Demigod Down (23 page)

Turning, I plunged the same blade deep into
the chest of another rouge landing on my ass from the force of his
attack, skidding across the ground I pushed the blade up screaming
with the effort as my back slammed against the cavern wall.

The rouge pushed forward, driving the blade
deeper into its hearts until, with a shocked expression and a
gurgle, it also turned to ash.

I rolled, blinking rapidly to clear the ash
from my eyes. How many was that six, seven? I guess I should have
counted in the beginning.

“Blake?” I called out.

“Here!” he responded as I made my way toward
his voice.

“Do you see anymore?” I asked, coughing up
ash.

“Yeah, but they’re in chains,” he said
lowly.

My vision finally cleared. I found him
shackled to wall. “Can you break it?” I asked, running my hands
over the inscriptions as I bent down to look at it.

“I think its magic,” he groaned.

I nodded, standing back up, hands on my hips
as the other vampires hissed and spat, trying to get at us.

“Hey, I think I have a lead on the missing
vampires,” I teased him, smiling my heart easing now that I was
close to him.

He laughed, rubbing a hand over his quickly
healing face. “Yeah me too.”

“You should call Tate. He was sending in
reinforcements and we will need a mage now to get you out.” I
informed him, poking around the rest of the cavern.

He groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t tell
him I got captured.”

“Sorry, I needed him to track your phone.” I
picked up human bones. “These rogues aren’t like anything I have
ever seen before, organized and working together.”

“What is it?”

“I think this is the exact same thing I
destroyed the first time in Oklahoma, only this time someone
figured out how to make rogue vampires.” I brought him the human
bones.

He looked down at the teeth marks and back up
at me.

“Yeah I already know. Vampires go crazy if
they feast on human flesh,” I informed him, waiving away his
concern.

He nodded slowly, “How did you know
that?”

“Long story,” I answered, not wanting to get
into it right now.

“The question is who else knows that
information, aside from vampires?” I asked him.

He shook his head, twisting the bone in his
grasp. “I don’t know.”

I stayed close to Blake and honestly I didn’t
want to. The rogue vampires made me uneasy even though they were
all secured with the same manacle and chain to the cavern wall. If
Blake hadn’t talked me out of ending them, I’d feel a whole lot
better now.

Noises from the tunnel across the cavern had
us both watching closely. I no longer had the help of night vision
or my head lamp and flashlight that had been ruined in the
fight.

Blake called something in a foreign language
I didn’t understand and was answered in the same language.

“Vampire secret code?” I asked
sarcastically.

“Something like that,” Blake agreed.

A white-haired, violet-eyed mage stepped into
the room carefully moving around the piles of ash. She was small in
stature, but her power vibrated against my skin uncomfortably as
she made a direct line toward us.

Behind her, cloaked in darkness, other
vampires arrived, but I couldn’t draw my attention off the older
woman. Her violet eyes peered into my soul as she stopped before me
with a raised eyebrow.

“Olivia, you are in the way,” Blake chided me
pushing me gently.

“Oh, sorry,” I said moving quickly out of the
way and into the center of the cavern.

“What happened here?” A short dark-haired
vampire asked me, decked out in a complete leather ensemble. I
would be lying if I wasn’t mildly jealous.

“Oh you know, we just took a long romantic
stroll in the woods,” I began, dusting the ash off of my jeans.

The vampire raised an eyebrow as I continued
my tale.

Eventually, Blake came to stand next to me,
rubbing dried blood off his face, finally freed of the magic
chains.

“She is telling the truth, Val,” he said,
naming the vampire in front of me.

“Rogues do not think, they do not kidnap, nor
do they work together.” Val said, turning pale under her natural
creamy vamp skin.

“These ones do,” Blake said seriously.
“Catalog and bring along the contents of the cavern. This isn’t
done with.”

I was thankful we didn’t have to sit around
and wait for the process to be completed as we lumbered up the
slope back toward the car.

“A romantic walk?” Blake asked laughing.

“Yeah, don’t you take all your dates on walks
in remote locations, followed by hide and seek?” I teased.

He laughed, pulling me close brushing the
dirt from my face, “Only the special ones.” Before he kissed me
gently.

“Thank you, Olivia,” he said seriously,
searching my green eyes, “You have saved me over and over again,
always throwing yourself into the fire without thought for
yourself.”

I shrugged, leaning into his embrace. “You
are worth it.” I told him before kissing him again.

He groaned as we continued on back to the
car. I was dependent upon his perfect night vision even with the
tendrils of moonlight slipping between the trees, it was slow
going.

Back at the car, I lumbered in, the back of
my neck and back starting to ache from my run in with the cave
wall. “Hotel?” I asked Blake hopefully. I was ready to shower and
sleep this adventure off.

“Hotel.” He agreed, tapping his fingers
against the steering wheel deep in thought.

I slept deeply, my body needing the rest
after the chase and demolition of the rogues. I was thankful I
walked away with just a bruised back. Rogue bites were something
terrible - not only going for blood, they would tear chunks of meat
off a living creature.

As comfortable as the hotel bed was
eventually, my eyes refused to stay shut as I looked blearily
around the room. I knew Blake wasn’t in bed with me from the
keyboard on his laptop clicking. He made a delicious sight sitting
in only a pair of pajama pants scowling at said laptop.

“You face is going to get stuck that way,” I
informed him, my voice harsh from sleep.

He gave a soft laugh, clicking rapidly away
on the keyboard as I pushed up into a sitting position. My hair was
matted and stuck out at awkward angles from sleeping on it wet, but
I couldn’t bring myself to care. Cleaning off the grime of that
place was heavenly last night.

“We need to get you a new phone,” Blake
reminded me still busy with his laptop.

“Uh huh,” I answered, pulling the covers off
of me.

Blake sighed, still not looking up at me as I
padded across the floor in only a t-shirt. Pressing a finger
against the top of his laptop, I closed it with a click, enjoying
the surprise that flashed across his face, followed by a knowing
grin.

“Your back still hurt?” He asked, pushing his
chair back giving me room to straddle him.

“Uh huh.” I answered, fisting his black hair
before I pressed our lips together, enjoying the feeling his strong
body beneath me.

Once my back felt better, I showered again,
blow drying my wild locks and devouring the room service Blake
ordered.

It was earlier than I enjoyed being awake and
I told Blake such as we drove out to the Mason House.

“You’ll survive,” he informed me dryly.

The Mason House was nothing like Centennial
House. A farm house on the outskirts of town complete with a broken
down log fence lacked the upscale luxury I had come to associate
with vampires.

“You sure this is the right place?” I asked
Blake, looking back at the ranch style building.

“Certain,” he stated, confidently walking to
the dusty dull brown door.

A butler answered before we even knocked,
complete with a suit, a towel draped over his arm, and suitable
British accent.

“This way please, Val is expecting you,” he
stated, turning from the door as we followed him in.

The interior of the house was unremarkable
and unlived in. I followed along as the butler punched in a code on
what appeared to be the party door. It slid open, revealing a sleek
metal elevator. Blake stepped forward and I followed him
impressed.

“Someone has watched Batman too many times,”
I whispered, laughing.

Shaking his head, he gave me a grin before
wrapping an arm around my waist pulling me close to him. “I know,”
he answered, laughter coloring his words as he inhaled deeply at
the base on my neck, his powerful chest pressed against my
back.

Too soon, the doors opened into an immense
metal room, complete with a high ceiling, fake daylight and
vampires hustling around.

“This floor has got to be a bitch to clean,”
I muttered as we stepped off the elevator.

Blake laughed as Val looked up from her
paperwork, still dressed in the same leathers as last night only a
white lab coat thrown over the ensemble.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Val stated
blandly, roving over our rested and clean appearances. Turning, she
lead the way into the underground, metal fortress.

Blake and I followed her quick pace down a
long hallway and into the lab she entered. “So as I emailed you,
this is everything we found,” she stated, indicating two long
tables stretching out the length of the room.

Heaving a sigh, I looked down into the boxes
of human remains pushing it aside as I fumbled through the rest of
the items. A broken crate, scraps of paper, and the chains were by
far the most interesting items there.

“Did the mage examine these?” I asked,
looking up at Val.

“She did,” Val stated guardedly.

“What did she find?” I asked, pressing the
subject.

Val sighed, not looking up from her
paperwork. She replied, “I’m not cleared to share that with
you.”

I groaned. Vampire politics.

“When is your Master available?” I asked with
a sigh.

Val looked at Blake than to me, “Our Master
will only release the information to Tate.”

Blake growled lowly, “Tate is in meetings
until tomorrow.”

Val shifted uncomfortably, probably already
knowing that.

I sighed. “Take a picture Blake. We can show
it to Jerry and see what he thinks.” I turned to look at Val,
“Until Tate can be reached.”

Anger shimmered off Blake in hot waves, “We
were promised full cooperation,” he hissed through clenched
teeth.

Val looked at me again and I understood.
“It’s me Blake. They don’t want to share the information with
me.”

Val almost looked apologetic. “Why?” Blake
asked her, pressing the issue.

“There is talk that she knows what the human
remains do. That she already knows too much about our kind,” Val
finished.

I shrugged and said “I’ll wait for you
upstairs,” heading out the way we came.

He caught my arm, angry at my treatment.
“Relax, this isn’t new,” I said with a sad smile. Not new at all.
No one wanted my help, until I was the only help left, but it also
helped me jack up my prices. Desperation was a fantastic
negotiation strategy.

I made my way alone to the elevator which
thankfully opened once I stepped in front of it, sparing my ego
from having to go for help from Val. Based on the high tech
cameras, I assumed security was only too happy to send me back
topside. Whatever.

The butler looked surprised to see me back so
soon and without my companion.

“Can I hang out here until my ride is
finished?” I asked him, stepping back into the country home.

“Why of course, my dear child,” he said,
ushering me into the living room.

I didn’t even have my phone to play with, I
realized with a sigh, but I had plenty to sort though. Something or
someone was responsible for creating the rogue vampires the chains
alone told me that much. That someone could easily start kidnapping
vamps again.

I chewed on my nail and thought, just as that
same person could begin again with the shifters.

Assuming it was the same person or thing. I
was making a leap based on the evidence and a gut feeling.

I didn’t see how the snakes factored into all
of this though, unless the reason the bodies weren’t found was
because that’s how the shifter ring was being populated by the
alluring hallucinations.

So the question remained, what was strong
enough to capture both vampire and shifter alike? Who had an
understanding of how to use magic chains and knew the vampires deep
dark secret?

I sure as shit didn’t know, but I was going
to find out. At least this problem I could solve. I could hunt down
and kill the beings responsible, unlike Blake’s family
problems.

I don’t know how long I brooded upstairs,
staring out the bay window asking myself pointless questions I
couldn’t answer and guessing about the source of the problem, but
eventually Blake made an appearance.

“Ready?” he asked me tensely.

“Yep,” I answered, stretching as I followed
him outside waving goodbye to the butler.

Once the car doors closed, he scoffed, “They
didn’t know shit.”

I laughed. “Or they’re hiding the
information,” I offered.

He shook his head, “Maybe, possibly. I hope
they are not as dim witted as they seemed.” He said shaking his
head, “But I doubt it.”

“Grams called while I was down there, the
store has your replacement phone ready and waiting,” he said,
peering at me.

I laughed. “I didn’t check in for a week once
due to a missing phone and the woman about had my head, we should
probably take care of that sooner rather than later.”

“Where do you think we are headed now?” He
smiled.

“I was hoping to the mage that freed
you?”

“You are in luck. Her shop is only a mile
from the phone store.” Blake grinned.