abnormals underground 02 - six to eight, page 40
And become unstoppable.
"Where is she?" Xavier whispered.
"Doorway," Alyssa said. "Blast her."
Xavier's palms glowed with purple again, casting the glow on the surrounding beds.
But the Mother moved, blurring towards him.
"Watch out!" Alyssa shouted, drawing her sword. A green glow surrounded her blade. Her Death Magic. One stab would kill the Mother—right?
I drew my blade, amazed at how natural it felt in my hand. Time seemed to slow as my vision tracked Bathory, bolting straight at Xavier. She might reach him before he got the chance to hit her. She might even bite.
Alyssa and I lunged at her at once.
I drew my sword back. Bathory glanced at me, but she had no time to react as I sliced my blade across her arm. A gross cutting noise followed, first of fabric and then of skin. Blood seeped out of the wound and splattered on the floor.
But she wasn't focused on me. The Mother turned to Alyssa and raised one hand to block her. The greenish blade sailed for her chest to deliver the killing blow.
Bathory caught Alyssa under the neck and knocked her back.
My friend's jaw snapped shut, and I heard the unmistakable sound of teeth cracking. A look of pure agony washed over Alyssa's face as she flew back into another bed, making it roll across the room along with her. The Mother knew about Alyssa's deadly blade. She was the biggest worry, not Xavier.
The air in the room heated.
Xavier was ready to go full God mode on Bathory and we were in the way. One glimpse showed me the pure violet rage in his eyes.
"Janine!" Brendan shouted, grabbing my arm.
But it was too late.
The air turned to purple fire and screamed around me as I came off my feet. The world turned into a violet abyss as I sailed to nowhere and everywhere. Brendan lost his grasp on my arm and vanished into the storm of magic. I would die. We all would, and I'd never get the chance to hear Grimes's side of the story. Now I would never get closure about my past—
Why was I thinking about him? He had abandoned us.
But right then, I wanted to speak to him with every ounce of my being, and try to mend things with my mother again.
I struck something, and the world turned to explosions of red and yellow pain. A roaring sound filled my head and destroyed the world as darkness swept over me.
Chapter Ten
"Janine. Wake up."
Alyssa beat on my shoulder with a frenzy that told me I had better do that right now. I blinked. The roar in my head remained as if I had just passed out.
I had just passed out. Alyssa stood above me with a look of terror. She held her sword in her free hand. Brendan stood behind her.
Both looked okay. Whatever injuries they'd taken from Xavier had healed. I still had aches over my entire body as if every bone had shattered and put itself back together. The ache faded with every blink. We were still in the transfusion room, too, but no soldiers occupied the beds.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Get up. Xavier knocked us out by mistake. We were all too close. He couldn't help it. But the Mother must have healed faster than us because she got to him. She bit him."
"She what?" The full memory of the fight returned. "She managed to--"
"I'll kill her," Xavier said from behind Alyssa. He appeared behind her, rubbing his neck. I saw no bite marks because he had healed. "I didn't think she could move that fast. Without you guys to hold her back--"
"Where is she?" I got on my feet, ignoring the aches. "Did she leave?"
"She ate and ran," Xavier said. "The only reason you're still alive is that the Normal soldiers and the vampire soldiers both made a run for it, and she chased them."
I listened, but no sounds came. "So they're not as loyal to her as we thought."
"Turning doesn't make you an automatic monster," Alyssa said. "Bathory has to keep her plan together, even after what she did. Primrose must be at the base. If we rescue her, we might stop her from going any further with it."
"But if she bit Xavier--"
"She became stronger, faster, and better able to fight," Xavier said. "As if she needed that. I guess she knows she can't kill me."
"She might want you to go to the military base," Alyssa said. "Your aunt must be there, holding back any soldiers."
"It sounds like a trap," I said, trying to keep my panic down.
"In capital letters," Brendan said. "I didn't even land a hit on her. I'm such a noob at this."
"We all are," Xavier said. "I hit her, but she healed faster than you, and I didn't want to hurt the soldiers--"
"It's okay," Alyssa said. "It might help that they escaped. But she must have more soldiers. And the vampires from the Underground must be at the base, too. Now's a good time to destroy all this transfusion equipment. That'll slow her down. Xavier?"
He stood there, collecting himself. But then he clenched his fists in rage and faced the room.
"Do it," I said. "Then we need to go. The Mother will catch those soldiers in no time and bring them back here. Then she'll have time to kill us."
Xavier lowered his voice to a dangerous pitch. "Get out."
We did.
Alyssa ushered us up the ramp of the now-empty building. Everyone must have fled into the woods. Bathory had trouble holding her forces together. It was the one good sign in all of this.
But we still hadn't seen the base.
The noise of Xavier destroying all the equipment down below was deafening, and sure to bring back the Mother. She'd return with Infernal Iron chains to keep Xavier under control next. I tried not to think about how scary she'd be once she came back. What if she moved twice as fast now? She had already been stronger than us.
"You landed a hit on her," Brendan said once the crashing sounds died.
"Barely," I said. "She was trying to keep Alyssa away from her."
"That's because one hit from my sword could kill her," Alyssa said. "She was too fast. The last time I hurt her, it was with a pot of hot coffee."
"But we were close," I said, trying to stay positive.
"Not anymore," Alyssa said.
"We have to try again," I said. "The time to do it will be to catch her unaware."
Xavier stormed through the doorway. Even though it was dark, and he had to feel his way up the wall, I could see all the ruined beds and equipment on one side of the transfusion room, all in a heap. "There's that," he said. "That should slow down her making new soldiers. But we don't know how many she's made or still has."
"She won't let the ones who tried to run live," I said. The thought settled like a ball of dread in my gut. "Military base."
"Pay attention for my aunt," Xavier said. "Getting her out of here will help. Since the Mother bit me, she might not need Primrose anymore."
He had a point. We didn't know what she was planning.
"We can pick up her scent," I said.
The four of us left the building. I listened to the surrounding forest, and heard the distant sounds of fleeing soldiers, both Normal and Turned. The vampire ones had put the most distance between them and the facility. The Normal ones were closer and their metallic fear lingered in the air. All of them had scattered.
Shots rang out.
A man screamed. Normal or vampire, I couldn't tell.
She would hunt and kill them all.
"Now," Alyssa said. "She's distracted. She'll let the Normals go before anything. Come on! I think the base was a couple miles that way." She pointed in the opposite direction as the screaming.
"I can't run as fast as you," Xavier said.
Alyssa extended her arms, dropping her sword. "Then I'm carrying you. Again."
Brendan slipped his hand into mine. "At least the two of us can keep the same pace now."
"Unless you want me to carry you?" I asked.
But we didn't have time for that. The four of us ran through the woods, following Alyssa. I carried her sword for her, which made things awkward, but I managed.
Dodging the trees was easy. They were far apart in this part of the woods, leaving few weeds between them, but it also felt too open. My only comfort was that we were headed in the opposite direction as the Mother.
And within a minute, the chain-link fence of the military base came into view. Alyssa stopped, and I missed her by inches as Brendan and I skidded to a halt.
"This is it," she said.
"I can't see much," Xavier said.
"It's Fort Davis," Alyssa said, reading an ominous sign hanging on the chain-link fence. "It says no trespassing, but that's the least of the military's problems. The fence is straight ahead. Blast through it."
I sniffed, because there was more forest on the other side of the fence, along with a dirt drive that ran along it on the other side. The base was tucked away into the woods. The helicopter faded, then got louder again.
Wind carried scents from the base with it. Burned smells, left over from Primrose's rampage. Metallic stress and fear from the soldiers who were still Normal. I couldn't tell their numbers, but they weren't many.
But I also picked up an exotic wood smoke scent.
Primrose.
"Your aunt is alive," I said.
"How can you tell?" Brendan asked. "I'm still learning this whole scent thing. Oh. The incense type scent."
"Close enough," I said. "I wouldn't do a blast, Xavier. Bathory might hear it. I think we should just climb the fence."
It was time to be ninjas even if I wasn't one.
"That will hurt," Brendan said, eyeing the wire on the top of the fence. The army did not want people getting inside. This was just as bad as the nearby ATC facility.
"What Bathory will do will hurt even more," Alyssa said.
"Point taken," he said. "Let's climb. I've added War Magic to my list of things I never want to experience again. And it's getting to be a long list."
We did. The barbed wire was as bad as I expected because I had time to dwell on it as I scaled the fence. But I got over it as fast as I could, dropping to the other side of the ten-foot barrier. I picked up the swords I had thrown over the fence and handed one to Alyssa as she rubbed her arm, which closed and healed from a gash she'd gotten on the way over.
Poor Xavier struggled the most to get over the top. I watched as rivulets of bright red, violet-tinted blood formed on his bare arms before closing again. His leather coat protected him a little. And my stomach roared. As if trying to mock me, Alyssa's did, too.
I looked away. The healing I'd done had made me hungry. Soon I'd reach the point of no return. The last thing I needed was to attack Xavier in the middle of a fight.
"That was about as fun as I expected," Brendan said. "Plus one to my climbing skills, right?"
"More like plus five," Xavier said. "I'd rather level up in the lock picking department."
"Stop talking about games," Alyssa said.
"We need a sense of humor," I said.
Out in the woods, another man screamed. I couldn't tell the species. It didn't matter. People were people, and we were all part of the hunt now. No amount of killing would stop the Mother's pain.
Only death or fixing her scars would, and maybe not even then.
We continued to the base, leaving the fence behind. The four of us cut through the trees, ignoring the access road. I detected no lights ahead. The woods got so thick that my gray vision returned for parts of our run.
But then, things cleared ahead, and I caught sight of barracks, along with several other low buildings and military jeeps. All had their tires slashed. Many of them had hoods raised as if a powerful blast had destroyed their front ends. A burning oil stench hung in the air, and some jeeps had smoke rising from their hoods. Primrose had taken out the military's transportation before they had the chance to escape or fight back.
The barracks all looked intact. We stopped at the edge of the clearing.
The adrenaline scent became overpowering. There were still some Normal soldiers here and I bet that Primrose had them holed inside a barracks. Her scent hung in the air with them. I guessed there were maybe three dozen Normals around here, but it was that: a guess.
"Which one?" Xavier asked. "I can see a few buildings a little."
The concern in his voice was overwhelming. He must not know that everyone could hear it. Or he didn't care.
I sniffed.
"The one on the left," I said. "No one's talking but there are people breathing in that one."
"Your hearing is good," Xavier said.
"I can hear them," Brendan said. "They sound like Normals. I don't know how I can tell, but I can."
We didn't have time to discuss our new senses. I led the way, hoping that the soldiers inside wouldn't fire on us as soon as we opened the door. At least nobody was outside although the helicopter was circling back around with its headlight ready. People still tried to monitor the situation, but I heard nothing else coming. The military seemed to have backed off until daylight. Even they didn't want to mess with vampires during the height of their power.
The barracks doors were locked, but I had zero problem ripping them open.
The light of battery-powered lanterns met my eyes. Rows of beds filled the room, and soldiers sat on them, two or three per bed. The adrenaline smell in the room grew overpowering. Soldiers turned to face us. The scent ratcheted up a few levels.
All of them were Normal, locked in here to await their fate. Most were young men, but I spotted some older officers and few women mixed in. And none of them could see us well. Confusion stole over their faces.
"Are you back to get more of them?" Primrose asked.
I hadn't noticed her at first. But she stood closest to us, near a lantern which illuminated her ordinary sweater and jeans. Her voice filled with nerves. She thought we were Bathory, ready to take more soldiers to the Transfusion Room.
All the concern Xavier had for her washed away. He pushed past me as one soldier stood from a bed and backed away, dog tag swinging on his well-built chest.
"Aunt Primrose," Xavier said. "You're coming with us. Let these men and women go. Wait until the Elders hear about you working with the mayor's former buddy."
Her jaw fell. "Xavier?"
Fear filled her words. She took a step back and knocked over the lantern with her foot, casting us in greater darkness. More soldiers stood. None of them had guns. Bathory and Primrose had made them surrender.
"Are you rescue?"
"Is it safe to leave?"
"Where is that veiled monster?"
"Go!" I shouted. "We'll stop any of them from getting you."
It sounded stupid, but these military personnel must have seen way too much horror in the past forty-eight hours. Bodies rose from beds and I stood aside to allow the stampede to freedom. Primrose also stood aside, more in shock than anything.
"Xavier!" she shouted with irritation.
"You're not bossing me around anymore," Xavier said, advancing on her. He took her wrist, and she tried to pull away from him. "You betrayed the Underground, and you stabbed Trish in the back."
"You shouldn't be hanging in the ghetto," his aunt said. "There are all sorts of bad company there. You've never used your head, Xavier."
"Says you!" I shouted. "You're helping Bathory. We all know she will turn against you. You're not protecting the Underground. The Underground needs you to rally them! Be a leader for once!"
"You don't understand," Primrose said as the final few soldiers fled into the night like terrified horses set loose. She had no fear of me. "This situation is--"
I hated her so much I hit her over the head.
Primrose gasped and her head drooped as Xavier continued to hold her arm. She sagged in his grasp, knocked unconscious.
For a second, I felt bad, but we needed to get her out of here. Sure, she said she was doing her best, trying to keep Bathory from protecting the Underground, but the monster wasn't here right now. She was out in the woods, trying to recapture or kill the vampire soldiers she needed for her plan.
Another man screamed in the distance. That part was working. One defector would convince the rest to go. If she killed them all, no one else would want to leave. She was past the point of telling lies.
"Janine!" Xavier said.
"She's fine," I said. "We can't have her fighting. Her pulse is good. I think she'll just wake with a headache." I knew why I'd hit her, and the reason disturbed me.
"Good," Xavier said. "We're getting her back to the Underground and then she will help defend it. We all know Bathory will attack it with or without her."
"Now she'll attack it faster," Alyssa said. "Maybe even before she goes after the rest of the city. I'll carry your aunt and then we need to get back to that cop car if we can. And where are the rest of the captured vampires? This building just had Normals."
Behind us, a door to another building opened. In fact, it was the door to the opposing barracks.
Guns cocked.
We had our answer.
Chapter Eleven
Even though I could move fast enough to dodge bullets, the thought of even one gun aimed at me made a chill rush through my body.
Alyssa didn't mess around. She picked up Primrose in a lightning motion and stood with the woman in tow. Her sword dropped to the floor. It wouldn't do much good against bullets. Brendan and Xavier and I still had ours. That was better than nothing.
"They're taking Primrose."
"She was right. Her nephew's trying to topple the Underground."
"What's the Underground?"
I turned and faced a half dozen vampire soldiers, all trying to fit into the double doorway of the barracks. They had no lanterns, but they had guns. Pointed at us. Behind the soldiers in the doorway stood others—three or four dozen others. Bathory had already Turned that many people with the help of the prisoners she "rescued." The captured vampires and the new ones all waited together. She must have ordered them to wait in silence in case we showed.
This wasn't good.
And now they thought we were the enemy.
"Don't shoot!" Brendan shouted.
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