Chapter 13: THE BOILER ROOM

The scent of mint and old paper permeated the room.

"You lock the door," Jenna said behind me. She tugged the carpet off by the bed and then touched her thumb to one of the boards. One of the boards moved up revealing a small compartment.

In that compartment were three iron rods, two cans of salt, a spool of copper wire, and a glass vial filled with a dark liquid.

I watched Dorian take one of those iron rods and use it like a baseball bat. "This will not stop demons from running after you."

"No," Jenna corrected. She took one can of salt with her and stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket. "But it will slow them. Hit them with the iron and they won't be able to move for a few seconds."

"And the wire?" I asked as I took it into my hands.

"It binds them." Her eyes followed my actions. "If we could only wrap this around Zoe's hands... that would keep Raze away from us."

"Might?"

"Nothing ever works as we planned with demons." She took that glass vial in her hands. "Holy water."

"How did you manage this?"

"Again, nothing to do with your questions right now."

As soon as I reached for a can of salt, there was a blue fire dancing between my fingers, and the scent of burned flesh made my eyes water. When the fire died down, I examined my palms. There was no trace of any burns left on my skin.

"There is some magic responding to the demon inside Zoe's body," Jenna explained watching me. "That's something strange. I thought you've been blocking it for days."

I looked at my palms. There was no burn or scar and yet I could feel the energy moving underneath my skin. "I don't want any explanations on why I am different."

Dorian raised an eyebrow at me. His gray face didn't change in any way, but the wound on his chest stopped bleeding. "We go in with a vampire who was hurt two hours ago, a witch who cannot control her magic, and a Warden whose eyes are no longer silver."

"And what do you suggest? Should we stay here? Do you think Raze will let us do that?" She took her hair and secured it on her head using the elastic band.

Dorian remained silent, I picked up a canister of salt and stuffed it into my jacket pocket. It felt heavy in my hip. "Let's do this while I still have my nerve."

\---

The basement was just below the laundry room.

There was a padlock on the door – one that looked to be older than the building itself – and Jenna popped it open with a bobby pin in less than ten seconds. She tossed the lock onto the cement floor and we walked through the now open door.

It was cold in the stairway, and the cement walls seemed to press against me from either side. The smell was damp and mildewed – and beneath that, something metallic, like old blood.

When we reached the bottom, the hallway split into two directions. The storage room was to our left, and the right led to another closed door with a faded sign that read "BOILER ROOM."

Jenna glanced at me and pointed to the right. "The portal should open in there. They'll all be there."

Dorian walked ahead, silent but for the soft sounds of his bare feet against the concrete floor.

I kept pace beside him, and suddenly my hand began tingling.

\---

The boiler room door was an industrial-grade door made of dark gray metal and rusty hinges.

In front of it was a vampire. His appearance was intimidating; his eyes held the same faint yellow tinge that Mira's had, indicating that he had been feeding upon things other than normal human blood. His bald head and scarred face gave him a menacing look.

He turned toward us when we came near and straightened up, looking down his nose at me. "You aren't supposed to be here."

Before I could move, Dorian was beside me – then he was beside the vampire, hands wrapped tightly around the vampire's skull. With a quick movement, he broke his neck.

Jenna walked past the body without a backwards glance. "One down, five to go," she called over her shoulder.

I looked up at Dorian. There was no panic on his face, but he was clearly angry. "Are you alright?"

"No." He pushed open the boiler room door. "We have work to do."

Inside, the room was surprisingly large – filled with rusting machinery and old, black piping above us. There were dark stains marring the cement floors, and it smelled of sweat and metal.

Beside a large cast-iron boiler, right in the center of the room, Mira was standing with the grimoire opened in her hands.

Tied to a chair, Zoe was sitting near the wall. She seemed to be unconscious because she had hung her head low, and her eyes were tightly shut.

"She's unconscious," I said.

Dorian shook his head. "Her mouth."

I followed his directions and saw that even though no sounds were coming out of her sleeping mouth, Zoe's lips moved as if saying something.

And then came a voice from her throat. Scratchy and hoarse, it sounded very familiar. It was Raze's voice.

"Come in," he said through her sleeping lips. "I've been waiting."

Mira glanced at us, a wide grin spreading across her face. Yellowish eyes sparkled in the dim light coming from above. "We can get started now."

From the shadows in her back, five figures appeared. Moving slowly, they approached the middle of the room. Two were tall and thin, another one was a short and hunched vampire, and the other two were twins wearing the same jacket.

"You see how we're outnumbered?" Jenna murmured beside me.

The slamming door came behind us as I turned, I found a sixth vampire in front of us. He was already locking the door with a key which he put safely into his pocket.

"Nice," Raze laughed through Zoe's body. "Now we can finally start."

Closing the grimoire, Mira tucked it underneath her arm. "You shouldn't be here, Arya. That basement belongs to me now."

"Well, it still smells like old pipes."

"Not even a compliment. Typical for you." Then she noticed my expression. "You never liked me."

"Only you were the one who stabbed me."

Vampires stopped walking towards us and positioned themselves. It seemed like they were circling us, waiting for our move.

"Hold on to the rod, Dorian," I whispered. "Got any ideas, Warden?"

"We're not going to survive here if we get separated," Jenna pointed out.

"That's your plan?"

"Not a plan." Unfastening the cap of her vial, she held it in her hand. "Just an advice."

"I will simplify the matter for you," Raze whispered from Zoe. Her head moved slightly, lifting from the shoulder. "Give me the witch, and the rest of you leave here alive."

"Not a chance," Jenna retorted.

"Then everyone dies, Zoe's lips widen which look like a smile. "But first, you will have to watch."

Mira raised her hand, and the five vampires attacked toward us.