Caged

  The vampires seemed only part of the worry, though. I’d spent the past ten minutes frowning at the alteration to Sean’s gait and the slight awkwardness that seemed to affect each of his steps, especially as it slowly worsened the more he rubbed at his stomach.

  “What the hell’s up with you?”

  “Rolls must have been dodgy, or something. They make you bad?”

  “No.” Nothing bloody wrong with them. “You should have said before we came in if you were ill …” instead of giving me more crap to fret over.

  “I’m good. Nothing I can’t handle.” His hand went toward his abdomen again but stopped as though realising his action. “We heading up a level, or what?”

  “Yup.”

  I slid open a door we’d already passed once, leading to a turreted staircase like the one to Catherine’s office, and allowed Dad through first with his vampire-detecting nose.

  At my nod, Sean slipped in behind him, shoulder slamming the doorframe as his step skewed to the right.

  My hand shot out to steady him.

  When he twisted back at me, a frown showed his confusion over the unbalance. A thin layer of perspiration dotted his upper lip.

  Shit! Throat tight, I questioned him with a jerk of my chin.

  “I’m good.” He nodded as though for emphasis.

  • • •

  The room we found at the top held the same dimensions as Catherine’s office, except with plush sofas and a flatscreen instead of the desk and chair.

  In the opposite wall, a door I must have missed in the other space stood closed.

  Rising hackles tugged at the skin coating my nape, and a sense of foreboding settled across my shoulders like a death cape.

  And still not a freaking soul in sight.

  The vampires had been in there, though. If the headshakes and wrinkled noses from Dad and Josh were anything to go by, they’d been there recently.

  At the opposite exit, I strained to listen.

  Nothing—still.

  The hairs across my neck sprang up even straighter, as a shiver tickled its way along my spine. I shrugged them both off, un-accepting of jitters when I needed to focus, though couldn’t help but half-wish I’d been chosen to change into wolf, too.

  At a huff from the left, I peered down at Dad, and he bobbed his head as though telling me to get a move on. I twisted the handle and pushed. “Dad, I’m starting to get a real bad feeling about this.” I stepped into the space that held no more than a single cot, bedside table with lamp, and a chest of drawers. “Maybe we should have checked the cells first?” I aimed for another door that lay directly ahead. “What if they’ve already moved them all out to a new venue, and we’re searching an empty shell?”

  Or what if they’ve killed them all and abandoned their enterprise, only to vanish into the stratosphere?

  A low growl rumbled from Dad, and his head jerked up and to the left—werewolf code for ‘get going’.

  With muscles tense enough to play squash against, I sucked up my unease and did as ordered.

  Throughout the second floor, one room led to another, and to another, until we eventually reached a door that didn’t yield.

  Dad scratched at the wooden barrier.

  Josh whined, his nose lifting as his nostrils flared, his eyes widening a little more with each inhalation.

  I didn’t need either of their responses to tell me something bad lay on the other side. The stench of sickness, filth and blood blasted my senses, too.

  Beside me, Sean’s cheeks had turned an unhealthy shade of puce as small gags contracted and expanded them.

  We’d smelled enough blood and gore in our lives to not be so affected by it, and the sight of him sent my heart into hammer mode. “You okay?”

  “Nauseous, is all.” He gagged again, his eyes bugging. “Bloody stinks.”

  “Guess that means I’m not sending you in to investigate, then.” I turned away, angling my shoulder into the door for a forced entry, but spun back at a mewling groan.

  A sound pretty close to air squeaking from a balloon eked from Sean’s lips as purplish red colouring broke out across his face. From his tightly-scrunched eyes, I followed the tense line of his shoulders, down his arms, to his damn hands clutching once more at his stomach as he bent forward.

  “Jesus Christ.” I took a step toward him and grabbed his shoulder. “What the hell’s up with you, Sean?”

  Dad and Josh fidgeted, quiet whimpers accompanying their manic ear twitches.

  The noise Sean made grew in pitch, tickling my ears, and the longer it spilled from him, the further over he doubled—until a breath gasped from him, his hand flew out to clutch at my arm with enough vice to bruise, and he staggered sideways. “Fuck.” For seconds, he panted before he lifted his face and opened his eyes. “Thought my bowels were going to lose it for a second, there.”

  Irritation got the better of me at the state of my brother. “What the hell were you thinking?” Even as I barked at him, my pulse whirred at the pain still evident in his eyes. “You had no damn business coming in here as my backup if you’re sick.”

  “I wasn’t bloody ill when I came in.” His voice held conviction, yet panic still fired my temper.

  “I have enough shit to focus on, don’t you think?”

  Straightening, he wiped a hand across his mouth like he had a bad taste in it. “You don’t need to concern yourself over me. I can take care of myself.”

  “You’d better be right.” I spun for the door again. “Now get a grip.”

  The lock on the barrier couldn’t have been a strong one. With a snap of my wrist and a barge of my shoulder, wood splintered, and the catch broke free.

  As the stench we’d detected intensified, Sean retched again, and the click of Dad and Josh’s claws made a backward retreat at my rear.

  Switching to shallow breaths through my mouth, I nudged the door farther. Only shadows stared back. If the room contained windows, they’d been covered over. After a handful of blinks to adjust my vision, I stepped inside, halting at a fluttering vibration that stop-started from somewhere within.

  I peered harder into the dimness.

  Straight ahead stood another door. Two ways in. Two ways out. Front and rear—meaning I could keep an eye ahead of me, and the pack had my back.

  To the left appeared to be only wall. At a tiny whimper, I twisted to the right until my gaze fell on the outline of a cot.

  The raised shape of its upper side looked very much like a huddled body. It also seemed to be the source of the blood and dirt smells.

  Small sporadic tremors shook the bed, identifying the noise I’d heard. Whoever lay on there must have heard my entrance, so I saw little point in covering my presence.

  “Hey,” I murmured.

  The trembling intensified until a steady rattle bumped the bed against the wall.

  Palms out, I chanced a forward shuffle. “It’s okay.” Please do not let this be a fucking trick. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Another whimper—louder than the last—came with a jerk from whoever lay there.

  I risked an inhalation and weaved a path through the undesirable odours until I’d wheedled out the musk of male—human male.

  Crap.

  I strode the distance to the cot, and it became clear the human had some kind of blanket over its head. Only breaths and heartbeats carried in from the rest of the pack as I pried sweaty fingers from around the hem and eased the fabric down.

  Two huge eyeballs peeked out, the dark irises appearing tiny amidst the showing whites. They darted to the left, back to me, to the left again—a back and forth flitter that seemed out of his control.

  “You okay?” I continued pulling the blanket away, revealing a bare torso that looked bruised in the gloom, before
his jittery arms folded over as though to defend. “My name’s Ethan.” I tossed the blanket to the foot of the cot; only a baggy pair of cotton boxers preserved his dignity. “You have a name?”

  He didn’t answer, but his face tilted as he peered up at me, and with the movement came the exposure of his neck.

  I tried to hide the jolt of shock.

  Shit, shit, shit!

  I dug my fingers into my hair, fisting the strands for a second before my breaths and pulse returned to a more regular rhythm.

  “Who the hell did this to you?” I reached out a hand, my conscience willing me to touch him whilst my mind yelled at me to run. He flinched a little when my fingertips brushed over the ragged mess of flesh near his collarbone, but he didn’t pull away, and I traced the outline of merged bite marks that had torn his body from one shoulder to the other. In a rapid scan, head to toe, I spotted dark crusted patches across his inner thighs, too. “Can you speak?”

  His eyes darted, like he tracked every one of my movements.

  I dropped down onto my haunches—maybe the looming left him intimidated—and his gaze followed my path. “Can you walk at all?”

  A high shine visited his eyes, though the whites remained just as big, and his head gave a singular nod.

  “Good. That’s good.” I looked across to the doorway for a moment. When I turned back, the kid’s gaze followed the action. I returned the scrutiny, filtering through the filth. His hair held grease, stiffening strands that would have otherwise been over his eyes. He couldn’t have been any older than a teen. Big for a human, though small compared to wolves of the same age. “You ready to give me a name, yet? You have mine. Seems only fair to meet me halfway, right?”

  Another unhinged nod responded before his tongue pushed free and licked at lips in dire need of fluids. “Colum.”

  Like I’d gotten trapped in a wind tunnel, static rebounded inside my mind and filled my hearing at the raspy-spoken word. “You’re … Gabe’s buddy. Colum …” Man, what was the kid’s name? Colum … Colum … “… Delaney?”

  The nods that followed held more enthusiasm than the last two.

  “Okay.” I blew out a breath. “Well … I’m a good friend of Gabe’s … and we have some stuff to do, me and my family.” I jerked my chin toward the door and hoped he couldn’t see the couple of hulking wolves around the frame. “But I’m going to leave someone to guard over you …” Sean could have probably used the rest, anyway. “… and, as soon as we’ve finished, I’m going to get you out of here. How does that sound to you?”

  His brows scrunched like he made effort to hold his emotions in check, but no amount of suppression could disguise the relief in his eyes.

  “Just hang in there.” Muscles bunching, I pushed up to stand. “I’ll be bac—”

  A crash boomed through from the adjoining room where I’d left the others.

  My head whipped round toward the opening that stood too far right for me to see.

  “Gentlemen.” I didn’t recognise the voice. “Nice of you to join us.”

  Beyond the partially open door, rumbles of aggression rolled through—Dad’s and Josh’s. To my left, shakes claimed Colum’s body until the bed sang like a tambourine.

  An inhalation told me nothing. I needed to know how many had come. Needed to understand the shit that had dropped on us. I also needed to get Sean the hell out of the firing line when he didn’t seem to be in any position to fight.

  I strode for the door.

  The panel slammed shut as I reached it.

  I glared down at the kid, where he leaned in my path against the wood.

  His chest heaved. His heart bounced so loud, it competed with the escalating snarls next door.

  The vibration of a growl brewed beneath my sternum. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  He shook his head—a manic side to side. “Don’t … don’t let them come in here.”

  A roar carried through from the next room.

  Another thud.

  Snarls—the desperate kind that came when a wolf tried to clamp hold of its prey.

  Scuffles. Thumps.

  A grunt, followed by a moan of pain.

  Sean!

  I snatched for the handle, prepared to shove Colum aside if I had to. “Get out the way!”

  Another bang—from somewhere behind me—and light spilled over the wall I faced, along with the dark shadow of my body.

  I spun to find the opposite doorway wide open and filled with three bodies.

  Catherine. Chad. Joseph.

  She laughed. “Looks like we got the consolation prize, boys.”

  Just fucking brilliant.

  34

  “Just can’t help yourself, can you?” Catherine took a step inside the doorway. “I should have guessed sooner this would be where you’d get stalled with that hero complex you have going on.”

  My mind held too much weariness to conjure a witty comeback. Instead, I reached behind for the whimpering kid and began a slow shuffle across to the bed.

  “Of course, I’m glad you came back,” Catherine continued. “It means I won’t have to hunt you down.”

  Beyond the closed door at my rear, scrambling feet, snarls, and thumps still continued. If not for the density naturally installed into old fortress-type buildings, the walls would probably have shaken beneath the onslaught of blows.

  Once my knee bumped the mattress, I risked turning my head to the side, though my focus stayed on the vampires. With a push down on Colum’s arm, I murmured, “Get under the cot and stay there.”

  He ducked down, the quieting of his scuffles telling me when he’d immersed himself, and I gave my full attention back to the threesome.

  “You can’t save everyone, Ethan,” Catherine said.

  Joseph raised a dart gun, fiddling with it as though checking the round.

  “No,” I said, keeping an eye on him, “but I can certainly give it my best shot.”

  She smiled up at Chad. “Don’t you just love an idealist?”

  Though Chad’s lips barely cracked a smile, Joseph sent me a satisfied grin. “Good to go.”

  I slid a hand around to my back, to the waistband of my jeans where I’d tucked a pistol of my own. Three fingers folded around the grip, the fourth finding its way to the trigger.

  Catherine nodded, all humour gone from her face. “Take him down.”

  I lunged to the left.

  The faint pop of a releasing dart reached me just prior to my shoulder slamming into the far wall.

  I dropped straight into a crouch, whipped my gun-wielding hand around in front of me, aimed for Joseph, and fired.

  Nothing. No pop. No expulsion of dart. Just an annoying click.

  As I stared down at the weapon, Catherine laughed.

  “Oops. Surely you didn’t really believe we’d leave live ammunition lying around?”

  Hot rage burned through me.

  Beside Catherine, Joseph slid another dart into the chamber, his smile still plastered across his smug face. “Only so many times you can leap side to side.” He snorted out a laugh. “Would be amusing, though—like those old Westerns where the bad guy shoots at the cowboy’s feet to make him dance.”

  Over my dead body, shithead.

  I drew my arm back a little. Tension wound the muscles tight through my shoulder, down to my forearm, my thighs.

  “If only we had more time to pla—”

  With a forward thrust of my arm, the gun bulleted through the room and bounced off Joseph’s skull. His eyes widened for an instant before he stumbled back.

  Both Catherine’s and Chad’s head twisted to follow Joseph’s heavy drop, and I launched myself at Chad, ramming my shoulder into his stomach.

  His body halved. Breath I did
n’t expect blasted the nape of my neck.

  An upward shove took his feet from the floor before I fisted my hands into his shirt and rammed him down onto the rug of Catherine’s office.

  A few metres to my left, Joseph scrambled for his stupid lifeline of a weapon, his fingers trembling as he fiddled with it.

  He snapped the round into place, and his arm made the lift.

  I shot forward. Kicked out. Booted the blasted gun from his hand and sent it hurtling into the far corner.

  He spun toward its flight path, mouth open like he couldn’t figure out how he lost it.

  I brought back my fist and pounded it into his temple, the impact spiking through my arm.

  He let out a grunt, but I didn’t wait for him to land before lunging upright in search of Catherine.

  From the head of the spiral staircase, she sent me a smile. Her fingers lifted in a delicate wave.

  A moment later, she whirled away and vanished.

  I knocked a chair from my path and raced forward. On my dive for the archway, a force crashed into my right ribcage with the power of a Trojan horse.

  Breath whooshed out of me.

  The window sped toward me.

  “Whoa, shit!” I threw my arms up to protect my face.

  The collision resulted in a brain-buzzing crack that left the glass patterned with an internal spider web of splinters, and my body slid south.

  On hitting the deck, my grunt burst out.

  The backward jerk of my body jarred so hard my teeth chomped down, and the metallic tinge of blood spread across my tongue. It took a couple of blinks to register the hand gripping the back of my neck as it hauled me upward and held me in place like a damn puppet.

  Joseph stepped into my field of vision, fangs fully extended, eyes completely black.

  I tried to twist and look behind, tried to throw my fist round for a shot. The fingers squeezed harder against my pulse points until dizziness invaded, and my arms would barely lift no matter how loud my mental demand.

  “I always told Catherine you were more trouble than you’re worth.” Chad’s voice identified him as the one holding me up.