Vampires Don't Sparkle: Deathless Book 3 (42 page)

“When we get there, do you want to grab dinner?” Blair knew it wasn’t the right time, but was it ever?

“Are you finally asking me on a date?” Liz brushed her hair from her face, looking away for a moment. Was she blushing?

“Hell yes, I am,” Blair said. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Yeah, I’ll have dinner with you. Just take me somewhere nice,” Liz leaned into Blair. It felt good. Damn good.

“Ka-Dun, if I may interrupt,” Ka said, a hint of impatience leaking into its tone. Blair turned toward the hologram, giving it a nod. It bobbed its head once, then continued. “The signal broadcast from the Arks just prior to our first encounter has had time to arrive at its intended destination. The Builders are now aware of the state of affairs on this planet. They will be coming.”

Dead silence fell as everyone took that in. Trevor took a step closer to Liz and Blair, Jordan joining them a moment later. Even Irakesh looked frightened.

“In addition, this planet’s magnetosphere has been unstable since the First Ark’s detonation,” Ka continued, frown deepening. “I believe you will find much has changed in your absence.”

Epilogue

Mark came awake by degrees. He felt different, though it was difficult to say how, precisely. It was dark and moist, wherever he was. He reached out, fingers probing some sort of membrane. It gave a little at his touch, but refused to tear. A shiver of anger lanced through him, and claws burst from his finger tips. They were long and dark, much longer than they’d been when he transformed into a vampire. How was that possible?

He used the claws to shred the membrane, gasping at the cool air that rushed into the strange cocoon. He tried to lean forward, but something on his back prevented the movement. He felt an odd tingling back there, and realized he could feel something he shouldn’t have been able to. An extra pair of limbs. He flexed them experimentally. Were those…wings?

Mark scrambled from the chrysalis, clawing desperately at the membrane until he tumbled free. A slick substance coated him and made it difficult to grab onto anything. Mark fell heavily to a stone floor, dimly aware of a reddish glow in the distance. Where was he? Panic and revulsion warred within him as he struggled to understand.

“Ahh, you’re awake,” came a gravelly voice. He squinted up at the speaker, an elderly man with a thick beard and long white hair.

“Who—who are you?” Mark rasped. His throat felt strangely unsuited for speech.

“I am called Hades,” the old man explained, kneeling next to Mark. “Do you know who you are, or where you are?”

“I’m…Mark Phillips,” he said, the full name coming to him from the dim recesses of his mind. “I don’t know where I am. Or what’s been done to me. What the hell was that thing?”

“Ahh, the chrysalis. Set sent you here to be reborn, one of his final acts. The chrysalis has changed you, made you far stronger than you were,” Hades explained with the tone of a concerned grandfather.

It has also gifted you with me, Set-Dun.
A deep voice thrummed through his mind. The voice was familiar, yet different. It didn’t sound like the risen he’d been given when Osiris transformed him. This, whatever it was, felt darker.
You have been elevated. You are the first to survive the transformation, the herald of our return.

Mark didn’t respond to the voice, but he knew for damn sure he didn’t like it. He focused on the old man instead. “What happened to Set?”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Hades said, resting a hand on Mark’s goo-covered shoulder. He looked at that shoulder, eyes widening as he took in the smooth, black skin. It had the tough, marbled texture of a lizard’s hide. Mark shuddered, appalled by what he’d become.

“I’m not sure,” Mark’s thoughts were racing. Where was he? What had happened?

“What of Isis and Ra? Osiris?” Hades asked, betraying a bit of concern. His grip tightened on Mark’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Mark replied. If the plan had worked, then England was nothing more than a crater, and they were all dead.

“No matter,” Hades said, releasing Mark. He rose to his feet. “Come, you have much work to be about. Our enemies are many.”

Mark took his first awkward steps with his horrifically deformed body. They emerged into a wide tunnel that passed between pools of lava. Mark found himself enjoying the unbearable heat. “Our enemies?”
 

“Yes,” Hades said, turning to meet his gaze. “All sentient life on this planet. It must be eradicated.”