Blood Prophecy (5 page)

The tunnel was as narrow and dark as I’d expected and dirt crumbled down the sides as I pushed through the cobwebs. I could hear the patter of rats and the scuttling of spiders and beetles. The smell was just damp and dark enough to have me thinking of
Hel-Blar.
Instinct made the little hairs on my arms stand up.

I kept walking, following the subtle incline as the passageway led up under the outer bailey, where the knights had been training. The sound of hoofbeats overhead was muffled. Clods of dirt rained over me. I sped up.

And then the tunnel shuddered once, as if a huge fist had just come down on the earth and stones arching over me.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, breaking into a lopsided run as the ground continued to move. Rocks dislodged and fell until they tripped me. “Dragons and earthquakes? I really hate this girl.”

I kept running and the tunnel kept shaking until finally, just when I could see a line of light from the edge of a door, it started to cave in altogether. I couldn’t go back; there were too many rocks tumbling together. I struggled to climb over the mounds of dirt gathering up to my knees. The walls collapsed inward, earth and stones and rivulets of water all rushing to fill in the spaces around me. A rock bounced off my shoulder, bruising deep. Another one smacked into my ankle.

I dug out frantically, like an animal, refusing to look away from that sliver of weak light. I could almost reach the door. The more earth I shoved away, the more took its place. I spat it out of my mouth, blinked it from my eyelashes, shook it out of my ears. My nails tore to the quick, bleeding and stinging as they finally raked against the wooden planks of the castle’s tunnel entrance. I wiggled and shifted around so I could kick it with my heel until it finally groaned open.

I stumbled into the castle, bringing clods of earth and pebbles with me. I pushed my dirt-tangled hair out of my face and leaped to my feet, looking for guards. When I realized I was alone, I slumped against the wall, muscles in my arms and legs aching.

I was inside.

I indulged in a weary grin before straightening up again to get my bearings. It was dark and dusty down here, with rows of iron
doors. I’d come out right by the dungeons. I thought I heard weeping but all I could see was darkness and mildew.

“Hello?” I whispered.

The weeping stopped so abruptly I reached for a weapon I didn’t have.

Which was when I realized I
had
no weapons.

Crap.

Too late to turn back now, and nowhere to go besides.

I crept forward, straining to see inside the dank cells. Unlit torches lined the stone walls and soiled hay lay in heaps in the corner. A single candle flickered, stuck to the ground by melted wax. “Anyone there?”

A girl with long blond hair to her knees wearing a ragged dress crouched near the bars of a cell. She looked about seven years old and there was an iron chain clamped around her ankle. Her mouth moved as if she was trying to speak, but no sound came out. I swallowed and glanced into the next cell. A knight in tarnished armor glared at me. Next to him was an old woman cackling to herself and next to her, a woman with bite scars, a vampire so pale she was translucent. Her fangs were extended, her eyes like pale purple violets covered in frost.

“You’re a fool,” she said.

I didn’t argue with her.

The last cell held a
Hel-Blar,
snarling and spitting through the bars. I stayed well out of reach, wrinkling my nose at the stench.

If Viola wanted them locked away in her subconscious, or wherever this was, then I wanted them free. And if I was lucky, she’d be
so busy dealing with their mass exodus that I could sneak through the castle and find out what else she was hiding. Because whatever it was I was looking for, it wasn’t these sad bodies. They were important enough for her to lock them away but not important enough to guard. What I needed was somewhere else entirely.

I bent to pick up one of the rocks that had tumbled out of the tunnel with me and smashed it onto one of the locks. The clang reverberated through the hall. I glanced over my shoulder at the spiral stone steps but when no one came thundering down to investigate, I smashed at the lock again. The rust eating through the iron worked in my favor.

The vampire woman was the first to leap out of her cell, then the old woman and the lady. The knight eyed me suspiciously, even as his gate swung open. The little girl’s cell wasn’t even locked but she wouldn’t come out. I left the
Hel-Blar
where she was.

I was still holding the rock defensively, waiting to see who would move first. The vampire streaked up the stairs so quickly I barely saw her move. The knight pulled his sword from him scabbard and I stumbled back.

“I am a man of honor,” he informed me coldly.

“Good, go kill a dragon or something,” I suggested. “Like right now.”

He nodded curtly. I released the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. It startled me. I could breathe here, I could stand in sunlight, but I still had fangs. Viola’s head made no sense.

I waited until the others had cleared out, all except the
Hel-Blar
and the little girl who was still huddled with her head under her
arms, before inching up the steps. I kept close to the wall, hearing the sounds of fighting, the clang of swords, a woman’s shout of warning. Through one of the narrow windows I saw the dragon fly by so close, the air from his wings ruffled my hair. His blue scales flashed like lapis lazuli.

I avoided the great hall, where the scarred woman appeared to be flinging coals from the fire at everyone. The dried lavender stalks on the ground smoldered fragrantly. A hawk resting on a wooden perch let out a piercing cry of alarm. I darted under the wooden stairs before anyone could look over and see me there. There were two knights up on the landing, standing in front of an arched oak door. Two more stood staggered on the steps. The hawk broke free and circled over the smoky hall, crying.

Under the stairs where I was hiding, there was another door. This one was smaller and unguarded. Thick dust lay on the ground in front of it. When I tested the handle, it was unlocked. I slipped inside.

Into a swarm of bats.

Chapter 5

Lucy

Sunday night

I slid into the driver’s seat and fishtailed my way through a U-turn. Kieran and Solange were out of sight now, long since vanished into the forest bordering the campus. I cut through the field, following their footsteps. Snow and clumps of grass churned under the tires. I pulled to a stop at the edge of the trees, ducking out to stand up while still inside the car. I balanced on the edge of the seat, peering into the woods.

“Kieran!” I called out, reaching for a stake. I listened intently but I couldn’t hear running or screaming or even regular night sounds. The snow muffled everything, making it too bright and too silent. My heart pounded in my ears. I was sure the teachers at the academy
would tell me not to abandon the getaway car. But they wouldn’t want me to abandon a fellow hunter either.

A quick glance behind me showed the empty field. Whatever the students and concert-goers were doing now, it wasn’t sneaking up behind us. That would have to be good enough for now. Still torn, I jumped out.

I followed the footsteps under the tall red pine, the back of my neck prickling. It was creepy in here, far away from everything and everyone with nothing but the clouds of my frozen breath for company. The tip of my nose was numb and my fingers were cramping with cold. Ice crackled in the trees as the wind shifted. Wet snow and icy rain drifted down in veils, sliding down the back of my neck. I crept deeper into the forest, eyes straining for any movement. Moonlight slid between bare branches.

A twig snapped up ahead.

I froze, another stake clenched in my fist. “Kieran?”

“Solange, wait,” I heard him say. His voice was low and urgent. I broke into a run, suddenly oblivious to the eerie silence of a forest filled with vampires. I found them past a grove of stunted birch trees. Solange wasn’t alone.

“Get away from her,” Kieran barked at the tall vampire at her side. He had dark hair and a quiet smirk, as if everything amused him. But there was something under the smirk, something deadly.

The elusive Constantine.

“Come back with me.” Kieran took another step toward her. “We’ll figure it out.”

Solange smiled. There was still blood on her dress. Her eyes
were so blue they looked like sapphire beads. “I’m not lost,” she said sweetly. “So there’s nothing to figure out.” She leaned in close, as if she was about to kiss him. She stopped a breath away from his mouth. “Go away,” she said instead.

Kieran flinched. He didn’t say anything but the muscles in his neck strained as he fought the compulsion. He turned slowly on one foot to walk away, his back exposed. I jumped into the clearing, stake ready. Constantine shifted.

I threw the stake.

“Kieran, duck!” I hollered. He dropped to the ground just as it whistled over his head. Constantine snarled, pivoting. He knocked the stake aside, at the same time shielding Solange. Fury twisted her porcelain-doll features. If I’d had time, I would have shivered.

Constantine tugged her away, and they shot between the trees like pale stars. I’d thought for sure Constantine would have gone for my throat. Still, I didn’t want to hang around for him to change his mind.

“Gotta go.” I jerked Kieran to his feet. Solange’s pheromones made his eyes look a little glassy, but at least the compulsion was moving him in the direction I wanted him to go.

“I lost her,” he said, barely above a whisper as we ran toward the car. He was a silhouette in the piercing headlights. I couldn’t see his expression. He slammed his hand onto the hood of the SUV. His breath became short gasps of white clouds in the frigid air. “I lost her,” he repeated, bleakly.

“We can’t stay here,” I said. He just stood there, looking broken.” Kieran!” I tried to sound like a teacher back at the
school. He blinked at me once. I flicked snow at him. “Snap out of it.”

He shook his head suddenly, as if he was dislodging the dark thoughts that clung to him like water. “You’re right.” He slid into the driver’s seat before I could wonder if he was in any condition to drive. He seemed okay, except for the set of his jaw and shoulders. There was blood on his sleeve. I didn’t ask whose it was. I dialed Connor’s cell phone as Kieran pulled back onto the road. He was the brother most likely to be connected.

“We know,” Connor said right away. “Hart’s on the phone with Dad.”

“You know? About Solange?”

“Yeah,” he said grimly. “Chloe just sent me video.”

“Shit, Connor. There’s
video?”

“Security camera. I gotta go,” he said, before hanging up. “Mom’s going nuclear.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Your uncle’s on the phone with Solange’s dad,” I told Kieran. “There was video. How the hell did it get uploaded so fast?”

“There are Helios-Ra cameras all over town,” he answered tightly, hitting the accelerator. “I’ve got to talk to my uncle. Now.”

“I get that,” I said grabbing the door when the SUV slid a few feet. “Can you not get us killed first?”

The drive was far too slow and far too fast. Snow and trees and pavement blurred into one. I kept sneaking Kieran looks. His hands were knuckle-white around the steering wheel. I couldn’t process the fact that whatever happened to Solange was now happening publicly. Between the Huntsmen, the Helios-Ra, and the Blood
Moon guard, she was going to get herself killed before we could save her.

Hunter was waiting for us in the parking lot. “There’s video,” she said.

“We know,” Kieran told her curtly, rolling down his window. “And we caught the live show.”

“That’s not all.” She held onto the SUV before he could drive off. “They brought the vic here. If she dies . . .”

“I know what happens,” Kieran said. “I have to go, Hunter.”

He drove off before she could say anything else. She watched him for a long silent moment then turned away, sighing.

“He chased her into the woods,” I told her. “But she was faster.”

“If that student they brought in dies, the Drakes will have broken the treaty.”

My breath froze, along with the rest of me. “But it’s not her fault.” I was more sure of that than ever before. That sweet-voiced porcelain doll with blood on her clothes wasn’t Solange. No one and nothing would convince me otherwise.

Hunter looked sympathetic. “You know that won’t matter to the League. Not now. Hart’s already made an announcement that the treaty holds until further notice, but he won’t be able to hold everyone back. Not on this.”

We headed toward the dorm and went straight inside to Hunter and Chloe’s room. Chloe turned in her desk chair. Her curly dark hair exploded out of a scrunchie that was slipping free and there were empty soda cans littered around her. Jenna sat on the edge of one of the beds.

“Nice misdirection with the party-girl yell,” she said.

“How did you guys find the video so fast?” I asked, shrugging out of my coat.