Dread Nemesis of Mine (23 page)

"Can you see in the dark?" I asked the gray
man.

"Yes."

I looked at his eyes, but unlike most
supers, his didn't glow in the dark.

Katie sniffed and wiped her nose with the
back of her hand. "Oh, god, I'm such a mess. I go all vampire
slayer and then fall to pieces."

"It'll be okay. Just hold it together until
we get out of here, okay?"

She nodded.

Placing her hand on my shoulder, I guided
Katie down what was, for her, a pitch-black tunnel. Her breathing
grew rapid, and I heard her struggling to keep her sobs under
control. It was a fight to keep my own fear subdued as I listened
for sounds of pursuit. We jogged down the tunnel, despite Katie's
blindness in the pitch. She kept her head low and hand against my
back.

Light appeared ahead from a hole. I stopped.
Katie ran into my back.

"Is that light?" she asked.

I heard voices ahead. We had nowhere to go
but back, and damned if I was going to go back. The light from
outside was dim—probably from a street lamp—but it was enough to
make my night vision flicker wildly. A figure dropped down the
ladder, followed by another.

Vampires.

It had to be. They must have already known
about this exit. Amanda could have radioed ahead to cut us off. If
they wanted to take me back in, they'd pay dearly for it.

I took Katie's hand and transferred it.
"Katie, hang on to the golem."

"But—"

I didn't listen. I launched myself at the
shadow ahead. Crashed into it. A female yelled in surprise. I
bulldozed her back into the one following her, roaring like a
crazed beast. I had to get up the ladder. Had to escape.

The first vampire gripped my neck. I punched
her in what felt like the face.

"Oh dear, what's going on down there?" said
a very familiar voice.

I reared back my fist again just as a bright
light illuminated the person I straddled. I caught a glimpse of
Fausta's face just before her fist eclipsed it and slammed me
against the ceiling. I thudded face down in the dirt.

"Justin?"

"Elyssa?" I woozily crawled forward and saw
her lying beneath Fausta.

"Oh, god!" Tears sprang into her eyes. "It's
Justin!"

Elyssa tried to get around Fausta, but the
tunnel was too tight.

"Ugh, can't you wait to get aboveground
before getting all smoochy?" Fausta said, motioning for Elyssa to
ascend the ladder behind her. She followed.

I climbed up after, breathing free air at
last with the compound a hundred yards or so behind me. Elyssa
launched herself into my arms, planting kisses all over my face. I
felt like I'd just won the Kings and Castles Grand Tourney, even if
I did smell a bit ripe from captivity.

"Are you hurt?" I asked. "I thought you guys
were vampires."

Elyssa's full lips spread into a beautiful
smile. "Hurt? You're alive. If you want, I can fly."

Just the sound of her voice sent a wonderful
chill down my back.

"Oh no, dear, what's wrong?" Bella said from
somewhere behind.

I turned to see Katie pulling herself out of
hole, sobbing. She shook her head. "I—I—"

The gray man emerged behind Katie.

"Son of a—!" Elyssa ripped her sword from
its sheath.

I jumped in front of him and threw up my
hands to ward off his quick dismemberment. Strong arms gripped my
waist. Before I could get out a word, he flung me over a shoulder
and ran.

"Stop!" I shouted as he rushed down an alley
at breakneck speed. I looked up to see Elyssa and several others in
hot pursuit. "Where are you going?"

"The other entity wishes you great harm,
Justin," he said, his voice not the least bit strained from
exertion. "Her sword could be detrimental to your health."

"Stop, stop, stop! She's not trying to kill
me. She's my girlfriend."

"Are you certain? She appears
dangerous."

"She's not after me. She's after you."

He stopped so suddenly, I was surprised I
didn't fly off his shoulder. "Should I leave you and continue to
flee?"

I sighed. "Put me down. I'll save you."

He placed me on my feet a split second
before Elyssa and Fausta, swords drawn, reached us. I held up my
hands. "Wait. He's with me!"

Elyssa's violet eyes blazed. "Justin, he's a
freaking golem. How can he be with you?"

"Trust me on this." I noticed the golem
edging away from us ever so slightly, and motioned him back over.
"I'll explain it when we get back to the group."

"This is one of the golems you told me of?"
Fausta said to Elyssa.

"Yeah." My girlfriend shook her head and
furrowed her lovely brow. "How do you do it, Justin?"

I caressed her cheek with a hand and pressed
a kiss to her lips before whispering, "I'm just a badass."

Fausta groaned. "In case you don't remember,
we're on a mission to save Templars, people. We can't waste any
more time on lovesick teenagers."

"Wait, you're going in
there
?" I
said, jabbing a finger at Maximus's fortress.

Elyssa nodded. "I'll explain on the way
back."

We jogged back to the hatch and Elyssa told
me about their plan of attack.

"Ugh, this is not how I envisioned spending
my first day of freedom." I took Elyssa's hand. "But there's no way
in the world I'm letting you go back in there without me."

"Justin," said a sharp male voice and Adam
Nosti appeared. "Where's Felicia?"

A knot of dread caught in my throat. "She
freed me, and was supposed to meet us so we could all leave at
once. But she didn't show up."

"And you left her in there?" he stared
incredulously at the walled compound.

"I didn't have a choice," I said. "A group
of vampires was shooting at us. We had to get out of there."

"So you're saying that tunnel could be full
of vampires?" Fausta said. "
Merda!
"

I shook my head. "No, I don't think they
found the hatch. I closed it behind us and it's pretty well
hidden."

Fausta lowered her ear to the open portal
and listened. "I don't hear anything. Maybe you're right." She
pulled out her phone and started issuing commands.

I turned and saw Bella hugging a distraught
Katie who still shook with sobs. Someone gripped my shoulder. I
turned to see Adam all up in my face.

"How could you?" Adam said, his face
crimson. "We talked about this, man. Both our sisters are in
trouble."

"No. Mine wasn't in there," I said. "It was
a lie."

"My sister saved you, and you didn't even
make sure she got out okay?" His eyes glinted with anger. "Son of a
bitch."

"Adam, it's not his fault." Meghan took his
arm. "We can still save her."

"Look, man," I said, staring into the geeky
Arcane's furious gaze. "I'm going back in. We'll save her. I
promise."

His eyes reddened. He bit back on what might
have been a sob or a shout of frustration. "She's all the family I
have, Justin." He turned away. Clenched his fists tight. "Look, I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to blame you."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Believe me, I
understand. I know how you feel."

He looked back. "Yeah, I guess you
would."

I walked over to Katie and Bella.

Elyssa stood nearby, a helpless look on her
face. "What's wrong with her?"

Katie took a shuddering breath and looked at
Elyssa. "Nothing. I'm sorry I'm such a wimp." She wiped at her
tear-stained eyes.

"She shot some vampires," I said.

"Shot them?" Disbelief took Elyssa's voice
up an octave.

"I couldn't help it, okay?" Katie broke into
new tears. "The gun fired so fast. I think I killed at least five
of them."

"More like two," I said. "You just seriously
wounded the others."

"But I had to save you, Justin. Screw that
jackass Underborn. He's a first class bastard."

"Wait a minute," Elyssa said, mouth dropping
open. "You were one of Underborn's moles?"

Katie gave a miserable nod.

"The poor girl has been through hell," Bella
said.

Elyssa walked up to Katie, mouth set in a
firm line—and hugged her.

I felt my eyebrows try to climb off my
forehead. I'd expected to meet a fairy riding a flying dragon
before seeing this.

"Thank you," Elyssa said, and pulled away
after a moment.

Katie's green eyes looked a bit shell
shocked as she nodded. "I did what was right."

"You did good." My girlfriend looked at the
other woman as if seeing some hidden potential. Or maybe she was
just looking for a reason to punch her anyway.

"And now, back to me," Fausta said, pressing
a thumb to her chest and gazing expectantly at the rest of us. "Got
your attention? Good. The other rescue team just entered their
tunnel. We've got to move out now."

I turned to see a large figure emerge from
the shadows. The breath caught in my throat. Michael gave me his
trademarked, calm look.

Offering him a nod, I said, "'Sup?" and
tried to keep it real.

He grunted.

The gray man stood nearby, watching as
Fausta began her descent into the tunnel.

"Can you stay and watch Katie?" I asked
it—him—whatever.

"I will, Justin."

Katie offered me a tear-stained smile. "Be
careful. Don't get shot."

I smiled. "You know me, I'm always
careful."

Elyssa snorted and followed Michael and the
others in the tunnel. Noticing I was the last person, I quickly
followed her down.

"Uh, so we're gonna go in blasting?" I
asked, trying to readjust the sword on my back so I could actually
use it if need be.

Just ahead of Elyssa, Michael pulled
something from a holster and passed it back to Elyssa who gave it
to me. A gun. A big one. I looked it over, my night vision allowing
me to see it with nearly perfect clarity. "A Desert Eagle. Nice."
All my knowledge about guns came from video games. I'd blasted a
virtual zombie or two with a gun like this. Thinking back to
Katie's traumatic breakdown, real life promised to make it an
unforgettable experience that would scar my very soul.

"I'm having flashbacks to El Dorado," Bella
said. "You sure there aren't any shadow people down here?"

"Shut up back there," said Fausta in a harsh
whisper.

Elyssa passed me a couple of clips for the
gun. I shoved them in my pockets. We scurried down the tunnel in
silence and drew to a stop right back where I'd come from—Maximus's
godforsaken compound. I couldn't see much past Michael's
over-muscled form, but caught a glimpse of Fausta climbing a
ladder.

My nerves knotted. What if all the vamps
were still waiting up there, guns drawn, and ready to blast anyone
who came out? Then again, if they'd found the hatch, I felt certain
they would have chased me. The line started moving again. Before
long, I was able to climb the ladder. Three unconscious vampires
lay nearby.

Fausta gripped one and motioned to Meghan.
"Can you wake him up? I want to ask some questions."

Meghan nodded, made some flippity-do
patterns with her wand before touching it to the vampire's head.
His eyes jerked open. He opened his mouth wide. Meghan touched his
throat with the wand and only a whisper emerged.

"Where are the others?" Fausta asked.

He clamped his mouth shut.

Meghan ran the wand along his skin, and
blood seeped from the vampire's pores. He tried to scream, but
again, only a hoarse whisper escaped.

Fausta gripped his shirt and put her knee on
his groin. "You better speak up before I turn you into a eunuch for
the rest of eternity."

A horrified look crossed his face. "They
left us here to find the secret exit. Amanda left to report to
Maximus."

My phone dinged. Everyone glared at me. I
turned down the volume, and looked at the notification. There was a
text message from an unknown sender. I almost ignored it since I
was, you know, breaking into a vampire fortress and all, but
satisfying my curiosity was only a thumb-flick away. The text
appeared, and my stomach lurched.

I have Felicia. Return to me or she dies.
–Maximus

My heart dropped, bounced off my liver, and
gave me a queasy feeling. I almost blurted out Maximus's demand,
but one look at Adam's tormented face told me it would be a bad
idea. He was already skirting the edge of sanity. I'd been there
before and knew how it felt. Pushing him now might be the final
straw.

I replied:
Don't hurt her! I'll come
back!

I hoped my text might give the rogue vampire
pause. By the time the Templar surprise attack started, he might
not have a chance to hurt her. My phone vibrated. I checked for a
response.

You have thirty minutes, spawn.

I responded again and told him I would. Now
all I had to do was hope Fausta's plan was brilliant.

Gunfire echoed from ahead, popping and
snapping like fireworks.

Fausta motioned us close. "The vamps have
two Templar squads pinned down. We'll sneak up behind and take out
the attackers."

"How many OPFORs?" Elyssa asked.

"No idea. A hundred or more. They've got the
place warded against fly-eyes, so I can't get exact positions."

Adam's lip curled into a snarl. "I'll take
care of that." He pulled out his arcphone. Several long seconds
passed. "Damn it. Whoever set up these wards knows what they're
doing. Looks like there's a magic power source keeping me from
overriding it."

Bella's hands, wrapped tight around her
staff, eyes closed in concentration nodded. "Maximus has a very
powerful source of supernatural power somewhere below us." Her eyes
opened. "The wards are barely draining it. I have a terrible
feeling there is an Arcane working for them, and whoever it is
might have even more in store for us."