I grabbed Derek’s hand and we followed Zinnia and Gavin through the woods. Gavin ended up jumping onto Derek’s back and Zinnia onto mine, since even with their weights on our backs, we could still run ten times faster than either of them on their human legs.
When we arrived outside the entrance to the Black Heights, Gavin and Zinnia slid off of us and pushed open the creaking door. The smell of damp and decay flooded over us. I remembered what it was like to walk through the Cells all those days ago, the conditions our people were living in. But now, as I looked around, I realized it had become many times worse.
“There are just so many humans and vampires locked up here, we need your help urgently. Many are sick and even more are on the verge of death from lack of water and food,” Gavin said.
Derek reached up toward a high shelf near the entrance and pulled down about two dozen keys. He handed a set to me and said, “Most of the locks take the same key. You’ll have to experiment until you find the right one. We need to get them out of this hellhole and into the fresh air outside. Gavin and Zinnia—Sofia and I will work on releasing everyone from the Cells, but you’re in charge of herding them all outside and organizing them.”
My hands shook as I began opening the locks. Shouts and cries of joy met my ears when they saw what I was doing. They came rushing out and many children latched onto me and hugged me. But I couldn’t stay long with any of them and instead directed them toward Zinnia and Gavin, for Derek and I still had a long night ahead of us.
There were some humans who were no longer able to walk, or who had passed out, and occasionally some dead. Derek and I carried out all the survivors and placed them on the soft grass outside the door of the mountain, beneath the clear night’s sky.
After several hours, we’d managed to clear out all the humans. Next were the vampires. Many of them were in just as bad a state as the humans, lying on the floor with injuries and deprived of blood for God knows how long. We assembled them a few meters away from the humans. Those who were still in a reasonably healthy state were instructed to fetch emergency supplies—animal blood for the vampires, water and bread for the humans.
Once we were certain there was nobody left behind in the dungeons, Derek and I exited the mountain range and looked around the clearing, surveying the countless people lying on the ground and the remaining milling about offering assistance.
Just as we were about to enter the crowds to begin helping ourselves, loud barks echoed down from the rocks above. Thirty black vampire mutts dashed down from the boulders. Their red eyes glinting and sharp fangs bared, it was clear what these dogs were. Angry. Hungry. Racing toward warm human blood.
“Derek!” I gasped.
But he had already noticed. He took off running full speed toward the spot they were descending to. I followed him, baring my claws.
Just as the dogs were landing on the ground, Derek stretched out his palms and fire blazed from them, engulfing the dogs with flames. They barked and whimpered in shock and pain. Dozens fell to the grass, dead. But three had used the smoky haze as an opportunity to take a detour around us. They had climbed all the way to a different side of the mountain, about twenty feet away from us, and were about to rush toward the humans from that angle.
“No!” I screamed. I flew forward and cut deep gashes into two of the dogs’ necks with my claws, slicing through their arteries. But one managed to escape me. I heard screams and looked around wildly to see it about to leap into the helpless crowd.
In a whirl of black clashing with black, Shadow emerged from the crowd. He knocked the dog to the ground and ripped into its neck, Eli racing close behind him. Shadow didn’t let go of the dog until he’d completely torn its throat out. Then he dragged the body away from the humans, leaving a bloody trail on the grass behind him, and dropped it directly on top of my feet.
“Thank you, boy,” I said, scratching his ear as I pulled my feet out from beneath the corpse. I wiped the blood from my hands on the grass and walked over to Derek.
“Good job,” he said, a hint of amusement creeping over his face. “I still haven’t gotten used to you being a vampire.”
“Well, start getting used to it.” The idea of finding a cure for myself still seemed far off.
We walked back toward the humans and spotted Ibrahim emerging from the woods, several witches by his side. They dispersed into the crowd and started attending to the sick. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Derek looked at them with gratitude. We walked over to Ibrahim and Derek asked, “Why are you doing this? What has helping us got to do with your council’s orders?”
“Not a lot, I’m afraid,” Ibrahim sighed. “But not all of us agree with the Ageless and the council’s way of doing things any more. And besides, we’re following all their major orders. They’re not here to see us helping the weak and elderly, so why not use our skills to do something good for a change?”
Derek seemed speechless. “So you’re going against your council’s orders by offering medical assistance?”
“Let’s just say that it wasn’t specified in the job description.”
“So you’re not all as heartless as I thought.”
“I’m not completely devoid of self-interest. I… I’m not sure that Corrine would ever forgive me if I didn’t do all within my power to help you in this hour of need… and I very much seek her approval of me.” Ibrahim blushed slightly.
“Well”—Derek cleared his throat—“whatever your motivation, thank you for your assistance.”
“I’m sure you’d agree it’s the least we can do,” Ibrahim replied.
“But now, tell me what’s the deal. You’ve helped wipe out the gates to Cruor and Aviary. The Elders and Hawks are no longer in this realm.” Derek looked him dead in the eye. “I’ve been kept in the dark long enough. What was the witch talking about? What concession? And what does your kind have in store for us next?”
Ibrahim put an arm around Derek’s shoulder and started speaking in a quieter tone of voice. “See, that’s the thing, Derek,” he said. “We haven’t ruined all the gates yet.”
My gut clenched.
“What? Oh, no. You’re saying that the Elders and Hawks have more than three gates each?”
“No,” Ibrahim said. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that one of the six gates hasn’t been obliterated yet. A gate still exists in Headquarters.”