Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (42 page)

"Salvatore Lavielle," I said. "He's the leader of the Silver
Dawn's council. There's five other members, but I don't recall ever
having heard their names."

"And
where would we find this Salvatore?" Violet asked.

I
shrugged. "I've never actually seen him before. Come to think of
it, I don't remember anyone ever seeing him. There was a rumour he
lives in the church though."

"The
church it is then," Russell said.

He split
us up into two groups, the first consisting of Violet's group,
myself included, and Russell, along with two of his vampires, Erik
and Andre. The rest continued the search for General Marsten, while
we made our way into the heart of the city. We skulked through the
dark alleyways, drawing closer to the church, stopping outside the
large, wooden doors. One of them was slightly ajar. The door knob
and lock had been broken off.

"Something's not right," Violet said.

"I
agree," said Russell. "Erik. Andre. Scout the church grounds. Look
for anything suspicious or out of place."

They
nodded and disappeared, leaving us to investigate inside. Despite
living in Rachat for twenty years, there were only a handful of
occasions when I had been to the church. There were a few times I
went as a kid, when the old witch, who took over after Mrs.
Rousseau, could be bothered to take us anywhere. During my teenage
years, I was convinced there was no such thing as a God. I had no
business being inside a church.

Both
inside and out, the walls were a pure white. The stained-glass
windows bathed the large open room in a myriad of colours as the
moonlight hit them. Rows upon rows of pews filled the room, facing
a raised platform, on which there was a font of holy water, a
podium, and a large brass statue of the Virgin Mary behind an altar
of candles. The flames flickered in the breeze that followed us in.
At the far end of the room was a door. It was open, and like the
front doors, its lock was broken off. Nearby, a red curtain lay on
the floor that, judging by the rail and hooks above the door, had
been used to conceal the passageway from sight.

Daniel
sniffed at the air once, then twice. "Where do I know that smell
from?" he asked.

"Probably
your imagination, you daft mutt," Nate said.

"No, I
swear I know that smell."

"Let's go
check it out," I said. Violet and Sebastian agreed.

"I'll
keep an eye on our friend," Nate said, following Russell to the
back rooms. As we climbed the spiral stairs that lay beyond the
door, I pulled my dagger from its sheath. There was a banging
noise, like the opening and closing of doors.

We
stopped at the next floor. The banging was definitely coming from
this corridor. I peered out into the hallway and caught sight of a
figure in black, working his way down the doors. He was looking for
something, peering into each room, and then slamming the door shut.
He paused in front of a window, looking out at the sky. The moon
illuminated his short, blond hair. My heart stopped. I sheathed the
knife and stepped out, walking slowly towards him. Sebastian
grabbed my hand, but Violet took hold of his wrist and shook her
head.

His head
turned upon hearing me approach. I saw his hands go for the gun at
his waist. I lowered my hood and his body froze. The lines of his
face tightened. I saw the way his eyes sparkled in the moonlight.
His smile twisted, like he wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad.
He didn't move until I was stood right next to him.

"Mik," he
whispered, letting out a ragged breath. "I'm so sorry."

I raised
a hand to his face, and he rubbed his cheek against my palm. His
cheek was wet. I reached up onto the balls of my feet and pressed
my lips to his, but he made no effort to respond.

"I'm
sorry," he said again.

"Why?"

"I should
have believed you."

I looked
him straight in the eye, taking his hands into mine. "I forgive
you," I said. The first tear began its descent down my right cheek.
"Please–"

My words
were cut off by his lips crashing into me. His arms wrapped tight
around me, pulling me as close to him as possible. The kiss was
sloppy, and it was desperate. Our teeth clashed and our noses
rubbed. We both fought for control, trying to devour each other. I
had waited for so long to feel this again, and at the back of my
mind, I wondered if Russell could feel it too. Would he come
rushing up the stairs to stop it?

"I think
that's enough for now, boys," Violet said. Ash froze. He looked up
to see the others, who moved into the hallway. He pulled me behind
him and began reaching for the gun at his waist. I grabbed at his
hand. He looked at me, his brows furrowed and lips pressed tight
together.

"They're
the good guys," I said. His hand twitched in mine, and I could tell
he wasn't sure. "You said you should have believed me before.
Believe me now, please."

Ash's
hand pulled back. He closed his eyes and drew in a sharp breath.
"Oh God, Mik. I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot."

"No," I
whispered, holding his head against my shoulder. "You're not an
idiot. I probably wouldn't have believed it either."

"No, you
don't understand. They took Lucas."

"Is that
why you're here?"

Ash
nodded against me. He lifted his head to meet my eyes. "After I saw
you that day, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was
wrong. I wanted to believe you, but I couldn't. I started looking
into a few things, and when Lucas caught me, he offered to help
out. I was so desperate, I didn't know what to do."

"Did you
find anything?"

"I was
supposed to meet Lucas yesterday during lunch break. He told me had
found something, but he didn't say what. He never showed up. I went
to his dorm and the door to his room was wide open. The place was
trashed. I thought maybe he'd been broken into, but one of the
other guys said they saw the Silver Dawn ambush him and take him
away. And it's my fault. I shouldn't have gotten him
involved."

"It's not
your fault," I said, stroking a hand on the back of his
head.

"Yes, it
is. I asked him to help. I'm supposed to be in charge of this
squad. I'm supposed to look out for you guys. Well, I guess I
failed at that. I managed to lose two members in one
month."

"I'm sure
he knew what he was getting himself into when he chose to help
you," Violet said. "You can't place all the blame on
yourself."

Ash
looked over at Violet. I could see his reluctance in the way he
looked at her. Violet may have looked human, but I'm sure he could
tell she was undead.

"That's
Violet," I said. "She took good care of me. You can trust
her."

Ash
pulled away from me and walked up to her. For a second, I wasn't
sure what he might do. Maybe he blamed her for keeping me away from
him, I thought. My fears were dissuaded when he extended a hand to
her.

"Thank
you, for looking after him," he said, trying to manage a
smile.

"And this
is Sebastian and Daniel," Violet said, gesturing to them. Ash gave
them a quick nod.

"So you
think your friend is in here somewhere?" Daniel asked.

Ash
nodded. "We know he was dragged in here, but I can't feel him. He
could be unconscious, or..." Ash's voice trailed off. "I don't
know, something has felt off since I entered this place, and now my
empathy is all screwed up."

"Could be
him
," Violet said.

"Okay, my
turn," Ash said. He turned to me and placed his hands on my
shoulders. "Why did you come back?"

I was
dreading this bit. A drop of sweat trickled down my back. How was I
supposed to tell him that we wanted to remove the city's
leadership? "There's something evil inside the city," I
started.

"A
pure-blooded vampire," Violet added. She gave a brief overview of
what a pure-blood was, and why we believed there was one in
Rachat.

"Shit,"
Ash muttered. "Maybe that's what Lucas found."

"Do you–"
I started to say, but my words were cut off by a searing pain
inside my head, threatening to burst outward. The others were
talking to me, but I couldn't hear them over the ringing that
drowned out everything else. I covered my ears, hoping it might
muffle the sound, but it did nothing. Amidst the pain and the
ringing, I saw a door and a staircase, leading down into some
tunnels. Everything was fuzzy, like static. It felt as if something
was burning its way through my brain from the inside out. And then
there was one last image. Nate stood smiling proudly.

"Russell."

"What's
wrong with him?" Ash yelled. He crouched next to me, a hand placed
on my shoulder.

"Russell," I said. The ringing had died down, leaving only a
throbbing headache.

"Who's
Russell?"

"A
vampire who coerced Mik into sharing a blood bond with him," Violet
said. "It would appear something bad has happened to
him."

"He
showed me a basement and some tunnels. Nate's there with
him."

"You
don't think Nate offed him, do you?" Daniel asked.

I nodded
and stood up. "I'm fine," I told Ash, who was watching me worriedly
and trying to steady me.

"We need
to find this basement," said Violet.

"I'm
coming with you," Ash said.

"What
about Lucas?" I asked.

"Kat and
Brad will find him. I'm not leaving you again. Especially not if
you're going to look for this Russell."

"Then
let's go," Violet said. "We'll need all the help we can
get."

We went
downstairs, back into the main room. Erik and Andre were
there.

"Look
what we found," said Andre. He and Erik pointed to a man, who sat
expressionless on one of the pews.

"That's
General Marsten," Ash said, surprised.

"He was
skulking about in the bushes," Erik said, his eyes wandering over
us. "Where's Russell?"

"We're
just going to find him," Violet said, not bothering to mention that
he might be dead or seriously injured. "Keep an eye on the General
until we return."

They
nodded and went to stand by the General's side. Daniel led us to
one of the back rooms. A bookcase was pulled away from the wall,
revealing the door and staircase I had seen in my vision. Daniel
covered his nose and wafted the air.

"Yeah,
this is definitely the way," he said. "Smells like someone got lit
up good."

"That
idiot," Violet growled. "He may have signed our death
warrants."

Ash
looked at me and opened his mouth. I shook my head and mouthed the
word 'later'.

The
stairs were narrow, leaving only enough room for one person at a
time. I went down first, with Ash following close behind. There
were no lights on the stairs, and soon we were enveloped by
darkness. I pulled out my flashlight and shone it straight ahead.
The stairs turned a right angle, and after turning the corner we
could see a faint light in the distance. Upon reaching the bottom,
we found ourselves in a small room, lined with oil
lamps.

We went
through several similar rooms, the occasional image appearing to
guide us in the right direction. The images were getting fainter
each time. Russell probably didn't have much time left. I should
have been happy he was in danger of dying, but I couldn't help feel
there was something wrong about the whole thing. What if Violet was
right, and Nate had sentenced them to death?

Ash stuck
close to me, his free hand resting on my shoulder, squeezing
gently. His other hand held a firm grip on his gun. I could smell
the burning as well now. The smell clung to my nostrils, a mix of
burned meat and a metallic, coppery smell. Ash coughed behind me.
Despite the smell, we pushed on through a long narrow tunnel. The
path started to slope downward into the darkness. At the end of the
tunnel was another flicker of light. There was no doubt about it
now. Russell was in the next room.

We
stopped at the doorway and peered into the room. A blackened body
lay to one side. Russell. He didn't move, but I knew he was still
there. I could feel a slight pull, an urge to go to him. There was
no voice in my head now, and there were no images, just the tiniest
of sparks that let me know there was still a part of him in there.
Other than the body, the room was empty. Ash and I stepped out. I
was about to head for Russell, when a blast of heat slammed into my
back, accompanied by a blazing roar and the sound of Violet
screaming. The doorway was blocked off by a wall of fire. The large
metal door that had been wide open slammed shut. I turned back to
the door and tried to pull at it. It showed no signs of
moving.

"Violet,"
I shouted, banging on the door with my fists.

"We're
fine," Daniel replied. "The fire caught Violet's arm, but there's
no real damage. It'll heal quick."