Forsaken (18 page)

“You were told it is how things have always been,” Rafael continued, “and that without the elders there is only chaos and disorder. How our race would not survive without their guidance. Were you not?” Again, Hunter nodded. His jaw clenched a little more. “Not many have dared to defy them, but you have. And this girl, Nora, she will have a part to play yet. No, I believe your story is far from finished. In fact, I think it’s just begun.”

“What you’re saying about the elders is blasphemy.”

“Do you think I am afraid of them? Or their little puppets? There are few things that scare me, boy, and the elders are not among them.” Rafael’s tone shifted, and it became denser. More ominous. “But for now,
you
should be afraid. For the elders have visited my dreams and the dreams of every other living Vassiz. Whole packs are coming after you, boy, and your darling friend. Packs of Vassiz enraged by the desecration of your crimes. They will be here soon.”

“Here?” Hunter thundered. “You told them we were here! You lied to us!”

“No, I did not lie, nor did I give them any information. But I am guessing the untimely death of one of your pursuers tipped them off. Listen. You can hear them now.”

A silence descended upon the enclosure. Nora strained her ears. She could hear nothing. She waited, holding her breath. Everything was silent.

And then she heard a distant thud. And then…another. A rhythmic vibration rocked the cavern. Low and nearly inaudible. The thudding quickened, coming from the direction they had come from.

“They’ve broken in!” Hunter exclaimed. “Through the blocked entrance!”

“Yes. They’re coming after you.” Rafael smiled. “Your only chance lies with me.”

Chapter Twenty-One

~The Pursuit~

Together, they ran. Hard.

Nora gripped Hunter’s chest with all her strength. She was on his back, clinging for dear life. Hunter was following Rafael, who was urging them on. Vassiz were fast, Nora knew, but Rafael was even faster.

They stormed down into pure darkness. Nora couldn’t see past the black, but still her eyes were open wide, still straining to see. Her hair blew backward as Hunter ran on, and she struggled to catch her breath against the wind in her face.

She could hear the vibrations behind them. They were getting louder. Whatever was making them was getting closer.

“Quickly, quickly!” Rafael yelled. Hunter doubled his speed.

They sped through long corridors, down twisting tunnels, and into long paths. Nora gasped, trying to gulp down the air that streamed by her, but it was very difficult.

The path they were on widened and unfolded into an open space. The moon’s rays streamed in from a hollow in the distant ceiling, allowing Nora to see her surroundings. They ran on a single path that jutted out from the rock. A long, dark abyss lay on either side of them. One wrong move, one misstep, and they’d be hurtling down. But Hunter was steadfast and kept on undeterred at the same speed as before.

Ahead of them, Nora realized with alarm, was a large gap in the path. A place where the ancient rock had long since fallen away. She watched, stunned, as Rafael raced toward it and leapt into the air. He rose, higher than she would have ever thought possible, and landed deftly on the other side.

“Faster!” he yelled from the other side. “Go faster!”

For a second, Hunter faltered, but quickly regained his step. Nora realized with horror that they would have to jump the gap as well.

Hunter ran toward it and sprang into the air. For a split second, Nora felt weightless – a feather rising on a cool wind. And then they started to go down. They were falling down toward the other end. But they were coming short.

Nora tried to scream, but couldn’t suck enough air into her lungs. She buried her head against Hunter’s back and locked her fingers tighter. They slammed into the edge hard, and the impact broke her grip. She lost her hold and was knocked off Hunter. She was falling.

Desperately, she grabbed for something, anything. Anything that might save her. Her hand caught cloth, and she jerked to a stop, nearly dislocating her shoulder from the impact.

For half a second, she just dangled there, amazed that she’d caught on. Then she looked up and realized she had hold of Hunter’s leg. His foot, more precisely. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She didn’t dare look down.

Summoning all her strength, she reached up with her other hand, securing it around his calf. But her arms were exhausted, and she nearly lost the hold again. She felt Hunter move and looked up to see him also hanging halfway off the cliff’s edge. He was struggling to get up.

Rafael appeared above them. “Hold on,” he told her and grabbed Hunter’s arm to pull him up. Hunter grunted as his bare torso scraped over the hard rock. Nora held on for dear life. Then Rafael’s hand came over the edge, gripping her forearm, and he pulled her up.

She collapsed onto the icy rock floor. She was breathing hard. Her head spun from the adrenaline pounding through her. She peeked up, back the way they’d come – and saw her pursuers for the first time.

They were still in the distance, just now entering the open cavern, but they were gaining fast. A horde of Vassiz, at least fifty deep, moved in unison toward her like a giant wave. The moonlight reflected sharply off their skin. They were a pale army in the night.

“Come on!” Rafael roared, and Nora felt herself being picked up. Hunter was carrying her. They headed to the end of the path, where a wide opening led deeper into darkness. As soon as they were through, Rafael activated a mechanism, and a giant boulder slammed down behind them, locking them in. There was no light for Nora to see.

Hunter could see, though. “What is this?” he demanded angrily. “You have brought us to a dead end! There is no exit!” Nora felt his body quiver with rage.

There came no reply. Nora heard shuffling and then the agonizing sound of rock scraping against rock.

“Help me,” Rafael said gruffly. Hunter put Nora down. She felt him move away from her, toward Rafael’s voice. She couldn’t see what they were doing, but the scraping grew louder. A gust of wind blew across her face.

“A way out,” Rafael said. As the words left his mouth, a thunderous crash sounded against the boulder. The Vassiz were already on the other side – and they were trying to break down the entrance! Another crash, and thin beams of light streamed in around the edges. They were destroying the boulder!

“They’re here,” Rafael said stiffly. “You go. I will stay to buy you time.”

“They will overwhelm you!” Hunter exclaimed.

“Boy, I have more tricks up my sleeve than you may believe.” Another thunderous crash, and the whole cave they were in trembled. “Go now! You will find an enormous maze. There is only one way out. Take the crossings left, left, right. Every time. Miss but one, and your path will lead deeper into the ground, and there will be no escape. Hurry!” Another crash. Another massive vibration. “They will break in soon. The barricade won’t keep for long. GO!”

Nora felt herself being picked up again, then the wind slammed against her skin. They had left Rafael behind. The last sound Nora heard was that agonizing scrape of rock against rock.

Chapter Twenty-Two

~The End of Hope~

Hunter ran for his life, for both their lives. They ran down curving pathways with hard angles.

Left, left, right.

They ran ahead, far ahead.

Left, left, right.

The sounds behind them lessened. They were leaving their pursuers behind.

Left, left, right.

Hunter ran with everything he had, and Nora clung onto his back with a grip she would never release.

Left, left, right.

She couldn’t see anything in the dark, but she trusted Hunter. She could feel his heart hammering against her chest.

Left, left, right.

On and on they ran, until the sounds in the distance became an inaudible hum and then disappeared altogether. Only then did Hunter slow his pace.

“I think,” he said finally, “we got away.” A flood of relief greater than anything Nora had experienced before washed over her.

“We’re safe?”

“I think so.” He set her down and took her hand. “Come, we should be out of this labyrinth soon.”

Nora followed him – gripping his hand tightly. She couldn’t help but smile. She hoped he wouldn’t notice.

Hunter led her straight down the path, then turned left. They walked farther, and took another left turn. Farther still, for a stretch of time that seemed to last hours, and finally took a right – and Nora walked right into Hunter’s back.

“No…” he stammered. “No, no, no, no!”

“What is it?” Nora asked cautiously. She couldn’t see anything in the dark.

Hunter started breathing heavily, like a cornered animal. With no word, he picked her up again and ran down the path, until Nora saw a dim, distant light source far away. As they got closer, Nora realized they had come to an enclosure.

A single ray of light streamed into the middle of the circular room. A round rock slab stood at the center, and the light shone onto it. There were symbols carved into it, the same as the ones outside, in both scripts, and they gleamed in a brilliant turquoise against the light. Nora looked around her. The walls were smooth glass rock, the same as the wall underneath the entrance to this entire dungeon had been. And the light shone from a long, narrow chamber that was cut into the rock above them.

Nora looked around again, growing alarmed. The walls were smooth. There were no cuts or partitions in them. The only way out of this chamber was…the way they had come.

“A dead end,” Hunter said slowly.

“What? No!” It couldn’t be. Not after everything they’d gone through. Not after everything they’d done. Everything he’d done. For her.

“I must…have missed a turn.” He slammed his fist against the wall hard enough that Nora winced. “Dammit!” he roared in anger.

“We…we can go back,” Nora said. “We can retrace our steps.”

“No.” Hunter shook his head sadly. “You might not hear them coming, but I do. If we go back, there is only death.”

—

Silence fell upon the room. For Nora, it was a shocked silence. To have come so far, to have done so much…it didn’t seem fair that it had all been for nothing.

And now they were only minutes away from the imminent confrontation. A confrontation that would leave both of them dead.

“Nora.” Hunter’s voice was heavy. She looked across the room at him. At least in her final moments she could see his face, so beautiful against the moonlight. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” she told him, but he interrupted.

“I’m sorry for taking you away from your life. I’m sorry for everything. You…you did not ask for this. I have forced it upon you. I have taken so much away.” Nora thought she saw his eyes glisten. Were those
tears
?

“Hunter, no…” she began, but again he broke in.

“You deserve so much better.” He stepped toward her. “I should have never spoken to you.” He stepped closer, until he was right in front of her, and looked down sadly. “I should have never shown you the dream world. You would have lived the full life you deserve.” He took her face gently between his hands and placed a kiss on her forehead. She shivered at the touch of his lips.

He turned away and walked to the entrance. He stood there, staring out into the darkness. His shoulders were tense, and Nora could see every sculpted muscle of his back.

“When they come…” He swallowed. “… when they come, I want you to stay back. As far back as you can. Hide against the stone slab. And whatever you do – don’t watch.”

His words tugged at her heart, and tears welled in her eyes. He was bracing himself for the upcoming fight. To try to save her.

She knew it was a losing proposition. They would kill him, tear right through him to get to her. There was no escaping this time.

She hated feeling helpless. Hated feeling like they had come so far, done so much, and achieved almost nothing. She was alone with Hunter, deep beneath the earth, and he was readying himself for one last desperate fight to save her.

He would lose.

And…she couldn’t let that happen.

A thought had tickled her mind ever since she first learned what Hunter was. A thought she had suppressed and kept hidden. A thought that frightened her. But now, in the darkest of hours, there was no other choice but to face it head on.

“Hunter,” she said with unspoken conviction. “They’re tracking us by my scent, right?”

“Yes,” he said curtly.

“Otherwise, they wouldn’t know where to go in the labyrinth, would they?”

“That’s right.”

“And you…you have no scent?” The words came slowly, but she was determined.

“Yes…?”

“So…” she swallowed, summoning all her courage. “So, convert me.”

“What?” Hunter spun around, the shock clear on his face.

“Bite me. You said you were once human, you were converted. Bite me, and make me one of you!”

“No.” He shook his head vehemently. “It would go against everything.”