A Shade of Novak (A Shade of Vampire #8)(25)

The deck was in chaos. The submarine was split into a large control room at the front, and then an area with more seats at the back. Vampires clawed and ripped at each other.

I didn’t have much time to look around though, because soon Caleb was pushing me up a narrow ladder. We reached yet another level of more vampires fighting. He ran with us across the floor until we reached another ladder. Again he pushed me up and this time, there was an open hatch up ahead. Rain poured onto my face. Caleb gripped my thighs and pushed me up. I held onto the metal edge of the hatch and pulled myself the rest of the way.

It was night and we appeared to be floating in the middle of the ocean. Another black submarine floated parallel to us. I scrambled further along the roof of the submarine. The heavy rain was impairing my vision, and the already smooth surface became even more precarious. My foot slipped. I screamed as I slid down the side of the submarine, trying to find anything to grip onto, but there was nothing. I closed my eyes, bracing myself to fall face forward into the ocean, when a strong hand wrapped around my ankle.

The hand pulled up until I was once again on the flat surface of the roof. When I sat up, I found myself looking into Caleb’s intense eyes.

“Careful!” he scolded.

My hair stood on end as I looked down at the rough, dark waters I’d almost slid into.

I looked around me and breathed out in relief to see Ben climbing out of the hatch. He lowered himself down and crouched down next to me on the roof, pulling me closer to him.

Caleb whistled, and vampires began also retreating out of the hatch, filling up the remaining space of the roof. The last one out slammed the hatch shut behind him and about four vampires pushed down on it as vampires within the vessel tried to break out.

Caleb whistled again, and the submarine floating next to us neared. As soon as it was within jumping distance, the vampires on the roof began to leap onto it. Now all of them had crossed but one who remained applying pressure to the hatch so that the vampires within it couldn’t get out.

Ben pushed me forward toward Caleb.

“Hurry, take my sister,” Ben said, eyeing the hatch.

Caleb nodded and stared down at me.

“Climb onto my back. You must grip tight.”

Trembling, I locked my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist. I closed my eyes as he took the leap. We landed with a thud on the roof of the other submarine and Caleb had to grip a pipe to prevent us from skidding off.

“Now, into the hatch,” he ordered.

“No! Wait!” I gasped, fighting against his attempts to push me into the submarine.

The last vampire who was holding down the hatch on the other sub lost his footing and slipped into the ocean.

That left Ben all by himself.

“Ben!” I screamed. “Jump!”

He leapt, but the ginger vampire who had just climbed out of the hatch jumped with him at the same time and pulled him down into the ocean.

“No! Ben!”

The vampire caught hold of my struggling brother and pulled him back up onto his sub.

“Caleb! Do something!” I screamed as the vampire wrestled Ben back through the hatch. I fought against Caleb’s strong grip, trying to break free.

But then it was too late for even Caleb to leap back over. The hatch slammed shut and the submarine lowered itself into the depths of the dark ocean.

Chapter 14: Sofia

I stared at Eli’s TV, barely believing what I was seeing.

Passport photos of my twins flashed before the screen.

“Those are the suspects.” Eli pointed to the screen as CCTV footage showed two tall men dressed in long black cloaks, wearing gloves and black hats, entering the apartment foyer.

Derek stood up and swore as the two men entered the elevator after Rose and presumably her friend Kristal. “But how did any of this happen? How the hell did they get to Hawaii?”

“Oh, God,” I said. “You know how much they were complaining about going to Scotland. They must have figured out a way to get to Hawaii instead.”

Derek slammed his fists down against the table. “And who are they?” He looked like he wanted to climb into the TV and rip the two men to shreds there and then. It was impossible to tell who they were. For all we knew, they could have been regular humans looking to prey on two innocent girls.

“There’s footage of the two of them entering,” Eli said, his hands shaking as he held the remote, “followed by two more a few minutes later—see?—but there’s no footage of them ever exiting. That’s what’s got the police so confused. They have no idea how they could have gotten all four of those teens out of there without being caught on camera. The last footage they have is the four men entering the apartment. After that, nothing.”

“We need to get out of here,” I said, standing up. “We have to find them.”

Derek and I stormed out of Eli’s penthouse and raced through the woods to the Sanctuary. Derek ripped the heavy wooden door from its hinges with his bare hands as we raced through the corridors to their bedroom.

“Ibrahim! Corrine!” we shouted as we burst in.

The married couple sat up in bed, looking at both of us groggily and rubbing their eyes.

“Sofia?” Corrine mumbled. “Derek? What is this?”

“The twins,” I shrieked. “They’ve been kidnapped.”