Darklight 7: Darkfall Read online

  “Good to see you alive and well, Lyra and Dorian.” Gomez wore a tight smile, reaching out to shake my hand. “I’m sorry about the welcome committee; things have changed around here. I’ll explain as we go. Everyone has been discussing your disappearance—well, that, and politics. Arlonne, nice to see you well again.” He glanced to Ruk and Sen after letting Dorian go from a handshake. His eyes lingered on them, but he managed to keep a straight face. Perhaps after vampires, Ruk and Sen appeared relatively normal. “Am I free to offer these newcomers a handshake?”

  Arlonne grunted. “They’re fine with just not being shot, thanks.”

  Gomez, ever the diplomat, rolled with the punches. His gaze rested another moment on Ruk and Sen. Their unique appearances, robes and all, looked completely out of place against the color palette of the Mortal Plane.

  “We’ll also explain as we go,” I offered. He gave a dry smile of acknowledgement at his own words being returned to him.

  “Sounds good.” He led us off the tarmac. "We'll head for the command center so I can take you to Commander Ruiz. I'll need to track her down." Her hard work had clearly gained her a promotion.

  "You can start by explaining the guns, and the threats about executing vampires," Dorian said sharply. He clearly wasn’t happy to have left as an ally and returned as an enemy.

  Gomez gave a sideways frown. "It's an unfortunate political situation right now. The revenant attacks caused everything to break down. Vampire relations have deteriorated. Most major governments have issued orders for all vampires to be detained or killed on sight, and the United States has outlawed contact with any vampires except to Bureau employees, but new vampires can still be detained or executed if they haven't been processed." He sighed heavily as we made our way onto the campus. A few passing soldiers gaped at Ruk and Sen. "All vampires must now sign an agreement to follow the laws set by the United States government. They must also agree to be accompanied by an authorized Bureau handler at all times."

  The news hit me like a slap in the face. Things had deteriorated even worse since we returned to the Immortal Plane. I slid my gaze to Dorian. The only bright bit of luck was that technically I could be his Bureau handler in all this. I would mention as much to him at a better time. His eyes were sad and his muscles tense after hearing the news. Arlonne glared at the campus and any soldier who made eye contact with her. She crossed her arms as we made our way to the main HQ building. Of all the vampires, Arlonne had the most reason to be wary of the Bureau treating vampires inhumanely. It was my own uncle who oversaw the experiments with Arlonne that took her arm.

  "The revenants must have been incredibly destructive, for it to get to this point," Dorian muttered.

  "Oh, you don't know the half of it, but I'll get there," Gomez said, with a melancholy air. He seemed beaten down by the past few months. "It was sudden. As I'm sure Arlonne can tell you, it's not a policy that we had the last time she was here."

  "Not at all," Arlonne said with a growl. "I'm disappointed."

  "As am I," Gomez chimed in. "It's caused an incredible amount of difficulty and raised tensions between us and our valued allies. I hated it, but there was no vote. The president made it an executive order. He didn’t want to take any chances, now that public opinion has vastly shifted against vampires. I'm getting ahead of myself. The government has chosen to respond to the revenants because they’re clearly the catalyst for the destruction, but as I'm sure you remember, it's humans who are committing the majority of crimes. The revenants start by smashing things and starting fires, but they leave something terrible in their wake. We have no idea how they're doing it, but there's a clear pattern. The humans only come out of their trance several hours after committing the crime."

  Last time in the LA HQ, I watched the news report on revenant attacks. They showed up, and suddenly, humans started committing crimes. Riots broke out all across the globe. The blinking red dots on Irrikus's map must have been busy during these past few months.

  “So, the humans were in some strange stupor?" I asked. “What do they say afterward?”

  "They don't remember anything about what they were doing or why. A handful remembered vampires talking to them, but there's no official record of that happening, nothing on CCTV to support it. The media had a field day because it had the perfect makings of a conspiracy. These few humans described themselves as being under a type of hypnosis where they had no control over what they were doing. Our researchers have told us this is the first instance of Immortal technology being used successfully in the Mortal Plane, and they have no idea how to combat it. Some humans are having mental breakdowns after being informed of what they've done. Schools and public gatherings were cancelled for the first month, and the government instituted severe restrictions on vampires," Gomez relayed as he led us to the main building. "With vampires causing humans to stir up trouble everywhere, public opinion and the media turned against us. The revenants find a way to conceal their gems during these interactions, making them impossible to differentiate from regular vampires. We have protests from anti-vampire and anti-Bureau activists calling us traitors for continuing to work with vampires."

  My heart sank with disappointment on hearing that. Reshi explained the gems had a powerful, complex tethering magic between controllers and revenants. Zach likened it to a cell phone connection of sorts.

  “Something so complex to wield that much magic in the Mortal Plane,” I muttered in disbelief. “It should be impossible.”

  “Impossible, and yet they’ve managed it,” Gomez said. “Our researchers have a theory. We think magic usually can’t work in the Mortal Plane because dark energy isn’t a loose form in the environment. It had to be channeled through the X-75s in a highly sophisticated manner that took years of research. It seems to be that the magic being pushed through vampires super-loaded with dark energy allows the rulers to work from a distance. We’re still not sure how they did it, but our researchers are hard at work.”

  Everything we had worked so hard for in the beginning appeared to have evaporated in our absence. The pattern was reminiscent of how the rulers had operated indirectly in the past, using their persuasion to infiltrate the Mortal Plane by establishing a stronghold with the old Bureau board. Since the rulers couldn’t come to this plane physically, they were using revenants to do their dirty work for them.

  "That's devastating," Dorian said stonily. "The rulers use sway in a similar way. The trance you're talking about makes me think of the way some rulers can command people, just by using their voices."

  Gomez raised an eyebrow, stopping before the back door of the main building. A soldier stationed by the door watched us as Gomez got out his security card to swipe. "Well, that's not good," Gomez muttered. "If these vampires are under mind control, do you think it's possible that they're using the rulers' powers while in the Mortal Plane? Is that even possible? I always imagined their connection to the vampires like a radio signal, and figured it got weaker with the revenants so far away."

  Arlonne shook her head abruptly and tapped the center of her forehead. "They don't lose any connection strength with those gems." She was right. The gems allowed the controllers of the revenants to do as they pleased. It must have offered such a strong connection that rulers, who all possessed the abilities of sway to varying degrees, could use it even from another plane. My neurons fired off in a frenzy as Gomez showed us inside. We needed to report how grave the situation was to Gomez and Ruiz.

  "There's something we should tell you," I said, and we paused in the hallway. “We should really speak to Ruiz immediately, too.”

  Gomez sucked in air. “She’s in back-to-back meetings with international officials. Sorry, I know you’ve come a long way, but she’s been waiting for some of these meetings for as long as you’ve been gone.”

  It was hard to hear that we would have to wait, but Gomez had always been trustworthy. I explained as best as I could the story that Dorian and I had told our friends, introducing Ruk and Sen p
roperly now that we were safe indoors. Gomez stared at the newcomers with interest, especially when I mentioned that Ruk might be our ticket to healing the tear and the barrier. We had help from powerful beings now and could be looking at an end to the Immortal Council.

  Dorian waited for me to finish and added, "We're here to gather allies, Captain Gomez. Our goal is decisive action."

  Gomez crossed his arms and gave us all a pensive look. "I'm glad you guys are here. Commander Ruiz will be interested to hear this. She'll be excited that someone finally has a plan of action, but I have to warn you that things at the Bureau have greatly changed. We're suffering under the full weight of complicated international politics. Bryce's project of moving vampire refugees from the Immortal Plane across international borders to the VAMPS camp has even been threatened with cancellation. He’s managed to do some good work, but there are still refugees waiting to be taken over. The last I heard from Bravi was that they had even more vampires showing up at the Coalition camp. You have to realize that out of the original group taken, only about ninety percent successfully made it to Scotland even after three months. Things work incredibly slowly when it comes to an international crisis like this, and the turn against vampires slammed the brakes on everything."

  I froze at the shocking news. All our hard work to get the refugees out, and they might not even make it to VAMPS camp? I'd die before letting any refugee we’d brought from the Immortal Plane go into a detainment camp to be executed. It was exactly what the original Bureau had planned with their "experiment" that had started this journey. Arlonne let out a grunt of discontent, clearly also displeased to hear that Bryce's mission might be compromised.

  Gomez paused to check in with another soldier for a moment. They spoke in hushed tones, but Dorian must have caught the exchange with his superior hearing, because he sighed. Gomez came back to inform us that Ruiz was in a meeting at the moment with the current board of the Bureau.

  "I'll get her to meet with you as soon as possible," Gomez promised. He looked us over with a sympathetic air. Dorian was still exhausted from our trip, and I wasn't much better after the depressing news. "Would you like to rest, in the meantime? Or at least go see your friends?"

  Though I’d just been wishing for a rest, my mind suddenly jerked back to the memory of the tear's violent resistance and fight against us on our journey. The threat of the tear melding, the risk of oncoming deaths that might be preventable, everything… A rest suddenly seemed unappealing. I glanced at Dorian, who looked too wired to relax.

  "I suppose we don't have a choice," I admitted. “If Ruiz is busy until tomorrow, we can catch up with people while we wait.” I hung on to my ID card that the soldier handed me earlier. Gomez tapped it.

  "Let's get you guys some updated paperwork at the administration office. I'll get papers for your friends," he offered.

  Sen looked at him with a frown. "We must travel with papers?"

  Gomez blinked in surprise, perhaps not expecting the strange blue woman to talk to him. "Yes, you'll need them, too. I'm afraid my men won’t distinguish between vampires and other beings from the Immortal Plane when it comes to the regulations. You'll have to carry them on you at all times. Lyra can serve as your escort under my authorization, so try to stay out of trouble."

  We followed him to the office. My ID was updated. They let me keep my old photo, thankfully, because my wild braid sticking out every which way and a face smudged with smoke from our trip through the tear would have rendered a new photo essentially useless. I was then appointed to be an official Bureau handler of vampires. I elbowed Dorian playfully when the kind woman handed me my new badge.

  "I'm your bodyguard," I told him and winked. Arlonne let out a scoff, but it was with good humor. Gomez chuckled as he handed me the papers for everyone in the group. I offered to carry everyone's papers, because the other four seemed highly uninterested in being laden with them. This was truly disappointing. I'd hoped for a better welcome for Ruk and Sen to see. This is one way to show off the Mortal Plane’s worst side…

  "I can show you to a break room," Gomez offered. "Or I can take you to your other friends."

  "Our friends, please," I said immediately, knowing that some of our Coalition friends were still at LA HQ. He showed me on the campus map where they'd quartered our friends and allies, in a spare hospitality building where they evidently also worked.

  Great. We could find support for our plan, reconnect, and make sure our loved ones were safe. My spirits lifted with a new happiness as I wondered who was still in the LA HQ.

  "Imagine needing a paper to say you can walk around," Sen said, unable to let go of the strangeness of it. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be offended.

  "They do things differently in the Mortal Plane," Ruk replied. "I could do without all the mean-faced individuals with guns."

  I was about to throw in my apologies when we rounded the corner of the Coalition's temporary housing. A door opened, and the sound of two people talking hit my ear. Dorian grinned.

  The first voice was loud. "I'm telling you, there's no way that rumor is true. Lyra is here with red and blue people? The canteen guy is pulling your leg. I bet one of the new guys put him up to it."

  Tears sprang to my eyes automatically upon hearing that voice. Zach's face appeared out of the front door. His curly hair was longer than it had been when I last saw him. He must’ve been too vain to get a haircut, like usual. His brown eyes caught my gaze. In his arms, he was holding a box. It fell to the ground.

  “Zach?” Gina trailed him out of the room, staring at the box and then seeing our group. She gasped as Zach leapt over the box and down the three steps leading to the door. I extended my arms, and he enveloped me in a giant bear hug. The salt from my tears burned my eyes as I greeted him. I’d missed him terribly. I knew he could take care of himself, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to be there for him. And deep down, I knew he must’ve worried more than me, considering my mysterious disappearance over the last few months. Once again, I ran off into danger and worried my family.

  “You beautiful, terrible idiot sister,” Zach cried as he whirled me around. “I thought you were dead!” He pulled away from me, and I saw his eyes swimming with tears of his own. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  I pulled him back in for another hug before releasing him. “I missed you so much. I’m sorry.”

  Gina came up behind me and wrapped me in her own hug. Zach pulled himself in of his own accord to form a group hug. It was warm, and everything I needed at that moment. I hadn’t realized how deeply I missed them until we were all together. Sen and Ruk watched on the sidelines.

  “Do they often do this?” Sen asked Dorian. Zach turned to Dorian, pointing an accusing finger.

  “You,” he blurted. “Did you abduct Lyra into your schemes, again? I thought better of you, Dorian.” His voice was half mirthful, half serious. It was like he couldn’t decide whether to be gleeful about our return or furious about our original disappearance.

  Dorian eyed Ruk, who placed a hand on his chest and did a mock bow.

  “My apologies,” Ruk said. “It was my scheme.” Zach stared openly at his red skin, and Gina made a valiant attempt at subtler staring.

  “You were the one who came to the battle,” Gina breathed. “I remember your purple eyes.”

  “You took my sister?” Zach asked. Now that the blame had shifted from Dorian, he gave Ruk a scowl. “Why?”

  Arlonne smirked, clearly enjoying watching the arbiters get grilled.

  “Zach, I—”

  He rounded on me for the moment. “We got back here two weeks ago and I’ve been dealing with our parents since then. I managed to get them on the phone after coming back to the Mortal Plane. They were happy to hear from me, but… it was hard to tell them you’d been gone for months. Do you have any idea how worried they were? It was three weeks the last time you went to the Immortal Plane, and they weren’t happy when only one of their children came back. They’re
absolutely terrified over all the stories about vampires in the press.” He turned back on Dorian. “Okay, so you let Lyra get taken by this creepy red guy?” His tone amped up a level in accusation.

  “Dorian didn’t let him do anything,” I replied quickly and then tried to dial back my defensiveness. I knew my brother was angry and relieved, but more than that, he was hurt when I disappeared. He needed comfort. “I know you were worried, but you have to remember that I’m not some innocent maiden getting kidnapped all the time. I chose to go with Ruk. I have an explanation.”

  Zach stared at me, a serious note in his stern expression. “I’d love to hear it, especially so I can tell Mom and Dad something about all this. They’ve been worried sick. Last time I talked to Dad, he asked me to be brutally honest with him to make sure I wasn’t hiding any dire news about you.”

  My chest stung with pain at the thought of my parents—not to mention Zach and Gina—thinking that I was probably dead. “It has to do with defeating Irrikus,” I said, hoping it might calm him down.

  Sen looked between us with her brow knitted in subtle amusement along with confusion. “Interesting,” she muttered, drawing Zach’s attention. “Everyone is displaying anger, but I had predicted the lower beings would be pleased about your return.”

  “They are pleased, but their species is dramatic, not unlike the Immortals,” Ruk pointed out.

  Zach let out an offended scoff, and Gina stared, appearing indecisive about whether to say something. I hated that I had hurt them and given them reason to be angry, but I understood. Our reappearance had gone over a bit better in the training camp, since Dorian and I had returned to help during a crisis.

  “I’m going to push past that strange comment from your new friend,” Zach said. “You owe us an explanation, and then you can see everyone else.”

  “Everyone?” I asked. “Who all is here?”

  “Roxy, Kane, Halla, Harlowe. We’ve got Rhome and his family. A few of the vampire diplomats like Mox stayed here to help negotiations. Bryce is actually in Scotland at the moment, but he’s scheduled to return soon. Still, you’ll get to see the others. Right after you call our parents and tell me everything.”