Dark Goddess

“Which way?” Billi asked.

“Exit eleven.” Holborn. That made sense. They could take the tube straight to Heathrow Airport from there.

“Don’t step in anything,” Arthur warned as he led them past colonies of red-eyed rats and pits overflowing with vomit-inducing foulness.

Eventually they reached a flight of steps leading to a steel door. Arthur unlocked it with a large key, and they emerged into a white-tiled corridor, the Holborn tube station itself. The door said danger-high voltage and had an official-looking London Electricity sign on it, so to the casual observer it was just one of the thousands of substations that covered the city.

Commuters in their winter coats, heads down and iPod buds in, barely gave them a second glance. It was rush hour and everyone wanted to get home. Billi took Vasilisa’s hand and joined the flow.

Buffeted and shoved along by the crowd, Billi locked her fingers around Vasilisa’s wrist as the sea of humanity caught her up. She couldn’t see anything but the back of the guy in front of her. A Polenitsy could be right there and she wouldn’t know it until the claws were in her back. Someone’s elbow hit her ribs, and Billi almost lashed out, her senses on hyperdrive. A man barged between Billi and Vasilisa, knocking Billi’s grip free.

“Billi!”

Vasilisa screamed as she disappeared in a sudden surge of people heading to the escalator. Billi glanced back and forth. Arthur was gone.

Bloody hell!

“Out of the way!” Billi pushed a man aside, knocking the newspaper out of his hands.

“Oi!”

Billi snarled, then saw Vasilisa turning around and around in a wall of bodies. Billi broke through, and Vasilisa ran into her arms. It took a minute for Billi to calm down, her heart racing harder here in the station than when the werewolves had attacked. She couldn’t lose Vasilisa. Billi used her sleeve to wipe the tears from Vasilisa’s face. This time they walked side by side to the westbound platform.

Arthur was waiting at the bottom of the steps. He put away his mobile.

“Elaine will meet us at Heathrow with Vasilisa’s passport. She’ll take her.”

“You’re not going?” Billi asked.

“Not with the Polenitsy on a rampage.”

Together they emerged onto the crowded platform. HEATHROW-2 MINUTES

The train pulledin and they pushed on board. A couple of seats came free, so Billi and Vasilisa sat. Arthur stood in the center of the car a few paces away, keeping an eye on the doors.

“We’re okay,” said Billi to herself as much as to Vasilisa, who still clutched her hand. People loomed over them, swaying from side to side as the train rattled through the tunnels. “Just sit tight.”

Billi flicked open her mobile to check the time, but instead stopped to look at the display screen. The photo of her and Kay shone brightly. Billi had transferred it from Kay’s old mobile to hers. She knew she shouldn’t have, but looking at him felt different now. Only a week ago his smile would have cut her; now she just felt its warmth-its support.

Vasilisa looked up. “This is all my fault, isn’t it?”

“No. This is their fault. The Polenitsy.” Billi wiped her damp hair away from her forehead. “Don’t worry. I won’t let them touch you.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.”

Arthur pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes darted left and right, never dropping his guard. “Once Vasilisa’s on her way, we’ll set up at the Canterbury preceptory.”

Someone started shouting. Arthur jumped.

“You two stick together,” he ordered, and barged back down the car.

Vasilisa tightened her small cold fingers around Billi’s and looked up at her. “They’re here,” she said, her voice soft and infinitely sad. Tears welled in her eyes.

Then the lights died.

13

CRIES RAND OUT. THE CAR WAS LIT BY SMALL SPOTS of pearly white as people used their mobiles to see, but all that was revealed were other stark faces rigid with fear. Billi tightened her hold on Vasilisa as the masses moved and people buffeted against each other. The air thickened with terror.

“I can’t breathe!”

“Get out!”

“It’s a bomb!”

“It’s terrorists!”

“Open the doors!”

A scuffle broke out as people tried to barge their way through the interconnecting doors while those in the next carriage tried to do the same. The screams multiplied, and someone clawed at Billi’s leg as they were knocked down.

The first howl silenced the entire train.

The second howl unleashed total chaos. The heaving mass of panicked passengers degenerated into pandemonium. They didn’t know which way to run-the snarls and predatory growling seemed to be coming from all around. Billi heard the telltale slash of claws and the ripping of flesh, and someone’s scream rose to an ear- splitting screech. Savage barks signaled the attack, then it was all tearing and biting. A black shape with a dripping snout loomedup, framed by the haze of cell phone lights. It peered down the carriage and saw them. It shook its ragged head, tossing bloody spittle across the ceiling.

“Deus vult!”Arthur slammed into the beast. He smacked his forearm across its jaw and rammed his dagger into its throat. People around him screamed, and suddenly he vanished into the panicking crowd.

“We’re leaving,” said Billi.

She jumped up and grabbed hold of the straps dangling over her head. Both of her feet came up high, then shot out, cracking a window. The glass exploded as she kicked it again. She grabbed Vasilisa around her waist.

“You first. Carefully.”

Vasilisa hesitated, then embraced her. “You did your best,” she said.

“It’s not bloody over yet!” exclaimed Billi. She wasn’t going to quit. They were getting out. There was no room to fight properly in here. Although the wall of terrified bodies stopped the werewolves from reaching Billi, she only had a few more seconds. She pushed Vasilisa out of the broken window, careful she didn’t catch any of the jagged shards stuck in the frame. Billi felt Vasilisa step away, then she put her arms through the gap and followed.

Billi landed on a narrow ledge that ran alongside the train. She reached out, and Vasilisa grabbed her hand immediately.

Don’t panic. How many times had that been drummed into her? If she just stuck to the tunnel, along the rails, she’d come out at the next platform. Simple. She clicked on her flashlight and shuffled along the ledge with Vasilisa behind her. They cleared the front of the train, and she hopped down onto the tracks.

“Don’t touch the rails.”

They followed the curve of the tunnel, slow and steady. They left the train behind, and soon the bestial cries and screams were lost, and the only sound was Billi’s heart thumping in her chest. Her hand found a door handle and tested it: unlocked. She pulled Vasilisa in.

A storeroom. Billi inspected a map of the tube system pinned to the wall; they were halfway to the Knightsbridge station. Two service tunnels branched off nearby, and maybe if she took those, she could lose any pursuers. But that was a long detour. Speed or safety? Billi peeled the map off the wall and gave it to Vasilisa