was silent all around me, but the closer I got to the next floor, the better I was able to sense that beings were there. Magical beings. Paranorms.
When I reached the door I placed my palm against it and closed my eyes. Yes. Three paranorms. I sensed a Sprite, a Witch, and a Doppler. Maybe Vampires didn’t know Witches aren’t true paranorms because they’re part human, or maybe the Vampires just wanted to experiment. Whatever the case, it was sick.
I swallowed and stared at the door. I couldn’t go in there because paranorms—with the exception of the Witch—would possibly be able to see me. I didn’t want anyone to notice me, call to me, or in any way bring attention to me.
No, I needed to get back to Manhattan. I needed to run as fast as I could to the closest town, the closest telephone, so that I could call Rodán.
It wouldn’t be long before the sun came up and I was human again and wouldn’t have the speed of the Elves. I’d have to hitch a ride back to the city if I didn’t get hold of Rodán.
Once I was back, once we laid our plans, we’d take care of these Vampires.
We’d take care of Volod.
We’d get the serum and antiserum back and destroy them for good.
Right now though, I had no idea how.
EIGHTEEN
I brushed my hand
over my belly and looked at my hand. No jagged claw marks remained from the now headless Vampire’s fingernails. No slashes on my hand from her fangs.
The gray dawn had just peeked through the trees and I’d changed from Drow to human behind a small all-night diner. The marks that did remain were the ones in my thoughts, the ones that made my head and heart hurt. The ones that made my stomach ache.
When my skin had lost its amethyst hue and my hair had returned to black from cobalt, I left the cover of the trees for the front of the diner, a shack of a place just off an isolated part of the freeway. It wasn’t going to be easy being inconspicuous since I was still in my two-piece leather fighting outfit.
The steps leading to the diner’s front doors were old and weathered and the diner itself looked like it belonged in the nineteen sixties.
Bells jangled and the warm smells of bacon and eggs made me queasy after last night. Only three patrons and a waitress were in the diner but it might as well have been a roomful the way they stared at me. I hoped I hadn’t gotten leaves in my hair after I said the Elvin cleansing spell that had also mended the few tears in my leathers.
But likely it was because I was wearing a leather half top, tight leather pants, and leather boots. I probably looked like a biker babe and they were checking the parking lot for a Harley with a dude driving it.
I did my best to put my emotions about last night aside and approached the cute little ponytailed blond behind the counter. She wore a pale blue T-shirt with Pa’s Diner on it and faded Levi’s. I thought about the Vampires and how close the diner was to their lair and prayed that she wasn’t going to be one of their next meals.
Not if I could help it.
“I need to borrow a phone to make a call.” I gave a pretend smile when I reached her. The diner was completely silent as she stared at me. I added, “My ride died about a quarter mile back. I need to call my guy.”
The blond blinked then shrugged before she dug into her front jeans pocket. “You can use my cell phone.”
She handed me the phone and I started to dial. “Thanks a bunch. It’s a long walk back.”
“Back to where?” she asked but I already had the phone to my ear and was turning away to talk with Rodán.
“Nyx,” he said when he answered and I heard more concern in his voice than I’d expected. I was calling from a number he wasn’t familiar with yet he knew it was me. “Where are you?”
The blond gave me the address and I relayed it to Rodán who said he’d send someone to get me. Then I told him quickly and quietly as much as I could.
It had been a long night, but I knew I couldn’t relax during the time it took to get from where I was in New Jersey back to Manhattan. Maybe I could unwind a little as I processed what I just experienced.
After what I’d done and seen last night, there was no true relaxation in the near future for me. Not until we stopped Volod and the rest of the Vampires.
Nothing could take away the chill I felt as I sat on the worn steps of the diner to wait for whoever was going to pick me up. As Drow I don’t really feel temperature changes, but when I’m human sometimes they affect me a little more. I think I shivered, though, more from what had happened just a couple of hours ago, than from any chill.
Images of what I’d seen at the Vampire lair kept pounding at my head and I wanted to get them out. The backs of my eyes ached as I remembered the norms being offered up as sacrifices to the Vampires.
Cars and trucks whooshed back and forth on the freeway. A couple of vehicles came and went out of the diner’s parking lot and then a very familiar SUV pulled up near the steps where I was sitting.
I smiled when Adam climbed out of the SUV. Warmth replaced the cold I’d been feeling inside.
“Adam.” I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck and let him hold me for a few moments.
He drew back, then gave me a light kiss before he said, “Are you okay? We’ve been worried about you. Olivia’s been threatening to hunt down Vampires and stake them in their sleep.”
“I know exactly where she can start staking, too.” I reached up and kissed Adam before he could say anything else. “There is so much … so much.”
He hugged me tight for a long moment. Then we got into his black SUV and I collapsed against the seat. Adam started the engine and warm air poured in through the air vents.
Adam touched my chin with his fingers, bringing me around so that I was facing him and looking into his eyes. “Nyx, your tone right now … Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay. Not really.” I shook my head and drew away from him. “This threat is unbelievably worse than what we’ve seen before. We’ve faced a lot of evil in the past, but these Vampires are beyond evil.”
Adam frowned as I continued. “The monster in the Vampires has awakened and it’s out for destruction.” I clenched and unclenched my fists as I spoke. “The world as we know it could change. The world for paranorms could actually end. And norms—if the Vampires aren’t stopped, their world could be a terrifying one.”
“It sounds worse than any of us thought,” he said, his jaw tight, his gaze intense.
“An evil has been released,” I said, and I heard fear in my own voice. “Right now, I’m afraid. I’m afraid for everyone.”
Adam looked at me with deep concern. “I’ve never heard you sound like this before. I’ve never heard or seen the slightest bit of doubt in you.”
“They have the means of destroying every paranorm.” I gripped one of his arms and forced myself to relax my grip. “They not only know the destructive power of what they now possess,” I said, “but I have no doubt they’ll use it if they have to in order to control any and all paranorms to get what they want.”
“Damn, Nyx.” Adam took my face in his hands. “Don’t give up hope. No matter what it takes, we’ll get the bastards.”
I closed my eyes, but when I saw the images replay in my mind I opened my eyes again. “I don’t even want to think about or tell you what I watched.”
Why couldn’t Dark Elves cry? Why couldn’t I have inherited the human ability from my mother?
“I couldn’t do a thing.” My voice came out in a choked whisper. “Not a thing.”
He stroked my hair. “I’ve never seen you like this,” he repeated. “It’s not like the Nyx I know.”
“They’re unleashing their thirst for human blood.” I pulled away from Adam again. For some reason I felt an irrational anger against him, but only for a moment. “I saw three humans taken. There was a frenzy unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Humans will be attacked and either slaughtered or turned into Vampires and added to their ranks.”
I couldn’t stop myself as I went on. “They fear no repercussions at all. And they do have the control. We have to do everything we can to get it all back and destroy it. Everything they’ve taken needs to be destroyed.”
I looked at him and sighed. “I could sleep a whole twenty-four hours.”
Adam brushed my hair again with his fingers. “We’d better get back.” He put the vehicle into reverse and gravel crunched under the SUV’s tires as he started to back out of the parking lot. The weight of it all settled on my shoulders and I wanted to slide down the seat into a puddle.
“What exactly happened?” he said.
“It was a very long night.” I propped my elbow on the passenger door window and rested my head in my palm as I looked out at the passing trees and growing hints of civilization. “So much happened that it’s really hard to know where to start.”
“From the time we left the Sprites’ meeting place is a good place.” Adam reached over and squeezed my free hand, then held it as he brought both of our hands onto the center console. “All the way until this moment.”
His hand was so warm and just having him there holding it settled me a little inside. Grounded me.
I told him all that had happened, beginning at the point where I started chasing the motorcycle after we fought more Vamps outside of the manhole.
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“You chased a motorcycle on foot?” He cut me a sharp glance before he focused on guiding the SUV onto the freeway. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m pretty quick as Drow and I have my air element to push me along even faster,” I said.
“Quick would be an understatement.” Adam kept glancing from the road to me. “I have a feeling this is a long story.”
“You could say that.”
I told him everything. I have a photographic memory, as norms would call it, and I didn’t leave out anything.
As a cop he’d seen it all when it came to violence, so I didn’t feel like I needed to spare any details. Of course he hadn’t seen humans used as hors d’oeuvres before, but by the time this Vampire nightmare was all over, I wouldn’t be surprised if he witnessed norms being attacked firsthand.
“Man, Nyx.” His features looked hard, tough, like a cop about to make a bust. But when his eyes met mine his concern and caring for me was so obvious. “You shouldn’t have taken off by yourself the way you did. You were lucky, real lucky that those Vamps didn’t discover you.”
Automatically I wanted to argue. To show how tough I was as a Tracker. Those feelings fizzled as I looked at him.
“You’re right.” I linked my fingers through his on the console. “Like I told you, I had the cell phone and had planned on calling for backup.”
“This is the Wonder Woman act. It belongs only on TV.” Adam shook his head. “You found the place and you should have come back and let us all go tonight.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. My Drow warrior instinct was so strong that it was hard to back down from being told I should have asked for help.
“You’re right,” I said.
Adam raised an eyebrow. “You’re agreeing that maybe you’re not invincible?”
“Yeah, believe it or not, I am.” I turned my head away from him to look at the dead trees and bushes flying by as he drove. “It’s hard for me to admit it, but I already told you that much.”
Vampires Not Invited: A Night Tracker Novel Page 18
