Midnight's Kiss (Elder Races #8)(11)

These four cells were the end destination. But why carve them so deeply into the earth that not even a hint of light penetrated? What kind of creatures had Justine held captive down here?

Vampyres. She trapped Vampyres.

Shuddering, Melly turned her back on the cells and started down the tunnel. The going was a bit trickier than she had anticipated. The rocky floor felt rough and uneven under her thin-soled flats, and she had to keep the flashlight trained on the ground so she could see where to put her feet. She couldn’t afford to add a sprained ankle to her other injuries.

After leaving the cellblock, she quickly reached the end of the tunnel, where she found another barred door that opened into another corridor. Like the other empty cells, this door was unlocked, propped open with a fist-sized rock.

Choosing to go left or right in the new corridor had no meaning to her, so she shrugged and went right. As she ran into a fork in the hulking rock, she chose right again, and soon her tunnel intersected yet another corridor.

This time she decided to stay with the tunnel she was already in. Disturbed at how large the tunnel system appeared to be, she kept count of her choices – two rights and across – in case she reached another dead end and needed to backtrack.

After going so long where the only sounds she heard were the ones she made, her sensitive ears picked up a distant… something.

What was that? It sounded like a shuffling, or a scraping sound. Cocking her head, she tried to identify it, but she couldn’t imagine what would make such a noise.

The sound seemed to grow louder as she went, or maybe she drew closer to it. It was definitely shuffling. Or scraping. Or both?

And there was light up ahead. To be sure, she turned off her flashlight and saw that the darkness up ahead was broken by some kind of illumination that seemed to flicker. As her eyes adjusted, she moved forward cautiously. At the same time, a whiff of air stirred down the tunnel, bringing with it a stench that made her grimace. It smelled like garbage, or meat that had gone bad.

The flickering light up ahead grew stronger, and after a few more steps, her tunnel ended at a massive, cave-like room.

The light came from several torches, set into old, iron sconces.

The shuffling, scraping sounds came from a mass of creatures that were crouched in the middle of the cave. They were… they were…

For a moment her mind refused to process what she was seeing. Her heart knew better, though, and it kicked into an accelerated rhythm.

The crouching creatures were human shaped and dressed in filthy-looking, ragged clothes. As she sucked in a breath of the stinking air, a few of the creatures lifted their heads to look at her. Their eyes flashed red in the torchlight, and their mouths were dark with what looked like blood.

One of them sniffed at the air, its lips peeled back from long fangs that glinted a wicked white in the torchlight. She caught a glimpse of the supine forms the creatures surrounded. One of the unmoving bodies wore jeans and sneakers. Another wore a pencil-thin skirt and a single high-heeled pump, the other foot sadly bare.

“Oohhh,” Melly whispered. “Shit.”

As more of the creatures turned to look at her and sniff the air, they let out a collective sigh. “Aaaaahhhh.”

One stood upright and took a step toward her.

Whirling, she flicked on her flashlight and ran.

Panic lent her wings. From behind, she heard growls and snarling, and the sounds of many feet hitting the hard, cold floor, as the group of creatures gave chase.

Creatures. Vampyres.

Only they were Vampyres like Melly had never seen before. Stripped of civilized courtesies, cleanliness or manners, they were bestial and feral.

Forget the rough floor, or going carefully.

If you fall, you’re dead, Melly. So don’t you f*cking fall.

The beam of light from the flashlight she clenched in one fist flashed wildly. Her breath sawed in her throat, and the abused muscles in her injured leg flared with pain as she pushed her body as hard as she could.

Across the corridor. Left at the fork. Then left again. They sounded closer. How close were they? She didn’t dare look behind her. It would slow her down.

There, up ahead, was the barred door at the opening of the cellblock tunnel, propped open with the rock. She leaped at it.

Wonder of wonders, she still had the jug of water and packet of food under one arm. Taking the end of the small flashlight between her teeth, she grabbed the door and hauled it shut with a loud clang. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of the horde just yards away. Please gods, let the closed door buy her a few more seconds.

Whirling, she pelted down the tunnel and lunged into her cell. All the cell doors opened inward. Letting the water and food fall where it would, she slammed the door shut, yanked out her makeshift lock pick and with shaking fingers dug into the lock.

Please please please please.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could just barely see down to the tunnel’s end. The feral Vampyres clawed the tunnel gate open and raced toward her.

She gave the pick in the lock a final, desperate twist. Even as the tumbler inside the lock turned, the piece of hairpin bent.

Sobbing, she threw herself backward as the Vampyres reached her cell and tried to snatch her through the bars. Claws raked down her left forearm, and she stumbled and fell. Jarred from her teeth, the flashlight bounced along the floor. The thin, cold beam of light flashed over fangs, arms straining toward her between the bars of the cell door, and bloody, distorted faces.