Chloe looked down at the sprawling slopes of Gomorrah.
"Christ it's gotten bigger." She muttered under her breath. The city was teeming with people, it had walls now – not just around the perimeter but gating the city off into segments. They saw proper buildings with tiled roofs and washing hanging from the windows, not just people living in ruins. The people of Solemn cheered, crying and hugging each other.
"We've made it!" They celebrated. Civilisation, safety – the promised land...
They'd been traveling at a snail's pace, vulnerable to attack and running low on food. The weakest hadn't made it and six had died on the journey – five they'd buried. One they hadn't. Somewhere out there, the warlock Pan had been dumped in a ditch, to rot and feed the birds.
Little Mason buried his face in the crook of Chloe's neck, startled by the noise and she held him closer.
"So that's Gomorrah, huh." Roxanne commented, standing at her side. They were the only two not happy. Chloe looked over her shoulder back at the convoy. She knew that they were keeping Ryder in the larger jeep – she knew but she hadn't been able to see him. The soldiers had kept him hidden and sedated.
Roxanne released a shaky breath. Chloe met her gaze and blinked back tears of her own. Re-adjusting her hold on Mason, she reached out and held Roxanne's hands. The girls were tanned and burnt now, with blisters and bites across their arms and legs. Roxanne's forehead was peeling badly, the flesh burnt raw and her lips were dry and cracked. Chloe's eye was puffed up with a dark bruise and blood had crusted and dried in her filthy clothing.
"Get moving." A man shouted at them, smacking Chloe across the back with a stick. She gasped in pain, instinctively putting up a hand to shield Mason's head. Roxanne quickly starting walking, her hands covering her baby girl. Roxanne had carried baby Mabel in a makeshift sling across her body throughout the long march.The child's stone skin seemed untroubled by the baking sunshine. Chloe started walking, not looking around to see who had hit her. She held her chin high, sweat shining on her brow.
In the haze of hot air meeting the dry soil, they made out medic vehicles headed in their direction. Rylan called Roxanne and Chloe to a halt.
"Put down the child." He directed Chloe. She glared at him. His gaze was averted – unable to look her in the eye.
"Rylan-"
"Put him down." He barked roughly. Chloe complied, setting Mason gently on the ground but putting him behind her so that she stood protectively between him and Rylan.
"Rylan, we were friends once. Weren't we?"
"Hands together."
"You're going to tie me to the car again?!" Chloe's temper snapped. "I'm not a bloody slave for you to parade in triumph."
He grabbed her wrists, restraining them with one hand as he roughly tied them with the other.
"No, you're a traitor."
A tear slid down her dirty face.
"They'll kill me, they'll kill me if you tell them that. Are you ok with that?" Her gaze was pleading. Rylan finally looked her in the eye and his glare was cold.
"I tell them that, that I've caught all these traitors. And I'll get a promotion."
She spat at him.
"No, Chloe!" Roxanne's eyes widened in horror. Chloe's spit glistened on Rylan's nose.
Rylan threw Chloe to the ground. Roxanne grabbed Mason, pulling him out the way as Rylan started kicking Chloe. Mason howled, tears rolling down his flushed cheeks.
"Please stop." Roxanne pleaded with Rylan, struggling to hold onto a struggling Mason and her baby. "Please, please!" She called over and over. Rylan seemed not to hear her, he kept kicking – his gaze wild and his lips pulled back into a fierce grin as blood sprayed up over his shins.
**
Lucjan leant against the chest of drawers, appraising Margaux with a fierce scowl. She stared mutely down at her feet. In a snap of fury, he lashed out – striking her across the face.
"You crazy bitch," he spat angrily. Margaux made no reaction – her shoulders slumped dejectedly in defeat. "Who else did you talk too?!" He roared. She seemed ignore him. Snarling, he seized her by the shoulders and roughly shook her. "Who else knows?!"
There was a knock on the bedroom door before it swiftly swung open. "Not now." Lucajn snapped.
"Sorry, but the captain wants you."
Lucjan hadn't eased his grip on Margaux's shoulders.
"Not now," he repeated, his stern gaze never leaving Margaux.
"He was very clear, sir. I'm sorry – but you have to come, now."
The urgency in the mans tone stole Lucjan's attention. Frowning, he turned to face the young vampire. A glance at Frederick's anxious expression was enough. Dread sunk deep into Lucjan's belly.
"What's happened?" He glanced back at Margaux, had he caught her too late? Was the vampires secret out? He followed young Frederick out of the room, locking the bedroom door shut behind him once they were in the hallway.
From this side of the door he could still hear Margaux with his vampires heightened senses. He could hear the rapid pounding of her heart. He heard the breath she sharply exhaled as she sank to the ground, her trembling legs finally giving way beneath her. Satisfied, he gave Frederick his full attention.
"She's been found, the captain's missing cousin." Frederick spoke rapidly, in a low tone that an eavesdropper would struggle to make out.
"Lauren Fox, I thought she'd been confirmed as dead." Lucjan's quick mind was already racing ahead. For now, he had the most influence with the Captain of Sanguinem guard. Jordan pretty much exclusively only listened to him. The sudden appearance of a cousin might endanger that...
"There's more, she was found with the monster Ryder. He's been captured."
Lucjan was quick on the uptake.
"Found with – as in his hostage or... his accomplice?"
Frederick nodded, Lucjan had cracked the problem. Lucjan's frown eased. Jordan needed him. He couldn't have his cousin's name mixed up with Ryders. Lucjan swept down the hallway with Frederick following closely behind.
"We need to silence the news that the captain has found his cousin. It must be kept quiet for... a couple of months - then we can release it later – with no connection to Ryder. And all those who know different either silenced or dealt with."
They descended the staircase, Lucjan called for his underlings to watch Margaux while he was out.
"Apparently she got an infection of something on the journey. I haven't seen her but the captain sent for your brother."
Lucjan nodded.
"Good." His brother could be trusted to keep quiet. "Who found her?"
"Captain Grey – he brought the captives along with refugees who he liberated from the imp territories."
Lucjan donned on a jacket that had been draped over the banister.
"Hmmm," Lucjan pondered this. "I want to confirm with him reports that the imps have retreated."
Frederick nodded, ready to leave in search of Grey. "Grey was in Snow's team, the hybrid. Where's he?"
"Dead, sir. No information on how yet, sir."
"Finally, some good news." Lucjan muttered under his breath. He had one foot out of the front door when he froze suddenly. "There was a woman in that team also." Frederick couldn't see Lucjan's face but his tone had shifted. "Chloe Wilder – any news of her?"
Frederick shook his head.
"I don't know, sir."
"Found out about her first." Lucjan directed. Frederick frowned, unsure why that would be the priority.
"Yes, sir."
Lucjan hesitated, seeming about to say something. Changing his mind, he ran - the sudden swift motion causing the hanging flowers to swing overhead.
Lucjan disappeared into the twilight. Frederick saw a glimpse of him up on the rooftops but then he blurred with the shadows. Frederick stared after him for a moment, his dead heart filled with admiration. Lucjan was his idol, the bravest and most ruthless of the vampires. Frederick's ears pricked at a sound from above and he looked up and caught sight of Margaux in the window. He glared up at her.
Margaux flinched back from the glass. Margaux had only recently become Lucjan's woman – if she'd betrayed him then she was an enemy, in Frederick's eyes. His fangs extended and he hissed threateningly. Resisting the urge to frighten that faithless girl, he swept across the lawn – striding purposefully in the direction of the military quarters.
*
Gomorrah was alive with the news.
"The monster, the monster's been caught."
"They're saying Ryder's been caught."
"He's dead."
"He's not dead but he's been captured."
The news was spreading like wildfire. The Solemn refugees had been quarantined by medics for a health check, those that had passed were just now being allowed beyond the first gate quarantine and they were talking already. Sharing the news. Ezra Ryder had been captured.
"Burn him!"
"Hang him!"
"Kill the traitors!"
Chloe couldn't see, the soldiers had put a bag over her head – but she could hear the growing crowd. She staggered against her captors, struggling against their grip. Mason had been holding onto the hem of her jacket, gripping as tightly as his little fist could manage, but they'd been separated at the First gate.
During the long march she'd become a kind of parent to him, protecting him. She'd heard him crying as they'd been pulled apart but now she couldn't hear him anymore. She looked around blindly.
"Mason!" She called over the shouting "Roxanne!" No one called back. She was all alone.
The captors hoisted her off the ground as they climbed a set of steps. Her feet knocked against the steps, stubbing her toes. Blood seeped into the bag caused the rough material to cling to her nose and mouth. "Anyone?" She called out weakly, her head spinning.