‘I never liked the guy,’ Thomas retorted. ‘And I’m not sad he’s dead.’ He looked at Lady Penelope, whose hands were entwined primly on her lap. ‘I doubt any of us are. That’s what you get for involving yourself in a weird cult.’
‘Trust in the fang.’ The words tripped out of her mouth in an oddly practised fashion.
He nodded. ‘And the fang alone.’
I stared at them blankly. ‘Huh?’
‘It’s a vampire motto,’ Thomas explained. ‘Vampires have fangs. We should stick to our own kind or there will be trouble. Something along those lines.’
‘Vampires aren’t the only creatures with fangs,’ I cautioned.
‘It is a saying,’ Lady Penelope snapped. ‘It’s not supposed to be science.’
Fair enough.
Dusty grunted and Lady Penelope raised her thin eyebrows. ‘I would hold on if I were you.’ And before I could grab onto anything other than Thomas’s arm, the worm started to move.
Chapter
Five
If I’d imagined that riding a giant worm through an underground tunnel would be a smooth journey, then I’d been fooling myself. Neither Lady Penelope nor Thomas appeared unstable or uncomfortable but there wasn’t a single moment during the ride when I thought I wasn’t about to fall off and get squished to death beneath Dusty’s wormy weight.
Nothing about it was pleasant. The seating rose and fell with every undulation of Dusty’s body and at every lurch, of which there were many, I thought I was about to throw up. Lady Penelope was softening slightly towards me, and Thomas didn’t appear to hold any grudges for me kneeing him in the balls, but I doubted they’d feel much warmth towards me if I vomited my dinner into their laps.
Thankfully Dusty moved quickly so the journey was mercifully short. When we finally stopped, and I realised that there was not only light but also a cacophony of voices ahead, I breathed out and all but jumped off the worm before Thomas could release the ladder. I landed inelegantly and sprawled on the ground but I didn’t care; I was just glad to be back on my own two legs. Worm travel was not for me.
Lady Penelope tsked and clambered down, whilst Thomas smirked and enjoyed the view of my sweaty, fallen body. ‘Why would you travel like that when you can fly?’ I gasped as I pulled myself upright.
‘It takes a lot of energy to shift into bat form,’ Thomas told me. ‘And it’s not a good idea on an empty stomach.’ He patted his belly for effect and wandered off, tossing out a casual aside over his shoulder. ‘Don’t get eaten before I can taste some of your blood, Ms McCafferty!’
‘I take it back,’ I muttered to myself. ‘It’s not that vampires don’t have a sense of humour. It’s that they have awarpedsense of humour.’
Lady Penelope gave me a mild look. ‘What did you expect?’ she asked. ‘Come on. It is not far to the Bureaucratic Suite. Spit-spot.’ She glided away at top speed, leaving me to trot after her.
I paused to nod at Dusty. ‘Uh, thanks. For the lift. And the, uh, kiss.’
Dusty rumbled. I had no way of deciphering his meaning so I simply flashed the giant worm a shaky smile then took off after Lady Penelope.
Although this wasn’t my first venture into the Understream, last time all I’d seen was the maze of tunnels and a lot of darkness. I’d assumed that it was nothing more than a convenient way for getting around when the faintest whisper of sunlight would cause you to spontaneously combust, and Thane had been of the same opinion. So when Lady Penelope and I turned the corner and I saw what was in front of us, I couldn’t have been more astonished.
This wasn’t simply a series of tunnels: there were open spaces, too. Hell, there was a goddamned bustling community complete with crowded marketplace. I’d never imagined in my wildest dreams that anything like this existed beneath Coldstream’s cobbled streets.
Lady Penelope was obviously amused by my expression. ‘I read a report of your incursion into the Understream. There was some doubt as to how far you had penetrated and what you had witnessed.’
I closed my mouth, which had been hanging open with shock. ‘I told everyone several times exactly what I’d seen but it was nothing like this. There were only tunnels and doors leading to various properties.’
‘Yes, I am aware.’ She smiled politely. ‘Fortunately for you, the consensus was that you were telling the truth. I sayfortunatelybecause if there had been any indication that you were lying we would have required you to return to the Understream for proper punishment to ensure your ongoing silence.’
‘I haven’t breathed a word about this place to anyone,’ I said stiffly. Other than Thane but he’d also entered the Understream illegally and the vamps knew that.
‘I’m aware of that, too. Why do you think this visit has been approved? There are quite a few sun dwellers who know what is here, and some have permission to come down regularly, but we have to know that we can trust them first. Some secrets are not meant to be shared.’
‘Why is secrecy so important? Why does it matter?’
Lady Penelope took a moment before answering. ‘Everyone needs a safe space of their own, Ms McCafferty. Vampires have not always been treated fairly by other Preternaturals.’
I had to bite my tongue to avoid reminding her that centuries ago, probably within her own lifetime, vampires were responsible for draining the blood from scores of hapless victims who usually died horribly as a result. Just because vampiric laws were more humane nowadays didn’t mean that the past could be erased.
