So it couldn’t be Sierra. He heaved a sigh of relief. The mere thought of his redhead being touched by Voz had almost driven him over the edge.
But what if that “key” person was Ruby or even Hal? None of this made sense. They weren’t people any longer. They were ghosts.
Just as he wasn’t a person anymore. His days of dating in high school and college, of falling in and out of love, of wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor were long gone. He’d lost his humanity in the war to end all wars. When he’d left this house, people were growing victory gardens and angry mobs were hanging effigies of the German kaiser. After completing boot camp, he’d gone on a transport ship with thousands of other guys. German subs prowled the Atlantic, sinking ships and threatening theirs.
They’d landed in France and were ordered to the front lines within days. He’d heard the horror stories about the conditions in the trenches, but nothing had prepared him for the reality. The deadly hail of shrapnel and high-explosive shells. Death also threatened from the German planes above, diving down so you could hear the wail of the propeller before dropping their bombs. Land mines littered the ground, ready to rip a soldier apart the instant it was detonated with a footstep.
He should have died then. Instead Voz had found him and dragged him away, draining Ronan’s blood and replacing it with his own. The battles had continued long after any mortal wars ended. Ronan had killed countless vampires and some humans along the way. Going to that cemetery tonight had made that memory hit home. Vampires didn’t get graves. They got even.
He was a vampire now.
Sierra had no intention of becoming a vampire. She’d been very blunt about her feelings on that issue.
She was allowed to have feelings. He wasn’t.
Ronan switched his attention back to his surroundings. The darkness reminded him of the dungeon in Voz’s castle. But he had no more time for those visceral memories. He needed to focus. The wall was brick and covered in cobwebs. He brushed them away. He’d need both hands for this.
“Stay here,” he told Sierra, setting her a few feet behind him.
He should have known she wouldn’t obey orders.
She hooked her hand in the waistband of his jeans. “Just making sure you don’t take off and leave me here.”
“I would never do that.”
“Damn right you won’t,” she said. “Because I’ve got hold of you.”
He didn’t point out that if he moved at vamp speed, he could still take off and she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
Instead he concentrated on the surface of the bricks, looking for one that might jut out or differ from the others. He quickly realized he could do this faster if he didn’t have Sierra tethered to him. Maybe the best thing to do was to see where this passageway went. So he reached around for Sierra and once again tucked her against his side.
Looking ahead, he discovered that the floor seemed smooth up to the right-angle turn. When they turned the corner, they moved toward what he assumed was the back of the house where they reached a metal spiral staircase going down.
“Can you see anything?” he asked Sierra.
He watched her squint. “Not much.”
“We’re standing in front of a staircase.” He put her hand on the metal railing.
She touched it briefly before yanking her hand away. “Someone died here!”
“What? Who?” he demanded.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell.”
He listened for fear in her voice but instead heard frustration. “Are you going to be able to … never mind.” He whisked her over his shoulder and moved down the steps at vamp speed before setting her back on her feet.
“What the hell was that?” she demanded.
“An expedient move,” he replied.
“I could have managed those stairs on my own, thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“I know. Look at this.” He pointed to something scratched onto the cement wall of the tunnel they were in before remembering she couldn’t see in the dark the way he could. “It looks like part of the map. But not all of it.”
“I can’t see anything.”
“That’s okay.”
“No it’s not.”
“Why? Are you sensing something?” he said.
“Yes, I’m sensing that I am losing patience with you.”
“That’s it? That’s all?”
“My pizza is getting cold,” she reminded him. “How long do you plan on keeping us locked up in here?”
A few feet ahead was a dead end. Ronan pushed on the wall and ended up knocking the bricks out. They tumbled onto the concrete floor.