Chronicles of the Uprising (Trilogy 1): Trilogy 1 (17 page)

“Stop that, you’ll hurt him!” Sarah shrieked.

“Do you know CPR?” Mira asked.

“Yes. Do you want me to do chest compressions?”

Mira listened for a moment for the sounds of his breathing, and the faint thump of his heart. Even with her enhanced hearing, both were scarcely audible. “His heart is barely beating…. Yes.”

“But your blood is supposed to heal him!” Panic stole Sarah’s voice.

“It will…. One way or another,” Mira said somberly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sarah shot back at her angrily.

“I’m trying to save him—”

“You’re not trying hard enough. Do you even want to save him?”

Mira had to rein in her annoyance. Sarah’s husband was on the brink of death; it was understandable for her to be a little snippy. At least, that’s what she told herself to avoid snapping the human’s neck for daring to challenge her.

 “Just start pumping his chest,” she said through clenched teeth.

She reopened the wound that had closed in her wrist and again flooded Curtis’s mouth with her blood. “Drink, you bastard!” She rubbed his Adam’s apple and massaged his throat while Sarah went to work thrusting hard on his chest. Curtis’s rib cracked under the pressure, and Sarah jumped back off him.

“That’s normal, and my blood will heal the broken rib. Just keep up compressions. I need his blood pumping, no matter how slow.”

Thankfully, Sarah did not argue this time. Steel-faced, she went back to her task, pumping hard at her husband’s chest.

 Mira was beginning to lose hope, until finally, Curtis swallowed on his own. She ripped open the wound again at her wrist and forced it hard down on his mouth. “That’s it. Drink up!”

Sarah must have understood the relief in Mira’s voice. She relaxed her arms and stopped pressing on his chest. “C’mon, my darling.” The sensitivity in her voice touched Mira on a level she hadn’t known in a long time. This was love. Something she had long been denied, but was still alive in this world.

Curtis swallowed on his own; and again. Slowly, color came back to his cheeks. He groaned and tried to lift his arms.

“Easy there, friend. You’re not out of the woods yet,” Mira cautioned.

“You did it!” Sarah practically squealed with delight as she flung herself on top of Curtis, squeezing him tightly against her.

Mira let out a small sigh. “He appears to be conscious, but I wouldn’t say he’s saved yet. I need to get a better look at his wounds, make sure they are healing.”

Curtis tried to move again and winced in pain.

“Don’t try to be the tough guy here. Just relax,” Mira cautioned again, and placed a firm hand on his shoulder to emphasize her point.

“Look sharp, people,” Lucian called from the driver seat. “The city gates are up ahead. We’re going to need some help up here.”

“He’s going to be fine,” Mira said to Sarah. “I can’t do any more for him now.”

“You’ve done enough. Now, go see what Lucian needs.”

Mira smiled at the human ordering her around. “Yes, Ma’am,” she said playfully, and then turned and headed up to the driver’s seat. “What’s the situation?”

One hand on the wheel, Lucian pointed straight ahead with the other. “There are a few more soldiers guarding the gate than I had anticipated.”

Mira stood and peered out of the front windshield. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but was low enough in the horizon to be blocked by taller buildings. Ahead, she spotted a large blockade. Four tank-like vehicles, similar to the one they were driving, flanked a narrow gated road. Armed soldiers stood in front of the gate, weapons raised and ready to shoot.

“This thing have any weaponry?” Mira asked.

“Roof-mounted gun, I believe.”

Mira looked up and spotted a roof hatch above where Sarah and Curtis were sitting. She didn’t want to have to expose herself, but there was no other way. She could take a few gunshots better than the humans. Before anyone could utter another word, she flipped open the hatch and took to the roof.

No words were needed; Lucian and Mira were on the same wavelength. There was no way to get through the blockade except straight ahead, at full speed. Lucian pressed the accelerator as Mira began to fire blindly at the soldiers blocking their path.

She barely felt the first few bullets pierce her skin – it was the sting of sun’s bright light, even at this late hour, that had Mira gritting her teeth to stop the scream from tearing up her throat. She focused all of her energy on enduring and keeping her weapon firing as they barreled through the road blocks and rolled over bodies in the street.

They smashed through the gate with ease, Mira ducking down to avoid the flying splinters of wood as they continued through.

Even with the city walls behind them, Mira could still hear shots being fired and the shouting of soldiers. The rumble of tanks told her, without having to look, that this fight was far from over.

Mira ducked her head down into the vehicle. “Can we outrun them?”

“In the city, we could out-maneuver them; on the open road, doubtful.” Lucian sounded worried.

“Do what you can, then. I’ll try my best to hold them off.”

She resumed her place, swiveling the gun around, pointing at what she hoped was the tanks behind them. The sun’s light was still too bright to allow her to focus well enough to be sure.

She fired off a few rounds, but heard no sound of ricochet. In return, a pursuing tank fired, narrowly missing her. The sound of the racing bullet broke the air next to her cheek. A few inches to the left and she might have been done for. She could well be immortal, but that did not make her invincible. “I need some eyes here,” Mira shouted. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

Another shot whizzed past her head, parting her hair. “Now!” she screamed, and fired back blindly at the vehicle behind her.

Sarah’s head popped up next to her. “Left,” she called.

Mira inched the barrel of the gun over to the left and fired another shot.

“Down just a hair,” Sarah instructed.

Mira moved accordingly and fired again. This time she was rewarded by the sound of breaking glass.

“Now, quick right,” Sarah instructed again.

Mira adjusted and fired. Again she heard her shots connect, this time clanging off metal. “Did I get one?”

“We knocked one of them off course for the moment. Broken windshield. But you still have another one on our tail. Move to the left again.”

The vehicle behind fired. Sarah ducked down, pulling Mira with her. Bullets whizzed past again.

“They’re still right on us!” Lucian shouted.

“I’m working on it,” Mira snapped back at him. She stood again, taking hold of the gun and blasting off a few more blind rounds at the vehicles behind her.

Sarah stood with her and directed again. Together they worked, slowly aiming and adjusting until one of Mira’s bullets actually hit a human target. She wasn’t able to see it, but she heard the moaning yelp as a bullet took out one of the soldiers.

The sun was sinking lower, and Mira was starting to be able to make out her targets. She aimed to take out the windshield of the vehicle directly behind them. A few well-placed shots shattered the thick glass enough to prevent the driver from seeing. They were forced off course, leaving only one vehicle in pursuit. This one appeared to be lacking a gunman. Its window smashed, Mira looked for the right spot to shoot.

“Slow it down just a bit,” she called back to Lucian.

The vehicle slowed and the pursuing soldiers quickly gained on them. Mira squinted, aiming her gun carefully. She squeezed off a few shots, missing her target. They slowed and backed off, cutting across to the other side of their vehicle.

“Damn the sun!” Mira cursed for missing such an easy shot. “Hit the brakes, make them catch up again,” she called back to her driver.

This time she would not fail. She took aim, watching, adjusting as the other vehicle came suddenly closer. When they were directly behind again, she fired.

This time her shot hit the mark. The other vehicle came to a dead stop.

“That’s it, gun it!” she called back to Lucian. “We’re in the clear. Drive.”

Breathing a well-earned sigh of relief, Mira ducked back into the cabin of her transport. “We did it.”

“Great. Now what?” Lucian’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly Mira wondered if he might break it off.

“What do you mean, now what?” Mira asked. “We’re in the clear. You can relax a bit.”

“Where do we go from here?” Lucian wasn’t letting his guard down that easy. White-knuckled, he continued to stare straight ahead and left his foot planted on the pedal of the vehicle.

Good question… Mira wasn’t exactly sure. “Just keep driving west for now, I guess.” She’d never actually made it to the safe haven. Never knew its exact location either, only that it was off the coast in the badlands once known as California. If it didn’t exist, they were on yet another fool’s errand; but if it did, she might actually finally get the freedom she so truly desired. Then, she’d work on a way to end the Magistrate and share that precious freedom with her other imprisoned friends.

So much was riding on this, she almost dared not hope that it truly existed.

Chronicles of the Uprising: Book 2

Katie Salidas

Thousands of twinkling stars lit the night sky above, a glorious sight Mira had not seen in more years than she could count. Their majesty stole the breath from her chest. Night called her like a siren’s song both familiar and strange. Imprisoned deep under the ground as she’d been all those long years, not even allowed to smell the crispness of night air, the melody had long since been forgotten but never truly lost. More than a delicacy, it called forth primal urges, reaching some long-repressed savage part of her. It was all Mira could do not to pull the vehicle over and take off into the wild, but the trio of humans riding along with her, escaping to safety, needed her to remain on task.

Eyes riveted to the rugged landscape behind them, Mira screened the horizon for any signs of pursuit. The badlands—a mix of ruined forest and parched hard-packed dirt—stretched out as far as the eye could see. Regular monsoon flooding had made the land tough and treacherous. Their transport, not equipped for off-roading, jolted and rocked, banged and bumped as it sped on between gnarled trees and mountainous boulders.

Hours had passed since their daring escape from New Haven city behind the Iron Gate walls, one of the eight human city-states and the westernmost point of the Northern continent. Though there had been no sign of their vehicle being followed, Mira was not yet ready to stop for a break. She had no clue of the capability and reach of the humans beyond their city walls. The last thing she wanted was to give in to fatigue too soon and end up right back where she started… in prison.

Painful memories drove her to her task. Thirty long years she’d been enslaved; thirty years of torture, pain, violence, and bloodshed… all of it under the orders of her human masters. Olivia’s face flashed through her mind. Her former owner. If she’d only had the opportunity to pay the pampered princess back for the vile things she’d had endured. The things she’d been forced to do. Countless vampires she’d been forced to kill. Cold dead eyes of numerous victims haunted her dreams, and probably would for the rest of her immortal life.

Killing had been her way of life. Survival. Kill or be killed. As a gladiator, there was no middle ground. In the arena, by order of her masters, she’d sent so many others to early graves. It was enough to make her hungry for revenge on all members of the so-called human race. The lot of them were untrustworthy, greedy, vengeful, lying bastards.

Mira shot a heated glance toward Lucian. Human. Former Regent. One who had, in the past, ordered the death of many of her kind. At a single turn of his thumb she herself had been forced to end the lives of many vampire kin, ripping out their throats while crowds cheered above her.

And they called
her
a savage. Mira scoffed at the irony.

She should hate Lucian as much as she hated the rest of human society; she certainly had the right to. But not all humans were bad. At least not that one, she reminded herself as her gaze narrowed down his short dark hair toward the crook of his neck, spotting the pulsating artery there. It would be so easy to sink her fangs in and drink her fill. Lucian had once been part of the problem, but no longer. He’d helped save her from her imprisonment. He’d proven his true nature. She looked back to the other two humans in the vehicle – the aging Curtis and his wife, Sarah, huddling together, fighting exhaustion. They too had helped, despite obvious revulsion at her species. Not all humans were the enemy. Not all were evil. Just as she, a vampire, was not evil.

She dragged in another breath of that glorious fresh night air and let it clear away the anger. So many years she had dreamed of freedom, and now she had it. 

She was free. Alive. No more silver shackles. No more tiny cell smelling of dirt and decay. No more fighting for her life in the arena. Sure, they were still in danger, and the humans would certainly pursue her, but in this one moment, she was free. The crispness of that single breath stirred within her the desire for more. Others too should savor this freedom. She thought back to the prison and all of the vampires still trapped within. George, the closest thing she’d had to a true friend. Tegan, her last opponent. He’d been her enemy in the arena and in training, but he didn’t deserve to remain locked behind silver-coated bars. Countless others were still languishing away within the Iron Gate prison. Those poor souls. They needed to know that there was more to immortality than servitude.

“You okay, Mira?” Lucian’s weary tone was soft as a whisper.

Quiet as they were, his words snapped Mira from her thoughts. “Yeah. Why?”

“You just look…” Lucian hesitated as if unable to complete the thought.

“I’m fine. I just haven’t seen the stars in so long. They’re so beautiful.”

Lucian glanced upwards, but his eyes didn’t sparkle the way Mira had hoped. “I guess.”

“Don’t take them for granted. You don’t know what it’s like to miss them.”

“I can only imagine.” He forced a smile.

She couldn’t be too annoyed with him. Living a life of privilege, as he had, wanting for nothing, how could she expect him to appreciate something as small yet significant as the stars shimmering in the night sky? There was a time when she too had taken them for granted. “Nice driving back there.” She hoped the subject change would break the awkward silence between them.

His chest puffed with pride. “I have to admit, it was pretty exciting.”

Mira smiled at the sudden change in his demeanor. She doubted he’d ever experienced anything as thrilling as their escape in his life. “I’ll be honest. I had my doubts we’d make it.”

“Really?” His shoulders slumped slightly.

“Three humans and one half-blind vampire being chased by trained soldiers? Think about it. The odds weren’t exactly in our favor, now, were they?”

“You should give us more credit than that.”

“We did it. We survived and we’re still alive. That’s credit enough. Don’t get cocky; you’ll become sloppy.” She didn’t mean to downplay their abilities, but being a realist, she wouldn’t sugarcoat things. That wasn’t the warrior way.

Lucian’s jaw tightened. Clearly dissatisfied by her lack of praise, he turned away, looking out the window toward the horizon. “So, do you have an idea as to where we’re going?”

“No.” Sanctuary had always been a land of legend. A rumor spread among the vampires wanting to find freedom from oppression. She’d been on the road to finding it once; before she’d been captured. Back when she was just a fledgling traveling with her sire and lover, Theo. All she remembered from those days was that they’d been heading west, toward the coast. “Nor do I know what we’ll do or find if we ever get there.”

“Well, you’re just a bright little ray of sunshine tonight, aren’t you?”

“I don’t like sunshine, and I’m not going to pretend we’re in the clear. We’ve still got a lot of question marks hanging above our heads.”

“We’ve overcome quite a lot tonight. Allow yourself to accept that.”

He was right. She glanced back up to the stars for a moment and let their silvery light brighten her mood. “I’m just concerned about what we have coming up next. Good or bad.”

Lucian gently squeezed Mira’s arm, a small gesture of friendship and camaraderie that felt so foreign. Touching was not something she was used to, and not something she was too sure she liked.

“I’ve been thinking about that as well,” Lucian said. “Assuming we make it, we’ll be in vampire territory. You’ll have to take the lead.”

“One thing at a time. First we have to find it.” Mira hadn’t thought about what would happen when they did encounter other vampires. She’d be reasonably safe on her own, but with three humans in tow, she was traveling with her own personal buffet. Her own kind back home had become near savage over the years in captivity; what would free-range vampires be like? What did they feed on? Assuming they had survived, what had they lived off all of these long years? So many questions. So many new worries. In some respects, this newfound freedom promised to be just as problematic as captivity.

“When we do find it, we’ll need to have a plan in place.”

Mira took a deep breath and gazed back up at the stars, trying to use their light to help her remain positive. “Can we leave the future to the future for now? I’ve not seen the stars in so long. I want to enjoy this simple pleasure for the moment.”

“The stars will always be there.”

“Says the man who’s had a lifetime to enjoy them.”

Lucian sighed impatiently but did not engage her further. They rode together in silence, putting more and more miles between themselves and New Haven’s Iron Gate.