Page 43 of Knave

Mouse’s heart thundered, pushing away memories of the Ruby Heart Palace attempting to surface. She focused her attention on the bolted-up door, her fingers itching to unlock it. Mouse pressed her ear to the cool steel, but nothing stirred from within. She started at the top, undoing each bolt with a grinding click. As soon as she released the last one, she leaned into the steel door with her shoulder and shoved it open, inch by inch. A new smell wafted out—decay, sickness. Nausea swirled in her stomach and she clutched it, hoping to not expel the contents from her last meal.

Mouse had come too far to stop now, and she took a tentative step into the room, then halted. Bones littered the floor, no two pieces still connected. Her gaze settled on part of a skull, the jaw ripped off and vampire fangs protruding. But then she found something else that made her suck in a sharp breath. These weren’t normal vampires.Wingsand claws curved from their fingers were scattered about. Thousands of scratch marks marred the black walls, along with deep gouges and small holes.

Bollocks, these were theancients. Wonderland originally had six who’d wreaked havoc long, long ago. Well before Ever, Rav, and Imogen had ever stepped foot here. Older than even the Jabberwocky. It was believed they had vanished, but the Red Queen must’ve contained them here. For what purpose? But deep down, Mouse knew, it was to bend them to her will. The Red Queen had been one of the first to ever be turned and survive them.

The tales claimed that their blood ran black, their hearts of the same color, and that was why they had created other vampires, so they could feast on them whenever they chose. And it looked as though they had certainly had to feast on each other here.

But…

She held her breath, counting the skulls, and frowned. There were only five…

A rustling came from above and she didn’t release her breath as she slowly glanced upward, her eyes widening. A single naked male form hung along an iron rafter from a domed ceiling. His alabaster skin was stark against the dark stone, his wings leather and obsidian. The vampire’s bones jutted out, his stomach sunken, and his flesh tight against his frail form as if it could tear away at any moment. He stared down at her with golden eyes, deep crimson hair hanging in greasy clumps around his head. The vampire cocked his head and cracked his massive wings, hunger swirling in his gaze, his long black tongue licking his thin lips.

Mouse gasped, pulling herself from her staring spell. She bolted out the door, putting her weight against the steel to shut it. Her hands trembled, making her fingers fumble as she reached for the locks. Before she could slide the bolt in on the first one, the vampire rammed its body against the door, knocking her to the floor. The gun fell from her hand, skidding across the floor. And she cursed herself for not shooting at him inside the room.

She pushed up, lunging for her weapon, and snapped it up. But the vampire was already there, shoving her back to the floor. His claws dug into her flesh as he flipped her over, her fear spiking when he pinned her to the floor, trapping her. A reeking smell, like death and body odor, invaded her senses. “Ferris!” she screamed. “Run!”

The ancient vampire snarled, gnashing his sharp teeth at her. He then bent toward her neck, sniffing up her skin, speaking in an old language she didn’t know. Her fangs dropped, her body writhing as she continued to scream to get this thing off of her.

Heavy footsteps pounded and the creature jerked back, hissing, giving Mouse enough time to pull the trigger at the ancient’s heart. The loud shot pierced her ears, yet the ancient barely moved backward, the bullet unable to knock it out as it would any other vampire. He smacked the gun from her hand before barreling toward Ferris, but he ducked just before the vampire tore into his flesh.

The ancient moved too fast, caging Ferris in against the wall, sliding his fangs into his shoulder. Ferris growled, shoving against the vampire.

“No!” Mouse darted forward, a few centimeters away from thrusting her hand into the vampire’s rib cage to retrieve his blackened heart.

But the vampire whirled around, releasing Ferris and grabbing her by the upper arms. He flapped his wings, the wind they created rustling her hair as he lifted her toward the ceiling.

Mouse jerked, drawing on all the strength she had, but he still overpowered her, holding her to him tightly,squeezing. The way Mr. Taylor had… Dread coursed through her and tears stormed down her face. She didn’t want to be helpless again. But that was precisely what she was in that moment. And she screamed, screamed as loud as she damn well could, even though it didn’t do a single thing.

The ancient didn’t lessen his grip on her, only speaking words in that old language of his, then buried his fangs into her throat. The pain from his bite tore through her, not a single ounce of pleasure radiated within her—it was as if her skin was on fire, burning past muscle, blood, and deep into her bones. As he drank, ripping farther into her throat, she peered down at Ferris, who was shouting frantically, climbing on top of the coffins to try and get to her.

As the vampire planted her against a wall, his body pushing harder into hers, the dagger she’d taken dug into her hip. It was her only chance. Eyes fluttering, her fingers shook as she drew the blade out. She was unable to reach his heart to see if it would knock him out, so with all the strength she could muster, she thrust the dagger into his stomach, slicing to the side.

The vampire screeched, his hold on her releasing, and she fell, her body crashing to the floor, pain flaring, bones breaking, the room spinning.

Mouse took one last ragged breath, finding Ferris off the coffin and lunging toward her. “I love you. Nowrun,” she rasped, her eyes falling shut.

Chapter Nineteen

Ferris

Run? Fuck that. Ferris would sooner throw himself at the fucked-up vampire than let him touch another hair on Mouse’s head. And that was exactly what he did.

Ferris barreled into the vampire as the male dove through the air for Mouse. The vampire looked ancient, emaciated, with bat-like wings and rows of sharp teeth. He snarled and snapped his jaw in Ferris’s face. His body shook as he held the monster up, right arm pressed to the male’s throat, left throwing punches. Each time his fist landed with a crack against ribs, the bones crunched. The vampire twisted and writhed, but he didn’t deter the attack.

“Get out of here, Mouse,” Ferris growled.

She let out a strangled, painful sob.Fuck.After that fall, she was probably too hurt to run. The vampire clawed at Ferris’s chest and his arm buckled from the sharp, tearing pain. Fangs pricked Ferris’s neck. He braced for the bite—for the fire it lit inside him—but it didn’t come.

The weight of the vampire’s body lifted from Ferris and he sprung to his feet. The clear dagger from the shelf protruded from the back of the vampire’s head where Mouse had managed to find the strength to stab him. He released a wretched screech, flinging his head from side to side, as black sludge-like blood spilled from the wound.

Ferris swept Mouse off her feet and bolted down the darkened tunnel, his heart slamming in his chest. If they could make it back to the library, maybe they would have a chance of outrunning the motherfucker. Hunger churned within him, his body weak, weaker now that he had to heal from the vampire’s bite. Even at full strength, he was still outmatched. The vampire had gone fucking mad and that was what fueled him now. If he had to, he would fight, but he couldn’t do that if he was worried about Mouse, and she was clearly not going to leave him to save herself. Unless he could convince her…

“You need to leave me, Mouse,” he told her, stopping just outside the room with the relics. The library shelves would never hold against this feral vampire and he needed to give her as much time as possible to escape. The male would likely kill him, though Ferris wouldn’t make it easy. Hopefully it would give Mouse enough of a leeway to reach the portal on the edge of Ivory. Then, after he was dead, Wonderland would need to be ready. “Ever has to know what we found and prepare a way to neutralize the threat.”

“No.” Mouse pushed out of his arms to stand in the tunnel and stumbled into the wall. Her injuries would slow her down but she was brave—she could make it home. “We can do this together.”

Ferris looked her up and down. The vampire had ravaged her throat. While it was healing, blood still covered her neck and chest, soaking into her dress. “Luv, please. You need to go. I’ll slow him down.”

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