To Kill a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,11
its heavy breath fans against Ayden’s perfectly combed hair. My friend holds his hands behind his back in a stiff but compliant gesture, his heart pounding wildly through the night.
The veil opens its thin mouth, the monster’s attention settling on Asher. Faintly I can hear Asher’s heartbeat, a steady, natural and almost pleasant sound within his chest. It gives a single sniff toward the hybrid, probably recognizing Asher’s scent immediately.
Within myself, however, nothing but silence fills my veins.
Large, bulging eyes seek me out and shift unseeingly over my body. The veil inhales loudly from just a few feet away, its spindling body arching out to close the distance between us. An unsure but violent shriek slips over the creature’s thin lips as Asher and I keep our stance at the edge of the sea, ready to jump in at any moment. Another scraping and skittering noise fills the air high, high above us, my fist tightening even more against the hilt of the sword.
Ayden takes a single step toward Asher and me, his hands held out in a submissive gesture. The veil appears almost confused as it shifts its blind attention from the human to me.
One of these things is not like the other …
With reluctant steps it begins to ascend the barricade. With abnormal and quick movements, it pulls itself up to whatever rests at the top of this eerie wall.
A slow sigh escapes Ayden’s lips, the tension slipping from his shoulders as he stares up at the unseen home of the veil. A heavy breath leaves my body, the tension uncoiling from within my chest the moment it’s out of sight.
We turn and I realize what the veil were guarding. The wall ends abruptly, opening into the city. Ayden leads us past the wall and through the side alleys of the city. Infinite street lamps light our path, and my gaze shifts over every leaf that blows in the wind. There’s too much light here. Too many possible peering eyes …
“It’s just a little farther,” Ayden tells us in a hushed tone, his back hunched slightly as if he might disappear into the well-lit street.
Asher’s cape brushes against mine as he leans into me. “You ever get the feeling that something is a trap?”
My eyes close tightly before I nudge him and his negativity away with a sharp elbow.
The beautiful and overly perfect houses begin to disperse, and I can tell what he said is true. We’re close.
A hundred feet of crisp green grass separates us from a white, domed building. Shining glass windows etch the midsection of the semicircular structure and perfectly trimmed trees outline the estate. Bright lights emit from the ground, shining up on the Capitol, highlighting its every detail.
“The president will be here at this time of night?” I ask, my boots faltering against the asphalt, almost afraid to step foot on the intense green lawn.
“She didn’t always, but there are new and invaluable things here she wants to keep a close eye on.”
My head tilts at him as I consider what could possibly be so valuable to the president.
“We’re going to enter through the back basement door. It isn’t a visible entrance, and guards won’t be there.”
Without a response I trail after him, Asher keeping pace at my side.
The back of the building is shrouded in darkness, as if all the grandeur was saved for the front. We scurry along the soft ground, not a single leaf blemishes the plush grass. Ivy streams along the white brickwork, seamlessly weaving over the building. Ayden pauses at two immaculately trimmed shrubs and pushes at the thin branches until he’s behind them.
“This way,” he whispers as he begins to descend an unseen staircase.
Asher’s warm hand rests on my lower back as he leads me forward, holding the limbs back for me to pass through the shrubbery. The thin branches scrape my sides, pushing my cloak back and scratching at my flesh as I make my way through them.
Carefully I reposition the cloak, making sure I’m safely hidden away before I begin trailing after Ayden. The stairwell is dark. My boots echo against the concrete steps.
At the bottom, Ayden unlocks an old, worn door that doesn’t appear to have been opened for several decades. The hinges protest when he opens it and a screeching sound attacks the silence. My shoulders tense as I look around into the unlit basement. Asher slowly closes the door behind us, shrouding us entirely in darkness.
Only the faint and covered light of