Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (17 page)

He glared at me, then took a few steps away and leaned against a tree,
watching me.  I looked to my left and noticed a large boulder covered with moss
and shrubs.  I walked over to look at it a little closer.  “Looked there,”
Carlos said.  I rolled my eyes at him and looked back at the rock then I looked
up at the surrounding trees.  I took about six large steps backwards, then a
few more.  “Ummm, guys, could you come here for a second, please?”  They walked
over and stood on either side of me and waited for me to continue.  “You
remember how you told me that one of the ancient symbols for vampires was kind
of like an upside-down “A” in a circle?” I said.  They both nodded and waited. 
“Well, if you were to take that branch to the left,” I pointed to it, “and that
branch on the right and that branch up above and pull them straight down over
this round boulder, what symbol would you have?”

I heard Carlos gasp.  “No way, Sarah.  I can’t believe it,” he said as he
shot up in the air to the top center branch.  “You guys grab the other two
branches,” he said.  Matt and I flew to either side and started bending the
branches down.  My heart was pounding in my chest.  The second all three
branches touched each other on the center of the rock, it shuddered and then
moved a few feet backwards, revealing a staircase leading down to a tunnel.  We
all landed and looked inside.  “Crap, how did we miss this?” Carlos whispered.

“Because you didn’t have Miss puzzle queen with you,” Matt whispered,
grinning as he kissed my cheek.  Suddenly a familiar voice, familiar but weak,
was in my head. 
‘Sarah? You’re nearby aren’t you?’
Bahiti thought.  I
stopped in my tracks and grabbed both Matt’s and Carlos’ hands.  They instantly
understood and linked with me. 

‘Yes, we’re here, Bahiti.  We’re in the tunnel.’ 

‘Be careful.  I’m not sure about the tunnel, but he has
motion sensors around here,’
she thought then I heard her groan.

‘Bahiti?  Are you okay?’
I thought

‘So far.  That was Stacy you heard.  These things hurt when
they move around’

‘When they move?  She can already feel it moving?  But she’s
only been gone a little over a month.’

‘Apparently the gestation on these things is faster than
humans.  It has to do with vampire metabolism being so fast.’

“Fuck,” I heard Carlos whisper.

“Carlos, tell the others about the motion sensors.  We need sharp eyes
everywhere.”  I said.  He unlinked with me, nodded and turned back to gather
the others.  As he filled them in, I went back to Bahiti.

‘Bahiti?  How fast is the gestation?’

‘I think he said sixty days.’

‘And how in the world is a pregnancy even possible?’

‘It has to do with the creature’s themselves.  They carry
both the semen and the eggs.  The two mix when they ejaculate into a female. 
We still have our uteruses, so they act as incubators.’

‘Holy shit.  And how’s Missy doing?’

‘I, ummm, I’m not sure.  A lot of vampires don’t survive past
the first week or so.  Some don’t even survive the mating.  Missy hasn’t spoken
a word in weeks.  I’m not sure if she’s dead or in a coma.  I’m sorry Sarah.’

I turned my head into Matt’s chest and quietly cried for a minute, then
pulled myself together and focused on the task at hand.  
‘Bahiti?  Any idea
how to best kill these things?’

‘Well, there aren’t a lot of them left, Sarah.  The only ones
alive right now are the first six or seven that he created.  Something’s
happened to the others.  They all got sick and died.  And all of the creatures
that are being born now only survive for a day or two at best.  The priest is
getting very angry and frustrated.  He can’t figure out what’s wrong with
them.’

I couldn’t help it.  I felt a smile tug at the corner of my mouth.  I
looked at Matt and Carlos, who had linked with me in time to hear that last
part, and saw the same expression on their faces.  “Only six or seven?  Think
we can handle that?” I whispered.  They both nodded.  Troy, Michael, Billy,
Steven, Luis, Miguel, Stefan and Peter formed a rectangle around us.  They were
going to be the eyes looking for the motion sensors.  We slowly started moving
forward.  The tunnel was dank and dark and obviously hadn’t been used for a
long time, a good thing for us.  Troy motioned for us to stop.  He pointed to
the two laser motion triggers on either side of the tunnel, much easier to
bypass than motion sensors.  He took out his can of spray and showed us that,
surprisingly, these had two laser beams coming out of each one: one near the
ground, for anyone walking, and one pointing near the ceiling for anyone
flying.  But there was space in between that we could hover through.  So, four
at a time, we successfully made our way through this first obstacle.  We began
moving slowly forward again.  There was a curve ahead.  As he reached the
curve, Troy suddenly moved back onto our side of the curve.

“Camera” he whispered. 

Shit.  I reached out to Bahiti. 
‘Bahiti?  You there?’

‘Yes, I’m here.’

‘There’s a camera in the tunnel.  Is there a security guard
there watching the monitors?’

‘No, the priest watches them from time to time, but he’s in
his lab right now.  Lately he spends all of his time in the lab.  I think he’s
going crazy Sarah.  He’s obsessed with solving this problem with the creatures. 
I never see him eat, he hardly ever sleeps.’

‘So, you think we’ll be okay if we move past the camera?’

‘Yes, you should be.’

“She says no one is watching the monitors and we should be okay.”  We moved
around the corner, expecting to move quickly out of the camera’s view, but
Miguel suddenly motioned for us to stop.  He had found another laser sensor. 
This one only had one beam near the ground so we easily made our way over it. 
We moved under the camera and farther down the tunnel.  I squinted my eyes and
saw the end of the tunnel.  At least it’s what I hoped was the end. 
‘Bahiti? 
There’s a door at the end of the tunnel.  It’s about seven feet by four feet,
with a big iron wheel in the middle of it.  Do you think you can see it?’

‘I think so.  It’s to my right, about fifty yards.’

‘If we come through it are we going to be seen?  Where is the
priest and where are those things?’

‘Those things are sleeping, I think.  There’s a room for them
down at the other end.  They went in there about an hour ago, so I’m pretty
sure they’re sleeping.  And the priest is still in the lab, but I haven’t seen
him for a while.  He might have finally fallen asleep too.’

‘Where’s the lab from where you are?’

‘It’s about twenty yards to the right of the door you’re
going to enter through.’

‘Okay.  Thanks, Bahiti.  I’ve got to fill in the others. 
I’ll let you know when we’re coming in.’

“Okay.  She thinks the creatures are asleep, in a room at the far end. 
The priest is in the lab twenty yards to the right of the door.  But she hasn’t
seen him in a while, so he might be asleep too.  Bahiti and the others are
about fifty yards in front of us.  How do you want to do this?”

Carlos spoke up first.  “I’m taking three with me:  Michael, Billy and
Luis.  We’re going to the right, towards the lab.  We’re going after the
priest.  The rest of you move forward quickly and quietly to try to release as
many vampires as you can before we’re noticed.”

“Should those with flame throwers move to the room that the creatures are
in?  Maybe we can get them all while they’re trapped in there,” Matt said.

“Good idea.  Miguel, Tony, Peter and Stefan, you try to take care of the
creatures.  Hopefully there isn’t another door in that room for them to escape
through,” Carlos said.

“We have to time this.  The flame throwers are loud.  We need to hit that
room and the lab at the same time.  And I’d use grenades in addition to the
flame throwers.  These things have very thick skin,” I said.

“Good idea, Sarah.  I’ll link with Stefan, and we’ll synchronize going
in, okay?” Carlos said.

“Okay.  Everybody clear on what they’re doing?  Sarah, you and all the
others are with me.  This is our escape route if things get too dangerous.  We
should be able to hold this door closed while the rest of you escape.  All
set?  Alright, we’re going in,” Matt said.

I linked with Bahiti again,
‘We’re coming in now, okay?’

‘Okay, Sarah.  Be safe.’

Matt held up three fingers and counted down.  As he got to zero and made
a fist, he and Carlos spun the lock on the door and pulled it open as quietly
as they could.  We quickly filed in.  Carlos and his group broke off to the
right.  Troy and his group moved forward, stopping in front of Bahiti for a
moment, who pointed, with her head, to where the room with the creatures was. 
They covered the remaining distance and readied themselves outside the door. 
Matt and I watched them.  We waited to move forward.  Suddenly Carlos kicked in
the door to the lab at the same time that Troy pulled open the door in the back
and unleashed with a torrent of fire and explosions from the grenades.  Matt, me
and the rest of our group quickly moved forward and began undoing the straps
that held the vampires down.  Bahiti, with the bump in her belly exposed, tried
to smile at me. 

Stacy was wide-eyed and panicked.  “You have, you have to get this
fucking thing out of me, Sarah,” she said as she gasped for air. 

I set my hand on hers.  “We will, Stacy.  David and Cameron are waiting
for us at Aaron’s.  They have two operating rooms set up,” I said, hoping it
was true.  I knew they should be there, and hopefully they had the operating
rooms set up.  But they only arrived a few hours after we left.  They might not
have had enough time to set everything up yet, but I was hoping they had.  I
moved to the next bed and gasped.  It was Missy.  She was silent, she was
motionless, and as I squeezed my eyes shut and put my head on her chest, I soon
knew that she was also dead.  I felt Matt’s hand on my back.  

“I’m sorry Sarah,” he whispered. 

“I have to grieve later, Matt.  Let’s keep moving.  We need to release
the rest, quick.  Look at the fire; it’s already spreading out here.”  I looked
at the room where Troy and the others were and was relieved when I didn’t see
any of the creatures.  They were screaming and making all sorts of noise inside
the room, but they weren’t getting out.  It looked like our plan was working. 
I looked to my left, towards the lab, and saw Carlos outside the lab, leaning
over a body.  He looked over towards me.  He had blood running down his chin,
the body was the priest.  I gasped.  This was exactly the same as the dream he
had on the plane.  I started running towards him.  His face grew confused,
then, when he saw me look up toward the ceiling, he seemed to remember his
dream and realize what was happening.  I heard the scream and felt the wind
from his wings before I saw him.  “Aquila! No!” I yelled.  He swooped down
towards Carlos, but I pounced onto his back before he reached him.  Aquila
pulled me off of his back and threw me against the wall, knocking the wind out
of me.  I crumpled to the floor, and watched in horror as Aquila turned toward
Matt, who was flying toward him.  He grabbed him and knocked his head into an
iron pipe nearby, knocking him out.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bahiti
leading all of the freed vampires toward the tunnel, away from the fire that
was quickly moving towards us.  Aquila glanced at the fire too, and stood up. 
Carlos lunged toward him, but Aquila threw his arm into Carlos and shoved him
through the lab window.  Aquila started walking toward me.  I screamed as his
foot came down on Matt’s chest, crushing it.  I started to force myself up.  I
began crawling toward him.  Matt was staring at me, but his eyes kept rolling
back in his head.  “Matt!” I screamed then I gasped as the air was forced out
of me.  Aquila had wrapped his arm around my middle and yanked me up. 

“Sarah!” Carlos yelled.  Aquila’s wings closed around me, protecting us,
as he began moving quickly through the fire.  I quickly linked with Carlos
because I had to stop him.
‘Carlos, no.  Save Matt.  Save the others. 
Please.  You can use my tracking device to find me.  I’ll link with you and try
to let you know where I am.  Please, Carlos.  You have to save Matt.  You have
to save yourself.  I can’t lose either of you.  He’s hurt bad, Carlos.  Hurry,
please.  I love…’
the link was broken when Aquila put his fingers against
my temples, squeezed, and knocked me out.

Chapter
Fourteen

“SARAH!” Carlos yelled into the wall of flame.  He glanced frantically
around, looking for a way around. He was still trying to figure out a way
through, when a groan behind stopped him.  He glanced down and that was when he
remembered what he was supposed to be doing.  The fire was dangerously close to
Matt’s leg.  “Oh, shit.  Okay, I got you, buddy.  I’ll get you out of here.” 
He knelt down next to him and stared at Matt’s compressed chest.  It looked
like most of the impact had been on the right side, which was a good sign, but
the entire chest was concave so he still could be having issues with his
heart.  “Sorry, Matt, but this is probably going to hurt,” he said as he slid
his arms underneath him.  As Carlos stood up, Matt cried out in pain, then his eyes
rolled back in his head and he passed out.  As he ran toward the door to the
tunnel, Carlos heard the firefighters as they entered at the far end of the
room, having entered from the church above, and began battling the blaze.