Twilight Vendetta (13 page)

Then he opened his eyes and saw her through the red haze of bloodlust.

She gasped and pulled away from him so hard that she landed on the floor and stared at him.

“Yes, Emma, be afraid of me. You’re playing with a fire that will devour you if you’re not careful.”

Her back was against the cave wall. She held his eyes, didn’t flinch or avert her own from the hunger that blazed from them. And then she lifted her chin a notch and said, “I’m not afraid of you.”

“No?”

Her gaze unfaltering, she shook her head left, then right. “I’ve swum with piranhas. With sharks. I’ve shot most of the world’s class six rapids and base jumped from the tower at Koala Lumpur.”

I know, Devlin thought. I was there, fearing for her life every time. “Those things don’t begin to compare with tempting the passions of a vampire.”

She shrugged. “I’ve got a dozen years to live. Really, Devlin, nothing scares me. Not even you.”

To his mind, those words had the ring of a challenge. And on a deeper level, they tolled his own doom.

“Why are you down here?” he asked, deciding to change to a safer subject.

“Why do you hate humans so much? You used to be one. Every vampire was.”

“Why are you down here?”

The others were awake. They’d each chosen their own spot to rest, but they were gathering now, just outside this small chamber, and he got to his feet. “Come, you can tell us all at once.”

He took her hand, surprised himself by doing so, then realized it was too late to let it go again. So he pulled her angrily behind him as he walked out of the chamber and into the main section of the tunnel. He let her go only when he’d walked as far as he needed and the others had gathered around him. “Our guest saw fit to come down here and await our awakening,” he said.

Bellamy sucked air through his teeth and made a face, then he patted Emma’s shoulder. “No one told her that was bad form, Dev. She couldn’t have known.”

“No,” Emma said, “that’s not true. It wouldn’t be good manners to go into anyone’s bedroom while they slept and sit around waiting for them to wake up.” She turned to face Devlin. “I’m sorry I was rude. I was just so excited about what I found today that I couldn’t wait to tell you.”

She was completely composed, Devlin thought, while he was still awash in passion and desire from that kiss. How could she recover so quickly?

Bellamy clapped his hands together. “What? What did you find?”

She grinned. “I found out where the third tunnel leads. Come on. I’ll show you.” And unabashedly she took hold of Devlin’s hand, and ran all the way back up the tunnel they were in, then led them all to the third arched chasm and into it.

After only a few steps, Devlin asked, “How far is this discovery of yours?”

“My best guess, about twelve miles. Maybe fifteen”

“Well, let’s make it quick, then.” He stopped walking, snapped an arm around her waist, and scooped her up, swinging her around behind him. She locked her legs around his hips, and her arms around his shoulders. “Stop when you get close to where the ocean is roaring like a lion,” she told him. “Otherwise, we’ll all be dead.”

And they were off like a bullet through the chamber.

Soon enough, he did hear the roar of the ocean. He stopped then, and set her on her feet. Andrew, Bell and Tavia had kept pace, and now they all looked at the jagged opening in the rock, like a chimney extending upward.

“I had to climb,” Emma said. “But you guys can jump. Although you might want to spider-climb up that chimney first so you can see where we’re going.”

“You climbed across this?” Devlin asked. “You climbed up into
that
?” He couldn’t look at her, only at the gaping hole she’d spanned. Sea water churned a few hundred feet down. Then he gazed up at the wormhole above them, where the water kept splashing in. She’d climbed to its top to look out. “You could’ve been killed.”

“Oh, come on, Devlin, I’ve climbed the Dawn Wall at Yosemite. This was a piece of cake.”

“You’re mortal, Emma. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”

Tavia released what sounded like a seal’s bark. He was sure it had started as a laugh, only to be disguised as a cough. Bellamy was looking at Emma as if he’d discovered the one true goddess.

Sighing, Devlin braced a hand and foot on either side of the chimney, and spider hopped up into it, wondering how a slip of a mortal female had managed the feat. When he got up above sea level to a split in the rock, he looked out. And stared at what was a bit of rugged Oregon coastline, far nearer than before. Frowning, he let go and descended, jumping to land beside Emma once more. Then he cast his gaze farther along the seemingly endless tunnel.

Waves crashed up against the stone chimney, over and over, their frothy foam spraying inside and raining down into the chasm.

“It goes all the way to the mainland, Dev,” Emma said. “I found where it ends, but I didn’t leave the tunnel to see what was around the opening.”

“Why not?” Bellamy asked.

“Because I promised Devlin I wouldn’t leave the island while you all slept. To my way of thinking, exploring the tunnels wasn’t really leaving the island. But emerging on that side would’ve been.”

She walked around behind him, and he realized she wanted to ride on his back again. He closed his eyes and sought patience. “It’s only a few more miles,” she said. “And we’re going to the mainland tonight anyway, to hunt for Dad and your pair of teenage mutant vampire killers.” Then she gripped Devlin’s shoulders and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Tavia looked mildly amused and Bellamy bit back what sounded suspiciously like a giggle. Andrew was shaking his head and looking irritated.

Devlin twisted his head to look at Emma on his back. “We have to at least go back for the map. And probably a phone or two, in case we get separated.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.” She let go with one hand, and then used the other to remove her backpack, which she tossed it to Bell. “Phones and the map are in there.” Then she kicked Devlin’s sides. “Let’s go, noble steed.”

Devlin rolled his eyes, trying hard to be irritated instead of amused, enticed and delighted by her adventurous spirit and fearless heart.

A single night among them, and she was already trying to run things. He didn’t think he’d ever met another woman like her.

He leapt the pit easily, then ran, though not at top speed, because he was wary of what might lie ahead. A sub-Pacific cave was not exactly the safest place to be. He wouldn’t drown, of course. He didn’t need to breathe to live. But she did.

As he traversed the cave with his comrades streaking along behind him, he wondered about Emma’s mother. When a vampire vanished, particularly during recent decades, it usually meant they were dead. A lot of vampires had been wiped out of existence by humans reacting in panic to the news that the boogie men of their childhood nightmares were real. He had trouble believing any woman with a daughter like Emma could stay away from her for very long, if she could help it.

Emma was still young, and facing a decision most mortals never dreamed of having to make. A life or death decision, or rather, a death or undeath decision. Life wasn’t an option for her. Not life as she knew it, anyway. She had time, yes. But not a lot of it. Her mother must know that, and she would want to be there for her daughter if she were any kind of mother at all.

If she hadn’t returned, then she was probably dead. And that was a shame. Emma deserved a happy ending to her sad tale.

At last, he saw a solid wall of rock ahead. Their tunnel had reached its end. He came to a halt, and Emma jumped off his back, squinting in the darkness. And then suddenly something flashed brightly in her hand. Her phone, he realized. She was shining it around like a flashlight and he had to avert his eyes.

Then she pocketed the thing, and started climbing the sheer rock wall in front of them. She’d taken off her shoes, tied their laces together, and had them dangling around her neck.

“She’s like a spider monkey,” Bellamy said. “Jeeze, Emma, be careful.”

She was nothing like a monkey, Devlin thought, watching her denim-clad backside shift this way and that as she climbed the sheer face.

“The opening is up here!” she called down. Then she was wriggling through it and out of sight.

“Dammit, Emma, you still don’t know what’s out there.” Devlin went up after her, but when he reached the opening, she was gone. He poked his own head out through the chasm in the rock to see her sitting on a patch of grass with the ocean wind blowing her blond curls playfully. She sent him a smile and patted the spot beside her.

Devlin climbed through the small opening, barely fitting, and then, aware the others were coming out behind him, he stood and looked around. But there was no one in sight. They were in a grassy area with a few trees, high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. “You were right, Emma. We’re on the mainland.”

“I know, right? Isn’t it fantastic?”

Tavia came out last and stood looking at the hole in the ground. It resembled an animal burrow, except that it vanished into rock instead of soil. “We should conceal dis opening, to keep people out.”

“We will,” Devlin said.

“Isn’t it great, Dev?” Bellamy asked. “We can get back and forth way faster this way than by rowboat, and all without being seen. Just think, we can transport supplies, building materials, food–”

“This passage needs to be used for emergencies only, and maybe for vampires who are seeking to join us,” Devlin said. “The more often we use it, the more likely it will be discovered. We need to be extremely discreet about this. It’s not only a portal for us, but could serve as one for anyone else.” He wondered if it should be destroyed, to protect the island from invaders.

Emma nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “Still, it’s great to have it there. Talk about an underground railroad.”

“It’s fantastic,” Bell said. “I can’t believe you traversed it all alone, Emma. Weren’t you scared?”

“Not much scares me.” She slanted a look Devlin’s way as she said it, and he knew she was reminding him of that again, as well. “So, anyway, as long as we’re out here, can we go after my dad?”

Devlin looked at the others.

“No time like the present,” Bell said. He opened the backpack and started handing out cell phones.

“Is all right wid me,” Tavia said. “Perhaps dere will be some crows in need of killing. I have a powerful tirst.”

“Do you think you’ve figured out where they are, Emma?” Andrew asked.

She nodded. “I think so. Hand me the map, will you?” Bellamy did, and then Emma knelt on the ground, unfolding the map and using her phone light to see by. “There’s a military depot where they used to store chemical weapons, right about here. It’s been shut down, abandoned, but interestingly, it’s blocked from Google Earth.”

“And you can find it?” Devlin asked.

She held up her phone, shining its light into his eyes. He squinted and held up a hand. “Sorry,” she said, turning the light off. “I’ve already got the approximate location programmed into the GPS.” Then she sighed. “And as soon as we get where we’re going, someone remind me to toss this phone onto an outbound semi or something and find myself a new one.”

“She is wise, dis one,” Tavia said. “So, we go dere now?”

“Yes, Tavia. We go dere now,” Devlin said.

Tavia shot him an astounded look. “You are making joke of my accent?”

His smile evaporated. “Sorry if I offended you.”

“Offended? I am not offended, I am bewildered. Since when does our dark and dangerose leader make joke?” She shot a look at Emma, lifted her eyebrows, then nodded slowly. “It is good. We go.”

They all started forward, but after a few steps, Devlin noticed Andrew lagging behind, tapping rapidly on the phone he’d been given.

“Andrew?”

The blond vampire lifted his head, smiled and pocketed the phone. “Trying to figure out what its number is so we can exchange digits,” he said. “In case we somehow get split up and need to get in touch.”

“Every phone has every other phone’s number programmed in already, Andrew,” Emma said. “All you need to do is assign names to the numbers.”

“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t see that. Gee, you really were busy today.”

“And lonely,” she said, with a long look at Devlin.

That look made his stomach knot up.

Sheena was alone in her cell, had been alone from the beginning. On the first night, she’d been too groggy to notice much about what was happening around her, and she knew that was a result of whatever drug had been injected into her body. It had taken a long time for that to wear off, whatever it had been. But she’d been listening. She’d been paying attention. They had questions. She could hear the thoughts in their minds as clearly as if they were saying them aloud. She’d thought everyone could, until she’d spent time with the vampires on the ship, and with their human friends. The humans, apparently, didn’t hear the way she and Wolf did. The vampires did. They could speak to and hear each other, and sometimes they could hear human minds, but only if they listened hard. The humans didn’t seem to hear anything except words spoken from moving mouths. That must be such a handicap, to have to live that way.