The Day of the Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

pottery shards crunching
under his weight. His foot slipped on an old turtle shell, causing
him to almost lose his balance, and then there was a rumbling that
set half the room’s contents jittering.
    ‘ There’s no one here!’
Sarah whirled on him, her face livid.
    ‘ They must have moved
them.’
    ‘ A convenient excuse! I
swear, vampire, if you’ve lied to me – ’
    ‘ To what end?’
    ‘ To get me down here alone
– ’
    ‘ I had you alone in the
cemetery,’ Tomas pointed out, with barely concealed impatience. The
rumbling just got louder, with rocks and small pieces of pottery
stirring uneasily. ‘If I meant you harm, I would have acted
then.’
    ‘ You said they would be
here! That you knew where they were!’
    ‘ If Alejandro had followed
the usual practice, the prisoners would be here,’ he replied,
trying for calm. ‘But the contents of the room above were moved,
and if they changed one long-standing practice, they may have
changed another. I haven’t been back in a century – ’
    ‘ Something you might have
mentioned before now!’ she was sweating harder, with a few drops
glistening along her hairline before falling to stain her
shirt.
    ‘ We will find your
brother,’ he told her. ‘I swear it.’
    ‘ Why should I believe you?’
she sounded frantic.
    ‘ Why shouldn’t you?’ Tomas
asked, bewildered. ‘What reason do I have to lie?’ A crack formed
in the ceiling overhead, raining dirt and gravel down on them. ‘I
thought you said you could control this!’ The caverns weren’t
entirely stable, as multiple cave-ins had demonstrated through the
years. If she didn’t cut it out, she was going to bury them
both.
    Sarah looked around, as if she
honestly hadn’t noticed that the entire room was now shaking. ‘I
can! Usually.’
    ‘ Usually?’
    ‘ I’m a jinx. My magic isn’t
always ... predictable. I’ve learned some control through the
years, but it’s harder when I’m angry.’ She paused, her breath
coming hard. ‘And I really don’t like being
underground.’
    ‘ You’re
claustrophobic?’
    ‘ I have a small problem
with enclosed spaces.’ There was a badly-concealed edge of panic in
her voice.
    ‘ But you’re a mercenary!
Surely – ’
    ‘ I’m a mercenary who
prefers to fight in the open!’ she snapped, her face scrunching up
with effort. The shaking didn’t noticeably diminish.
    ‘ Something you might have
mentioned before now!’
    ‘ Very funny.’
    The crack widened, dirt and rock
exploding inwards, peppering them with pieces of rock as sharp as
knives. ‘Do something!’
    ‘ I’m trying!’
    She was almost doubled over in effort,
pain written on her face, but whatever she was doing wasn’t
working. A huge crack reverberated around the small space, knocking
them both to the ground, hands pressed against their temples. A
moment later, a chunk of the ceiling the size of a sofa broke away
and came crashing down, missing them by inches.
    Tomas stared at it for a split second
through a haze of dust before grabbing her around the waist and
dragging her back to the entrance. ‘Hurry! Back up the
tunnel!’
    ‘ It won’t help.’ She’d
braced herself against the wall. Her face was pinched and white and
her eyes wide and panicky as they met his. ‘Hit me.’
    ‘ What?’
    ‘ I need a distraction!
Something else to think about. Pain sometimes works.’
    Tomas could feel the pressure building
in the room, like a storm in the distance, about to break.
‘Sometimes isn’t good enough! I can put you under a suggestion –
’
    ‘ No, you can’t.’
    ‘ I assure you –
’
    ‘ I’m a jinx!’ she repeated
furiously. ‘My magic doesn’t work like most people’s! I’m not
susceptible to suggestions, vampiric or otherwise. Now hit me,
goddammit!’
    ‘ No,’ he said, and kissed
her. It was an instinctive reaction, something unexpected that
might shock her enough to stop this without actually hurting her.
But then she shuddered slightly and her