“How is that going to work then, where are they going to go?” Sirris asked.
Nick looked at Thomas and spoke. “Remember the portal you all discovered last semester on the other side of Bane Lake? Sadie told me you thought it was a way in and out of Drae Hallow.”
“I think Will Bennett was using it.” Thomas admitted. “If they could get there and meet us...”
Nods all round. It wasn’t a brilliant plan and there were more ways it could go wrong than I wanted to think about. It came back to options. We had none.
THE MOVEMENT OF HER daughter beneath the taut skin of her belly made Elise want to cry; or throw up. She wasn’t sure which. She leaned back into the steady warmth of Jorta’s chest. He held her too tight, the heavy arms she loved squeezing her painfully. Elise didn’t ask him to stop. It meant they were still alive for another day.
Did it hurt? Losing one’s head?
Her nails were chewed down to the quick and still she worried them with her too sharp teeth, tasting the tang of old blood when she gnawed too deep. The hunger was back, but she ignored it. Would the couple that took her sweet baby love her as much as she already did? Probably. Children born in the vampire community were precious. Their race produced children but rarely and were highly valued.
A sob escaped her throat. But it won’t be me!
Ab’et paced the small cell, slanting a hard stare in her direction as he moved. His fists clenched and expanded into razor claws as he moved back and forth. The palms when exposed were dark where he’d burned them repeatedly, where he’d grabbed at the live bars and been flung back. None of them were any match for the powerful wards that had been placed there.
“Think dammit, help me figure something out!” he growled at Jorta, yanking at his hair.
“Don’t you think I have!” Jorta hissed back, voice low and choking. Vampires didn’t panic, ever. He was close. Tomorrow evening would come too soon for Ab’et and himself. Elise had until the baby came. She’d be on her own when she gave birth. They’d both be long dead by then. She’d be alone when they took her head. It was more than he could bear.
They were so immersed in worry that they missed the click of the main door until it swung open to admit Mayor Seul. All three glanced beyond him to see who followed, but he was on his own.
Ab’et, never the cool one, charged the bars to get at him with a cry of helpless rage. The shock of the bars flung him back, tendrils of smoke whispering over his hands. He relished the pain and came back, his eyes blazing chartreuse and his nose bare centimeters from the bars.
“Have you come to gloat? To look on the filthy vampires that have sullied your precious valley and dined on its sheep?” he growled, teeth flashing in the gloom. The Mayor hadn’t bothered with the lights.
Jorta and Elise remained where they were. Where was the point in protesting a certainty? Tomorrow they would die.
Lucas stared at the gaunt figures huddled on the bed, his eyes sliding over Elise’s rounded tummy. He gulped. None of this was right. There had to be another way for his conscience to emerge undamaged. Maybe his son had given him one. But it was fraught with risk for him and his family.
“Are they alive?” he asked.
Ab’et stared at him in disbelief? “You want to talk? Now, when none of it matters?”
Jorta and Elise got up and wandered closer to the bars. “Who?” Elise whispered.
“The captives from the mountain. In Wyndoor, are they still alive?”
Elise stared at him until he had to look away from the haunting despair in hers. “Yes. They were when Will Bennett forced us through the portal into this hellhole. I don’t know about now.”
Lucas stared at the three vampires, all hungry, desperate and countless degrees of pissed off. “If you were free, would you help us get them out?”
“Help you! You had better hope we don’t get free; I’ll rip your throat...”
Wham!
The crack of Elise’s hand against his cheek echoed in the small chambers as he was flung backwards several feet under the force of her blow.
“Shut up! I know you think you know everything, but if you don’t shut up right now, I’m going to rip your throat out myself.”
Eyes flashing black, Ab’et snarled and started in her direction. Jorta stepped in his path, the normally quiet vampire’s intent clear. “Don’t think on it. Father or no, you won’t touch my mate.”
Elise turned to Lucas. “You were saying?” she whispered. The Mayor was nervous and she wanted to know why.
“Could you find them? If you were there, could you find the captives and help get them out?”
“Yes.” She ignored the gnashing of Ab’et’s teeth behind her as he fumed.
Lucas nodded and seemed to arrive at some decision he’d been struggling with. Louder, glancing at the camera’s on the wall, he finished.
“Too bad you chose the boulders in the middle of the forest as your temporary home. If you had waited and taken even one more hour, you would have made your home on the other side of Bane lake where it’s easy to hide and safer.” Without another word, the Mayor turned, waving his hand in farewell as he left as silently as he’d come.
All three stared after his departing figure in shocked confusion. Ab’et in a predictable rage, snarled and turned, burying his fist in the adjacent back wall of the cell. Concrete exploded and dust flew under the rage of that fist and the two inch dent in the mortar. Jorta resumed his seat on the cot and buried his face in his hands.
But Elise never moved, staring in suspicion after the closed door and mulling over Mayor Seul’s parting statement that had made no sense.
“WILL THEY FIGURE IT out, do you think?” I asked Nick, for like the third time in as many minutes. I sat on a rock at the edge of Bane lake, dipping my toes into the icy water. Warmer than it had been, though. Behind me, my water bug friend stared at the cool surface with longing. But if the vamps arrived, we wouldn’t have time for a swim.
“I told you, dad gave them the clue, left the door unlocked. I’m sure they escaped. Whether they trust us enough to come here, who knows,” he stated, irritation in the slant of his dark brows as he watched a fish jump, slim silver scales reflecting the morning light.
Off to the side, Thomas and Fern stood talking shoulder to shoulder. He was showing her his bolos and explaining how to use them. Kit had come out of her hiding space and was half on his shoulder and partly on hers, leaning down to sniff the leather-wrapped balls and batting curious paws at the spiked ends. She was mostly visible. I thought it an odd pairing for two unlikely friends. I figured it was even stranger how Kit had decided that Thomas was no threat. I wondered if Sirris was jealous, but she seemed oblivious to the budding friendship.
I watched him stiffen suddenly and turn towards the path to Bitterroot. Kit squealed and her ears went flat as she whirled and dove for the cover of Fern’s shirt, whiskers twisting in a wild blur through the air as she disappeared.
Jorta, Elise and Ab’et walked up the path along the lake and stopped in the small clearing.
“I told you!” Elise chirped, sending Ab’et a dour look.
He scowled. “I believed you. I just didn’t see the point!” he hissed.
Thomas stepped forward. “It’s a good thing you listened to her. You need us.”
“We don’t need...” Ab’et started. Jorta cut him off with a slashing motion of his hand, eyes dark.
“Enough. We’ve done everything your way. But that’s done. I don’t care what you think. We need their help to get back and I’m listening to what they have to say.”
I couldn’t resist speaking up and poking the bear. “Not very grateful to someone who probably saved your life, are you?” I asked with a smirk.
Ab’et pursed his lips but said nothing more.
I could have let Thomas take the lead, but it had been my plan.
“Look, despite what you may think, we’re not the bad guys here. Just because we’re Magicals doesn’t mean we were
a party to what went on in that courtroom. It wasn’t the jury that sentenced you to death. It was another member of your own race, remember that. Can you tell me a similar crime in your own dimension would have had a different verdict?”
Ab’et looked away. “No, we too had strict laws we had to follow and the consequences for breaking them were anything but fair by human standards.” Elise admitted. “That’s all flown by the wayside considering the recent events that removed us from our homes. Hundreds of years of progress, gone in a blink thanks to your Will Bennett.”
“He’s not ours. We stopped claiming him when he tried to start a war that would have led to both sides losing everything,” Nicholas added.
I agreed. “Regardless. We both have something we want and will do almost anything to get. You want to go home. We want you to go there and stop dining on the joggers. Better for everyone. But we want something too. We want to rescue the captives that are held in the castle keep and bring them home.”
“What if we decide we don’t need your help?” Ab’et added once more. I stared at him and ground my teeth. I should introduce him to Carol Shamon.
But if he figured I was in the mood to negotiate anything, he was wrong. I was tired, scared, and sure this was my last semester at Rule 9 Academy when the Council got last wind of all we’d done and been involved in. That was, if the entire Clan of Vampires didn’t make a bid to wipe out our existence for breaking too many of their strict laws to count.
“Fine then. Stay here and die. We can’t help you anymore.” I looked at everyone else. “Let’s go. I believe we can make the portal into Wyndoor by nightfall if we hurry. We should probably go in at night, increase our chances of remaining hidden til we know what we’re going into.” I started off towards the small wooded path that came out on the east wall of the valley and next to the portal key to the inside of Shephard’s mountain.
Sirris, Nick, Thomas and Fern moved to follow without a backwards glance at the trio of vampires who stood still behind us.
“Wait!” Jorta shouted, stepping forward. “Stop. Ab’et doesn’t speak for Elise and me. We would like to hear you out.”
Was there a pleading note in his voice?
I stopped and turned to address him, ignoring Ab’et who stood stubborn and fuming.
“We’re going into Wyndoor now, we’ll find a way into the castle, through the labyrinth in the dungeons below with or without your help, rescue our friends and get back out somehow without getting caught.”
Elise stepped forward. It impressed me that she held her obvious amusement at our plan to herself. “You know you just outlined about ten ways to die, right?” She nodded to Kit. The only part of her visible was her eyes, snout, and long trailing whiskers that ruffled with every breath she took. “That’s just a baby, she’ll grow into a full-blown Weis Cat. In a pack they are deadly. Imagine a herd of invisible ghosts with teeth and claws. You can’t see them until it’s too late. And they are the nicest thing you’re going to meet there. Remember the Juggat Dragon? Imagine six of them as they hunt in packs. They can smell fresh meat a mile away and they don’t care what time of day it is. And even us, other vampires. They have chased us from our homes where we could pretend we were refined and led civilized lives with rules and laws. Now we live like barbarians and we’ve forgotten how to use a cup. And we’re hungry. You won’t make it a mile without us. You need us Sadie Cross.”
She had only admitted to what I already knew. I stepped forward unexpectedly and grasped her hands in mine and squeezed. “We do need you Elise. We need you to get us to that castle safely. Somehow we have to make our way down into those dungeons without getting ourselves killed, and then you have to show us the way so we don’t become the next hunt for sport down there. Help us rescue our friends and family and see them home safe.” She squeezed my hands back.
“Getting back home is my number one priority, Sadie. Even if it isn’t any safer than here right now.
Ab’et stepped forward then. I didn’t miss the crafty gleam in his eyes when he smiled. “I’m sorry. I’ve been wrong to be such a stubborn fool. We’ll do it your way. We’ll help you.”
I stared at him, and my natural born lie detector started jangling screaming meemies. I stepped back and addressed them all. “Agreed, we need your help. But we also need to make sure you keep your end of the bargain. That’s why Nick, Thomas, and I and you Jorta, and Ab’et, will all team up and go through into the other dimension.” I looked apologetically at Elise, whose eyes were already growing wide with panic. She knew what was coming.
“Fern and Sirris, you need to stay behind with Elise. Make your way to the portal inside Bane Forest and wait for us to come out. When we return with the hostages, the three of us will return Elise to the other portal and send her through.” I looked at Ab’et, whose eyes were flaring with rage. “You can wait for her there. That way, I know we’re all on the same page and we can ‘trust’ each other to do what we promise.”
“How do we know we can trust you to keep your word?” he snarled at me. My smile back was icy. “You don’t, you’ll just have to take my word on it, won’t you?”
He opened his mouth to speak and I knew I wasn’t going to like the blast of enraged vampire.
Before he could, Elise spoke up. “Agreed. Let’s do it and get it over with. I’m not getting any less pregnant here.”
Jorta opened his mouth to complain. Elise put her hand on his chest.
“No Jorta, it has to be this way. I would only slow you down in doing what you must. You can move faster without me. I’ll be safe here as long as I remain hidden on the mountain until you come back for me. Go help them get their families back, and then...” she placed his enormous hand over the rolling mound of her stomach. “... come back for yours.” She murmured.
The two of them shared a warm look. Jorta bent down and kissed her lightly on the brow and gave Sirris and Fern a worried frown. “Hide, do nothing foolish. Wait for us. We’ll be back.”
Fern who had been quiet stepped forward. “I don’t like it, Sadie. You don’t know where the portal is, not exactly, and you’re going to need me in there.”
“You’re right. But we also need someone out here to watch over Elise and to monitor that other portal. If anything happens to it, we’ll be stuck where we are with no way back. And I do know where it is. You watched Kit come out of it, remember? We need another bomb to prevent anything else from coming through once we’re done, and I need you to go with Sirris to get it. I don’t know about you but I’ve seen all the surprises entering Drae Hallow I care to. I’m only two semesters into school here and I’ve lost track of the number of ways I’ve almost died.
Sirris stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. I gave her one back in surprise. She whispered in my ear as she snatched me up. “I’m visiting daddy, aren’t I?” she asked. Then, “Stay safe, Sadie Cross. Ours is a friendship that’s just getting started.”
She stood back and I looked to Jorta and Ab’et. “Ready?”
Jorta nodded and joined Thomas. Ab’et never moved. One brief nod was all I received. Uh oh, that one was going to be trouble.
The five of us stood at the east wall portal and Thomas spun the pattern to unlock the door. I looked back at the three girls, watching us leave. We weren’t the only ones heading into danger. I would have worried less if I knew they were staying in one place. But like us, they had places to go and a job to do.
The door whirred open at my back and I turned to follow Thomas. Nick, Jorta and Ab’et came behind. Thomas broke into a jog along the length of the corridor and the rest of us picked up the pace to match. This was the first time we’d taken this passage and we weren’t sure how long it would take us or exactly where it would bring us out on the mountain. We wanted to make the entrance to Wyndoor before dark.
I adjusted my bow higher on my back and cinched the straps to my pack tighter. We had gone little more than a quarter of a mile when Thomas halted, causing the rest of us to apply the brake
s. By the time we’d all stopped, he was already spinning the pattern to clear the way to the outside of Shephard’s Mountain.
We stepped out to a patch of wet sand and a damp mist that coated our faces and blurred our vision. The thunder of the falls reached our ears and I looked out through a curtain of water to the open air beyond. We’d come out behind the waterfalls. A warmth at our back made me turn and I realized that we really stood in the entrance to another cave. Warm steam drifted from the mouth and I realized I’d discovered Sirris hot springs. Another time I would have liked to explore it further. But for now, we all followed Thomas, who had found the trail leading out and topside of the cliffs. We were less than a mile from the briar patch, and the portal into the other dimension.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
We followed Thomas as he wound around the side of the trail and up the narrow edge topside. We came out less than a hundred yards from the hidden ledge that led to the cave where we’d done battle with the Demon wolves the previous semester and pushed Will Bennett through into the other dimension of Wyndoor. Before, we’d always taken the West-side portal and added at least an hour to our journey.
I glanced behind as Jorta and Ab’et looked around. This was their first time on this side of the mountain and I couldn’t fault their curiosity. Besides, I didn’t figure they were any kind of flight risk; they had as much to lose here as we did. Maybe more.
We reached the briar patch and everyone paused as I pushed my way past Thomas to the front. We were well into spring and the old growth was rapidly being replaced with the new. In little more than six weeks these bushes would be heavy with dark succulent fruit, perfect for raspberry jam and pie. But given what this thorny patch of greenery represented; I was sure I’d never look at blackberry freezer jam the same way again.
I nodded. “This way.” I took the path left, picking my way around low hanging vines and fresh greenery. On the North end of the patch I stopped and crouched low, pushing the bushy fresh growth aside and looking beneath and into the heart of the brambles.
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