And with that, I leapt at him. He dove away, his reaction fast, but not quite fast enough. I caught him at hip level, and the surging energy swept past me and through him, tearing us both into particles. Feeling him in and around me—separate and yet not—was a weird sensation, but I had no time to dwell on it. The vamps nearest the door were so close to waking I could feel the rise of their alertness.
I surged under the door, then rose upward, hoping to escape detection for as long as possible. But my particle form was now double its weight, and it was already taking its toll. Especially given the particles that were Jonas were a seething, constantly moving mass of fury within me.
You’ll kill us both if you don’t quit it, I thought, though I wasn’t certain if the combining of our particles allowed for that sort of communication.
He didn’t reply, but his movements eased. I made it to the roofline and crawled along. Urgency beat through every inch of me, but I couldn’t afford to hurry. Any sudden movement was likely to attract the attention of the vamps.
We were three-quarters of the way down the corridor when they finally sensed us. A scream of fury went up from those who’d been sleeping near the cell door, and, in an instant, the rest of them were awake and hunting. I gave up subtlety and surged forward, arrowing for the door out of this bottleneck. The vampires who’d been sleeping there were already on their feet, but they were searching for a threat at ground level. It was only at the last possible moment that they sensed us and leapt up. Their claws slashed at the air, and pain flared as several particles were snagged and torn away. Then we were through and fleeing fast.
They came after us, howling like banshees, no doubt to alert those in the levels above that there were invaders present. They leapt at us randomly, sometimes knocking one another over in their desperation to bring us down. The force of their movements buffeted me, and claws and teeth tore through me, sometimes causing damage, sometimes not. I ignored it and spun down the center of the stairwell, surging past the various floor exits as I headed for the processing level. There was little in the way of finesse in my movements now. I was basically free-falling, but it still had the desired effect—we’d gained distance. Not much, but maybe enough.
We finally reached the processing center. I fled through the fields of broken offices and furniture and headed for the déchet exit tunnel. The vampires were a howling wind all but snapping at our heels; they would overrun us in a matter of minutes.
We had one chance, and one chance only, to escape.
I hit the tunnel and—from Rhea only knows where—found the strength to go faster. Once again, we pulled ahead of the vampires. Light began to flicker in the distance, but it was moonlight rather than sun. It wouldn’t help us, wouldn’t stop the vampires.
The partially opened exit door came into sight. I called to our flesh forms as we neared and dropped lower; it would limit the damage of hitting the ground when we were moving so hard and fast. The darkness surged, and a heartbeat later, we were two rather than one, flesh rather than mere particles. In that form, we both tumbled through the doorway. It hurt—Rhea, how it hurt—but there was no time for the pain or weakness washing through my limbs. Acknowledging either would only get us killed.
I untangled myself from Jonas and leapt for the control lever, pushing it up fast.
There was no response.
I swore and ran to the door. Nothing seemed to be jamming its movement, and yet it wasn’t moving! In sheer frustration, I kicked the damn thing . . . and with a groan that oddly reminded me of an old man forcing himself upright, the door began to close.
But it was too slow. Too slow by half.
The vampires lunged for both me and the lumbering door. Bullets zinged past my ear and exploded into the face of the nearest vampire. Blood and gore ballooned, but it didn’t stop his momentum, and he cannoned into me before I could unclip my weapons and sent us both tumbling. I’d barely thrown his body off me when another hit; he tore at me with teeth and sharp claws, and the scent of my blood mingled with his, stinging the night air with its sweet foulness. I swore and grabbed his arms, trying to stop him from slashing me even as I bucked to get him off. As he went sailing over my head and into the wall of water, I scrambled upright and grabbed both a flare and a weapon. But before I used either, light bit through the night. Jonas had thrown his two flares into the doorway.
It might stop the vampires long enough for the door to close, but it wouldn’t stop them coming after us. There were other paths out of that place, and I had no doubt the vampires knew about them.
“This way.” I grabbed the heavy rucksack, then spun and ran up the old path, away from the water and back toward the trees. Jonas followed close on my heels, as silent as the night itself, but undoubtedly more dangerous.
Behind us, the screams changed from fury to pain, and the stink of burned flesh began to steal through the air.
“They’re throwing themselves on the flare,” Jonas said, rather unnecessarily. “We need to get out of here—fast.”
I cursed, but the reality was, I was already at top speed. Taking particle form always drained me, but carrying Jonas had made it ten times worse. I was running on empty and fading fast.
Movement to my left: A vampire surged up the bank, dripping water as he came at us. I raised the shotgun and fired almost in the same motion, but the vampire faded. The bullets hit the stony ground, and sparks flew as they ricocheted into the night. A second later he was in flesh form again and leaping for my throat. Two more shots rang out, the sound so close it hurt my ears. What remained of the vampire’s face exploded into a hundred bloody bits and covered me in goo. I ignored it, leapt over his falling body, and kept on running—into the trees, along the path, heading for the ATV and the hope of safety it offered.
Behind us, there was only darkness and death. I had no idea if the door had closed, or whether the weight of the vampires sacrificing themselves to protect those behind from the light of the flare had forced it to a halt, but it didn’t really matter. They were coming. We’d run out of time.
“Faster,” Jonas growled. “They’re on the path.”
“I’m trying!” I reached for more speed, but there really was nothing left in the tank.
Jonas cursed but remained by my side. I wasn’t sure if that was by choice or practicality. There was safety in numbers—two against a score or more certainly had more hope than one.
I spotted the final marker, and a second later we were on the road. The ATV waited ahead, a big metal beast that would at least offer some protection from the howling horde now on our tails. I swung the rucksack out of the way and grabbed the control disk from my pocket. The minute my fingers touched it, the doors began to open.
“I’ll drive.” Jonas took the disk without missing a step. “I’ve probably had more experience in this sort of situation than you.”
Of that, there was no doubt. I’d driven it up here easily enough, but our chances of getting out of here alive could only be improved with someone capable of manually driving the thing at the wheel.
I threw the rucksack into the vehicle and leapt in after it. Jonas did the same, then hit the door release—but even as they began to slide shut, a boiling mass of hate and desperation broke out of the trees and came at us.
I grabbed the flares and ignited them. The fierce light blinded me as much as the vampires and I blinked rapidly, trying to get my vision back even as I threw two flares to either side of the ATV and the final one over the back, providing an uneven circle of light around the vehicle. It wouldn’t be enough, but it would at least keep them at bay long enough for the doors to close and for Jonas to boot up the engine.
Once again, vampires threw themselves at the flares, covering the deadly light with the weight of their remains. It was an action I’d never witnessed before, and it spoke of their desperation—or at least of the desperation of those who now appeared to be in league with them.
The doors finally slipped into place and locked. At the
same time, two of the flares were extinguished, and the vampires hit us—literally.
The sheer force of their onslaught was almost tornado-like; the big vehicle rocked with not only the impetus of their movements, but the weight of their blows. It might be military in design, but it was styled more like a troop carrier than an armored vehicle. It had not been designed to counter this sort of attack.
“For Rhea’s sake, get us out of here!”
“I’m trying, but these things aren’t race pods.”
The rocking grew more violent and darkness reclaimed the night as the last of the flares became buried under a sea of burning, stinking flesh. Several vampires hit the windshield, their emaciated faces filled with desperate fury as they clawed and smashed at the glass. It held up, but I had to wonder for how long.
As the ATV’s engine finally roared to life, something hit the roof so hard it actually buckled. I slid down in the seat and started loading weapons. There was another thump, then a metal strut speared into the cabin, the thick point barely missing my leg as it smashed into the center console. Hands clawed at the broken roof structure, peeling the metal back as easily as butter. I raised two guns and started firing. The sound was deafening, and metal ricocheted inside the cabin as much as outside, cutting everything in the near vicinity—the vampires, the ATV’s innards, and the two of us.
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing except getting out of here.
Jonas threw the vehicle into gear, and the ATV lurched forward. The vampires crowding the front of the vehicle were crushed under its heavy treads, but neither those clawing at the windshield nor those trying to squeeze through the peeled back roofline were shaken loose. I kept firing. There was nothing else I could do.
With an ominous crack, a multitude of hairline fractures began to race across the windshield’s face, until they formed a thick web that was almost impossible to see through.
And still the vampires thumped it. A hole appeared, small at first but getting larger with each blow, until it was big enough for a fist to get through. Needle-sharp claws slashed left and right, desperately seeking a target. Steering one-handed, Jonas grabbed a gun, flicked off the safety, and began to fire. The windshield completely shattered and glass sprayed everywhere, inside and out, cutting whatever the metal shards had failed to touch.
One of my guns clicked over to empty. I threw it down and grabbed another. The second gun did the same. I grabbed the last of the loaded weapons and kept on firing.
The vampires seemed endless. They just kept coming at us as the ATV rumbled on. It was gathering speed as it bounced down the old road, but it still wasn’t moving anywhere near quickly enough. At the rate we were going, the vampires would have it—and us—in pieces before it reached full speed.
“Has this thing got lights?” I had to yell to get over the tornado of sound created by the vampires, the guns, and the engine’s clattering.
“Yes, but it’s solar-powered, and while the batteries will get us back to Central, using the lights will drain them far too quickly.”
“If we don’t use them, we won’t need to worry about getting to Central, because we won’t get out of these damn mountains alive.”
Fingers appeared along the nearest side pillar, and a second later, a vampire swung himself around like a rubber band and arrowed feetfirst into the ATV. I yelped and flung myself back, only to be stopped by the sturdy seat. He thudded into my chest, the force of the blow so great that the air left my lungs in a gigantic whoosh. I couldn’t breathe; I could barely even think. He screamed and twisted upright, his hands grasping for my neck. Despite the burning in my lungs and the lights dancing in front of my eyes, I somehow flicked my knives down into my hands and slashed them across the middle of his gaunt body. He didn’t immediately react, and, for a heartbeat, I thought the haze of pain and lack of air had caused me to miss. Then his hands slithered from my neck as the top part of his body fell one way and the bottom another.
I coughed and desperately tried to suck in air and ease the burning in my lungs. The effort caused red-hot lances of pain to shoot through the rest of me. I’d broken a rib—but right now that was the least of my problems.
More vampires came at us, from both the front of the ATV and the torn roof. I guess we were lucky in that the space was confined; only a few of them could squeeze into the holes they’d created, but that didn’t stop the rest of them from trying. The sheer weight of numbers now on the ATV had to be at least partially responsible for the slow pickup of speed. I guess we had to thank Rhea that they all were more intent on getting their share of available blood rather than actually thinking; if they’d become one with the night and filled this space with the weight of them, they might very well have suffocated us.
My guns clicked over to empty again. A second later, Jonas’s gun did the same. He cursed, threw it down, then hit a switch. Light bit into the darkness, clean and bright and deadly. The vampires in and around the vehicle became ash in an instant, and the ATV lurched ahead with a suddenness that flung me forward. I smacked a hand against the dash to stop my head from doing the same, and watched the black tide of vampires—some burning, some not—peel away from the vehicle, leaving the road clear.
We’d done it. Against all the odds, we’d actually gotten out of the bunker alive and managed to fight our way free from the vampires.
Now all we had to do was make it home.
Chapter 13
The ATV died five miles out of Central, but by then it didn’t matter. The vampires had given up pursuit a mile or so after we’d left the Broken Mountains; on the wide-open freeway, the old ATV was simply too fast for them.
Once the vehicle had lumbered to a halt, Jonas forced the doors open, then climbed out. He didn’t look at me or acknowledge me in any way, but simply stood in the middle of the road, sucking in air like a man on the verge of suffocating. Fighting the fury, I sensed. Fighting the need to lash out and kill.
I gathered the spent weapons and placed them all back in the rucksack, then climbed out. I might have an armory at my disposal, but there was only a finite amount of weapons within it. I couldn’t afford to keep discarding them.
Jonas’s shoulders twitched as my feet hit the tarmac, but he still refused to look at me. I shouldered the rucksack into a more comfortable position, then headed for Central. I had to get back to the bunker. The little ones would be worried about me, and I needed to be there in case the vampires hit it again. Ghosts might be dangerous, but they could only do so much before their energy faded. If the vampires attacked with the ferocity they’d shown when trying to stop the ATV, then Rhea only knows what would happen. And an attack was very possible given the vampires would undoubtedly inform Sal and his partners not only of the presence of a déchet in that place, but our consequent escape . . . I stopped abruptly and swore.
The minute Sal heard about the attack, he would come looking for me. If I couldn’t be found in Central, then he would know, for certain, that I was the one infiltrating their bases. To have any hope of finding the missing children, Sal and his partners needed to remain uncertain about me.
“What?” Jonas’s voice was harsh.
I turned around. He still wasn’t looking at me. There were bloody rents down his powerful arms and a myriad of minor cuts everywhere else, but all in all, he’d come out of the attack far better than I had. “I need to get into Central—fast.”
“The drawbridge is up; there is no getting in there at night.”
“For you and the vampires, maybe.” I dropped the rucksack to the ground. “Take that back to the bunker for me. Nuri is there, as is Branna.”
“What the hell are they doing there?” His gaze finally met mine. All I could see were old prejudices and hatred.
“Branna was dying. They came to use the medibeds.”
“And you let them?” Disbelief edged his tone.
“I healed you knowing what you were—why would I not heal Branna?”
“Because you’re déc
het—and he tried to kill you.”
And Jonas was never going to get past my heritage. Sadness slithered through me. The fierceness of our attraction suggested we could have been good together, at least physically. Anything else—anything more—was beyond the realm of possibility for someone like me.
“I am not a monster, Jonas, no matter what the history books would have you believe.”
“It’s not just history that gives rise to that belief—it’s firsthand experience. There are still some alive today who took part in the war.”
“Yes, and I’m one of them. Shifters are responsible for just as many atrocities as humans and déchet. It was a war; right or wrong, these things happen.” I studied him for a heartbeat. It was useless arguing with him. His mindset was never going to change. “I have to go—”
“Why?”
“Because the minute they hear of the attack, they’ll come looking for me. I need to be found.”
He frowned. “What does it matter when you can change form at will?”
“Sal won’t take action against me until he’s absolutely certain I’m involved.”
Which was a lie. There was no true emotion in Sal, and I knew full well he would kill me if he in any way suspected my part in breaking Jonas out. But he’d at least question me first—and therein lay my chance. I was a lure, and I’d been bred to resist all manner of drugs and poisons. If that was one of the many things that had been erased from his memories when the rift had hit him, then I could twist the situation to my advantage.
It would be dangerous, but to save the lives of innocents, I had to at least try.
“Protect my home, Jonas,” I added. “It is the very least you can do, given I’ve now saved your life twice.”
And with that, I called to the darkness and became one with the night. Though I was bone weary and wanted nothing more than to collapse in a bloody heap, I drew on every scrap of energy I had left and headed for Central with as much speed as I could muster.