Read Online King's Blood: Vampire Descent (A Serial Novel, Part 4) by P.J. Day - Free Book Online

Six
     
     
    All five of us cascaded down the rocky steps into the cold, limestone cave. Milton guided us with his flashlight in hand, while Jenny and Kai followed from behind.
    “Just a few more steps before we see gas lamps,” said Milton.
    “ Gas lamps?” I asked. “Is this where you guys live?”
    “ Yes, this is the temporary home of the Jiang-Shi,” added Milton, illuminating the steps immediately in front of him. The cave’s steps weren’t anything like the regular steps you’d see in an old ruin or even a set of the stairs that were built into a mountain that you’d see at a national park. They were just groupings of limestone and dolomite stones that collapsed down the cave either through erosion or rockslides.
    “ Okay, so how did this all happen?” I asked, my question particularly aimed at Ted. “How the hell did you know where I was?”
    Ted kept his footing by keeping his right arm against the wall. He chuckled, “Well, remember the café in Hong Kong where you extorted me into going?”
    “The Ngo Ngo, right?”
    “ Yeah, well, Jenny here, was the one who instant messaged you.”
    I looked back at Jenny, while taking small careful steps as I continued to descend down the craggy floor. “How did you manage to instant message me—it wasn’t even 24 hours after the night went to shit by the time you got a hold of me.”
    “I took your business card from your wallet,” she said.
    “ Oh...”
    Ted gave me a funny look and asked, “You have your screen name on your business card?”
    “Yeah, well. I thought it would be like hip, you know?”
    “ I don’t even put my email on mine. I just want to be left alone when I am away from work,” said Ted. “You surely are committed.”
    “ Was committed,” I quickly corrected him. “I don’t know what I was thinking, trusting those sons of bitches.”
    The stony declination began to flatten after a few minutes of descent. Fifty yards ahead, we could see the flickering of flames.
    “Just a few more feet,” said Milton. He flashed the wall to the right as we approached the lit tunnel. “Pretty cool, huh?” It was a row of four Buddha statues that were chiseled and shaped out of a limestone quarry into the wall. “These are over five hundred years old,” said Milton.
    “ That’s nice,” I said. “Sorry if I don’t want to act like Indiana Jones right now, but I need to know how you found me and I also hope for everyone’s sake that Holly is fine.”
    Milton turned around and stopped everyone from walking further. He turned the flashlight toward the bottom of his chin, giving himself an ominous and playfully scary appearance. “Wait a minute, you can trust mortals but not your own kind?” he asked.
    “Look, I’ve been through shit, I just want to get to the bottom of things, and just want some reassurance, okay?” I said, pleading with Milton. “Pardon me if I feel kinda spooked for being led down a scary, dark cave with a guy who somehow infiltrated my dreams like Freddy Krueger.”
    Milton smiled and looked straight into my eyes, “I want to sit down with you and tell you everything, but there are some things we need to iron out first.”
    “Good...”
    “ It’s a long story but can a full explanation wait?” he asked.
    “ Sure, but what have you done with Holly?”
    “ She is fine, but she was getting a little panicky and out of control so we had to put her away, temporarily.”
    I grabbed Milton by the collar of his jacket. “What do you mean ‘put her away’; is she hurt?”
    “Jack, it’s okay,” said Ted, as he pulled my hands away from Milton. “I believe him.”
    “ She’s fine, Jack. Geez,” said Milton as he fixed his collar. “She was understandably freaked out...she doesn’t know what the hell is going on, so we put her in a makeshift cell.”
    “ Are you feeding her properly?” I asked.
    “ Yes, she is well taken care of, can we proceed?”
    “ If she is hurt, you will not come out of this cave