The smell of blood cloaked the natural aroma of the pines and evergreens. Off to his left, Adrik spotted Kaleb fighting hand to hand with a human in black. Arcs of blue electricity flew from the human’s hands, toward Kaleb. The Lyken was quick on his feet and able to dodge the human’s attempts. Whereas the shots of electricity may not have killed Kaleb, they would have rendered him unconscious and vulnerable to a bullet to the head or blade to the throat.
Adrik swung over the wall and raced toward Kaleb. The human’s back was toward Adrik, which let him have the element of surprise. He felt his claws lengthen further and grinned in anticipation. This was the fight he had been aching for. All his pent-up anger, aggression, and disappointment over his actions and losing Kayla hadn’t been properly released. He would make sure to enjoy this kill. This human was, after all, threatening not only Kaleb, but Kayla as well.
In one swift move, he brought his nail through the side of the human’s neck. A grand arc of crimson blood immediately sprayed out. In a matter of seconds, his foe fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. Kaleb stood a few feet from him, and at the first glance at Adrik, his demeanor turned from ready stance to pissed off.
“What in the fuck are you doing here?” He was already turned into his Lyken form, and if that wasn’t frightening to the humans, the icy chill of his eyes was sure to scare the shit out of them.
Adrik didn’t need to reveal that he had been spying on Kayla. “Listen, I’m here to help.”
“Why in the hell would you help me?”
“You know why I’m here, wolf.” They stared at each other for several long moments, and finally the tension broke. “Instead of talking about this, why don’t we take care of this little problem?”
Just as Kaleb opened his mouth in retort, several humans in the same long, dark cloaks emerged all around them.
“Come on, wolf. The only way to beat them is to work together.”
Kaleb battled two on the left, while Adrik grinned in excitement at the two on the right.
“Come on, boys. Let’s see how good you really are.”
Adrik was already turned, the animal inside of him eager to shed more blood and protect what was his. His fangs drew blood from his lower lip, and the taste excited him further. One of the humans charged forward, sword raised high and battle cry ringing from his lips. He was easy to take down, and although he had a gun cocked and ready, the human didn’t get the chance to fire it before his throat was cut open.
When he faced the next human, Adrik could see he wasn’t as foolish as his comrade. Whereas his buddy let his anger and hate cloud his judgment and cause his movements to be predictable, this one was clever and waited with patience. The hood of the cloak shrouded his face, but not so much that Adrik couldn’t see his grin of excitement.
Adrik could hear Kaleb and the other humans grappling behind him, but he knew the Lyken could handle himself.
“I’m going to enjoy taking your head clean off your neck.” The human reached behind himself and unsheathed an impressive-looking sword.
Adrik liked the fact he was going old-school with the blade, but he had centuries of battle experience on this human.
The human charged him and brought the sword toward his neck. Adrik ducked and swiped his claw across the human’s thigh. The scent of blood filled his senses immediately. He gave the human credit, he didn’t flinch or cry out in pain, but he soon would.
They fought for supremacy. Blood was spilled, and bones were broken, but in the end, the human lay on the ground just like the others.
“Damn, these bastards were tough.”
Adrik wouldn’t admit it out loud, especially to Kaleb, but the humans were certainly being trained more ruthlessly.
Before Adrik could respond, a dark, ominous cloud started to form around their ankles.
“Oh shit.”
Adrik thought the same thing. The black smoke started to wind its way up both of their thighs. Several cloaked humans stepped out from behind trees as if they had been mirages and reappeared. Both of them tried moving, but the smoke was like quicksand, making them sink faster the harder they struggled. Adrik could hear shouts sounding all around them, but there wasn’t a Lyken to be found.
“I can tell by your stench that you must be the infamous vampire Emmitt spoke of.” The man who spoke lifted his hands and removed the hood of his cloak. “Well, let me introduce myself. I’m Evant, the one that will end both of your miserable lives right after I’ve sucked every ounce of power from you.” He grinned broadly. “I’m curious as to why a Blood Breed would be helping a Lyken.” He started chuckling as if what he had just said was humorous. “I’ve done my homework, boys. I know that Kaleb over here finds your relationship with his sister a little trifling.”
Adrik made sure to keep his expression neutral. It would do no good to show the curiosity as to how a mere mortal would know something like that.
“I also know that your female is just down the mountain, locked away in a bunker that I want to assure you will be penetrated.”
Adrik growled loudly, but all that accomplished was a hearty laugh from the hunters before him.
“You really think you’re any kind of threat to me in the state you’re in?” The human lifted his hand, and a light came from his outstretched palm. The black smoke started to wind itself higher up their legs until it finally spiraled around his and Kaleb’s waists. “We aren’t the same as we were when you guys came across us last. We are more lethal than ever before.”
One of the hooded males came up to the assumed leader and murmured something. Adrik glanced at Kaleb, hoping the Lyken knew a way to get out of this, because he sure as hell didn’t. Back when the hunters were more widely known within the Otherworld, their style was more cutting off heads and burning at the stake. Their new use of black magic was something that would need to be looked into, that is, if either of them got out of this alive.
Chapter 37
Kayla couldn’t stand it any longer. She didn’t know how long they had been locked in this bunker, but the fear, crying, and claustrophobia she had to deal with were driving her to the point of madness. Children continued to cling to their mothers, while the younger males spoke loudly in the corners about going out there and kicking ass. She worried about Kaleb. He was able to take care of himself, but she didn’t know the extent of what was happening out there. Anytime she tried to ask one of the “guards” what was wrong, they blew her off.
“Were you able to find anything out?” Joslyn came up to her. The two of them had stuck together since being ushered underground. They had split up and tried to gain some kind of intel into what was happening aboveground.
“No, you?”
Joslyn shook her head and sat down on one of the empty cots. “I’m not surprised we couldn’t find anything out, though. Lyken males are about as forthcoming with information as a pile of rocks.”
Kayla sat beside her and breathed out wearily. “How long do they plan on keeping us down here?” Not that she didn’t want to stay safe, but without any kind of information to go off of, she wanted to rip her hair out.
“They will keep us down here until the threat above is removed.” Joslyn placed her head in her hands. She didn’t say anything for several minutes, and Kayla wondered if she was crying. “This isn’t the first time this has happened.”
“It isn’t?”
Joslyn lifted her head and shook it. “No. I remember when I was about five years old or so, they took us to the bunker. We were down here for days.”
The air left Kayla. No way in hell she could stay cooped up down here for days. “What happened?”
Joslyn turned to look at her, and Kayla saw tears in the little female’s eyes. “I don’t know. They never did tell us, but this time it’s different.”
“How?”
“I’ve never seen the males this…” Joslyn looked around and Kayla followed her. “Scared. Whatever is up there is far more dangerous than anything they have ever encountered.”
Kayla didn’t respond because she had no idea what in the hell to even say. They sat in silence as they continued to listen to the children cry and their mothers trying to console them. Kayla closed her eyes and tried to picture herself elsewhere. It didn’t help.
The sound of stone cracking around them had her snapping her eyes open and sitting up straight. Screams sounded all around her as dust rained from the ceiling.
“They’ve breached the bunker! They’ve breached the bunker!” Men rushed around, gathering the women and children as they barked orders into the handsets attached to their shoulders.
Breached the bunker?
“I thought this place was impenetrable?” Kayla had to practically yell to speak over the chaos of noise and the sound of bombs going off above them.
Joslyn had her hands over her eyes and was shaking her head frantically. Another loud noise rang out, and stone started to crumble around them. Kayla closed her eyes and coughed when she inhaled the dust that was starting to fill the room. She opened her eyes and turned to look at Joslyn. Falling debris must have injured her because blood started to make a trail from her scalp down her forehead.
“Oh God, you’re injured. Come on, we can’t stay here.” Kayla grabbed her hand, and they both stood. She didn’t know where they would go, but they certainly couldn’t stay here, not with the place caving in around them. Her ears rang from what she assumed were the bombs above them going off. She pushed her way through the throng of people until she came up to two burly men standing in front of the only exit. Both of them were shouting into their handsets in between coughing.
“We have to get out of here!” Kayla shouted at them.
Their response was a shake of their heads. “We have strict orders to stay put. We haven’t gotten confirmation that it is safe to leave the premises.”
Before Kayla could open her mouth and spout off a few obscenities, the room shook violently. With their hands still twined together, Joslyn and Kayla fell forward. If the commotion all around them wasn’t bad enough, the fact that children’s screams rent the air was Kayla’s breaking point.
“Listen, assholes, this place is about to collapse. If you don’t let everyone leave, you’ll be responsible for each of their deaths.”
Both males gave each other a look after she was finished. One of them tried reaching Aedan once more, but all they got was static.
“You’re wasting time!” Kayla shouted, and the floor vibrated beneath them. After a long moment, they reluctantly opened the massive doors.
The dust that had filled the room was instantly sucked out through the now open doorway. Before Kayla could move out of the way to usher the children and their mothers out, every person in the bunker seemed to rush forward at the same time. Joslyn and she were pushed to the side. It was like a stampede of buffalo, and the only thing they could do was stay out of the way and pray they didn’t get trampled.
When the last person was out the door, Kayla realized it was just the two of them left. The two guards, cowards that they were, had abandoned them in the wake. Kayla looked over at Joslyn. The young female was still bleeding from the cut on her forehead and looked much paler than she had a few moments ago.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.” Kayla had to all but drag Joslyn with her. It seemed the little blonde was far more injured than Kayla had initially thought. She took the stairs two at a time, and when she pushed the door that lead into the upper floor open, she stopped in her tracks.
Kaleb and Adrik stood ten feet from her. Several men draped in dark cloaks stood around them, and Kayla instantly knew they were part of Emmitt’s clan. The danger and evil that came from them wrapped around her neck like a noose.
An ominous black smoke laced around Adrik and Kaleb’s legs and waists. They looked almost drugged, and when she called out their names, all she got were blank stares. Kayla pushed Joslyn behind her on instinct. Two men seemed to come out of nowhere and grabbed Kayla and Joslyn. Kayla screamed for Adrik and Kaleb, but it was no use. No matter what she did, it didn’t get their attention.
“They are about as good to you right now as a sack of potatoes.” One of the cloaked men stepped forward and pushed off his hood. Screams seemed to sound all around them.
Kayla wished she could cover her ears and block out the noise. It was the most horrifying thing she had ever heard. Where were all the big, bad Lyken men? Why weren’t they here protecting everyone?
“Who are you, and what do you want?” The man holding her moved her closer to the man who appeared to be the leader.
“That really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you and every female in this place have a very special role to accomplish.” He didn’t look very dangerous, not with the whole boy-next-door look going on. “I know you are acquainted with Emmitt.”
Just hearing his name sent shivers down Kayla’s spine.
“I actually should thank you and your vampire lover for taking him out. Whereas we were technically on the same team, Emmitt was living in the past. He wanted all of you dead, but I have other things planned.”
Kayla looked around, hoping she would see someone who could help, but finding no one around. She didn’t bother asking why he was even telling her any of this because she already knew. He had no intentions of letting her go.
“I can see the positive aspect of keeping you all around. Don’t get me wrong, I do plan on taking out the ones that are useless to me, but I can see the bigger picture.” He walked up and stopped right before her.
She stared into his bottomless gray eyes. If she had seen him on the streets, she wouldn’t have taken him as a threat. He appeared like any other person walking around, but there was something festering inside of him that was evil and decaying. He liked giving pain, liked watching others suffer solely for his pleasure.
“You really are a beautiful specimen.” He turned and looked at Joslyn.
Kayla struggled against the hold on her, but all that accomplished was the man holding her gripping her even tighter. She winced in pain, but didn’t stop struggling.