Lyla
The room looked like a puzzle or maze, surrounded by coffee mugs. Tubes in neat rows stood everywhere on the floor. I had watched and dated the feed. The piles were organized into sections I thought would be most crucial for the future. When I finished Sita's, I knew some of what was happening. The one thing I wanted to know about was the compound. Juliet and her parents lived somewhere before she went to school. A lot was edited out… but not everything. The Earth knew about the compound. Not that it was called that on the news, neither was the location ever revealed. The conspiracy theorist had ideas of where the world had locked away the Werewolves. Where the thousands of vamps had lived undiscovered for that long. Marcus had lied and said they were scattered among us.
It was easy to find Juliet's old school and connect it to Stevie, the woman murdered in that small town. Sita and Chris had been there. Louis's feed also showed them traveling from that small town to France. Stevie seemed important in the way she died. I felt it was a dead end. No one would have footage of Juliet coming and going in the middle of the night. I needed to find where Juliet was born and fast. If there were any secrets, they would be there. The frustrating part was that the tubes stopped eventually. They were all in France, and on one specific day… The feed ended for everyone… It was the end of the watchers.
The most interesting part was that Juliet was… had multiple men in her life. Looking at what they went through in France wasn't easy. All around, it was a difficult time. Juliet was sick, and it explained the skin. When they fought Qadir and killed him in that stadium they built. It was her and Louis. Everyone knew Louis by then. The Earth watched the two of them killing another vampire. The most powerful one. The Earth thought the two of them were in charge. I paused. My brain had its first decent thought of the night. I checked my watch and pouted, frustrated that it was already midday.
Juliet ran out of that fight like she had somewhere to be. Marcus wasn't on Earth. It felt like I knew them. I had watched her and Chris the most. They had some exciting moments. The night she went to that party was the best scene. I sat on the edge of my seat with popcorn when she and Chris fought in that car. That kiss… I shook my shoulders, walking up the stairs. The way he manifested to save her. I cringed at the cuts all over her. I had left everything like that and would fall down on the bed. I was going back to America as soon as I woke up. Gigi was running up in front of me, tail wagging and tongue out. She was a bundle of energy but already knew where she should go.
***
Michael
I was lost. After Romero told me where they thought the vault could be, I teleported in through the opening and had been dodging Iku the whole night. He had followed me through the opening and put up a chase for a while. I heard it swooshing around late into the evening. At one point, it got quiet. But then I needed to find him. It was tunnel after tunnel. Turn after turn. I could've traveled out to anywhere in the freaking cosmos but wasn't able to find my way in a maze. I had used my claws to mark entrances and was getting somewhere… Just to loop around and see more scuff marks. It was a waste of time. I had been looking for any cavern, hollow, or space where Ahasuerus would have hidden his vault. It was the perfect place. I didn't understand how he knew about it at all or made the trip and how he got it done. It could have been anywhere. I could be searching for nothing. He could've lied, and another clue would be waiting for us.
I slid down against the stone wall, leaning my head back. I was going to close my eyes for a second. I woke up with my face on the ground, more tired than I realized. I wanted to go back to the camp to see Juliet. I sat up. The black shadow was hovering over me. It was so close to me, sniffing me. It started talking coherently, and I sat up straighter, interested in the progress I could make. Iku flinched back. Why did they not say it was a thinking being. How would I speak to it anyway? Why did Yazen not just talk to it?
A loud explosion droned into the tunnels, making dust drift down from the ceiling. Iku narrowed its eyes. It left me and moved down the narrow spaces. I followed as fast as I could. The dust was still clearing, drifting out into the air. Iku sped out and over the rubble, making the most horrific noise. I stopped moving at the entrance. The slither I had teleported through was now a giant hole in the mountain. The familiar shadow flowed from high above us. The Dheka was back, keeping it busy. I smiled when I saw men flying around. Selena and Jamal were having the time of their lives keeping Iku busy. "What?" I muttered to myself.
A whirring sound came from up above me. I glanced up, and more men were railing down with ropes from the top, landing next to me. "What have you been doing?" I spun around. Caleb, Carl, and Kubra appeared out of thin air.
"That was scary, Caleb," Carl said.
"I told you we wouldn't get hurt if we just fell."
"It's dangerous. You shouldn't do that again."
"My mother showed me all she can do, and she would say that I should trust my abilities."
I pulled the boy in for a hug. "Why are you here? How are you here?"
"No time. Tell us you found something."
"Nothing! It's a maze."
Kubra stepped into the mountain and turned in a circle, looking at all the tunnel entrances.
"It doesn't stop."
Carl walked over and held out his hand. I took his hand in a tight grasp. There had been no time to ask for forgiveness for his father. I had seen the boy only a few times since I changed and never thought to meet up with him. To make things right. How far gone was I?
"When you're a werewolf?" Kubra asked over his shoulder.
I shook my head. "That thing leaves no scent. No trail. Nothing… All I can think is that we need drones. If we could talk to it… I saw him working with the locals. I have no idea what this place is. They have their own dialect, and it said something to me."
Kubra shook his head. "Yazen says the locals accept his help. They never question or talk to it. It sometimes speaks but never answers."
"Well, anyone with ideas?" Jessy and his men stood at the entrance waiting for orders.
"How did they hide it. It seems too difficult. Even for the vamp King." Carl added.
"If they had coordinates. They might have traveled here by chance. Scoping out the land and scenery." Kubra answered.
"Are you telling me I should teleport to En-gannim for drones? I'm so tired."
"We can do it the old fashion way… Split up with ropes." Jessy gave his two cents.
"We could place a tracker on it to see if it will work."
"Or…" Caleb's voice broke through our discussion.
"NO!" All of us said in one accord.
"Come on! We have nothing to lose. Everyone backs off, and I follow it. One of you lucky gents can babysit."
They all looked at me. "We will have packs to eat… An escape route if we need it." Caleb went on.
I ran my hands over my face. "Where is your mother?"
"No! You decide. You're one of my dad's."
I remembered Marcus clutched in my arms. How he had broken down with the idea of Caleb almost dying. It wasn't Palmyra. Kubra was close, and I could teleport. It was not the same situation. "Caleb. Our luck will run out eventually. If anything happens to you."
He put up a hand. "Michael, we have to win. Even if it takes us a few days to get there. The only other option is losing to Ian. If they take that Island with that massive machine on… What if he has the coordinates for this specific spot?"
I shook my head. "Juliet and I came out in Romero's home."
"I don't think they fooled us. Ahasuerus wouldn't just give it away, regardless of who's coming for it. What if Ian had the half to alter the base code and Avrio had gotten something from Ahasuerus?"
"How are you so smart?"
Caleb shrugged.
"Fine!"
Caleb was a bundle of energy. I thought he would clap his hands together and jump up and down. Kubra and Carl shook their heads at both of us. "You guys zip back up and tell everyone to return to camp. Caleb and I are going on a stakeout."
***
We proceeded to follow that shadow giant the whole day. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my time. All I could think about was Juliet. We had made progress and needed time together. We were finally on the same page, I hoped, but I needed to be there to be sure. The thing was busy, moving around and surveying all it guarded, farming and traveling from one floating island to the next. Caleb had a very tiring day. I had made him teleport to every surface. He had to follow to keep up. The scenery was spectacular. It was one of the most beautiful places I had seen on all the planets.
At one point, I could see Caleb was reaching his physical limits. I suggested we sit on one of the highest cliffs on the floating triangles, waiting for it to retreat to its cave. Their star was setting on the horizon, and the Dheka returned to their dwellings. The creatures used one hand to transfer them to the ground, returning his little slaves free. Not that they were enslaved. The symbiotic relationship between them was unmistakable. We thought it would also hunker down for the night after all we could hear was faint music coming from the villages; however, it didn't retreat to its cave. Caleb and I wondered what he would do the whole night. We soon saw their beasts. Why he was there at all. Fighting and warding off bugs from his lands.
Their moon was high in the sky, and nothing had come and gone for some time. As soon as it headed for the tunnels, I picked Caleb up and teleported us into the maze. It wasn't hard following it. All I had to do was stay with it.
The space he had chosen for its layer was lit from outside by the moonlight beaming in through an oval-shaped window in the wall. It had to be on the other side of the whole valley. There was a sizeable man-size tent next to a water source made from material. I glanced at Caleb. We were both confused. The structure was big enough to house even me in my Riphath form but not his whole body.
"You don't think he has a wife, do you?" Caleb asked nervously.
I chuckled. The thing went from its shadow form to a human. "Hmmm. It didn't sound like Romero knew about this." The man was clad in the whitest robe. He was at the edge of a small beach that circled a watering hole almost the same as the whole planet possessed. His fingers unlaced his robe, and he stripped the rest of his garments, ambling into the water.
Caleb and I traveled down from the last tunnel to the ground level of the cave. We were searching for that vault. "I can't think that he would hide it here. It's too open."
"Yes… there has to be somewhere else he keeps his valuables… Romero and his family had a secret chamber hidden in a fountain."
"Under the water?"
My eyes glanced at the man bathing in the still pool. I really didn't want to be stuck there for days until he felt a need to survey all his bounty. If he ever would. "How is it possible that he is that large when manifested?"
"I don't know… All the species must have some origin, I suppose. Maybe they were all once that big."
"Evolution… Into something smaller? Sounds about right. Should we try talking to him?"
"It does seem like the best option."
"I also don't want to be stuck here."
"What do you mean?"
"I can see you don't want to be here," Caleb said. I smiled. "I think Marcus and Louis could actually use my ability to move some of the armies around En-gannim… Without Ian even knowing."
I ruffled his hair. "Will you stay out of sight while I make contact?"
Caleb pushed my hand out of his hair. "You have to stop doing that!"
I ruffled it some more and got him in a choke, rubbing my fist hard over his head. Caleb was squirming to get out from under my noogie. I did the next thing to bully someone. I pulled his underwear up into his butt crack. Caleb squealed and bent his knees, dropping his weight. I laughed. It was a mistake. It made the wedgie so much worse. His holler resonated in the cave. We both stilled at the noise. In his vanished state, it wouldn't have happened. My head moved, and my eyes landed on dark orbs glaring at us from the water.
Iku didn't seem flustered and sauntered back onto land, picked up his robe, and pushed one arm into a sleeve. He spoke, but I couldn't understand him.
"You don't happen to speak English… Do you?"
"What do you want?"
My shoulders slumped, and I let Caleb go. His hands were in his pants, pulling on the material of his underwear. Iku was moving towards us. Caleb disappeared again. He stilled as the boy vanished. "So that's how you found me."
"Someone left something for us to find… We think you might have what we're looking for."
"There was a vampire that asked for my services not long ago. I suppose that is what you are here for. But, he said it would be a woman that came… I have not seen a woman yet. I did not know that was what you were here for, or I would not have attacked you the way I did."
My back stiffened. A low growl resonated in my chest. Ahasuerus wouldn't give it away. Would he… His last retort and effort in killing Juliet. The corner of the man's mouth turned up quickly. "Ahasuerus came with gifts… Brought me so many things."
I puckered up, hoping that monetary value would make him jump ship. There was no way Juliet would be fighting that thing or coming anywhere close to it.
"Are you open to negotiations? I'm a little versatile and could probably bring you anything you like."
He scoffed. "Once I made a deal… I do not go back on my word."
"May I ask what your contract entailed?"
The man bent down and picked up the dirty clothes from the sand. "Come with me." I followed and stepped into the tent after him. He gestured for me to sit. "Tell the boy to come out… I am not in the habit of killing children."
"No! Caleb…" I demanded.
The boy didn't listen and sat down next to me. "That was for… What do you call that?"
"A wedgie."
Caleb laughed. Iku watched us with interest. "Ahasuerus wanted the woman dead."
I groaned inwardly. Was it not our duty to let this vault go and figure out the rest for ourselves. It would be the price to save Juliet. There was no way she would be able to do anything. What was the old man thinking? If she died, Marcus would die. My hands ran over my face in frustration. "If I challenge you? Would you tell me where it is?"
"You would die… I am undefeated."
Caleb sighed heavily. "What is it that he gave you?" Caleb asked flatly. We were both tired and frustrated