Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 30

Hi!

Anna is in a lot of trouble. Again. And this time she might not be able to talk her way out of it. Read and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.

Lara

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Chapter 30

"How long will it take us to get to the airport?"

I said it without looking at Alexander directly, afraid to catch a glimpse of him wiping his bloody mouth. Not that I was sure it was bloody. He drained the blood bag faster than you could say 'Holy witch'.

Thanks to Marco showing up the crisis was over, but I still didn't trust Alexander. Warily, I watched him from the corner of my eye. He walked over to the window and parted the curtains a few inches, peering out.

"Not more than half an hour, maybe less. Zack and George will come to meet us at the airport afterwards."

"Do you think there will be another attack?" I played with my fingers, debating with myself whether I was going to eat the rest of the bagel Marco had delivered or not. Difficult business anywhere I looked.

The sound of his laugh was sardonic. "They would be utter fools to even try. Nightfall has come. Our powers are unrestricted. Besides, the Cellinis are well aware of the danger they are in now. I do not think anybody could harm them at this point in time."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they already pulled it off at the banquet," I interjected.

"They did. But you seem to forget that the moment of surprise was in our opponents' possession then. This clearly is no more the case. And I can assure you that there will be condign vengeance for the offense that has been taken."

The vampire's voice was spine-chilling, cold enough to hammer home just how dangerous it was to have him as an enemy. Not that I needed reminding.

The head vampire turned around abruptly. "Come now. Finish your breakfast, little witch. We will have to leave soon."

* * *

Philadelphia turned out to be one of the biggest airports I had ever seen. The shiny behemoth of a building was an indistinguishable mass of doors and glass planes. People were hurrying past us towards one of the three automatically-controlled entrance doors at the front, planes buzzing through the air like slick and steely birds – rising and descending at minute intervals. We walked through the doors leading directly into the glass-enclosed lobby. Inside men in business suits and small trolleys were passing by, swept forward in a messy caravan of human flesh. Different accents and languages from Russia, China, no, from all over the world flew past me. Colors of all kinds were smeared across garments and clothing of the people rushing toward the departure halls of the airport.

I closed my eyes, opened myself to second vision, and plunged into the grayness of auratic sight. Whether translucent or a shade of red, the auras were like pulsating dots, dancing in the halls of this huge area. I released a breath I had been holding when I realized that there were no red auras with dark spots. Either the rogues had done the only sensible thing and retreated, or we had managed to reach the airport undetected.

The auras of the Cellinis, meanwhile, were wafting all over the place. Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs couldn't have possibly been a more obvious trail to find their way through the fleshly wood around us.

I opened my eyes again, the real world slamming into me with unsettling intensity. Taking a peek into the auratic reading of the place had cost time. I found myself stumbling forward to catch up with my short-term travel party. Slightly out of breath, I followed them further into the departure lounge.