“I think I found it,” I whispered, keeping my voice so low that only another Supe could hear me.
Wade nodded as I traced my hand along the crack. It was in the shape of a door, and there must be a trigger stone. But as I felt for some indentation, protrusion, or other anomaly, a shriek behind us caught me off guard.
I whirled to find myself staring at a wispy cloud, tendrils emerging from a vaporous cloud that coiled like a serpent in front of me. Wade slowly turned, and I could feel him stiffen, staring at the creature. The tentacles of fog danced, serpentine in the darkness, glowing with a faint incandescence. They spiraled, reaching out to brush my face. I steeled myself, forcing myself not to move. Until we knew what it wanted, whether it would be friend or foe, I didn’t want to startle it.
The form stretched, writhing in the air, as if in slow motion, and brought one slow tendril around to hook over my shoulder. I didn’t want it to encircle my neck and quickly stepped back from the wisps of fog.
As I moved, there was a sudden hiss from the creature and the tendril that had been trying to loop around my neck lashed back, then whipped across my face, leaving a stinging slash.
Crap. Not good! I suddenly realized that, vampire or not, Wade didn’t have any formal training in how to fight. I’d have to protect him as wel as take care of myself.
But he surprised me. He did a quick cartwheel out of the way and came up in a crouch, reaching into his jacket for something. I didn’t have time to see what, but I decided that if the spirit could materialize long enough to touch me, I could touch it. I whirled, kicking toward the center, and was pleasantly surprised when my heel made contact. The cloud form moved back, just a little, but enough to tel me that we could fight it.
It was materializing even more as we watched. The vaporous shape was condensing, congealing into a creature right out of Lovecraftian nightmare. Hideous olive-green tendrils streamed out from every side—there must have been fifty of them. Visions of the Karsetii demon flashed through my mind, but this was no Karsetii. Ghost or demon—I did not know, but it was after us and that was enough for me.
As I tried to aim for the center, Wade darted in, a Taser in hand, and he managed to make contact. For a moment, the creature blinked in and out, then two of the tentacles snapped at him, knocking him back against the wal with a resounding thud.
I did a running flip, aiming straight for the center, feet wheeling over my head. A two-footed landing, right into the core of the monster, knocking it back as the impact of my weight slammed into it. The moment I felt it whip back, I broke my jump, landing in a crouch in front of it. As I raised my head, with my fangs ful y descended, the creature came racing back for me. I screamed and grabbed the nearest tentacle, attempting to use it like the chain of a mace to whirl the monster through the air.
The thing was both heavy as hel and unwieldy, but I managed to gain momentum and sent it slamming into the wal . At that moment, Wade blurred by, landing on top of the thing. He sank his fangs into the materialized spirit, and an ear-piercing shriek fil ed the tunnel.
I scrambled on top of it next to him, adding my fangs to the fray. The monster writhed beneath us, tendrils attempting to dislodge us, but we were no ordinary mortals, and it couldn’t pul us off.
One tentacle coiled around my waist, attempting to squeeze me, but I just bit harder and the shriek continued.
Wade clasped his hands together and brought them down in a double-handed blow that thundered into the core of the monster. It shuddered. Taking my cue from him, I fol owed suit and we pounded the living crap out of it.
A moment later, the creature began to dematerialize, and within seconds it vanished, leaving us to fal to the floor. I scrambled to my feet and glanced around. No sign of it.
Wade picked himself up and shook his head. “Crap. Is this what you guys do for fun?”
“Mostly,” I said, wondering if it would be back—and would it bring friends?
“No wonder you stay in such good shape. Or your sisters, rather.”
I snorted, but I knew what he meant. I’d never change shape. Not now. Once you were a vampire, you stayed the way you were when you’d died. In a perverse, vanity-induced way, I was glad that—if I had to be a vampire—I looked good and was young enough to retain my beauty. I didn’t admit that much, although I knew Camil e would understand me, but it was true when I real y let myself think about it.
“Come on. We have to get hold of him before that motherfucker comes back with its brothers.
Or Mommy. I have no idea what it was.” That was actual y a lie. Though I didn’t know what it was, I’d figured out that it was some sort of demon, probably another guardian sent by the Demon Underground to replace the shadow men.
I went back to the door and Wade joined me. We searched in vain for a trigger to open it. “So if the catch isn’t here, then maybe . . .” I turned to the opposite wal . “Let’s look over here. There has to be something to open this mother.”
Wade took one section of the wal and I took another. After a few minutes, he whistled. “Menol y, look—what do you think?” He pointed to a smal metal plate against one of the bricks, three rows up from the bottom. It was directly opposite the outline of the door.
“Go for it.” I readied myself, making certain the stakes on my belt were easy access.
Wade pressed against the catch and I heard a faint click. The door shivered and popped an inch. We could push it open now, and I reached out and gave it a quick shove. It slowly opened, leading into a dimly lit passage.
“Come on. The scent of blood is stronger here.” I ducked in, Wade fol owing me. The tunnel was brick and the floor of the passage was lined with cobblestones. I glanced around, looking for the light source, then saw it up ahead. A lantern, hanging from a hook on the side of the wal . There were several doors off this passage, and I had the feeling we were within reach of our prey.
I took the lead, running lightly to the first door, which was off to the right. I peeked in—the door had long been broken in—but it was only a musty, empty chamber. I was about to move forward when Wade stopped me.
“The scent—it leads in here. Can’t you smel it?”
I forced myself to take another breath and yes, there it was. “You think another secret passage?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. We’ve found one . . . why not another?”As we paused by the entrance, I examined the floor. “Look.” Footprints in the dust—and they led right to the opposite wal . I fol owed them, coming up against another brick front. I scanned the area for a metal plate. And bingo, like clockwork, there it was, this time off to the side. I motioned for Wade to give it a press and when the door opened, we sprang inside, hoping to get a heads-up on our quarry if he were there.
Surprise. The chamber into which we entered was a natural cave, not another room. It looked to be about twenty feet high and was rounded, narrowing at the other end. But stil , a dim light shone through the inky darkness, and lanterns lined the wal s in strategic places, lighting a curving trail through a mass of boulders and cavern formations.
“Notice anything odd about the lanterns?” Wade whispered.
I frowned, staring at them for a moment. Then I saw it. “No flame. They aren’t fire-based. But he was an FBH—he doesn’t have magic. What’s going on?”
We approached the nearest lamp and examined it closely. I realized it was sealed—a sealed glass case—and as I pressed my face to the glass, a face in the glowing light stared back at me.
Inhuman, with slanted eyes and a pursed mouth. The creature had no nose and no real form other than an amorphous shimmer of light. It reminded me, vaguely, of the tentacle monster we’d just fought.
“Crap—I think this is a young version of what we fought out there—captured inside some sort of glass. But mere glass couldn’t hold this thing. So it must be some sort of magical trap.”
Wade shook his head. “Something’s going on here. No normal vampire would have access to anything like this. Especial y a newly minted one. Especially a psychotic one. I have the feeling we’re on the edge of something bigger here—bigger than you, me . . .”
I thought of the Demon Underground. Could they have made a deal with the kil er? Why would they? If he posed a threat, they’d just stake him and be done with it. No, there was something going on that eluded our grasp. I thought about smashing the container, letting the creature out, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t turn and attack us. After al , it had been imprisoned, and it wasn’t going to be happy with vampires. Or maybe—
“Maybe this isn’t the work of Charles. Maybe he’s just taking advantage of it? He might have stumbled on this—and I think I know who did this. Or at least, I have a general idea. I doubt they even know he exists.”
“They who?”
I stared over at Wade. We hadn’t told him about Shadow Wing; we hadn’t told him about any aspect of the demon war. So he wouldn’t know about the Demon Underground, either. Debating whether to say anything without first talking to Delilah and Camil e, I opted for caution’s sake.
Wade and I were friends again, but he’d have to prove himself before I could trust him again.
“I can’t tel you that right now . . . you’l have to wait for later and trust me, you’l understand why.
But I am going to tel you this: Be very careful down here. Go after Charles only. Forget everything else you see—it’s in your own best interests. There are powers far, far greater than you or me at work, and though I can’t talk about them, I need you to obey me on this.”
He considered my words. Final y, he nodded. “Very wel . I’l take your word for it now, but I want to know everything when we get out of this. If we get out of this.”
“Leave the lanterns . . . we are not freeing these creatures. Now, let’s go.” And off we went again, weaving our way through the cavern.
The cave dropped off to the right into a darkened abyss, and we skirted the edge with care, working our way back to the center.
Limestone flowed down from the ceiling, forming a thick column of stalagmites and stalactites, a statuary of twisted flowstone. In the center of the fal s, an opening al owed dripping water from the ceiling to trickle down, fal ing into the hol owed-out rimstone pool, where the mineralized liquid slowly ate away at the floor, creating the basin. Fortified by the continual drip, the wal s had slowly built up over the centuries; now they were ornamented with amorphous, bulging pil ows, looking for al the world like fossilized cauliflower.
As we worked our way through the cave, skirting delicate stalactites and stalagmites, we fol owed the trail that Charles had worn in the dust. Vampires were light on their feet, but he was stil new and hadn’t learned to lessen his presence.
The light from the demon lamps reverberated from wal to wal , creating flickering shadows that looked like creatures creeping alongside us, and now that I knew the lights were imprisoned spirits, my stomach twisted. What if they got out? What if their caretakers were near? What if we were caught down here without Carter or Vanzir to vouch for us?
We skirted the central sculpture and found ourselves on the other side of the cavern. To our left was another drop-off; to our right, another passage. I edged my way up to the overlook and peeked over the edge. A sheer black drop. I held the flashlight over the edge but the light barely penetrated ten feet down.
Wade crouched beside me. He picked up a smal pebble and dropped it and we listened, waiting to hear it bounce against the bottom, but there was no sound—not even a faint thunk—and I glanced up at him.
“We do not want to go over. Not without some damned good ropes and lights.” I slowly backed away and Wade fol owed me. We wended our way through the narrow passage to the back of the cavern. The scent of blood led us, and as we slipped through the tunnel, I noticed patches of green viro-mortis slime dappling the limestone wal s. I motioned to them.
“Do not let them touch you. We’re vampires, so they can’t hurt us too bad, but they’re fucking nasty and you don’t want to get them on anybody who’s stil alive. And if you see a purple variety, avoid them at al costs. Those can hurt us.”
He nodded, turning sideways to slip along behind me.
The passage ran along for about fifteen feet before ending at a fork. Wade, who was hungrier than I was, could smel the blood more easily. He motioned to the right and we turned. Another five feet found us standing at another opening. Peeking through, we could see the standard old-school setup.
A coffin sat in the corner—and it was a nice one. There was a recliner next to it, a battery-powered light, and a smal bookcase overflowing with books. Then I noticed that the wal s of the chamber were brick. We were looking into another section of Underground Seattle, also adjacent to the hidden cavern. It looked like someone had broken through the brick to get into the cavern. I had no idea whether Charles Shalimar or the Demon Underground had been responsible for discovering the connection.
As I entered, slowly, I could see that the coffin was empty. Shit. Were we going to be chasing him to the ends of the Earth? What the fuck was he doing running around? He couldn’t have that many errands. Then I saw the bloody clothes on the floor and motioned for Wade to stay where he was.
I slipped over to the opposite door and peeked out.
Bingo. Another chamber, with yet another exit leading out into what was doubtless one of the Underground tunnels. This room was lit by more of the demon lamps. And in the center of the chamber, a tub, fil ed with steaming water. Nearby, what looked like a jury-rigged pipe led down to the bath. Charles had been siphoning off somebody’s water system, it looked like.
In the tub was our man. Charles was washing—total y focused on scrubbing the blood off him.