Cold Blooded

After a moment she moaned.

“Thank goodness. Naomi,” I said, “I need you to feed.” In the next breath she clamped on to my arm, sucking furiously.

“You must free us now.”

“The earth trembles.”

“The battle is coming.”

These guys weren’t going to leave me alone until I fulfilled my end of the bargain. “I need you to deliver us safely back to the mansion,” I said through a clenched jaw. Naomi was pulling hard. “And then I’ll try my best to break whatever barrier is holding you in, just like I promised.”

Naomi’s eyes began to flutter as a loud crash sounded behind us. I wrenched my neck around to investigate the disturbance, but the tunnel was curved and I couldn’t see.

“They come.”

“You must hurry.”

“Come on, Naomi,” I urged, infusing power into my words. “You need to wake up. We are short on time and need to vacate the area.”

Her eyes blinked open.

She unlatched and sat up quickly, appearing a bit stunned. “Ma Reine, what,” she stammered, “…what are you doing here?”

“I’m breaking you out of Cryptville. But there’s no time to explain right now. Can you run?” I asked, pulling her up before she could answer.

“Of course,” she said without hesitation as she stood. She looked composed and ready. “Your blood has fortified me. All aftereffects are gone.”

We took off.

So far vamps could go from incapacitated on the brink of true death to moving more easily than any supe I’d ever come in contact with. Naomi had already proven that after the winged devils attack and I was thankful for it.

“Naomi,” I called over my shoulder as we ran. “Please forgive me for making you come back here. It was a rash mistake. I put you in danger, caused you harm, and I’m so sorry.”

“I do not believe you made an error in judgment sending me here,” she answered, her voice firm. It surprised me enough to slow down.

“You can’t be serious,” I said. “They tortured you and fed your blood to a Screamer. It was a disastrous decision to send you here without a plan or to think Eudoxia would see reason. I made a huge mistake.”

“Non,” she replied, “I believe I am here because fate deemed it to be so. I do not begrudge the outcome. I have waited too long, and been through too much, to question what my future holds.”

I thought about that as we continued to run. Fate played a huge role in supernatural lore. Most believed they had a fated path. I knew my father did. He believed his being Alpha had been no accident, and I tended to agree with him. With the Prophecy recently uncovered, finding Rourke, changing Ray, it was likely fate had played a role in everything I’d done so far. But Tally had recently told us Maggie couldn’t predict time as an oracle because choices affected outcomes. If the outcomes were set, choices wouldn’t matter. That meant there was wiggle room, or more than one path set for each person. Maybe, in the end, no matter which path you chose, you always came back to your fated destiny. Or maybe you didn’t. “When I think about the role fate plays, it makes my head hurt,” I said. “It’s a complicated labyrinth of possibilities, all of them seemingly muddled and unclear.”

“Indeed,” Naomi answered. “But I believe your path is true, and you will continue to make the right decisions when faced with very difficult choices.”

No pressure there. “Your faith in me astounds me, as usual. I have no idea if I’m ever making the right choices. I’m just choosing what makes the most sense.” I didn’t want to think about making the wrong decisions. They could have life-altering consequences. “Like finding Ray. He’s my top priority now. Do you have any idea where they might have taken him?”

“Non,” she replied. “There are many likely spots, all of them equipped to keep a vampire confined. It is hard to know what they will do to him. Valdov was very unhappy he had become a vampire.”

I took the next turn, following my own scent trail. The ghosts weren’t objecting to my direction, so I kept going. “Which way now?” I called into the air when I came to another fork. “Going back through the Trows is not an option.”

“Here.”

“We will lead you.”

“You must crawl.” Something grabbed my shirt, guiding me to the left.

“I do not know, Ma Reine,” Naomi answered, clearly not having heard the other voices. “I have never been down here before. It is forbidden. There have only been rumors of what lies beneath the graveyard. The Queen has always kept the tunnels well guarded.”

“Can’t you hear the ghost voices?” I asked, glancing at her. “They’ve been guiding us the entire time.”

“What?” Naomi said, stumbling as her voice caught for a second. “I hear nothing but your voice.”

“Um…” I hesitated, not wanting to upset her. I don’t care how strong a supe you were, ghosts were freaky no matter what. “We’re surrounded by dozens of trapped spirits. I’ve agreed to try and break the barrier holding them here, in exchange for finding you.”

Naomi was quiet, her face pensive.

“Do you think I should do it?” I prodded. “Break the barrier, I mean? Is it a good idea?”

“The Queen has always stated that she keeps her vampires safe by protecting us inside her power shield. If you destroy it, I do not know what will happen,” Naomi finally offered. “But I will follow your decision, Ma Reine. As always.”

“She lies.” The ghosts were agitated.

“The Queen keeps us to do her bidding.”

“Free us and it shall come true.”

“What will come true—” A hunk of dirt exploded from the wall right next to us, exposing a hole no bigger than four feet wide. The shock of it took me by surprise and I eased out of my fighting stance.

“You must enter.” Fingers prodded at my legs, unsuccessfully trying to force me to kneel. Next to me, Naomi stilled. “They want us to go through here.” I gestured to the new hole the ghosts had blown in the wall. “To be honest, I’m not sure if I should trust them, but there aren’t too many other options presenting themselves at the moment.”

By her expression Naomi had started to pick up on the energy from the ghosts swirling around us. “As I said, I will follow you, Ma Reine. You must honor your word to these spirits and I will help you if I can. It is the correct thing to do.”