Hourglass

“Stuff sounds odd underground.” Clearly it took a lot to rattle Eliza, and a couple of strange noises didn’t come close.

“Listen, I know you’re freaked out right now, and no wonder. Just stay calm, okay?”

That’s when I heard a tremendous roar—and the end of the tunnel caved in.

Concrete tumbled down, great blocks of it the size of rooms, and the air instantly choked thick with dust. Eliza grabbed me to tow me backward; the section of the roof above us remained solid, but how much longer would that be true? “Jesus!” she shouted. “Come on!”

We started running away from the falling debris, toward the crowd of hunters I could see hurrying to see what the problem was—when the other end of the tunnel caved in, too. That was farther away—a distant rumble—but now I recognized the sound.

“It’s all coming down!” I shouted.

“This is not an accident.” Eliza’s face was set. She grabbed something from her belt and snapped it; instantly, it began shrieking a high metallic tone, warning everyone. “They’re here.”

“Who’s here?”

Clouds of dust rolled past us, thick and chalky, and I coughed for air. People farther down the tunnel were screaming and shouting. Eliza ran without taking me along, and I was left to grope my way along the side of the tunnel. But I couldn’t see; I could hardly breathe.

When a shape took form in the darkness, I reached out desperately—then froze.

“There you are, Miss Olivier.” Mrs. Bethany stepped toward me, a sheer black shawl upon her shoulders making her part of the roiling smoke that surrounded us. “We’ve been looking for you.”

Chapter Seven

“MRS. BETHANY!”

Her hawklike gaze froze me to the spot—I couldn’t have run away from her if I’d tried. Something about her dark eyes was almost hypnotic.

She’s come to take me home, I thought in my confusion. Though she terrified me more than she ever had before, the word home tugged at me, and for one moment I didn’t know which way to turn.

“More this way!” shouted Eduardo, his voice echoing amid the clamor in the tunnels. He was running toward us, and to judge by the many shouts and curses around us, neither he nor Mrs. Bethany was alone.

I’d been in one great battle between vampires and Black Cross before; I knew what it sounded like.

Mrs. Bethany smiled radiantly. The soot and falling debris around us had no effect on her. These were her elements—darkness, violence, and blood. When Eduardo came into view, a stake in his hands, her smile only became wider.

Under his breath, he swore. “Son of a—”

“I remember you,” she said. “You attacked my home. Allow me to return the favor.”

Eduardo brought his stake up, calling to his team, but Mrs. Bethany was faster. She leaped at him so blindingly fast that I almost couldn’t see her, and her hands clutched his head and gave it a sharp twist. I heard a sickening crack. Eduardo flopped to the ground, and Mrs. Bethany lifted her head triumphantly. Before I could see any more, the clouds of dust swirled around us, surrounding them and blinding me.

Trembling, I pushed myself against the tunnel wall, trying to put aside my horror so I could think. Mrs. Bethany had led a large group of vampires to attack Black Cross’s headquarters. But how had she known to find us here?

I didn’t have to ask how she dared to attack the most powerful Black Cross stronghold of them all. To get revenge for the burning of her beloved school, Mrs. Bethany would’ve done more than this.

Also, I knew that the vampires who had come with Mrs. Bethany wouldn’t necessarily be here to help me. I was consorting with the enemy. And if any of them gave away my true nature to the Black Cross hunters—well, every fighter on both sides of the battle would be out to get me.

Not good.

Another slab of concrete fell from the ceiling. I screamed and tucked myself into a ball on the floor in the instant before it smashed down onto one of the railway cars. The shock wave jolted me to the bones, and the roar and screech of twisted metal nearly deafened me. My skin was soaked in cold sweat, and I wanted to cower here until somehow it all ended.

Then I realized that Lucas was in the middle of this, right now, fighting for his life.

My head snapped up. I opened my mouth to shout for him, then thought better of it. The chances were that one of the vampires would hear me before Lucas, and calling attention to him or to me was the last thing I needed to do. No, I needed to find Lucas on my own, fast.

What about Raquel? And Dana? Fortunately, the second question answered the first. I knew now that Dana would defend Raquel to her last breath, if it came to that.

I started running through the dark, soot-filled tunnel, coughing. At first I headed in the general direction of the area where we took our meals; Lucas would’ve been on his way to eat dinner, so that was the most likely place for him to be.

But it was so hard to find my way. Headquarters was a murky, unwelcoming place at the best of times. Now it was like the center of a cyclone. Most of the lights had fallen during the blasts, so it was incredibly dark. Even with my vampire’s sight, I could only make out shadows and blurs—the Black Cross hunters were essentially fighting blind. I kept one hand out so that I could feel the wall against my fingertips. That was the only way I could be certain I was running in a straight line. Every couple of seconds, one of the hunters set off an emergency flare, and then I could see a strobe-light flash of activity: two fighters grappling, human indistinguishable from vampire, both struggling desperately to kill the other.