Chapter 2: The Red Eclipse

Kael POV

The words hit me like a punch to my chest.

For twenty years, I had survived by becoming invisible. I kept my head down. I hid my scent. I lived like a ghost. One failed blocker had destroyed everything.

The thug stared at me. His eyes were fixed on my face. His eyes lit up with greed. I was worth a fortune to him. 

"You have no idea how rich I am now," he said. A crooked grin spread across his face. He hooked a foot behind my ankle, pinning me in place, then reached inside his coat.

"The boss has people searching every district for someone like you," he said.

He pulled out a phone.

"One call," he whispered. He raised it with a shaking hand. "You will disappear forever."

Before his thumb could hit the screen, I drove my knee into his groin. I used everything I had left.

The man let out a gasp. His phone slipped from his hand. It splashed into a rain-filled puddle. He doubled over. I shoved him backward. I ran into the dark.

"Catch him!" he roared behind me. "Do not let him get away!"

Heavy footsteps pounded against the pavement.

The market was ahead, its neon signs flickering beneath rain-soaked tarps. I sprinted between the stalls. I knocked over crates of vegetables. I blocked the path. Apples rolled across the street. Merchants shouted after me. Their voices blurred. The thud of boots behind me was relentless.

"There!" a voice shouted. "He is heading for the station!"

"Cut him off!"

I darted into a lane. My boots slipped on the concrete. A man carrying a crate stepped into my path. I twisted sideways. I clipped his shoulder. I barely kept my balance.

A hand brushed the back of my hoodie.

I threw myself around the corner. Fingers clawed at my arm. They caught nothing but fabric.

"Damn it!"

"Move!"

I burst onto another street. Motorcycles squeezed between delivery trucks. The rain blurred my vision. The glowing subway sign at the end of the street was clear.

Do not stop. Just run.

A bottle shattered across the sidewalk to my left. I glanced over. A vampire stood outside a tavern. His nostrils flared. His eyes locked onto mine.

Then another turned... another.

Every vampire on the block snapped their heads toward me. Hunger replaced curiosity.

My stomach dropped. 

"Do you smell that?" someone whispered.

Panic spread. It was faster than the rain. I pushed harder. I wove through the crowd. Behind me, the gang's shouts were suddenly drowned out by a siren. It made the street freeze. Red emergency lights flashed from the rooftops. They washed the pavement in crimson.

"Emergency protocol activated," a mechanical voice thundered from the district speakers. "Unknown biological hazard detected. All civilians clear the streets immediately."

People screamed. They scattered toward shelters. They locked themselves inside buildings. The vampires did not run. They just watched me.

I lowered my head. I charged down the subway stairs.

I took the steps two at a time. I caught the railing. My boots nearly slipped on the wet steps.

***

The sirens echoed through the tunnel. They mixed with the rhythm of my pulse. I shoved through the turnstiles.

The platform was packed with people. They were waiting for the train. Some glanced toward the entrance. Others checked their phones. I pressed through the crowd. I reached a steel pillar near the edge. I gripped the metal. My knuckles turned white.

One minute.

A wave of heat rolled through my body. My skin felt on fire. I pulled my sleeve over my nose. It was useless. The sweet scent of lilies escaped. It slipped into the air. It drowned out coats, engine grease, and damp concrete.

A woman standing nearby frowned. "Do you smell flowers?"

"I thought it was perfume," her husband replied.

"It is getting stronger."

A businessman lowered his newspaper. A teenage boy pulled out his earbuds. The station guard beside the stairs slowly turned his head.

Then the vampires reacted.

A man in a suit froze. He was adjusting his tie. His nostrils flared. His briefcase crashed onto the platform. One after another, every vampire on the platform lifted their head. Their eyes pinned me to the spot.

The station fell silent. A glass jar slipped from a woman's shopping bag and shattered across the concrete. Nobody looked down. A child began to cry. His mother hurriedly smothered the sound. She pulled him behind her.

"Pure Omegas are extinct," someone whispered.

I stepped backward. My heel hit the yellow safety line. The tracks hummed with high-voltage electricity below. I had nowhere left to go.

The lights inside the tunnel brightened. A deep rumble shook the rails. The train burst from the darkness. Its brakes screamed. The doors slid open.

A man stepped out of the center carriage.

He wore a black suit. It was untouched by the rain. A dark overcoat rested neatly across his shoulders. His movements were effortless. His presence seemed to suck the air out of the station. A deep chill crawled across my skin. It extinguished the fever in my veins.

The stranger stopped outside the doors. His expression was unreadable. His dark eyes swept across the platform. They settled squarely on me.

The vampires reacted first. One took a step backward. Another lowered his head.

The businessman who had dropped his briefcase slowly dropped to one knee. Then he dropped to the other. He pressed his forehead against the concrete. Around him, more vampires followed. They bowed toward the stranger standing beside the train.

He had not said a word. The entire station had surrendered.

The heat inside me exploded again. The scent of lilies burst from my body. It filled every corner of the platform.

A sharp gasp rippled through the crowd.

"Mine!" a vampire roared from the staircase. He hurled himself over the railing. He crashed through the metal barrier. Sparks flew into the air. "He is mine!"

Two more attackers dropped from the support beams above the tracks.

The station erupted into chaos. People screamed. They abandoned bags and phones. They fought toward the exits.

"Get," a station guard shouted. He drew his weapon.

He never got the chance. The first vampire slammed him into a ticket machine. The glass shattered.

I stumbled backward. My heel caught the line again. The first attacker lunged. His claws reached for my face. I froze.

A violent gust of wind slammed into the platform.

A sickening crack echoed through the tunnel. The attacker was suddenly flying backward. He crashed into a pillar twenty feet away. His body twisted at an angle. He collapsed into a heap.

The stranger stood right where the vampire had been. I had not seen him move. Dark blood stained the leather glove covering his hand. 

The remaining attackers stopped. Their low growls turned into whimpers.

The stranger did not glance at the corpse. His eyes remained fixed on the crowd.

"Leave," he said. His voice was quiet. It was almost gentle. The single word struck the station like an explosion.

Every vampire dropped to their knees. They lowered their heads. Their foreheads touched the concrete. Silence swallowed the room.

"Blood..." an elderly vampire near the back whispered. His voice cracked. "Blood Sovereign..."

The title spread like wildfire through the kneeling crowd. Fear swept across the room. Even the humans instinctively stepped back.

The Blood Sovereign slowly turned toward me. Our eyes met. Neither curiosity nor hunger crossed his face. He simply studied me. He confirmed something only he understood.

Ignoring the overwhelming scent of lilies, he took one slow step closer. He stopped an arm's length away.

My heart hammered against my ribs. His presence held me in place more effectively than chains.

Without taking his eyes off mine, he spoke. "Come with me."

It was not a request. It was a command. The thought of refusing terrified me more than anything in the station.