Christian passed the old man and glanced at him before finally reaching me and skidding to a stop.
“Now which way?” I asked.
He glared at my rock, and I could hear the profanities firing off in his head. But all he said was, “This way.”
I ran at normal speed as we cleared from the crowd and descended a spiral staircase. My blood ran cold at the idea of Vampires tearing me apart, limb from limb.
Christian smashed in a door without wasting time to open it. He sprinted down a dark hall that traveled in a continual curve to the right.
My lungs were on fire, and even after flashing ahead of him, I needed to stop and breathe. “I can’t keep going.”
He raked his fingers through his hair from back to front. “I can’t fight off all of them. Maybe three, but not five.”
“Pussy.”
His eyes narrowed. “And what are you going to do? Throw a rock? I can’t believe you fell for a hustler.”
“Have a little faith. Maybe there’s something to it.”
“I bet he has a penthouse suite somewhere in here. You’re so gullible.”
Vampires appeared, coming at us like a plague of demons. I shoved the stone at Christian since he was stronger. “Throw it!”
He swung his arm back like a baseball pitcher and hurled it at them. It rolled across the floor before coming to a stop.
“Brilliant,” he said tersely.
The men didn’t break stride, but just as soon as they reached the stone, it exploded.
Christian and I fell to the floor as the air whistled around us, pinging off the walls.
When I sat up, all five of the Vampires were immobile on the floor. There was nothing left of the rock but a pile of pebbles and a small plume of smoke.
I spied a tiny spike of wood on the ground next to me and pinched it between two fingers. It was larger than a toothpick and looked like the same wood used for impalement stakes. The size of the wood didn’t matter much, but people preferred larger pieces. If you’re going to get close to a Vampire, you don’t want your stick snapping in two as soon as it hits their jacket.
I stood up, and that was when I saw those wooden splinters all over the place, some of them sticking out of the men’s heads, arms, and backs.
Next to me, Christian was lying facedown. I nudged him with my foot. “It’s over. Get up.”
My eyes traveled down his body until they stopped at a cluster of sticks in his ass. I laughed and knelt down, giving his backside a nice little pat with my hand. “I always knew I was a pain in your ass.” One at a time, I plucked them free.
Christian rolled over to all fours and stood up. While stroking his beard, he studied the fallen men. “Okay. I was wrong, you were right. Let’s not speak of this again.”
“Maybe we should go back and buy something else. I could use a pet rock.”
“I’m sorry to inform you that we’re running for our lives and don’t have time to do any Christmas shopping.”
“I can make time,” I quipped, holding a wooden stick between my fingers. “Is this really all it takes?”
“Some wood works better than others. The smaller ones are useless unless there are a lot of them or they go deep. Good luck if they can get someone to retrieve those sticks from inside their body.”
There was a gruesome thought.
A man strode toward us from up ahead, followed by another. He looked down at the fallen Vampires and then swung his gaze up, fists clenched.
When he bared his fangs, I damn near tripped over my own feet as I spun around and took off.
Christian jogged past me. “You ever watch those animal kingdom shows about the lions chasing prey?”
I kept running, my heart pounding against my chest like a drum.
“We’re the gazelle,” he said, huffing as we weaved around people in a crowded tunnel. “Sometimes predators don’t need a reason. They just want to chase.”
“So this is for fun?” I glanced over my shoulder at the two men not far behind. “Why don’t we just kick some ass?”
“Rule number one: Always know when you’re outnumbered.”
I glanced over my shoulder again. “But there are only two.”
“Not down here, lass. They multiply like chicken pox.”
When we reached the rickety bridge, I grabbed the ropes and scuttled across the planks.
“Faster,” he shouted from behind.
I hopped over a hole. Faster, my ass.
Halfway across, I slowed down at the sight of three men guarding the other side. Maybe they were waiting to cross, but their black eyes and hair made me turn around. The two men behind us were blocking the other end of the bridge, and one of them made a slicing motion with his hand across his neck. He looked to his buddy on the other side and gave him a curt nod.
“Hurry up!” Christian snarled.
I gave him a grievous stare. “I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”
He looked both ways, and the gravity of our situation sank in. In a quiet voice, he asked, “Do you trust me?”
I frowned when he took my hand. Christian gestured toward the water below, and I vehemently shook my head. “I can’t.”
“We have no choice.”
“I’m not a good swimmer.”
A smile touched his lips. “It’s not as if you’ll drown.”
I tried to pull my hand away, but his grip shackled me to him. “I played in the kiddie pool as a child, Christian. I can’t swim for real.”
He peered at the river below. “I was never a fan of heights, but sometimes you have to tell your fears to piss off. Hold my hand, Raven. I won’t let you go.”
“Do you promise?”
He lifted my chin with the crook of his finger. “My word is my bond.”
The bridge rocked when the Vampires descended upon us from both sides.
“Turn around,” he instructed. “Put your back to the rope.”
I gripped his hand tightly when I realized we were about to flip ourselves backward over a suspension bridge. “I can’t—”
Before I finished the sentence, he leaned back and took me with him. The world turned upside down as we plummeted toward the river below.
With my heart in my throat, I tightened my grip on his hand, the rush of wind blowing my hair in front of my face.
Our feet hit the water with an explosion of sound, quickly followed by the muted roar of the river. In seconds, my entire body was encapsulated in ice water. The world of air and sky vanished, and the depths were infinite, black, and cold.
Still holding Christian’s hand, I opened my eyes. His hair floated angelically around his head, and his features were softer. A few bubbles came out of his nose as he guided my hand to his belt. When I latched on, he turned around and swam.
We remained underwater, and I tried kicking my feet to propel us even faster. I didn’t know if those men were following, and I also didn’t know what kind of Breed lived on the banks of an underground river.
The light dimmed as we distanced ourselves from the bridge. When my lungs began to hurt, I released small breaths to relieve the pressure, but it only worsened. Finally, the need to breathe gripped me like nothing else. I let go of him and panicked.
Christian appeared and cradled my head in his hands. Seconds away from gulping in air, I signaled him with my eyes that I couldn’t go on.
He suddenly put his mouth on mine, and my lungs filled with sweet oxygen.
I stared at him in disbelief as the water held us in suspension. He drew back and nodded as if to ask if I was okay. I nodded back.
Christian turned, and I gripped his belt as he swam hard, never tiring or slowing down. Determined to overcome my fear, I let go with one arm and mirrored his moves. Maybe an immortal couldn’t die from drowning, but I was certain I’d fall unconscious, and then I’d be nothing but dead weight.
Christian swam upward, and when I hit the surface, I gasped for air. I accidentally inhaled water and went into a coughing fit. His hand came about my waist, and we treaded water. Maybe I was going into hypothermia, because I wasn’t as cold as when we’d first jumped in.
I held onto his neck and looked around at the tunnel. It had a cavernous look, minus the high ceilings. “Please tell me this isn’t the sewer.”
When we reached shore, he pushed me out of the water. I rolled onto my back, heavy with exhaustion. Every breath felt like fire in my lungs, and Cristo’s light slithered its way through my body like a parasite.
“Are they following us?” I asked between coughs.
“No,” he said, still in the water. “They probably didn’t want to get their hair wet.”
“How did you do that trick with your breath?”
He climbed up next to me, his wet hair dripping down his face. “A Vampire can do a great many things.” He looked over his shoulder. “We’re safe now.”
I sat up and squeezed out the ends of my wet hair. “Do you think those men we took out were their friends? They looked like they were part of some gothic Vampire club. Only black-haired douchebags need apply.”
He chuckled softly and stood up. “Perhaps you should have applied.”
I took his hand, a little unsteady on my feet. “You’re not my friend anymore.”
“I’ll remember that next time you’re hanging on to my crotch for dear life. Let’s get out of here before they change their minds.”
I dragged my feet, one of my socks missing and the other flopping around. I reached down and tossed it into the water. “I always thought underground rivers were something in the movies.”