Blinding Light (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 2) (33 page)

I glanced around at my housemates who shared the same deadly calm expression I was rocking. Elation spread with our pending victory. I locked eyes with each vampire, unable to help gloating in their demise.

One of them spat at the ground in front of me. “You will soon die by the Elite. Their army is vast, and you are but one miniscule gnat.”

“That’s what I keep hearing. But I’m a resilient little gnat, huh?”

With their backs to the now blazing house fire, we pinned them between the flames and flashlights. In unison, the Keepers lifted their flashlights, creating a beautiful display of sparks and embers. The entire battle was over in what seemed like an hour.

Although we defeated them, it felt more like a loss than a victory when I glanced at the ground strewn with our fallen friends. We lost eight of our people, and as I met everyone’s bleak eyes, I realized a pair of ice blue ones was noticeably absent.

No!

“Gavin!” I screamed and shouted his name over and over. My remaining allies joined in so our voices echoed across the lawn, over the roar of the conflagration.

I whipped through the trees, desperately searching for signs of him. I reached out my senses to find him through our connection, but it was just as it was when he blocked me. He wasn’t dead. He once told me I would feel it if he were. He couldn’t be gone. I refused to believe it.

I scoured miles of forest but never picked up a trace.

“Did you find him?” Allison asked when I emerged from the woods.

Unable to give voice to my fear, I simply shook my head. “We need to keep moving. You guys get to a vehicle. I have to get to the tunnels and find the others. Maybe Gavin is with them.”

“Lucy!” Max shouted, running at us from another direction. “The garage is engulfed in flames. We can’t drive, but the east entrance still looks intact. We need to hurry if we’re going to make it to the kitchen tunnel.”

I really didn’t want to put anyone else in unnecessary danger tonight, but we were low on alternatives. Without wasting more time, we sprinted toward the inferno and rounded the house to the side that wasn’t yet immersed in flames. Bursting through the door, we were met with plumes of smoke.

“Get low, and follow close behind me,” I yelled.

Stretching my eyesight, I led us through the maze of murky corridors, nearly missing the section of roof that collapsed behind the group. We were almost to the kitchen, when a commotion behind me stopped everyone in their tracks.

“John!”

I recognized Rachel’s frightened voice and shoved my way to the back of the crowd. John’s slight figure was sprawled on the floor with Rachel slumped over him. Her black sleeve shielded her mouth.

“He just fainted,” she explained, releasing a coughing fit.

“Get to the kitchen,” I ordered the others while I bent to gather John in my arms. “I’ve got him. Go!” I shouted when a few lingered to watch.

They hurried ahead, and we rushed to the walk in cooler. I ignored the punched-in-the-gut feeling I got when passing the pints of blood. I was drained and in serious need of nourishment, but there was no time.

Max lifted the trap door to the tunnels and began leading the way down. Smoke poured into the tiny space, and when I descended into the narrow stairwell, I slammed the door shut behind me.

Flashlights flickered to life and lit the way down. Boots clomped across the stone floor at the bottom, and we set a steady but rapid jog. Distant heartbeats filtered through the rhythmic sounds, and hope bloomed in my chest. The others were waiting.

Sophie’s sweet voice came next. “Lucy! Is that you?”

The Keepers broke out in a sprint and enthusiastic shouts at the sight of friends we never knew we would see again. After what we had been through, it was a miracle to just hear their voices again.

When we reached them, a tear-filled round of hugs ensued, but when Helen caught sight of John in my arms, she sucked in a sharp breath. The excitement faded, replaced by fear and anxiety. He was pulled from my arms as someone began CPR.

After an eternity of listening to his faint heartbeat, he released a sputtering, wheezy breath and gulped in oxygen to his starving lungs. Everyone gathered around to fuss over him while I looked past the group to meet Helen’s eyes.

“Gavin?” I asked. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion at first, but panic took root when understanding dawned.

“I thought he was with you.”

I didn’t stay to hear anything else. I raced through the tunnels at breakneck speeds and burst through the sewer system to street level. Panic worked its way through me like a drug. I was a slave to it, tirelessly combing the town and surrounding woods. Each empty second made me more frenzied.

I made about twenty passes through the town before stopping.

My friends shouted my name from the vehicles we had stashed nearby. I hadn’t realized I was standing in the middle of the street. My fingers gripped helplessly at my hair as I spun in pointless circles searching for the piece of my heart that was once again ripped away from me.

“Where are you?” I whispered to thin air.

I got no answer, not even through our connection.

By dawn, we were all tucked into our reserved rooms at the hotel in the next largest town. I pulled my cell phone out and placed it on the nightstand. It died from constantly searching for a signal in this dead zone. I had to borrow a charger from the emergency packs in our escape cars. No one had a signal, and I needed to find a way to get in touch with Gavin. Everyone else had passed out immediately from exhaustion, but my foreseeable future didn’t include sleep.

Deep in my own miserable thoughts, I startled at the sound of knocking. Chef’s face greeted me when I cracked open the door.

“Thought you would be asleep like the rest of them,” I admitted.

“I wanted to drop this off first,” he said, holding up a small cooler. “I knew you’d be needing it soon. Just wanted to make sure I kept you fed.” He winked and handed over the little red cooler, along with an already full thermos of warmed blood.

I gaped at him, torn between wanting to bear hug him and weeping uncontrollably at the thoughtful gesture. I did neither. Instead, I yanked the top off the thermos and greedily chugged the contents.

Draining it dry, I hastily wiped my mouth with my sleeve and thanked him.

“It’s the least I could do after you saved all our asses. Again.”

“Not everyone,” I corrected out of force of habit.

He shot me a knowing look before responding. “You know damn well you didn’t get those kids killed. And they wouldn’t have chosen differently no matter what you said.”

“I know. It’s not my fault, but it’s still hard. I mean… it still hurts.”

“Hurting is natural. If you can feel pain, you can feel love. That’s a good thing. It’s all part of the process. You get me?” he asked.

Not quite sure if I did, I nodded anyway. I think he was a bit loopy from exhaustion, but I understood what he was at least trying to tell me. If I can feel human emotions, I’m human. The usual spiel. Except, sometimes, being human sucked harder than being a vampire.

I let Chef out so he could get some rest and instantly began devising a plan to find out what happened to Gavin. In the middle of pacing the room, my phone buzzed with a text message. I must have gotten service back. Rushing for the phone, I saw that it was from an unknown number.

I almost ignored it to dial Gavin, but the first part of the text flashed over the screen and stopped my heart cold. My thumb sped to open the message.

We have the vampire. If you want him back, meet us back at the estate at sundown.

The phone slipped through my frozen fingers and thumped against the carpet. This couldn’t be happening again. It felt like I just got him back. We barely had any time together before he was taken from me a second time.

Rage filled me, extinguishing any grief. My insides burned with the fire of my indignation. I was murderous, and if the assassins wanted to draw me out this way, it was their funerals.

†

By sundown, the fury had only stoked my flames instead of cooling them. The icy blast of wind against my face offered little relief from the heat in my veins. Branches and limbs lashed at my skin and clothes as I tore through the forest. The sun had just sunk below the treetops when I arrived back at the charred remains of Wolf Creek Manor. I paced the front lawn where the frozen bodies of my allies still lay.

Dipping under the smoldering doorframe, I entered into the foyer. Searching the smoking ruins of the house, I found a linen closet that was mostly still intact and pulled blankets from the shelves. The interior damage was extensive, but on a whim, I checked upstairs, veering left toward my wing but stopped short of my room.

I placed my hand on the door in front of me, getting ash on my palm. Slowly, I pushed it open and went to the closet. The door had been shut, but the smoke still permeated it. The masculine wardrobe smelled of burnt wood, but it also held the smell I loved most in the world.

Taking a thermal shirt out of the top drawer of the built in dresser, I set the blankets down and pulled it over my head, breathing him in deeply. I needed to be surrounded by him now. His presence gave me peace and strength.

Hustling back to the front lawn, I gathered the bodies of my friends, carefully placing them side by side and covering them. Helen was making the arrangements for them regarding funerals, as well as the police reports. I didn’t even want to know what she told them. Once the roads were cleared enough for travel, she would return for them.

The last rays of sunlight filtered weakly through the forest, reflecting off the snowdrifts. A short time later, my skin prickled at the arrival of vampires. Six of them approached from the snowed-in drive.

My muscles bunched into a ready stance. “Where is he?” I called, not bothering with pleasantries.

A decent looking vampire, who appeared to be about 20 with curly brown hair down to his shoulders, stepped forward to answer. “He is safe. However, if you want to see him, you must come with us.”

Of course I must. How stupid was I to think this was anything but a ploy to get me here. Helen warned me again about walking into traps.

To which I responded, “I’m becoming an expert on traps. But I’m still alive.”

Why was I still alive? If this was a trap, why haven’t they attacked by now?

As if reading the questions on my face, the cute, twentyish vamp answered, “We don’t wish to harm you. We only wish to speak to you in a more secure location. There are eyes everywhere.”

Say what?

If they’re hoping to lure me to a remote location to kill me, this was an awfully elaborate trap. Some of my previous anger subsided to make room for confusion. I hated being confused, and I really hated unanswered questions.

Aaannnd, we’re back to anger.

“I think you have about five seconds to tell me where Gavin is before I start stabbing,” I threatened.

The corner of the lead vampire’s mouth quirked up a bit before smoothing into an impassive frown. “Again, we will take you to him, but we don’t want a fight. We should hurry before others get here.”

“What others? Who are you?” I asked impatiently.

“We will explain later. Mr. West is waiting, miss.”

With that simple sentence, I followed them to a car parked on the main highway, and despite my vivacious pleading, they remained silent and wouldn’t explain shit to me until we arrived at wherever it was we were going.

Hours later, I sat buckled into an aisle seat of an aircraft smaller than the bedroom in my old apartment, still with no answers. I was extremely grumpy. The only comfort I got was from huddling down into Gavin’s shirt, hoping these ancient vamps weren’t deceiving me. I didn’t care if they planned to torture me for years to come as long as they let me see him again.

The plane jolted violently from turbulence, but halfway through the journey I felt the most wonderful pleasure I could experience. I felt him. He was anxious but content. And I was getting closer.

A hefty wave of relief coursed through me, and I was able to tune everything else out for the remainder of the flight from hell. Even the rough decent didn’t faze me.

The five other assassins ushered me out of the plain and into the back of a black SUV like dutiful sentries, while the curly haired guy thanked the pilot and climbed into the driver seat in front of me.

He turned to finally speak to me. “We should arrive at our location in under an hour.”

“And where exactly is that?” I pried.

His lips twitched again. “I’d rather not reveal the exact coordinates until we know we can trust you. We can’t risk the others finding us out.”

How odd that a vampire would want my trust. But then, something else clicked into place.

“Wait! You’re rogues, aren’t you?”

His eyes met mine through the rear view mirror, and I knew I was right. I slumped into my seat, the weight of the realization bearing down. I was astonished, but it quickly faded as reality seeped in. They still held Gavin captive. And they were still Shadow-marked vampires, which, by default, made them my sworn enemies.

I turned to the window to pass the time, watching the dark and dreary landscape fly by. It was leached of all color. Snow covered rocks comprised the jagged topography, and we wound our way up severe switchbacks, skating along the edge of a wicked looking cliff. The razor sharp drop-off ended in a frothing, churning abyss. Frost hovered in the air around us, swirling dizzily away as we passed.

Up and up we crept. When we breeched the highest vantage point, a looming structure came into view.

“Whoa,” I breathed. “Bram Stoker called. He says you ripped off his vision of Dracula’s castle.”

Curly hair pulled the SUV to a park in front of the monstrosity and turned to flash a full blown smile. It was so strange seeing a vampire show any sentiments besides hate.

“You’ve never seen the First’s fortress. Where do you think Bram Stoker got his inspiration?”

Ignoring the laid back attitude and twisted sense of humor of the ancient bloodsucker, I reminded myself he was still the bad guy. And I highly doubted Mr. Stoker would have been around to write
Dracula
if he had actually encountered the First’s lair.

The other vampires remained mum as we exited the car, which was just creepy. The frosty bite of the air around me drew goose bumps down my neck. My eyes bounced around the desolate landscape until landing on the haunted house style tower above me.

It was perched on the edge of the cliff that dropped at least five hundred feet to the merciless ocean below. Countless sharp spires soared into the night sky. I sidled up beside the curly haired vampire as we climbed the stairs to the double doors made for giants.

Unease trickled through me at the nearness of so much evil beyond those doors. My body reacted, pumping adrenaline through my chilled veins and upping my alertness level. I did my best to keep the long sleeves of Gavin’s shirt from slipping past my hands.

The heavy door groaned in resistance as Curly pushed it open and held it expectantly. I shot him an incredulous glance, and he winked in response. No other vampire has shown manners like that before. Well, besides Gavin, but he didn’t count.

As I stood, dumbfounded, a throat cleared behind us. “Elias, we mustn’t dally.”

I turned my head to the stern voice and found a tall vampire, with relatively tanned skin for a nightwalker, glaring at the guy next to me. Sensing my gaze, his eyes shifted to me. My eyebrows furrowed with my silent question. Mustn’t dally? Really?

He straightened as I shook my head, returning my stare to Elias.

“After you,” he gestured to the waiting darkness.

The inside wasn’t much warmer than the winter night we left outside. It felt tomblike. “Where is everyone?” I asked, turning back to the others while adjusting my eyes to the blackness.

“At the ball,” Elias offered with a shrug, like that was the most normal response in the world. “Come. I’ll show you to your changing quarters.”

“My what?” I asked, irritated and impatient. “I’d rather you just show me to where Gavin is.”

“In time. Your presence is requested at the ball first. You’ll find a dress waiting in your guest room. Our full staff is at your service to help you with your hair and makeup and anything else you might need.”

Reeling from the strange change of events, I stretched my hearing to find a raucous noise in the distance with the sounds of a string quartet blending with it.

“Look, I appreciate the hospitality, but I just came for my boyfriend.”

As new as that word was, it glided over my tongue with ease. Warmth rushed through me at the sound of my own voice using it freely. He was my home, first and foremost, but I couldn’t exactly use that term in public, so boyfriend it was.

The thought of Gavin only agitated me. I needed to see him to know he was unharmed.

“He’s fine. He is at the ball right now, waiting for you I assume,” Elias hedged.

Despite my growing anger and protests, it was clear they weren’t going to budge. I was in the enemy camp playing their game, so the smartest course of action would be to play by their rules. For now. If anything happened to Gavin, I’d be breaking every damn one of those rules.

After he navigated us through a confusing maze of bland hallways lit only by the candles held in wall sconces, I was standing in a nineteenth century chamber equivalent in size to my previous bedroom. The room was surprisingly warm compared to the dank, cave-like passageways. The hum of a nearby generator fueling the space heaters and lights whirred through the room.

Instantly, I was surrounded by three human women, buzzing around and fussing over my hair and makeup. Elias backed out of the room, shutting the door with a soft click that rang in my ears with resounding finality. I scowled at the closed door and succumbed to my hasty make over.

Just breathe, Lucy. You’ll see Gavin soon.

It hadn’t escaped me that the last person to pamper me in this way was Holly. I missed her and thought of her every day, but the guilt had faded into grim determination. One day, I would find that bastard and rip out his heart. It wouldn’t bring her back, but I at least owed her that justice.