Changeling: Zombie Dawn (22 page)

Come on,
the lycanthrope said, taking Alexa by the elbow and steering her towards the base of the tower. It was clear to them both that Alexa would not need to use her sorcery skills to unlock the huge door set into the tower wall – it was open, no doubt left that way by the vampire when he’d gone out to prey on the human population outside.

Trey and Alexa stood on the threshold, nervously looking into the dark interior. They were about to step inside when a low, almost inaudible groan behind them made them turn, and what they saw made them hurry back in Tom’s direction. The Irishman looked awful: he was sweating profusely, and the side of his face where the zombie had gouged him was distended and had taken on an ugly purple colour. One eye was almost swollen shut, the white surrounding the ins and pupil flooded with blood. The overall effect was horrific and shocking.

Tom waved away their offers of help, but neither of them was fooled by his insistence that it probably looked a lot worse than it felt. Staying close by his side they moved into the interior of the tower.

The layout to this entrance was very different from the one on the other side of the tower through which Trey and Charles had entered. That one opened up into a large chamber, the walls of which were packed with cells. It was where Trey had first encountered the battle-angel Moriel. The entrance on this side was simply a huge square column that disappeared up into the tower above. Stone steps lined the sides, each set made up of about twenty stairs before a small landing turned to its right and the next set of steps began. They could only make out the first four or five stages, the rest disappearing into the darkness overhead.

‘Look,’ Alexa said, walking over to a hatch set into the floor. It was open and she peered down at yet more stairs that led down under the tower. She frowned for a moment, and then turned to look at Trey and Tom.

‘There’s powerful magic at work somewhere down there. I can feel it.’ She nodded into the darkness. ‘That must be where Helde discovered the source of the Shield.’

‘Which way do we go? Up or down?’ Tom asked.

Trey hooked into the smells at the base of the tower, working through the visual trails they overlaid across his vision. That ancient and unpleasant stink of rot and decay that had accompanied the zombies was here too, and it was clear that whatever creature had left that scent had used the hatchway Alexa had found. But the most recent trail painted by that particular odour led up the stairs.

I think she’s upstairs,
he said.
My guess is that she’s somewhere near the top of the tower. That’s where Caliban’s rooms are.

Alexa nodded at Tom. ‘You should wait here while we go up.’

‘Now just a moment, young lady. If you think I’m too—’

‘I don’t think you’re too anything, Tom. I think that we need a rearguard at the base of the tower to protect us against Caliban in case he gives my father the slip and reenters Leroth behind us. If that happened we wouldn’t have a clue he was here until it was too late.’

Tom looked at her. He knew that she was taking pity on him and trying to save him from the exhausting climb ahead. And in truth he doubted if he would be able to make the ascent in the state he was in. All of his joints ached constantly, the pain in his back and legs was becoming unbearable and his head ached so badly that he was finding it hard to concentrate on anything but the simplest of tasks. He also knew that Alexa was posing the offer in such a way that he wouldn’t lose face.

‘Since when did you become this great military strategist?’

‘I had a great teacher,’ she said.

The Irishman managed a smile. He flipped the machete in his hand, catching it deftly by the blade so that the handle was pointing in the teenage girl’s direction. ‘Here, you should take this,’he said.

She shook her head. ‘You’ll need it. As I say, what if—’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know. Caliban and all that.’ He nodded at the proffered handle again. ‘Take it. If you don’t I’ll have to insist on coming up there with you.’

With a little shrug Alexa reached forward and took the fearsome-looking weapon from her friend.

‘Besides, when have you ever known me not to tool up properly when out on a mission?’ The Irishman gave them both a wink with his one good eye and fished around behind his back in the folds of the long coat he was wearing. He swung out a small crossbow, which had been hanging from a strap around his shoulder. It was pre-loaded with a nasty-looking barbed bolt, and mounted on top of it was a device Trey recognized as a laser sight.

The werewolf grinned at his friend, his long pink tongue lolling from his mouth as he did so.
I thought you said those things weren’t easy to fire accurately?

‘That’s true, but you know what they say – practice makes perfect.’ He winked at the werewolf again. ‘I’ll stay here and watch your backs.’ He turned to look at Alexa. ‘It does make sense, so we’ll pretend that that’s the only reason I’m staying put down here.’ The affection he felt for them both was now clear to see in his expression. ‘Watch out for each other, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’ Alexa went to say something but he waved her off. ‘Go on now. Go and get that mad witch and put a stop to this lunacy. Otherwise the next time you see me I’ll probably be trying to eat your brains or something.’ And with that he sank down against the wall facing the entrance, the crossbow propped on his knees, ready to fire.

Alexa was taking another brief break in her climb.

The stairs seemed to go on forever. Flight after flight wound up into the darkness. Occasionally, on one of the small square landings, she and Trey would find a door, but they’d opted to ignore these, Trey insisting that they follow the trail of the scent he was convinced was Helde’s. The ascent was much harder for Alexa. Trey’s huge strides easily carried him up three steps at a time, and he made the climb with very little exertion. In contrast, the young sorceress’s thighs burned with the effort of it, and she needed to rest at regular intervals.

Like the tunnels, this place was almost completely dark. Alexa supplied her own light; this time the orb she held in the palm of her outstretched hand was about the size of a golf ball and threw only a small amount of light ahead of her so that she could make out the steps. Even so, it would shine out like a beacon to anyone or anything looking down from above, so whenever she was forced to stop as she had now, Trey would disappear into the darkness of the higher levels, scouting ahead to ensure that there were no nasty surprises waiting for them.

Alone in the darkness, Alexa’s thoughts turned to her father and the danger he must be in right now. She tried not to imagine what would happen when he caught up with his brother. And then there was Tom, sitting down there alone at the entrance to this place, infected by a member of the undead and doomed to join them should she and Trey fail in their mission to stop Helde. She got to her knees and crawled to the edge of the landing, peering down into the blackness. The light she held did nothing to illuminate the ground level, but she could make out the dim purple glow of light that spilt in through the doorway.

‘Tom?’ she hissed down as loud as she dared. ‘Tom, are you OK?’

There was no answer.

Are you mad?
Trey asked as he loomed into view, coming down the stairs towards her. The sound in her head was harsh and loud, and she could tell from the dark patterns that accompanied the words that he was cross with her.

Look, I’m as worried about him as you are, but giving us away right now is stupid. We’re nearly there! There’s a final door after just six more flights.

Alexa groaned, and the lycanthrope stretched out a clawed hand, placing it gently on her shoulder.
Are you going to be OK? Look, I don 1 know why you don’t just take me up on my offer and let me piggyback you up. It’s not a problem, Lex.

‘You can’t help acting the he-man, can you? No thank you, I’m quite capable of walking the rest of the way. Having come this far, six more flights isn’t going to kill me. I just have to keep telling myself that I’m back at the gym on the Stairmaster and not in a translocated part of the Netherworld heading towards certain death.’ She smiled at him and he grinned back.

Stop being so stubborn. You should be conserving your strength. Who knows what we’re going to face up there. Let me carry you.

She looked up into the darkness and puffed out her cheeks. ‘Oh, what the hell. OK, you can carry me. Happy now?’

He nodded, and as he did so his features became serious.
I just wanted to say before we go on. You and me . . . I—

‘Don’t,’ she said, reaching out to touch his arm. ‘I know how you feel, Trey. I feel the same way about you. Let’s just get this over with, and then . . . well, let’s see what happens, OK?’

The lycanthrope nodded.

‘And I think you should stop using the thought transference spell until we find Helde. I’m sure she’s far too busy holding the Shield in place to monitor for other forms of magic being used near her, but there’s no sense in chancing it, is there? I can do without this if you’re carrying me the rest of the way.’ She extinguished the little ball of light she held, and then reached out in the darkness until she found his hand, slipping her own into it. He knelt down and she climbed up on to his back for the second time that day.

In this way the two of them made their way through the inky void to the topmost levels of Leroth.

The staircase ended in a short corridor that led to a metal-studded wooden door. Alexa climbed down and the two of them approached it, pausing for a moment before reaching out and pulling it open. There was light on the other side, provided by burning torches held in sconces on the walls. Trey’s heart beat a little faster as he realized he’d been in this passageway before. He and Charles had entered it from another direction, but this had been where they’d found the doors that led to Caliban’s rooms and next to these they’d found Gwendolin. Other memories, unbidden and painful, came flooding back to him and he closed his eyes for a moment, doing his best to extirpate them.

As if sensing his distress and discomfort, Alexa squeezed his hand with her own. ‘It’s going to be OK,’ she said in a barely audible voice that betrayed her own fears and concerns.

The lycanthrope nodded. He pointed a finger away to his right and led her up the corridor in that direction.

Trey stopped in front of the door where the trail finished. He could still make out that smell of decay and corruption as it leached its way through and around the door.

‘This it?’ Alexa whispered.

He nodded and reached for the black metal hoop that served as a handle, pushing the door open to reveal the source of the stench on the other side.

Caliban misted, reappearing on the other side of the door that separated the storeroom from the living quarters overhead. He paused for a second, allowing his mind and body to come back together – the moments immediately following a translocation were always very uncomfortable, and it took him a few seconds to quell the feelings of sickness and disorientation that inevitably resulted. Misting was also extremely draining – he had done too much of it already on this hunt – and Caliban felt himself weaken even further now. He was in a small hallway. Before him was a wooden staircase that led up to the apartment. The vampire wondered if he could simply walk up them without one of the treads creaking or groaning. He wasn’t particularly concerned about making a noise, in fact the terror that such a thing would strike into the hearts of the young couple above would be delicious, but it wouldn’t do to draw this out too much. No, he would get into the apartment, feed, and then return to Leroth.

He was keen to leave London now; he had succeeded in the first phase of his plan to bring the human realm to its knees, and had done so in a way that sent a message to his pitiable brother, showing him that he could strike anywhere at will, even in the city that Lucien considered to be his stronghold. He had to admit it – the Shield was a great asset. Helde had been right to insist on finding it. He briefly considered the sorceress and how he had left her, alone and vulnerable, back at the tower. He would get back to her as soon as he’d fulfilled his own needs.

He went to the top of the stairs and reached out to open the panelled door that led through to the living space on the other side.

Jenny Lassiter clutched her fiancé, Matt. They sat together on the sofa, unmoving, where they’d been for the last hour or so. She thought that they must both be in shock. Neither of them had spoken in some time. They just sat, holding each other, staring intently at the window, beyond which the world had been transformed into a living hell.

She glanced at the telephone. Nothing worked. Every appliance had simply ceased to function when that black tower had arrived and the sky had turned into the terrible dark purple firmament which hung over them now.

Even though she knew it would be pointless, she was about to suggest that they try to call the police again when she felt Matt stiffen and turn to stare at the door behind them.

‘What is it?’ she asked in a tiny voice.

‘I thought I heard a noise. Out there.’

Jenny’s heart hammered in her chest. She could feel the panic spreading through her at the thought that one of those undead creatures they’d witnessed running from the black tower into the crowd might be inside the house with them. She clutched at Matt, pulling him to her with hands that shook violently.

She wanted to scream, but her body wouldn’t respond to any of the commands her brain sent to it. She froze.

And then two things happened at once.

The door to the living room flew open, revealing a ghastly, nightmarish creature. It peeled its lips back, displaying a pair of terrifying fangs, and glared at them with yellow eyes that shone with a ferocity terrifying to behold. The look it gave them left them in no doubt that they would die at its hands. And then its eyes darted towards the window, its expression changing from lustful malevolence to one of shock, and then fury.

Jenny turned to see that another of the creatures appeared to have simply materialized out of thin air, this one in front of the window. There was a fraction of a second when the two supernatural beings regarded each other. The one at the window allowed the tiniest of smiles to play at the corners of his mouth, and then said something in a voice so low that it was difficult for Jenny’s human ears to pick it out. She thought it might have been, ‘Hello, brother.’