Empire of Blood (Book 2): Fading In Darkness (23 page)

In the middle of nearly choking on his own vomit, Toby couldn't
unhear
the squealing torturous screams that came from Dustin as they did whatever it was they were doing to his wound. Jonathan was trying to talk over the sounds Dustin was making.

"
It's
okay, Dustin. We have to do this to keep infection from spreading. Please hold still.
Jolie's
almost done." The blowtorch went out and all that was left was the sad weeping moans of a child coming from Dustin as he pushed at the two adversaries trying to wrap something around his neck. Toby called out for him and Dustin became distracted just long enough for Jonathan to grab hold of him and let
Jolie
finish dressing the wound with
a thick
tan gauze.

Watching Dustin in this condition sent a ripple of fear through Toby that nearly sent him to his knees. Dustin was a strong man, one Toby had looked up to as far back as he could remember. It's a staggering thing to see as a child when your role model is crushed down to their weakest parts and unable to fend for themselves.
The cold splash of tears against his arm made Toby jump.
He watched as Dustin slowly rocked back and forth, eyes scrunched shut and mouth bubbled up like a baby's first cry.

Chapter 33

Echoes of War

Hank watched from the other side of the huge cavern as the vampires and the
Foederati
finished planning. He knew he should be paying attention, that he should be doing his part to help, but none of it mattered to him as long as Toby's life was in danger. From time to time,
Ishan
would send his red glaring eyes in Hank's direction. And it was all
Hank
could do to sustain that gaze. He didn't have the strength to anyway. And what did it matter if he did.

When they were spreading out and saying their goodbyes, Hank waited patiently in the same spot he'd been watching them from. Many of the
Foederati
had given him solemn looks and one of them had even nodded at him. They knew him. At least they thought they did. Hank thought of the message he'd gotten loud and clear from them on the way to the airport.
The old man.

It took a while, but when they were finally gone, Hank made his way to the Queen's quarters. And when he was just outside of the entrance, he heard the familiar sounds of sex. He would have been surprised that his other senses hadn’t caught it first, but lately the more his eyes and ears had healed, the more that other vision had faded away. His sense of manners tried to hold him back, but his overwhelming worry for his child won out. Without a word or a knock he stepped into the room.

Ishan
and the Queen rolled on the ground, her legs straddling him and their faces wet with each other's blood. As they rolled and grunted, the Queen opened her eyes and looked straight at Hank with no sense of embarrassment or anger. In fact she gazed at him with an inviting passion. It was all
Hank
could do to hold back the animal within him to which she was calling.

He thought of Toby and his resolve returned.

"I need to know how to stop what's going to happen." His voice echoed off the cave walls and
Ishan
immediately stopped, finally noticing Hank was in the room. The next second his naked body was shooting at Hank in a pale screaming blur. But before Hank could even make a defensive stance,
Ishan's
body stopped in mid air as if it had hit a brick wall and he fell to the ground in a heap.

"It is time you learned to share, my love. It is time you understood the significance of the Penitent's place among us."

Ishan
stood crouching, eyes burning holes into Hank.

Hank didn't care about his significance,
Ishan's
grudge, or anything else that didn't help him save his son.

"What can I do to save him?"

"Young one, you should know by now that knowledge is the best weapon against the future. You've already saved my children in the desert, what makes you think you can do nothing to stop what you see now?"

"Because what I see
is
me doing the killing. And I don't understand why."

The Queen let out a long sigh.
Ishan
stood between them still, not quite as tense as he was before, but on alert still to some degree.

"I can't give you all the answers, young one. But what I can tell you is that you will have the opportunity to save your son. Nothing in the future is set. Remember this and you will be victorious always."

"But how do I stop—"

"No more questions, child. The time will come for you to choose and you will make your own fate. Now... if you will not join us then you must leave us."
Ishan
glanced back at her then glared back at Hank. Hank had no intention of joining them. He returned
Ishan's
gaze with the most solemn expression he could manage given the situation but it seemed to do no good. So, with that, he turned and left the room.

* * *

The elevator below the Blue Mermaid came to a jarring halt. Marcus waited patiently for the rusty old doors to screech their way open. They parted to reveal a red sea of a whole new kind spread out all over the floors and the wall of this place. Bodies, partial and complete, lay disheveled in heaps scattered across the whole of the place. As soon as the air hit him, Marcus caught a familiar scent. It was the one he was looking for. But it wasn't. The blood he had tasted before wasn't completely human. This scent had the same flavor but was purely human. Whoever's blood it was, they were closely related to the bare-footed man.

And the bare-footed man was closely related to... Marcus knew
,
he mustn't let his thoughts betray him.
Bellona
could read him here just as well as she could anywhere else. So he closed his thoughts as he continued to search the place for those who might still be alive and able to talk. Willingness wouldn't matter; he knew how to coerce well enough.

He decided to let the strange scent lead him. It dragged him along the main hall until another hallway took hold and brought him to a small room that had been used as living quarters. Someone must have died in this room, though he knew it couldn't have been the one he was particularly interested in because that one's smell was faint. But the sheer amount of blood from one person that caked the floor and the walls couldn't have left them with enough to survive.

Yet no body had been left behind.

And at least one human being had escaped this room alive, more likely two. Marcus was even beginning to doubt his original summation and wonder if perhaps the man whose blood was nearly suffocating his senses hadn't made it out alive somehow as well. There was no way to be entirely sure. He turned on his heel and left the room heading back toward the main hall. That was when he caught a whiff of overpowering fear and turned to see the Imperial soldier waiting to address him.

"What is it?"

"Sir, we've found a survivor. You said to let you know—"

"I know what I have said, there's no need to repeat it to me, bring me to him at once."

"It's not a he, sir. Her name is Megan Rustle. We believe she's the wife of one of the local leaders here."

Marcus merely glared at the officer who took the cue instantly and began leading the way. They came to a small opening in a corner between the main
hall
and yet another hall that Marcus hadn't yet investigated. In the corner, lying like a pile of old clothes, a young woman with bleached blonde curly hair and gray roots was taking deep breaths over and over again as though she were breathing in pure gravel. Her legs were obviously broken and there was a large gash where her shoulder met her neck pooling with fresh blood.

Marcus knelt down in front of her and examined her face. As he looked her over, her eyes began to wander over to his. She had a look of curiosity mixed with pleading.

"Where is the place they call 'the hive'?"

Her eyes went out of focus for a long moment then locked onto his again as her mouth formed a small yet attractively strong smile.

Marcus laughed. "I see. Well, let's see just how quiet you are once I've started to persuade you." He reached down and grabbed
ahold
of her knee just above where the leg was obviously broken and pushed down slowly. Her voice started to rise from a moan to a scream the further he pressed. "Again—and mind you I can do this all night—where is the place they call 'the hive'?" He let go of her leg then and watched as she squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed, begging for the pain to stop in some
monosylabic
nonsense Marcus couldn't quite understand.

"I said," this time he thrust several of his fingers into her shoulder wound and spread them slowly pulling at the flesh and widening the wound, "where is the place they call 'the hive'?" Megan let out a gurgling sort of scream that, when Marcus was human, might have sent chills through his spine. Next he tried tearing the wound further and pressing on the open nerve. But she didn't answer.
At least not with any useful words.

Hours passed as he tore out fingernails, veins, and entire muscles to no avail. Finally he held the long blade that had been sheathed at his side to her eye and brought it closer and closer slowly until he lost all patience and shoved it through her head and killed her instantly. By this point it was maddeningly obvious that she wasn't going to talk. Her body twitched, head bolted to the wall with the blade, as Marcus stood up and brushed off his hands.

There would have to be another way to find the other vampires. They couldn't be far. And maybe, just maybe they could wait for others to return. Though, he doubted he would get a difference in response than what Megan had provided. He'd been staring at her the whole time and just noticed it.
Her one dead eye peeking through into his soul.
He pulled the blade from her head and let her fall in a mess onto the floor then wiped the blade on his tongue and re-sheathed it.

Faint visions from different times throughout Megan’s life flashed in Marcus’s mind.
Particular moments of high emotion.
Nothing of importance.
Nothing that would lead them to the hive.

* * *

The truck was squealing tires as it turned onto
Bourbon Street
. Jonathan let off the gas some then and seemed to be trying to drive more casually.

“Sit down, Toby, you’re going to draw attention to yourself,” Jonathan said.

Toby sat, still pushing firm on Dustin’s dressed wound. He didn’t look good. Most of his shirt was soaked in blood and he’d been sweating profusely ever since they escaped The Blue Mermaid.

Jonathan took another turn, this time Toby didn’t see what road it was, but he got the distinct feeling they weren’t heading toward a hospital.

“Where are we going?”

“The hive.
They’ll be able to help him there.”

Toby wasn’t so sure, but he had no reason not to believe Jonathan. The man had proven to be nothing less than honest and resourceful. The more they
drove,
the more dark and rural the area became. Before long they were surrounded by tall trees, broken down old trailers and houses and large fields Toby assumed were made of swampland. When they were finally at their destination, they pulled up to a clearing complete with several
Darvender
trucks parked in chaotic rows along the edge of the forest. The sounds of morning were starting to trickle to life when they opened the doors of the truck. Jonathan came around to the passenger side and pulled Dustin out from the cab. Dustin’s eyes rolled in the back of his head.

Several men and women peeked up from inside the bed of the truck, then jumped out onto the ground and started to help Jonathan with Dustin’s limp body. A couple of them were wounded themselves but not as seriously. One of the men ran off ahead and before long there were vampires there surrounding them, and helping. Toby couldn’t help but hope to see his father soon. He’d missed him more these past days than ever before. Even when he thought his dad would never come back from that awful city in the desert.

Eventually, with the help of several others, Toby followed as they all were helped into the cave entrance. Inside it was a beautiful site to behold, but he logged it all away as he kept focus on Dustin. When they came to a large cavern, the men set Dustin’s body down next to the fire.

“Go get
Ishan
at once. His healing is needed,” a man Toby did not know said to one of the vampires. Several of them left and Toby did the only thing he could think of to do. He knelt down beside his friend and the closest thing to an uncle he had ever had. He sat there and waited for these people—these vampires to help him. A moment later he found his eyes wandering around the cave until they came to an overwhelming familiar sight.