The air in the cavernous underground station was cold and smelled of damp concrete and rust. Lucian's remaining forces stood assembled on the cracked platform, their breath misting under the single flickering work light.
The Doctor stood beside him, his face pale, delivering the bad news. His voice was clinical, flat.
"We haven't found Raze or his team. No contact since they entered the station. But Amelia is confirmed dead, blood drained. The plan should have succeeded, but something went wrong."
The Doctor paused, adjusting his glasses. "Third or even fourth generation vampire blood would work, though not as effectively as elder blood. If we could obtain Marcus's blood, that would provide the strongest enhancement."
Lucian, who had been staring into the dark tunnel, his fists clenched, let out a harsh breath. He'd been waiting all day for this failure. He'd anticipated it. Raze had shot himself in the foot by dealing with the Fraternity.
"Since we don't have Amelia's blood," Lucian's voice was a low growl, "we'll go to the castle and take it ourselves. Everyone, with me."
He turned, his heavy boots crunching on the gravel. "Bring Michael too."
Lucian had no intention of releasing Michael. When they captured a vampire at the castle, he'd use Michael's blood to enhance his werewolf troops immediately.
Two werewolves grabbed Michael by the arms, their grips like steel. They began hauling him toward the vertical maintenance shaft that led to the street above. Just as they reached the base of the rusty ladder, a dark shape tumbled down from the darkness. It hit the concrete floor with a wet, heavy thud. It was one of their guards.
Even during the pre-battle briefing, Lucian had posted sentries outside.
The werewolf who spotted the corpse recoiled, raising his rifle. "Enemy attack!" he roared. "In the shaft! Move!"
The two werewolves carrying Michael immediately dragged him back into the relative safety of the platform. This human was the key to their evolution. They'd never surrender him.
Lucian spun around, hearing the commotion. He cursed, his voice echoing in surprise. The vampires were attacking first?
"Those bat bastards! Return fire! Engage now!"
Above ground, Victor led his Death Dealer strike force. The tracking device on Michael had led them directly to this derelict subway entrance.
Soren knelt at the edge of the vertical shaft, the metal cold beneath his gloves. He looked down into the blackness, pulled the pins on several fragmentation grenades, and simply let them drop.
Far below, a werewolf scrambling up the ladder saw the small, dark objects tumbling past him. "No! Damn it!"
The explosions were immediate, a deafening, confined crump that shook the earth. The werewolves in the shaft died instantly, their bodies shredded. The shockwave blew inward, shattering the grimy windows of Lucian's makeshift meeting room. Dust and glass rained down.
Michael, ducking from the debris, looked at Lucian amidst the sudden chaos. "Do you think they believe you have a Dragon Ball?" he yelled over the ringing in his ears. "You know, Selene and I both thought you captured me because of the Dragon Balls."
Lucian's face, already grim, darkened further. "Dragon Ball." He stared at the guarded Michael for a long second, an idea forming. "Since they think I have Dragon Balls," he said, his voice deadly, "I'll take theirs."
Lucian strode to the weapons table and picked up a heavy, modified rifle loaded with specialized anti-vampire armaments. The ultraviolet ammunition magazines were clearly marked.
The other werewolves followed his lead, arming themselves with the vampire-killing weapons. With these, the vampires stood no chance.
Michael looked at his two towering werewolf guards. "Is there a secret passage?" he asked, his voice strained.
They shook their heads regretfully. "Sorry. You may need to fight your way out."
Michael's eyes darted to the table of weapons. "Maybe I need something."
One werewolf grunted, "Can you use a gun?"
Michael shook his head. "I've seen plenty in movies."
The werewolf hesitated, then finally unholstered his sidearm and pressed a pistol loaded with ultraviolet rounds into Michael's hands. He pointed to a small lever. "This is the safety. Click it down to fire."
Without Kraven's betrayal complicating matters, Lucian's command was absolute, and he faced no internal treachery. He roared an order and led his werewolves into the tunnels to meet the assault.
Gunfire erupted, the sound deafening in the concrete confines. Bright, strobing flashes of UV rounds lit the tunnels, followed by the sizzle and screams of vampires. The Death Dealers returned fire with their own silver-nitrate rounds, punching through werewolf flesh. Both sides used weapons designed specifically to target their enemy's racial weaknesses. Casualties mounted rapidly. Their vaunted healing abilities meant nothing against this specialized ammunition.
Soon, the clicks of empty chambers and discarded magazines echoed through the smoke. Both sides had exhausted their special rounds. The engagement shifted instantly. With guttural growls, the werewolves transformed, their bodies twisting and expanding into giant, furred beasts. The Death Dealers dropped their useless firearms, drew long silver blades, and charged.
Victor entered the main battle, a whirlwind of black leather and steel. His silver sword was devastatingly effective. As a second-generation vampire, transformed by Marcus himself fifteen hundred years ago, and an elder of the coven, his combat prowess was unmatched. He moved with a speed that even the werewolves couldn't track.
Even the fully transformed, eight-foot-tall beasts couldn't survive two strikes from his blade. He cut them in half, leaving bisected, steaming corpses in his wake.
Though Victor dominated his side of the fight, Lucian was formidable in his own right. As the werewolf leader, he had once led an attack on the vampire castle itself. He grabbed a Death Dealer by the throat and crushed his windpipe with one hand, tossing the body aside.
Victor spotted Lucian in the chaos of the main platform and charged, his silver sword held ready.
"Lucian!" his voice boomed. "So you survived after all. Hand over the Dragon Ball. You won't escape this time."
Lucian's heart sank. They really had come for Dragon Balls. He parried a blow from another vampire, throwing him into Victor's path. "Victor!" he shouted back. "This isn't your time to wake! How can you be here?"
Lucian didn't know why Victor was awake. According to vampire tradition, Victor should still be sleeping. Without Elder Amelia, even Marcus shouldn't be awake for some time. With Kraven as his inside ally, Lucian should have had perfect timing.
Victor contemptuously swatted the vampire Lucian had thrown aside. He saw a giant werewolf leap toward him from the side. He didn't even turn his head, just swung his silver sword in a blindingly fast horizontal arc. The blade carved through the creature's waist mid-air, splitting it diagonally. Both halves crashed to the ground in a spray of blood.
Lucian saw his fallen comrade and knew immediately, in that single, brutal moment, that he was no match for Victor. Not like this. He lunged sideways at a different Death Dealer, grabbed the vampire's neck, and bit down hard. His wolf fangs pierced the vampire's artery. Hot blood spurted directly into Lucian's mouth.
Victor froze in shock, lowering his sword. "Are you committing suicide?" he asked, astonished.
The moment he'd drained enough blood, Lucian snarled and threw the choking Death Dealer's body. It skidded across the platform and stopped near Michael's position.
Since he couldn't obtain second-generation elder blood, Lucian no longer cared about purity. Any vampire blood should enhance his strength enough to fight Victor.
In Victor's eyes, Lucian immediately clutched his chest and collapsed to his knees, his body convulsing. Obviously dying from the blood conflict.
Victor didn't realize this was his only chance to kill Lucian quickly. The werewolf leader was currently, and painfully, evolving through blood fusion.
"Fool!" Victor scoffed, striding forward. "Do you think suicide will keep me from finding the Dragon Ball? Lucian, I don't know if you've gone mad living underground, or if you've simply forgotten."
Victor stopped, looming over the fallen, shaking werewolf. "I can browse memories through blood."
When a werewolf consumed vampire blood, it triggered a fatal blood conflict. But vampire talents, like memory reading through blood, weren't affected by the incompatibility.