I have a bad feeling about this.
I pull my Kensei sword silently from its sheath, squatting so the tip does not scrape the walls or low ceiling. We walk cautiously down the dark corridor, barely lit well enough to cast a shadow. Since all of us have superior eyesight, none of us shows any difficulty seeing in the low light.
As we get closer to the other end of the corridor, we can see an outline of a doorway at the end of the hall.
Christien mentally communicates our location to his get in order to coordinate our attacks topside. What we thought was a doorway turns out to be a huge cement slab imbedded in the wall. There are no handles on it, just like my silver door for my basement vault. There isn’t any way we can pry the door open, nor do we have any idea how thick it is. We search the room for a way to open it, but are unable to find any levers or buttons.
“Maybe it can only be opened from the other side.” Roman suggests.
“Can you hear or sense anything from the other side?” I ask Christien.
Christien releases his power. I feel his cooler power wash over me. The tiny electrical shocks cause the hair on my arms to stand up. “I do not sense anything from the other side. Either the walls and door are too thick for my power to penetrate, or there is nothing there.”
“Shall I go back upstairs and enter the other building to see if I can find a trigger there?” Kayle asks Christien.
“No. We have others already breaching the other building. If they find the lever, they will open the door. I suggest we go back the way we came to see if we can find another way around.” Christien replies.
We go back towards the first building, looking for any secret entrances or hidden doorways along our way. As we are searching, Christien notices an air vent on the ceiling. He levitates in the air to pull it down. The ventilation shaft is small and narrow, less than one-foot square. It does look to run between the two rooms though. All of us are too large to fit into the small one-foot square space. We all stare at the space for a moment, minds searching for a solution.
I get the distinct feeling that someone is watching me. Looking away from the vent, I find Roman and Christien staring at me. Their eyes look up at the vent then turn back towards me before they make eye contact with each other.
“I have an idea.” They say together.
Normally, I would laugh at their mirrored response, but for some reason, I can’t find the humor in it right now. A mischievous grin spreads across Roman’s face.
Roman and Christien work together in convincing me to shift into something small to see what is in the other room while Kayle leans back against the wall observing.
The plan is if the room is empty, I can open the door from the other side. If there is someone in the other room, I should only report what I see. In no way should I try to go inside the other room if it is not empty.
As they are going over the details, I shuffle from side to side to calm my nerves. I am still not comfortable shifting and I am extremely wary to do so in such a dangerous situation. After a few encouraging words from Christien and Roman, I decide to try.
First, I shift into a Persian kitten.
Roman sniffs the air then shakes his head. “That’s not going to work. She smells like a cat. If someone is in the other room, they’ll catch her scent.”
“That is not all they will scent.” Kayle mumbles from the other side of the room.
I shift back into human form and spin on Kayle, looking for a way to release my fear. “You know what? I’m sick of you Kayle. If you have something to bring to the fight, bring it. Otherwise, shut the fuck up unless you have something useful to add. Considering this is only the second or third day I’ve had this ability, I think I deserve a little more slack if my nerves are not strong as steel. At least I am trying to find a way into the fight.” I take several steps closer to him, goading him as his eyes begin to streak with silver. “I wasn’t the one hiding safely inside the house last night while everyone else was risking their lives defending their territory.”
Kayle’s bright blue eyes are nearly shining silver by the end of my taunt. His attack comes, but I am expecting it. My daggers are in my hands the second I see his body twitch.
Everyone has always tried to convince me that I should be able to move as if I disappeared and reappeared. Until now, I never understood the concept behind their thoughts or explanations.
Time seems to slow down around me. I feel as if I have all the time in the world to react to his attack. In my peripheral vision, I can see Roman and Christien reacting to his attack, but Kayle and I are closer to each other than they are to us.
Kayle is coming straight for me, fangs bared. Taking a step to my right first, I move towards him. This way, he won’t have a direct path to me but he’ll still be in my range for a strike. My body seems to be moving in real time. Everyone else is in slower motion. They are still moving. I’m just moving faster.
Taking advantage of the moment, I raise the dagger in my left hand and mark his chest with it, slicing his shirt open over his heart. I run to the other side of the room and squat near the corner, out of everyone’s reach.
My brain seems to shift itself back into normal mode, because Christien has Kayle by the throat again, high above his head. Roman is standing where I would have been and looking around the room. He sees me in the corner and does a double take before coming over to me.
“Damn, I’ve never seen you, or anyone, move that fast. How the hell did you do that?” He asks in half-amazement, half-awe.
I can hear Christien speaking quietly to Kayle in rapid French. Kayle’s eyes widen and he turns his head in my direction. He looks down at his shirt to see the cut over his heart and nods to me in acknowledgment before returning his attention back to Christien.
“What’s going on between you and Kayle? I know you don’t like him, but your rant sounded a little personal.” Roman asks, keeping his voice down.
“Just forget it. We have work to do. We don’t have time for his bullshit.” I get to my feet and make my way back to the vent giving Kayle a wide berth now that Christien has released him.
“Jessica…” Christien begins, but I cut him off.
“Now is not the time.” I wave a hand at him, dismissing his request for my attention.
As I am trying to think of another animal to shift into, I hear the sound of rats or mice scuttling somewhere overhead. The thought of what the mice might look like brings on my shift.
A second later, my shift is complete.
Christien cups me in his hand and nuzzles my nose. “Be careful,
ma souris petite
. Do not put yourself in any danger. If anyone is in the room, you come back to me. I am sorry about Kayle. I will deal with him when this is over.” He runs a finger along my smooth white fur before levitating to place me in the vent.
Chapter 40
Refusing to look behind me, I crawl towards the second building. My sight is different as a mouse so it takes some time to adjust so I do not keep bumping into the walls. I reach the end of the shaft and peer down into the isolated room.
The room is very large. I cannot see very far into the room because of the mouse’s eyesight range. What I can see are many closed coffins. I look in the direction of what I think is the door, but my sight doesn’t allow me to distinguish any lever to open it. I do see what I think is Demetri sitting in a chair asleep below me. There are several bodies around the room, likely asleep, on the floor. I strain my mouse senses but I cannot sense, see or smell Hassan. I turn back to the other building but as I am leaving, I hear voices in the isolated room. I return to see Jacques waking up Demetri. He informs Demetri that there are vampires outside, surrounding and entering the building. Demetri and Jacques go to an area I cannot see clearly and talk about how they will attack when the sun goes down and have all their vampires at their disposal. Demetri reassures Jacques that the room is secure. After a little more muffled conversation, Demetri returns to his chair and falls back asleep.
I go back to the men. Christien brings me down from the vent. I shift back into human form and let everyone know Demetri and Jacques’ plans. Although I was unable to see Hassan, they still believe he is somewhere in the room with Demetri and Jacques. After I am finished explaining everything I could see, Christien pulls me into his arms and kisses me almost desperately.
“I was so worried about you. You were gone too long. I do not like having you here in this dangerous situation. If anything happens to you, I will lose a piece of myself. I will torture the person who hurts you for a very, very, very long time.” He tells me between kisses.
“I couldn’t see the whole room, but it is huge. All the baby vamps are asleep. That is why they are waiting until tonight. They somehow know that we have found them. Maybe there is a security system that we can tap into.” I suggest.
“I have a buddy with us that is good with surveillance systems. I will go back outside and get him. I’ll let you know if we find anything.” Roman says then heads back upstairs to the first floor.
Kayle suggests that I go back into the vent and gather more information.
Christien objects, saying it is too dangerous, but I agree with Kayle.
I shift back into a mouse and climb through the vent. Everything is quiet. Demetri still seems to be sleeping. I slide my nose through the bars, trying to get a better look or to pick up anything else with my senses. If I could get the door open, Christien, Kayle and I could take care of Demetri, Jacques and any other vampires that might be awake. If we wait until dark, we will be outnumbered again. I decide to take the chance on the door.
I have never shifted from one animal to another without returning to human form. I am about to try it now in an air duct above a room full of vampires.
This is not a good idea Jess.
I think to myself.
I look through the vent to the ground. It looks like a long way down. Logically, I know the ceiling is not that high, but looking down from a mouse’s perspective really puts butterflies in my stomach. I feel a tingling sensation as my body shifts into a butterfly.
Panicking, I have a moment to think.
I need to be more careful of my thoughts when it comes to animals.
I have no idea how loud or quiet the shifting process is. I’ll make sure I ask Roman or Christien if I survive this. I walk to the edge of the vent. I can no longer tell if Demetri is still sleeping or not, but I can see he is still sitting unmoving in the chair below me. I take the chance and step out of the vent. I begin to fall. I completely forgot that I have never mastered the art of flying. I try moving my arms like when I’m a bird, but flying as a butterfly is different from flying as a bird. As a bird, my arms are wings. As a butterfly, the wings are on my back so I have to figure out how to get them to move as I tumble towards the ground. I am still trying to open my wings when I hit the coffin just below the vent. The impact splays my butterfly body out on the coffin and I bang my head against the wood, knocking myself out. I must not have been out for long because I wake to find myself in human form, lying halfway on a coffin and Demetri standing in front of me with his fangs extended.
Jacques says, “Well, well. Look who we have here. I am not sure how you got in here, but you will not be leaving. Our master will be happy we have you at last.”
He reaches for me and I swing at his arm with my sword. Demetri moves to my flank sluggishly, trying to get behind me. I move backwards until my back brushes a wall.
The banging on the concrete door is getting louder.
Demetri comes at me from the side at the same time as Jacques attacks me from the front. They are still two far away for me to use my sword, so I drop my sword and pull my twin baby eagles from the dual shoulder holster. With my arms wide, I am already firing once I point them in the direction of the two vampires, not wasting time to aim. The bullets inside the baby eagles are not lethal to vampires as old as these two are, but they are leaving a big enough hole to make even these vampires hesitate. Several bullets plow through each of their chests, leaving holes and a bloody mess in their wake. Both vampires stop their attack. I leap over one coffin and crawl under another, sprinting to the cement door. As I am looking for the lever to open the door, another vampire comes from somewhere to pounce on my back, knocking me into the cement door.
We fall to the ground, the vampire on top of me. I grab the arm on my shoulder and pull it out of the socket. The vampire howls in pain. I elbow him, breaking his ribs and roll to my feet.
Demetri is on me before I can grab a weapon. He is struggling to pin my arms down when I hear cement crumbling to the floor near my head.
Demetri turns to verify the door is still intact.
I use the distraction to wrap my legs around his, twisting my body to move him off me. Caught off guard, his head smashes into the coffin next to us hard enough to knock it off the stand. The coffin falls to the side. The lid opens and a vampire in a coma-like sleep hangs halfway out of his coffin on the floor. I crawl backwards away from Demetri only to run into the legs of Jacques. He pulls me up by my hair to a standing position. I yelp from the pain. Throwing my legs backwards, I kick one of his legs from underneath him, almost dislocating his knee. He lets go of my hair to regain his balance. There is a blasting sound from the cement door. I cover my head automatically to protect it from flying debris. The air is hazy with cement particles, making it difficult for me to breathe.