Adrien rose to his feet, then extended his hand to her. She took it, and because of his increased Ancestral strength, when he pulled she flew upward a couple of feet then flopped into him.
He laughed, gave her a quick squeeze. “Sorry ’bout that. Still learning.”
Smiling as she slid down his body, she almost kissed him, but stopped herself. What was she thinking? That she’d have a long-term relationship with a vampire, with someone no doubt slated for death by Daniel once he got his hands on the weapon? She had to start being sensible where Adrien was concerned.
He led her to the tunnel on the right, but given her sense of where they were headed she suggested they use altered flight and communicate telepathically.
“I’m all for shaving time off this mission. I’ll just pause at each branch and you can tell me which way to go.”
“Done.” How simple this all seemed.
She turned into him and he slid his arm around her waist. But instead of pulling her against him, chest to chest, he held her to his side so that she was facing forward.
Her feet dangled as he started the altered flight.
Once he started to fly, the miles dissipated quickly. At each juncture, she made her decisions quickly because she knew the route as though it had been imprinted on her DNA. Of course, it was just the chains, and the power she siphoned from Adrien, but she never wavered as she communicated each shift in course telepathically.
We’re getting close. I can feel it now.
The tunnel had narrowed badly and finally reached what looked like a dead end, a wall of jagged rock. Adrien brought them to a complete halt, a jarring movement that rocked her against him a couple of times. She stared at the wall that wasn’t a wall, sensing that something critical lay beyond.
“I’ve seen this before,” he said. “An Ancestral has infused this wall of rock with a nearly impenetrable disguise. No wonder this has never been found before.”
“You mean a disguise like the ones used to prevent humans from finding your world?”
He nodded, putting his hand on the wall. “Yes, feel the vibration. Can you sense the power?”
She reached out and even before her fingers connected with the stone, she felt the disguising field. “Someone with great power created this.”
He moved his hand over the stone. “An Ancestral. I can almost get a reading on who the vampire was, but not quite.” He drew his hand back. “I suppose it really doesn’t matter. Just tell me, is this the place?”
“Yes,” Lily said “Absolutely.”
And yet, he hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.”
But she chuckled softly. “Whatever is beyond these walls can’t be worse than what we just left behind, can it?” She shuddered slightly at the memory of so much blood.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe. You sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. Please take us through.”
He nodded and swallowed hard. “Okay. Let’s see what we’ve got on the other side of this wall.”
The altered flight took only a split second, as Adrien took her through the dense rock, setting her on her feet in yet another vast internal cavern.
What she saw, however, forced her to grow very still. “Oh, my God.”
“Shit,” Adrien said, his voice a mere whisper.
Scattered around what looked like an old-fashioned laboratory were long-decayed corpses, mere skeletons now, all crumpled piles of bones still covered in clothing, often with fingers pressed to skulls as though the people here had died in exactly the position they fell, all in terrible pain, holding their heads.
The air, however, was fresh, as most of the caves she’d been in were.
She glanced around. “How many do you think there are?” She moved slightly to the right, to look down another row of tables and cupboards. Sure enough, several more people lay curled up, hands to heads.
Adrien took hold of her hand and drew her close. “Looks like about fifty. At least.”
“Do you think this was the result of the weapon we’re looking for?”
“Maybe. Hell, by the looks of it, probably. I still can’t believe something like this exists.”
At that moment her revisiting power came alive, but with it a terrible sense of foreboding. For an instant she debated pulling back. She let go of Adrien’s hand, but turned into him and reached for him.
Because he no doubt sensed her fear, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I’ve got you. Another vision?”
She inclined her head. “This is gonna be bad.”
As the revisiting vision came alive, time moved, a deep funneling motion accompanied by shifting waves that began to swirl around the edges of the cavern, creating an almost tornado-like impression at both sides of her vision.
A past view of the current environment emerged, as individuals swarmed through the facility, many running as though something was happening. Each scurried, gathering up papers, turning off equipment. All wore crisp white lab coats. Very 1950s.
When a sound began to pulse within the room, there was a moment when everyone paused to look around, eyes wide. The sound continued to release in a steady rhythm.
She felt the sudden horror of the group.
“This shouldn’t be happening?” someone called out. “Who fired up the weapon?”
Then, “Run!”
At the far end, several of the scientists headed into the tunnel, which was located opposite where she and Adrien now stood. They were running and calling back for others to leave as well.
A few escaped, but the pulsing sound grew louder and suddenly so shrill that even Lily’s ears began to hurt. Amplified by the shared chains, her hearing sharpened, so that as the sound escalated into higher and higher frequencies, she began to tremble.
Suddenly everyone dropped to the floor, holding their hands over their ears and screaming, blood pouring from mouths, nostrils, and ears.
Just as suddenly, the screaming stopped.
And the vision ended.
Lily looked down, and she knew the people she’d seen were the present-day skeletons. The places where they’d died were the same, hands to skulls, the blood having long since dried up and disintegrated.
Suddenly she felt the presence of others in the space and gripped Adrien harder.
Three vampires arrived at the mouth of the opposing tunnel, Daniel and two others, equally tall and powerful in build, like Adrien.
Daniel wore another fine suit but with a scarlet tie this time. His hair, slicked back and oiled, as well as his goatee, looked exactly the same as the previous vision. Only this wasn’t a vision.