A Shade Of Vampire: A Shade Of Novak Part 23

After a few hours, we arrived at the location. Sofia and I navigated the submarine as close to the beach as possible, and stepped out into the warm night air. A tall vampire with reddish hair was already waiting on the beach. Alone. A few hundred meters away from him was a black submarine.

We approached and stopped a few feet away from him. Looking around the area casually, I couldn't spot other vampires on the beach, and the submarine moored up in front of us appeared to be the only one.

"Where are the twins?" I asked.

"Where's the immune?" he responded.

"We have her in the submarine," I said, reaching into my pocket and pus.h.i.+ng the b.u.t.ton to signal to our submarines.

"I suggest you bring her out first. Remember, Novak, your twins are worth more to you than the immune is to us."

I nodded and, taking Sofia's hand, returned toward the submarine. We walked as slowly as possible without arising suspicion.

Sofia and I disappeared through the hatch. We exchanged nervous glances. If all went to plan, in less than a minute, an army of our vampires would surface and storm their submarine.

Sure enough, Stellan yelled out into the night air. He rushed back toward his submarine. Sofia and I climbed back out through the hatch and raced after him.

I caught up with Stellan on the sand before he reached the submarine. Leaping forward and gripping his midriff, I tripped him up. He didn't try to fight me. Rather, he scrambled to his feet and ran in the opposite direction. I had almost caught up with him when he ran into the sea-toward another small submarine that had been hidden from view. He dove through the hatch and slammed it shut before I could climb in after him. Several seconds later, the submarine had submerged beneath the waves.

Confused by his behavior, I returned to the main submarine and, wading through the water, hauled myself up onto its roof and lowered myself through the hatch.

The submarine was in absolute chaos. Vampires at war with each other, las.h.i.+ng out with their claws, biting each other's necks. I caught sight of Sofia fighting a particularly vicious-looking female.

I ducked down beneath the commotion as much as I could. I had to reach Rose and Ben while most of them seemed occupied.

Keeping against the walls, I ran from chamber to chamber until I reached the lower deck. I checked all the rooms down there and stopped outside the only one which was locked. The door was made with reinforced metal.

"Stand back," I shouted through the door to whomever was inside.

I climbed to the top of the stairs and, with all the force I could muster, I smashed down against the door. The impact made a dent in it, but it still didn't open. Again, I struck the door. Now looser. The third time I struck, it swung off the hinges. I hurried inside and looked around the room.

My son lay on the floor, his eyes closed. There was no sign of Rose.

I hauled Ben's body over my shoulder, relieved to feel he was still breathing, and ran out of the room. I looked once more in every corner of the lower deck but Rose was nowhere to be seen. I rushed back up to the top level and barged through the crowds of fighting vampires until I reached the hatch.

As I climbed up, pain seared through my ankle. A vampire dug his claws into me. I shook the vampire off, kicking him in the face. I climbed out of the hatch and jumped into the water. Readjusting Ben's weight over my shoulders, I ran back to our submarine and placed Ben down on top of a blanket in the back of the vessel.

Where the h.e.l.l is Rose?

My stomach churned as I ran back toward the submarine. We had managed to overpower quite a few of the other vampires already, though many were still fighting against us. I breathed a sigh of relief on seeing no casualties on our side yet.

In the corner Aiden tied up a male vampire in line with a bunch of others we'd managed to tranquilize. I reached out for Aiden's shoulder and he spun round to face me.

"I found Ben," I said. "You need to go to the small submarine immediately. Ben is there. Bring some witches and help care for him."

"And Rose?"

"I haven't found her yet."

As Aiden rushed off, I looked around the vessel for Sofia. I spotted her in the far corner of the room, struggling beneath the weight of a large male vampire.

I gripped his neck between my arms and with one sharp motion I disjointed it. I held out my hand and pulled Sofia off the floor, her face s.h.i.+ning with sweat. "I found Ben," I said. "But Rose isn't here."

"What?"

"I searched this whole vessel. She's not here."

I began to fear the worst-that the reason Stellan had fled so quickly was that he held Rose separately from Ben just in case we attempted to pull a stunt. He probably thought that we wouldn't risk an ambush or anything that could put our precious twins' lives in danger. He thought that we would rather just hand over our immune. But just in case we tried an ambush, he kept Rose separately. Thinking now with hindsight, I was kicking myself for not having considered he might do this. He would have been a fool not to.

"But where could she be?"

"We need to find out where it is these vampires reside."

Leaving Sofia's side, I raced over to Xavier, who was just about to inject a vampire with a tranquilizer. I knocked it out of his hands and pulled the vampire away from him. She had a youthful face, possibly in her twenties when she was turned, and short blonde hair.

I outstretched my claws and positioned them over her heart while my other hand gripped her neck. "You are going to take us to your base," I hissed.

I pulled her up and dragged her into the control room. "Where do you vampires come from?"

When she remained silent, I pressed my claws against her throat. She gasped but still didn't speak.

"There are plenty of other vampires I can ask. So I suggest you speak, unless you prefer that I rip your heart out."

"All right," she croaked, gasping. I released the pressure from her neck. "We live on an island, about an hour away from here."

"What island?"

"Stellan rules over it. It's protected by a witch's spell."

"A spell? Will we be able to enter it?"

Trembling, she nodded. "Yes, because you are accompanied by us."

I pushed her into the control seat and said, "Do you know how to operate this thing?"

"Y-yes."

"Then you'll take us there. You said it takes about an hour. I'll be watching the timer. I suggest you don't mess with me."

She eyed my claws as I sat down next to her, ready to strike if I sensed even the slightest bit of disobedience from her.

I turned to Sofia.

"Are all the vampires tied down now?"

"Yes, it looks like it."

"Then instruct the others to return to their subs. They must follow this submarine closely. And you should return to our submarine and follow us there too."

Sofia nodded and rushed off. Once I was sure that everyone who was due to leave this vessel had left-leaving me with Vivienne, Xavier, and a few others to help make sure the sedated vampires remained in their docile state-I ordered the blonde vampire to start our journey.

Chapter 36: Rose.

I stared at the vampire, barely daring to believe his words.

Home.

He's taking me home.

"B-but," I stammered, "what about Stellan? Won't he tell the witch everything as soon as he wakes up?"

Caleb shook his head.

"He shouldn't wake up for some time after the blow I dealt him. But it doesn't matter even if he does. I've locked him up in one of the storage rooms in the lower deck of this submarine. He'll be weak after he wakes up and won't have the strength to smash the reinforced door down."

"What will you say when the witch asks what happened to me?"

"That's not your concern."

"But what will happen when Stellan wakes up?"

Caleb looked at me darkly. "I'll deal with him when the time comes. But you'll be gone by then."

I breathed out and sat back in my chair. Escape had been on my mind for so long, now that it was finally happening, I could barely believe it.

" I can't tell you when or how it will happen, but you have my word: I will be waiting and watching for that time."

Caleb had been waiting. All that time, he'd been waiting for the opportunity to help me escape. I guessed that he hadn't had much time to plan any of this. He'd likely figured out this whole scheme on the spot.

Strapping himself into the control seat, Caleb fiddled with b.u.t.tons and we began speeding away from the island.

"Do you even know where The Shade is?" I asked.

"No."

"Then how are we going to get there? I have no idea how to navigate there."

"Your parents aren't in The Shade."

"What?"

"They're in Stellan's island. They're storming the place, looking for you."

I gasped.

"Have they found Ben? And what about Kristal and Jake? How on earth did they find it?"

"I don't know all the details. But yes, they have Ben now. I don't know about the other two humans. Stellan struck a deal with your parents. You and your brother, in exchange for your immune."

I stared at him, my mouth agape.

"Our immune? Why would-"

"I don't know why," Caleb replied. "Annora doesn't tell me everything."

"So, Stellan was going to hand me over to my parents?"

"No. They thought they could trick your parents to hand over the immune, while in return giving them your brother only. Stellan escaped from your parents and came to take you away somewhere else in case The Shade's vampires managed to storm my island."

"Why would the witch want to keep me?"

Caleb shrugged.

"An extra bargaining chip against The Shade. Perhaps there are other things that you have over there that would be useful to us."

"Did they hand over Anna? Our immune?"

"I don't know."

I sat back in my chair, breathing deeply as I tried to absorb all this information. My heart was pounding at the thought of Anna's life being in danger. She was loved dearly by all of us. My parents had told us how she had saved Ben when he was just a baby. If it hadn't been for her, I likely would not have had a brother. What made things more worrying was that she was heavily pregnant. I prayed that my parents had managed to keep her safe. I couldn't imagine them ever handing her over.

"How long will it take to get there?" I asked anxiously.

"Perhaps another half an hour. It's not far."

My stomach was in knots for the rest of the journey. Finally, Caleb brought us to the surface. He moored up in some sort of port and then stood up. Rummaging around in the compartment above me, he pulled out a long dark cloak and a pair of sungla.s.ses. I gasped when he drew out a dagger from his belt and cut a large gash in his palm. He dripped his blood all over the cloak, rubbing it into the fabric. His palm healed quickly, so he had to cut himself several times before enough blood had soaked into the fabric.

"Now, put these on," he said, handing me the cloak and shades. "My blood will help to mask the smell of your own. And keep that hood pulled down over your face."

I did as instructed and followed him toward the hatch entrance.

"Wait here," he whispered down at me.

I watched from below as he raised his head out of the hatch and looked around.

He reached down for me. His hand enveloped mine in a strong grip as he pulled me up. He lifted me out of the hatch and placed me on the ground. I s.h.i.+vered. This place was as cold as Caleb's island. It seemed that the witch had cast the same spell over both.

Getting down himself, he stood in front of me, his muscular frame concealing me from view against the submarine. He turned around and looked down at me.

"You're going to need to stick close to me until we find your parents. Understood? Follow me like you're my shadow."