Free The Dark Gifts Birthright by Willow Cross

still wasn’t certain how the whole telepathy thing
worked.
    “ Take a walk, look around. It will be some
time yet.”
    She headed for the doorway, entered the hall,
and then heard him again.
    “ Stay away from the dungeon, Liz, it’s
dangerous down there .”
    Liz wandered around the fortress for what
seemed like hours. Here and there, she would see someone, but no
one spoke. Everyone moved like worker bees determined to finish the
tasks at hand. Some cleaned, polishing silver or dusting, while
others appeared to be running errands. She saw only three cloaked
figures the entire time. The 'worker' vampires steered clear of
them, never speaking unless they were spoken too, and always
stepping out of their way to avoid contact. Liz took the hint from
the others and steered clear of them as well.
    The tunnels widened in the upper levels of
the complex, and each was lined with artifacts from different
centuries throughout time. It was a treasure trove of wealth and
history, an archeologist’s dream come true.
    As she wandered through the vast maze of
tunnels, she noticed a subtle downward slope to the edifice. Every
few feet, wrought iron brackets fastened torches to the stone
encased walls. The smokeless flames cast unusual shadows along the
lengthy corridors.
    Finally, the floor leveled off. The torches
were few and far apart on this level. The darkness between so dense
it appeared almost a living entity. She was just about to turn
around and head back when two cloaked figures appeared outside a
door at the far end. Liz decided to wait and let them pass before
heading back.
    “I told you he could not be trusted!” hissed
the taller figure. “We cannot sit idly by and allow this hypocrisy
to continue. As long as the girl lives we are all in great
danger.”
    Liz held her breath and sank back into the
darkness against the wall. She had a feeling that she was the girl
they were discussing. If they detected her now…
    The shorter figure hushed him angrily,
nervously scanned the hallway, and hissed back, “As long as the
girl is kept alive and safe he will perform his duties. It is no
different now than it was before. Michael has always done our
bidding and will continue to do so.”
    The taller of the two dropped his voice to a
nearly inaudible whisper, “The Eldest believes only what he wants
to believe. We will all be in danger if the girl is allowed to
stay.”
    “What you are saying is treason, Monroe.
Treason is a death sentence.” Moving his head from side to side, he
searched the passageway again.
    Shoulders pressed against the wall, Liz was
thankful the torchlight could not illuminate her hiding place.
    The one called Monroe spoke again, “You have
to pick a side, Demitre; the time for post sitting is over. A war
is coming and our people want to be free. The time for the tyranny
of the Council is at an end. We have to be rid of Michael before
that can come to fruition. There is no other way.”
    Liz tried to keep her thoughts as quiet as
her body.
    Demitre looked around again before grabbing
Monroe's cloak, and pulling him back inside the open door.
    As soon as they disappeared, Liz sped off
through the tunnels she had just meandered through. When she felt
far enough away, she stopped and checked to see if they’d followed.
There was no one anywhere to be seen. She tried to pull herself
together and went off in search of Michael’s rooms.
    It didn’t take Liz long to realize she was
lost. This tunnel looked nothing like the others. No artifacts
adorned the walls, and few torches lit the way. Just great ,
she thought to herself, lost in miles and miles of underground
vampire tunnels, that’s exactly what I needed today . Large
metal doors lined the passage. One of them had to be a way out.
Taking a closer look, she noticed that every single door had a
locking bar across it, and a small window that could be unlatched
and opened.
    “ Oh, no ya don’t, Elizabeth! You are not
going to open the window to see