A Trail of Echoes
Page 26

I was about to go to River when something outside caught my eye. Bright blue lights. Flashing beneath the surface of the water. Grabbing a pair of goggles from one of the cabinets, I slid out through the hole in the glass and stood at the edge of the submarine. Staring down to the dark waters, I tried to make out what was causing the light. But the moonlight was reflecting too much over the surface.
Lowering myself into the sea, I put on the goggles and dipped down. Beneath the surface I looked toward the direction of where the light seemed to be coming from, and almost swallowed a mouthful of water in shock.
Perhaps a hundred merfolk darted in all directions as blue light shot toward them. Five black submarines were surrounded by dozens of divers in black suits, all armed with some kind of mini torpedo.
River and I needed to get far, far away from here.
I was about to haul myself back onto the submarine when a diver came into view about twenty feet beneath me. He was staring up at me, his head cocked to one side.
Hurrying out of the water and back into the control room, I just prayed that in the few seconds that diver saw me, he had not been able to detect that I was a vampire. I hoped he’d assume I was just a curious onlooker who happened to be passing this way.
I urged the vessel forward as fast as I could in the opposite direction.
“Ben?” River called. “What’s going on? Can I come out?”
“Just… stay where you are for now,” I replied.
The strong sea wind entered the control room as the sub sped faster and faster. I breathed in a scent that chilled me.
Human blood. Warm human blood. It was close. Too close.
I urged the vessel forward, but it was already going at maximum speed.
I pulled myself through the hole in the screen and looked round, trying to trace the source of the blood. Then I caught sight of two submarines above the surface, chasing after us.
No.
“Ben? What’s going on?” River’s voice again.
I didn’t answer her.
If those hunters catch up with us, this is the end of our journey. The end of us.
Navigating the submarine, I had been so focused on the two vessels behind me that I only noticed the one in front when its smooth surface emerged from the waves. It was a much larger submarine than ours and was positioned deliberately to block our path. I swerved to the right to avoid it, but the two submarines behind me were fast closing in. As all three worked together to trap us, it became clear to me that it was only a matter of time.
We had two options. Continue to try to skirt away from them in this vessel, the vessel that was much more outdated and slower than their own, or dive into the water.
My guess was that we would survive longer beneath the water than in such a big, clunky open target. Keeping the submarine speeding on autopilot, I left the control room and raced to River’s bedroom. As I opened the door, she looked at me in panic, a line of sweat on her brow.
“What is happening?” she gasped.
I just grabbed her and pulled her toward the ladder. Climbing up, I opened the hatch and raised my head slowly.
A shower of bullets fired at me the second my head came into view. I ducked just in time to avoid being hit by one square in the jaw. It’s too late. If we were to step out now, we’d be blown to bits within seconds.
I looked down at River. “Hunters. Change of plan,” I breathed through gritted teeth, closing the hatch again and pulling her back down the ladder.
As I moved back toward the control room, the sound of the window smashing filled my ears. I didn’t need to step inside to realize what must’ve just happened. The submarine that had been closing in from the front had caught up. As the scent of human blood grew stronger, and footsteps rang out near the nose of the submarine, I gripped River’s hand and dragged her toward the furthest room away from them. A small bedroom cabin. Locking the door behind me, I looked down at her.
“We’re trapped,” she whispered.
A beeping had started from the other side of the submarine, and now there were footsteps in the control room. A door swung open.
I focused on River, taking in her face, her eyes, her lips. Bending down, I gripped the sides of her head and kissed her. Hard. She responded, even as her hands trembled as they touched my hair.
“Get underneath the bed,” I breathed, as our lips parted.
She lowered to the floor and slid beneath the bed. She was still holding onto my hand, trying to drag me down with her.
“Ben.” She looked at me pleadingly.
I shook my head, and detached myself from her.
“They’re going to kill you the moment they see you,” she whispered.
Maybe. But I was going to try to take a few of them out before they shut me down. I wanted to make this as difficult for them as possible.
I just looked down at her calmly, taking in her beautiful face for what I was sure would be the last time, and then turned to face the door. The beeping grew closer and closer, as did the footsteps, along the corridor toward us. A few moments later, someone gripped our door handle. It rattled as they began shaking it.
I leapt up to the ceiling, stretching myself out against the walls like a spider, so I would have an advantage over them when they first came in, and a greater chance of taking a few out before they got to me.
I waited with bated breath as what sounded like several men began to kick the door. Then metal clicked. And a gunshot rang out. A bullet shot right through the door and shattered the mirror at the opposite end of the room. Then came another gunshot, and another, until a circle of holes had been created around the handle. Now all they had to do was kick the door open. Bracing myself in the next few seconds that River and I would have in this cabin alone, I prepared to pounce.