Ash (The Underground Series Book 2) Read online

  “At least they aren’t vampires that sparkle and stalk awkward girls with no personality,” Luke said with a chuckle.

  “You know too much about that story for my liking.”

  “I went to the movie with this girl I was trying to hook up with,” he said defensively. “Thank the petalsie king I don’t have to try that hard anymore.”

  “Speaking of trying too hard,” Autumn said, shooting her brother a disapproving look. “What the hell were you thinking hooking up with Kyndel Butler?”

  Luke sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. “Spare me the lecture, Autumn. It’s not like there’s an abundance of available females on this little quest.”

  “Luke, you need to learn to control yourself. Don’t go seeking out girls like Kyndel just because you’re a stupid guy who has to make-out with a girl ten times a day to be happy.”

  “I didn’t seek her out! She approached me. I’m not going to turn down a hot girl just because she’s a—”

  “But you hate her, remember? And she hates us. Have some self-respect.”

  “I am having some self-respect. Better Kyndel than Ember.”

  “Ember? I thought you said she was perfect for you because she’s hot and a redhead.”

  “She’s sort of insane,” Luke grumbled, sending a small rock skittering across the ground with his foot.

  “No kidding,” Autumn said, her voice drenched with sarcasm.

  “Listen, I appreciate that you’re concerned about me and all, but I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself. If I want relationship advice then I will definitely come to you, but as of right now, I’m doing just fine. Besides, if I have to be bound to that Wellington girl soon, I want to get with as many girls as I can before then.”

  Autumn’s face hardened at the unwelcome subject. “We aren’t going to be bound to them.”

  “You’re in such denial,” Luke said, shaking his head.

  “We shouldn’t be forced to marry someone we don’t love just because of some stupid law. When I become queen, that’s the first thing I’m changing.”

  “Yeah. Problem is, you have to be bound to someone to become queen.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Well, it’s the law.”

  Autumn was silent a moment before she said, “What about Crystal?”

  “What about her?” Luke said, sounding defensive.

  “Lately it seems like, I don’t know, maybe you’ve changed your mind about her. That maybe you actually do like her—and more than just as a make-out partner.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Crystal and I are just friends, okay? Besides, she’s with Edric,” he said, kicking another small rock across the hard ground.

  “If you honestly think she wouldn’t leave Edric the second you told her how you really feel, you’re an idiot.”

  “Do me a favor, Rose, and just stick to your own relationship problems and I will stick to making out with any girl I want.”

  “I don’t have relationship problems.”

  Luke chuckled. “Anyone in a relationship has problems.”

  Autumn shook her head in exasperation. “M’kay.”

  “All of this future relationship talk is probably pointless anyway, seeing as how we’re about to be eaten by a bunch of bat people,” Luke muttered as they neared the entrance to the vampire’s lair.

  Autumn frowned, looking up at the immense cave towering over them now. All thoughts of relationships and make-out partners fell from her mind. Exchanging a wary glance, Autumn and Luke took a step forward into the impending darkness.

  King Eugene

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  At first, nothing happened. Then the cave lit up to reveal a long, empty corridor. The light was coming from torches situated in sconces lining the passageway all the way up to a pair of hefty red double doors. It was almost as if the torches were rigged to come on at any sign of movement.

  “Nice,” Luke said. “Now, this is definitely more vampire-y.”

  “Vampire-y?”

  “Vampire-ish? I don’t know. You get what I mean.”

  “Do you think they know we’re here?”

  “They’re probably watching us right now, thinking about what kind of barbecue sauce to put on us,” Luke said, looking over his shoulder.

  Autumn rolled her eyes.

  They arrived at the red double doors and Luke knocked three times, the sound echoing through the cavernous corridor. As his hand left the door for the third time, it creaked slowly open. A surprisingly scrawny and extremely pale vampire stepped into the corridor, pushing his round glasses up the bridge of his nose as he surveyed the twins with a look of disdain.

  “Dryadales.” He frowned, glancing at their pointed ears. When he spoke, Autumn noticed two pointed fangs that looked extremely sharp. “Can—I—help—you?” he said loudly, drawing out each syllable as if the twins were incapable of understanding English.

  They both shot him bemused looks before Autumn lifted her wrist to show the vampire her Royal Mark. “We are the Prince and Princess of Arbor Falls and we wish to speak to your leader. It is of great importance,” she said, trying to sound as intelligent as possible.

  The vampire looked shocked. Autumn couldn’t tell if it was because he was amazed by her coherent speech or by the fact that they were royals—or perhaps both.

  “You wish to speak to King Eugene?”

  Luke snorted at this and Autumn shot him a warning look. “Yes, sir,” she said, turning back to the vampire.

  He seemed taken aback by her calling him “sir” and it took him a while before he finally said, “Very well. If you would follow me.” He stepped back into the darkness and left the door open for them to trail after him.

  The journey through the vampire cave was strange to say the least. It turned out that this was the lair of the head vampire, King Eugene, and this was where his workers and “researchers” lived as well. Sort of like Arbor Castle, only darker and much creepier. Everything was illuminated by torches, which burst into flame as they neared them and were immediately extinguished once they’d passed.

  “How does that work?” Luke asked, pointing to one of the torches.

  The vampire didn’t answer, though he’d obviously heard Luke because there were no other sounds in the cave other than the echo of their footsteps.

  “You are unarmed,” the vampire noted after several minutes of leading them through seemingly endless passageways. It was a statement, not a question.

  “Yes,” Autumn said. “There was no need for weapons.”

  “Perhaps.”

  The longer they were in this cold, dark cave with him, the more he seemed like a dangerous vampire rather than the nerdy guy they’d met in the entryway with a habit of adjusting his glasses.

  “Are there not other vampires in here?” Luke asked.

  “Of course there are,” the vampire said as if this was the stupidest question he had ever heard in his immortal life.

  “Well,” Luke said, looking defensive. “We haven’t come across anyone this whole time.”

  “They are researching.”

  Luke chuckled. “Researching what? The different types of algae that grow in caves?”

  The vampire actually stopped and turned at this, looking at Luke through narrowed eyes.

  “Our research is not even public knowledge to the rest of Blood Valley. Do you honestly believe that we would divulge any amount of information to a dryadale like yourself?”

  “You got a problem with drya—I mean elves?” Luke said.

  The vampire simply chuckled and shook his head slowly.

  “So, uh, what’s your name?” Autumn asked him, attempting to lighten the mood.

  He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as if this were the strangest question a person could ask. He didn’t answer her.

  When they reached the throne room, he waved his hand for the twins to enter and then turned back down the dark passageway.

  King Eugene s
at on his throne behind a chess table, which seemed to be playing for itself, the chess pieces moving of their own accord. He didn’t acknowledge their presence until Autumn spoke.

  “Excuse me, King Eugene?”

  He stopped mid-move and looked slowly up at them. Like the other vampire, he was also wearing glasses, which magnified his eyes to at least three times their original size. His pasty white skin was almost glowing in the torchlight, along with his curly orange hair. The wall behind him was lined with large ornate portraits of previous vampire rulers, all with the same curly ginger hair as himself.

  “Yes?” he drawled.

  “My brother and I are—”

  “The Oaken twins from Arbor Falls,” King Eugene said in a nasal tone. “Yes, I am aware. Why have you come?”

  Autumn closed her mouth, taken aback, and then opened it again. “Well, first, we’d like to offer you this white rose as a symbol of our respect for the vampires and the peace elves feel towards them.”

  She approached him slowly, holding out her white rose. He regarded the rose carefully before taking it between his index finger and thumb—as if it were a dead rodent they were offering him, rather than a flower—and placed it to the side of his chess board.

  “Is that all?” he said.

  “Um, no.” Autumn said, taking a step back from him to stand beside Luke. “We’ve come to enlist the help of the vampires in our movement to defeat Vyra and Victor Vaun along with their Shadows and Atrum followers.”

  “Vampires do not participate in fights that are not their own.”

  “This is your fight, though,” Luke said. “Vyra is attacking all of the creatures of the Underground, including vampires, not just elves.”

  “Vyra Vaun is an elf, therefore, the elves should be responsible for keeping her under control,” the vampire king said in a bored voice as he moved another chess piece forward.

  Autumn frowned. “Her army of Shadows and Atrums is too large for the elves to control.”

  “Perhaps the elves should not have let that happen.”

  “But—” Luke began.

  “Listen, royal dryadales,” King Eugene said, looking up at them again. “I have no desire to aid savages in killing other savages. Go look elsewhere.”

  “Savages?” Autumn said incredulously. “Elves aren’t savages.”

  “Do you prefer to be called brutes? Ruffians? Barbarians?”

  “What? No!” Autumn said heatedly.

  “You may leave now,” King Eugene said, waving an uncaring hand towards the door.

  Autumn and Luke exchanged helpless glances.

  Then Autumn had an idea. “You know, you vampires claim to be the most intelligent creatures in the Underground when, really, you’re just as ignorant as everyone else. I’m guessing your research does not include observing other magical communities, does it?”

  King Eugene frowned at this. “Vampires do not travel to other creatures’ territories.”

  “Then you have no idea what elves are truly like. You are simply going off of hearsay,”

  “Yeah. Newsflash, vamp. That isn’t exactly a valid source,” Luke said.

  King Eugene stopped playing chess and looked from Luke to Autumn with an unreadable expression in his magnified eyes. “All right,” he said after a while. “I will consider sending my vampire army to aid you in your fight against Vyra if you allow my researchers to conduct experiments on you and the rest of the elves who have traveled with you here.”

  “When you say ‘conduct experiments’…” Luke began.

  “I mean simple research studies—observations, physical examinations, and questioning. Nothing harmful, of course,” King Eugene said with a smirk.

  Luke shot him a wary look. “Physical examinations?”

  “We will agree to these terms,” Autumn said and Luke looked at her incredulously. “But you may only conduct research on the elves who are willing to comply. No performing experiments on elves against their will.”

  “Very well.” King Eugene snapped his fingers. Another vampire appeared out of the darkness, as if from thin air. “I will have Sheldon show you to your examination chambers.”

  “Chambers?” Luke said.

  “We can’t very well observe you outside, now can we?”

  “Because you’ll get a sunburn?” Luke asked, half laughing.

  “Precisely,” King Eugene stated, looking back down at his chessboard.

  Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise and Autumn had to force back a laugh.

  The Observation Chambers

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Experiments?” Kyndel exclaimed in horror. “Are you insane?”

  Sheldon the vampire waited in the shadows for Autumn and Luke to explain the situation to the rest of the Warriors before they were to be taken to the observation chambers.

  “I told you,” Autumn said trying to repress her obvious dislike. “No one has to do this if they don’t want to, but Luke and I and whoever wants to volunteer will be doing this so the vampires will consider helping us fight Vyra and Victor. Anyone who doesn’t want to participate can just camp here and wait. Although, I don’t know exactly how long this is going to take.”

  The other Warriors exchanged hesitant glances, unsure what exactly the “experiments” would consist of. Autumn had to admit that she was a little wary of that herself, but she put on a brave face anyway.

  “So, who’s with us?” Luke asked.

  Avery and Crystal stepped forward at once, followed by Lucian, Eden, Forrest, Charlotte, and Jastin. It took a little longer for Edric, Jack, and Willow to join them, but they did. Ember and Kyndel were the only ones left behind, shuffling their feet and looking at the ground.

  “Are you two staying?” Autumn asked, not particularly caring one way or the other.

  Kyndel looked up at her and then scanned the rest of the Warriors, who were now standing behind Autumn and Luke.

  “Come on, Kyn. It’ll be fine,” Charlotte said gently.

  Kyndel frowned and then sighed, finally stepping forward to join the others. Ember remained behind with her arms folded across her chest.

  “You coming?” Autumn asked.

  “This is ridiculous,” Ember said. “We should just forget about the damn vampires and keep going. Why should we have to submit ourselves to this? It’s completely degrading.” Smoke was beginning to furl out of her closed palms as it always did when she got angry. Her amber eyes looked like burning coals.

  “You don’t have to come. You can just—”

  “Stay here by myself and get eaten by a vampire? I don’t think so,” she spit, small flames shooting from her fingertips.

  “Then quit complaining so we can get it over with,” Crystal said.

  Luke, Avery, and Autumn turned to look at her in surprise. Crystal was usually so sweet and non-confrontational. After Luke brought Ember to the ball, though, her sweet side seemed to diminish whenever the redhead was around.

  “Excuse me?” Ember said with a sharp edge in her voice.

  Crystal flashed her a cold glare. “Did I stutter?”

  “You little—” Ember began as she shot a jet of flames at Crystal, which Edric immediately blocked with his Shield.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Lucian said in a stern voice. “Honestly. Sometimes I think they should really consider changing the age limit for Quinns.”

  Crystal and Ember continued to shoot daggers with their eyes, but they desisted from physically attacking one another. Both of their fists remained tightly clenched by their sides.

  Avery, Luke, and Autumn exchanged amused glances as they turned to trek back to the main vampire cave. They brought the pegasi to the vampire animal keeper who assured the Warriors that the winged horses would be in good hands.

  “Are you sure they don’t suck animal blood?” Autumn muttered to Lucian.

  “Pretty sure.”

  “Pretty sure?”

  Sheldon had told Autumn that they would be able to bring their
bows and arrows to the observation chambers because King Eugene wanted the study to be as authentic as possible. If elves used bows and arrows to hunt or attack, he wanted to see that. So the Warriors all carried their own sheaths full of arrows and slung their bows over their shoulders. The group became slowly quieter as they neared the vampire cave.

  Ember stalked behind the group, mumbling angrily under her breath, and Crystal moved to walk beside Autumn. Her jaw was clenched as she glared straight ahead.

  “You okay?” Autumn asked her.

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t let her get to you. She’s not worth it.”

  Crystal took a deep breath and let it slowly out. “You’re right,” she said. “She just makes me so—ugh!”

  “Trust me. I understand,” Autumn said, shooting a glance at Kyndel who happened to be looking her way and arched an eyebrow at the seemingly random unfriendly look.

  When they reached the vampire cave, Sheldon was waiting for them within the shadows. Autumn saw some of the others exchanging amused glances at the vampire’s less-than-intimidating appearance. Like Eugene and the vampire who’d led them into the cave, Sheldon wore thick glasses. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that they were constantly in the darkness and their eyes had to strain to see things.

  The vampire had the same pasty white skin as the others and larger than average front teeth, making the size of his fangs appear less menacing. He seemed to be sizing the Warriors up as well, wearing a slightly surprised expression. They must have looked more intimidating in a group with their matching Warrior uniforms and weapons slung over their shoulders. Whatever these vampires had been told about elves, it clearly wasn’t an accurate description. Well, they weren’t exactly the big, scary, bat-like creatures they’d been made out to be either. Misconceptions galore in the Underground.

  Sheldon led the elves into the depths of the cave, all of the Warriors marveling at the torches that lit and extinguished themselves at the slightest sign of movement. Sheldon took the elves down a different passage from the one Luke and Autumn had traversed to see King Eugene. This passage was quite a bit larger than the others. Autumn looked up, but saw only darkness.