I turned and came face-to-face with an armed vampire. "Just wanted to see what's going on, sir."
He grabbed my shirt and pulled me close. "We told you—wait a minute. You don't smell human." His eyes went wide and he opened his mouth.
A gray hand gripped his throat and squeezed. The vampire struggled, but couldn't dislodge the hand. I walloped him in the face and he went limp. Katie took the rifle from his shoulder and slung it over hers.
"Carry him," I told the golem. "We can't leave him here."
The gray man tossed the unconscious vampire over his shoulder.
Somehow, we made it to the short tunnel and emerged in the middle of overflowing dumpsters. Despite Felicia's assurances, I spotted an arm poking out from one and shuddered.
The gray man tossed his unconscious passenger in an open dumpster and closed the lid.
"Where is Felicia?" Katie said, looking around the dumpsters while pinching her nose tight.
I checked the time. We were five minutes past due, but surely that wasn't enough time for her to assume something terrible had gone wrong and go looking for us, was it? Katie vanished behind a dumpster. A moment later she made an excited noise and reappeared.
"I found the exit Underborn told me about and opened it. We can go."
"Not without Adam's sister."
"At least don't stand out in the open—" Katie's mouth dropped open.
Amanda and a cluster of vampires rounded the corner, guns drawn. Some had rifles. Others held pistols. They all looked ready for blood.
Chapter 20
Elyssa
Fausta clenched her fists. "Punishment? Commander, have you ever known me to do something stupid for no reason?"
He shook his head. "And that's what has me so puzzled. You were on track to become an officer. But you've thrown it all away by recklessly acting on misguided notions. You'll be lucky to ever make up for it." Christian turned his gaze on Elyssa. "And you." He shook his head. "You've been given more chances than most."
Meghan appeared with Healer Delgado in tow. "Before you condemn these loyal Templars, perhaps you should defer to the experts, Commander."
He looked at Healer Delgado. "Do you have anything to add?"
The woman looked a bit off balance, Elyssa thought. Hardly surprising considering what Meghan might have told her on the way over.
"I'd like to hear a full recitation of events," Healer Delgado said after taking in the faces of the others in the group. "Healer Andretti explained a few things on the way over, but I'm afraid my mind is a bit discombobulated from all the commotion."
Christian set his jaw but let Elyssa explain everything, including her own experience with taking the White and the dreams she'd had about the house with fog and rain in the back and sunshine in the front. She also gave the healer the inside scoop on Daelissa, the blonde so-called angel whose sanity seemed to hang by a thread.
"Why have I heard nothing about this Daelissa person being the Divinity?" Delgado said. "My god, if everything Recruit Borathen says is true, we're in terrible danger."
"Our discovery about Daelissa was very recent," Christian said. "Commander Borathen and I were discussing how to proceed with the information. As you can imagine, this revelation would be a shock to Templars."
The healer's eyes tightened. "Better to shock them now than lead them to their deaths, Commander. We need to question everyone and discover if these dreams are plaguing anyone else, or if they're limited to Lieutenant Martinez."
"But they're just dreams," Christian said, shaking his head. "I can't recall and abort a mission based solely on one officer's unusual dreams."
"Wait," Elyssa said with a gasp. "Did you say recall? You mean, the assets are already in the field?"
Christian paused as if considering whether he should answer the question, but relented. "Commander Borathen got wind of Artemis's unofficial visit and knew he might try to stop our offensive. In case you hadn't noticed, nearly half the legion isn't here. We sent the stealth teams ahead and the remainder of the force is waiting in the wings."
"Crap!" Elyssa's chest tightened. "You have to recall them now. They're walking into an ambush."
"What is going on over here?" Thomas Borathen said in a low voice as he pushed into the circle. He looked Elyssa and the others over with his cold blue eyes.
Christian pondered the question for a moment before turning to Elyssa. "Perhaps you should explain. Again."
Elyssa wanted to throttle him. "We don't have time. When are they going in? Is it too late?"