The Chalice (Luna Vampire Series) (37 page)

             
"Well, uh, I guess.  It's pretty self-explanatory.  Just point and shoot."

             
With an encouraging smile, he flipped off the safety and cocked a round into the chamber.  "Only use it if something happens to both of us.  Otherwise, spend your energies on keeping time at a standstill." 

             
Clumsily, I accepted the hunk of cold metal and, in a fraction of a second, he was marching back in the direction of the guards.  If truth be told, the fury with which he pounded his feet into the cement should've been a signal to the gruesome acts that were to follow.  Yet, I never could've predicted the brutality.  It was a sight to behold, a scene straight from a horror flick. 

             
His rage took on tangible form as he used his sword to decapitate them.  Afterward, he retraced his steps, sliced open their chests, and removed their hearts one by one. 
Snarling growls escaped his lips, fangs filled his mouth, and his normally caring blue eyes were hollow.
  In the end, putrid smelling blood splatters coated everything.  The walls, the floor, him, even Lucien and me. 
Jesus.  I so wanted to barf.

             
During the entire spectacle, Lucien held onto my arm to ensure I wouldn't topple over.  And, of course, he kept assisting me as we pushed ahead, trekking through what seemed like a never-ending maze of tunnels. 

             
Along the way, we passed a number of people. 
Humans, vampires.  Males, females.  The young, the old. 
And Adrian slaughtered every single one of 'em.  He didn't make excuses for his actions.  He merely struck without emotion and moved on, leaving a sickening trail of death in our wake.

             
While a piece of my soul cringed at his brutality, another piece welcomed it with open arms.  It was no shocker that Tsedaka'd send every last able body to hunt us down once time resumed.  So, to protect our lives, I understood that we had to strike preemptively. 

             
Arriving at the main exit, Adrian quickly typed in the pass code and opened the door in a rush.  I yearned to express my excitement at our success, although, I couldn't so much as crack a smile.  It took all my resolve to barely lift my legs and put one foot in front of the other.
Knees rubbery, temples vibrating in agony.

             
"Can't go much longer," I groaned, collapsing to the ground in a patch of sunlight just outside.  Vision swimming, my world tilted as I shakily discarded the gun in my lap.  My hands were too weak to continue holding it.

             
"Luna," Adrian barked.  "Keep disrupting the flow, use every ounce of your strength.  If you lose consciousness, I'll protect you."  Then he turned toward Lucien, who was lingering in the shaded safety of the doorway.  "Secure the hood over your face and walk slowly.  You'll make it if you're careful."

             
"Okay, here goes nothing," Lucien grunted, covering himself with the material and tentatively stepping into the sun.  Thankfully, there was no sizzling or bursting into flames.  He simply stood tall and inched forward with determination.

             
"Uh, guys?" I stammered, squinting up at them.  "Um, I don't think I can stand."

             
"I must get the engine started.  Carry her, Lucien," Adrian yelled, hardly giving us a moment's warning before poofing away.

             
How in the hell was Lucien supposed to carry me?  He had his hands full with ensuring he didn't become a crispy critter.
 
Sigh.
  "Um, I'm down here.  Three steps to your right."

             
Gingerly, he shuffled in my direction, stopping in front of me as if he'd been apprised of my location all along.  "I'm fine, girlie," he assured, scooping me into his arms while simultaneously allowing my gun to remain undisturbed in its newfound resting place.  "The most important thing is for you to focus.  We'll be in a world of trouble if your powers give out on us.  You have to stay in control."

             
Following his instructions, I concentrated on my task. 
Stop!  Stop!  C'mon!  Please stop! 
My brain felt like it'd recently underwent a lobotomy.  Pure agony shot from my frontal lobes to the base of my skull and my body trembled constantly.  I ached to release my hold, hungered to cave in to the need.

             
Regardless, I forced myself to multitask. 
I had to be my sightless man's eyes.
  "I see the helicopter; it's off to our left a bit, a hundred or so feet ahead of us, and the engine's running."

             
"I know, I can hear it.  And I feel the wind from the blades.  Tell me, though, how outnumbered are we?"

             
Glancing around, I saw upwards of twenty guards scattered throughout the property, a surprising amount of them. 
For real,
you'd think that born vamps would be harder to come by than made vamps.  But whatever. 
At least, they were all frozen for the time being.  However, I could sense myself slipping. 
C'mon!  Stop!  Stop!

             
"Did you hear my question?" he
asked impatiently.  "Our telepathy's failing, we're both too weak.  Answer me aloud."

             
"It's hard for me to think about anything other...  ...
OH CRAP
,
IT'S..."

             
And then I heard battle cries.
  The vamps were coming at us, weapons drawn. 
Shit!!
  Latching onto my gun, I aimed at our nearest attacker.  I had no idea how many bullets it contained and I didn't care.  I merely started pulling the trigger. 
Point and shoot.  Point and fucking shoot.

             
In that same instant, Adrian rejoined us.  Despite his sword being at the ready, he didn't charge our opponents.  Instead, he allowed them to approach, raising his empty hand high in the air.  I swear a purple glittery substance oozed from it.  And I briefly wondered if I was hallucinating from using too much vampire mojo.  Yet, I rapidly reconsidered the second it began taking shape.

             
The glittery stuff spiraled forth, surrounding Adrian in a protective bubble-like shield.  Fortunately, it finished encircling him just as a ball of flames came hurling straight for his head. 
One of the old man's lackeys obviously wielded fire.  Damn!

             
Unfazed by the attack, his shield expanded. 
Slowly, steadily.
  It'd nearly made it to Lucien and me when a musclebound thug approached, brandishing a razor-sharp knife.  The creep must've got past my haphazard onslaught of bullets. 
And now my gun was empty.

             
Shrieking, I squirmed out of Lucien's arms and fell hard onto the half frozen grass.  In turn, my protector lifted his hood with a menacing growl.  Almost immediately, the sun scorched the delicate skin of his face and he flinched against the pain.  Even so, he pulled a gun from where he'd tucked it at his lower back and fired five successive rounds into the guard's heart.  Needless to say, it stopped the asshole in his tracks.

             
All the while, Adrian's purple glistening barrier grew and grew.  It enclosed the three of us, then spread in the direction of the helicopter.  "Keep moving!" he shouted, the chaos of exploding ammunition and fireballs making it hard to hear.  "I can't sustain the shield for long!  If the king's men arrive at the chopper before us, they'll sabotage our escape.  Now go!"

             
Frankly, where my energy came from is beyond me. 
Adrenaline?  The fight or flight response perhaps?
  Whatever the source, I lurched onto my feet and sprinted.  My legs felt as if they were running in quicksand.  Nevertheless, I pushed on.  There was no way I'd ask Lucien to carry me again.  I mean, he'd burned the shit out of himself in my defense once already.  And Adrian couldn't help; the poor guy's body shook visibly.

             
Luckily, by the time I reached the helicopter, the glittery buffer had completely encased our ride.  It was impenetrable, leaving us unharmed by the guards' offensive.  And, coincidentally, none of the bastards beat us there.  So, they weren't given the opportunity to cause even the smallest amount of damage. 
We might actually escape!

             
Buckling myself tightly into one of the rear benches, I waited for my companions.  Adrian came next, rushing past me to take his place in the pilot seat.  And Lucien, well, he hobbled toward us, no faster than turtle, with one gloved hand holding his hood in place while the other tried to feel the unseen world in front of him.

             
"Come on, Lucien!  A little further!" I coaxed, my eyes searching the interior for the coffin. 
He'd definitely need it.

             
"It's behind you in the rear storage area," Adrian bellowed, his voice straining above the hum of the engine.  "He's aware of its location; he can find his way back there."

             
A tension filled minute or two and Lucien was finally crawling through the door.  Like Adrian'd said, he fumbled into the rear compartment without any major problems.  Shortly thereafter, I heard a loud snap, evidently the coffin's lid shutting.

             
Meanwhile, the chopper lifted us into the air, a thin bubble of purple dust continuing to provide respite from the tirade of bullets and streams of fire assaulting us from the ground below. 
We did it!  In spite of all the odds!  I only wished I could see the look on the dear old daddy's face.  The scumbag.

Chapter
26

             
At some point, I must've fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes the day had drifted into night.  We'd landed and the helicopter's beating blades were in the process of powering down.  I wasn't exactly sure what woke me.  It could've been the jostling of our arrival, the blustery winter air seeping in from the open door, or the concerned conversation between Adrian and a couple of vamps I'd never met.

             
My mind was groggy and confused, but I knew one thing for certain.  My toes were ice cubes, tiny stinging ice cubes. 
And the escape, what an adrenaline rush!
  I'd gotten so caught up in our departure that I hadn't even considered the state of my body.  I mean, it was around thirty degrees outside when I ran barefooted to the chopper.  Yet, at the time, I hardly felt it.  My sole focus had been on survival.  Now, with much less adrenaline, ignoring my frozen toes and the aching pads of my scraped feet were impossibilities. 

             
Blinking several times, I mentally shook myself in hopes of getting my shit together. 
God, I felt like utter crap.
  My head throbbed worse than if I would've really tied one on the night before.  My hands trembled and, every once in a while, an electrified jolt travelled the length of my spine. 
The consequences of using far too much power.

             
"..the infirmary," one of the men grunted, my comatose brain finally beginning to comprehend the discussion occurring right in front of me.

             
"Yes, take him there," Adrian affirmed in somber tone.  "Tell the healer to spare no expense; I'll authorize any specialist to be brought in."

             
"Of course, your grace," the other man agreed.  Then the pair bowed slightly at the waist and made their way to the rear compartment.

             
I heard the coffin's latch pop open and, moments later, Lucien was shuffling out of the helicopter with a vamp stabilizing him under each arm.  He must've seen the worry on my face when he passed because he paused to say,  "I'll be alright, girlie, no worries.  My family will meet me in the infirmary.  I'll get patched up and be back with you in a few hours."  After that, he was gone, carried off into the darkness.

             
"Hey, love, glad to see you're awake," Adrian murmured as he sat down next to me and unbuckled my seatbelt.  "We're here at my missile base." 

             
"I s-see that," I stammered through chattering teeth.  "I'm c-cold."

             
Glimpsing the bluish color of my toes, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.  "Oh my god, I can't believe I forgot that you didn't have shoes.  Everything happened so fast.  Here," he lifted my feet onto his lap and covered them with his warm hands.  "Is that better?"

             
"Yeah, a little," I mumbled, forcing a halfhearted smile to cross my lips.  "B-but, seriously, you're in the same boat I am.  You aren't wearing sh-shoes either."

             
He grinned.  "I have socks, darling, and I'm a guy.  I'm tuff."  He punctuated his sentence by tickling my toes.