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But did Jonas know she was here?
They could communicate telepathically, but I had no true idea just how strong that link was. The last thing we needed right now was him rushing into what could possibly be a trap.
Cat, I said. Can you go back and tell Jonas not to move into this place until I give the word? There's something very wrong with this whole situation.
Done, she said, and zipped away.
And me? Bear asked.
For now, stay with me. I'll need you as backup if this all goes to hell. And it would, of that I had no doubt.
Penny was obviously well aware of my presence, but she didn't say anything. She simply watched me. Though there was little life in her expression, I doubted it was
due to drugs or any other method of control. That same remoteness had been evident in Chaos, before she'd knocked me out and run to the vampires.
I drew in a deep breath and then stepped into the junction. No reaction from her, and no attack from the nearby vampires.
Or anyone—anything—else, for that matter.
But that didn't mean there wouldn't be.
I stopped again. A gentle breeze brushed my face and teased the ends of my hair, its touch cooler—fresher—than anything I'd smelled so far in this wretched place. It also had a slightly metallic and recycled smell—something I was very familiar with given the air in my own bunkers often had that same problem when the purifiers were playing up. Vampires didn't need either ventilation or fresh air, so who else was using this place?
I took another step forward. Neither Penny nor the vampires I couldn’t see moved.
Sweat started trickling down my spine. I wondered what would happen if I simply grabbed her and ran... but even as that thought crossed my mind, she said, “Don't.”
Shock crashed through me, followed swiftly by a deepening feeling of dread. She'd known what I was thinking—but how? Penny wasn’t telepathic—her ability to hear both her uncle’s and Nuri’s thoughts had come from the rift they’d all be caught in.
I took another step and swiped at the sweat dribbling down the side of my face. It wasn’t the heat of this place, because with the breeze washing past my skin, it was quite pleasant—or as pleasant as a sewer filled with vampires was ever likely to get. It was fear. Of the situation, and of what this little girl—who was almost as old as me—might unleash. Not so much on me, but rather the man who would move mountains to protect her—to save her.
“What’s going on, Penny? What are you doing here?”
“You should not have come after me.” Her voice, like her face, held little in the way of emotion. And yet there was an odd sadness in her eyes. “Neither of you should have come after me.”
It was no surprise she knew Jonas was here given their connection, but the question was, did the vamps? The nest as a whole should be well asleep, but the ones in the nearby corridors certainly weren't. I could hear their restlessness; could feel the growing tide of hunger and anger. They wanted to attack. They wanted to rent and tear and feed. Was Penny restraining them? Or was it something—or someone—else?
Was Dream here?
“No,” Penny intoned softly. “But she is aware you have come here.”
“Because you told her?”
“No, although it is my place to do so. It was the vampires who contacted her.”
Her place.... Two simple words that sent another chill through me. She really did see herself as part of the den.
“Why would they do that? She wasn’t vampire-born, so why would they obey her orders?”
“She is the mistress,” Penny said. “They have been waiting for her arrival for a very long time.”
Meaning they saw her as some sort of goddess? This situation was getting stranger and stranger. “Does that mean she makes her way here as we speak?”
If it did, then I was going to grab Penny and get the hell out of this place, even of that action brought the whole damn den on top of us. As much as I wanted to end Dream’s madness, Penny was our priority.
“There is no need for her to come here,” she replied. “She will simply retrieve your remains and have them stored until a new lab has been set up.”
That will not happen, Bear said. If you die, Cat and I will get your body out of this place.
