by Gray Holborn
But understanding didn’t completely eek out my jealousy, my annoying desire to be a part of what they had.
When we reached the cabin, a warm glow from the kitchen window lit up the lines of trees, casting interesting shadows along the grass and walking path.
“I’m fine, seriously. You can leave. They’ll be here soon, I’m sure.” Wade’s grumbled voice echoed down the hall when we entered the cabin. Three protectors I’d never seen before walked towards us and the door. Their faces were all so stoic that they almost looked identical. One gave a single nod to Declan before leading the other two out the door.
“Seriously, please go,” Wade said. He must’ve mistaken our footsteps for the surly dudes.
With a quick grin, I went tearing off upstairs until I came to the only room in the hall with the lights on. I knocked once, not even waiting for an answer to open the door.
“Jesus, did you have to—” Wade’s face lit up with a giant smile when he saw me. “Max? What are you doing here?”
Forgetting decorum, I ran towards the bed and grabbed him into a hug. A warm feeling settled in my belly, and for the first time in days, I could breathe out fully. The lightness that was left over when my worry disintegrated clued me in to how concerned I’d really been. When had Wade whittled his way into my mind so completely?
“I live here now. It’s sort of a long story. What happened? Do they know why you were unconscious? You’re okay?”
Wade made some grumbling noises and I realized that I had smashed his face into my chest out of excitement. I stepped back, embarrassed, catching a mirrored flush on his cheeks.
With a cheeky, wistful grin he nodded. “I’m fine. Woke up a few hours ago. They ran a bunch of tests, and now—well, now I’m here.”
I was vaguely aware of Declan and Eli filing into the room behind me.
“Good to have you back, man,” Eli said, genuine warmth lighting up his eyes as the strained tension between us melted off his face.
Declan nodded, moving around to the other side of the bed and patting Wade on the shoulder. “Seconded. And,” she added, shooting a brief glance at me, “maybe now that you're here, you can keep Max in line.”
“What happened to you, Wade?” I asked, curiosity taking over now that I was convinced he was alive and okay. I wasn’t going to give Declan the satisfaction of responding to her comment.
His eyes went hazy, briefly, like he was trying to physically sort through his memories but they kept slipping out of reach. With a sigh, he shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t remember. The fight, everything, it’s all sort of a blur.”
“Nothing’s come back to you then?” Declan leaned against the wall, her shirt pulling up a bit at the hem. I looked away from the patch of smooth, cream skin above her jeans, embarrassment clouding my eyes.
“Nothing. I remember taking down one wolf, but that was it.” Wade reached over to his left and grabbed a glass of water on his bedside table. It was only after his arm brushed mine that I realized I was sitting on his bed, dangerously close to a very shirtless Wade. Blushing, I braced myself to stand up, but Wade’s other hand came over and clasped mine, keeping me there.
“You took down a wolf by yourself?” It took every fiber of my being to focus on his words, and not on the feel of his rough, calloused fingers against my own.
No one had filled me in on any of the details about that night, other than Atlas’s tepid confession that both wolves and vamps had been present.
“He took down several,” Eli said, and there was a guardedness about him suddenly. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look Wade in the eyes. A day ago, I wouldn’t have recognized it, but something about Eli’s vulnerability and sadness reminded me so much of Ro’s. Did he blame himself for not being there? For not fighting off the monsters alongside his brother?
As if reading my mind, Wade dropped my hand and playfully punched Eli. Well, he tried anyway, but Eli was standing a bit too far away, like he didn’t want to encroach on the moment so he lingered on the periphery. “Dude, it was senseless of me. I went in solo and I shouldn’t have. If I hadn’t, maybe we would’ve taken them all down and we would have had more intel.”
Eli opened his mouth, but I stood, shaking my head. “Nope, no more pity party. Wade’s okay. Everyone’s alive. That’s what matters. Everything else is a learning experience.”
“Okay, Yoda,” Declan said. Her mouth lifting slightly at the corners as she stared at me with a level of focus that had me squirming.
“Right, well, I’m sure Atlas will be home soon. I’ll leave you guys to catch up. Let me know if you need anything.” I kissed Wade’s cheek, trying to ignore the dizzying dance in my stomach, and then left them for my room. I’d wait a few hours, give them every certainty that I was fast asleep. And then—well, then I’d use every stealth bone in my body to go sneak Ralph out.
Now that Wade was okay, my mind was completely free to focus on rescuing my hellhound.
***
I cracked open my window and crawled out, instead of risking exposure by trying to tiptoe through the cabin. A sharp thrill ran through me as I looked at my bed, stuffed with pillows in a vaguely humanesque shape. It was a tactic that seemed to work well enough on TV, so hopefully it’d work for me if Declan or one of the boys came sneaking into my room in the middle of the night. But really, if the guys were going to sneak into my room while I was asleep, I had bigger concerns than getting busted on my prison break mission.
With one last deep breath in, I pushed off from my window and landed softly on the grass. Since my room was only on the second floor, it wasn’t too difficult to stick the landing without rolling my ankle. While I felt a sharp stab of guilt for not taking Izzy and Ro with me, I wasn’t sure I could reach them without waking up everyone in Ten. We’d been separated so quickly after the mission in town that we didn’t have time to make any concrete plans. So I was tackling the rescue mission solo, resigned to ask them for forgiveness rather than permission.
Surprisingly, the grounds themselves were quiet. Using the edge of the forest for cover, I made my way to The Guild’s main campus, with buildings connected by various halls and bridges like a complex, winding maze.
Without too much fuss, I made it to the now-familiar research grounds, thankful once again for Greta’s keycard. It was now a permanent fixture in my wardrobe, currently placed discreetly against the inner rim of my leggings. Other than Izzy, she was by far the best friend I’d made since joining The Guild.
I owed the woman an enormous box of chocolates for saving my ass so many times.
My mind had been shuffling through possible outcomes for Ralph all night, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to break out into an all-out run. Hopefully when I found him, I wouldn’t have trouble leading him out of the grounds unnoticed.
While I still got lost regularly, I had a feeling that Ralph’s nose could lead us to the safety of campus lines when we needed it.
Rounding the final corner, I hurried to Ralph’s hallway, praising my good luck for not encountering any guards or protectors on my route.
Until I came up to Ralph’s empty cell.
The sound of my blood rushing through my veins pulsed in my ears and tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Was I too late? What had they done with him? Where had they taken him?
I knew in my gut that something was going down with Ralph tonight, but I thought I’d been quick enough. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone back with Eli and Dec? If I had resisted, gone home with Izzy and Ro instead of rushing back to see Wade— then I wouldn’t have had to wait until the house was silent to sneak out.
“They took him.”
I whipped around, coming face-to-face with the golden vampire; his mismatched eyes glittered with amusement.
“Wh-what? Where?” It was all I could manage to push out, my tongue was so dry I was shocked any whisper at all made it past my lips.
The vampire tilted his head as I walked a few steps towards him. He studied
me with open curiosity and amusement.
“Please.” The word was forceful, angry. I squared my shoulders, no longer willing to play the mouse in this game of his.
“I could tell you,” he said, ambivalence painted across his stark features. He seemed to be wrestling with himself, but I knew when he’d reached a decision. His pale face broke into a terrifying grin as he walked another step towards the glass so that all that separated us was an invisible wall. “But I think I’ll show you instead.”
“Show me?” I echoed back. “Show me what?”
“I heard the guards speaking. They’re running some final tests on your hound.” He shrugged, lazy and languid. “And then they will kill him. Let me out, and I’ll take you to where they’re keeping him.”
Chapter Fifteen
Darius
The girl with the long brown hair and perpetually sultry eyes, Max as they called her, looked at me like I was Medusa. Her entire body was tensed, like she expected me to jump through the barrier and devour her. Truth be told, she was probably right.
Her pulse was beating so hard, I could see it pumping against the smooth skin of her neck. I narrowed my eyes, studying the spot. I reminded myself that she had been tasted before. Whoever was in charge of her protection was clearly incompetent. Most protectors were.
The moments passed while she decided, and up until she breathed out one low, exasperated breath, I was convinced she wouldn’t take me up on my offer.
“Fine,” she said, the word mumbled so low that my heightened hearing could barely even pick it up. “But if you kill me, I’m coming back from the dead, Dracula-style, and fucking castrating you.”
My lips pulled back until I found myself doing that thing again—that thing that seemed to only happen when the little protector was in my vicinity.
Smiling.
And what an odd thing to smile about, castration.
I didn’t think she could really get me out of here, but the thought of her attempting it was entertainment enough to keep me occupied for days. By then, of course, her beloved hellhound would be dead. But the odds of us saving the beast even if she did manage to get me out were nonexistent anyway.
The creature’s death warrant was signed as soon as it crossed the threshold. And if the creature did escape, he would be hunted down again. And again. And again. Until he was buried six feet under after they got whatever it was they wanted out of him. She was naive if she ever thought otherwise.
Looking at her now though, at her large, inquisitive eyes, at the glow that seemed to highlight her skin like she was painstakingly painted by an artist—her naivety shone through in droves.
I leaned against the unbreakable glass, disappointment flaring through me when she shot me a resigned glance and then disappeared from my sight. I’d expected the game to be more entertaining than that, to unfold before my eyes. I was looking forward to at least an hour of her failed attempts, throwing things pointlessly against the window until she inevitably alerted some guards.
Of course if that happened, she would be barred from visiting me again. How she got down here as frequently as she did was a marvel. Then again, if the hellhound was dead, she would have no reason to visit at all. The thought made my skin itch, uncomfortable and tight.
My head whipped around so quickly that I was shocked to find it still attached to my neck. I heard the recognizable beeping that came just before someone opened my glorified prison. I counted the seconds, but no gas released from the ceiling as it usually did. In all of my years here, I’d never been conscious when the door to my cell was opened. Had she managed it already?
Perhaps she stole the codes, or whatever was used to gain entry, from some unsuspecting, inadequate guard. It would be enough though, wouldn’t get her all the way through. Not without the bloo—
All at once she was standing before me, tucking a ragged scrap of green fabric into her hem. My senses were filled with her—a heady mix of juniper and the ocean. The scent was intoxicating. It’d been years since I’d been near the ocean. And her shampoo—vanilla? My feet lifted, one and then the other as I drew closer.
“How did you—” I shook my head, trying to dispel the shock coursing through my body.
“I, er, borrowed some blood,” she said, lifting her arm between us as if her twig of a limb could stop me from closing the distance If I wanted to.
The small blade tucked into her fist was so miniscule I bit back a smile. “If I wanted you dead, little protector, that blade wouldn’t stop me. You would, quite simply, just be dead.”
She gulped, and I found myself studying her throat again, mesmerized by the movement. It’d been years since I tasted a human, even more since I tasted a protector. Something about her told me that she would be divine.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said, fear coating her words despite the determination in her eyes. And such remarkable eyes they were. Why wasn’t I attacking her again? I wanted to drain her, yes, but why didn’t I? “Take me to Ralph.”
My face stretched—there was that smile again. What kind of naive oddball named a hellhound Ralph? If I hadn’t seen the beast’s appreciation of the name myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. Of course, I knew well enough that hellhounds didn’t understand or respond to human languages, but it was amusing to watch her think otherwise.
What was it about this girl that drew us beasts from hell to her? Her blood called to me, sure, but so did everything else.
“A deal is a deal,” I said, spreading my arms in surrender. “I don’t go back on my word. I’ll take you to your hound. Or at least to my best guess at where he will be found.”
She was surprised by my words, but so was I. I meant them. I would take her to her beast, I wanted to witness how this would all play out for myself. After years of dreaming of escape, it was finally here—and for the first time, surprisingly, running wasn’t the first thing on my mind.
Unable to stop myself, I reached my fingers to the nape of her neck, satisfied by the small tremor that shook her body. Was she afraid? Or was it something else? Was she as drawn to me as I was to her?
Turning from her before I did something careless, like break my new toy before I even had a chance to appreciate it, I walked down the hall. I’d spent so much time chained up in various rooms that I had a decent understanding of the layout of the place—and I had an extensive-enough network built up amongst the other captives that I knew where they took creatures to be put down.
She followed, unwilling to get too close to me, but never more than a few steps behind. Her knife never wavered from the tight grip of her right hand, almost like it was a built-in security blanket, an extension of her hand.
Odd girl.
We continued in silence, winding through the halls in comfortable companionship. I was comfortable anyway. Judging from the racing dance of her heart, she was far from it. She looked around every corner we passed, but I’d be able to hear footsteps long before she could, and I felt her confidence gradually grow in my movements. It wasn’t until we reached our destination that we ran into one of the lab coats.
Snivelling Rat, as I’d dubbed him, was perched above the hellhound—Ralph—injecting various concoctions into the creature’s veins.
“No!” The girl went striding into the room, forgetting her fear of me and pulled Rat away. “What the hell are you doing to him? You’re hurting him.”
“What the hell are you doing here, girl? This one’s slated to be put down.” He shoved her to the ground, and I found a low, steady growl building in my throat. His beady, black eyes found mine, and terror filled his features. “Holy shit. D-d-did you let him out? What the fuck were you thinking? You don’t understand, he’s—”
I broke his neck, smiling as his body fell to the ground in a puddle of limbs and lard. “Sorry, Snivelly, we don’t have time for a chat today.”
The girl looked at me with horror shining in her eyes as she pressed a trembling finger to the lab rat’s neck. She wouldn’t find a
pulse. “What did you do?”
I cracked my neck from side to side before dropping down to the dead man. With practiced fingers, I found a major artery and pierced his skin. I watched her as I pulled long, steady mouthfuls from the corpse. I shrugged as I finished my meal. “What? No sense wasting a meal.”
Her normally brown skin paled, her forehead clammy with sweat as she shuffled away from me. “What have I done?”
I rolled my eyes. Protectors were always so dramatic. They killed my kind daily. What did it matter if one of their worst was gone? “Look, if it makes you feel better, he was a shit person. And I solemnly promise not to eat anyone else until I’m out of here.”
I held up three fingers before her face to solidify my oath. Maybe if I looked less like a vampire and more like a boy scout, it would calm her nerves some.
Confusion marred her features and, as if she no longer had the capacity to acknowledge the situation, she turned to the hellhound. The creature’s breathing was heavy and labored. Not good.
“What’s wrong with him?” Her eyes glazed over with tears as she draped herself on top of the beast, searching for its pulse.
As if of its own accord, my hand reached forward to comfort her. I caught myself in time, and drew back. “I think we’re too late.”
Honestly, what did she expect? Protectors were ruthless. It was a shock the beast had lasted this long, with all of the tests they ran it through. He was strong as hell, but that wasn’t enough to survive a place like this for long.
Tears spilled silently from her eyes now, puddling on the beast’s face. There were worse ways to go, I guess, than a beautiful girl weeping over you. Lucky hound.
Her back was to me, and I was struck once again by the girl’s carelessness. What kind of protector turned their back on a vampire? Especially after watching that vampire take down one of her kind?
We’d been here too long, someone would be by to make their next rounds any second. It was time for me to go. Committing her features to memory, I readied myself to leave. I’d keep my promise and not drain her dry, as tempting as it was, and as poetic as it would be—leaving her body alongside her pet’s.