Born in Chains (Men in Chains) (25 page)

She held fast. Though she could see little of the cavern, she sensed that the vampires began to fall back then fly out of the cavern using altered flight.

The moment broke suddenly, the pain in her mind flashing bright then winking out. Adrien relaxed and she released him. He had won the battle with Silas.

Of the living and uninjured, only Silas remained; the rest of the vampires had escaped. The ones on the floor were dead or dying.

“It would seem you’ve won the contest, for now, but only because of the support of the woman.” His light blue gaze shifted to Lily. She felt him try to pull her in, but once more Adrien’s mind slipped into hers and blocked him.

Silas shrugged, and in a blink of an eye he was gone again. But just as fast Adrien moved to stand beside her, two blades drawn, his flecked teal eyes fierce and almost glowing.

“You think he’s still here?” Lily settled a hand on his arm.

“Just want to be sure.”

Lily, however, could feel that the Ancestral was gone for good, so she wasn’t surprised when Adrien, breathing hard, slid his arm around her and walked her to the curved wall, pulling her down to sit beside him. “So many unnecessary deaths. How I hate that man, that he would hide behind religion and cause this disaster.” His gaze moved slowly over the slain, now in an arc in front of them.

Lily avoided looking at the number of dead, but turned toward Adrien to focus, if for just this moment, on him. His sweat had a metallic smell, yet underneath was that rich scent that she loved. “Thank you for saving my life. Again.”

He shifted to look at her, leaning his head against the smooth, polished crystal wall. “I’ll say the same thing because that boost of power made it possible for me to defeat Silas. I honestly don’t know how long I could have held him off, then you were suddenly there, and in my mind as well.” He put his hand on her knee. “But I felt your pain when you helped me. I’d do anything if you didn’t have to feel that kind of pain.”

Lily stared into his eyes, startled yet again by who he was, his compassion for her. He just wasn’t what she’d expected from a vampire. She drew in a ragged breath. “Hey. We’re both here right now. That was a small price to pay.”

He nodded. “I take it your revisiting power came online again?”

“He’d enthralled all of them.” She told him what one of the vampires had said just before he died, as well as his sudden awareness of where he was, what he’d done. “The men weren’t fanatics, Adrien. They’d been playing cards and rolling dice. I think they’d been led here under false pretenses.”

“That makes sense. I knew most of them weren’t fighters, but until right now I thought they were devoted to Silas, to his religious cause.”

Her gaze flitted around the floor, which caused her to turn into Adrien once more. “This was a tragedy,” she whispered.

“Yes, it was.”

“How can a man profess religion of any kind then create and encourage this kind of slaughter?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled his phone from his battle leathers and made a call similar to the one he’d made in Paris after killing the assassin.

A few moments later at least a dozen vampires arrived bearing stretchers. Two corpses at a time, the bodies were taken away.

Much to Lily’s relief, Adrien remained where he was, sitting beside her. The cleanup crew had given him a towel, and he kept wiping sweat off his face, neck, and arms.

With the last of the debris and stains dealt with, the crew left. The emptiness of the cavern, the sterile quality of the air, surprised Lily, as though nothing had ever happened there.

Adrien had grown very still, but she sensed something from him that caused the chain around her neck to vibrate softly. She felt his deep respect for the men who had died here today, even a kind of love for them as someone who had spent his life serving as his society’s protector. And maybe under that respect was grief.

She looked up at him, surprised all over again by his depths, by his kindness despite his warmaking, by his careful respect for others, though he could have easily bulldozed his way in any situation and taken what he wanted, with all the strength and power he carried in his bones.

She inched closer and looped her hand beneath his bare bicep, still damp from battle-sweat, and gave a squeeze.

As he turned to look at her, his head no longer against the wall, she offered a small dip of her chin, wanting him to know that she understood. He smiled and leaned down to place a kiss on her lips.

Thank you,
came from his mind to hers.

Her heart squeezed up tight.

This was not simple between them, not on any level.

Was it just the blood-chains that had brought up such a powerful level of understanding, or was it Adrien? Would she ever know the difference?

The questions were unanswerable, so she turned her attention to the cavern and her mission. She opened up her tracker senses and focused on the extinction weapon, on what she’d been told about the Paris experiments on bats, on the sensitive hearing of vampires generally.

The tendrils of her power, made real because of Adrien, traveled swiftly away from her, deep into the cavern system, miles from where she now sat.

“What is it, Lily? My chain is vibrating heavily.”

“I’m getting a call from the branch on the right.” She gestured to the far end of the vaulted chamber.

“How far?”

She shook her head. “Miles. Whatever relates to the extinction weapon is a long way away.”

Adrien rose to his feet, then extended his hand to her. She took it, and because of his increased Ancestral strength, when he pulled she flew upward a couple of feet then flopped into him.

He laughed, gave her a quick squeeze. “Sorry ’bout that. Still learning.”

Smiling as she slid down his body, she almost kissed him, but stopped herself. What was she thinking? That she’d have a long-term relationship with a vampire, with someone no doubt slated for death by Daniel once he got his hands on the weapon? She had to start being sensible where Adrien was concerned.

He led her to the tunnel on the right, but given her sense of where they were headed she suggested they use altered flight and communicate telepathically.

“I’m all for shaving time off this mission. I’ll just pause at each branch and you can tell me which way to go.”

“Done.” How simple this all seemed.

She turned into him and he slid his arm around her waist. But instead of pulling her against him, chest to chest, he held her to his side so that she was facing forward.

Her feet dangled as he started the altered flight.

Once he started to fly, the miles dissipated quickly. At each juncture, she made her decisions quickly because she knew the route as though it had been imprinted on her DNA. Of course, it was just the chains, and the power she siphoned from Adrien, but she never wavered as she communicated each shift in course telepathically.

We’re getting close. I can feel it now.

The tunnel had narrowed badly and finally reached what looked like a dead end, a wall of jagged rock. Adrien brought them to a complete halt, a jarring movement that rocked her against him a couple of times. She stared at the wall that wasn’t a wall, sensing that something critical lay beyond.

“I’ve seen this before,” he said. “An Ancestral has infused this wall of rock with a nearly impenetrable disguise. No wonder this has never been found before.”

“You mean a disguise like the ones used to prevent humans from finding your world?”

He nodded, putting his hand on the wall. “Yes, feel the vibration. Can you sense the power?”

She reached out and even before her fingers connected with the stone, she felt the disguising field. “Someone with great power created this.”

He moved his hand over the stone. “An Ancestral. I can almost get a reading on who the vampire was, but not quite.” He drew his hand back. “I suppose it really doesn’t matter. Just tell me, is this the place?”

“Yes,” Lily said “Absolutely.”

And yet, he hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.”

But she chuckled softly. “Whatever is beyond these walls can’t be worse than what we just left behind, can it?” She shuddered slightly at the memory of so much blood.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe. You sure you want to do this?”

“Yes. Please take us through.”

He nodded and swallowed hard. “Okay. Let’s see what we’ve got on the other side of this wall.”

The altered flight took only a split second, as Adrien took her through the dense rock, setting her on her feet in yet another vast internal cavern.

What she saw, however, forced her to grow very still. “Oh, my God.”

“Shit,” Adrien said, his voice a mere whisper.

Scattered around what looked like an old-fashioned laboratory were long-decayed corpses, mere skeletons now, all crumpled piles of bones still covered in clothing, often with fingers pressed to skulls as though the people here had died in exactly the position they fell, all in terrible pain, holding their heads.

The air, however, was fresh, as most of the caves she’d been in were.

She glanced around. “How many do you think there are?” She moved slightly to the right, to look down another row of tables and cupboards. Sure enough, several more people lay curled up, hands to heads.

Adrien took hold of her hand and drew her close. “Looks like about fifty. At least.”

“Do you think this was the result of the weapon we’re looking for?”

“Maybe. Hell, by the looks of it, probably. I still can’t believe something like this exists.”

At that moment her revisiting power came alive, but with it a terrible sense of foreboding. For an instant she debated pulling back. She let go of Adrien’s hand, but turned into him and reached for him.

Because he no doubt sensed her fear, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I’ve got you. Another vision?”

She inclined her head. “This is gonna be bad.”

As the revisiting vision came alive, time moved, a deep funneling motion accompanied by shifting waves that began to swirl around the edges of the cavern, creating an almost tornado-like impression at both sides of her vision.

A past view of the current environment emerged, as individuals swarmed through the facility, many running as though something was happening. Each scurried, gathering up papers, turning off equipment. All wore crisp white lab coats. Very 1950s.

When a sound began to pulse within the room, there was a moment when everyone paused to look around, eyes wide. The sound continued to release in a steady rhythm.

She felt the sudden horror of the group.

“This shouldn’t be happening?” someone called out. “Who fired up the weapon?”

Then, “Run!”

At the far end, several of the scientists headed into the tunnel, which was located opposite where she and Adrien now stood. They were running and calling back for others to leave as well.

A few escaped, but the pulsing sound grew louder and suddenly so shrill that even Lily’s ears began to hurt. Amplified by the shared chains, her hearing sharpened, so that as the sound escalated into higher and higher frequencies, she began to tremble.

Suddenly everyone dropped to the floor, holding their hands over their ears and screaming, blood pouring from mouths, nostrils, and ears.

Just as suddenly, the screaming stopped.

And the vision ended.

Lily looked down, and she knew the people she’d seen were the present-day skeletons. The places where they’d died were the same, hands to skulls, the blood having long since dried up and disintegrated.

Suddenly she felt the presence of others in the space and gripped Adrien harder.

Three vampires arrived at the mouth of the opposing tunnel, Daniel and two others, equally tall and powerful in build, like Adrien.

Daniel wore another fine suit but with a scarlet tie this time. His hair, slicked back and oiled, as well as his goatee, looked exactly the same as the previous vision. Only this wasn’t a vision.

“So, we meet again, Lily Haven.” Then he smiled, an expression both charismatic and seductive. He even bowed as though carrying forward for effect the affectations of earlier centuries.

She drew closer to Adrien. It was one thing to have heard tales about the monster or even to have spoken with him in a revisiting vision. But right now, in this moment, the serpent slithered through the room.

*   *   *

Adrien stared at Daniel, now standing on the opposite side of the room. The monster who now ruled the Council and who held Adrien’s brothers in the Himalayan prison stood flanked by his two oldest sons, Quill and Lev. Daniel, of all vampires, didn’t deserve to have even one child, never mind the several he had sired.

All male vampires, brought into the world and raised during the first years of life by human mothers.

He’d hurt all his children.

And killed off their mothers.

Adrien stared at Daniel, and his two lackeys, the sight of him clamping around Adrien’s heart like a vise. “What are you doing here?”

Daniel looked at Adrien, still smiling. “Protecting my investment, of course.” He glanced around the room. “I never could find this place. All those decades of searching, but this one remained hidden to me. Naturally, I’d heard rumors. After all, it was my friend Charles who had run this laboratory illegally for at least a decade after the Council had shut everything down. Too bad he died when he did. Other rumors said he’d built a weapon and hidden it.”

“You’ve been following us.”

“I’ve kept tabs.” He levitated and started moving slowly, above the corpses but between tables and cupboards in a distant row. His minions trailed him, matching his flow. Dread seized Adrien’s heart, an old familiar sensation from childhood. How much pain would Daniel inflict this time?

He couldn’t breathe. Lily’s hand, normally comforting, felt like fire on his back.

Her voice pierced his chaotic thoughts.
Daniel is more to you than just an evil in your world, isn’t he? I can feel through the chains that you fear him like no one else we’ve encountered. Who is he to you, Adrien? Who is he?