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A figure moved to my right.
“Please,” a small voice croaked. “Please don’t leave me.”
I stopped.
“Walker!” Freya begged. Her hand tugged my sleeve. “Walker, we have to go! There’s no time!”
I waved my torch in front of the cell and nearly vomited.
Blood—new and old—was spilled across the cramped cell. A rotting carcass sat off to the side. It had probably once been a girl, though I only knew that from the ribbon in her hair. Her face and body had long ago rotted beyond recognition and flies feasted on her remains.
Before me—and alive by some definition of the word—was a boy not much older than Cadence. Blood stained his once white shirt and khaki pants. Grease and dirt were matted in his hair, and his bruised face was sunken from starvation. His breath fogged the air between us, though he didn’t notice the cold. His hands wrapped around the metal bars between us without hesitation.
“Please,” he whispered.
I searched for an entrance into the cell, and Freya cursed beside me.
“It’s here,” she said and pointed at to my left. “And it’s locked.”
Cadence and Arion waited for us at the end of the hall. He didn’t have enough room to turn around. I wanted more than anything to escape with them, but I’d made a promise. I made a habit of keeping them.
“Go,” I told Freya. “This is my mess. I’ll deal with it.”
She scoffed. “You’re a fool, Walker Reid.”
“Well,” the Master crooned. “Isn’t this cute? A lover’s quarrel.”
I spotted a stray rock and handed the torch to Freya so I could reach for it.
“Stay back,” she warned the Master.
I grabbed the rock and beat it against the rusty lock. It should’ve been replaced years ago, but clearly, bloodsuckers kept their wards far more up to date than their mundane precautions.
“I’d be careful with that torch if I were you,” the Master said to Freya. His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Killing a Master would surely get the attention of the Leaders.” He giggled.
The rock clanged against the lock, and its resistance reverberated up my arm. On my third swing, it finally snapped.
I took the boy’s filthy hand and pulled him out of the cell.
“Walker!” Cadence yelled. “No!”
The boy smiled and revealed his fangs.
Shit.
“My hero,” the vampire before me purred.
He lunged for my throat, and I yanked wildly against his hold. His grip was iron-clad. When he was only an inch from my jugular, flames struck his head. I wrenched myself free from his hand right before fire devoured it.
Freya crouched in front of me with the torch lit in her hands. She searched my throat for wounds. Behind her, the Master lunged. I reached for the torch, but it was too late. He moved faster than anything I’d ever seen and threw our only weapon to the ground. The damp floor easily snuffed the flame.
The Master grabbed Freya by her waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. She screamed and kicked, but the Master only grinned.
I reached for Freya, but the Master was too fast. He raced down the dungeon hall with blinding speed.
“Freya!” I screamed.
Arion roared behind me. The other vampires awaited their master from the entrance to the main hall.
