Page 87 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species
“Wasn’t the train going up?”
“Yes, but I can detect the scent of our companions coming from down below. Let’s go…”
They moved along the rails, heading deeper into the tunnel. Amelia kept her eyes locked on Zacharia’s back. If the formations on the walls had been eerie before, now every vaguely human shape threatened to scare her out of her mind. The play of light and shadow was cruel to her imagination.
Breathing was harder compared to last time, as if the air was thickening around them. When the tunnel narrowed so much that Zacharia had to crouch to pass, Amelia’s throat tightened.
He stopped and turned to her, sharp stalactites framing his head. “I want you to calm down. Stop thinking,” he ordered.
She nodded and continued. Hernot thinkinglasted all of three seconds. The harder she tried not to, the more visions of frenzied vampires and walking mummies crowded her mind.
Okay, if she couldn’tnotthink, at least she could choose which thoughts to focus on.
She decided to focus on Mikhail. He was also stuck in some claustrophobic space, suffocating in the dark. Prokaliya was buried under a thick layer of ice – how depressing must that be? Her knees wobbled.
To avoid scenarios of suffocation, she conjured up a memory she kept locked away for emergencies. Well, emergencies seemed to be frequent lately, but still… That night with Mikhail. She’d wanted him from the moment they’d met, but had convinced herself nothing could ever happen between them. She’d lied to him, claiming her desire for him was born from insecurity. But there had always been a raw, undeniable attraction. Then and now.
She revisited the day of his arrest in her mind, imagining how it could have ended if he hadn’t been taken away. Her fantasies left her cheeks flushed and her heart racing.
Zacharia glanced over his shoulder. “Feeling better?”
Amelia had a hunch heknew. Whatever. It wasn’t a crime to have dirty thoughts.
They reached the end of the tunnel with the three halls. Zacharia gestured for her to wait. “I hear voices.”
She couldn’t make out a thing.
Zacharia crept to the end of the tunnel and peeked out. “They carried a sarcophagus from one hall to another,” he whispered. “I can’t hear any other voices. There must be another room connected to the hall. I can smell lycanthropes, but I’m not sure which hall it’s coming from.” He pointed to a space between two stalagmites that jutted up from the floor like pillars. “Hide here. I’ll check the halls quickly to see where we need to go, then come back for you. Got it?”
She curled up between the two deposits. The stalagmites offered cover, concealing her in the darkness.
Amelia’s eyes darted to the cell, and she froze. A massive rock hung from the ceiling like a knife poised to drop at any moment. If it broke loose, it would crush her skull.But why, of all times, would it fall right now?She forced herself to inhale. Zacharia would be back soon. There was no reason to panic…
She tilted her head towards the sound of rolling pebbles in the tunnel. Lifting herself to take a glance from behind the stalagmite, she found the tunnel empty. She exhaled, hoping to release some tension, and knelt back down.
Her legs gave out. Someone was beside her.
She swivelled and almost collided with a pale face inches from hers. Toppling back, she landed on her butt, never breaking eye contact with the stranger. His pale skin and gaunt frame resembled the vampire who had greeted them in the temple, but he was not Vlas Beduin. Kneeling beside her, he inspected her with unsettling curiosity. In the dim light, he was more like a mummy than a vampire.
What if he really is a mummy that’s crawled out of asarcophagus?
He said something in that strange language she’d heard before – a question, maybe?
It didn’t sound threatening. Perhaps she had no reason to fear him. Maybe he was benevolent?
What was she supposed to say? Where was Zacharia?
Before she could decide what to do, the vampire wrapped his hands around her waist and slung her over his shoulder, nearly knocking her unconscious in the process.
Notbenevolent, then.
She didn’t scream for help, for Zacharia, because that would reveal she wasn’t alone. So she held back, eyes wide as the vampire entered one of the halls and continued straight through a labyrinth of tunnels. They veered left at one intersection, then right at another, and kept going and going until Amelia was lost. She’d never remember all these turns! She could only hope Zacharia was following or would pick up her scent…
Her scent! The Beduin vampires shouldn’t detect it, but if any of them were from a different species with a supernatural sense of smell, they’d know the new Oracle was snooping around. And if that information reached Mikhail in prison before she could explain…
Why hadn’t she just stayed put at the Hospital like an obedient woman, waiting for Mikhail’s return?
Obedient woman? Had she just thought that? And how could she think of herself ashiswoman when he’d never talked about anything beyond lusting after her? And besides, once she stole his ring, any hope of them growing into something would evaporate. She’d be nothing but his enemy.
