Chapter 75

“Fan out!”

We darted down different pathways. I went with Armageddon and listened to the others getting farther away. I wondered if Bella would be killed or if the cage would keep her safe.

Either way, she deserved what she was getting.

I frowned, worrying my lip as I realized that she wasn’t wearing my mother’s necklace.

Where had it gone? Was it back at Wolf Fang?

I turned on my communication charm. “Can everyone hear me? Are you alright?”

“It’s chasing us!” Dune and Apollo said. “Circle back as you can. We’ll try to lose it in the caves.”

“Don’t lose yourself—”

“Vampires!” Gilgamesh screamed.

The hair on the back of my neck rose as Armageddon took us down another pathway. I felt someone coming up behind us. He stopped and turned, throwing me behind him before lifting his arm and swinging. A sharp crack echoed through the cave. A body dropped to the ground.

A long strip of fire went through the air and sliced down.

Something hissed further in the cave and he turned.

“Quickly!” Armageddon said, setting a quick pace through the darkness. We turned and turned again. Figures darted out in the darkness. The walls shook and closed behind us, blocking them from following us.

How many vampires were down here? How were they all down here?

Why were the all down here? How far away from the school were we?

Something sent a chill down my spine and he created another blade of fire, angling it at the creatures nearby. They were nothing like I had seen before. They were shapeless and gliding through the darkness.

I thought of the creatures of darkness that the book had mentioned. I wish I had read more of it when I had the chance. I’d had to do that when I got back.

If I got back.

He swung at the creatures. They shrieked and burned alive, letting out haunting screeches as they turned to ashes.

A vampire lunged out from the darkness at me. I screamed and dodged, letting it sail over my head with a hiss and crash into the wall behind me.

Armageddon twisted, shoving his fiery blade into its head and pinning it to the wall.

He turned it and the fire spread down its body.

“How did you do that?”

He waved the sword away. “Some other time, Pandora.”

He pressed his hand to his communication device. “Anyone there? Report?”

“Alive. Artemis is injured.”

“Fatal?”

“No,” she groaned. “Just hurts like hell. I’ll be fine.”

“Apollo? Dune? You there?”

“These blood sucking bastards are vicious.”

“Separate their heads from their bodies. If you can’t burn them to ash, it’s the best option.”

“… you’re telling me—fuck!”

I heard something hiss and the tumble of bodies on the ground. I waited on baited breath until Apollo growled and a sharp rending sound came through.

“Noted. Remind me to bring a torch next time.”

Armageddon took my hand. “Let’s work our way back to the exit.”

“What’s… that smell?”

“Oh, hell! It’s the gas!”

“Get out of there!” Armageddon hissed. He turned left then right before pulling me towards the right.

“Run as fast as you can. I’ll find you.”

“Come on, Artemis!”

“I’m not letting you carry me—Hey!” Artemis shrieked.

“You can be pissed off after we get out of here,” Gilgamesh growled.

I heard them running.

“How do you know where we’re going?” I asked. I couldn’t see anything. The glowing crystals in the walls were spaced so far apart that they were almost useless.

“Just trust me. A little further.”

He turned again, and I saw Gilgamesh’s broad shoulders. He turned towards us with Artemis on his back.

“Holy shit, how--”

“No time,” Armageddon said. “Right.”

Gilgamesh turned and ran in the direction. Behind us, the walls rumbled and closed, blocking off the space.

“Fuck, dead end!” Dune cried. “What the fuck do we—”

A wall moved ahead and we saw Dune and Apollo.

“Holy—”

“Run!” Armageddon barked, taking lead. I couldn’t tell where we were going or how he knew where to go. But I felt the stone walls behind us move in and out of place. I heard vampires hissing through the walls, but they never seemed to get to us.

The faint scent of the gas had faded and soon I could smell the fresh scent of a forest at night.

“Gilgamesh first.” Armageddon ordered as we reached an area that would require us to climb.

Gilgamesh hefted himself and Artemis up the wall and into the cool, fresh air of the forest above. Dune and Apollo followed, then Armageddon was lifting me up to climb after them.

A hiss of a vampire came from behind us as I reached the top and scrambled out. I turned back.

“Armageddon!”

He leaped out and just as he exited, the hole closed up. I could hear the thud of the vampires who had tried to follow him out beneath the ground.

I looked at Armageddon as he swooned a bit and rest back on his hands.

I went to him. “Are you… okay?”

He nodded. “I’m… just tired. I’ll need a lot of sleep after this. Gilgamesh, how is Artemis?”

“Artemis is fine,” she groused. “It’s just a cut.”

“Vampire claws have poison in them,” Armageddon panted. “How deep is it?”

“Pretty deep.”

He rolled onto his feet and pulled out a vial before offering it to her.

She looked concerned, but she took it and turned her back to drink it.

She hissed. “What the hell is that?”

I smelled something burning as the wound caught on fire and closed with a wisp of dark flame.

“Long story. Let’s get moving. Where are we?” Armageddon asked and tapped his foot on the ground. “We’re not in the Full Moon territory any longer.”

“How do you know that?”

He hesitated, but pointed at the trees. “These trees only grow in the New Moon territory.”

He turned and looked around. “Let’s scout the area and come back here. If there was one entrance to the cave here then there’s probably another somewhere near here.”

“How did we get all the way here?” Artemis asked.

“The caves are… different,” Armageddon said. “I don’t believe they’re stagnant. There might be portals. I’m not sure.”

“How do you know all of this?” Apollo asked.

“This is information that’s been given to me by the founders of Moon Shadow.” He let out a breath. “Fan out. Ten-minute scope then we come back.”

He took my hand again and pulled me away from the rest of the group. The warmth of his hand made me think of Candido in the worst way.

Were they same age? What would he think of me being so much younger than him?

“Are you okay?” Armageddon asked. “I know this is your first field assignment like this.”

I nodded. “I’m fine.”

“… will you tell me what happened that day?” Armageddon asked quietly.

My jaw trembled. “I… It’s hard to explain.”

He pulled me closer and stopped. “Try if you can. You were… shaken when we got to the library and you weren’t surprised at all that the painting moved.”

“I… I’ve seen it move before.”

“When?”

“A while ago,” I lied. “I’ve been trying to find a way to get it to open… I was following someone and they were in the tunnels. I couldn’t get it open… she died.”

Armageddon let out a shaky breath and pulled me close, wrapping his arms around her.

“I’m sorry that happened, but you have to know that if you had gone down there you would have likely ended up dead too.”

Knowing what I know now, I knew that was true. I would have been wandering around in the dark, completely at the mercy of the vampires and other creatures that lived down there, but that didn’t make it easier.

“I don’t want you risking your life like that,” Armageddon said.

I pulled back. “I’m a member of Moon Shadow just like everyone else.”

“No one is arguing that, but have you considered what that would do to people who know you? … To me?”

I pulled away from him. “You should know that I’m in love with someone else.”

“… but they aren’t your mate.”

I growled at him. “You sound just like him.”

“With good reason,” he said. “Maybe if we were normal wolves, it wouldn’t be so imperative, but the bonds of a mate, the existence of one, helps keep us sane, helps us control our powers. Going against that could be disastrous.”

I scoffed. “You make it sound like I’ll lose my mind.”

“… you will.” I froze and met his gaze. “I’ve seen it.”

I bit my lip. “You don’t know that they’re not my mate. Just because—”

He growled and forced me up against a tree. He growled at me, reaching for my mask. His eyes were full of a bloody light like the red moon.

“I am your mate—"

The roar of a beast interrupted us, and my heart leaped into my chest.

“Run!”