Chapter 54
When dawn broke we left the cabin and headed a short distance into the woods and stopped. Luna and Joseph transformed so they could keep up. I couldn’t help but stare at Joseph in wolf form. He was still the most beautiful Adlet wolf I had ever seen.
I was a bad ass vampire and yet I had the worst case of butterflies ever. I think William knew it, too, because he put his arm around my shoulders, giving me a quick hug.
I stood still and grinned at him. “Last one there is a rotten fart,” I called out just before bolting, leaving them all behind. I mean, everybody was stressed and we had to run a long way, so why not have a little fun.
At one point I had gotten pretty far ahead, so I ran part way up a tree and quietly waited. When William ran under me, I leaped, expecting to land on his back and scare the crap out of him. My plan quickly backfired. Somehow William knew, and he jumped to the side just before I landed, causing me to hit the ground so hard it sounded almost like thunder. Even though it hurt, the pain subsided quickly.
“Did I make that noise?” I asked incredulously, looking up at him.
He was too busy standing over me laughing hysterically to see Luna leaping through the air. She landed dead center of his shoulders and sent him rolling.
“Who’s laughing now?” I asked sarcastically, brushing pine needles and dirt off my jeans. Thanks, Luna.” I said. What happened next really had me freaking. She had answered me in her mind, and I heard her. I hadn’t been able to hear her in my thoughts since I’d turned, but I definitely heard her just then.
William gave me a look, and I just shook my head. As a vampire, he couldn’t hear their thoughts, and therefore I shouldn’t have been able to either.
We reached the frozen lake sooner than I thought, and Luna and Joseph were thirsty and tried lapping at the ice. I remembered the night at the Ice Cave and placed my hand over the back of my neck to see if my tattoo would still radiate heat even though technically I wasn’t an Adlet anymore. When I removed my hand, it was solid red. Being a vampire I didn’t feel pain in the same way I had as an Adlet.
William was In awe watching the ice melt away under my hand. “How did you just do that? Are you magic now too?”
“I’m not sure. I mean no, I’m not magic, silly. It’s got something to do with this tribal crest on my neck.” I turned around and pulled up my hair. “See?” I asked, but when William didn’t answer I spun around. He wasn’t even looking at me. I followed his gaze across the lake. “What?”
“Let’s go!” He had seen something, and ordered us back inside the tree-line.
“What did you see?” I asked, stepping to a thicker part of the trees when the sun peaked out from behind the clouds.
“Nothing. That’s just it,” William said, staring at nothing, rubbing the stubble that had formed on his chin. “Zane knows we’re coming. He should have lycan guarding the entrance, but I don’t hear or see anything.” He turned to face us, his eyes flew between the three of us. “Be alert, they could be anywhere.”
We ran again, only this time nobody played. We all watched everything around us for movement. The next time we stopped we were at the cave’s entrance.
Luna and Joseph quietly transformed back, their hearts pounded like mad, which told me they were as nervous as I was. William’s heart never wavered. His was just as slow and steady as always. I couldn’t help but be a little bit suspicious. I was trying my hardest to trust him, but somewhere in the back of my mind I still remembered the lies. What if he was a part of Zane’s plan? What if he was using my feelings for him to lure me into Zane’s trap?
I glanced at him suspiciously as he lead the way. Joseph went in behind him, and Luna and I followed through the narrow opening. Luna said the opening was narrow to keep bears from wandering in.
Once inside, the cave opened up to a small room with an opening to a larger room. It was dark, and smelled of rotten blood and stench, a typical lycan scent. A single torch hanging on the wall lit the first room.
“Remember…keep your eyes and ears open,” William whispered as he walked through to the next room.
The second room was much larger and smelled better, because incense burned in different areas of the room. Large rock pedestals covered the floor. Different sized pottery jars were placed on the tables.
“What are these for?” I asked, reaching to touch one of the colorful jars.
Luna slapped my hand away. “They are filled with the remains of great warriors and past leaders of the Inuit,” she said somewhat angry. “You must never touch them!” She paused for a moment, and sighed. “I’m sorry, Gen.” She smiled warmly. “I’m just really freaked being in here. This place is sacred. No one but our leaders are permitted in here.”
I walked around the room admiring the handmade drawings on the walls. “These are really cool.” I smiled at Luna.
“All right girls, this isn’t a sight-seeing trip. You’re supposed to be looking for an entrance to the tunnels,” Joseph said, not unkindly. He brushed up against me as he passed by, quickly shooting me a sly grin, and my heart fluttered. I immediately felt William’s eyes on me, so I pretended to be looking at a particular drawing.
While I was looking I noticed that one of the drawings portrayed a monster, a girl and a red moon. I was about to ask Luna about it when William called us.
“I found it,” he said, standing next to a tall rock he’d pulled away from the wall. Behind it was a dark hole with stone steps leading downward.
William lead the way, and I was amazed at the tunnels after we reached the bottom. They weren’t at all like I had been expecting. The tunnels we were looking at were actually large walkways at least eight feet high and six feet wide, and there were six of them leading off from the bottom of the stairs.
Even though it was totally dark, William and I had no trouble seeing, but Luna and Joseph had to transform in order to see.
“We need to split up,” William said. “Joseph and I will each take a different tunnel and you two girls take one together. Remember, all were doing is looking. We’ll meet back here and search the other three tunnels if we don’t find anything in the first three.”
Before I could object, William was gone. Joseph reluctantly picked a tunnel and disappeared, leaving Luna and I to fend for ourselves.
“Come on, Luna, let’s go,” I said nervously, and she followed.
We didn’t get far and our tunnel came to an opening with even more tunnels. We were about to turn around when Luna growled behind me. Before I had time to turn, we were surrounded by lycan. There must have been ten or more.
She lunged and I did the same. I was able to move at lightning speed, grabbing them by the throat and ripping off their heads one-by-one. Luna used her sharp fangs, ripping out throats. When we were done, lycan lay strewn about on the tunnel floor. The stench of their blood filled the air. But, it was quickly covered by a much more delectable blood scent, which made my mouth water.
I spun around to find Luna covered in blood…her own blood. She had a huge gash on her back that went from her shoulder to her hip, and when I touched it she snarled viciously.
“Luna,” I snapped, trying to get her to listen. “You’re losing a lot of blood. You need to be still or you’ll bleed to death before it has time to heal.” Even though Adlet wolves healed, they didn’t heal nearly as fast as vampires. I knew even if Luna did stay perfectly still, chances were she would still bleed to death before the wound closed.
She lay down, and her ribs rushed up and down as she panted, which made the bleeding worsen, and made me hungry. I didn’t know what to do, but as I thought I remembered how vampire’s saliva is what made the bleeding stop when we bit people.
“Luna, I’m going to help you, but you have to lay perfectly still and close your eyes.” I said, my voice was throaty like it used to get whenever I cried.
I held my breath and pinched my nose, trying my best to focus. I dropped to my knees, gently stroking her fur to keep her calm
, and let the saliva drip from my mouth onto the wound.
I didn’t see a change right away, and decided I had to do what I felt was necessary. I knew because of my decision Joseph would hate me, but at least he would still have his twin sister.