Chapter 10

I glared through the apartment lobby's door, the glass reinforced with security bars. This morning's downpour had let up a few hours ago and the pavement shone wetly.

Despite having an entire afternoon to cool off, I was still furious with Zylas for deliberately ambushing me so I'd fall into a mud-filled gully. He was angry too. During our shouting match—which had resumed the moment I'd gotten home and he could leave the infernus again—he'd declared I was too "zh'ūltis" to learn anything and he'd completely wasted his time.

Needless to say, I hadn't taken that well.

Headlights blazed through the door and a boxy van pulled up outside the apartment. Someone in the passenger seat waved at me.

I stepped out into the cold wind. The van's side door slid open, the interior light illuminating the mythics sitting on the bench seats. I climbed inside, surprised to find Zora on the middle bench, patting the empty seat beside her, instead of driving.

"Ready for this?" she asked as I fumbled for the seatbelt.

Her previous partner, the telekinetic Drew, rolled the door shut and settled back into his seat on the rear bench. The van rumbled into motion.

"I think so," I answered, hoping I didn't sound terrified. "What's the plan, exactly?"

"First, let's make sure we all know names here." Zora gestured to the backseat. "You met Drew already. This is Laetitia, a hydromage."

The tall woman smiled, teeth flashing against her dark complexion, her thin braids pulled into a high ponytail.

"And at the front are Darren and Cameron, offensive sorcerer and defensive apprentice sorcerer, respectively."

Darren? My heart sank at the sight of the hulking bully from a few days ago—the one Zylas had slammed down on the guild's bar—in the driver's seat. In the passenger seat, his rangy buddy gave me a friendly-ish smile.

"I'm partnering with Robin," Zora announced to the group. "Laetitia and Drew, and Darren and Cameron will make up the other pairs. Partners are responsible for each other, but we'll all be sticking close together anyway."

She leaned forward, elbows braced on her knees as Darren navigated the dark streets. "Now, this is a scouting mission. We're here to confirm a vampire nest and where it is, not to engage or attempt an extermination."

"Not even a little bit of exterminating?" Cameron asked plaintively.

"Not even a little. We'll save the fun for the next round, which will be during the day."

"Um," I began uncertainly. "Can I ask… why are we doing this at night?"

"It's easier to find vampires while they're active," Zora explained. "Keep in mind, guys, that we've seen increased vampiric activity over the last four weeks, so we're using extra caution. No messing around, Darren and Cameron."

The van rolled to a stop and Darren shifted into park. We exited the vehicle into an unremarkable back alley, the narrow stretch of pavement surrounded by skyscrapers. We were in the heart of downtown.

As the others followed Zora to the van's rear, I eyed their dark leather clothing, assorted weapons, and magical artifacts. In comparison, I felt ridiculously out of place in my regular winter coat, blue jeans, and sneakers.

Zora opened the van's rear doors and handed out armfuls of shiny fabric. She tossed me a bundle. "Smallest size we have."

I unfolded it, my innards tightening with apprehension. The waterproof overalls were smudged with dirt and the legs ended in attached rubber boots. The rest of the team were stepping into theirs, so I gulped down my pounding heart and donned my pair. My shoes fit inside the rubber boots with room left over, and even tightening the straps as short as possible, the overalls sagged down to my waist.

Zora helped me crisscross the straps to use up a bit more length, then passed out yellow hard hats with built-in lights. When I set mine on my head, it rocked around loosely and I nervously tightened the chin strap.

Pulling a rectangular device out of the van, Zora switched it on. The front lit up with a loud beep. "Who wants to carry the gas meter?"

"I'll do it," Cameron volunteered. He clipped it onto the shoulder of his overalls.

"Gas meter?" I whispered fearfully, but no one heard me.

Zora passed a pair of metal hooks to Darren. I watched in confusion as he stepped over to a weathered grate embedded in the center of the alley and used the hooks to heave it up. He dragged it aside, then tossed the hooks back to Zora. She returned them to the van and started to shut the doors.

"Wait." She reached inside again. "Almost forgot. Phone, keys, and wallets over here, guys."

As she held out a plastic tote, everyone dug their valuables out of their pockets and set them in the plastic bin. With no choice, I added mine to the collection, wondering what madness I'd volunteered for.

As Zora put the tote in the van and locked the vehicle, Cameron descended feet first into the black hole. Rushing water echoed beneath the pavement. Darren started after him, his shoulders almost too wide to fit.

"We…" I cleared my throat. "We're going into a sewer?"

"It's a storm drain," Zora corrected. "It won't smell great, but there's no raw waste down there, just rainwater." She glanced at my face, and I imagined I was paler than usual. "Um. I should've asked—you're not claustrophobic, are you?"

Not normally, but I was seriously reconsidering my stance on confined spaces.

"We'll be following large tunnels," she assured me. "It's dark and wet, but it'll be fine, you'll see."

"There are vampires down there?"

"We'll find out. I once helped exterminate a nest of thirteen in these tunnels. Biggest one I've ever seen."

As Laetitia followed Drew into the hole, I struggled to calm down. I could do this. We were scouting. Just scouting. We wouldn't be fighting any vampires down in the wet darkness.

Zora nudged me forward. My heels dug in, my gaze darting from the hole to the grate and back.

"What if someone puts that cover back on?" My voice sharpened in a panicky way. "Will we be trapped?"

"We can push the grate off from the inside, and there's an exit like this every block. Trust me, Robin. I've been down here dozens of times." She peered into my face and her expression softened with sympathy. "You don't have to come. The tunnels aren't for everyone."

Crap. I was ruining my reputation as a badass, demon-slaying, vampire-exterminating contractor.

I forced myself to laugh. "No, I'm good. I just wasn't expecting this, that's all."

"If you'd rather—"

"I'm fine," I said brightly, striding toward the square hole. I groped at the light on my hard hat and clicked it on, shining its beam into the narrow chute. Steel rungs stuck out of the concrete, leading downward, and a steady trickle of water spilled off the asphalt and splashed into the drainage system below.

I crouched at the hole's edge, turned, and felt for the first rung with my oversized rubber boot. The chute's sides scraped at my elbows as I fumbled my way down the ladder. The cramped confines opened into a wider tunnel, and I felt around with my foot, searching for the next rung.

"You're on the last step." Drew appeared beside me, his headlamp glaring. "Here."

The telekinetic lifted me down the final four feet. My boots splashed into knee-deep water. It rushed past, pressing coldly against my waterproof overalls. The air was disgustingly humid and reeked of rot. Zora's boots appeared on the ladder rungs above my head and I waded out of the way.

The team stood a few yards down, waiting calmly. The tunnel was six feet high and almost as wide, and only Darren and Cameron had to duck their heads.

"Okay!" Zora called above the black water's deafening echo. "We're heading northwest from here. Blood trackers out!"

Each mythic pulled out a wand with a red stone on the end. They spoke the incantation, their words lost in the splashing clamor, and the end of each artifact lit with a faint glow. Was I supposed to have one of those?

Zora answered my unspoken question by holding out a spare, the end already lit with magic. "Gotcha covered, Robin. Cameron, you have the gas meter, so take the lead."

Cameron grinned at his team and splashed away from the chute. My chest constricted as I fell into step beside Zora, last in line.

What on earth was I, a bookworm who didn't practice magic, doing down here?

We followed the tunnel, water pushing on the backs of our legs. I was here because Amalia and I needed to find out why vampires were searching for Uncle Jack. While I tackled the "bloodsucking monsters" angle, she was searching for her father the old-fashioned way—by asking everyone who knew him for information. I wished we could switch jobs.

"So," Darren began, raising his voice above the water's clamor. He glanced back at me. "How many vampires have you tagged, Robin?"

"Three."

He hesitated. He'd probably expected me to say none. "I suppose it isn't difficult for a contractor. All you have to do is stand there while your demon does all the work."

Darren had no idea how right he was.

"Vampire hunting is a bit different when you have to get your hands dirty. Ever been bitten, Robin?"

"No." I glanced at Zora. "Wouldn't I turn into a vampire?"

"A bite increases the risk of infection," she said. "As long as you get to a healer fast enough, the infection rate is less than one percent."

"Assuming you survive long enough to reach a healer," Darren called back. "A bite will put you down like a shot of horse tranquilizer. Once a vamp starts sucking on you, you can't do a damn thing to stop it."

I cringed fearfully.

"Oh," he added, "and unlike shifters, there's no spell, potion, or exorcism that can save you if you do get infected."

"Thanks, Darren." Zora adjusted her sword hilt. "I love when teammates bolster each other's confidence. I'll remember it next time I put together a job."

He shot an alarmed look over his shoulder.

"Let's stay focused," she called to the group. "Echoes carry far in here and we don't want to tip off the nest—if there is one."

I looked down at my blood tracker, but the faint red glow hadn't brightened. No sign of trouble yet.

Our headlamps flickered and flashed across the tunnel in dizzying patterns as we sloshed downstream. Small pipes connected with the main tunnel at regular intervals, disgorging frothing spouts riddled with leaves, mud, and bits of garbage. The water level crept over my knees.

"Heads up," Laetitia called back.

I looked up and my light beam hit the tunnel's slimy ceiling. A swarm of two- and three-inch-long cockroaches scuttled away from the light. Shuddering, I sloshed faster.

The tunnel gradually widened as more pipes connected to it, dumping runoff into the system. My breath puffed from exertion and foul air coated my mouth. Was it my imagination, or was the current picking up?

"Okay!" Zora called just loud enough to grab everyone's attention. We clustered around her. "A hundred yards farther along, this tunnel empties into the main channel, and that's where we've found nests in the past. Laetitia, you have our safety line?"

The tall hydromage pulled a coil of climbing rope from under her overalls, the end clinking with a dozen heavy carabiner clips.

"Good. We'll approach the end of this tunnel with caution. If our blood trackers light, that's it, we're done. We know they're here. If they don't light, we'll have to descend into the main channel. It has a walkway along one side that should be above the water. We'll start by—"

A foaming wave splashed into our group, almost throwing Zora and me off our feet. Drew grabbed my arm and Cameron supported Zora, the taller mythics bracing against the increased current. The water broke across my thighs.

"Zora!" Laetitia's voice was sharp with warning. "The water is rising too fast. It must be raining upstream."

"Get the safety line ready. There's a drain access just ahead. Move!"

Laetitia and Darren rushed forward while Cameron and Drew held on to me and Zora, helping us stay grounded as the water rose up to my hips. I stuffed my blood tracker down the front of my shirt as we waded after them.

Metal ladder rungs protruded from the cement wall, and Laetitia clipped carabiners onto the lowest rung. She snapped one onto a sturdy loop built into her fitted combat vest, then tossed the rope to Darren. He clipped himself in, then slung the rope to Cameron.

A deep roar was growing louder, the cacophony rolling down the tunnel from somewhere upstream.

Cameron snapped a carabiner onto his vest, then clipped Zora in as the water broke over my waist. Drew caught another loop of rope, one arm hooked around me, and snapped himself in. He held a carabiner out to me.

I stared at it in terror.

His eyes widened as he realized what no one had noticed before: I wasn't in combat gear like they were. I wasn't wearing a fitted, secure, heavy-duty vest with loops that could be clipped onto the line.

The deafening roar boomed in warning.

Drew snapped the clip over the strap of my overalls, then grabbed me by the waist and heaved me toward the wall. Cameron and Darren gripped my arms, fingers biting down hard. Our headlamps flashed as we all looked up the tunnel.

A frothing wall of water charged toward us.

Laetitia thrust her hands out. The wave bent as though diverted by an invisible barrier, but the water level kept climbing.

"Get out!" Laetitia gasped, arms trembling.

Drew threw Zora up into the chute. He must've added a boost of telekinesis, because she flew upward and grabbed the ladder rungs. She climbed for the hatch, boots slipping on the rungs, and Drew caught me next. As Darren and Cameron released my arms, he heaved me out of the waist-deep water.

Laetitia's sharp cry rang out as water smashed into her. Her invisible diversion vanished and the full force of the torrent hit us.

The impact slammed me into the concrete wall, my hard hat bouncing off a ladder rung. As the water struck them, Cameron and Darren made wild grabs for me, but the raging current swept us all off our feet.

The safety line snapped taut. The men jerked to a halt, water breaking over them. Hanging by my overalls' strap, I flailed desperately as icy liquid hammered my head. I couldn't see, could scarcely breathe.

"Robin!" a voice shouted urgently.

Water pounded over me, pulling hard on my overalls. They'd become an underwater parachute, the current dragging at them with inexorable force. I stretched my arm up, blindly searching for the rope. My fingers brushed the braided cord.

The plastic buckle on my overalls snapped.