“Rewind,” I said as my stomach felt heavy and sick. “What do you mean by contagious?”
Other Jack gave me a surprised look. “You know, if a red vampyre bites a human that human will die within three days, and then within another three days if their body isn’t beheaded or burned they rise as red zombies.”
“You’re going to need to explain that better,” Stark said when all I did was stare at Jack.
“That doesn’t happen here?” Jack asked.
“No,” I said. “Being a vampyre isn’t contagious. It’s a gift from Nyx, whether you’re Marked blue or red.”
“Oh, well, being a vampyre isn’t contagious in my world, either. That’s why we call them zombies. They rise within three days, but they’re not human and they’re not vampyre. They just lust for blood and living flesh, and then they die. For good this time. Usually within a week or so. Oh, their bite is contagious, too.”
“Zombies. Literally,” I said.
Other Jack nodded. “Yep. Literally.”
“You said you heal from wounds quickly, but I noticed the red vampyres hardly flinched when my arrows struck them—until I shot them through the neck. What’s that about?” Stark said.
“We can only be killed by severing our spines or by being burned. Oh, we can starve to death, too, but that takes some time and it’s terribly painful. It’s how the Red Army disciplines soldiers. They starve them to make them do as they command.” Other Jack shuddered delicately, reminding me so much of our Jack that I had to look away from him so he wouldn’t see the tears that pooled in my eyes.
“And Neferet is the leader of both the Red and Blue Armies?” Stark asked.
“Yes.”
“Um, who exactly is she fighting?” I asked.
“It’s more like who isn’t she fighting,” Jack said. “Her armies have taken control of the middle of the US. Rebel and human strongholds are on the east and west coasts. As soon as she defeats them, she’s going to take over Europe, but she has to do away with the High Council, first. And that’s proving harder than she thought it would be.”
“What do you mean by ‘taken control of the middle of the US’?” I asked.
“You know, humans are refriger—ur, I mean, they are used to feed from. Some of them do it willingly. They try to get a blue vampyre to choose them to use as, ur, their private feeder. At least that won’t kill them. Well, not if the blue vamp is careful. The rest of the humans are feeders for the Red Army.”
“Which is a death sentence,” Stark said.
Other Jack nodded.
I felt shaky and sick. What he was talking about wasn’t our world, but it was close enough to us—to what might have happened had Neferet gained power—that it was frightening. “Jack, you said Neferet is a High Priestess. What happened to the rest of them?”
“There are no other High Priestesses.” Jack shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t know what happened to them. When Neferet created the two armies, and they began to gain control of different states, well, they either renounced their positions, swearing that Neferet was the only High Priestess, or they just disappeared.” He cleared his throat before adding, “Or they were made examples of.”
“What does that mean?”
Jack’s eyes lifted from where he’d been staring at his hands, clenched together on his lap. He met my gaze. “They were beheaded and tied to crosses outside their House of Night.”
I shuddered. “Just like she did with Professor Nolan and Lauren Blake. Only here she blamed it on humans so she could start a war. Are you sure Neferet is still mortal?”
“You asked me that before, and I don’t know what you mean. She’s a vampyre. I don’t know anything about her being anything else.”
“Is Kalona in your world?” Damien asked suddenly.
“Kalona? What’s a Kalona?” said Other Jack.
“A winged immortal—ancient consort of Nyx—but, well, he Fell and caused a bunch of problems for humans for a long time,” I explained. “He hooked up with Neferet and then she figured out how to become immortal.”
“There’s no one like that around Neferet. I’m sure of it.”
“Well, that’s good,” Stark said.
“Where is Nyx?” I blurted the next question burning my mind.
Jack sighed heavily. “Neferet says Nyx is with us. All of us vampyres, whether red or blue. But she’s stopped the monthly rituals and circles. She says she worships Nyx privately and then tells her armies what the goddess says. The rebels say that’s bull. They say Nyx is firmly on their side.”
“I say so, too, and I’m not even in that world,” Damien said softly, without looking up from his notepad.
“So, if the depot tunnels are sealed and the red vamps from your world can’t get down there, what would be their Plan B? Where would they go to escape the sun?” Stark asked.
“In this world, it’s hard to say. In my Tulsa, under downtown and midtown there is a complex system of tunnels. Many are linked. But there are entries to them all over so that no red vamp is ever stuck outside.”
I looked at Stark. “They can’t enter any private homes or buildings. And we don’t have a huge system of tunnels under the city—or at least not yet we don’t.”
“So we need to take Warriors to the public buildings that do have entrances to tunnels,” Stark said.
“Let’s try to narrow it down,” Damien said. He looked at Other Jack. I could see that he was working hard to keep his face as expressionless as possible. I hated to think about how difficult it must be for Damien—to have Jack back, but to not really have his Jack back.
“Okay, how?” Jack said.
“We have tunnel entrances in just a few downtown buildings.” Damien paused, considering, then listed them. “Besides the system under the depot, there is the section that connects the Philtower to the Philcade. The Atlas Building, the Mid-Continent Tower, the Kennedy Building, and the Exchange Tower, all on Boston, are connected. And then there’s a system under the Crowne Plaza and the PAC. Are any of these main entrances to tunnels in your world?”
“Neferet has an apartment in the Philtower building, so those tunnels are busy. There are even cots in those because of officers visiting Neferet. Also, the Atlas Building has a club in it that red vamps go to. A lot.” Other Jack paused, looking uncomfortable. “’Cause that’s, um, where the officers feed pretty often, so they have cots down there, too.”