The Underworld by Jessica Sorensen Read Free Book Online

he
    replied.
    “So we’re walking there then?” I asked, glancing up
    at the flickering lamppost as I walked by it.
    He nodded. “It’s not very far. Plus, my car got
    damaged during Aislin’s and my little escape from the
    Death Walkers, so driving real y isn’t an option.”
    I looked around at the ominous-looking, graffiti-
    decorated buildings, the shadowed cars dotting the
    parking lot, and the giant garbage cans towering not
    too far away from us. Al were perfect places for
    someone—or something to hide. And, okay, I know I
    made the choice to come out here, but now that I
    actual y was, warnings were popping up al over in my
    head. And now that I thought about it, no one had ever
    said how high of a chance it was that Stephan and/or
    the Death Walkers would show up.
    “Are we safe?” I asked Laylen as we reached the
    sidewalk that bordered the dark street.
    “Hmm…Define safe,” he said, fiddling with his lip
    ring.
    I gaped at him. “What? So we’re not safe?”
    “Gemma, I already warned you it might be
    dangerous,” he reminded me.
    I shielded my eyes with my hand as a car driving by
    blinded me with its headlights. “Yeah, I know, but….
    What are the odds of us running into a Death
    Walker?”
    Out here?” he asked, and I nodded. “Probably
    lower than when we went into the Black Dungeon.” He
    tucked his hands into his pockets and moved to the
    side as a homeless man, pushing a cart, passed by
    us.
    “Wel , what about the place we’re going to?” I
    asked. “What are the odds of us running into one
    there?”
    “Pretty low,” he said.
    “Wel , what kind of place are we going to exactly?”
    He raised an eyebrow at me. “The truth?”
    I gave him a ‘duh’ look, but wasn’t sure if he could
    see it through the darkness. “Always,” I answered.
    “A place where vampires hang out,” he replied.
    Maybe I should have asked this question
    beforehand, because going into a place where
    vampires hung out seemed kind of sketchy. “But isn’t
    there going to be a problem with me going in there
    since I’m human?” Even Laylen himself had told me
    that other vampires—non-Keeper Vampires—were
    not real y good. And then there was the whole
    humans-letting-vampires-bite-them thing that I’d seen
    going on back when we’d been at the Black Dungeon.
    He shook his head and answered, “There’l be
    other humans there. It’l be like at the Black Dungeon,
    when you saw that man getting bit.”
    I tried not to freak out. “So…There’l be a bunch of
    humans standing around, getting bit by vampires
    because they want to…” stimulate their desires . Wel ,
    that idea was comforting. How was I supposed to
    walk into a room like that, when I couldn’t even talk
    about it aloud?
    “You’l be fine. Just make sure you stay by me at al
    times,” he said, sounding just like Alex.
    “Wel , what are we going to do when we get to this
    place,” I asked, inching closer to Laylen as a door to a
    bar swung open and a group of men stumbled
    outside, talking rowdily.
    “We’re going to go see if we can talk to Vladislav,”
    he told me. And when I gave him a confused look,
    explained further. “He’s a vampire…a very important
    vampire.”
    Even though the air was hot, I shivered. An
    important vampire. What did that mean? Wel , I got
    that it meant he was important— duh —but what did it
    require to be considered important in the vampire
    world.
    I hated to even think about it.
    We veered off to the right, away from the road. The
    already dark atmosphere, shifted even darker. There
    were no lampposts and no lights on in any of the
    broken down buildings.
    “Laylen, are you sure this is the right way?” I asked
    in a quiet voice. “There’s nothing here.”
    “Yeah, I’m sure.” He swung his arm around my
    shoulder, al buddy buddy, which was the strangest
    thing ever. “Trust me.”
    And trust him I did, letting him lead me deeper into
    the shadows of the night, making me