Undone (Vampire Awakenings, Book 5)
Page 20
He nodded his agreement, and they walked down the hall to the stairs. Abby’s heart hammered as every step up they took creaked beneath their weight. When they reached the top, Aiden pressed his ear against the closed door. His brow furrowed as he listened to whatever was happening on the other side.
“I don’t hear anything but stay behind me,” he said to Abby.
She pulled one of her stakes free. Turning the knob, Aiden pushed the door open to reveal a large space the same size as the downstairs. The two vampires closest to the door whimpered before scuttling into the shadows where they huddled against the wall. Their chains clattered against the wooden floor, they shook as they drew their knees against their chests.
The smell of terror oozed from the vampires as their frightened eyes followed them into the room. “What the fuck?” Aiden murmured.
Abby’s gaze fell on a woman about her height, but she weighed a good thirty pounds less than she did. The woman’s collarbone stood out against her dirt-streaked, pale flesh. Abby could count every rib on the woman’s hundred-pound frame due to the fact she was wearing nothing but a bra. Abby didn’t catch the rancid scent of drugs or death on her, only the sour stench of never-ending fear.
Beneath the layers of dirt, Abby realized the woman was covered in bite marks. Aiden hissed beside her, and David cursed as he took a step toward the woman who immediately scooted away from his approach.
“No more,” the woman whimpered in a pitiful voice that broke Abby’s heart.
“Jesus,” Aiden said. “What is going on here?”
“Aiden?” the weak voice came from the shadows at the back of the room.
Abby’s heart leapt into her throat at the sound of that voice. Without thinking, she shoved past her brother and raced by the other vampires in the room who scampered away from her.
“Abby, wait!” Aiden commanded from behind her.
She wasn’t waiting for anyone though as she continued onward. Then, through the darkness, she spotted someone at the end of the building. Instead of scurrying into the shadows, Vicky surged forward, tears streaming down her face as she strained against the chains binding her.
“Abby!” she cried.
Abby fell before her, unaware that tears streaked her own face until they fell upon her sister and left clear trails in the dirt covering her. She’d never felt so relieved or happy in her life. “Vicky!”
She threw her arms around her twin, pulling her close against her and sobbing openly as Vicky’s emaciated body quaked against hers. Beneath the layers of sweat and dirt, the scent of garbage wafted from her sister. Shock rippled through Abby, but what had caused that scent was something they could deal with at another time. They had to get Vicky free of these bindings and out of here first.
Pulling away, she grabbed at the steel cuffs secured around Vicky’s thin wrists. Blood and bruises marred Vicky’s chaffed skin from straining against her bonds.
“They don’t break,” Vicky whispered. “I’ve tried everything, but they won’t give out. I don’t know what they’re made of, but they’re designed to keep a pureblood restrained.”
Vicky lifted her head to look at Abby. Her identical green eyes shimmered with tears when they met Abby’s. “You have to go, Abby. They’ll be coming soon, and you can’t be here when they do.”
“Not without you,” Abby promised as she yanked at the cuffs again.
Aiden fell to his knees beside her. “What have you gotten yourself into now?” he asked Vicky as he pushed Abby’s hands aside to grab at one of the metal cuffs. He’d be able to break it; Abby was certain of that, but as Aiden tugged at the metal, it refused to give. “What the—?”
“They’re designed specifically to keep a pureblood restrained,” Vicky told him.
Aiden released the cuff and leaned back to study the chain going to the large bolts in the wall behind Vicky. The chain ran through the manacles at her wrists, allowing for about three inches of space between Vicky’s wrists. Standing, Aiden grabbed hold of the chain and gave it a violent yank, but it remained secured to the wall.
“You have to go,” Vicky said again. Her gaze darted toward the door. “They’ll be here soon. Abby, go.”
“Who will be here soon?” Abby demanded.
“The vampires who imprisoned us.” Vicky pushed against her. “Go.”
“No.”
She rose to her feet. Behind Aiden, she grabbed hold of the chain with both hands. They both planted their feet against the wall and pulled back as hard as they could on the bolts holding it in place. Her arms strained as sweat beaded across her brow and slid down her cheeks. She might tear her arms from their sockets, but she wasn’t going to give up until Vicky was freed.
David grabbed the rest of the chain behind her, adding his strength as they pulled against the bolt in the wall. A low screeching sound filled the air before the chain gave way with a pop. The abrupt release caused Abby to fall backward. She tripped over David’s feet, taking them both down. She found herself sprawled on top of him on the floor. Aiden fell on top of her, his elbow jabbing her in the gut. The breath exploded out of her, and she instinctively curled in on herself.
Her pain vanished when she realized they’d managed to pull Vicky free. Her sister lifted her hands and laughed as she brought her wrists before her face. Around them, the other chained vampires crept forward, their eyes wide and hopeful. Vicky threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around her three rescuers who were still on the floor where they had landed.
Abby eagerly hugged her back as she tried to free herself from her brother’s weight. “We have to go,” Aiden said as he rose to his feet. “Now.”
“We have to set her free first,” David said as he extricated himself from the bottom of the pile.
Vicky kept her arms around Abby as she lifted her head to look around the room. “We can’t leave them,” Vicky whispered. “They’re purebloods, like us.”
“All of them?” Abby asked as she gazed at the six vampires peering at them from the shadows.
There were only a little over a hundred purebloods in existence. As far as she knew, the highest concentration of them was her family. Then there were Ronan’s men, though she had no idea how many of them there were. The number of purebloods could have grown over the years, but how had they gotten so many purebloods in this room, and why were they all chained to the walls?
“All of them,” Vicky confirmed.
“This way,” David said and jerked his head toward the front of the room.
He hurried back to the first woman Abby had seen cowering in the shadows. The woman crept a little closer to them as they walked down to join David. Abby cringed when she spotted those raw bite marks again. A glance at her sister’s neck confirmed she also had bite marks on her. She didn’t know about elsewhere as Vicky was still wearing a dirty, red sweater that hugged a frame much thinner since Abby had seen her last.
Abby reluctantly released her sister to take hold of the chain behind David. “How did you find me?” Vicky asked as she grabbed the chain beside Abby.
“Brian helped me,” she whispered.
Vicky did a double take; her startled green eyes appeared larger and brighter due to her weight loss and the dark circles under them. “He must really hate our family. We’re always dragging him into shit.”
Aiden snorted. “There’s at least one in our family he likes,” he said with a pointed look at Abby.
Abby pretended not to notice her sister’s questioning gaze as she braced her leg against the wall and gave a forceful heave. They all teetered as the bolt worked its way out before releasing with another pop. This time, Abby managed to keep herself from falling as she danced out of the way of the others.
“Thank you,” the woman murmured. Tears streaked her face when she threw herself into David’s arms. David seemed to have no idea what to do with the crying stranger; he patted her back awkwardly while she clung to him.
“Us too?” the vampire beside her whispered.
“What is going on here?” Abby demanded.
“Hell is going on here,” Vicky replied as she hurried toward the boy.
Abby glanced at her watch. Her heart sank when she realized they only had three minutes left and five more vampires to release before Brian and her brothers came in here. They would never be able to free them all in time. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she hastily typed him a text.
We’re fine. Be out soon. Won’t be coming out the front door. Have Vicky. Stay outside.
She had no idea how they would be getting out of here with all these vamps, but they could figure that out once they were all freed. Grabbing hold of the boy’s chain, she planted her foot again and gave a mighty jerk.
The chain had just clattered free when a baritone voice spoke from the doorway, “Look at what we have here.”
Abby froze and a chill ran down her spine when Vicky trembled violently beside her. The woman who had thrown herself into David’s arms pulled away to slink into the shadows. A low whimper came from her as she sat on the floor and drew her legs against her chest once more. Abby released the boy’s chain, letting it fall to the floor as she braced herself to face whomever had joined them.
Turning, her heart sank when she spotted the numerous vampires standing in the doorway with their eyes glistening the color of blood.
CHAPTER 22
Brian hit the first vampire who lunged at him. The vampire’s nose broke beneath the force of his blow, but the six-ten, four-hundred-and-fifty-pound beast kept coming at him. Brian dodged to the side, and the vamp’s fingers slid down his back, tearing his shirt and skin open. A grunt of anger escaped him when he scented his own blood on the air, but he spun around and slammed his fist straight into the throat of the next vamp lunging at him.
Skin and cartilage gave way beneath the punch. The vamp tried to howl, but only gurgling sounds escaped his mutilated windpipe. Brian lifted his foot and drove it straight into the vamp’s stomach, sending him flying backward as the sumo-wrestler-sized vampire wrapped his arms around him from behind.
The crack of one of his ribs reverberated in the air. He gritted his teeth against the discomfort and swung his head back, bashing it off of Sumo’s forehead. The impact caused stars to dance before his eyes, but he managed to retain consciousness. The vampire took a staggering step back. Before he could recover, Brian banged the back of his head off his nose again.
Sumo’s grip on him lessened enough that Brian was able to get his arms up between them to break his hold. To his right, Stefan staggered back as two vamps leapt at him with their fangs extended. Ian and Ethan had their backs to each other as they fended off five more vamps. Both of them had taken on the reddish black hue that tinged the skin of a pureblood in a rage.
Ian grabbed one of the vamps and sank his fangs into his neck. The vampire howled as he beat at Ian’s face, but Ian tore his fangs away before twisting the vamp’s head all the way around. The vamp staggered back before falling to the ground.
Brian tugged his stake free and drove it into the chest of the one whose throat he’d ruined. Before the vampire finished twitching in death, Brian turned and leapt onto the back of Sumo vamp. Wrapping his arms around Sumo’s neck, he jerked his head back and sank his fangs into the hefty vamp’s throat.
Warm blood spurted into his mouth, but whereas before he’d thrived on the rush of power that came from a vampire’s blood and the thrill of the kill—especially one such as this vamp, whose blood told him he’d done his fair share of killing both human and vampires in his day—now it was a means to an end.
He grabbed hold of the bastard’s throat, biting deeper as he tore his flesh away in an attempt to bleed him out faster. The vamp staggered backward, crushing Brian against the warehouse behind him. Releasing his bite, he held on as the vamp leaned forward then bashed him into the wall again.
More of his ribs cracked, but he refused to give into the pain. Grabbing Sumo’s head, he wrenched his neck to the side before the large vamp could turn him into a pancake. Bone cracked and gave way beneath Brian’s hand. Weakened by blood loss and the severing of his spine, the massive vamp finally fell to the ground. Brian drove his stake through his back before leaping off him. He stood over Sumo’s corpse, his shoulders heaving as he spun to face the next threat.
Ethan and Ian were dispatching the last of their vampires. Both of them resembled some of the paintings of Satan he’d seen over the years. Their skin was mottled red and black in color, their shoulders heaving as blood dripped from their lips, but they were still in control of themselves as they wiped the blood from their mouths.
Stefan yanked a stake from the back of another. He rested his hands on his thighs as he turned to stare at them. “I’m going in,” Brian said.
Nothing was going to stop him from going after Abby now. He still didn’t sense any distress from her, but he wasn’t going to take any chances, not after what had just occurred. He’d only taken one step when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He almost ignored it, but this was Abby’s only way of communicating with him right now. If it was her and he ignored her message…
He pulled his phone free to see Abby’s message. “Who is it?” Ian demanded, his skin already returning to its tanned hue when he stepped beside Brian.
Brian held the phone toward him as he studied the warehouse. What if he went in there and got her hurt?
***
Abby pushed her battered sister behind her as Aiden stepped before them both. “Twins,” one of the vampires murmured and had the nerve to lick his lips.
David moved toward the woman they’d freed when she released a low whimper. The boy scuttled through the shadows behind Aiden and further past her and Vicky. Abby had no idea what was going on here, but she’d never been more terrified in her life. She could actually taste the sour fear radiating from the chained and battered vampires surrounding them.
Sweat beaded across her brow and slid down her back, sticking her sweater to her flesh. Her heart beat so fast, she was certain she would have had a heart attack if she’d been human. Her gaze slid to the boarded over windows. From the outside, it looked as if they were covered by wood, but she now realized the windows were covered by a sheet of steel. There would be no busting out the boards and leaping from the windows. More vampires came up the stairs and fanned out behind the first one.
“What do we do?” Vicky whispered.
“We fight through them,” Aiden replied. “It’s the only option we have.”
It wasn’t the greatest of options, considering most of their allies were chained to the walls. The woman was too weak to fight and the boy and Vicky both looked like they were going to drop at any second. However, fighting against them was far better than being chained to a wall too, something she knew these vamps had every intention of doing if they got their hands on them.
“Take them alive, until we know if they’re pure or not,” the ugly, lead vamp instructed.
Abby slid her hand into her coat and pulled out a stake. She would fight to the death before she ever let them slap those chains around her. Brian. Her text to him may have bought her some time, but if she didn’t leave this building soon, he would come in after her. When he did, they’d kill him, just like she believed they’d kill David if they realized he wasn’t a pureblood. Her heart turned over at the thought, and her hand tightened around the stake as she shifted her stance.
She couldn’t let them take any more of the people she loved. Aiden tugged his crossbow free and pointed it at the first vampire. “You think you’re going to kill me with that?” the vamp inquired.
“No, I think I’m going to kill you with my bare hands. This is to give you a little tickle,” Aiden replied.
Abby gulped. Before she knew what was happening, Aiden fire
d the crossbow and leapt forward. She wasn’t a fighter, had always been more of a ‘stick her nose in a book’ kind of girl. Now she wished she’d paid a little more attention to Stefan when he’d been trying to teach them self-defense.
Aiden smashed his shoulder into the first vamp, driving the bolt from his crossbow deeper into the man’s arm. David rushed in behind him, his fists flying as he pummeled one of the vampires before another kicked his legs out from under him. One of the vampires punched Aiden in the face, causing blood to spill from his broken nose. The sight of that blood caused fury to burst hotly through Abby.
No one hurt her siblings, and these bastards had chained Vicky to a wall and done God only knew what to her, and now they’d caused Aiden to bleed. Without thinking, she leapt onto the back of the first, ugly vamp Aiden had been fighting. Going on instinct alone, she yanked his head back and sank her fangs into his throat. Hot blood rushed into her mouth, but unlike Brian’s blood, this guy tasted horribly bitter.
Pulling her head back, she spat out the offensive blood. The vamp reached behind him and landed a blow against the side of her cheek. Stars burst before her eyes, and her hands slipped on his shoulders. Aiden swung his arm out and slammed his stake deep into the vampire’s heart. With his other hand, he grabbed Abby’s arm and yanked her away from the vamp crumbling beneath her.
The fall of their leader didn’t deter the other vampires as they slashed their way forward. David jumped out of the way in time to avoid a blow that would have eviscerated him. Aiden spun her to the side when someone swung a stake at her. The stake that would have plunged into the center of her chest embedded in his upper shoulder.
Aiden grunted and threw his other arm back, seizing the vamp by the throat and heaving him across the room. The vampire crashed into the wall, shaking the building on its foundation with enough force that Abby worried it might collapse when dust and debris rained down on them from the rafters. David edged toward them to press his back against hers.