Revamped (24 page)

Amelia squinted, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. My vision was just strong enough to make out a thin, twisting path ahead of us, and I motioned for her to follow closely behind. We crouched down on our hands and knees, shuffling aimlessly down the narrow passageway. The sweltering summer heart had accumulated in the enclosed space, making the inside of the vent extremely stuffy. We crawled along quietly, the stale air around us forcing Amelia to pause often to catch her breath.

Finally, a faint light swept over us from above. Upon further inspection, I found a grate connecting the vent to the top level of the building. Peering through it, I could make out a row of green bathroom stalls. I pressed my ear to the metal, listening for movement inside the bathroom. When I was certain that the room was deserted, I pushed on the grate, first moving it up, then to the side. Bright, fluorescent light seeped through the hole, spilling over us. Amelia recoiled away from its dazzling shine, as I raised myself through the opening. I pulled up onto the grimy bathroom floor, groaning in disgust as my sweater soaked up the sticky water stains. I helped Amelia up, pressing my finger to my lips to caution her to stay quiet. Tiptoeing to the bathroom door, I pushed it ajar, holding my breath as the hinges gave out a small squeak. A group of rogue vamps patrolled the hallway outside.

Viktor must have a whole army on the premises
, I realized, remembering that I had already taken out at least a few dozen guards earlier in the day.

I pushed on the door, shutting it silently. I could easily take on the guards in the hall, but not without putting Amelia in danger. The calm way they patrolled the hallways was proof that Viktor had not yet discovered that we had escaped. I hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible.

All of a sudden, there was a commotion on the other side of the door. A loud, startling alarm blasted through the building. Amelia gasped, looking anxiously toward me.

“We gotta get back into the vents and hide,” I whispered urgently. “But we need to be above the first floor for better access. Crawling through the basement won’t lead us to the exit.”

Amelia nodded and pointed up to the ceiling. Right above one of the large bathroom windows was another vent. I climbed on the windowsill, reaching up to the opening. I was the first to squeeze into the newly revealed hiding spot, pulling myself up, then laying flat on my stomach and extending my hand out to Amelia. Amelia followed behind me, but struggled to gain footing on the narrow ledge. Her right foot slipped, causing her to lose her balance. She cried out, clawing desperately at my arm. I caught her wrist, grabbing it firmly just before she fell to the cement tiles below. She dangled in mid-air, whimpering in fear. I pulled on her arm, dragging her into the safety of the vent, just as one of the armed vampire guards burst through the bathroom door. We held our breath as the vampire searched each stall, silently hoping that he did not look up at the ceiling. When the guard passed underneath the vent, Amelia’s started to hyperventilate, her breath coming out in short, loud gasps. I placed my palm over her mouth to keep her from crying out. Hot tears streamed down her face and over my hand. After what seemed like the longest thirty seconds of my life, the vampire shouted: “All clear!” and disappeared back into the hallway.

As the siren continued to shriek, Amelia and I hurried deeper into the vent. We crawled with urgency, the dusty passageways turning our palms black from grime. My goal was to get us near one of the building exits and out into the safety of the street. Both below and above us, commotion continued. Gunshots rang out on the floor below, followed by much yelling and pained grunting.
Something else was going on and it was much bigger than my and Amelia’s escape
, I realized, but tried to ignore the commotion. I had no desire to stick around and find out what had all of
Dixie Pharmaceuticals
up in arms. My priority was to get us out alive—and quickly.

We crept in the direction of what I hoped was the front door, until we came upon a fork in the vent’s path. Beams of light streamed through the floor midway down the right side of vent, indicating another grate below.

“This way,” I whispered to Amelia, turning to the right.

We followed the light, trying to keep as silent as possible. Upon reaching the grate, we both peered through, the tops of our heads touching lightly. Below us, in one of the small laboratory rooms, an astonishing scene was unfolding. My team of four vampire recruits, accompanied by Sebastian and Ethan, were facing off against Viktor and his rogue vamps.

Sophie was in combat with a large, tattooed vampire. He was a certifiable giant; his massive head was the size of the tiny girl’s entire torso. As the heavy, dark-haired assailant swung a spiked mace toward her, Sophie’s reflexes sent her to the floor. She curled up into a tight ball, forcing the attacker to miss. She clenched her fists, courageously rising off the ground and swinging her foot at the ogre. Her heel connected with the vampire’s stomach, causing him to fall over, cursing in pain. To Sophie’s misfortune, the vampire recovered quickly. He hissed, baring his sharp fangs, and once again, swung the mace at Sophie’s head. Just before the heavy weapon made contact with Sophie’s head, Hunter rushed to her aid. He dug his hands into the large vampire’s side, pushing him out of the way. The slight shift in the goon’s position caused the spiky ball to narrowly miss Sophie’s skull. Together, Sophie and Hunter had a much easier time taking on the vampire. Within seconds, he was on the ground, entangled in the chains of his own weapon.

On the other side of the room, Brooke perched on Seth’s shoulders in what looked like a two-person cheerleading pyramid. Their limbs entwined, they became a unique battle machine. Seth, the big and robust base of the combat robot, used his hands to hold the rogue vamps still, his large frame supporting Brooke while she kicked each of the vampires square in the head. Together, the duo took out three assailants in a row.

Suddenly, Amelia gasped. I followed her gaze, my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach. Viktor held Ethan tightly against the wall, clutching his throat with one hand. In the other hand, he gripped his sharp dagger, preparing to strike.

I need to stop him!
I thought, alarmed, as Viktor started to swing at Ethan. At that precise moment, Sebastian caught a hold of Viktor’s disfigured arm, preventing the blade from making contact with Ethan. Viktor grimaced, swinging Ethan into Sebastian, sending them both tumbling right under the vent.

 “Ethan!” Amelia yelled, pounding on the grate. The metal below us gave way, plunging Amelia directly on top of Ethan and Sebastian. Sebastian’s gaze shot up toward the vent, relief flooding his face at the sight of me. As Amelia pulled Ethan out of the line of fire, I hopped down to join the fight.

Together, Sebastian and I charged at Viktor, attacking with all our might. He was stronger than he had been when I fought him earlier in the day. The bright red smears on his fully-extended fangs indicated that he had recently fed on fresh human blood. Just as Sebastian and I began to gain momentum against him, Brooke screamed. Two rogue vamps had pulled her off of Seth’s shoulders and were holding her in mid-air. A third pressed a gun to Seth’s temple. Sebastian shot me an anxious look.

“Go! Help them!” I yelled as he rushed to Brooke and Seth’s aid, leaving me alone with Viktor.

Viktor smiled a crooked smile. “You really like to play rough, huh?” he leered. “Well, you give me no choice!”

He frantically sliced at me with his knife, failing to injure me, but succeeding in knocking me off balance. I blocked his strikes, for the first time realizing that I was fighting without any weapons at my side. It didn’t matter. I focused all my rage on the monster in front of me, wanting desperately to make him pay for everything he had done.

I was fighting for myself, for my friends, for my father—and even for Aurora.

And I was going to win.

My body filled with a sudden surge of confidence. In three swift movements, I disarmed Viktor, wielding his dagger in my own hand. As he lunged toward me, madly screaming in a fit of rage, I plunged the knife deep into his heart, making sure I didn’t miss my mark.

Viktor lay on the ground, slowly disintegrating into a messy mass of blood and tissue. I shuddered. From my coma dream, I knew that one of his goons had murdered Aurora in the exact same way. With the very same knife.

Poetic justice
, I thought bitterly.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Goodbye, Dawn!” Elisa cried, hugging me tightly as she sniffled into the thin strap of my black tank top.

It was the first week of September and we were standing on the wide marble steps in front of the Scarlet House. The day was clear and sunny, but there was a slight crispness in the air, foreshadowing that fall was just around the corner.

Everything was changing.

I smiled, looking past Elisa’s shoulders, sighing gently as I bid a silent goodbye to the familiar glittering windows and the brilliant animal statues. The beautiful mansion I had called home for nineteen years now had a brand new vampire owner. President Twitbrook’s campaign had won him the position of being my father’s successor. Not that there was any competition anyway. Out of respect for my father, no one else had entered the campaign. Twitbrook’s only opponent would have been Viktor, had our team not managed to derail his malevolent plan of murdering me and running for office.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Elisa asked for the hundredth time that day.

As a reward for my recent display of bravery in bringing down Viktor and
BloodCorp
, President Twitbrook had offered me the esteemed position of Commander-in-Chief of the entire vampire presidential army. I had declined, deciding to permanently leave the headquarters. Without my father’s presence in every corner of the house, especially in his dimly lit office, the magnificent building no longer felt like home.

“Yes, Elisa, I’m sure,” I replied, smiling brightly. “And are you sure that you don’t want to come with me?” I already knew the answer to that question. Though we shared a profound bond, Elisa felt it was her duty to stay at the Scarlet House and look after the young vampire trainees.

“You’re such an accomplished young lady, Dawn,” she said, gently running her hand across my check. “You no longer need your old nanny.” When I opened my mouth to protest, Elisa quickly added, “And to tell you the truth, I fear that President Twitbrook will corrupt those poor little vampire children. He had already announced his plans to replace weapon and combat classes with media training.”

I laughed. Things certainly were changing.

Especially for me.

Over the past few weeks I had been forced to transform into a new person. But I was proud to say that it was a person I knew. One I understood. A girl I believed in. After taking some time to mourn the loss of my father and recover from my showdown with Viktor, it was inevitable that I address my future. The more I thought about it, the easier the decision became.

I belonged in Angel Creek.

When I announced to Brooke, Sophie, Hunter and Seth that I would be joining them as one of the official town guardians, it garnered a full-blown celebration. Today, the four of them, along with Sebastian and Ethan, were helping me move the contents of my old Scarlet House bedroom into the secluded little cottage in Angel Creek. My father had paid for the property when he purchased it for the training, so all it would need to become a permanent home was a minor facelift. Brooke had expressed her excitement about redecorating, and while I was grateful at the offer, I also shuddered at the image of the bright pink house I would surely end up with. Ethan had also pledged his carpentry skills, should I ever need them. He had taken on a permanent position at the
Angel Creek Diner
; his plan was to stick around the area while his mother continued her recovery. Relocating to Angel Creek was the right decision for me. I needed a fresh start and I already knew that I would fit in with the vampires in town.
Plus, having a cute and chivalrous neighbor wasn’t going to hurt either
, I thought, as I watched Sebastian load up one of my large suitcases into the trunk of his car.

“That’s the last of the boxes!” Sophie announced triumphantly as she and Brooke joined me on the steps.

“I was really tempted to throw away all your boring, black tanks and jeans, but Sophie stopped me.” Brooke said, rolling her eyes. “I’m so totally giving your wardrobe a complete overhaul when we get to Angel Creek!”

 “Maybe I’ll let you take me shopping,” I teased, eliciting a high-pitched squeal from the blonde girl. Sophie jumped back, startled by the sound.

“Just maybe.”

Seth and Hunter joined us, holding in their arms an array of my prized weapons.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl with a bazooka for a pet.” Hunter looked both amazed and slightly frightened.

“That’s Kitty,” I said, pointing to the large weapon in his arms. “I got her for my tenth birthday.”

“Too cool!” Seth was practically drooling. “Do we get to play with her?”

“We’ve been revamped, after all,” Hunter added.

He was right. A little over a month ago, the four vampires would never have stood a chance against Viktor and his goons. They had barely even grasped what it meant to be a vampire, let alone understood how to work on a team. But just last week, they managed to not only help me defeat one of the most vicious vampires in the world and bring down an organization threatening the extinction of the entire vampire race, but they also played an important role in saving my life. There was a lot of hard work still ahead of us, but there was no denying that the Brooke, Sophie, Hunter and Seth were revamped.

I nodded. “We’ll get to play with the toys,” I promised the team. “But most importantly, we’re going to train,” I said, smiling brightly.

The phrase
train
garnered a negative reaction. The foursome dispersed toward the parking lot, grumbling and groaning about my impending tyranny.