61. Stridulation
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
STRIDULATION
Saya Claymore
“Through here?”
Away from the empty room, the bloodstained boots sound like bonding tape as I head down the white hallway towards Serun. A steel door sits on the right, with a pin code and a card reader. He dissolves into smoke, and the door opens.
Chains from the ceiling clink, drawing down on a naked man in the middle of the room.
There’s a muzzle over his face, fastened with a dozen straps.
His arm strains, his shoulders tense, and his head slumps as he rests on his knees.
Reyes’ other arm is at his side, torn off, with tubes connected to the fleshy part wrapped in bandages.
What the fuck…
Serun growls, a deep tear rumbling through the walls. He leans down, grabs Reyes by the waist, and as he pulls him up over his shoulder, shadows shatter the chains and rip the tubes from his arm.
Reyes grunts, “Brother, fancy seeing you here.”
“Imbecile,” Serun drawls. “Your wife is worried sick.”
“She is?” Reyes slurs, foamy laughter bubbling from his mouth. “That’s a first…”
I lean close to Reyes and into the half-glazed look in his eyes. “Do you know where they took my brother?”
He nods, the only movement as the rest of his body goes limp, tossed over Serun’s shoulder. “I can smell him. Go right.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“And the creature?” Serun says as we step out of the room into a hallway painted red as Penumbra slaughters everything in sight. Only seven children remain unscathed, huddled in the corner, holding each other. “Do you know what happened to the creature you fought?”
“Left, down the hallway,” Reyes says.
The creature! The monster that tried to kill my brother! It’s here!
Serun looks back at Reyes, his shadows agitated, then follows Reyes’ direction.
The next hallway we move down, clean and untouched, has no doors. On the other side of the hallway, there are stainless-steel double doors, sealed tight, with a camera tucked in the corner, watching us.
Shadows tear it apart, and as Serun’s shadows creep back towards me, Reyes says, “Through their…His scent is strong through there.”
Cole?
My heart spasms, erratic and untamed, at the thought of my brother on the other side of the room.
I bypass Serun to reach the doors first. There’s a scanner beside the doors, and after Serun swipes the card, green lines appear.
I jump and reach for the sword, eyes darting left and right as the green light burns bright red.
“That can’t be good,” Serun mutters. “Why do I bother doing it the human way?”
Reyes lets out a gurgled laugh.
Serun drops Reyes, grabs my wrist, and drags me behind him as a churning, chugging noise clanks in the ceiling, followed by a low rumble.
From above, one of the square tiles slides open, and a black blob drops to the ground, silent and lethal.
Its tail flicks from side to side, and as it lifts its head and rises, piercing red eyes watch me.
My stomach sinks, burning with acid, and I lift my arm to reach for my sword when Serun grabs me by the waist, pressing my back against his chest. His mouth is close to my ear, and he murmurs, “I need a drink, darling.”
He wants my blood. The Nightwalker Lord, who can slaughter thousands, needs it, which means he thinks this creature is a threat. Which means I don’t stand a chance, and I especially can’t use my magik around the nightwalkers I want to protect.
I expose my neck and breathe, “Not a drop more.”
As the creature rises, a broad grin on its face and insect noises coming from it, Serun drives his fangs into my neck, biting me for a moment with one long, hard suck, then spins me around.
His mouth nuzzles my ear, a quick nip, as if he thinks this is all a playful game before I stumble back, hitting the doors we were trying to enter, and catch my breath.
Serun inhales, fingers to his lips, and red returns from his clawed fingertips. “Decadent.”
The creature launches at Serun. As it runs along the side wall on all fours, my brows furrow at the sight of its chest. But before I can think, Serun raises his arm. The creature’s tail flicks up, and a choked gasp escapes me as Serun’s arm flies from his body, splattering near my feet.
What the fuck!
I reach for my sword when Serun hitches a breath, sadistically cruel. In the blink of an eye, his hand and forearm burst from the wound, appearing once more in a bloody, black splattering mess.
As the creature moves to fall back, Serun grabs its face, launching it into the ground with a resounding shudder that cracks tiles and lifts debris.
His other hand rises, and his sword materialises, driving into its chest, splitting the creature’s belly and letting the organs wash across the floor.
Black worms squirm around its intestines.
“The power of your mate’s blood,” Reyes grumbles from behind me. “Can any of you give me a hand? I doubt I can walk on my own.”
Serun saunters over, saying, “Was this pathetic creature the one who turned you over like a pancake, Reyes?”
“My wife doesn’t enjoy being bitten,” he says as Serun grabs him by the wrist and pulls him up. “I respect her wishes.”
Serun speaks in Daryun, irritated, while Reyes rolls his eyes. “You could have died because of your morals.”
“Brother.” Serun lets Reyes settle it across his shoulder. “You must remember you are a vampire lord for a reason. My struggles will never be yours.”
I stand over the creature. “It wasn’t the same monster.”
“What do you mean?”
My hands ball into clenched fists. “The creature who attacked my brother should have a scar, or something, considering I stabbed it with a stake, searing its skin with light.”
Serun looks away quickly, his ears pricking, and mine do too at the rush of footsteps coming our way. I jump back, only to slide across the slippery ground and land on my side. The mask falls away, skidding across the ground. I reach for it when Serun grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet.
Reyes leans against the door while Serun faces it. Serun’s claws rip the steel apart, moving an inch as Serun struggles to open it. Magik tingles my fingertips, and the whispers of pir avacen return, only for Serun to shoot me a warning look, as if he knows what I want to do.
“Get in, my kamai,” Serun grunts, nodding towards the sliver of a gap.
Looking back at the shadows coming around the corner, I ball my hands into fists and slide through to the other side.
I huff a breath, and when I straighten, the doors tremble shut with a resounding thud.
Serun appears beside me, shadows already spilling outwards towards the horrified white coats inside.
But while Serun moves in a blur, my focus lands on the centre of the room.
Every follicle of hair shivers towards the tank, where a creature floats in the substance.
Long, claw-like fingers, translucent in design, with red veins spider-webbing across its entire body. Above is Cole’s feeder number: 009.
My body moves mechanically—whether by will or desperation, I don’t know—and I make my way towards it. Someone in a white coat races towards me, as if to stop me, but ribbons sprout from the tiles, wrapping around his body and twisting. Pieces of him fall apart like butter left out on a warm day.
Around me, others fall. Shadows and white ribbons rip them to shreds, and their agonised cries of desperation burn until only Serun’s voice remains. “Feast, brother.”
Stepping over coloured wires, I stand before the tank.
My hand presses against it as pain splices through my temple.
I stand in a red room, and Serun floats in the tank.
Then it flashes back to this room I am in now.
Wires connect to Cole’s skin, and he floats in the substance.
“Cole,” I whisper in a strained voice. “What have they done to you?”
Raw muscle and veins are visible through his almost translucent skin, woven throughout his body and fed by whatever the fuck is connected to him.
“That creature must have infected him, and instead of curing him, the white coats saw him as a weapon.” Serun rests his hand on my shoulder and squeezes tight. “Again, seeing life as something to abuse and take…”
Turning to Serun, I say, “We need to get him out of here! We will take him with us and… teach him how to be normal again. It will take time, and we will have to keep him isolated, but we can’t—”
“Saya,” Serun says sharply. “If we disconnect him, he will die. We have to take the tank with us somehow.”
“What…” I follow the wires attached to Cole’s skin. It leads out of the tank, connecting to the machine beside him. Green lines spike with every heartbeat, a label above reading “stable connection.” “What do you mean?”
Reyes groans. From the corner of my eye, he rises, blood soaking his naked body. “They will keep him alive to experiment on him. It’s what they do—what they are known for. It is best to put him out of his misery.”
“Reyes,” Serun warns.
My ears bend back as I shout, “You are lying! We can save him. We just need to keep him hooked up to—”
“I will do it.” Serun cradles my cheeks, forcing me to focus on him.
“You and Reyes leave, and I will fight my way out of here with all my might to protect our family. I will do it all, only if you leave and do not become a martyr.” His forehead rests against mine.
“Not again,” he says, his voice struggling to break above a panicked whisper.
A whimpered cry chokes out.
“If you haven’t died and haven’t heard from me in forty-eight hours, call a meeting,” Serun says, but as he looks at me, his words are for his brother. “Make Maeve Lord of the Undercity and fortify our barriers.”
“Serun…”
“Brother!” Reyes snaps. “You are willing to risk all our lives over this!”
His thumbs brush the tears beneath my eyes. “I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.”
Behind him, the door trembles, shuddering on impact, as if people on the other side are trying to force their way in. “Go, my kamai. I will follow with your brother, even if I have to take my last undead breath. He will be with you again.”
I face my brother, and my heart sinks.