~ Trans Rail was a hidden breakthrough.
Spanning across the Atlantic Ocean, it connected the continents via an underwater rail line. Only the vampires and their human families knew about it. Just as they were the only ones who knew about the sub-level rail lines that ran beneath the ordinary rails in the city.
Daniel, Helick, Penny, Vescovi, and Zigor, along with the team they brought, had four compartments to themselves. One held their supplies, and the other three were sleeping quarters. Though they could have their food delivered to them, some of the men ate with the other passengers on board.
Zigor had his nose almost pressed to the glass window, staring at the sea life on the other side. He saw sea animals he never knew existed. Some were as curious about the train as he was about them. The train
~Martha was out of her depths. She was used to wooden bowls and candles. Not class beakers and bunsen burners. Since being in the lab, she broke two of the former, along with a test tube, and she almost burned the place down with the latter. Philippe, though he would have to replace everything she broke, burned, or cracked, amused himself at her expense. He tried to hide it, but she saw the smile in his eyes even when he tried to look stern. Martha did not like feeling out of place. It took her a long time to feel as if she belonged among the others. All of them were fighters, and Martha couldn’t throw a fist straight. She was not good in a fight, and they were in the middle of a war. One they were now forced to fight on two fronts. She wanted to feel as if she was contributing to their efforts. The others
~Another day, another murder. And this time, there was nothing Anabella could do to cover it up. Walking the streets in her nightgown, blood covered the woman from head to toe. Like a good neighbor, someone called the police, and they took the woman in. She had no wounds to explain the blood. She refused to answer questions, so the next logical thing to do was search her place of residence. What they found there was gruesome. Anabella changed Carmela Ungaro years ago. Carmela was a budding artist peddling her wares in the art district when Anabella found her. Until ten years ago, she lived with Anabella before marrying Lennie Marston—a human. Anabella had her trepidations about the union, but she was not one to impose her views on others. Carmela knew her human family would die one day, but until that day came, she had her husband and their adopte
~ This was not what Ava expected to see. All around her, there was a war. Bodies littered the ground. A blackened spread of flesh and scorched earth. In the sky above the battlefield, shadows fought. A whirlwind of dark mist sparks of light flashing in random places, signaling death. On the ground, Ava saw Kunz. She stopped her advance, looking at the one man she feared. Fighting him were two werewolves. They were the only ones alive. With a wave of his hand, Kunz sent Marx flying. He landed a distance away in the litter of bodies strewn around. While Marx recovered, Penny was on Kunz, teeth, and claws. No amount of black magic armed her. The sounds she made… Ava felt a chill run down her spine. Ava raced over to Marx. He seemed surprised to see her. “You’re dead,” he said. “I saw it.”
~Anabella was in a dark place. Benji was in a private health care facility that would provide him with the care he needed. Care that was not available in regular hospitals. He was going to make a full recovery. As soon as he was awake, Anabella instructed Hanna to—smooth things over. A boy his age did not need to have such memories. In his room in the Ungaro’s private ward, they isolated Benji from news about his parents. If anyone slipped even the barest of details around him—the backlash would be grim. Anabella was going back on her long-held preference to keep the humans in her family at arm’s length. Carmela’s circumstances remained the same. She was still behind bars. According to human laws, she was guilty beyond any doubt. There were calls for the death penalty. Through it all, Carmela said nothing to defend herself. She refused to speak to
~Daniel and the others stood facing what looked like a massive dune. It stretched in either direction as far as their eyes could see. It was hundreds of feet tall, with a single path leading through to the valley on the opposite side. Nothing about it looked naturally made. Out in the desert, the sun was unforgiving. Gusty winds whipped the fine shards of sand against them. They wore scarves around their faces, goggles to protect their eyes. Every inch of them covered to stay safe from the elements. The downside to wearing protective clothing was feeling like a potato in aluminum foil roasting over an open grill. Through the soles of his shoes, Daniel could feel the heat from the desert floor. With him were Zigor, Helick, Vescovi, Penny, and five other men. To get to here, they trekked five miles across the Zanu Desert through two sand storms. The
~The hunt was on for the infected vampires from the train. So far, they found one of them dead. Reinforcements from the Mountain were now in the city. Marx brought Shea, Garrick, and Ichiro along with him. Anabella was sitting in her chair in the control room at Anax, her firm. They offered security solutions for businesses and private homeowners and individuals looking for bodyguards and security details. Celebrities, Heiresses, Diplomats—Anax, was the firm of choice. Along with the services listed, there were others. Like surveillance for the entire city of Pentorium. It was the largest city on the continent, comprising five different sectors. Each ran by one of the five heads of the vampires. “One target spotted on the corner of Glendevon and Twenty-third Street,” one of Anabella’s operators said over her headset.
~Sven checked the wound on his side. The gash was deep, but it was healing. He stood in a stone tunnel cut off from the outside world. One of his men had tripped another booby trap. It triggered a cave-in that saw the stone roof above them buckling. On the other side of the rubble that had him trapped, there was one survivor. His injuries were grave, and Sven could feel it. The man had minutes to live. None of Salvay’s men made it out alive. As it stood, Sven had lost more than half of his pack. To the abomination he created at the manor. Then to the attack on the prison and the fight at the portal. To the trip here, he lost six—Sven looked at his arm as another sign disappeared—that made seven men lost to this hell-bound trip. On their journey to the temple, Sven lost another three. He’d sent them into hiding to preserve his ranks. He had to figure tha
~Around them, the tunnel shook. Sven cursed. It would seem that number two was the winner. The wall the symbol was on cracked open, musty air blowing back into Sven’s face. He coughed, using his hand to fan the dust aside. Before him, the wall shifted, opening up to a chamber. There were cobwebs and tree roots everywhere. The roots were strange since there were no trees in the Zanu Desert. Coming here, Sven saw nothing but sand for miles. Salvay was not as cautious. He moved to step past Sven into the chamber. Salvay’s death was inevitable, but it was not yet due. Sven wanted to make sure he no longer needed the man before he ended him himself. “We walked through hell to get here,” Sven said, stopping Salvay. “What makes you think that hell is over?” The chamber was only a few meters wide. Cobwe