Page 93 of Blood Sacrifice

“Is it just me or are these things getting narrower?” Jethro asked in a low voice. “I swear those drones were wrong because it feels like we’ve been down here for hours.”

I glanced at my watch. We’d been down here fourteen minutes.

“It’s the dog in you,” Dominic replied from behind us. “Vampires had to live underground for centuries to avoid the sun, war, and persecution. We adapted while you were all outside frolicking through daisies.”

I stopped just so I could turn around and glare at him. “If my mate didn’t view you as family, I’d leave you to sunbathe for a few hours to test a hypothesis.”

The ancient vampire shrugged. “I’ve had worse done to me. Move along before they detect we’re here and flood these tunnels with water or sewage to flush us out.”

I had to wonder what was worse than being a vampire and left out in the sun to bake.

“I can almost hear your brain whirring,” Dominic said. “In medieval times, some of our kind were discovered by scientists. They experimented with our ability to heal, and operated on us repeatedly, removing organs to see if they would regenerate.”

“Evil has always walked among us,” I replied. “Out of morbid curiosity, do your organs regenerate?”

“Nothing survives without a heart.” His tone brooked no further discussion.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jethro said after what felt like an eternity. “We’ve all lost friends to madmen and the evil that dwells within the human world.”

It was why we tended to live in the shadows and only interact with our own kind.

A glimmer of light appeared further up ahead, brightening as we continued to walk.

“Corridor ahead clear,” Tarrack said in my ear. “Proceed with caution.”

We had drones in this underground world, but that didn’t mean we had seen everything that was down here. My ears extended when my wolf emerged without my permission as he strained to hear what was happening in the distance. I had been trying to avoid using any of my wolf senses, as there was magic associated with them that I didn’t want detected.

“There are heartbeats up ahead,” I said into the communications device in my ear, as I tried to ascertain what they were saying.

“At least three,” Dominic said. “Right hand side of the corridor. One of them is A-negative blood type.”

“What the fuck do we need to know that information for?” Jethro demanded in a low hiss.

“Blood grouping is important information to vampires,” Dominic replied. “It could mean the difference between havingyour head ripped off, and being kept as a pet for many years and fed the best diet.”

“Too much information,” I intervened. “For the purpose of this mission, there will be no pets, no mercy, and no survivors.”

“Duly noted,” Dominic replied, and I rolled my eyes.

The closer we got to the light, the more I could ascertain. Drones didn’t have the ability to sense or smell, but there was an unmistakable odour of decomposition in the air, a humid heat that made your clothes stick to your skin, and an oppressive feeling that made my claws lengthen and my canines throb in my gums.

“More heartbeats,” Dominic said. “These are not human, they sound more animalistic in origin.”

“Lycans?” Jethro asked.

“Perhaps, although a lycan has a heavier heartbeat. Sounds more like a feline shifter, maybe a big cat?” Dominic stopped for a moment, his fingers braced on the wall beside him. “There are hidden compartments in the walls.”

I slid my weapon out, my wolf senses fully alert since we had a welcoming party ready to jump out at us.

“I suggest you allow my warriors to go first. They will not be expecting vampires,” Dominic suggested, moving in front of me, his eyes flashing silver in the dim light. “There are not many covens in this part of the world.”

I nodded slowly, taking in all the different scents and sounds. “We’ll be right behind you,” I replied, fighting the urge to be the first into battle. Luna had told me to trust Dominic’s instincts since she had fought beside him for decades if not centuries.

He waved his people forward, and I watched as they agilely used their claws to climb the walls. If our enemy was standing on the ground, they would never see them coming.

Jethro threw me awhat the fucklook and I shrugged in reply. Our territory had been spared from the vampire-lycan war, and not for the first time I wondered if it had been due to magical intervention. None of us had faced the stealth and predatory nature of vampires, and how they fought in battle. They disappeared at the end of the tunnel into the wider corridor, and if I hadn’t known they were there, I doubted I would have seen them.

The familiar sensation of magic touched my skin, and I wanted to recoil away from it. I saw Jethro shake himself to my right side, Paulo growling lowly behind me. We’d all spent too many years being suppressed by magic. Repulsion festered inside me, and I wanted to destroy those who sought to oppress me.

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