BloodSworn (26 page)

The vampires were playing cards in a pool of candlelight.

Then one of the vampires smiled. Fangs flashed, and all
three shot to their feet.

A witch near the front flung a spell, but the vampire was
faster, dodging out of the way and shoving the vampire next to him in the line
of fire.

The hapless vampire instantly collapsed.

Swords were unsheathed, but space in the passageway was
limited. It was a bad spot for anything other than hand-to-hand combat. The
vampire must have realized as well and laughed, darting into the tunnel behind
him.

“Don’t let him get away.” Judith barked the command. “And
don’t let him split you up or he’ll pick you off.”

The two shifters nodded and sprinted after their prey.

The last vampire wasn’t as quick, a spell catching him in
the back as he tried to escape. He slumped against the wall like a puppet with
its strings cut, so very life-like it was creepy.

“Is he dead?”

“In a way. The spell is geared to stop the heart, but the
virus is already rebuilding the damage.”

“Why not just kill them?” Drew nudged the nearest vampire with
his foot.

“Death spells cost a lot of money, use a lot of power and
hurt like a bitch. You could just stake it, but its maker will know the instant
the vampire dies.”

“So at the warehouse, no one cast this spell because—”

“It’s too complicated. It needs time to be prepared. The
older the vampire, the faster they can repair.”

“We need to keep moving, people.” Judith pushed them onward.

Everyone was silent, trying to determine if more vampires were
lurking near. They rounded another corner to find the two shifters standing
over what was left of the vampire who’d run. One shifter was bandaging his wounds,
a series of bites and claw marks that went up his right arm. The other sported
a blackened eye, a broken nose, and those were only the injuries that she could
spot from a distance.

The two injured shifters fell in step with the group. After
another hundred feet of tunnels, they ran across the first signs of
civilization. 

Electric lights.

Despite the fact that more vampires could be waiting, her
feet picked up speed. The shadowy darkness was eroding her nerves.

The tunnel opened up to a cavernous room, the lights placed
infrequently in the cave, and she halted on the threshold. Her breath caught in
her throat as coffin after coffin was revealed. All she wanted to do was tiptoe
back the way they came, even if she had to go alone.

The chamber was circular with hundreds of coffins lining the
walls, each stacked one atop of another in roughly hewn cubby holes. The
ceiling disappeared into darkness. There was something different about these
coffins as if the weight of the bodies inside was pressing down on her.

Merrick frowned at her and halted at her side. “What is it?”

“Something’s not right.” She couldn’t explain her unease or
pinpoint what’d set it off.

She was grateful when Dorian returned.

Not so much when Judith followed.

The wolf didn’t call her a coward. She didn’t have to when
her expression said it so well.

Before Dorian spoke, Trina blurted out her question. “Is
there another spell on this room like there was above?”

Instead of answering, he surveyed the room with greater
detail. He finally shook his head. “The only spell we’ve encountered was at the
entrance. What do you sense?”

“Magic. A whole lot of magic, but it doesn’t feel right.
It’s darker. Violent.” It crawled over and coated her like cold, slick oil. “I
can’t smell anything but the vampires.”

Dorian stiffened and signaled to his witches. They grabbed
their stakes and blades, backs toward the center of the room as they surveyed
the walls. The shifters quickly followed. None transformed, but a portion of
them bulked up. Judith rolled her eyes, but drew her weapons as well.

For the first time since the warehouse, magic returned to
her in more than just quick glimpses. It glinted in the room, shining off their
weapons. The lead team used hand-signals and spread out, watching the caskets
with suspicions.

Drew came to her side and stepped in front as if to protect
her, mumbling to himself. “Can’t feel anything but creeped out.”

She agreed. The first team reached the opposite end of the
room without incident. “Clear.”

All eyes turned toward her. Feeling foolish, Trina swallowed
her unease and stepped into the room. Merrick hovered near, so close that his
breath brushed her ear, ready to leap at the first sign of danger.

Nothing happened.

Judith snorted and walked away.

Merrick didn’t relax any. “She wouldn’t have said anything
if she didn’t sense something.”

Dorian nodded and kept up his guard. The rest took their cue
from them, but there were too many caskets to cover all the angles.

When they were halfway across the dirt-packed floor, a frantic
scratching filled the silence.

Like a choreographed dance, everyone whirled.

The sounds came from one coffin first, like mice had taken
up residence, and then a second one started across the room.

Everyone increased their pace. Spooked, Trina half-expected
the coffins to break open and spill the contents down upon them.

“Really big rats?” Drew gave a nervous laugh then gulped.

Trina grabbed his arm and pulled him behind her.

Merrick inhaled, grunting as he caught a scent. “Vampires.”

 
Chapter Twenty-nine

H
eavy
chains encased the coffins, padlocks securing them, but that didn’t offer Trina
any comfort. The noise grew deafening until it sounded like hundreds of them all
desperate to get out and take a bite of them.

Half of the team rushed forward while the other half dropped
back to protect the rear. By the time they reached the far side of the room,
everyone was breathing hard.

Merrick looked grim. “Someone explain.”

One of the witches stepped forward. “It’s a live crypt. They
put insane vampires in here, the newly turned who can’t be controlled and will kill
both vampires and humans alike.”

“A fucking army.”

And they were starving.

No one needed to mention that shifters were the favorite
snacks of choice. Hunger from the caged vampires beat against them, their desperation
to get out obvious in the way their nails chipped at the coffins.

“They lock them away, some for years, to see if they can
gain control.”

Drew piped up. “It would make me lose it.”

“They are supposedly monitored, but most that go in don’t
come out. The virus eventually burns some of them out.”

“All of these are new vampires?”

The witch shrugged. “No, the rest are sent here for
punishment.”

Trina glanced back, horrified by how many vampires were in
one room. “How do you know so much?”

“My brother is in one of them. He came to us, ranting,
raving and asking for protection. Apparently, he wasn’t prepared to follow all
the rules. He thought he could be changed and just go on his merry way.

“Vampires will never kill one of their own. There are too
few turned. They can’t waste even one life. So they bring them here.”

“You didn’t try to stop them?” Trina didn’t understand the
witch’s calmness.

“It’s vampire business. If we interfered, they would have cause
to retaliate. We couldn’t afford an incident.”

Drew scratched his chin, his eyes still focused on the
doorway behind them, clearly spooked. “What woke them?”

Trina nodded to the shifters with the fresh wounds. “Food.”

“But you knew they were there before they woke.” Judith
glared, all but accusing her of something.

“I didn’t cast if that’s what you’re asking.” She’d be
damned if she took the blame for something she didn’t do. “If they’ve been in
there for years, your breathing could have woken them.”

“It doesn’t matter. We need to be gone before someone
notices the noise and comes to investigate.” Merrick stepped between them.

“We’re getting close.” Judith nodded to the passageway. “We
take the second set of stairs. After that, we’re on our own.”

The wolves kept their swords at the ready and led the way. The
upward climb seemed endless, the steps too steep and narrow to allow for anything
other than single-handed combat, which gave vampires the advantage.

Lights from above lit the staircase. Lights meant civilization,
away from the oppressive darkness from the stairwell. After so much darkness,
it should’ve given her hope. It only left her colder. She inched closer to
Merrick, clenching and unclenching her hands, ready to throw magic and protect
him at the first hint of trouble.

Then her head shot up.

Magic was near.

Familiar magic.

Her sister had been somewhere near and recently.

Reaching the top of the steps was anticlimactic. No one
greeted them with guns or fangs bared as it were. The stairs led in two directions.

Peopled glanced at Judith, and she shrugged. “Don’t look at
me. I told you my informant could get us inside. Anything beyond this point is
all us.”

Merrick and two other shifters went a little way down each
direction. Cobwebs covered everything, the dust thick enough to choke anything too
close to the floor. Drew peeked down the dark hallway after them. “Neither
direction looks promising.”

One of the witches snorted. “Did you expect a sign? We’ll
split up.”

Dorian raised his hand, and the sniping stopped. “We stick
together. With vampires, our strength is in numbers.”

“Do you hear that?” Everyone fell silent at Merrick’s words.

After a few seconds, Trina heard them, too. “Voices.”

And if they could hear the vampires, the vampires could hear
them. She crept closer to the wall and noticed it was a latticed alcove where
you could view the room below. People in medieval times used similar methods to
spy and not be seen. It was ingenious really, since a vampire’s vision could
penetrate shadows but not walls.

She leaned forward, curious despite herself. The stone walls
were darkened by smoke. The two fireplaces were great black pits. The floors
were bare, the room dominated by two large banquet tables…with cuffs dangling
from them. Humans scurried around, preparing what could only be considered the
main hall for when the vampires woke. Their freedom shocked her. “None of them
are bound.”

“They are bound by much more than chains. They are both food
and servants to their masters.” Merrick grabbed her arm and shook her when she
would’ve spoken. “They don’t want to be free. Anything you do will only get us
killed.”

She scanned the faces, but after the first half dozen, she
prayed she didn’t find her sister amongst them. Though a few of the people were
somewhat healthy, the majority of them were obviously more food than servant.

There was a desperation in them, a wild hope to be turned.
And each had to know that they would most likely die before that ever happened.

“Look up.” Drew stood beside her, his voice grim as he
stared at the ceiling.

Knowing she wouldn’t like what she found, she followed his
gaze. Cages hung from the rafters.

They were not empty.

People were in them, some alive, others in various stages of
decomposition. A smattering of smells wafted to her, a symphony that made her
glad she wasn’t a shifter with their acute sense of smell.

Trina couldn’t comprehend why anyone would willingly sign themselves
over to a vampire. There was only one possible outcome.

Trina scanned the room again, both disappointed and relieved
not to see her sister. “She’s not here.”

Dorian’s lips tightened. “He must be keeping her somewhere
else.”

Trina glanced at her watch, conscious of time ticking down
too fast. “We only have a few hours to find her and get out before the majority
of the vampires rise, the ones not old enough to remain awake during daylight.
Can you locate her by heartbeat?”

Merrick shook his head. “Too many humans around to pick out
just one.”

“Then we best search quickly.”

Merrick took one stepped back when he paused. Trina inched
closer to see what caught his attention when Merrick’s whole body went ridged.

“Is that him?” The calm in his voice belied the rage that
brewed on his face at the man who dared to threaten what was his.

Trina didn’t have to ask whom he meant. Her childish mind
had built up her parents’ killer into a monster. When she stepped back to the
alcove, she hadn’t realized how distorted her memory had become.

“You saw the girl?” The question was directed to the
remaining twin and part of her was disappointed that he’d survived the attack
at the warehouse. Damned things didn’t know when to die.

Then all of her focus landed on the man next to him. At a
distance, the immaculately dressed man resembled a preppy college kid…from a
hundred years ago. Slim and blond, he moved in a liquid way that had servants
bowing and scurrying out of their path. The intensity in his voice sent chills
down her spine until her blood seemed to slow in her veins and time stopped.

It was him.

The man who’d tried to kill her and would stop at nothing to
get her back.

The vampire King.

* * *

Merrick saw Trina’s pallor and slipped his arm around her
waist to soothe her. It was the first time she didn’t react to his nearness. He
didn’t even think she knew he was there.

The conversation below drew his attention. The remaining
Ferguson twin spoke to the King, looking a little worse for wear with torn,
bloody clothes. Bruises were still healing. “She made an alliance with the
shifters. The last time we clashed, she slipped away with help from the witches.”

“Keep hunting them. They’ll have to head this way soon.”

“The shifter who killed my brother is mine.”

The King waved him away. “All in good time. We need her
compliance first.”

“You have the sister.”

The King whirled, his temper sending the rest of the
servants fleeing in terror of catching his attention. “A sister she’s hadn’t
seen in years and left to rot here for three weeks. One who professes no love
lost between them. A lover would be a more powerful tool.” They stopped by the
door almost directly below them, and Merrick half-expected one of them to leap straight
up into the balcony and steal Trina from his side.

“Find them. Bring them to me alive and in one piece.” The King
grabbed the vampire by the throat. “Don’t bleed her.”

With the slam of a door, the last twin spun away with a
pissed expression on his face that didn’t bode well for anyone who got in his
way. Merrick released his breath when the vampire left to continue the hunt.

“I’m going to follow the King.”

Trina grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaping over the
railing. “You’ll alert them to our presence.”

A growl rumbled in his chest. He wanted to keep Trina out of
the fight, away from the bastard who’d already tried to kill her. It pissed him
off that this King thought to take her from him. “What do you have in mind?”

“My sister’s too valuable to leave out in the open where
other vampires would have access to her.” She didn’t say ‘for now’. They both
knew Eden’s usefulness faded the longer Trina maintained her distance.

“We need to find his private chambers. He wouldn’t trust
anyone else to protect her.” Dorian’s rage bubbled beneath the surface as if
waiting to erupt. Even at that distance, his magic snapped at her, and she
wondered how much longer he could hold it all back.

“He has an outdoor arboretum.”

Everyone whirled at the voice. A vampire leaned one shoulder
against the far wall. A witch swung her knife, and the vampire casually caught
her arm and twisted.

A vicious snap echoed into the hall. The blade dropped with
a clatter, and the woman clutched her broken limb with a whimper. The shifter
partnered with her lunged forward.

But the vampire was quicker, snatching the witch close and spinning
her around, her back to his front. A single nail rested against her throat,
tapping her carotid. Evolution had created those nails to be nearly has hard as
diamonds and sharper than any knife.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“What do you want, vamp?” Merrick kept his muscles loose. His
fangs elongated, and his nails ripped from his fingertips as his beast prowled
to the surface.

The vampire smiled as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
That was if you didn’t notice the way he kept his back firmly against the wall,
or the way his eyes turned such a pure pale blue that they almost glowed in the
dark. “I can get you to the girl.”

The vampire was lean but healthy. He didn’t even smell of death
or decay like the other vampires Merrick had come across, which surprised him.

Must be why they hadn’t sensed him sooner.

Merrick resisted the natural instinct to kill the vamp. This
might be their only hope of getting in and out without a fight, but letting the
vamp live after he’d found their location went against the grain, especially
when Trina’s safety was in the balance.

“Why would you help?” Trina stepped forward, fouling his
line of sight. He pulled her small frame toward him, conscious once again how
delicate she was.