I added the container to my backpack. ‘You never know what might be relevant.’
Her nose wrinkled in disgust then she pointed at the tunnel that branched off to our left. ‘Look,’ she said. ‘I think I saw a small rodent scurry in that direction. You should run and catch it. It might tell us what happened to the worms.’
There were no rodents in these tunnels, not that I’d seen. ‘I thought that sarcasm was the lowest form of wit,’ I said.
‘And I thought that it was the highest form of intelligence,’ she returned.
I was about to grin when a strange rumbling sounded from the very tunnel she was pointing towards. What the hell was that?
I glanced at Lady Penelope. She had frozen, her face a rictus of fear, and that gave me pause. Whatever that noise was, it terrified her – and anything that terrified an ancient vampire wasn’t to be dismissed lightly. ‘What is it?’ I asked, my voice a low urgent hiss.
‘We have to get out of here.’ She lunged towards me and grabbed my arm. ‘Now.’
She was already pulling me away but I dug in my heels. There was nothing on the map to indicate that the tunnel was a no-go area. If there was something dark and deadly down there, it stood to reason that it had something to do with the missing worms. I yanked my arm free and reached inside my backpack.
‘Ms McCafferty!’ I ignored her as my fingers located the hilt of my curved dagger. ‘We have to leave!’
I pulled out the dagger and she stared at it. ‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘What’s making that sound?’
She swallowed. ‘I…’ She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence before a huge dark shape blasted out of the tunnel and hurtled towards us. Oh shit.
I registered glowing yellow eyes and dark, scaly skin covering the body of a creature that had to be the size of a damned car. I had never seen anything like it. I’d come across many fearful creatures during the course of my life and but nothing like this. I hadn’t evenheardof anything like this.
I swallowed hard then pushed Lady Penelope behind meand prepared to fight. My mental traffic lights were screaming red.Come at me then, you bastard. Let’s see what you’ve got.
It leapt towards me, its forelegs raised and its massive tail whipping from side to side. I tightened my grip on my dagger, waited until the last second and then, when it was almost upon me, I slashed upwards towards its underbelly. I threw all my might into the effort – and yet the tip of my blade merely scraped the beast’s surface. I hadn’t even scratched it.
The monster whacked me on the side of my head. One moment I was standing firm on two legs, the next I was flying backwards through the air past a wide-eyed and cowering Lady Penelope, who had pressed herself against the wall of the tunnel.
The creature ignored her and continued after me. I twisted enough to fall into a crouch, trying to avoid landing on my back, then I heaved myself up to face the monster again.
Something is wrong here.
I switched my dagger to my other hand and clenched my jaw. Every creature had a weak spot and it was simply a matter of locating it – but that was easier said than done. I had been a skilled killer until recently, but I’d always done a lot of research before every assassination. However, I was well-versed in self-defence techniques and I knew what to do when a plan went awry. I drew on all those skills now.
Eyes, I decided. Aim for the bastard’s eyes. No matter the creature, their eyes were always vulnerable.
This time I acted when there was breathing room between us. I feinted right and the monster reacted as I expected, twisting towards me at speed. Then I darted left, picked up speed and used the tunnel wall as a springboard so I could gain greater height. I soared through the air and brought my dagger down towards the monster’s nearest eye.
I almost had it, I was almost there, but then it snapped itshead around and I missed my mark. I landed with a heavy thump next to its vast clawed foot. The creature opened its jaws and roared and the rumbling noise echoed around me, shaking the tunnel walls.
This isn’t right. This doesn’t fit. Think, Kit, for fuck’s sake.
I scrambled up. There was a tightness in my chest and my limbs felt sluggish and heavy: I was no longer a flexible, fit young assassin and my body often reminded me of that fact.
I discarded my dagger in favour of yanking out the vial of poison I’d brought with me. Poison wasn’t my favoured weapon of my choice but I was running out of options. If I could get that beast to roar at me again, maybe I could throw the vial into its gaping maw. If it swallowed it, I might yet make it out of here alive.
Wait. There’s more to this than meets the eye.
The tiny insistent voice deep inside my head finally cleared my thoughts. I stared at the monster again and examined it from its flaring nostrils to its muscle-bound, scale-covered toes, then I palmed the vial of poison and squared my shoulders.
An instant later, it was on me again. It headbutted me, sending an explosion of pain through my body. I felt myself falling backwards once more but this time I fought my natural instincts and let my body go limp. As a result, when I crashed to the floor of the tunnel, the result was jarring but did no real damage.
I lifted my head and groaned. I rolled, as if trying to get to my feet and ended up on my hands and knees. The monster roared at me again, its bright eyes searing into me. I inhaled deeply then pulled up my arms and swiped ineffectually at the air, panting hard. It drew closer and I tensed.
Without warning, it turned and thundered back into the tunnel it had come from. Only Lady Penelope and I remained.
‘Kit!’ She peeled herself away from the wall and ran towards me, her skirt flapping around her ankles. ‘Are you alright?’
