I Am Eve Read online

  I swallowed and focused on the vent. I thought about how sealing it would keep more hordes from coming through. The thought filled me with relief—and appreciation.

  Suddenly, the tunnel around us trembled. The dozens of vampires surrounding Diggs looked around, confused.

  Ice began to form around the edges of the vent opening. A chill shot through the corridor like a blast from an arctic wind. Snow poured into station. The ice around the vent drew inward, tightening the hole into the shaft. A vampire tried to come through feet first, but the gap closed in rapidly and he found himself trapped. I let my imagination run, squeezing the vampire with the ice’s sharp edge. There was a pause, and then all of a sudden the creature’s waist severed and the lower body fell to the ground in a splash of blood.

  The legs kicked for a second before they stilled. The vent’s opening was completely sealed.

  The rest of the vampires in the room turned their attention to me with astonishment in their otherwise dead eyes. Diggs was equally surprised and stared at me for a second with wonder. He realized the enemy was distracted and made the most of it.

  The fire squelched, and he charged, lunging into the mass of vampires, cutting them down like blades of grass.

  I lowered my gaze to six vampires who were running at me. The cold filled my veins again, and dozens of icicles formed in the air and hovered in front of me. The enemy seemed unfazed and kept charging.

  Now, I thought. The sharp daggers of ice zipped through the air, striking down the vampires with tight precision.

  Another ran along the wall to try to flank me, but I sensed his maneuver and turned to meet his sword attack. Our blades clashed and held in front of our necks. He sneered at me, glaring into my eyes with his cold, lifeless black orbs. His fangs poked out under his top lip.

  “I will drink you,” he said. “Then your power will become mine.”

  “I…don’t…think so.”

  An ice dagger formed in front of me, just below the vampire’s chin. He didn’t realize it was there until it was too late. The sharp point suddenly shot up through his chin and into his brain. He twitched for several seconds. The eyes blinked rapidly, but he was already dead before he fell backward onto the tracks.

  “Sword of flame,” Diggs said.

  His sword instantly caught fire as he whipped the edge through the last three vampires in the chamber.

  Now they were desperately searching for a way to escape, but the only way out was closed—down the tunnel toward the main platform—and I was blocking that direction.

  The three creatures huddled together in a corner under the vent, their swords held out to fend off another attack.

  “You will never be able to defeat us all,” one of them hissed. His long chocolate hair fell down below his shoulders. He wore black plated armor on his thighs, chest, and shoulders. It looked like it was made from plastic, but I knew it had to be something else, something from another time. “The time of the humans is over.”

  Diggs stalked toward them.

  “Circle of flame,” he said. The fire dripping from his sword went out, and a new fire circle erupted around the three vampires.

  “You made a mistake coming down here,” Diggs said as he took a taunting step toward the trapped vampires.

  The fire circle tightened, closing them in.

  “You will never defeat the Eliri, foolish human. No one can stop us. Our time has come to reclaim our rightful place in this world.”

  The flames drew closer, licking their clothes with a searing heat.

  The one in the back shrieked.

  “I’ve heard that before,” Diggs said. “Yet here we are, still alive. And here you are, about to be consumed by holy fire.”

  “In the war, many battles are lost before ultimate victory.” The vampire leader sounded like a snake.

  “Well, here’s the good news,” Diggs said. “You won’t be around for any of it.”

  He cocked his head to the side and grinned. Then the circle closed in on the vampires and engulfed them in flames. The fire shot up to the ceiling as it consumed the monsters. Their screams echoed hauntingly through the subway tunnel until their vocal chords dissolved.

  The fire only lasted twenty seconds, but when it was done there was nothing left but a pile of ashes and the swords the vampires had carried.

  The platform fell silent.

  Diggs stared at the pile of ashes for a second and then took inventory of the bodies scattered around the area. He took a moment before looking up at me.

  “I told you to leave,” he said.

  I started to tell him “I stayed; you’re welcome,” but he put up his hand.

  “I’m glad you didn’t.” He turned his head and looked up at the vent where the vampire’s torso was still frozen in bloody ice. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

  I slid my sword back in its scabbard and scratched my neck. “Darius tried to teach me mag…I mean, how to use the power, but it comes and goes. I don’t know how to control it all the time. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

  He took a step toward me as he slid his weapon back in its sheath. “The power always works. It’s the one who speaks to it that determines whether the desired outcome happens or not. If you try to force it, nothing will come about. It’s only when you let go of your worries, your wants, that you can truly tap into it.”

  That was something Darius hadn’t told me. Maybe he meant to and just never had the chance.

  “Letting go,” Diggs continued, “is how you allow the power to flow through you. Only then will your feelings and thoughts become one.”

  It was the first time I’d heard him talk to me like I wasn’t beneath him. There was a sort of kindness in his voice, something I’d not thought possible until that moment.

  He looked back at the ice blocking the ventilation shaft. “I’ve never seen someone able to manipulate ice before. That’s a unique gift. Not to mention the speed. I’ve never seen a human move so fast.”

  Was that suspicion in his voice, or was I just being paranoid?

  “When it starts to come to me, it feels like ice water seeping through my veins.”

  He nodded but said nothing. It looked like he was sizing me up. “Maybe Darius was right about you after all, kid.”

  “You can call me Eve,” I corrected.

  “Very well. Eve it is.”

  Something clanked off to my left, and both of us turned our heads and simultaneously reached for our swords.

  One of the vampires I’d struck with an ice dagger was still alive. He rolled over onto his side, reaching for a sword lying nearby.

  Diggs moved fast and planted his foot on the creature’s wrist.

  The vampire howled.

  Diggs pulled out his blade and touched the tip to the back of the creature’s neck. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Foolish human. Do you really think you can stop us?”

  “Foolish human? That’s what your friend over there called me.” Diggs pointed at the pile of ashes in the corner. “See how that worked out for him?”

  The vampire snarled. “We have legions, tens of thousands that have been watching, waiting for the time to return. That time is now. And there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

  Diggs turned his head and looked at me. “This guy sure seems to know a lot about their battle plans.” He shoved the point of his blade into the vampire’s neck.

  The creature screeched in pain but couldn’t move.

  “Tell me,” Diggs said in a cool yet menacing tone, “when is the attack coming? What’s your first target?”

  The vampire let out a sickly laugh, showing both fangs proudly to his interrogator. “You think if I tell you that you’ll be able to stop what’s coming? You can’t stop it. No one can. No matter what kinds of magic tricks you try to pull. The human race’s time on this planet is over.”

  Diggs drove the blade deeper into the vampire’s flesh. The creature winced in pain. A thin
trickle of dark blood oozed out of the fresh wound.

  “Humor me,” Diggs said.

  “There’s nothing you can do to make me tell you, human.”

  “Oh, okay. In that case….” Diggs reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a tiny vial with a golden-colored liquid inside.

  I kept the tip of my sword close to the creature’s head in case he tried to make a sudden move, though with all his wounds from the ice daggers, I doubted he’d be able to do much.

  Diggs caught my questioning glance at the vial.

  “Oh, this?” he asked, holding up the little glass tube. “Just olive oil.”

  “Olive oil?”

  He popped the lid off the tube with his thumb and poured a thin stream of it on his blade, letting it creep down the flat side toward the tip embedded in the vampire’s neck.

  “Yep. Olive oil.”

  The golden liquid inched its way down until it touched the vampire’s skin. Suddenly, the creature released a scream of terrible agony. His body lurched, but I pressed my boot down onto his back, keeping him in place. It was like riding a bull.

  “Did I forget to mention it’s garlic-infused olive oil?” Diggs asked.

  The vampire howled, desperate to free his neck and head from the blade, but if he moved too much the edge might catch an artery.

  “Burns, doesn’t it?” Diggs asked with a cynical smile.

  If I didn’t know better, I’d say Diggs was enjoying it. Maybe a little too much.

  “Ah! Your entire race is going to die!” the vampire roared.

  “Tell me where the attack is coming, and I’ll give you mercy.”

  I’d only just met Diggs earlier that night, but I knew exactly what he meant by mercy. I had a feeling the vampire did, too.

  The oil continued seeping into the creature’s wound, sending its toxins into the bloodstream.

  “I’ve heard,” Diggs went on, “that when a vampire gets garlic in his blood, it’s like setting the entire body’s interior on fire and that every nerve screams out in pain. Would you say that’s accurate?” He leaned over his victim, taunting him.

  The vampire howled again. “Tomorrow! At sundown! The west gate! Our legions will overrun the wall to the west. We will burn the city to the ground. Do you hear me, human? You’re all going to die! Every. Last. One of you!”

  Diggs nodded and then shoved the blade through the creature’s neck until it hit the floor, severing the spinal cord.

  The vampire’s eyes locked on the wall on the other side of the room, and his head fell limp on the floor.

  Diggs pulled the blade out and wiped the blood and oil on the creature’s tunic. He slid the weapon back into its sheath and started walking back toward the main platform.

  “Are…are we just going to leave him here?”

  “Yep.”

  I pushed my blade back in its housing and followed him.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked.

  “This is not your fight, Eve. You came to find your parents. I’ll show you to the camp. After that, you’re on your own.”

  I frowned at the answer. “What about you? What about these people?”

  “We have only two choices. We can stay down here and hide, hoping the vampires won’t find us. Eventually, though, they will. They already know we’re here. They’ll find another way in.”

  “And two?”

  “We can’t run. The zealots will cut us down like dogs. That leaves only one option. Stay and fight.”

  14

  I didn’t sleep much that night. How could I? After what I’d seen and what I knew was coming the next day, there was no possible way I’d get any real rest. I dozed off a few times but always woke up a few minutes later.

  The stench of the subway didn’t help. There was a constant musty odor that kept poking its way into my nostrils. It felt like trying to sleep in a room full of towels that had been wet for a year.

  On our short walk back to the room, I’d asked Diggs about the vampires and how we were able to kill them. I’d asked the same question of Darius but wanted to get a more in-depth answer.

  “The fangers,” Diggs said, “are immortal in that they live forever if they aren’t killed. They also heal incredibly fast. So, a wound that could kill a human might not kill one of them. If you face one again, remember to go for the neck, head, or heart. Puncture the heart, and they’ll bleed out. Cut the throat, and you’ll get the same result. They’re like any other living thing when it comes to that. No blood in their body, no life. Cut off the head, and they die, too. Of course, you can always burn them like I did those three in the tunnel.”

  “What about sunlight, all that other stuff?”

  “That part about sunlight is true. They can’t be in the sun, which is why they’re going to attack at sunset tomorrow,” he’d said. “Crucifixes don’t do anything.”

  I didn’t interrupt and let him know Darius already told me that.

  “They can die,” he’d said. “Just not from natural causes.”

  I sat alone on the mattress, thinking about our conversation. I didn’t have a chance to ask about the werewolves, and as of that moment it wasn’t necessary since I’d not encountered one. Darius had told me they were far to the north, and I had no intentions of going that direction anytime soon.

  Diggs had left early that morning to start making plans for the defense effort. He returned a couple of hours later, looking exhausted and frustrated.

  “Good morning, sweetheart,” he said without making eye contact.

  So, we were back to that again.

  “Good morning.” My voice was groggy. I made no attempt to rectify that.

  “Get your things. We’re heading to the camp.”

  “Right now?”

  He gave a nod. “Right now. You helped me last night. Now I’m going to help you. After that, we’re square. You. Me. Darius. It’s all done.”

  There was an empty feeling in my chest at his callous comment, but I nodded and pushed myself up.

  “Lead the way.”

  Diggs took me back the way we’d come the night before: up the stairs, through the metal doors, and back out onto the city streets. Things looked about the same as they did at night. It felt like a ghost town. There were no pedestrians rushing around to get to work or some social function. No horses or wagons moved down the roads. The only thing missing from the scene was a lonely tumbleweed rolling by.

  “Camouflage,” Diggs said.

  My eyebrows pinched together, expressing my curiosity.

  “It’s like an invisibility spell,” he said. “We’ll see each other, but the zealot cops and guards won’t see us. Just beware; it wears off in about half an hour or so.”

  “Why does it wear off?”

  Diggs shrugged. “I don’t know. It just does.”

  We started walking at a brisk pace. I voiced my skepticism with an audible “hmm.”

  “What?” he said as we turned a corner and headed away from downtown.

  “Nothing.” I said. “It’s just that, you called it a spell. Darius said we don’t use spells.”

  “I said it’s like a spell. That’s the only way I know how to describe it. He wasn’t lying, though. We don’t use spells. People who dabble in magic do that.”

  “And the difference is?”

  Diggs fired a sidelong glance over his shoulder at me. “Mages, wizards, and sorcerers use the power for power. They thirst for it. Their reasons for using it are evil. That’s what makes them different from people like me.”

  I wanted to correct him and say “You mean people like us,” but I let it go. I’d already anticipated what he’d say to that.

  So, it depended on the person. “Those intent on doing good or defending what is just are tapping into something different to those with wicked intentions?”

  “No,” he said. “We’re all tapping into the same thing. It’s how we use it that makes the difference.”

  Our conversation died as we pushed on th
rough the city. After another five minutes of walking, he stopped at the top of a hill where an old apartment building rose high into the blue sky.

  Diggs pointed down the hill to where the street ran into a tall fence, similar to the one I’d had to get through on the way into the city. “That’s the camp,” he said. “If your parents are still alive and they were taken, I’d start there. This is as far as I can take you. I have to get back to help my people.”

  I’d not expected him to just leave me there, but I couldn’t argue with him. He had his own problems to deal with.

  I turned to face him. “Thank you, Diggs. I appreciate it.”

  He snorted. “Don’t get all mushy on me now, kid. Good luck.”

  He pivoted around and started back the direction we came. I watched him for a minute and then remembered what he’d said about the camouflage thing only lasting half an hour. We’d already been walking for almost fifteen minutes. That didn’t leave me much time.

  I sprinted down the hill, holding my sword close so it wouldn’t rattle or clank as I ran. Adrenaline rushed through my body. I was so close. Could I really be on the cusp of finding my parents after three years?

  For so long I’d thought they were dead. Now here I was, in the place Darius said I’d find them. I did my best to suppress my feelings of hope, but it was overwhelming. They were there. They had to be.

  I came to a stop at the gate to the prison camp and looked through the chain-link fence. Two guard towers loomed over the gate. Each had a pair of guards keeping watch over the entrance. Then there was a guard stationed on either side of the gate, each equipped with spears in their hands and swords fastened to their belts. The men above had bows and arrows along with a scorpion on a turret.

  I wondered what possible reason they could have for the heavier projectile weapon.

  It was a strange thing to be standing right in front of the guards without them being able to see me. Knowing that wouldn’t last much longer, I had to find a way inside, and fast.

  I looked around the area and noticed a garbage can propped up against a wall in a nearby alley.