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So when I faced forward once more, I felt this tightening sensation move over my skin.
Squeezing my fingers around the key card, I licked my lips and took the first step, then another. And then I snapped into focus and pushed away my apprehension, keeping to the center of the corridor and away from the cells, my gaze on the ground so I didn’t make eye contact with any of them.
I heard shuffling from within the cells and kept reminding myself that D told me he rerouted security footage, made sure the guards’ schedules were tweaked. He’d gone through a lot of trouble to go into my cell tonight, to no doubt do heinous acts and not get caught.
I could sense the other male creatures within the cells, could scent their masculinity, the sweat clinging to their forms, their overpowering anger and aggression that was suffocating.
“I smell a female. Soft, gentle… breakable.”
The voice that came from my left was guttural, inhuman, and mysterious in sound. I didn’t stop to look, just kept moving forward as fast as my feet could take me.
Just as I rounded the corner, about to exhale in relief that I was free, I froze, watching as two human guards came right toward me, dragging a massive male between them.
Their heads were bent low as they talked softly to each other, not realizing I stood at the end. And then one of them lifted his head, and our gazes clashed.
“The fuck?”
I sucked in a sharp breath and looked between the humans. They were stopped now, both of them still holding on to the male. I realized the Otherworld creature—a vampire, given his scent—had manacles around his wrists, ones that had a wavy apparition of magic swirling around the metal. The scent of his flesh burning from the power of it stung my nose.
The vampire slowly lifted his head and locked his gaze on mine. The glossy look in his eyes told me he was drugged, his big body weakened by the magic and sedatives the Assembly was so fond of using on us.
I snapped my focus back to the humans. It was very clear the guards were stunned speechless, frozen as we all stared at each other. No one moved, no one spoke, and it felt like an eternity, although only moments passed.
I took a step back on instinct, but the wall stopped me from retreating any farther. One of the humans cursed again, and that was when the entire situation played out like a horror movie or a nightmare… for everyone but the Otherworld male.
The vampire turned savage, and the only time I’d ever seen this kind of brutality was when Odhran fought the humans before they’d taken me all those years ago.
I could hear the creatures just down the hall roaring and screaming, sensing the fight, and more than likely wanting to take part in it.
And the entire time, all I could do was stand there, my back pressed to the wall, my eyes wide, and my heart racing. I prayed the flight-or-fight instinct would take over, because I refused to make this easy for anyone.
I didn’t know how much time passed as I was frozen in place, watching the vampire decimate both humans. There were a few body parts lying scattered, blood sprayed across the ground and walls, but despite the carnage, the male had his sights on me.
I made a frightened noise in the back of my throat and flattened myself against the wall as much as I could.
He bent down, ripped the key card off one of the humans, and ran it over the manacles. The mirage surrounding it dissipated, and the lock opened a second before falling unceremoniously to the ground. He hissed through gritted teeth and sharpened fangs. His wrists were raw, blistered, and charred from the cuffs.
And then he was stalking forward, stopping when he was a foot from me.
He didn’t say anything, but his gaze spoke volumes.
“Come, female.” His voice was guttural, harsh. It was reminiscent of someone who didn’t use it very often.
I didn’t move, confusion filling me.
“Female,” he growled. “If you want to get out of here with your mate, let’s go.”
I was so stunned by his words that I just blinked, my mouth opening and closing on its own, but no words spilled forth. “My mate?” He knew where Odhran was? I should’ve been hesitant, feeling this swell of hope fill my chest at the prospect of seeing him.
He exhaled in annoyance. “I overheard the guards talking about you, saying your name and your mate’s as I was taken out of one of their torture rooms.” There was a harsh growl that left him, his eyes flashing red. “If you want to get to him, I know where he’s at. I don’t know where the guards are, and I don’t know how long we have before they swarm in. We have to go now.”
And then he turned and started walking back down the corridor, leaving the grisly scene behind.
I could’ve told him what D said about the cameras and the guards’ rotation being altered. But my words were lodged in my throat. I wanted to ask him how he got free so easily, and if he’d been able to do that the entire time, why he’d allowed them to drag him to begin with, to capture him.
But none of that mattered.
I found myself moving, following him before I knew it was happening.
