AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That wasn’t a request,” Amaros ground out, staring at me. “You’re staying here.”
I jerked a nod, not trusting myself to speak.
Nothing about this visit was going to go well.
Chapter 29
Kali
My steps were hesitant as I followed Zan through the tall grass. We’d left the main house as soon as the sun set and loaded into a vehicle before driving on a dirt path through the trees. Now we were walking, and I couldn’t stop the nerves that were drowning me. I knew we were still on the property, since I’d seen pieces of the high wall that seemed to encircle this place.
For the entire day, Zan and I had stayed in a huge bedroom that was just as elegant as the rest of that house. From what I gathered, it used to be his childhood bedroom, but there was nothing personal in there that showed it was his. The paintings on the walls resembled the others throughout the house. He didn’t want to answer any questions, and I quickly figured out that the room wasn’t soundproofed. It had been an agonizing eleven hours. I was supposed to sleep, but how could I do that when I was here? Maybe I should have. Because now I was ridiculously tired. My body was heavy, and my eyes burned from the lack of sleep.
At least the food here was decent. Amaros had human cooks here to make whatever the vampires wanted. Anger burned through my veins at that. Humans in cities were living on scraps while the monsters here ate like damn kings.
I lost my train of thought when the trees ended, and I was staring at a cement wall. Zan stood beside me with his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look surprised to see the four vampires standing guard in front of a wide door. It seemed like a prison.
“What is this place?” I asked under my breath, lifting the lantern. The cement wall of the building spanned for as far as I could see on either side. If I had to guess, it might be larger than the house I stayed in last night.
“The Pen,” he answered, sounding reluctant. “You need to stay right beside me the entire time we’re in here.”
“Why didn’t Pax and Viggo come with us?”
Zan turned his head, looking at something in the darkness. “I wasn’t aware you were joining us.”
My face paled when Amaros stepped into the light of my lantern. Behind him was a woman. A human, I was guessing, and if the blank stare was anything to go by, she was entranced.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Amaros replied with a smirk that had my pulse thudding. “I’m glad you listened and brought Kali.”
My eyes cut to Zan, but he didn’t even look at me. This was his father’s idea? What the hell was in this giant-looking prison? My breaths came out faster, and I tried to calm myself. I was so out of my element here, and I fucking hated it. I had the stake in my boot, something Zan knew. But my little weapon was nothing compared to the monsters surrounding me.
Amaros glanced at his son, as if waiting for him to go first. “Shall we?”
When I moved to follow Zan, a hand caught me above the elbow and yanked me back. Bile rose in my throat as I glared at Amaros. He didn’t release me, and I was smart enough not to fight his hold. Zan looked over his shoulder, his eyes growing hard when he saw Amaros’s hand on me. His jaw clenched, and it seemed like he was going to say something for a moment before he turned back around and headed to the entrance.
“You want Zan to go first. It’s safer if you stay near me.” Amaros didn’t explain why, but he kept me close to his side as the four vampires stepped to the side before Zan unlocked the door.
I swallowed my protest when Amaros snatched the lantern in my hand before striding forward and dragging me with him. He handed the light to one of the vampires before we moved through the doorway that Zan had already entered. The human woman trailed behind us, and once we were all inside, the door slammed shut, leaving us in the pitch black.
There were a couple of clicking noises, and when a slice of light appeared, I realized there was another door in front of us. Zan opened it wider before walking farther. The room in front of us was bathed in soft light, and when Amaros led me forward, I took in my new surroundings with my heart pounding almost painfully.
My guess about it being some kind of prison was right.
The entire building seemed to be all one room. It was so large that I couldn’t even see the back. But it wasn’t the size that had me in shock. It was the fact that there were hundreds—maybe thousands—of pairs of eyes watching us. Narrow bunk beds that were three beds high were in neat rows that took up most of the space. Some of the people were lying on them, while others were standing. All of them were standing completely still while watching us.
There was something off in here. The atmosphere was…ominous. My fear ran rampant, and I caught myself trying to move closer to Zan until I remembered that Amaros was still holding on to me. My heart lurched. I was scared, and my first thought was to go to Zan.
“Careful, Kali,” Amaros murmured, tugging me closer to him. “They can smell you. You don’t have that lotion on.”
They were vampires? Why were they in this building being guarded? Goose bumps ran down my skin when I caught the eye of one of them. She cocked her head, her nostrils flaring. Zan stepped to the left, blocking me as much as he could. But there were so many of them in here that it was impossible to get out of view of all of them.
“Leave her alone,” Zan ordered, his voice cold and deadly. “She is not here for any of you.”
At his command, many of the vampires lost interest and began milling around. But more than half of them didn’t move. They kept staring at me, and at the woman behind me. Unlike the vampires in Deadwood, these didn’t seem to listen to demands as well.
I glanced around, not seeing any windows. The walls were the same gray cement as the outside. The place was clean, but I spotted dark stains in some places on the concrete floor that looked like old blood. I sucked in a breath, noticing how stale the air was. Did they ever go outside?
“Did Zan tell you what this place was?” Amaros asked.
