“How can you defend him after everything he’s done?”
“Because this is legitimately not his fault. I ran into a vampire on my own and killed him in self-defense. The vampires would’ve tracked me or Charlie down eventually.”
Dad raised a white eyebrow. “You’re saying vampires took you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Why would they kidnap you instead of killing you? Not that I’m complaining.”
Ella took a deep gulp. “Well, that part might be because they saw me with Lucian, but the kidnapping still wasn’t his fault.”
Dad groaned and grabbed his hair with a fist. “Can’t you see his game? He puts your life in danger and saves you, making him looking like the hero when it’s all his fault to begin with.”
“I’m not saying he hasn’t made mistakes. He has and even he admits it. But if you just see him with Clara, you’ll know what I see in him.”
“But this isn’t you wanting him in Clara’s life. You want him in yours.”
Ella’s silence was answer enough.
“It doesn’t matter. I have someone coming and he’s going to fix this.”
Ella’s eyes widened. “What the hell does that mean? Who’s coming?”
“After I got you back the first time, he came to me. He told me to call if I ever saw Lucian again. I called as soon as he dropped off Clara yesterday.”
Ella felt the world tilt. “You called some random guy to do what? This doesn’t even make se—” She trailed off as it suddenly clicked. “You called a vampire.”
Dad scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not a vampire.”
Ella backed away from the door. “He made you. He came to you and planted the compulsion to call him if Lucian ever showed up again. We need to get Clara out of here.”
Dad slowly followed her. “Just take a breath and relax. He will be here soon to sort this out.”
Suddenly the warm eyes she was so used to were cold. Determined.
Phone. If she called Lucian, he would come to her. Where the hell could she get a phone?
Dad didn’t have a landline here. He’d finally gotten rid of it as he’d become more used to his cell. She could make a run for his room, but there was no guarantee it was there.
Clara was the first priority. Grab her and make it to Dad’s car before any vampires arrived. She took one calming breath before she turned on her heel and ran back toward the guest bedroom.
Dad was surprisingly fast, fingers grabbing her shoulder to hold her back.
She twisted out of his grip and instinctively punched out with a fist but pulled back at the last second.
This was still Dad. His actions were not his own. He was under the influence of some creature who made him think she was Lucian-obsessed and that vampires were the good guys.
Well, she was Lucian-obsessed and some vampires were good, but still. He reached for her again, and she kicked his leg out from under him.
As he toppled to the floor, she scrambled back to the guest room, ramming her shoulder into the door as she slammed it shut.
Clara jumped up at the sound. “Mommy! Did the monsters find us?”
Dad banged on the door, and Ella kept herself propped against it. She didn’t think he could be that strong with his arthritis, but obviously whatever the vampires had done let him work through the pain.
“Something like that. Can you go to Lucian’s? Tell him I need a ride, okay?”
Clara nodded and closed her eyes, but she didn’t go anywhere.
Why wasn’t it working?
The banging suddenly stopped on the door and she set her ear to the wood, trying to hear what was happening. If he was going outside to grab the axe, she wouldn’t be able to keep him out of the room. On the other hand, she might have just enough time to get Clara to his truck.
All assuming Dad wasn’t just waiting to attack when she opened the door. She turned back to the bed, but Clara was gone. It must take her longer to teleport than Lucian. She hadn’t had as much time to perfect it as he had.
Ella leaned her head against the door and let out a sigh of relief. Now that Clara was safe, she could focus on herself. She turned the knob, trying her best not to make a sound. The door cracked open and Ella peeked through the one-inch crack. There was no sign of Dad, but he could easily be on the other side of the door. Just waiting.
She took another breath and stepped one foot out of the room, just waiting for something to jump out at her from behind the open door.
Nothing.
She held her hand up to her beating chest as she tried to formulate her next move. Now that Clara was gone, should she go back to wait for Lucian?
No. There was no guarantee Clara would find him. She had to make sure she had options.
Dad’s keys would be in the kitchen. All she had to do was make it down the main hallway and she would have a chance. Her bare feet moved silently on the hardwood floor. She kept close to the wall, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement.
Her father was far from subtle. What could he be doing?
Not wanting to waste any time, she darted into the kitchen, sliding past the refrigerator to grab the keys from the holder on the wall.
She turned to run for the door and ran straight into Dad.
“Honey, where are you going?”
A small scream sneaked past her lips as she jerked away from him. “Dad. I didn’t know where you went.”
He smiled, eyes vacant and arms limp at his sides. “I was getting our guest. He was so polite, I had to insist he come inside.”
On cue, a vampire walked behind Dad.
Rok.
Lucian kicked his foot out, effectively dislodging the dead vampire from his sword. The other myotis were finishing off their kills all around him.
Once Lucian’s men kicked down the doors to the warehouse, there hadn’t been much of a fight. The vampires were strong, fast, and clearly trained fighters.
But Lucian’s men were better.
There were probably four vampires to every one of Lucian’s men, including Charlie, but it didn’t matter. All of his guys were a little banged up and bruised, but Rok’s men were dead. Except Rok.
Lucian had kicked down every door in the building but hadn’t seen any sight of him, even though his scent saturated the place. He was gone now and probably wasn’t coming back.
The rooms he had seen were the stuff of nightmares. The whole place had essentially been converted into a science lab. There were various rooms constructed, most with one-way mirrors, but some completely closed off, like the one he’d found Ella in.
And plenty contained prisoners. His men freed werewolves, witches, a demon, and a few human-looking creatures with long claws and completely white eyes that seemed to stare into his soul.
Whoever they were, he was happy he wasn’t on their bad side.
Even Charlie held up his own. Lucian provided him with a silver dagger and a gun that shot silver bullets. The human took down at least two vamps that Lucian saw. Maybe more when he wasn’t looking.
Though Dean had watched Charlie’s back and gotten him out of a few close calls. Micah and Ash had each done respectably, racking up a decent body count.
But Cade had killed more than any of them. Even in his weakened and starved state, even in his human form, head after head piled up at his feet.
Except Lucian had no idea where Cade was now. Each of the containment rooms were set up like little islands in the warehouse, with pathways leading along all four walls and a good thirty feet of open air over each cell before there was ceiling. As though a guard could stand watch on a raised platform and take out anything that tried to escape.
He made his way through the dark passages. When they’d first arrived, they’d been lit well enough, but some of the bulbs must’ve broken during the fight.
A human probably wouldn’t have been able to see anything, and even with his enhanced vision, it was hard to make out the doorways in the containment rooms.
Could something have happened to him? He’d seemed as though he was fighting so well, but that kind of anger and focus could be the recipe for some resourceful vampire sneaking up behind him and finishing what the vampires had started three years ago.
He stood still as he listened for a response from Cade. After he didn’t hear anything, he started to move on when someone moaned in the room to his left.
Hadn’t they already freed all the prisoners?
He strode through the open cell door and peered into the darkness. The first thing to hit him was the smell. Blood. So much of it.
He frowned. His men definitely wouldn’t have missed a cell filled with this much fresh blood.
Then he saw Cade. Leaning back against a wall, staring right at Lucian, blade resting at his side and still dripping blood. Next to him, tied to a hook in the ceiling, was one of the rebel vampires. What was left of the still living vampire.
Cade had managed to cut off every tattoo visible on his face and stomach. Probably would’ve kept going if Lucian hadn’t interrupted. The vampire was gagged with a towel held in place with a sturdy silver chain.
“What the hell is this?” Lucian made sure his voice had no accusatory tone, but it was hard not to be freaked out.
Lucian had seen plenty of torture in his time and this was far from the worst. But he’d never imagined Cade doing the torturing, let alone enjoying every second.
“What does it look like? I just scalped a guy.”
Lucian glared at the skeletal-looking face in front of him. Only a few patches of skin hung on. “I’d say that’s a bit more than scalping.”
Cade pushed away from the wall. “I had every reason to do this.”
“Do you feel better?”
“Fuck yes. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be enjoying myself even more.”
Lucian wanted to pull Cade away but knew it wouldn’t help anything. Cade would still be a completely different person. Well, the vampire would be helped, but Lucian couldn’t care less about him. “Was this one of the vampires who hurt you?”
“Yes. Does that soothe your conscience?”
Lucian ignored the question. “Why don’t you take the gag out so we can at least get some answers.”
Cade reached out and ripped the silver chain and gag from the bloody vampire’s face. He screamed as the silver cut into his already raw neck and fell to the floor.
“’lease,” he moaned, the p silent because he no longer had lips.
Lucian had to look away. Revenge was one thing, but this was straight from a horror movie. He wanted to just put the vampire out of his misery but knew he had to protect his own. That meant finding Rok and killing him before he ever had a chance to find Ella or Clara.
“Your leader. Rok. Where is he? Why wasn’t he here?”
“Looking ’or girl.”
That would be easy enough. All he would have to do was scope out Pikesville and hopefully he could track down Rok by the end of the night. “Do you know where he was looking?”
“Her ’ather called.”
Lucian’s blood ran cold. Why would Murray call Rok?
Fuck. Why wouldn’t he call him? Rok hated Lucian and so did Murray. Two enemies of Lucian would make them best fucking friends. Even if he didn’t already have reason enough to side with the vampire, there was always mind control.
Either way, he had to get back to Ella. With the flick of a wrist, Lucian sent his blade straight through the vampire’s heart, gritting his teeth as the vampire’s eyes went blank.
Instead of his normal satisfaction at a kill, all he felt was pity. Not a feeling he enjoyed.
None of his men could teleport to the doctor’s cabin because Lucian was the only one who’d been there before, and Lucian could only take one of his soldiers. He grabbed Cade’s arm and transported them both.
Her heart sank at the sight. “How?” she breathed.
Rok cocked his head at her distress. A sadistic smile twisted his mouth. “When did you break loose? Better question. How did you get loose? I had my dog trapped in there for years without him coming close to escaping.”
Ella refused to answer, backing away from him until her thighs ran into the counter. Not looking away from the new threat, she blindly reached behind her until she felt the knives from the chopping block and tore one free.
He raised an eyebrow at her weapon. “You gonna slice and dice me? That pathetic thing isn’t going to help you.”
Ella studied the blade for a moment. “I can cut off your head with it.”
“No. You can try to cut off my head. Those are two very different things.”
Ella stood up straight, not caring whether she looked like crap and was nowhere near as strong as this vampire asshole. “No backup? You really aren’t afraid of me.”
He scoffed at that. “That’s the thing. I was expecting you to be safe and sound back in your little prison. All I came here to do was interrogate your daddy. I told him to call me if Lucian showed up, and three years later, I get the call. Fucking serendipitous.”
Ella rolled her eyes and gripped the knife tighter. “It’s not serendipitous if you’re the one who caused it.”
Her father stood behind Rok, same vacant expression on his face. No comprehension of what he’d been forced to do.
“You’re giving me English lessons now? It’s a messed-up language, lady. I can only learn so much. I want different lessons from you now. What are you?”
Ella opened her mouth to tell him where he could shove it when her heart froze in her chest.
“Mommy? I couldn’t find Lucian.”
No. She charged forward, refusing to let Rok get anywhere near her daughter. She threw herself at him, aiming the knife for his neck, but she never stood a chance.
One beefy arm swung out, whacking her in the face and sending her flying across the kitchen and into the cabinets. Her head slammed into the wood. The force sent splinters spraying across the room as she fell limply onto the floor, her world dissolving into blackness.
Clara screamed and Ella tried to push herself up. Nothing. Her arms refused to move, and her legs didn’t even twitch. There wasn’t even any pain. Just the dark.
“Who are you, little girl?”
Ella tried to scream at the sound of Rok’s voice, but her mouth didn’t budge.
Suddenly her neck wrenched back and pain reverberated through her body. She reached her arms back, frantically trying to stop whatever was jerking her around, but her hands only found air.
She was moving! Everything hurt like crazy, but she could move! Even opening her eyes sent a fresh wave of agony through her, but she pushed past it, scrambling to stand.
Ella’s legs shook as she tried to steady herself, but she refused to let herself fall. She scanned the room, frantically looking for Clara, but didn’t see either of them.
She made her way to the hallway, tripping over every step and propping herself up against the counters and refrigerator as she moved as fast as her body would let her.
She pulled two random knives from the block as she stumbled by, one big chopping blade and a smaller dinner knife. She gripped them both in her left hand, not wasting any time to hide them. Every step, every tightened muscle sent shockwaves of pain through her spine and head. No time. She had to get her daughter.
When she turned the corner, her heart sunk in her chest. The son of a bitch had Clara by the throat and up against the wall.
Clara’s eyes were wide with terror; her tiny hands clawed at the vampire’s hand. Ella’s vision went red. There was no pain, no fear. Just rage.
She transferred the small knife to her good hand, all of her throwing skills learned from Charlie sweeping through her.
The blade flew through the air, firmly imbedding in the vampire’s neck.
It wouldn’t kill him, but it would damn well get his attention.
Blood squirted from the wound, hitting Clara on the top of her head and splattering on the wall.
Rok dropped Clara and turned to Ella with his black, soulless eyes filled with rage.
Ella’s heart felt as though it were about to beat out of her chest, but she refused to let her fear show. “Clara, go.” She tried to keep her voice even, but it caught on the last word.
She’d already thought she said good-bye to her daughter. Now that she’d just got her back, she wasn’t saying good-bye again. Not without a hell of a fight.
Rok held a hand to his neck to stop the blood that flowed. “There is nowhere to run.”
“Who said anything about running?”
Rok turned back to where he’d just dropped Clara, but she wasn’t there anymore. Ella had no idea where her daughter teleported to, but as long as she was away from this monster, Ella could breathe easier.
Rok growled and bared his fangs. “So how did Lucian do it? How did he find someone to whelp his young?”
“For one, he used more romantic words than ‘whelp.’”
He removed his fingers from the neck wound, blood still seeping free, and clenched both hands in fists at his side. “I thought you liked my dirty talk.”
Ella moved the chopping knife in front of her. “Wait until you hear mine. You’ll just die with pleasure.”
Rok charged her. His body became one big blur as he raced through the short distance. Knowing she couldn’t run at anywhere near his speed, Ella ducked, holding the blunt side of the knife against her shoulder as she dove to the side.
Just as she hoped, his own momentum worked against him, and the blade dug deep into his shoulder.
He screamed in anger and pain as she scrambled to the other side of the hall.
Once again, they stared at each other, but Ella knew she didn’t have many more chances to escape. There were only so many times she could duck his attacks. She needed to get some sort of sword or silver if she really wanted to stand a chance.
Blood ran down his chest from his latest injury, his neck still gleaming with fresh blood.
Beauty and the Shapeshifter (Evil Rising Book 5) Page 23