I started to fear what would happen if Arron returned. I imagined that he would be making his way back already, wondering why Aiden had never shown up at Room 59. This idea didn’t seem to deter the Elder. My hands picked relentlessly at the lock until finally, with a click, the lid popped open.
Inside was an old map. At first it looked identical to the one we’d found in Aiden’s office and I wondered whether this would once again be the wrong map. But as my eyes scanned the paper further, it was clear that this one was far more detailed. Indeed some locations marked here were missing completely from Aiden’s one.
My eyes scanned every inch of the parchment. It was as if he wanted to commit the entire thing to my memory to access at a later time.
Then it happened.
My ears picked up snapping twigs and rustling leaves. Someone was scurrying toward us through the vineyards. Not having time to lock the box properly, I simply closed the lid and shoved it back into its place. I scrambled around trying to restore each of the papers to its original file.
Then I slipped back out through the front door and let the latch lock behind us. I dove for shelter into some bushes that lined the entrance to the woods. Peering through the leaves, I saw Arron now less than a quarter of a mile away from the hut. I feared that he might have picked up the sudden flash of my form zipping out of the cabin, or the sound of the latch closing.
It appeared that my worries were unfounded, however, for he walked directly inside and slammed the door behind him.
After about fifteen minutes, when Arron had still not reemerged from his cabin, the Elder dared to move me forward out of the bushes and send me tearing back through the vineyards toward the main building.
My mouth split into a wide grin as I heard myself whisper:
“Now the real work begins.”
Chapter 20: Sofia
I circled the main building for several minutes looking for an open window on the ground floor. On finding none, I walked round to the kitchens, grabbed a rock from the ground and smashed through a window.
Something within the Elder had given way and it was now willing to sacrifice caution for speed.
The kitchens were empty at this time of night. I headed away from them and stepped into a dark corridor. Then I turned right into a small washing room. I made a beeline for the back of the room, behind the sinks and dishwashing machines, where I uncovered a large wooden trapdoor. I slid my hands through the two metal handles and hoisted it open to see a dark staircase leading down to some kind of basement or underground storage facility.
I lost no time in lowering myself down, pulling the heavy door shut above me. The staircase was winding and narrowed sharply. It was also unlit and, had it not been for my supernatural vision, I was sure I would have fallen and broken a leg.
Finally, the stairs disappeared and I found myself standing in a small rectangular room. A hunter sat outside a steel door, his head tilted down to a book on his lap. Still unnoticed, I approached the man and grabbed hold of his throat. I clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle his shouts and snapped his neck. His body now limp, I grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a scanner fixed to the right side of the door. I placed his thumb against the glass and the steel door clicked open. I rushed inside, dragging the hunter in with me.
The door locked behind us. Leaving the hunter dead on the ground, I walked forward through a narrow tunnel lined with fluorescent lights. The tunnel soon disappeared and I stood at the entrance of a circular chamber with a towering ceiling. The floors were made of black marble and the walls had been painted white.
The room seemed bare on first glance. It was only when I looked more carefully at the floor that I noticed three holes drilled into the marble, positioned at even intervals around the circumference of the room. I approached the one nearest to me and peered over the edge.
What on earth…
I was looking down into what appeared to be an endless tunnel. Its walls were made of a swirling translucent substance which I couldn’t fathom for the life of me; although it had a bluish tinge, it certainly wasn’t water. And yet I was sure that it wasn’t smoke either. But it was the sight beyond that truly made me question my sanity. I was looking down at what appeared to be the night sky, a sea of endless black scattered with stars.
Maybe there was something in that goat’s blood.
As soon as I extended my head past the edge of that crater, a strong suction tried to pull me downward. I had to stagger back and spread my legs apart to avoid being sucked in.
Then, without warning, my mouth opened wider than I could have imagined it was physically capable of stretching. Just as it felt like my jaw was about to snap, I drew in a deep breath and then exhaled. A black whirling substance emanated from my mouth, directed straight into the tunnel. It resembled the crater’s walls, save for its color. Light, swirling, ethereal.
The edges of the tunnel closest to us reacted to it and started hissing and, before I knew it, disintegrating completely. This disintegration then spread to other parts of the tunnel, round and round its walls until the bluish substance had vanished from sight completely. The suction stopped, allowing the Elder to relax my stance. And then, in the time it took me to blink, the hole had vanished. In its place was nothing but the same black marble that covered the rest of the floor.
My head felt frighteningly dizzy and a haze settled over my eyes, a haze I hadn’t felt since the witch in the Cells had worked her magic on me. The pain in my joints and muscles intensified and now I felt a new sensation; my skin was starting to itch and sting.
We don’t have much time left, the Elder hissed.
I stumbled my way across the room and stopped at the rim of the second crater. Once again, my jaw stretched open as I drew in another deep lungful of air. Just as my lungs were about to burst, I exhaled more black substance. The tunnel’s walls evaporated and the floor formed over it as if the hole had never existed.
Then my legs folded beneath me. The Elder tried to force them to stand but they kept crumpling. So instead he made me crawl toward the third crater.
I knew I didn’t possess the stamina to exhale a third time. Of course, that didn’t stop the Elder from trying. But as my jaw began to extend, my ears picked up a sudden movement at the entrance of the chamber. Before the Elder could even look toward the direction of the noise, the sound of iron striking bone reverberated around the room.
A searing pain erupted at the back of my head.
Then merciful unconsciousness stole me away as all faded to black.
Chapter 21: Derek
It had been nearly three days of agony. Aiden had forced me to respect Sofia’s arbitrary “five days of privacy” rule. He had at least allowed me to go to her door each night and lock her inside the room.
As I made my way along the corridor early that morning to unlock her door, I considered breaking my promise to Aiden. My nightmares had intensified threefold over the past few nights and I didn’t think I could stand her absence any longer.
I unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped inside.
“Sofia?” I called tentatively.
I was struck by how draughty the place felt. I walked to her bedroom and saw the windows wide open.
“Sofia?”
No. Not again. Not again.
I ran through each of the rooms. They were all empty. Retracing my steps into the bedroom, I rushed to the window and looked out, fearing to see Sofia’s body crumpled on the ground below. I thanked the heavens that I saw no such thing.
She can’t have jumped from this height. What on earth would she have been thinking?
Then I recalled her mad escape from the hut in broad daylight, and realized that I had been an utter fool to not suspect that she could have climbed out of the window, despite its ridiculous height.
But where would she have wanted to go so urgently that she couldn’t have waited until morning?
Although she showed no visible signs of being possessed, I could no lo
nger deny this as a possibility.
I raced out the door. Skidding across corridors and whizzing down stairs—for I had no patience to wait for elevators—I soon arrived outside Vivienne’s apartment.
“Vivienne!” I smashed my fists against the door. “Open up! Hurry!” Several moments passed and I heard no sound of her approaching. I gripped the handle. Strangely, the door had been left unlocked.
I expected to find my sister still in bed at this early hour. But her apartment was vacant. Everything seemed to be in its proper place and I didn’t note any signs of a struggle.
Next, I tried Cameron. Then Claudia. Then Eli. Then Landis. All apartments had unlocked doors. All empty. I knew Shadow the mutt stayed with Eli, but even Shadow was nowhere to be found.
Gavin. They must all be having a meeting at Gavin’s place. I was aware of how ludicrous this conclusion was even as I thought it. But my mind was numb with panic. I had lost too much in too short a time. I couldn’t bear the thought that something could have happened to them.
I ran to the room Gavin had been given. Room 93. I knocked and shouted his name. I continued to yell until a bleary-eyed Gavin appeared at the door, naked save for a towel wrapped around his waist.
“What the hell, Novak?” He scowled, peering down at his wristwatch. “It’s five in the morning.”
I pushed past him with such force that he fell to the floor. I searched the bathroom, kitchen and sitting room, and then ran to his bedroom. A female with jet-black hair stirred on the bed. She lifted her head, revealing her face. Zinnia. She let out a yelp and pulled the bed sheets higher up to cover her body.
Somebody has come for a meeting at Gavin’s place.
“Get out!” she yelled at me, blood rising in her cheeks. “Bloody hell, Gavin. Why did you let him in!”
“I didn’t.” Gavin steamed into the room.
“They’re gone,” I gasped. “Sofia. Vivienne. Claudia. Cameron. Eli. Landis. Even Shadow, for heaven’s sake. All the vampires have vanished.”
“What? When did you last see them?” Gavin asked.
“I’ve been so tied up working with Aiden, I haven’t been out of his office much. But it’s been certainly less than three days since I saw each of them.”
“Well, what about Aiden?” Zinnia said.
“He’s my next stop.”
I rushed to Aiden’s quarters. But when he came to the door in his pajamas, rubbing sleep from his eyes, I knew that we had lost them.
When I repeated the news to him, the first thing he did was say, “Arron. We need to find him.” He pulled on a dressing robe and we ran directly to the Hawk’s cabin at the bottom of the fields.
We didn’t even need to knock on the door. All the curtains of the small building had been pulled open. As we peered through the windows, it was clear that it was empty.
Chapter 22: Sofia
Icy water splashed on my face. Strong hands shook my shoulders. The stone felt cold beneath me and I tasted blood in my mouth. My entire body felt like I’d just been dug up from the grave.
“You thought you could fool me.” A coarse voice spoke.
Fingers gripped the sides of my face and forced my eyelids open. A pair of pale grey eyes came into view. And the outline of a man’s face…
“You caught me off guard, I’ll grant you that much.” The man stood up and began to pace the room. “But I do wonder, really, what was your game plan? Even if you had managed to wipe out the third gate, do you really believe the witches wouldn’t just create more gates on demand?”
My mouth opened painfully and a voice emerged that was a shadow of my own. “Your ignorance never fails me.” I let out a cackle. “Or perhaps the Ageless favored us over you when she revealed that the power to create gates died almost a century ago with the last of the Ancients. The witches have grown too weak to conjure up that kind of magic. They have become drunk with complacency. They no longer work to keep their power like the Ancients did when they were still fighting to protect The Sanctuary.”
The man knelt down and gripped my jaw. “Should that be the case, we know exactly how to banish you now.”
“You may have stormed The Keep, but we still have two gates. Remember that we weren’t as foolish as to have all our gates in one room!” My cackling echoed around the room.
A kick hit my gut and blood spilled afresh from my mouth.
“Get up,” the voice said.
My arms and legs tried to gather themselves up but heavy chains weighed them down. I was far too weak to bear the load. Hands gripped my waist and hauled me to my feet. I leaned back against the wall. By now, my vision had become a little clearer, clear enough to see that it was a familiar face that stared back at me.
“Let’s see how long you survive here once your pretty vessel has expired.” Arron grinned. “It’s a long way back to The Shade and even farther to The Underground. You might fade away before you can reconnect with your source. That would be a mighty shame now, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” I interrupted with a smile. “You’re foolish enough to be holding plenty of other vessels here quite suitable for my habitation.”
“I wouldn’t count on that if I were you,” was all Arron said as he left the dungeon, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 23: Derek
Aiden told me to stay put while he went back to the main building in search of Arron. I waited outside the Hawk’s cabin until noon, but after that I simply couldn’t sit still any longer. The sun beat down on the grounds and bees buzzed around my head as I made my way back to the main building.
I wondered if Arron could have taken all the vampires to Aviary for some sort of experimentation, as he had done to Anna, Kyle and Ian. That he hadn’t at least warned us of this when we were supposed to be cooperating grated at my nerves.
I passed the reception and ran up to Aiden’s office. I knocked until the door swung open. Standing there in the doorway was Arron.
“Where were you? I’ve been waiting down at your cabin for hours…”
“Come in, Novak.”
Aiden sat at the table, his head in his hands. He didn’t look up. Why didn’t he bother to let me know he’d already found Arron?
“Aiden,” I said, “what’s going on?” He didn’t reply. I turned to Arron who’d just reseated himself at the table and glared at him. “Where have all the vampires gone?”
“We don’t know.” His cool eyes settled on me.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid, Hawk. If you don’t have anything to do with this, where would they have all gone suddenly?”
“How do you know that your wife isn’t the one behind it? She’s been acting strangely lately, hasn’t she?”
Irritated by Aiden’s continued silence, I walked up to him and shook him. “What’s wrong with you?”
My father-in-law’s face was ashen and he stared back at me blankly.
“Or,” Arron continued, “they could all have gone for a walk in the woods during the night and lost their way. But what you’re forgetting, Novak, is that none of this is my concern any more. I agreed to cooperate until we stormed the Keep and you were brought to Sofia. It’s not my fault that you managed to lose her again. Do you even remember my two conditions for agreeing to help you storm the Keep?”
So much had happened since, and my mind was riddled with such confusion and panic, I could barely recall them now.
“No? Well then, let me remind you. Firstly, all the vampires we held in our custody were meant to be turned into humans. And secondly, Aiden agreed to become one of us and be transported to Aviary. You may recall that I allowed them to remain vampires on their plea that they weren’t yet ready to become humans… a generous concession on my part, was it not? But now it’s time for me to claim my second condition. I’ve waited long enough.”
“No. No. Not now. You can’t take him yet,” I said, jumping to my feet. “Not before he’s said goodbye to Sofia. She doesn’t even know he made this deal with
you.”
I looked down at Aiden and shook him again, this time more violently. “Are you just accepting this? Where has your spirit gone? Where’s the warrior I thought I knew?”
Finally he spoke, his voice cracking. “Derek, if I believed that I had even an ounce of control over this situation, I would fight. But we struck a deal with Arron.”
And what about Rose? You would leave forever without even seeing her once? What about Ben? I would have said the words to Aiden, but I tried to avoid discussing my children in front of him whenever possible. I crouched down so that my eyes were level with his and begged, “Please, Aiden. Your daughter and I still need you.”
“The house on the beachfront you told me about, the one you and Sofia visited. Do you remember that? I took the liberty of buying it for you. It’s been transferred to both of your names. And all my wealth, properties and other assets I’m leaving to you.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a business card and a set of keys. “Mr. Campbell is the man you need to contact for further details. I’ve placed him in charge of my legal affairs. And here are the keys to the beach house.” He put both items in my hands.
It was as if Aiden hadn’t heard me.
“If I have no family to share it with,” I said through gritted teeth, slamming my fist down on the table, “what use is any of this to me?”
“I think Aiden’s made himself clear, Derek.” Arron walked to Aiden’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t touch him,” I snapped. The heat in my palms rose to a dangerous level. But I had to control myself; I couldn’t start a fire in Aiden’s office. There were too many valuable documents here to risk destroying.
“Is that a threat?” Arron’s brows arched and his grip on Aiden tightened.