Page 112 of Love Bleeds
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Crimson's sire was still alive, he could sense it. He'd been wounded enough for Crimson to escape during the blast, but he wasn't dead yet. Crimson was sure he could have felt their bond break otherwise.
But no, Nicolai was alive, and as long as he was, he would keep coming after Crimson. And after Luke.
Crimson raced through the tunnel. He wasn't the only one. Other vampires were making their escape, a lot of them with burn marks or scorched clothing. Many of them coughing. He was sure some of them would turn hostile toward him once they'd had a minute to gather their bearings, but in the current chaos, everyone had only one priority: survival.
The door to the outside world at the end of the tunnel stood wide open. It was only when Crimson made his way through that he realized this wasn't the outside world at all. They were still underground. In the sewers. Of course. Vampires wouldn't build an escape route that led into sunlight.
Luke's grip around his neck loosened, the glow fading from around his skin.
Crimson took a moment to study him. His eyes were closed and his skin had grown alarmingly pale. He looked almost like that time when Nicolai had tried to turn him. "Luke?" he tried, but no answer came.
"Give him to me." The voice startled Crimson. When he looked up, it belonged to Alice--no, Aldrich, but he'd disguised himself again, this time as a brunette lady. Why, though? Had he come here just to wait for them? There was no time to wonder, or even to ask. "The others are taking care of the other exit," Aldrich said, as if he could sense that Crimson needed at explanation anyway. He was holding a long, sharp knife in his hand, obviously prepared for battle.
"Nicolai's not dead," Crimson said, glancing back the way he'd come. "But he might be wounded. He must be." The blast had gone right over them. Crimson hadn't felt the heat on his skin, but the explosion had been so intense he'd imagined that he could, anyway.
"That's why I'm telling you to leave Luke with me."
Crimson hesitated, looking at Luke again. He'd exhausted himself, saving them both, and Crimson didn't know if he was going to be okay. He couldn't just leave him unless he knew that.
"We don't have time to stand here arguing," Aldrich pointed out--it was so weird to think of him as Aldrich while he looked like a woman.
As if to underline his point, another vampire came rushing out of the tunnel. His clothes were singed and he paid them no mind as he sprinted past, but sooner or later, somebody would.
"I don't even know where Nicolai is," Crimson said. "Even if I want to go after him. "
"Do you really not? Close your eyes and focus, newbie. I promise you, your sire is searching for you right now, and that connection goes both ways." Aldrich dropped the long knife to the floor and shoved it with his foot until it slid over to Crimson. Then, he stepped up to Crimson and took Luke out of his arms. Crimson fought the urge to protest, to hold on. Aldrich was right. Nicolai had to be looking for him, even now.
His sire couldn't find him with Luke.
"And there's something in my pocket that'll be helpful too. Come on, get it. I don't mind."
"You want me to search your pockets?"
"It's in my right pocket. Don't be shy."
Crimson was tempted to ask why Aldrich hadn't just laid it on the floor along with the knife, but there was no time for long conversations. Nicolai could catch up to them any minute, so Crimson picked the knife up from the floor and then he stuck his free hand into Aldrich's right jeans pocket. It was a tight fit, which Crimson tried not to think about. His fingers closed around something with a sharp edge. He pulled it out carefully. It was a dart.
"Laced in animal blood," Aldrich said. "Those suckers really hurt if you can get them into someone."
Crimson nodded, gripping the dart tightly. "Thank you."
"Go do what you have to do." He paused. "I never had the guts to challenge my own sire, but I respect that you do."
"Just get Luke home."
"Don't worry," Aldrich said. "No one's dying on my watch. No one on my side, anyway," he added with a grin, and then he turned to leave, Luke still in his grasp.
Crimson only wished he felt as confident as Aldrich sounded, but there was no more time to lose on his worries. Just as Aldrich had instructed, he closed his eyes and focused. There was something there in the back of his mind, as faint as a wisp of white smoke, yet somehow tangible at the same time.
His connection to his sire?
Where was his sire?
It wasn't like a map popped up before Crimson's inner eye, there were no blue GPS dots that told him where he was in relation to his sire, no annoying voice telling him to turn left at the next junction, but still... as Crimson opened his eyes again, he got the feeling that he knew where to go.
Nicolai was close. Somewhere in the sewers. To his right.
