Santino came to my aid, catching me before I fell over. He knocked me and the soldier still struggling to get out of my grip into the wall, and bounded up after the one shooting at us.
Pain quickly turned to anger. I locked on to the soldier still held loosely in my grip and bit down hard into his neck. His hot blood pumped into my mouth fast, aided by the frantic beating of his heart. Rich and soothing, it washed down my throat and warmed me to the core. The throbbing pain in my arm quickly stopped. I felt my torn skin mending itself and strength returning to my hand. I wrapped my arms around the dying soldier and squeezed as I sucked every last drop from his body. When I let him drop, he was no more than a husk.
I sighed in relief.
“Thirsty?” Nicholas taunted. ”You’ve got a little something on your face.”
“A little.” I smirked and wiped my mouth.
Ariana went white as a ghost. She remained plastered against the wall where I’d left her. Her body shook with violent trembles. I took a step down to go soothe her, but she jerked backward away from me.
“It’s okay, we’re on the same team, remember?”
She held her goddess charm up as if it would defend her. “Stay back.”
“I take it you’ve never actually seen a vampire feed before, have you?” I asked.
Santino stomped down the stairs. “We need to finish this up quickly. There were another two up there. I don’t know how many more know we are here.”
“Agreed. Let’s not waste time,” Nicholas said.
Ariana cowered into a corner, still holding up her charm necklace.
“If we leave you here, the Saints will get you. Like us or not, right now, we’re your best option.” I said, and held my hand out to her.
When she didn’t immediately respond. I turned away. “Fine, your choice.” I knew she would follow. I remembered Fallon’s wary reaction to the first time she’d seen me feeding. I’ll admit it can be a scary sight, but ultimately she knew we weren’t the bad guys and, shaken as she was, Ariana would know that too.
I followed Santino and Nicholas down the stairwell. Ariana’s soft steps creaking on the stairs confirmed that she was in fact following as I’d anticipated.
Below, the dank smell of decay was more prevalent. But there was something else. A warmth I hadn’t felt in over a day. Lysander. His crystal was here. I sensed it, and smiled.
Nicholas turned to look at me with a relieved smile. “We’re close.”
A child vampire can always feel their maker’s presence. Unlike the eerie, hair-raising, eyes-on-your-back feeling that accompanied a strange vampire, a master and fledgling connection was different. A maker’s presence always held a calm and relaxing sensation. Nicholas and I had both been turned by Lysander and shared that connection with him.
At the bottom of the steps was a long corridor of what appeared to be old vaults. They must have been the crypts. To the end of the corridor was a heavy wooden door with a slot in the middle, set just about eye level.
We were spotted by the two men guarding the doors, and they opened fire. I backed up out of reflex and knocked into Ariana. She screamed as she toppled over onto the steps.
Bullets raced past me. I didn’t want Ariana to get hurt. I could take a few bullets and heal; she, however, being human, might just bleed to death before we could get her help.
I dove on top of her. She kicked and screamed for me to get away.
“Shhhhh, I’m trying to help,” I said angrily as she punched and kicked at me.
The shooting stopped at the same time Ariana began spitting out Latin-sounding curses at me, but unlike with Nicholas, they didn’t seem to have any effect on me. I found it curious, but didn’t want to stop and ask why. We had more important things to do.
I stood and turned to see Nicholas feeding on yet another soldier, while Santino bent over his dead soldier, removing weapons from his pockets.
“Why don’t you feed?” I asked.
Santino turned to look at me. His wild gray and black mess of hair was wet with melted snow and perspiration; it clung to his scarred face, making him look like a monster. “You know I don’t feed from humans.”
“You need the blood as much as we do.”
“I make my own choices. I’m not a savage who feeds on anything that crosses my path.”
“Well, you could have at least saved him for me.” Dead blood was no use to me. It turns bad so quickly. I needed fresh live blood from a pumping heart to sustain me.
“I’m not your caterer either,” Santino grunted. He pocketed a handgun and a large serrated knife, and then stood and turned to face the wooden door. After trying the handle and finding it locked, he knocked three times.
“It’s all right, Saul,” Santino said confidently.
Saul? Who the heck is Saul? If he had a friend on the inside, why did we have to fight our way here?
I wondered.
I heard the latch and watched the door creak open, just enough to see old wrinkled fingers wrap around the edge.
“Is that really you, old friend?” A shaky voice, withered with age, spoke from behind the door. “I’d heard you were killed.”
“I’m well. But I’m afraid I’m not here for small talk.” Santino spoke with such unfamiliar affection to this unseen man.
“You want the crystal, I take it,” the old man said.
“Afraid so.”
“Bad business these boys are getting into, mixing with the unnatural. ’Course, you know all about that, being what you are.”
“Please let us have it. We’ll cause you no trouble,” Santino said.
The door opened all the way, and I could finally see the old man who’d hidden behind it. He looked frail, nothing more than sagging skin covering thin bones. A white lab coat hung from his shoulders like an old lady’s cloak. The old man stood with a hunch, and I could see the bones of his shoulders underneath his coat despite the layers of clothes underneath.
“Won’t do me much good to resist, now would it?” Saul said with a cough. “Those boys guarding me didn’t slow you down. I’m not going to do any better.”
“Saul, we’ve been friends for years. I would never dream of harming you.”
I’d never seen Santino speak so kindly to anyone. It shocked me to the core.
Santino actually had a friend!
The old man stepped aside and let us in. “I’ll just take a walk now, and get some fresh air while you do whatever it is you’re planning to do.”
Santino smiled warmly. “Thank you, old friend.”
I walked up behind Santino. “What if he’s going to get reinforcements?”
“As slow as he walks, that will take some time.” Santino smiled warmly, but not at me. He gazed out past the door to the fading shadow of his friend. “We should be well out of here before he comes back.”
I looked around the room. It was deceptively large, with rows of shelves housing all manner of objects. At the end of each row was a placard with numbers written on it. I turned around and saw a desk on the opposite wall. Sets of file cabinets flanked it, and shelves filled with binders and folders lined the wall above.
“Where do we begin?” I asked.
Nicholas placed a hand on my shoulder. “Think. How would you locate his crystal?”
The warm presence was here in this room. I could feel it. I closed my eyes and took a deep cleansing breath. I let my mind and body relax and listened for the pull of Lysander’s spirit.
There. Straight ahead.
I opened my eyes and was staring right at the desk. “There, I think.” I took quick steps forward. The desk was a mess of papers and files. On top of those were what looked like some old scarves and a few decorative boxes. “It’s got to be in one of those.”
Nicholas and I rummaged through them, tossing aside the papers, cloth, and boxes in our wake.
“A little respect for Saul’s work, please,” Santino barked at us.
We’d torn through everything on the desk and still hadn’t found the crystal. “It’s here. I know it is. I can feel it.”
“I can too.” Nicholas widened his search, opening up the cabinets and knocking things down off the overhead shelves.
I turned around to see what Santino was up to and found him wandering up and down the aisles of catalogued items. Ariana, it seemed, had found something of interest. She held an old dusty book in her hands. Her eyes widened as she flipped through the pages.
“Check those lower drawers,” Nicholas barked, snapping me out of my own thoughts.
I did as he asked. The lower desk drawers were locked, but a quick pull using my supernatural strength pried the faceplate off and I was able to gain access inside. I heard Santino behind me, grumbling about the destruction, but I didn’t care. Inside the drawer, wrapped in newspaper, was the crystal. I felt the pulse of Lysander’s energy the moment I touched it.
“Got it,” I exclaimed and stood up triumphantly. It felt so good to hold on to it again. I zipped it up under my coat, and hugged it tightly to my chest. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
CHAPTER 12
Our way out was much easier than the way in, though we did have to step over quite a few dead bodies to make it back to the door. I wasn’t sure where Saul had disappeared to, but he was nowhere to be seen as we quickly made our way out.
The storm still raged outside, providing continual cover as we fled with the crystal and the old book Ariana had found. The thrill of our small victory helped us push through the cold, wind, and snow.
“How long did you say this storm was going to last?” I asked. It hurt to speak; my teeth chattered so hard they made my fangs pierce my wind-chapped lips. My already icy blood felt frozen in my veins.
“As long as the goddess wants it to.” Ariana hugged the book she’d stolen to her chest and brushed past me as we loaded into the van and hurried back to Zuri’s row house.
“Let’s hope we have enough wood to stay warm until her majesty the goddess is finished,” Nicholas said sarcastically. He rushed into the parlor and began stacking logs in the fireplace. It wasn’t long before he had a roaring fire going.
I shucked off my coat, wrapped Lysander’s crystal in it, laid it on the couch, and then took a good seat right in front of the hearth.
Ariana grabbed a spot on a chaise longue to the side of the fireplace. Book in hand, she sat slowly perusing the pages.
Fire had never felt so good. I sat in front of it, luxuriating in the heated glow as it warmed my skin, my aching muscles, and my stiff bones. Warmth was such a delicious feeling after being chilled straight to the core. “I can now safely say I know what defrosting meat feels like. And it’s good!”
Nicholas let out a hearty laugh—the first I’d heard from him in a long time. “Careful. You get any closer, you’ll learn what roasting meat feels like.”
“Ask me if I care at this point.” The heat felt so good I almost wanted to stick my hand in the fire just to absorb more of it. But, knowing better, I stood and stretched, and then walked back to the couch and picked up the crystal. Immediately, I felt the pulse of Lysander’s warmth, but there was something else too. A sense of worry and foreboding. I looked down to inspect it and saw again the clear tip. Not even a day had gone by and it was already draining. It seemed to be happening faster and faster.
“How long did you say he could last in here?” I couldn’t hide the worry in my voice.
Concern played across Nicholas’s face. His eyes softened as he too gazed upon the crystal. “We don’t know,” he said somberly.
Ariana looked up. “This tome is filled with ancient magic.” Her eyes sparkled with awe. She held up the book in her hand. “These pages are covered with so many wonderful spells, the likes of which I haven’t ever run across before. It’s fascinating. I’m certain I can find something in here.”
“But how long will that take? And how much are you going to charge us?” I said with a mixture of anger and worry. Witches never did anything for free.
“I’m in your debt,” she said with a frown. “Instead of leaving me to the Saints or killing me yourselves, you spared me after my coven betrayed you. All I ask is that once I’ve done my duty, you never call upon me again.”
“Had enough vampire business, have you?” Nicholas asked, the snark returning to his voice.
“Werewolf too,” she added quickly. “You all lead bloody and violent lives. I just want to be left in peace to practice my magic.”
“Can’t speak for the wolves, but we’ll let you off the hook if you save Lysander.”
Nicholas gave me a warning look, like I had spoken out of turn or promised something beyond our ability to give. But he didn’t speak his thoughts out loud. I didn’t care what I had to promise. All I wanted was my Lysander back. Then we could return home and live our lives in peace.
“I’ll do my best,” Ariana said. “But I’ll need a little time to decipher some of these spells, and access to ingredients. I’ll have to make a trip back to the coven house for supplies.”
“You’ll leave the book with us for safekeeping while you’re gone,” I blurted out, not bothering to check what Nicholas thought. “For insurance purposes, I mean.”
Nicholas smirked at me. “When did you become the shrewd negotiator?” He turned to Ariana. “She’s right, though. Because of your coven’s betrayal, we still have reason to distrust you, so the book stays with us while you collect your supplies.”
“Fair enough. I’ll need some protection as well. If my high priestess had dealings with the Acta Sanctorum, then they will most certainly know where our coven kept their things.”
“That is something you will have to request from the wolves. If they agree, they can escort her during the day when it is safest,” Santino said. I’d almost forgotten he was there.
He stood like a guard in the foyer, as if waiting for someone to barge in through the front door. He hadn’t even bothered to come warm his hands by the fire. Such strange behavior; but then again, I was glad to have him on alert. His reputation for being an undefeated warrior and hunter made me feel much safer with the Acta Sanctorum so close at hand.
“This is all well and good, but is there anything we can do for Lysander now? I can feel his weakness, and that makes me worry.” I hugged the crystal to my chest.