Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far. Your insight has truly inspired me to continue writing this. Feedback is always appreciated!
Little disclaimer (should have mentioned this sooner) Underworld and all of its characters are not mine. I am just borrowing them for a bit and taking them for a spin. J
"I don't know what's gotten into me," Selene panted, leaning against the cool, concrete walls of her shared hiding place with Raze. It was more a whisper to herself than to Raze. Generally, she was loath to share the information in her head with anyone, let alone her new unlikely teammate.
During her absence, he had managed to fully regenerate, though he was still covered in his own blood and sweat-soaked dust. He met her eyes with hooded lids, guardedly curious, but saying nothing. She looked as though she had seen a ghost. From what Raze knew of Selene, he had never known her to be affected by anything, except maybe Michael. "No luck?" he asked instead, keeping his thoughts to himself.
"No, but I…"she looked at him as though realizing for the first time that he was there. "Never mind. The old hospital was deserted. It might be a good place to start over. The morgue is underground. There's a hidden doorway behind the examination room." Selene checked herself. She couldn't possibly know that. She hadn't checked the lower levels. Her hallucination had frightened her into leaving. However, she was sure as the moon rose that what she spoke was the honest truth. She shook her head, but made no other outward gesture to suggest she was confused. "We could move tonight. If we went there, at least we would have room to move. Your pacing is most irritating," she added. Raze hadn't even noticed he had begun his usual pattern around the room. It was so natural anymore that it didn't happen consciously. He stopped out of respect for his roommate, staring at her.
"Something's happened, hasn't it?" he pried. "It's Michael. Did you see him?" Selene's eyes went dark and troubled.
"Not really. But I saw a shadow of him. A vision." She didn't let on that it was so real she could feel the caresses and taste him on her lips. Sighing, she gave him one of her famous "don't-ask" stares, then steered the subject back to relocation.
"Part of the pack might be wandering, hiding in other places. When we are scattered, we don't operate well. It will be my duty to see to it that we all find one another." Selene let him continue. "If this location is as secure as I am hoping, we'll move tonight and set up a new camp there. If it's suitable to our needs, I will be out every night until I am certain that everyone that wasn't caught makes it to our new haven. I assume," he added, "that you will be going with me to make certain Michael is truly nowhere to be found."
"You'll need a new arsenal. Guns. Ammunition. Will you raid your old site?"
"That would be suicide. The Death Eaters leave scouts. Anyone attempting to return to a location that's been purged is caught and hauled in immediately. They get tortured and questioned. If they're lucky, they're killed then." The dark undertone to Raze's voice had Selene curious.
"Where is this laboratory?"
"On the site of the ancients' tombs. No need for the Elders to sleep now, is there? There's only one Elder, and he's fueled by rage and the hunger to know what has happened to him." Selene shuddered involuntarily. She didn't fear Marcus. She feared what he might have become. "Whatever you do, resist any urge you have to go there. We'll have to go in force. With Michael, preferably." Selene nodded. Having seen Michael, a Hybrid in his infancy, and what he was capable of, Marcus the ancient would truly be a force of nature. Michael would be the only one with any chance of defeating Marcus, and if he had retained the powers he had previously possessed, Michael's chances were slim. Michael was alive, something inside told her so. Her new food for thought was whether or not her visions were of the future, or mere haunting thoughts of what might be. Tortured by this image, Selene sank against the wall and rested her elbows on her knees. She was unwilling to believe yet that fifty years of searching had all been for naught.
Raze began the brooding pattern of pacing the room once again, but Selene was no longer unsettled by it. Despite her endurance and all of her training, she found herself drifting off, half asleep. Her thoughts were enough to keep her conscious. It was a good thing, too, for not fifteen minutes later, there was a coded knock on the door. Selene was instantly on her feet, back pressed against the wall as she cocked her weapon. At a nod, Raze unscrewed the huge bolts and removed the heavy oak plank which served as added security. It was Catarina, the Lycan who had guarded the door of the previous haunt. Selene's gun was pointed directly at her temple, gun hand steady and unwavering as Raze checked the area behind her. "I'm alone, Catarina said coolly, raising a hand slowly to push Selene's gun aside. Sighing, Selene lowered her weapon.
"Were you followed?" Raze asked urgently, fighting with the bolts.
"Not that I saw. I followed the Death Dealers until they were roughly two blocks from the mansion. They got Brick and Anton. There were ten others, but I couldn't make out their faces."
"Did you see a blond Vampire? She would have been leading the team." Catarina eyed her with mistrust.
"You mean the prissy one? Yah, I saw her all right. All high and mighty and bossing everyone about. You know each other?"
"Know each other? She wanted Kraven's love more than anything. Now she serves Marcus, and she'll stop at nothing for power. My head's on the line too, Lycan. I didn't come with Raze to your haven for a picnic." Selene cocked her head to one side, looking Catarina in the eye. "Michael, the Hybrid, was partially my creation. Mine and Lucian's. I know the Death Dealers and the inner workings of the Coven and that mansion better than anyone else. Be smart with me all you want, but I am here to help." She shook her head. "It's a new age, with new alliances being made and new enemies. We have to have some semblance of trust or respect in order to function as a team." Selene folded her arms across her chest and looked moodily the other direction. She could hardly believe the words coming out of her own mouth, but she knew them to be true.
Raze paused mid-step, watching Catarina's face for a reaction. He didn't trust Catarina farther than he could throw her. He had kept her on as a favor to Lucian. She was one of Lucian's creations, one of very few women embraced into the order of Lycans. She was unpredictable and moody, like a teenage girl who has never known boundaries. Though she had been a thorn in his side, seeing Selene attempting to put her in her place boded well. Perhaps she would learn something after all. "Rest," he ordered them. "I'll get you up an hour before nightfall. We can move together then, to this new place." He was relieved that neither of his strong-willed companions voiced complaint. As he polished the barrel of his beretta, he contemplated all that he had learned from Selene in the past few days. Lucian had wanted peace with the Vampires in the end. Having seen what Selene was capable of, Raze could see why. If their goal in rescuing the Lycans and bringing down Marcus was peace, then Raze would be the first supporter of the cause.