Revolution (The Risen Series Book 2)

Chapter 12 ~ Old Friends

Chapter 12: Old Friends
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"You've got to be shitting me," I muttered, staring up at the ruins of the Colosseum. But the blond vampire kept going, slipping through the gate with its lock dangling off. So now we could add breaking and entering to our list of broken human laws.

Atanas stopped too, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. He'd been a vampire when this place was built, I had no doubt it brought back memories. This had to be some sort of cruel joke on Titus' part.

I made no move to follow until Atanas took the lead. The blond vampire waited for us impatiently, his head flicking from the large archway entrance to where we hesitated.

"Always one for theatrics," Atanas muttered with a shake of his head. He placed his hand on my back, urging me to follow him inside.

There was nothing to light our way through one of the tunnels, but then of course there wasn't. Lights would alert the city that we were here and humans didn't take kindly to trespassers. Bricks scraped at my sleeves and my fingers gripped the back of Atanas' jacket, the only sign of my fear. The dark made the walls feel like they were closing in around me and my breathing became laboured.

Eventually, after a few twists and turns, we were lead out into the open. We stood on what was left of the arena, the star studded sky above us. I could hear the beat of slow hearts coming from the ruins beneath our feet. I frowned, peering off the edge of the arena to see a maze of what looked like tunnels and collapsing columns.

"The Hypogeum," Atanas murmured from next to me. "It's where the gladiators, animals and the like were kept before being brought up to the arena."

That made my stomach twist. It must have been dark and dirty down there with no sign of windows or doors I could see. That reminded me too much of Airell's dungeon; I was sure it had seen as much blood and heard enough screams. A soft wind blew, an eerie groaning sound echoing around us and I shuddered. The scent of vampires was on the breeze.

A slow clap from above had me turning around. The vampire I guessed to be Titus stood in what was left of the crumbling stands, looking down at us. He was dressed in an odd blue tunic and he looked every bit the Roman noble of the old days. I was almost surprised he didn't wear a crown of golden laurals on his head.

Shadows moved around us, Titus' vampires circling like wolves. I forced myself to breathe slowly and stand tall, confident. Atanas barely glanced at them, either too focussed on his reunion with Titus or knowing he could take them all out with ease. From what I could sense, a few had an aura of one close to becoming an ancient, but Atanas was still the most powerful here. Most of them had to be closer to my age and younger. I could overpower them.

When my hand slid to my dagger, there was a shift in the air. Atanas glanced at me, subtly shaking his head, and I forced myself to release the hilt.

My attention flicked back up when Titus raised his arms as if preparing to address the whole arena and the air seemed to stilled. The vampires around us were watching their master now. I relaxed only slightly, keeping myself on the balls of my feet.

"Do you remember, Atanas?" Titus called out, bracing himself on the edge of the reconstructed balcony. "The roar of the crowd, the clash of weapons, the audience vying for blood? We watched many men and women die here."

"We watched two of our friends burn here," Atanas growled back, sweeping his arm around where we stood.

The smirk slipped from Titus' face only slightly and I imagined I could see a small flash of pain contort his expression. His voice came out less jovial now. "Yes. That couldn't have been avoided. You know that as well as I."