CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: Vengeance Is Mine

Subway Tunnels

She couldn't find a trace of William Grey anywhere. She had thoroughly searched the main room, without any luck. But she was determined to find the traitor and make him pay for all that had happened. Ultimately, she held him responsible for all that had happened to them. If he hadn't been selling the UV ammo to the lycans, they never would have come to Budapest in the first place.

Anger colored her vision. She was pissed, and her alternate form seemed to thrive on this feeling. She could feel her body rushing towards a change as it welcomed the high riding emotions she was experiencing. She stopped her progress for a moment, and forced herself to concentrate on staying in her human form, pushing down the anger and her need for vengeance until it was just a mere shadow dancing around the fringes of her mind.

She wouldn't let her thin veneer of civility slip. She wanted Sir William to know he was tried and found guilty by a rational, level headed person; not some crazed, bloodthirsty animal. Once again in control, she resumed her search for the traitorous council member.

She had made her way to the back of the main chamber; where there were three hallways leading away from this room. As far as she knew, each passageway came to a dead end. Which worked in her favor. But, she knew she needed to decide which corridor she would start on, because every moment she wasted, were moments William Grey could use to escape. She looked down each one, trying to remember where each one led.

Down the length of the first hallway, dorm rooms could be found. This was where all but the most important lycans slept. At the very end of this passage were three actual bedrooms. These were reserved for Lucian, Raze and at the moment, Michael and Selene. She wasn't sure where the second hallway led to, but she did know the third one would take her back to the large weapons room, where she had recently been lashed by Raze. She'd save that room for last.

Choosing the passage she was most familiar with, she quickly made her way to the first door. She reached out and grabbed the round doorknob. It was one of the older models that locked when you pushed in the middle button. She quietly turned the handle until it no longer moved. Then, figuring Sir William would be aiming for her head, she dropped down into a squat and gently pushed the door open a few inches. She waited for gunfire, but none came. She used her enhanced senses to see if she could hear or smell anyone in the room. But, she couldn't detect anything but the smell of lycans. Feeling relatively safe, she stood up and stepped into the room.

The room itself was a large, open area. Alex immediately noticed the number of beds, there had to be about thirty of them, each one with a locker at the foot. The room was relatively neat, which surprised her. But after thinking about it for a moment, she figured Lucian ran a pretty tight ship. He would expect a modicum of cleanliness from his pack.

She slowly moved to each bed, checking underneath for signs of recent inhabitants. She also checked to see if the footlockers held anything other than personal possessions. Most were locked, but those that weren't held nothing more than clothing. Satisfied that the room was clear, she moved on.

The next room was set up in the same fashion as the previous chamber. But her search there was as unproductive as the first one. Sir William Grey had not hidden in any of these rooms. Her gut was telling her she needed to drop her search of the area and move onto another; but she was hesitant to leave any stone unturned. Shaking off her intuition, she continued on to the last two dorm rooms.

She had hoped to find William, and though she didn't discover him, she did find something quite disturbing. She found that while these rooms were almost identical to the others, it was obvious they weren't being used. The beds were stripped of all sheets and no footlockers were present. These empty chambers showed her just how many lycans had been lost in the battle with the vampires. Each room could easily sleep 30 lycans; and two of them were completely empty. Their loss had been significant. She suddenly understood Lucian's seeming obsession with keeping the lycans together, and making them stronger. She closed the door on the last empty room. She needed to stay focused, she was on a hunt, and her prey was somewhere close by.

She finally admitted it was time to abandon the sleeping quarters, and look elsewhere. Her instinct was screaming at her to try a different area; it was time she listened. So she ran back down the hallway and through main chamber. She stopped for a moment, trying to discern which way to go. And wouldn't cha know it, her gut was telling her to take the last corridor.

She looked about quickly, hoping for a glance of Lucian, but all she saw was Michael and Selene tending to the few wounded, and the council agents moving Jorge up to the now empty table. Saying a brief prayer for her fallen comrade, she took off in the direction of the weapons room.

She ran quickly down the deserted hallway until she reached the one and only room. She hesitated, almost afraid to open the door. He was there, she could feel it, and could actually sense desperation flowing through the closed door. She knew from experience that a desperate man could be very dangerous.

"Take a deep breath Alex," she reminded herself.

Flattening herself against the wall closest to the door, she reached out and grabbed hold of the knob; and then turned it slowly and quietly. When she couldn't move it anymore, she pulled on the handle and threw open the door.

The odors nearly overwhelmed her: blood, fear, silver, and a strange burning smell. When no one squeezed off a shot, she cautiously poked her head around the doorframe.

The room was huge, running the entire length of the hallway. Her initial glance, showed no sign of life. She took one cautious step and then another, until she had made her way completely into the room. There were few places to hide, as the room was used entirely for training and challenges.

"Oh and punishment, let's not forget that," Alex thought to herself.

The thought of the lashing she had received just a couple of days ago, made her glance over at the whipping posts. At first, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But upon closer inspection, she confirmed that there was a body lying there between the posts, with each hand clasped in chains. She darted her gaze around the room, and finding no one around, she quickly ran over to the unconscious form.

As she reached his side, she noted (with a little satisfaction), that the captive individual was Raze. She knelt down, and saw that he had been injured, greatly. Silver nitrate could be seen running freely from his shoulder as well as two from the abdomen. She reached out and checked his pulse…it was weak but his heart was still beating.

"Raze, can you hear me?" she asked.

She watched his face for any sign of acknowledgement, but none came.

She raised her hand to slap him, when she heard a faint rustling sound. They weren't alone. She didn't think Sir William Grey was capable of bringing down the big lycan, but then that meant he had an accomplice. Whom she didn't know, but she had every intention of finding out.

Pretending as if she heard nothing, she went ahead and slapped Raze's face, hoping to bring him awake. It worked. The large man opened his eyes and tried to lunge at her, but his wounds, and her quick reaction, prevented him from getting her.

"Good, you're back in the land of the living," she told him, keeping an ear out for movement.

"What do you care?" Raze asked her in his gravelly voice.

"Actually I don't give a damn," she informed him. "But it does matter to Lucian, and lets face it, I piss that man off enough as it is," she finished with a grin.

Her joking tone caught Raze by surprise. He figured she would have gladly left him to die there on the floor. Instead, she had not only stopped to check on him, but she was joking around with him as well.

"Yeah, we mustn't let our fearless leader down," Raze responded.

Alex saw that he had attempted to grin, but it came out more like a grimace. He was hurting badly. She had no idea as to what to do, but she knew she needed to do something fast. She could hear movement again, coming from behind her, and she was going to have to deal with the threat before she could help the injured shapeshifter.

Leaning in closer to Raze she whispered, "Can you shift?"

Shaking his head in disgust, Raze answered weakly, "No. They gave me an inhibitor. It won't allow me to change until the drug wears off."

"Shit!" Alex exclaimed quietly.

They were closer; she could hear what sounded like two people making their way closer.

"How many am I dealing with?" she asked under her breath.

"There are only two of them; a human and Kraven, the vampire," Raze murmured. "Lucian had captured Kraven and I was bringing him in here to keep him captive until things settled down. The human was hiding in here, but I was too occupied with Kraven to notice him. While I was cuffing the vampire, the human shot me in the back twice," he finished, his normally deep bass a bare whisper.

She was losing him, and she knew it would kill Lucian if that were to happen. Gritting her teeth, she did the unthinkable. She imagined her canines extending to their full length, and was amazed when it happened. Knowing there was no time to waste, she bent down and bit Raze in the neck. Then, when blood and silver poured through the wound, she clamped down on her own arm where she had been wounded during the battle. With blood gushing from the torn skin, she quickly put the bleeding wound to Raze's mouth, praying that it would work.

He wasn't able to drink from her long, because she heard the sound of a gun being fired. Reacting quickly, she tore her arm from his mouth and grabbed Raze. Then, using all her strength, she pulled him towards her as she rolled them out of the line of fire.

One of the chains broke, but the other one remained tightly clasped around his wrist, stopping their forward momentum. Alex landed on her back, with Raze's immense weight settling on top of her chest. Left with little choice, she threw him off of her; and then doing her favorite "Buffy" move, she launched herself up onto the balls of her feet, guns in both hands.

Facing her was Sir William and a tall, arrogant looking vampire, both of them armed with weapons.

"You must be Kraven," she remarked, as she carefully moved to stand in front of Raze, trying to offer him what protection she could.

Not bothering to answer her, Kraven countered with a question of his own. "Why did you bite him? You are both lycans, your blood won't heal him," he remarked smugly.

She kept her face totally devoid of expression, but internally, Alex was jumping for joy.

"Holy crap! The vampires know nothing of Lucian's little experiment", she thought to herself. Conscious of the need to protect Raze, she knew that if she could keep the two of them occupied just a little while longer, Lucian would soon come to interrogate his prisoner. Determined to keep them watching her, instead of the hopefully recuperating lycan, Alex moved closer towards them.

"I'm new to all this, I have no idea what will or won't work", she informed the arrogant vampire. "I had to do something, Lucian would've been pissed had I just let his lieutenant die."

"Yes, Lucian would be most displeased," Kraven said with a sneer.

"Forget about Lucian," Sir William said speaking for the first time. "I came here to kill her," he told Kraven.

"It doesn't matter whether you kill me or not, you coward," Alex said calmly, her words belying her cool façade. "All the others are aware of your dealings with the lycans."

Sir Williams' head shot up, disbelief apparent on his face. "You're lying!"

Alex was as close as she dared to get, she stopped walking forward and began moving towards the door trying to keep their attention focused on her.

"Uh uh," Kraven said, raising his gun to aim it levelly at her head.

She had only moved a couple of feet, but she had both men's attention. She could sense Raze trying to get himself together behind her, and she knew she needed to buy him a little more time. Changing tactics, she turned to Sir William.

"Don't be bitter Willie", she told him. "This little coup worked out even better than you yourself could imagine. Brining in a major vampire player should be enough to convince the Council of your true intent."

Looking nervously over at Kraven, William sputtered, "What are you talking about?"

Alex snorted, "Please, your attempt at modesty is laughable. You know as well as I do that the Council will surely overlook your little faux pas with the lycans, now that you have routed another lycan massacre and have captured a live vampire…so to speak", she pondered outloud. Pausing for a moment, she threw what she hoped was an unconcerned look over her shoulder. Catching a brief glance at Raze, she knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. Turning her gaze back to Sir William she acted as if she were congratulating him, "You've even managed to kill one of the shapeshifter's leaders."

Sir William had watched Kraven throughout Agent Douglas' tirade, and knew he was in big trouble. Kraven believed he had set him up.

"She's lying," he replied nervously. "She's just trying to buy some time, hoping someone will come and rescue her,"

Anger clouded the vampire's vision as he turned to the human. He raised his arm, aiming his second weapon between the man's eyes. "I suggest you try harder to convince me of your innocence", he warned Sir William.

Eyes darting between Alex and Kraven, the elderly gentleman wiped the sweat that had begun beading on his forehead. He was screwed, if he sided with Kraven, he would never be able to go back to the Council or his human life again. If he sided with Agent Douglas, Kraven would possibly kill him or the other agents would take him back to the Council to be judged. His life as he knew it was over. Backing away from both his enemies, he frantically looked for another way out.

"This is the only way out," Kraven informed him. "Do you really believe that I would allow you to leave?" Kraven asked the desperate man.

"But…but, I killed the lycan in order to save you", Sir William stammered.

Alex sensed the tables were turning. Taking advantage of the moment, she retorted, "That's just icing on the cake, baby."

"SHUT UP!!" Sir William yelled at her.

Alex noticed his face was turning a dark red color, and he was breathing very heavily. It didn't look good for Sir William. She saw that Kraven was inching his way towards him.

Then Sir William stopped suddenly, surprising both Alex and the vampire. He turned to look at her, anger and regret crossing his features.

"You stupid bitch! This is all your fault," he said forcing the words through clenched teeth. "Why couldn't you have just come here and done your job. I had everything under control until you went and got yourself bitten", he said, spittle flying from his lips.

Furious and guilt ridden, Alex retorted, "I was doing my job; and so was Jorge when he was killed by the vampires, you bastard! If you hadn't sold the UV ammo to the lycans we would have never been here in the first place. So, don't lay the blame at my door, when your greed brought us to the godforsaken country. If you manage to survive this, I hope the loss of my humanity and Jorge's sacrifice haunts you for the rest of your life!"

All was quite for a moment, and then the next few minutes seemed to move in slow motion. Sir William looked up briefly, and then, without warning, he brought his gun up. Alex knew he was going to shoot her. She moved trying to shield herself from his bullets. But he never came close to her. Instead, Sir William put the muzzle to his temple and pulled the trigger.

Alex watched in horror as the former Council member's body slumped to the floor, and began convulsing. He was still alive. Ignoring Kraven, she ran over, slipping in the brains and blood splattered along the floor. She reached his side and watched as he coughed up more blood, trying to speak. She bent over, trying to hear what he was trying to say. Coughing blood into her face, Sir William uttered his last words.

"I hope this is a memory that will haunt you in your dreams." Then the old man no longer moved, as he lay dead in a pool of his own blood.

Alex sat there, stunned and numb from the bitter words he had left her with. Then remembering she wasn't alone, she turned ready to confront her one remaining threat.

But other than Raze, no one else was in the room. She was torn between searching for the vampire and helping Raze; she just stood there trying to decide.

Lucian walked in at just that moment. He saw Alex standing in a growing pool of red liquid. She had blood splattered across her face, in her hair, and dripping down a vicious looking wound in her arm. She looked like hell, but she was alive. He ran over to her and gently took the guns from her hands.

"Alexandra, are you okay?" he asked, knowing it was a stupid question.

She looked blankly at the man she had come to admire and respect…and maybe even love. "Kraven got away," she said vaguely.

"It's okay, we'll get him next time," Lucian assured her.

She turned and pointed over to Raze. "He's dying. I tried to save him…but I'm not sure I did the right thing," she said woodenly.

Lucian looked over and saw Raze trying to get to his feet. He quickly moved to his friend's side and literally tore the chain from the post. Then he reached out and gave the bigger lycan his hand. Raze took it and pulled himself up.

"Will you live?" Lucian asked worriedly.

Raze struggled against the pain, but lifted his head and met his leader's eyes. "Yes, thanks to her, I will survive."

Both men glanced over at Alexandra, just in time to see her fall gracefully to the floor.