there.”
“Why?”
“Because, in some small, subconscious way, Kanin is calling for us.”
A couple hours later, we were no closer to finding the subway entrance than when we first started.
“Hmm.” Jackal stopped at the edge of a roof, the open map in both hands, turning it this way and that. “Well, damn. There’s supposed to be an entrance to the subway somewhere on this street, but how the hell are you supposed to read a map if there are no damn signs?”
I let him fiddle with the map in silence and watched the pale forms of the rabids slipping through the shadows below. “Why would Sarren be looking for this laboratory?” I mused, softly so my voice didn’t alert the monsters under our feet. “What do you think he wants?” Jackal gave a distracted grunt.
“Don’t ask me. I’m not a psychotic maniac.” He paused. “Well, not as much of a psychotic maniac. Okay, there’s the Foggy Bottom metro entrance… Where the hell is the tunnel?” He glanced down at the street and sighed. “Maybe he’s searching for the cure to Rabidism, too,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Oh, but wait, you don’t care about that, do you?”
A large group of rabids slid from between two buildings, directly below Jackal. He ignored both them and me as he studied the map. For a moment, I had the murderous thought of shoving him over the edge, letting him fall into the group of rabids, seeing if he could survive. The monster within approved of this plan, urging me to step forward, to attack when he wasn’t looking. Yes, it whispered. Do it. Jackal would, and he will someday. As soon as he doesn’t need you anymore, he’ll hit you from behind without a second thought.
But that would make me just like him, wouldn’t it?
The opportunity passed before I had a chance to decide. The rabid pack moved away, and the moment was lost. I watched them skulk across the street, hissing and snarling… and then vanish beneath a rubble pile.
I blinked. “Hey,” I said, and Jackal lowered the map, watching as I walked to the edge of the roof and crouched down. “I think I found it.”
We dropped carefully into the street, glancing around for rabids lurking behind cars or around buildings. Warily, we crossed the road and examined the spot where the pack had disappeared. The building next door had partially fallen, and the ground was strewn with broken glass, steel and cement. But beneath a collapsed overhang, a tiny, nearly invisible hole snaked down into the darkness.
Jackal grinned at me, hard and challenging. “Ladies first.”
I bristled. The tunnel entrance sat quietly, like the open gullet of something huge and evil, waiting to swallow me whole. I crouched down and peered inside. Darkness greeted me, thick and eternal, difficult to pierce even with my vampiric night vision. Cold, dry air wafted from the crack, smelling of dust and rot and decay.
“What’s the matter?” Jackal’s smug voice echoed behind me. “Scared? Need your big vampire brother to go down first?”
“Shut up.” Scowling, I reached back and drew my sword, sending a faint metallic rasp into the darkness. If something came leaping at me out of the black, I wanted to be prepared. Holding the hilt backward so that the flat of the blade pressed against my arm, I crouched down, rabid style, and slid into the hole.
My fingers touched rock and cold metal and, when I straightened, I found myself at the top of a long flight of stairs leading down into the unknown. The stairs, partially buried under earth and stone, were metallic, uneven and had a strange rippling effect to them, as if they hadn’t been firmly grounded. If you looked at them a certain way, you could almost imagine they had once moved.
Jackal slid in behind me, feetfirst, dropping to the stairs with a grunt. “All right,” he muttered as he straightened. Unlike me, he had to bend over slightly to avoid scraping his head on the ceiling. Being small did have its advantages sometimes.
“Why?”
“Because, in some small, subconscious way, Kanin is calling for us.”
A couple hours later, we were no closer to finding the subway entrance than when we first started.
“Hmm.” Jackal stopped at the edge of a roof, the open map in both hands, turning it this way and that. “Well, damn. There’s supposed to be an entrance to the subway somewhere on this street, but how the hell are you supposed to read a map if there are no damn signs?”
I let him fiddle with the map in silence and watched the pale forms of the rabids slipping through the shadows below. “Why would Sarren be looking for this laboratory?” I mused, softly so my voice didn’t alert the monsters under our feet. “What do you think he wants?” Jackal gave a distracted grunt.
“Don’t ask me. I’m not a psychotic maniac.” He paused. “Well, not as much of a psychotic maniac. Okay, there’s the Foggy Bottom metro entrance… Where the hell is the tunnel?” He glanced down at the street and sighed. “Maybe he’s searching for the cure to Rabidism, too,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Oh, but wait, you don’t care about that, do you?”
A large group of rabids slid from between two buildings, directly below Jackal. He ignored both them and me as he studied the map. For a moment, I had the murderous thought of shoving him over the edge, letting him fall into the group of rabids, seeing if he could survive. The monster within approved of this plan, urging me to step forward, to attack when he wasn’t looking. Yes, it whispered. Do it. Jackal would, and he will someday. As soon as he doesn’t need you anymore, he’ll hit you from behind without a second thought.
But that would make me just like him, wouldn’t it?
The opportunity passed before I had a chance to decide. The rabid pack moved away, and the moment was lost. I watched them skulk across the street, hissing and snarling… and then vanish beneath a rubble pile.
I blinked. “Hey,” I said, and Jackal lowered the map, watching as I walked to the edge of the roof and crouched down. “I think I found it.”
We dropped carefully into the street, glancing around for rabids lurking behind cars or around buildings. Warily, we crossed the road and examined the spot where the pack had disappeared. The building next door had partially fallen, and the ground was strewn with broken glass, steel and cement. But beneath a collapsed overhang, a tiny, nearly invisible hole snaked down into the darkness.
Jackal grinned at me, hard and challenging. “Ladies first.”
I bristled. The tunnel entrance sat quietly, like the open gullet of something huge and evil, waiting to swallow me whole. I crouched down and peered inside. Darkness greeted me, thick and eternal, difficult to pierce even with my vampiric night vision. Cold, dry air wafted from the crack, smelling of dust and rot and decay.
“What’s the matter?” Jackal’s smug voice echoed behind me. “Scared? Need your big vampire brother to go down first?”
“Shut up.” Scowling, I reached back and drew my sword, sending a faint metallic rasp into the darkness. If something came leaping at me out of the black, I wanted to be prepared. Holding the hilt backward so that the flat of the blade pressed against my arm, I crouched down, rabid style, and slid into the hole.
My fingers touched rock and cold metal and, when I straightened, I found myself at the top of a long flight of stairs leading down into the unknown. The stairs, partially buried under earth and stone, were metallic, uneven and had a strange rippling effect to them, as if they hadn’t been firmly grounded. If you looked at them a certain way, you could almost imagine they had once moved.
Jackal slid in behind me, feetfirst, dropping to the stairs with a grunt. “All right,” he muttered as he straightened. Unlike me, he had to bend over slightly to avoid scraping his head on the ceiling. Being small did have its advantages sometimes.
Similar Books
