Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) (21 page)

A low, sibilant voice whispered past their lower-face mask. Which one had spoken, this I could not discern. Male or woman, who knew. Although, I supposed it did not matter much.

Ryder waited for us to join him on the top stair and then positioned himself in front. Was it to protect us?

Or perhaps I was seeing benevolence where it did not belong.

He popped the collar of his peacoat and gave them a brilliant smile, teeth startling white under the light of the full moon. “Name’s Ryder. This here’s Shannon. We’ve brought the two that will needed to be interrogated by the Committee. They’re expected.”

The Committee?

The one on the left nodded at me. “She carries a weapon. We cannot allow passage until the sword is relinquished. There will be no weapons at the meeting.”

I felt my mouth dry. “That seems rather unfair. I’m sure most, if not all, is fully capable of tearing off my head with their own two hands. Do you mean to tell me that all vampires have been handcuffed?”

Ryder snorted, which then rapidly turned into a fit of coughing.

Shannon sighed. “For fuck’s sake, just give them your weapon. Ryder’ll probably keep your safe. He’s been wanting to get into your pants for God knows how long.”

I chose to ignore the last sentence. “I don’t like how you use the word “probably”, vampire. I would like to be certain of my safety.”

Jason cleared his throat. “Don’t worry, Ran. You’re not the one they want, anyways.”

“No, you are,” I replied. “But they’ll have to get past me to get to you. Only my death would bring about such an outcome.”

Ryder held up his hands, still a bit out of breath. “Whoa, whoa. Why are you guys already talking about dying and stuff? I’m telling you, as long as you keep your mouth shut, things are going to be okay. They’re just curious about you, that’s all. Just...just let us do all the talking, okay? Besides, it’s not like Shannon doesn’t have anything to lose either.”

It’s not like Shannon doesn’t have anything to lose...

What was that supposed to mean?

Shannon cut in. “Look, can we just go in now? It’s fucking freezing.”

And indeed, it had grown cold, so cold that I was shivering underneath the thick sportscoat, my neck unprotected by the sudden gale that tossed the hair into my eyes.

“Give them your sword,” said Jason.

As my Master, I could only obey him.

I did so, although it was with the most extreme reluctance I let a vampire take hold of the leather shoulder strap. “This is priceless to me.”

The vampire nodded. “As well it should be.”

Ryder put a hand on my arm. I let him. “We should go. It’s never a good idea to keep them waiting.”

Shannon followed his lead and put a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I’ll lead.”

One of the guards pulled open a door, and I stared at the dark, gaping maw that couldn’t have been any less uninviting. “May you find luck this night.”

Ryder flashed them a blinding smile. “Of course, we will. After all, I’ve got my victory goddess with me.”

As if to prove his point, he lifted his hand, and mine with it.

A victory goddess.

Me.

If I hadn’t been so sick of fear of the darkness, I might have preened, even just a little bit.

Vampire or no, being called by such lofty titles was a luxury ill-afforded to me and I would have been a spiteful fool not to respond. “You flatter me.”

Or perhaps I was just stalling for time.

“Shall we?”

I felt Jason’s eyes on my back, my neck before I nodded, mutely.

For now, I would follow the vampires.

How the Fellowship would stare if they could only see the situation I had fallen into. To protect a vampire, to be protected by a vampire...I have never once thought of myself as mighty, but I really could not think of another saying except for
How the mighty have fallen.

It wasn’t that much warmer in the foyer and I watched the moonlight play over the double staircases that extended up on both sides of the main entranceway, two hallways spreading out on both sides on both floors, but we would not be using the stairs nor the hallway.

Before us, stood another vampire, this one dressed in much the same way as the ones at the front, and he snapped to attention, his muscular structure marking him as very much a male. “They are waiting for you.”

Taking a step to the right, he exposed a narrow staircase leading down to the lower levels and I felt my heart leap up to my throat, almost choking me.

Ryder felt my arm stiffen and he looked at me, a curious expression on his handsome face. “You okay?”

I tried to swallow a painfully throat. “I’ll live. Let’s go.”

It seemed colder down that narrow passageway and I shivered in my overcoat. “Don’t you vampires feel the winter at all?”

Ryder smiled. “Perhaps. Maybe we like it. Fools us into thinking we’re still alive.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be human?”

The smile faded away until it seemed as though it had never been there from the very beginning. “As you can see, that’s not always the case.”

The stairs were uneven and had it not been for Ryder’s steadying grasp, I would have fallen and broken my neck countless times.

Finally, finally, my foot hit the solid ground, the stone feeling slightly unsteady underneath my boots and I heard Jason do the same from behind us.

Here it was not so dark as torches were lit every ten feet or so, casting macabre, dancing shadows over the stone walls. There was a slight incline going deeper into the interior of the mansion and I counted myself lucky to merely be afraid of the dark, not close spaces. This was not exactly the kind of place a claustrophobic individual could hope to survive.

Ryder hummed something under his breath, something soft and slow, something that sounded almost familiar, but not quite. “What is that?”

“Hm?”

“What you’re humming.”

He seemed vaguely surprised to be caught. “Oh. That. Damn, I don’t know. Guess it’s just one of those things you pick up from TV.”

I didn’t think so. I hadn’t even known TV existed until I was thirteen and I knew that lullaby for far longer. “I don’t think –.”

“Shut up!” hissed Shannon as we came to an end to the wall.

I had wondered about how to progress as clearly there were three walls and then the way we had come back. “Is this it then?”

Jason cleared his throat. “I suppose you’re going to tell me this wall goes back into some kind of hidden passageway. Otherwise, things might get a little...uncomfortable.”

Ryder put a hand on the wall and Jason’s theory proved to be desperately wrong when the wall did absolutely nothing.

“Um.” Ryder splayed both hands on the wall and ran his fingertips over the wall. If I stretched out, I thought I could brush the ceiling with my hands. “Wow. Well, this is kind of interesting.”

“You don’t say,” said Jason dryly. “Are they just going to kill us, then?”

“Took you all long enough. I’d just about given up on waiting.”

Shannon let out an expletive and whirled on her heel at the long, empty passageway.

No. Not empty.

Not anywhere.

Someone stood at the mouth of the hallway where we had come in from, arms crossed over a chest full to bursting. Was it just genetics or steroids? Did steroids even work on the undead? An interesting question and one I intended on asking Ryder.

If we ever did come out alive. “Is he supposed to be there?”

The man walked towards us, a strange expression on his wan, lean face and I felt Ryder stiffen next to me. “No. He’s not. Hell, we’re not supposed to be here.”

I heard Shannon swallow. “Actually, fuckwits, we’re exactly where we should be. They want us dead. Seems like this is the best place to get this done. Four people walk in, no one comes out.”

Of course we had walked into this far too easily, far too willing.

Then again, the choice had been made for us.

Either die right away or die later.

And like cowards, we had taken the harder way out. Or perhaps it was the easier way out.

Ryder shucked off his coat and rolled up the sleeves of his casual white shirt, his intention clear on his handsome face. “There’s only one of him. There’s four of us. If three vamps and Ran can’t take him, we deserve to die like rats in a dog house.”

“A pleasant image,” said Jason dryly. “I suppose you couldn’t have worded that any differently?”

Ryder put an arm out, stopping me from moving forward. “Don’t.”

I looked at him. He no longer seemed like the happy go lucky dimwitted idiot, no longer seemed like the hormone driven vampire I had encountered back at Vincent’s club.

So, which was the real Ryder? “Why not?”

He smiled. “You should give me a chance.”

“To?”

Shannon snorted. “For fuck’s sake. We’re five minutes away from turning into splotches on the wall and you’re still playing the hero card, Ryder. Are you ever going to grow the fuck up?”

He ignored her and touched my cheek. I fought not to flinch, feeling the chill of his fingers for one moment before he drew away. “Give me a chance to show you I’m different.”

I felt Jason’s eyes bore into the back of my head. “You’re a vampire. How different can you get?”

He winked. Where did he get such bravado? “Watch.”

I did.

For now.

I took a step back, shielding Jason’s body with mine because despite Ryder’s confidence, I am not afraid to say I wasn’t nearly quite as sure of the outcome. “Stand back, Jason.”

Shannon smelled like blood and perfume, something heavy and heady that made my nose twitch and she pushed past my arms roughly. “You’re got to be kidding me. I’m not going to be protected by someone like you.”

Jason’s breath was warm on my ear as we stood against the wall and I was just that much of a spiteful bitch to let her see the close proximity between her ex-lover and myself. “I didn’t say your name, now did I?”

Yes, I am a bitch. I couldn’t help it, not when I saw how badly my comment had disturbed her. “If it wasn’t for my Master, you would’ve been dead a long time ago, meatbag.”

Meatbag. Ah, yes, how that particular insult burned.

Jason put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you think he has a plan?”

“Ryder?” scoffed Shannon. “That idiot can’t even find his ass with his two hands if there wasn’t someone else around.”

Ryder held up his hands and I wondered what sort of expression he would have on his face. “Hey, man. I thought we were supposed to be leading these guys to their deliberation. What’s going on? You guys just going to shove us into some closed off hallway?”

The vampire came closer. He couldn’t be human, not with that impressive sense of aura that seemed to darken the hallway, flickering the torches into near death. “We have deliberated. And we have decided. That vampire behind you is no longer worth keeping.”

That I was going to die completely weaponless made me feel ill. “Doesn’t seem quite fair when the individual himself isn’t even around to defend himself.”

“Come on, Lazaro,” said Ryder. “Man, you’ve known me for, what, ten years now? I thought we were friends, dude. Is this really how you’re going to repay me back? How many times have I helped you out, hm?”

In what sort of way a vampire needed help...was something I simply did not want to know.

Lazaro sighed and brushed dark strands away from his lined face. He had been turned when he was older, but that certainly didn’t make him any weaker.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I really am.” The look on his face said he clearly wanted to be anywhere else but there. Or maybe he was just a very good actor. Most vampires were. Maybe it had something to do with having centuries to perfect one’s poker face. “I don’t want to do this, don’t think I do. But I don’t have a choice. Not anymore. The Committee said he’s to die. Just...just step aside, Ryder. Just turn him over and when tomorrow comes, everything will be the way it was.”

I still had the bi-su. So, I wasn’t completely defenseless. But that’s like being hidden in a small RV while there’s a tornado in the area. “Four against one. Seems as though they ought to be sent more of you.”

Ryder shot me a panicked glance over his shoulder. “Uh...Ran? Lazaro doesn’t need to have any buddies. He’s plenty strong all on his own damn self.”

Jason touched my shoulder. “If worse comes to worse, I suppose I could just eat him.”

I stared at him. “Is that a joke?”

A corner of his crimson lips kicked up. “Maybe? Maybe not.”

Shannon pulled her hands out of her coat, crouching low on the balls of her feet. “We have to get out. Ryder, if you’re going to tear off his head, just do it. All this talking is just a pointless waste of time.”

That was the first time I ever agreed with her, and I was willing to bet it would be the last.

Ryder let out a slow breath and cracked his neck, rolling back his formidable shoulders. “Well...I guess this is where it ends, Lazaro. Man, it was nice knowing you.”