“This wasn’t Sarren,” Kanin muttered, as I looked to him for answers. “This was done recently. Tonight. Someone wanted us to see this—they knew we would be here….” He cast a grim look around the enclosed space. “We have to leave now.”
A clang, hollow and metallic, echoed through the tunnel ahead. What immediately followed raised the hair on my neck. Shrieks and wails rose into the air, the sound of claws scraping over metal and pavement, and the stench of carrion, death and wrongness filtered through the overpowering smell of blood.
“Rabids!” I snarled, surging back toward Kanin and Jackal. A lot of them. I could see their pale, skeletal forms leaping over cars, skittering over roofs or under tires, hissing and screaming. They were frenzied, crazy from the scent of blood, and coming right at us.
“Fall back!” Kanin ordered, drawing away from the open circle. “They’ll stop when they reach the bodies, and we can find a way around.”
But a sudden screeching and wailing from the other direction made us freeze. More rabids, foaming and wild-eyed, rushed toward us over the maze of cars. We were trapped in the middle.
With a snarl, Jackal brandished his fire ax, and I swung my katana as the horde came on, their screams reverberating through the tunnel in a deafening cacophony. No going off on my own this time; I stood back-to-back with Kanin and Jackal, facing the monsters as they clambered over cars and swarmed toward us. I lashed out at the first rabid, cutting clean through its body, splitting it in two, then whipped my sword down to behead the next that sprang forward. Then it was just chaos: shrieking rabids, slashing claws and fangs, an endless wave of pale bodies flinging themselves at me. I moved on instinct, spinning from one attack to the next, the blade dancing in my hands.
A roar behind me made me turn. Jackal stood in the center of a writhing heap of rabids, several spindly monsters clinging to his back, biting and clawing. He bashed the head of his ax into the ones leaping at him, knocking them away, but more piled on him, and sheer numbers were beginning to drag him down. His face was streaked with blood, and dark crimson stained his collar and the back of his neck.
Snarling, I rushed in from the side, plunged my blade into one of the rabids clawing at his shoulders, and ripped it away. While Jackal continued to fend off the rabids springing at him, I began cutting away the monsters that clung to his back, freeing him from the pile. I couldn’t see Kanin, didn’t know where he was, but the Master vampire was the strongest and most lethal fighter of us all. He could take care of himself.
As I cut down the last of the rabids clawing at Jackal, something hit me from behind, shrieking in my ear, sinking curved talons into my chest and shoulder. I yelled as the blow drove me to my knees, but a moment later the weight was gone, as Jackal grabbed the rabid by the back of the neck, spun, and smashed its head through a car window. Knocking aside another body that lunged at me, he glanced down with a savage grin and held out a hand.
“Come on, sister. On your feet. We’re not done with these bastards yet.”
I grabbed his wrist, and he yanked me upright. The rabids were still coming at us, insane with bloodlust, but the swarm was smaller now. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Kanin, surrounded by pale bodies, smoothly decapitating a rabid that lunged at him, and the monster’s body collapsed like its strings had been cut while the head bounced once and rolled under a tire.
Side by side, Jackal and I cut our way through the last of the horde, crushing skulls and slicing necks until the final monster leaped at us and was struck down, meeting Jackal’s ax across its face and my sword through its middle. As it dropped, twitching, to the pavement, the echo of its dying shriek faded away, and the tunnel fell silent once more.
“Well. That was entertaining.” Jackal lowered his ax with a grimace, hunching his shoulders. The back of his duster was shredded, long gashes left by curved talons, though the scratches across his face were already healing. His eyes gleamed dangerously as he stared around at the carnage. “Anyone else get the feeling we’ve been set up?”
Kanin strode back to us, his bright, thin blade already vanished from his hand. “Let’s keep moving,” he ordered, his tone brisk. “We don’t want to stay here. Hurry.”
We rushed through the maze of cars until we came to the edge of the tunnel, back into the open. Another semi truck blocked most of the entrance, its doors flung back, showing an empty interior. The unmistakable stench of rabids wafted from the opening, and a pair of motorcycle tracks sped away down the road and vanished into the night.
“Well, well,” Jackal mused, glancing from the truck to the empty road before us. “Isn’t that amusing? Looks like we were set up, after all. Oh, someone is going to die. Very painfully, I think.” He met Kanin’s dark stare and narrowed his eyes. “Old man, if you say anything along the lines of ‘I told you so,’ you both can figure out how to get into Chicago without me.”
Kanin didn’t reply, but I stared at the tracks until they vanished around a bend, and frowned at Jackal. “Why are your people attacking us?” I growled, glaring at him. “I thought you had a handle on them.” He scowled back.
“If I knew the reason, sister, I wouldn’t be here.” His eyes glinted. “But you can be sure I will get to the bottom of this. And when I do, the backstabbing little shits are going to wish they were never born.” Glancing at me and Kanin, he curled a lip. “You two can go around, if you want. Keep chasing the psychopath. I’m going back to my city, and I’m going to bash in some heads until they remember who their king is.”
“No,” I shot back. “There’s no time to go around.” I looked at Kanin, silently watching us both, and hardened my voice. “We have to catch up to Sarren, and we can’t do that if we keep taking detours. Old Chicago is the only place we have a chance of catching up. We’ll grab a couple bikes while Jackal is bashing in heads and keep going to Eden. But we can’t turn back now.”
“I am not disagreeing with you, Allison,” Kanin said. His gaze drifted to the road behind us, at the tracks fading in the snow, and his expression turned dark. “If the straightest way to Eden is through Old Chicago, we will continue in that direction. But I would advise extreme caution now, as it seems there are humans who wish us harm.”
“Oh, don’t worry, old man,” Jackal growled, a dangerous promise in his voice. “There won’t be for much longer.”
Chapter 5
We reached the outskirts of the city later that night.
I’d forgotten how huge Chicago was; even the urban sprawl leading up to the main city seemed to go on forever. Miles and miles of empty, silent streets and decaying houses, vehicles rotting along the shoulder, streetlamps and signs lying in the road. The last time I’d come through here, I’d been riding a stolen motorcycle and hadn’t paid much attention to my surroundings as they flew by. My focus had been on steering the bike and avoiding obstacles…and on the person sitting behind me, his arms around my waist.
I shot a glance at Jackal walking beside me, his expression dangerous. And for a brief, irrational moment, resentment flickered. He probably wasn’t thinking of what had happened the night I’d come through his territory, and if he was, he didn’t care. But I remembered. Darren’s screams when Jackal had thrown him into a cage with a rabid and let it rip him apart, just to set an example. Fighting an army of raiders to rescue the rest of Zeke’s group, and setting a building on fire to escape. And, of course, the fight atop Jackal’s tower, where I’d faced my blood brother for the first time, and he’d nearly killed me.
Jackal caught me looking at him and raised an eyebrow. “What’s that look for?” he challenged.
I faced the road again. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” Jackal’s gaze lingered on me. “You’re thinking about Old Chicago and the last time you came through. You’re remembering all those fun little moments when I killed your humans, tortured them, threw them into the ring with rabids—all those good times.” His gaze narrowed. “Don’t try to deny it, sister. It’s written all over your fa
ce.”
I snarled at him, baring fangs, tempted to draw my sword and slash it through his smirking mouth. “Don’t you ever shut up?” I spat. “Yes, I’m thinking about Old Chicago, and what a bastard you were when we first met. I’m wondering why the hell I’m even talking to you now and not trying to cut the stupid head from your body. We should’ve had that rematch a long time ago.”
“Aw, sister, I’m hurt,” Jackal mocked, putting a hand to his chest. “That’s not how I remember it. I remember discovering I had a blood sibling. I remember offering to share everything with her. Because, why not? She was a decent fighter, and I was getting kind of bored talking to brainless minions. Could’ve been fun. But, no.” His voice hardened. “I remember having the cure for Rabidism right at my fingertips, decades of searching, planning, about to pay off. And then, my own sister turned her back on the cure, on ending the virus, in order to save a few pathetic humans.”
“You staked me and threw me out a window!”
“You had already made up your mind by then.” Jackal glared back, completely serious. “I couldn’t talk you out of it— you’d chosen your side, and it was with the bloodbags. So, yes, I tried to kill you. Because you had waltzed into something that had been cumulating for years, without even knowing what you were threatening, and you destroyed it.” His eyes narrowed, mouth setting into a grim line. “I would’ve ended Rabidism, sister. If that old human had discovered the cure, I would’ve shared it. I want the rabids gone just as much as anyone. But then you came along, and you were so worried about saving a few humans, you couldn’t see the bigger picture. If you’d let me finish what I’d started years ago, all of this could’ve been avoided. Sarren would’ve never gotten the virus, he wouldn’t be on his way to destroy Eden right now, and your sappy little human might still be alive.”
I roared and spun on Jackal, swinging my blade at his throat. It met the head of the fire ax as Jackal whipped it up to block, sending a ringing screech into the air as the two weapons collided. Snarling, Jackal swung the ax at my face, the broad, bloody edge barely missing me as I ducked. I slashed up with the katana, aiming for his chest, and he dropped the ax down to meet it. There was another clang as the weapons met, and we glared at each other over the crossed blades.
“Enough!”
And Kanin was there, grabbing me by the collar, pulling us apart. The Master vampire easily held Jackal back with one arm and kept a tight hold of my coat with the other. “That is enough,” he ordered in his cold, steely voice. “Stop it, both of you. We don’t have time for this.”
Jackal shrugged off Kanin’s arm and backed away, sneering at me. I growled and bared my fangs, daring him to say something, but he just walked away. I watched him go, fury making me see red. Murdering, insufferable bastard. I’d tear him in half and the world would be a better place for it.
“Allison, stop,” Kanin said, putting a hand on my arm. I was shaking with rage, and gripped the sword hilt to force the anger down, back into the darkness that it came from. Kanin waited with me, keeping a light but firm hold on my elbow, until I was in control again.
When the rage had faded somewhat, I sheathed my katana, feeling the weight of Kanin’s stare still on me. “I’m fine,” I told him, angry with myself now. “Sorry. Jackal was being a bastard, again. I shouldn’t have let him get to me.”
Kanin released my arm but didn’t move. “What did he say?” the Master vampire asked.
“That…it’s my fault we’re chasing Sarren now. If I hadn’t come after the group in Old Chicago, none of this would’ve happened. Jeb might’ve discovered a cure. Sarren wouldn’t have released the virus. And…Zeke would still be alive.”
Kanin was silent a moment. It had begun snowing again, soft flakes drifting from the sky, swirling around us. “Do you believe that?” the vampire finally asked.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Kanin.” I raked hair out of my face, shoving it back, and faced the road again. “It seems like every decision, every choice I make, somehow backfires on me in the end. No matter what I do, things just get worse. Maybe…” I swallowed hard. “Maybe it is my fault…that Zeke died. Maybe the whole damn world will go extinct, because of me.”
Kanin chuckled, nearly making me fall over in shock. “You are far too young to carry that burden, Allison,” he said. “If we are going to be throwing around blame, let us go back even farther, before you were ever born. Let us go back to when the virus and the rabids were first created.”
Embarrassed, I ducked my head. “I…I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know.” The Master vampire sighed. “But, if we are talking about choice and regret, what has happened cannot be undone. And dwelling on the past changes nothing. You will only drive yourself to insanity if you do.” He sighed again, sounding like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Trust me on that.”
A shot rang out in the darkness.
I jerked, tensing as the bark of gunfire echoed over the rooftops, sounding fairly close. It faded, but was quickly followed by a roar of fury that was instantly familiar. Jackal.
Kanin and I took off running toward the sound, as the scent of blood and smoke drifted to me over the breeze. I pushed my way through a weed-choked space between two buildings and caught sight of my brother in the road ahead. He was sitting against a dead car, his ax lying in the road beside him, one hand pressed to his chest. The pavement beneath him was spattered in red, and Jackal’s fangs were out in a grimace of agony.
I darted across the road and dropped beside him, blinking in shock. The scent of blood was everywhere, but I couldn’t see a wound until Jackal dropped his hand. A tiny hole had been torn through his duster right below the collarbone, no larger than a dime. It didn’t look big enough to account for all the blood…until Jackal slumped forward and I saw the exit wound.
I winced as Kanin joined us, his dark gaze going to the massive hole in Jackal’s back, nearly the size of my fist. It was healing, but I knew it had to hurt. Kanin’s eyes narrowed, and he peered through the broken glass, scanning the street.
“Where are they?” he muttered as I cautiously poked my head around the hood. A booming retort rang out, and something struck the car a few inches from my face, sparking off the metal. I flinched and ducked behind the barrier again, and Jackal gave a strangled laugh.
“I wouldn’t poke my head up if I were you, sister,” he said through gritted teeth. “A rifle shot to the forehead might not kill you, but it’ll give you one hell of a headache.” He grimaced, pushing himself off the car, leaving a dark smear behind him. “I think the bastard is in that house,” he told Kanin, nodding to a two-story ruin at the end of the street. “Shooting at us from the attic window.” His eyes gleamed, and he bared his fangs in an evil grin. “Cocky little shit, isn’t he?”
I risked a quick peek through the broken glass of the car window, and caught the glint of metal from the tiny darkened window at the very top of the house. “Okay,” I mused, ducking back down. “We know where he is. How do we get past without getting shot full of holes?”
“Get past him?” Jackal glanced at me and snorted. “You think we’re going to sneak around our trigger-happy friend and continue our merry way—that’s cute, sister. Me, I’m a little Hungry right now, and a lot pissed off. I’m planning to shove that rifle so far down his throat, he’ll feel it out the rectum.”
“So, we’re going to charge the crazy man’s house while he has an open street to fire on us. That sounds like a great plan.”
“And what were you planning to do? Offer cookies and ask the psycho murdering bandit to please stop shooting us?”
Kanin sighed and half rose, taking in the street, the cars and the house in one practiced glance. “I’ll draw his fire,” the Master vampire said calmly. “You two stay low, and keep moving. I’ll meet you upstairs.”
He stepped into the street, and instantly a shot rang out, shattering the window of a truck behind us. I flinched, but Kanin kept walking,
a black silhouette against the snow and cars. He moved like a shadow, fading in and out of the darkness, always visible but sometimes no more than a blur. Shots echoed in the street and sparked off metal and pavement, but nothing seemed to touch the vampire, who continued down the street as if out for a stroll.
Jackal swatted my arm. “Quit gaping,” he ordered, ignoring my glare, and jerked his head up the road. “Come on, while the old man has his attention.”
We raced up the street in a half crouch, darting behind cover when we could. The human, whoever he was, continued to fire, but not at us, though I had no idea where Kanin was after the first few minutes. Whatever he was doing, however, seemed to work. We reached the doorway of the rotted, half-crumbling building and ducked inside, the reports of the gun now echoing somewhere above us.
Jackal stalked forward with a growl, his eyes glowing a vicious yellow in the darkness, but I paused. Something about this felt wrong, though I couldn’t put my finger on what. Cautiously, I followed Jackal through the house, tensing as we passed old rooms full of dust and rubble, overturned chairs and rotting furniture, remnants of the time before. I was wary of ambushes, but the rooms were abandoned, and Jackal moved swiftly up the floors without slowing down.
A peeling, broken staircase led the way to the third floor, and we had just started up it when a shout rang out overhead, followed by a flurry of cursing. A moment later, footsteps clattered across the floor, and a human appeared at the top of the steps, gazing down at us, wide-eyed. He was dressed in dusty leathers, and clutched the long barrel of a rifle in one hand.
At the sight of us, the man let out another curse and quickly turned to flee back up the stairs, but Jackal gave a roar and surged forward, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off his feet.