“A human would be laid out by that dose, but you might need another one later to get you through until another daysleep.”
He had to be taped to a board for a whole night? Will studied the pattern of acoustical tiles on the ceiling and thought the dot pattern might be swirling. Then again, he might be stoned. “What was the big news Aidan wanted you to tell me?”
“Cage came back last night with his first report, and he found out something we weren’t expecting.” Krys pulled a chair next to the bed, leaning over and talking softly. “No one else can know this until it’s done, but Melissa’s alive. Matthias had her turned vampire immediately after he had the guy break her neck, and somehow—God only knows how—she made it through the transition. He has her locked up in one of the clinic sub-suites. He knows she’s been Aidan’s fam for a long time and is trying to force information out of her.”
Will sat up and growled as the pain shot through his leg again. At least this time it quickly leveled out. He fucking loved morphine. “We have to go in and get her. You don’t understand how Matthias can screw with a person’s head. And a new vampire? Shit. We have to get her out of there before he does so much damage she isn’t the same person we knew.”
“You aren’t going anywhere, junior.” Mirren came in, followed by Aidan, who closed the door behind them. “What’s going on with the leg?”
“It’s bruised, swollen, painful.” Krys pointed out the obvious. “I do think it’s healing, but shouldn’t it be further along by now? I gave him some morphine, and that seemed to help.”
Mirren pulled up another chair and wrapped a beefy hand around Will’s ankle. With his other hand, he slowly began feeling his way up the calf.
Will ground his teeth and tried to kick Mirren with his right foot. “Stop that, you sadist.”
Mirren impaled him with an icy-gray glare. “Shut the fuck up and be still.”
The big guy felt his way along the bones of the broken leg, fingers probing at every fiery ball of agony. Will was so going to beat the crap out of that vampire one of these days.
Mirren looked up and actually smiled. “You might try it, junior, but you’ll never be able to take me.”
Will looked at Aidan. Oh, this was so not good. “He can hear me too?”
Aidan’s smile was faint. “Only when you’re really projecting. You were really projecting.”
Awesome. “Well, stop listening unless you hear me scream your name, OK?”
Mirren sat back. “It’s healing. Stay off of it, and by the time you come out of another daysleep, you might be able to put weight on it. I’ll come back then.” He stood up and moved the chair back behind the corner desk. “If you try to walk on it too soon, it’ll break again and we’ll have to start over. So keep your ass where it is, or you’ll have to deal with me.”
Normal sick people in Penton got the gentle touch of Dr. Krys. Just Will’s luck he required the prickly care of the evil Dr. Slayer.
Aidan had remained standing, leaning against the closed door. “About Melissa. We decided not to tell Mark until we’ve successfully gotten her out. I gave Cage until three a.m. to bring her to the Omega entrance. If he isn’t there, Mirren and I are going after her.”
Will swiveled his head to see Aidan, keeping his lower body still. “Why not let Cage stay put? If we go after her”—damned leg—“if you go after her, it doesn’t out him as a plant, and we’d be able to find out what Matthias is up to.”
Mirren sat on the bed across the room from Will’s. “He’s going to be outed anyway. Cage says nobody—not even that asshole Shelton—knows Melissa’s down there. Other than Matthias, Cage is the only person who’s been in the sub-suites since Mel was turned.”
Aidan nodded. “If we take her out, Cage is still compromised. The only way to keep him in place is to leave Melissa in Matthias’s hands.”
Will settled back on his pillow. “I hope you don’t consider that an option.”
Aidan opened the door. “We’ll send you a feeder. And no, leaving her there is not an option. One way or another, she’s coming out tonight.”
Cage had hoped to go to Melissa as soon as he awoke from daysleep, but by the time he dressed and left his room, Matthias was already descending the ladder into the sub-suite corridor. “Good, you’re up early. I just got back from a meeting with the Tribunal and have a message from Edward. Let’s go up to the office.”
Cage avoided looking in the direction of Melissa’s door and followed Matthias through the hatch and into the office. They took their seats from three nights earlier. “How is Edward doing?” Cage hoped the UK’s Tribunal representative hadn’t let his dislike of Matthias or support of Aidan show. He’d managed to get a call to Edward last night before returning to town and had filled him in on Matthias turning Melissa. Hopefully, Edward could use the information to turn more of the Tribunal members away from Matthias.
Actually, he’d hoped it would be enough for the Tribunal to call Matthias home and let the assault on Penton drop, but as Edward pointed out, Aidan himself had illegally turned his mate, Krys, and Mirren Kincaid had killed former Tribunal member Lorenzo Caias, no matter how justified it might have been. The Penton leaders had gotten their hands dirty, and the Tribunal wouldn’t overlook it. They were too paranoid.
“Brilliant man, Edward.” Matthias poured himself a whiskey and offered one to Cage. He declined. Alcohol had very little effect on vampires, but he needed to be at his sharpest if he hoped to get Melissa out of town and to the Omega hatch by 3:00 a.m. The last thing the Penton scathe needed was Aidan and Mirren putting themselves at risk.
“What was his message?” Cage settled back in his chair and wondered if Shelton was down the hall, feeding from the boy—or worse. That situation sat badly with him. He’d seen his share of blood whores, male and female, but never one that young. He couldn’t save everybody, but he didn’t like leaving the kid behind.
“First, Edward is certainly a fan of yours—speaks very highly of your skills, both as a fighter and as a strategist, because of your background.”
Cage nodded his head in acknowledgment of the compliment. “Edward is a highly principled man.” Unlike you.
“Yet you’re not bonded to him, which I find interesting.” Matthias sipped his whiskey and set it back on the desk. “Why is that?”
A partial truth would work. “I was bonded to him before coming here, actually. But we agreed that if I came in contact with Aidan Murphy by some chance, he’d know I was tied to the Tribunal—or at least that I had pledged fealty to another scathe. Being a free agent seemed safer. I could pretend to be looking over Penton as a possible place to relocate.”
Matthias picked up his glass again and watched the amber liquid swirl around the glass. “Would you be willing to bond yourself to me? I’d consider it a sign of good faith, a reassurance of your loyalty. Once this operation is over, of course, I’ll release you from your bond so you can return to Edward.
“That was Edward’s message to you, by the way—that you should honor my request.”
Bloody hell. He hadn’t seen this coming, and he didn’t believe for a second that Edward had recommended it. But he didn’t dare hesitate. “Certainly, that seems reasonable enough. I’m unlikely to run across Aidan Murphy in downtown Penton, given the current situation. Our bonding decisions were made before we knew you’d led such an assertive attack on Murphy’s scathe.”
“Good.” Matthias set his glass on the desk. “I’m glad you see things the way I do.”
He had to think fast and buy time. What would satisfy Matthias as a plausible reason for delay? “Would you object to waiting until just before dawn? Feeding—and being fed from—makes me feel a bit lazy and complacent, I’m afraid, not being a master vampire like yourself. That’s rather embarrassing to admit. But I’d like to help patrol and be on alert tonight.”
Matthias smiled, a stretching and thinning of lips that made his slim face distort like a fun house mirror image. “Quite understandabl
e. There’s nothing quite like the blood exchange, is there? It’s sensual even between virtual strangers.”
Cage fought to keep from visibly shuddering. If the bastard thought Cage’s mouth was going anywhere near his body—even a forearm—he was deluded. “Shall we meet back here about four?”
“Perfect,” Matthias said. “I have some reports to file for the Tribunal and would like to go back and inspect the grenade site as well. And with any luck, you or one of my other scouts will discover the Penton scathe’s hideaway tonight.”
Cage nodded thoughtfully. “Are you certain they’re still here and hiding underground? The most prudent thing for them to have done would be to use their escape hatch and scatter while things were still in chaos.”
Even Aidan admitted this would have been the best plan, but the scathe had been in disarray when they escaped into Omega following Matthias’s unexpected attack. By the time they regrouped, especially with that many humans, it wasn’t safe to move a lot of people out at once.
“I can’t be certain, of course.” Matthias got up and refilled his whiskey glass, then returned to his seat. “But Murphy is arrogant, and he had quite a little kingdom built up here”—he looked around with a sniff—“albeit a boring one. He’ll think he can wait us out or stage an offensive of his own. Now that we’ve destroyed one of his exits, time is on our side. Once we find the other exits, they’ll be like ducks in a shooting gallery when they pop their heads up.”
Cage nodded. He had to admit that, from a tactical point, it made sense. Time was on Matthias’s side. “Assuming they are underground, how long do you think they can last?”
Matthias’s laugh sent a shiver across Cage’s shoulder blades. “Oh, not long. If it were only the vampires and a few feeders they didn’t care about, they could survive quite a while. But they’ve made unwise emotional bonds with their humans, and I’ve never met a human who had much stomach for no daylight or fresh air or the ability to move around at will. I predict conditions will grow squalid quite fast if they haven’t already.”
Again, Cage had to acknowledge Matthias’s logic. Will had designed a solid system of filtered air, steady light, fresh water, and waste disposal. They’d last longer than Matthias might think. But eventually, if nothing else went wrong, cabin fever—or bunker fever—could easily spread. All it would take would be one person to panic, run, and give away the Omega entrance.
A sharp knock sounded from the doorway, and a flush-cheeked Shelton stuck his head in the door, obviously well sated—something Cage didn’t want to think too much about. “You ready to go and take a look at the grenade site?”
“I certainly am.” Matthias rose from his chair. “Cage, would you like to join us? I’m anxious to see if there are any signs of movement from below. We took photos of the original cave-in, so if dirt or debris have been moved, we’ll have our answer about whether or not the good citizens of Penton are belowground.”
Shit. Even if the Penton scathe had been careful filling in the lower part of the grenade site, Matthias would probably find his visual proof that they were down there. Cage was torn between going with the vampires to stay abreast of their findings and getting Melissa out as soon as possible. But he’d promised Aidan. Melissa had to come first, and he had no intention of bonding with Matthias.
“I think I’ll find a feeder and then help with the patrols.” Cage got to his feet as well. “I thought I scented unfamiliar vampires south of town, so I might head down that way again. I’ll meet you back here by four, though.” Right. He’d stake himself first.
“Cage is going to become a bonded scathe member, at least for a while,” Matthias told Shelton. “We’ll be happy to have him officially aboard, won’t we?”
Shelton nodded a little too enthusiastically. Bastard.
Cage accompanied the men outside, and when they headed north toward the church, he turned south. He made a broad circle around the downtown area, through the woods, and emerged behind the burned ruins of Aidan’s home. Next to it, still intact, stood the greenhouse where Aidan had liked to dabble at the closest thing a vampire could come to farming. He’d raised night-blooming flowers, which had apparently helped win him over with Krys.
Mirren and Glory had fled there after Matthias’s attack on Penton, spending a daysleep in the other half of the tunnel that led to the clinic. The cave-in was closer to this side. But if Cage could work his way through it, it would be the safest way to get Melissa out.
He had to dig fast.
Aidan had told him where the hatch was and how to spring it. But it was so well hidden in the dirt floor of the greenhouse that it still took him a half hour to find it and get it open.
He climbed onto the concrete steps, closed the hatch behind him, and descended into a small exit room. A concrete-floored tunnel led off of it, sloping downward. The air was damp and musty, and the tunnel was dark. No electricity on this side, so Cage knelt and pulled a flashlight from his pack. And a knife.
After twenty or thirty feet of decline, the tunnel leveled out. Ahead, Cage found a mattress and a bloody shirt—leftovers from Mirren and Glory, who’d been shot by Matthias after getting everyone else out through the church hatch. There was a couple of suites on this side of the cave-in, but they didn’t look structurally sound. Their ceilings cracked and sagged.
If the suites on this end of the corridor were this shaky, he might risk bringing this whole side of the clinic down on his head by digging through the rubble that blocked the tunnel. He played the flashlight beam along the debris and paused on a spot that seemed to have a lot of loose stones and plaster beneath a collapsed support beam. No need to tear the whole thing down; he only needed an opening big enough to crawl through.
Propping the flashlight so it illuminated the spot, he knelt and used his knife to lever out a small chunk of concrete, then another. After an hour of meticulous removal, stone by stone, waiting between each piece to see if the rubble looked as if it were going to shift, he had an opening that looked wide enough to accommodate his shoulders. That was the broadest thing that would be going through it.
The tricky part would be sliding through without touching and dislodging anything else. Still, it was the best he could do.
He checked his watch: 11:00 p.m. No time to waste.
Cage slipped off his jacket, took everything from the pockets of his combat pants, and, after consideration, jerked his sweater over his head. The fewer things to get caught on pieces of debris, the better.
Carefully, he reached through the opening and laid the flashlight on the other side, then the lock-picking tools from his pack. He stuck his head and upper body through, then pushed off with his feet and tried a forward somersault through the opening.
Damn it. His heel caught the top of the hole, and a rain of stones came down. He held his breath, praying the mangled support beam would hold. If he got caught half-naked on this side of the tunnel with Matthias and Shelton roving around, it would not be pretty. Plus, Matthias was taking his daysleep in the house across the street from this greenhouse. Who knew when he might pop over there for something?
The sifting dust settled with one final groan of the beam.
Cage climbed to his feet, grabbed the flashlight and tools, and ran down the corridor to Melissa’s room. The loosened dead bolt didn’t turn, and he knelt to look at it. Damn it. The lock had been changed to a new lockset—had Matthias figured it out? Paranoia and dread settled on him as he fumbled with the new lock, finally hearing the tumbler turn. Thank God.
He slipped quickly into the room and closed the door behind him. Melissa was in the same place, but she’d been blindfolded. At the sound of the door, she’d begun visibly trembling. Those bastards. “It’s me, Mel. It’s Cage.”
He made quick work of the blindfold, aware of the glassy, unfocused look in her hazel eyes. The gag came off next. “Are you OK? Can you answer me?”
She looked at him and blinked, then blinked again. The awareness seeped into her gaze, along wit
h a look of fear. “Cage? They knew somebody had fooled with the locks, and you’re the only one who’s been down here. You’ve gotta get out.”
“We’re getting out of here.” He fumbled with the ropes, finally got her untied, and helped her sit up. As soon as she tried to stand, however, she stumbled. She’d been tied up ever since her transition, he guessed.
Opening the door and glancing down the hallway, Cage went back and picked Melissa up. “Arms around my neck. We’re getting out.”
New vampires had no way to gauge their own strength, and Melissa almost choked him as they made their way down the corridor.
“Stick your head and arms through the hole and stay propped on your hands,” he whispered. “I’ll push you through.”
She nodded, but moved slowly. Cage hadn’t heard anything, but some instinct told him time was short. “Move faster if you can, love.”
“I’ll try.” Melissa’s voice was a dry rasp. She needed feeding, badly.
Finally, she got halfway through the opening, and he was able to push her through.
The sound he’d been dreading—an opening hatch—sounded down the corridor, and Cage dove toward the hole in the debris.
“You son of a bitch—stop!” Matthias’s voice. Running footsteps. Not just Matthias—more than one person.
A shot echoed down the corridor, and hot pain erupted in the back of Cage’s thigh as he tried to roll through the opening. The debris began raining down on his legs, and he struggled, unable to pull himself out.
“Mel, help m—” He didn’t have to finish. She grasped him under the arms and tugged, pulling him through just as another shot sounded, followed by a groaning shift of debris. It wasn’t just in the tunnel, but above their heads. This whole fucking side of the clinic was coming down.
“Run!” He snatched up his pack and took Melissa’s hand, but he was virtually dragging her. A brick hit him on the side of his head, grazing his temple and sending a wet stream down his jaw and neck. He lifted Melissa and ran, ran like he’d never run before, up the twenty yards of inclined tunnel and into the exit room. Every time weight hit his leg it increased the hot pain, as if each step were a pile driver, jamming the bullet in deeper.
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