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I did a running flip, aiming straight for the center, feet wheeling over my head. A two-footed landing, right into the core of the monster, knocking it back as the impact of my weight slammed into it. The moment I felt it whip back, I broke my jump, landing in a crouch in front of it. As I raised my head, with my fangs ful y descended, the creature came racing back for me. I screamed and grabbed the nearest tentacle, attempting to use it like the chain of a mace to whirl the monster through the air.
The thing was both heavy as hel and unwieldy, but I managed to gain momentum and sent it slamming into the wal . At that moment, Wade blurred by, landing on top of the thing. He sank his fangs into the materialized spirit, and an ear-piercing shriek fil ed the tunnel.
I scrambled on top of it next to him, adding my fangs to the fray. The monster writhed beneath us, tendrils attempting to dislodge us, but we were no ordinary mortals, and it couldn’t pul us off.
One tentacle coiled around my waist, attempting to squeeze me, but I just bit harder and the shriek continued.
Wade clasped his hands together and brought them down in a double-handed blow that thundered into the core of the monster. It shuddered. Taking my cue from him, I fol owed suit and we pounded the living crap out of it.
A moment later, the creature began to dematerialize, and within seconds it vanished, leaving us to fal to the floor. I scrambled to my feet and glanced around. No sign of it.
Wade picked himself up and shook his head. “Crap. Is this what you guys do for fun?”
“Mostly,” I said, wondering if it would be back—and would it bring friends?
“No wonder you stay in such good shape. Or your sisters, rather.”
I snorted, but I knew what he meant. I’d never change shape. Not now. Once you were a vampire, you stayed the way you were when you’d died. In a perverse, vanity-induced way, I was glad that—if I had to be a vampire—I looked good and was young enough to retain my beauty. I didn’t admit that much, although I knew Camil e would understand me, but it was true when I real y let myself think about it.
“Come on. We have to get hold of him before that motherfucker comes back with its brothers.
Or Mommy. I have no idea what it was.” That was actual y a lie. Though I didn’t know what it was, I’d figured out that it was some sort of demon, probably another guardian sent by the Demon Underground to replace the shadow men.
I went back to the door and Wade joined me. We searched in vain for a trigger to open it. “So if the catch isn’t here, then maybe . . .” I turned to the opposite wal . “Let’s look over here. There has to be something to open this mother.”
Wade took one section of the wal and I took another. After a few minutes, he whistled. “Menol y, look—what do you think?” He pointed to a smal metal plate against one of the bricks, three rows up from the bottom. It was directly opposite the outline of the door.
“Go for it.” I readied myself, making certain the stakes on my belt were easy access.
Wade pressed against the catch and I heard a faint click. The door shivered and popped an inch. We could push it open now, and I reached out and gave it a quick shove. It slowly opened, leading into a dimly lit passage.
“Come on. The scent of blood is stronger here.” I ducked in, Wade fol owing me. The tunnel was brick and the floor of the passage was lined with cobblestones. I glanced around, looking for the light source, then saw it up ahead. A lantern, hanging from a hook on the side of the wal . There were several doors off this passage, and I had the feeling we were within reach of our prey.
I took the lead, running lightly to the first door, which was off to the right. I peeked in—the door had long been broken in—but it was only a musty, empty chamber. I was about to move forward when Wade stopped me.
“The scent—it leads in here. Can’t you smel it?”
I forced myself to take another breath and yes, there it was. “You think another secret passage?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. We’ve found one . . . why not another?”
As we paused by the entrance, I examined the floor. “Look.” Footprints in the dust—and they led right to the opposite wal . I fol owed them, coming up against another brick front. I scanned the area for a metal plate. And bingo, like clockwork, there it was, this time off to the side. I motioned for Wade to give it a press and when the door opened, we sprang inside, hoping to get a heads-up on our quarry if he were there.
Surprise. The chamber into which we entered was a natural cave, not another room. It looked to be about twenty feet high and was rounded, narrowing at the other end. But stil , a dim light shone through the inky darkness, and lanterns lined the wal s in strategic places, lighting a curving trail through a mass of boulders and cavern formations.
“Notice anything odd about the lanterns?” Wade whispered.
I frowned, staring at them for a moment. Then I saw it. “No flame. They aren’t fire-based. But he was an FBH—he doesn’t have magic. What’s going on?”
We approached the nearest lamp and examined it closely. I realized it was sealed—a sealed glass case—and as I pressed my face to the glass, a face in the glowing light stared back at me.
Inhuman, with slanted eyes and a pursed mouth. The creature had no nose and no real form other than an amorphous shimmer of light. It reminded me, vaguely, of the tentacle monster we’d just fought.
“Crap—I think this is a young version of what we fought out there—captured inside some sort of glass. But mere glass couldn’t hold this thing. So it must be some sort of magical trap.”
Wade shook his head. “Something’s going on here. No normal vampire would have access to anything like this. Especial y a newly minted one. Especially a psychotic one. I have the feeling we’re on the edge of something bigger here—bigger than you, me . . .”
I thought of the Demon Underground. Could they have made a deal with the kil er? Why would they? If he posed a threat, they’d just stake him and be done with it. No, there was something going on that eluded our grasp. I thought about smashing the container, letting the creature out, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t turn and attack us. After al , it had been imprisoned, and it wasn’t going to be happy with vampires. Or maybe—
