The Eternity Cure (16 page)

I winced in sympathy. Zeke hated killing, taking human life, even when it was necessary.

“After that,” Zeke went on, “everyone started rallying around me, wanting me to take over, to tell them what to do. Maybe because Kyle was dead, and they were all freaking out. Or maybe it was just because I was armed. I couldn’t say no—they needed help.” He sighed. “I remembered this place from when I came through the tunnels, and it seemed safer than anywhere up top. That was before I knew it was right on the edge of mole man territory.” His brow furrowed, and he shook his head. “But anyway, we came down here, and more people followed. It’s sort of become a refugee camp now, for anyone trying to escape the craziness up top. But things are getting pretty bad. There’s no food, and the mole men are getting bolder. Something has to be done, or everyone here is going to die.”

And you can’t let that happen,
I thought.
Even if these aren’t your people, even if they would turn on you the second something better comes along, you’ve never been able to walk away from those in need. You really haven’t changed at all.

But that still didn’t answer the most important question. “Zeke,” I began, and he tensed as if he knew what was coming. “
Why
are you here? Why aren’t you back in Eden with everyone else? Why did you come to New Covington?”

He gave a short, bitter laugh. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?” he snapped, sounding angry again. I blinked, hearing the veiled hurt in his voice, not knowing where it was coming from. He stopped and turned, blue eyes glittering, facing me down. “Because of you, Allie,” he said, almost an accusation. “I came here looking for you.”

Oh.

Zeke spun and started walking again. Jackal snickered behind me. “Ahhh, young love,” he mocked, making me want to turn and kick him. “Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“Shut up, Jackal,” I muttered, trailing after Zeke. I felt even worse now. Zeke was here…for me? Why? Not because…of what Jackal said, surely. That was crazy. He wouldn’t trail me all the way across the country for
that.

And anyway, it didn’t matter. I’d said my goodbyes to Zeke when I was turned away from Eden. I hadn’t thought I’d ever see him again, and I had almost come to terms with that. He’d worked so hard to get his people to Eden safely— why leave that all behind to go searching for a vampire who could be anywhere? Zeke had to know that anything between a vampire and a human wouldn’t work. Even now, following him through the tunnels, watching his shoulders and the back of his neck, I couldn’t help but want to bite him. To sink my fangs into his throat and draw his essence into myself. Worse, I knew what he tasted of—he’d given his blood to save my life once, and it was hot and powerful and intoxicating. I wanted more.

With a start, I realized my fangs had slid out, poking my bottom lip, and I retracted them with a shiver.

“You know…” Jackal mused as we walked down a narrow metal bridge over a crumbling levy. Water must’ve run through it at one point, but now it was mostly dry, covered in rubble, broken bottles and other hazardous things. “This reminds me of a certain puppy I saw one day. Cutest little thing—one of my raider’s pets, I believe. This puppy was friendly with everyone, it didn’t know a stranger. Until one day, it tried approaching a dog—a bitch—that was guarding another raider’s bike, wagging its little tail, wanting to play. And that other dog ripped it to pieces.”

“Thank you for that disturbing and completely pointless story,” I said, ignoring the obvious reference. “Maybe you should stick to death threats and intimidation. Or better yet, don’t talk at all.”

We reached the end of the tunnel, where Zeke waited for us, clicking off his flashlight. If he’d heard Jackal’s story, he didn’t comment on it. “We have to be careful through here,” he murmured, nodding into the shadows. “Up ahead is a big chamber where the mole men sleep. There’s no way around, we have to go straight through.”

“Oh, good.” Jackal smiled. “I was getting awfully bored. Nothing like a good massacre to get the blood pumping.”

“We’re not here to fight them,” Zeke reminded him, narrowing his eyes. “We need them to show us the way through the Inner City tunnels. Unless you would rather wander aimlessly around until the sun comes up?”

Jackal snorted. “Oh, right, because the murderous, flesheating cannibals are just going to give us what we want because we ask them nicely.”

“They usually don’t attack larger groups,” Zeke insisted. “And they’re terrified of vampires. This doesn’t have to be a bloodbath.”

“I know, little meatsack.” Jackal bared his fangs in a savage grin. “I just hope it is.”

We continued down the tunnel, a bit slower this time, as Zeke had turned the flashlight off and everything was pitchblack now. For Jackal and I, that wasn’t a problem—our vampire senses allowed us to see in absolute darkness, but Zeke’s human vision wasn’t nearly as good. But we didn’t want to alert the mole men to our presence and have them scurry off into the maze of tunnels before we could talk to them.

As we came out of the passage, the ceiling rose up into a large domed room, surrounded by tunnels on every side. The chamber was strewn with rubble and trash, piled unceremoniously into corners. Filthy, stained mattresses and piles of rags were scattered around a fire pit, the ashes cold and gray. There was no one else in the room.

“That’s weird,” Zeke muttered, sweeping his flashlight around the chamber again. The beam flickered over mounds of junk and glinted off stripped white bones, scattered throughout the rubble. Some were definitely animal bones, rats and dogs mostly, but a few were…questionable. “They were here a few days ago. I wonder what made them clear out?”

“Maybe they heard rumors of vampires in the sewers,” Jackal suggested, and shrugged. “Pity. I was looking forward to a nice bloodbath. So…” He picked a yellow cat skull out of an alcove, turned it toward me, and moved the jaws up and down as he asked, “What do we do now?”

Ignoring him, I turned slowly, taking a deep, careful breath. I smelled the grime and filth of this place, the stench of human waste in the tunnels nearby, and caught a hint of rotten meat from the mole men’s last feeding. But through all that, I discovered a trace of something else, something instantly familiar.

I followed the smell around a large, rusty pipe until I found the source. Crouching down, I studied one of the mattresses, where a dark stain blotted one corner, soaking the fabric. The scent of fresh blood was suddenly very strong in my nose and mouth, and the Hunger responded eagerly. I pushed it down, gazing at a line of drops spattering the floor, leading away from the mattress until they vanished into a pipe on the far wall.

Jackal peered over my shoulder. “Well now. Looks like someone left behind a trail. How very careless, not taking care of that properly, especially with vampires in the tunnels.” He took a deep breath and chuckled. “It’s fairly recent, too. We should probably try to catch up, before he bleeds out and dies. That would just be a waste, wouldn’t it?”

I rose, moving away from Jackal, toward the pipe. “Where do you think they went, Zeke?”

“I don’t know.” Zeke stepped over a pile of rocks and scattered bones to join us. “From what I understand, and this is mostly hearsay, they’re fairly nomadic, moving around the Undercity at will. But individual families do have permanent nests like this one, and they stay away from other clans. They don’t trespass into other territories. I don’t have any idea where they could’ve gone.”

“Well…” I stepped to the entrance of the pipe. I could still catch the faint hint of blood, even through the mold and rust and other smells. “I guess we’re going to find out.”

I noticed Zeke’s cold stare, directed at Jackal as he sauntered past, and I motioned the other vampire forward. “After you,” I told Jackal. “Unless, of course, you’re afraid the mole men are waiting for you.”

Jackal gave me an evil, knowing smile, chuckling as he stepped into the pipe. He knew what I was doing: keeping a body between him and Zeke, separating them. I knew Zeke wouldn’t stab his enemy in the back or shoot him from behind—he wasn’t like that—but Jackal
was
sadistic enough to say something unforgivable just to set Zeke off. And then he would have “no choice” but to defend himself when Zeke attacked him.

I hoped they both would keep it together, at least until we found Kanin. I couldn’t watch the two of them every second of every day.

The pipe was narrow and claustrophobic, and all three of us had to duck so our heads wouldn’t scrape against the top as we went through. Jackal was in front, moving as lightly and as smoothly as a cat, the edge of his duster trailing behind him. I could feel Zeke at my back, hear his steady breathing. And, even though I knew he wouldn’t, I kept imagining how easy it would be for him to take one of those stakes at his belt and drive it through my back, maybe clear into my heart. Then, with me out of the way, he would have a clear shot at the vampire who’d killed his father….

I shook myself. No, Zeke
wouldn’t
do that. I knew him. He hated vampires with a passion, and he was a fierce, determined fighter when he had to be, but he was also one of the few truly good people left in the world. He wouldn’t stab me in the back in cold blood.

Or…would he? I realized I was being naive. Just because Zeke had known me before, that was no reason to drop my guard around him. It had been months; he could have decided I was a murderous, soulless monster after all and what we’d shared, what we’d done, was evil and wrong. If he hadn’t reached that conclusion before, my showing up with Jackal— the embodiment of everything humans feared in a vampire— certainly hadn’t helped.

And Zeke didn’t even know about our…family tie yet. What would he say once he discovered Jackal was my brother? He might stake me on principle.

Enough, Allison.
I pushed those thoughts from my head.
What’s done is done. Either Zeke will accept it, or he won’t, but you can’t worry about him anymore. Finding Kanin is the important thing now.

The tunnels went on, and so did the blood trail. Just when I’d think we’d lost it, Jackal would nod to a dark smear on the wall, or a single drop of blood on the stones. Whoever this was, he was obviously badly hurt, and I hoped we wouldn’t stumble across a corpse in the center of this endless maze.

Jackal was never quiet, continuously spouting some cruel remark or observation as we followed him through the labyrinth of corridors and pipes. He spoke in whispers, and many of his comments were intended to needle the human in our party. Much to his credit, Zeke ignored the vampire, remaining calm and businesslike even when Jackal asked him an obvious, goading question. I finally kicked Jackal in the calf and growled at him to stop.

“Hey, I’m just making conversation.” Jackal’s grin made me want to slug him in his pointed teeth. “I’m curious what the little meatsack has been up to since he burned down my city and disappeared with my cure. Is it in Eden, bloodbag?” His voice was no longer mocking or curious; it now bordered on menacing. “Is a new team of scientists studying that research? The failed vampire experiments? How close are they to discovering a cure?”

“Why would I tell you any of that?” Zeke asked softly.

Jackal bared his fangs, but a noise up ahead caught my attention. For a second, I thought I heard the shuffle of feet over the stones, and the low murmur of voices. “Quiet,” I whispered. “Someone is out there.”

They fell silent, and we eased through the tunnels, being careful not to make a noise. The footsteps scuttled away, and the snatches of conversation vanished with them, but I knew we were getting close to something.

“This way,” Zeke whispered, and turned down another pipe that cut through a brick wall, into the darkness. Low voices echoed down the tube, a lot of voices, growing stronger the farther we went. I took a breath and smelled blood and smoke and the scent of many, many humans, all mingled together.

The pipe abruptly ended, coming out of the wall nearly fifteen feet off the ground. A thin line of water flowed past our feet and trickled into the large open room beyond. The air here was damp and smelled of metal, smoke and stagnant water. Rusty pipes snaked over the walls and ceiling, and several steel drums smoldered with a thick, greasy smoke in the corners of the room.

The pale, hunched figures of several dozen mole men milled about the chamber, their low, raspy voices drifting into the pipe. Some huddled around smaller fires throughout the room, gnawing on unidentifiable chunks of meat. Some lay curled up in rags, tattered blankets or each other, sleeping or trying to stay warm. One woman, her hair falling out in patches, pulled a skewer of rats out of the fire and handed one to a skinny, wild-eyed boy, who took the charred rodent and darted off to an isolated corner. Crunching noises drifted up soon after.

Beside me, Zeke blew out a slow, quiet breath. “So many of them,” he whispered as we drew back into the shadows of the pipe. “I’ve never seen so many in one place. Why are they gathering now….” He trailed off, his voice turning grim. “The base. They’ve been threatening to drive us off, back to the streets. If they all decide to attack the base, we won’t be able to stop them, not with those numbers. They’ll kill everyone there.”

“Take it easy,” I soothed, putting a hand on his knee. He glanced at it in surprise, and I pretended not to notice. “We’ll talk to them. There has to be a way to make them listen without bloodshed.”

Behind us, Jackal gave a disgusted snort. “Hope springs eternal,” he muttered, but didn’t say anything else as we backed out of the pipe and searched for the entrance to the lair.

We found it a few hundred feet from the pipe, a crumbled section of wall with firelight spilling out of the cracks, flickering over the stones and rubble. No one guarded the entrance; I guessed the mole men didn’t have many intruders in their twisty, mazelike world, especially not vampires.

I glared at Jackal as the entrance loomed closer. “We’re not here to kill anyone,” I reminded him, and he rolled his eyes. “Try to remember that, okay? I don’t want to have to fight the entire mole man population of New Covington, and if we kill them all, we won’t have anyone to show us the way to the Inner City.”