Chapter 54
CHAPTER 54
Seconds ticked by and struggled to become minutes until, finally, they raced forward, and the time to launch the attack approached. Roger sat behind the wheel of the large truck. The front had been reinforced with steel. Still, as he put his foot on the gas and picked up speed, he held his breath that this would work. The mansion had a wrought iron fence all the way around. If the calculations were off, the truck wouldn’t make it through the gate.
Roger should have no trouble surviving such a crash. His team was in the vehicles behind him. They might stand a chance of breaking in time if he didn’t get through, but he was really hoping they wouldn’t have to find out.
The mansion loomed in the near distance.
Roger gripped the wheel and pushed on the gas a little more. Thankfully, Seamus’s ego demanded he be at the end of a long street. Without having to turn, Roger didn’t have to sacrifice any speed.
The gate was right ahead of him.
The truck wasn’t going to be able to do this. What was he thinking?
No turning back . Roger slammed his foot down as he cleared the last of the driveways. With no potential civilians in the way, there was no reason to hold back. The crunch of metal on metal broadcasted that he’d made contact with the gate. At any moment, the front end of the trunk was going to crumple and trap him in the truck. He was sure of it.
The gates bent, then flew back on their hinges, falling off the bottom ones and remaining stuck open. Roger continued to barrel up the driveway toward the mansion.
A cackle of laughter broke free from him. He was in. Let the bastard try and stop us .
The pain in Takashi’s neck wasn’t a shock, but it still was unpleasant. He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat up. The room he was in was terribly small and had a silver cell door. Beyond was the room with the wooden rack and torture instruments.
He was in Anton’s secret chamber.
“Damn it.” Takashi pushed himself up to his feet and neared the door. His view of the other cells was limited.
“He’s awake!” Phyrull called out in delight. “Welcome to the dungeon!”
“Don’t talk to the demon shithead,” Dennis said. “The more you talk to him, the more he gets in your head.”
“You should be thrilled, Denny. This means there’s someone else for me to play with!” Phyrull announced. Out of the two, Phyrull was the one Takashi had a view of. The demon was in his natural form, tail swinging happily behind him. “I’m glad I finally get time with you. Apparently, I’ve been slipping in my role lately. Getting to study you will be an honor.”
“You assume he won’t try to fuck the real thing,” Dennis said. “You were just a fucking stand-in.”
“You will quickly discover that ramming a nail through your hand is more fun than Denny,” Phyrull said.
“Hmm,” Takashi said noncommittally. Looking for a little bit of comfort, he took off his suit jacket. It swung heavier than it should as he folded it. He investigated the pocket and found a long key. Anton gave me an escape . Would walking out of the basement be so simple? Was it a test? Remain and the punishment would be called off, leave and face worse? If I time this to Roger’s attack, I’ll be able to use the chaos to escape .
But Takashi didn’t know exactly when Roger would arrive, just that it would have to be before dawn. “Dennis, are you sluggish yet?”
“Great, you’re already crazy enough to ask weird questions,” Dennis grumbled.
“You’ve only been a vampire for a matter of weeks. You should be able to feel the dawn before I will,” Takashi replied.
“Oh, he won’t know the difference since he’s barely been fed,” Phyrull said. “However, I could tell you easily.”
“Or you’ll tell me what you think I want to hear,” Takashi countered.
“If what you want to hear is whether or not dawn is approaching, then I would tell you the truth,” Phyrull replied. “But I would have a condition.”
“A demon deal is not a condition,” Takashi said.
“Not even if all I want is for you to unlock my door?”
“What’s to keep you from latching onto me and making me your thrall?” Takashi asked.
“Ouch!” Phyrull pouted. “I get plenty of bewitching done outside these walls. I don’t need to charm you into being my puppet.”
“Need and will are two different things,” Takashi replied.
“Fine, fine . What if I promise none shall feel my charms until noon in this blasted time zone?” Phyrull offered. “Will that condition work for you?”
“Yes.”
“The first crest of light is soon, but dawn will not banish the grays of night for another forty minutes,” Phyrull said.
With a retreat planned and vampires as part of the attack, then Roger would have to arrive soon. If Takashi moved quietly enough through the house, he might be able to leave without anyone the wiser. Except for Katie. Except if this is a trap. And I can’t leave Zack .
Roger wasn’t going to leave without Zack, and if Takashi connected with any of the teams, then he might be able to persuade them to aid him. He’d be able to get Zack and Katie and lead them out himself.
Carefully, Takashi reached through his bars and slid the key into the lock. One twist and the lock was undone. Using his sleeved arm, he pushed the door open. He immediately went to Phyrull’s cell and unlocked it as well, stepping wide from the door.
“Thank you, my good sir,” Phyrull said cheerfully. He saluted quickly, then took the form of a werewolf in its hybrid form, bulky, hairy, and with claws and a snout, but still on two legs. He bounded off for the next door, and there was a crash as he opened it. Soon, he was running down the hall, turning the corner toward the exit.
“Don’t draw attention,” Takashi called after him, no idea if Phyrull could hear him at that distance or over the noise of the other, less human prisoners.
Takashi turned toward Dennis. The young man bore little resemblance to Zack, but this was his cousin. From what had happened the last time Takashi was down in this basement, he knew Dennis had been cruel to Zack in the past. Zack had been content to leave him down here, suffering as Phyrull made him relive his sins.
Conditions were already terrible, and should Anton or Seamus survive, whoever was remained would have to endure more. Roger had intimated that he was going to burn the house down. Dennis might very well die in the rubble if left behind.
But he might deserve it. Zack had promised to help Dennis when he was able to, but that didn’t mean Takashi owed this man a thing.
“When you spoke to Zack, you said you fucked up,” Takashi said as he slowly approached the door. “What did you mean?”
“Seriously? You want to stand around talking when we could be running?” Dennis tried to grab the key from Takashi’s hand, but the silver bars stopped him. He hissed and backed away from the door, only to come right back up to it.
“When I have the opportunity to fully drink a life, I often choose one of a bigot,” Takashi said coldly. “They aren’t hard to find, and they are often damaging their families.”
“Zack told you what I said to him when we were kids?”
“I deciphered it from context,” Takashi replied. He took a step toward the exit. When Dennis remained silent, he took another three.
“My dad was the one who kept saying that kind of crap to me,” Dennis shouted with a groan of frustration. “I took it out on Zack. I took it out on a lot of people. But do you want to know how I landed in here? I went looking for my boyfriend. Only I never called him that to his face because I was a fucking coward. The last conversation we had was a fight about how if I wasn’t brave enough to tell our team that we were an item, then he didn’t want me watching his back. He died and maybe he wouldn’t be gone if I’d been braver. But I can’t take any of it back. Please, please don’t let me die down here.”
Takashi zipped back and unlocked the door. He was prepared to abandon Dennis and hurry toward his freedom, only Dennis could hardly stagger from his cell.
Neither Zack nor Roger would leave the young vampire, especially after hearing his abbreviated tale. Their compassion would have begged them to help. And Roger had a point that vampires were too cruel to each other.
Lending a hand would slow him, but Takashi was capable. It was what Roger and Zack would do.
Cursing under his breath, Takashi went to Dennis’s side and coaxed him into putting an arm across his shoulders. “Hold on.”
Together, they rushed through the open door, down the hallway, and up the staircase to the main floor. Sounds of crashing distracted Takashi. Windows were breaking in rooms near and farther away, the patter of shattered glass echoing through the halls.
When he turned toward the staircase that would take him up to Zack’s suite, he came face-to-face with an incredibly tall, spindly fey. The fey’s eyes reminded Takashi of an endless pit that one could never crawl out of.
“What the fuck is that?” Dennis said, trying to slip Takashi’s grasp and run in the other direction.
Decorum still had its place, especially with the fey. Takashi said, “You must be Grimsby.”
“I am,” Grimsby replied. “A pleasure to finally allow you to see this form.”
“Because I’ve seen you before,” Takashi said. He realized that Grimsby’s complexion was that of the collared boy who’d led him around in his early nights in the mansion. When the boy had vanished, Takashi had assumed Seamus killed him. “I suppose that the reason I can see you now is that the rules of hospitality no longer apply to me or my friend here.”
“Your supposition proves correct.” Grimsby leaned down toward him. His smile was toothy. “I have no cause to be polite to trespassers.”
“But, perhaps, you have cause to escort one from the property. That might fall within your duties.”
Grimsby tilted his head, then partly bowed. “I should see a trespasser off, especially on a tumultuous night like this one. The house seems to be falling out of order.”
Yet Grimsby wasn’t rushing off to join the fray in any way. Why is he working here? Takashi unwound Dennis’s arm from his shoulders and nudged him toward Grimsby. “He’s having some trouble walking.”
“Ah, well, that won’t do.” Grimsby swept Dennis off his feet and began to stride down the hall, going past one of the staircases to the second floor and carrying on.
Okay, one win . Takashi hurried for the stairs, taking them up two at a time. With any luck, he’d find Zack before the battle did.