Death Deceives: Book Three (Mortis Vampire Series) (29 page)

By some weird twist of fate, my shadow didn’t particularly want to possess me. If it had and
I’d won a battle for supremacy, would I have ended up completely shadowless? What would have happened if I’d been forced to wrench my original shadow free?

Casting a sidelong look at it, I studied it
without its knowledge. Glumly staring at the Colonel, my clone didn’t seem to be harbouring any thoughts of mutiny. In the back of my mind I wondered if it was just putting on a clever act while secretly planning on turning me into a puppet.

I’d find out soon enough
when we reached the First’s lair and we put my plan into action. Once that happened, our survival would be in my shadow’s hands.

After the estimated two hour journey, our truck came to a stop along with the rest of the convoy of army vehicles. If the First had any sentries posted near his lair, our plan would be sunk. I was pretty sure he would be too arrogant to bother with lookouts. He thought he was secure in his underground haven and that humans wouldn’t be smart enough to figure out his location. If he’d left his cavern of doom at all in the last century, he would have seen just what kind of weapons and technology our food had invented lately. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been quite so complacent.

Colonel Sanderson gathered his troops together
with a few hand gestures. They automatically separated into five groups. Four of the groups were smallish, with about a hundred men each. The fifth group was much larger with over two thousand American and Russian soldiers.

It had apparently been decided that a small group of highly trained soldiers would be more effective than sending in thousands of ill-trained men. Although the cavern was large, the imps would be contained and would have nowhere to run or hide. More troops would be arriving soon just in case our mission went sour. If it did, then they would bomb the mountain and cut down anything that emerged from the ruins. Considering how many humans were reportedly missing, the powers that
be had decided to give us a shot at getting them out before resorting to such extreme measures.

Sanderson addressed his men quietly and they strained to hear him. “
You have all been briefed on your tasks and are aware of the risks involved.” Heads nodded and lumps in throats were swallowed. The sour stink of fear permeated the entire gathering. “We will give Natalie a five minute head start and she will create a diversion.” He turned to me for confirmation.

“I’ll
stall the First for as long as I can to give you time to rescue the humans.” I almost said ‘food’ again but caught myself this time. The men were already nervous enough without me adding to their terror.

“
Teams one and two,” the Colonel pointed to two of the groups. “Your job is to break the prisoners free. Do so as silently as possible. If you are detected, set off a flare and we will immediately launch our attack.” Turning to the second two groups, he addressed them next. “Teams three and four, on my signal, you will unleash your weapons on these monsters.” Each one carried a rocket launcher on their backs. They were already loaded and ready to go. Judging by the way they were sweating and shifting uncomfortably, the launchers were heavy.

“Sir
, yes, sir!” the American soldiers all responded. I sensed they wanted to roar their response but we were too close to the cavern to make that much noise.

“Team five, you will spread out
inside the cavern and fire every weapon you have at your disposal. Do not stop firing until every last one of those ungodly monsters has been sent back to hell where they belong.” The soldiers, a mixture of American and Russian, answered in the affirmative. “Move out!” On the Colonel’s order, we all broke into a jog.

We
’d timed our arrival well and reached the cavern entrance only minutes before dawn was about to break. I settled the blanket over my head and tugged it forward so that it covered my face. The sleeves of the coat were long enough to cover my hands when I turned them into fists.

Eyeing me critically, my clone offered its opinion. “All you need is a scythe and you could be the Grim Reaper.” I muffled the laugh that tried to escape
me. Tension wound its way up my spine, making me want to hunch my shoulders protectively. I thought the description was rather fitting considering I had been named death.

Sanderson stood from the crouch he’d been in and opened his mouth to issue an order. Hearing
multiple heavy footsteps approaching, I hauled him back down again and crouched beside him. “Shh!” I whispered to the group. “I can hear a bunch of imps coming.”

Crouched in tense silence, even the soldiers could hear the approaching group
after a minute or so. Grunts, chortles and gurgles of alien language rang out. So did moans, sobs and cries of pain from more humans that had been captured. “Hurry!” an imp shouted to his brethren. “The sun is about to rise!”

They ducked into the crevice and disappeared from view just as the first kil
ling rays of brightness flared to life. My knees would have buckled at the onslaught of intense heat if I’d been standing. Even beneath the cover of the coat and blanket, it was nearly unbearable. My shadow hissed at the brightness and slid beneath the blanket. It flattened itself down until it was only wafer thin and covered me like a second skin.

Hands gripped my arms and I was rushed towards the inviting darkness. Colonel Sanderson himself
helped to propel me into the crevice. Staggering deeper inside, I leaned against a wall, wincing away from the light that streamed inside only a few feet away. Smoke rose from the blanket like morning fog rising on a pond.

“Are you alright?” the
Colonel asked.

Nodding, I straightened up
and shucked off the blanket and coat. They would only slow me down now. “I just needed a second to collect myself. I’m ok now.”

He eyed me dubiously as
the first two teams readied themselves. All were kitted out with night vision goggles, assault rifles, pistols, grenades and various other explosive devices. I had two samurai swords and my holy marks. I’d never shot a gun in my life or unlife and would probably blow my own foot off if I tried to use one.

Taking off my backpack, I rummaged around inside and pulled out the
last two items that I’d been saving. The heavy metal neckband Emperor Ishida had designed for me would protect me from being beheaded. The fit was a bit snug but breathing wasn’t necessary anymore so it didn’t really matter. The last piece of my suit to be put in place was the red mask. It covered my face from just below my eyes to beneath my chin.

After a surprised double take
, the Colonel indicated it was time for me to go. “You have a five minute head start then my men will attempt to free the captives,” he reminded me. “Good luck, Natalie.”

“Roger
that, Colonel,” I said and snapped him a salute. I caught his faint smile before I whirled around and took off in a sprint.

I’d watched our
infiltrator work his way downwards through the twisting, dark tunnel so knew roughly what to expect. My reflexes had vastly improved after being infected with the blood of four vampires so I avoided crashing into walls. The soldiers thought they were giving me a five minute head start but I knew it would be more like ten or fifteen minutes. It would take them a lot longer than me to work their way down to the cavern of doom.

Slowing down
when light bounced off the walls ahead, I very nearly walked into the tail end of the group of imps herding their latest batch of captives. Stepping back into the tunnel, I waited for the group to become small with distance. My clone stood at my shoulder, taking in the vast space in front of us.

Just
as my dreams had portrayed, huge bonfires cast flickering light on the rough dirt floor. The walls and ceiling were too distant for the light to reach them completely. Hundreds of cages held the thousands of humans that had been captured to be the imp’s food. Again, just like my dream, they had been stripped of their clothing and of their dignity. They were crammed in together, caked in dirt and stinking of their own waste.

A flash of gold caught my attention. Even from several hundred feet away, I could make out the
Comtesse and her remaining retinue of courtiers. Dirty, ragged and wearing the sad remnants of a once beautiful gown, the praying mantis stood beside one of the fires, turning a spit that held a roasting human.

The fact that the
remaining vamps were awake during daylight hours meant they were all at least several hundred years old. Apart from the Comtesse, all of the kitchen drudges were being controlled by their shadows. Hers was sulking with its arms crossed, staring at the army of imps jealously. Apparently, it didn’t like being a slave and left the task up to its host.

My satisfaction at seeing
the praying mantis reduced to a kitchen maid faded at the sight of the poor roasting human. I could tell by the small size that it was just a child. If I didn’t put an end to the First, more helpless waifs would be spitted, cooked and eaten.

I
turned to my clone. “It’s time,” I told it. Shucking off the backpack, I tucked it against the tunnel wall and hoped it would be safe there. It was nearly empty now but it still held one black suit. I would need it if I survived my encounter with the First and his army.

Wringing its hands, it peered into the cavern doubtfully
. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Its voice trembled with fear that I secretly shared.

No.
“Yes.”
God help me. If my plan doesn’t work then it’ll be up to the soldiers to kill the First.
I was pretty sure none of them had been fated to face the first vampire to ever be created. If I went down then there was a good chance the entire human race would follow me into death.

My last thought as I left the safety of the tunnel was of Luc. He and our friends depended on me to win this battle.
Eventually, their shadows would rise and they would be called to the First as well. Once that happened they would be turned into imp clones and would cease to be themselves. I was their only hope.

Stepping into the cavern, I had trouble seeing through my dark clone. It had turned itself into a slump shouldered, hulking shape that no longer resembled my vampire form at all. Peering through a veil of blackness, I shambled along, trying not to trip over rocks.

“Keep up!”
the shadow hissed and I hurried forward a couple of steps.

“Slow down a bit
. This isn’t a race,” I hissed back. When it dropped its speed, my job of pretending to be possessed became easier.

We skirted around the bonfires, avoiding the
Comtesse and her followers. I didn’t want to be discovered before I was ready to face the First. I was working up my courage to do battle with him but I wasn’t quite there yet.

Our path took us alongside the caged humans. Up this close
, the smell of human waste, sweat, tears and despair was nearly overwhelming. Against my better judgement, I glanced into a cage as I passed it and spied a familiar little girl. Mirroring my dream, she held her hands up to me, silently begging me to rescue her. Unlike my dream, I didn’t promise her the impossible. If my plan went well, the soldiers would break the captives free. If it didn’t, then she’d die a far quicker and hopefully less painful death than the one the imps had planned for her when the soldiers set off their explosives.

Reaching a wall of grey skinned
, seven foot flesh, I started working my way through the crowd. Roughly half of the imps were lying down, deeply asleep and breathing heavily. The rest were still standing but they were far less alert than usual. Most swayed on their feet, blinking slowly and looking even more stupid than usual.

“Get out of my way,” I said loudly and pompously. “Move it!
Coming through.” Used to the posturing of possessed vampires, most of the imps merely grunted irritably and shifted to let me through. Some eyed my red mask in puzzlement but none of them thought to stop me.

A disturbing number of the monsters had bulging stomachs.
Reminded of how voracious the imp babies were upon birth, I searched for them but the crowd was too thick to see through. Reaching the edge of the mob, we halted.

“Oh, j
eez,” my shadow moaned in my head when we both caught sight of the First. “He’s going to rip us both a new arsehole.”

“Do you even have an arsehole?” I asked it curiously.

“Well…no. It’s just a figure of speech.”

“
We’ll be fine if we stick to the plan,” I thought at it reassuringly while secretly thinking we were both about to die.

Peering through a
narrow gap between two of the immense offspring, I studied the first of our kind. He sat on his bone throne with his chin resting on a fist, staring at his children. As per my last dream of him, instead of being happy that his plan for world domination was finally being executed, he was brooding. His batlike face had shaped itself into a petulant scowl. Long black claws drummed against the arm of his throne.