Read Online Blood Ties by Kevin Emerson - Free Book Online

falling asleep. Oliver reached under his seat into his carry-on bag and pulled out his blanket, as most passengers were doing. The blanket was made of two layers of extra-fine satin. The space between was filled with coffin soil. Every vampire had their own unique sleeping soil in their blanket, since vampires had different preferences for things like soil humidity and weight. Some even added bugs or worms—their crawling could create a massaging effect—but Oliver hadn’t.
    Sometime later, Oliver felt an elbow nudge. “Hey…” It was Dean. “What’s happening?”
    Oliver saw Dean looking around in wonder, then noticed that the walls of the charion had changed in two ways: They were glowing a faint red, and they had become ever-so-slightly transparent.
    â€œWe’re passing through the mantle,” said Oliver.
    Outside the train, they could see a vague impression of swirling magma, in shades of oranges and reds. Now they passed through an area that was white hot, and the train vibrated noticeably. The walls became even more transparent, so that it looked like only a collection of seats was speeding along. Glimpses of rocks and minerals flashed by, only to be swallowed again by heat and magma.
    â€œIt’s getting hot in here,” said Dean worriedly. “It seems like maybe you wouldn’t want the walls to get thinner when we’re in the hottest places.” He glanced around nervously, but most of the passengers were sleeping soundly.
    â€œDon’t worry,” Oliver assured him. “We’re safe. When it gets too hot, the charion uses transdimensional magnets, and we kind of phase into a parallel world for a little while. Otherwise the train couldn’t last in these conditions.”
    Dean didn’t look totally convinced. The Charion shimmied again.
    â€œThese trains do this every day,” said Oliver. “Before deep-earth travel like this, it took forever to get anywhere.”
    â€œVampires never heard of airplanes?” commented Dean.
    â€œNah,” Oliver replied. “For one thing, human airlines are way too unpredictable and smell terrible. There was a vampire airline for a while called Twilight Air, but they could never really figure out how to deal with the solar radiation at such high altitudes. Vampires were getting low-grade combustion fever, and every now and then a pilot would burst into flames, which was a problem.”
    A half hour later, the sides of the train began to solidify, and the heat and red glow faded. Oliver and Dean played more video games, falling asleep on and off until the train arrived beneath New York City.
    New York’s charion station was cavernous and modern, and they had to cross a sea of travelers that seemed never ending before barely reaching the train to Morosia in time. This charion was larger, two levels, with domed windows on the top. As the train hummed out of the station, Dean looked up through the windows, seeing nothing but black.
    Oliver noted his skeptical expression. “Just wait,” he said.
    A few minutes later, Oliver nudged Dean and pointed up. They were emerging from the ground—onto the ocean floor. Black became deep blue, with pale, harmless sun flittering through the water from far above. The train began to angle downward, nearing an almost vertical pitch, its speed increasing.
    â€œAh,” Dean groaned, grabbing at his ears again.
    Oliver felt it, too. “We’re dropping down the continental shelf,” he explained. He’d been waiting for this the whole trip. The charion dropped like a roller coaster down the steep edge of the world, the light from the sun becoming weaker and weaker. Shadows of fish were visible for a moment, then lost in inky dark. When the black had become complete, bright white magmalights flicked on from the sides of the train, casting beams out into the darkness, catching the tiny fish, drifting debris, and the occasional