My head was spinning a bit at the matter-of-fact way she was speaking about vampires. “Would you mind if I made a quick visit to the wine cellar? My friend might be down there.”
“It matters not to me,” she said, her gaze glued to the TV, which was displaying some sort of game show with scantily clad men and women. “The key is next to the door. Don’t let them out. Guy would not like that.”
“I will do everything in my power to keep Guy as happy as a clam,” I said, feeling the full weight of the surreal situation. I found the key next to a wooden door that opened into the kitchen. There were three chain locks on the door, all of which I unhooked before using the key, and opening the door just a smidgen.
I don’t know what I was expecting—maybe a group of vampires clustered on the other side of the door just waiting to knock me down in their haste to get out of their prison—but there was on no one on the stairs.
A deep pulsing beat of music could be heard, however.
I looked down the wooden stairs, dimly lit by a naked bulb dangling overhead, and back to the kitchen.
“There is no way I’m going to go down there when the door can be locked against me,” I told Kelso, and, after a moment’s thought, took one of the kitchen table chairs and wedged it under the doorknob.
“There. Now no one can trap us. I’m so glad I watched all those horror movies last month, or I wouldn’t have thought of the door. You ready, boy?” Kelso, who had been watching me with interest, wagged his tail. “That’s as good a yes as I’m going to get. Onward, my brave one!”
We descended into the near darkness, an odd thumping noise seeming to come up from the ground. I really wished I could reach Merrick by mind-radio, but he hadn’t answered when I tried earlier. The noise was creepy enough it gave me goose bumps.
“It’s like it’s a heartbeat,” I whispered to Kelso, glancing around once we arrived in the cellar. There was not a lot to be seen, certainly not a wet T-shirt contest full of partying vampires. A few wooden crates lined one wall, while the other bore a massive black iron coal furnace, a hot water heater, and a fuse box.
The heartbeat continued to throb. “Just like we’re at the heart of the house. OK, now I’m freaking myself ... what are you doing? Leave it, whatever it is. Kelso!”
With one eye on the still-open door at the top of the stairs, I shuffled over to where Kelso was pawing and snuffling something on the ground. The dim light just barely revealed a metal ring set into the stone.
“Clever dog,” I praised, patting Kelso on the head before curling my fingers around the ring. “Let’s pray that Ellis is under here, and not some horrible disembodied heart beating away.”
I was expecting to have to fight the trapdoor, but it swung upward without too much effort. I staggered back regardless, not due to the effort, but from the blast of pounding music that exploded upward.
I peered down into the hole to see a dirt floor, colored lights flashing around in a simulation of a rockin’ nightclub, and six men spraying one another with bottles of what looked like champagne. “Ellis?” I shouted over the pulsing techno music. “Ellis, are you there?”
“Darling!” One of the men in the back pushed forward, dancing an intricate step until he was directly under the trapdoor. “You rescued us! How thoughtful. Everyone, this is Tempest, one of my oldest friends, and vamp hag.”
“Hey!” I said, fluffing up my hair. “I might be a little disheveled, but ‘hag’ is a bit harsh—”
“Sorry, love, it’s just a term the boys tell me is all the rage. Can you grab the rope ladder? I haven’t yet learned how to master the art of turning into a bat.”
“Dark Ones don’t turn into bats,” I scoffed, and retrieved a bit of rope that poked out behind the water heater. It turned out to be a somewhat motley rope and wood ladder. “At least I don’t think they do. What are you guys doing down there?”
It took a good five minutes before I got the answer, because first everyone climbed up, but then one man realized he’d left his phone below, then another wanted to grab some of the champagne just in case they got thirsty, and finally, Ellis had to go back to retrieve his shirt, which he said he’d taken off in order to keep it from getting stained.
It was then that I realized I’d met one of the vampires before.
“Spiky Pink!” I said, astonished when the vampire turned out to be the one who had dropped off Merrick.
He wrinkled his nose at me. “Eh? Do you have a problem with my hair?”
“Not at all. I know you!”
“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure—”
“You don’t remember me? I saw you when you left Merrick off at C. J. Dante’s castle.”
For a moment, the man looked terrified. “Shite! That was you?”
“Yes, but don’t worry, I’m not going to tell your boss that you were merciful instead of killing Merrick. Far from it, I’m very grateful you did so.”
He looked faintly embarrassed. “I just didn’t like to kill one of my own, you know? And Giovanni would have done so had he not been called back to Carlo. As it is, I had to lie and tell them he overpowered me when they found out he was still alive. It was a close thing for a few minutes, let me tell you. I’m sorry, I’m babbling, aren’t I? It’s just that Ellis says you’re a good un, and that you would never give us away.”
“Never,” I said. “I’m glad you didn’t get in any trouble over Merrick.”
