Chapter 40 #2
I tried to take my thoughts off Benjamin and why he’d lied. Perhaps he’d tried to protect her.
“Did you talk with her?” he asked.
“Not really.” I glanced at the sickly, young man in the corner.
Stress and sleep deprivation had aged them. The redheaded man looked thirty, but he could have been younger.
“What’s your story?” I pointed to the chains.
“We thought the house was empty,” he said weakly.
“You were trespassing?”
He held up the shackle’s chain. “Our punishment.”
“How long have you been down here?”
“About three days.” He gestured to himself, “I’m Marcus,” then pointed, “Lilly and Ted.” He fiddled with his shackle. “Take off that wet jacket. You’ll catch your death.”
Though the cold didn’t affect me, I removed it, nonetheless. Lilly needed it more, so I laid it by her side. When it dried, it would provide some well needed warmth, but I hoped we’d be out of here by then.
“We promise we’ll leave quietly,” Ted said, his voice wavering.
“I’m not the one you need to convince.” I gave him a comforting smile.
“Can you reason with him?” Marcus asked.
“Delacroix?”
Marcus fidgeted. “Is that his name?”
I nodded. “I don’t think reasoning with him is an option.”
Marcus slumped in despair.
Lilly leaned back against the brick and wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked.
“When did you last see your friend?” Marcus asked.
“Last night,” I said.
“What makes you think she’s here?”
“I have good reason.”
“Will you help us?” Lilly asked.
I gave her a nod. “I’ll try.”
“Evan must have made it out,” Lilly said. “I knew he would.”
While examining Marcus’ shackle, I marveled at my actions.
I’d spent the last few months feeding off mortals, and here, now, as though compelled to heroism, I wanted to aid an escape.
The thought of anyone in that torture chair motivated my valor.
I grabbed Marcus’ slim wrist and eased it through the shackle.
I followed his stare and peeled back his trouser leg. His calf was badly deformed, the skin mottled and bruised.
“I’ve lost weight, so it was easy to pull my wrist out.” Marcus gazed off. “Last night, I headed down the middle tunnel.”
I cringed.
Marcus nodded.
“It’s sealed with some kind of clay,” I said.
“Wasn’t last night. They must have done it after they snapped my leg.”
“I’ll carry you.”
“You’re going to have to carry him, too.” Marcus nodded toward Ted.
I locked gazes with Marcus. “I’ll come back for you.” Then I glanced over at Ted. “What happened to him?”
“He thinks that one of them bit him,” Marcus whispered. “He thinks the man drank his blood.”
Ted stirred. “He did fucking drink my blood.”
“He’s been in and out all night,” Lilly said in a low voice.
Marcus gave me a pointed look. “Why aren’t you saving yourself?”
“I will, but I’m not leaving you down here.”
“Do you promise?” Lilly asked.
“I do.” I headed for the door.
Marcus grabbed my ankle and whispered, “Who are you really?”
“I already told you,” I said, pulling away.
Marcus ran his soiled fingers through his hair.” Why should we trust you?”
“Do you have another option?”
He swallowed hard. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to pry open your shackles.”
“We’re as good as dead.” Marcus slouched back against the wall.
Ripping the shackles from the wall would be easy to explain away as corrosion, but the clanging of the chains would alert our enemy. They’d have to come off.
“These things are so rusty.” I grabbed hold of Lilly’s cuff.
Masonry sprayed, splattering me with dust, and the chain dangled from Lilly’s wrist. She gawped her surprise.
“Why look at that.” I shook my head in fake amazement. “Turns out I’m stronger than I thought.” I yanked open the metal cuff.
“How the hell did you do that?” Ted sat up.
With a snap, the metal gave on his cuff, too.
They rubbed their wrists as I considered Marcus’ leg. A sip of blood would do the trick, but Lilly and Ted would probably freak out. Ted was so weak, I doubted he’d last long. He clambered to his feet, leaned on me, and I took his weight.
Marcus shook his head. “I’ll slow you down. Just get them out.”
“I’ll come back,” I said.
“If your chance comes, take it and don’t look back.”
“A promise is a promise.” I flashed a smile, though it was forced.
Lilly, Ted, and I headed down the corridor and soon made it to the door that was now open.
We passed the statue that someone had pushed back into its original position, and ascended the stairs, then crept our way through the empty foyer.
With a turn of the door handle came the cool breeze of freedom.
I shoved Lilly and Ted out and slammed the door shut.
Delacroix came out of nowhere and threw me towards the foot of the stairs. My head bashed against the banister. Not since I’d taken Felipe on had I felt such fury. Delacroix’s servants reappeared, dragging Lilly and Ted in with them.
A wave of despair hit me hard.
Lilly and Ted cowered with fear. Fumbling hands behind me tied my wrists together with fine rope, so tight that my hands grew numb. I struggled to get free, but they overpowered me. Delacroix’s iron-glad grip crushed my throat, and his gaze bored into mine.
Lilly and Ted were hauled away.
I glanced up at the ceiling. Even with my hands bound, I believed I could rise, but if I escaped, it would seal their fate.
Delacroix struck my face, and my jaw cracked. He leaned in and his tongue lapped at my neck.
I jolted when he bit hard into my flesh.
He stormed on into my psyche. I struggled to stay conscious as he pillaged the farthest recesses. He was draining me.
I sank to my knees and my face struck the floor. Delacroix’s shoes were the last thing I saw.
The ghost of an Andalusian cantered by on silent hooves, ash swirling in its wake. Its flanks shimmered, eyes hollow with death. I watched, breath caught, as time twisted around it and I was taken back to that memory, that glimpse of the other side.
I was back in the cell.
I’d been shackled to the wall. I resisted the weight of the chain and ran my fingers along my neck. My shirt was stained with blood. Marcus stared back at me. His shackle had been refitted around his left wrist. Lilly and Ted had also been re-secured.
“What happened?” Marcus appeared even more worn down.
Sunaria, where are you? I didn’t even sense her and hated the thought that she may be in danger. “I’m still getting us out of here.”
Marcus glanced uneasily at the others. “Of course you will,” he said with sarcasm.
I stretched out.
“Is this all part of your master plan?” Marcus asked.
“So far, so good.” I ran my fingers through my matted hair and scratched my itchy scalp.
Marcus shook his head. “We’re all going to die.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s one option, yes.” I lifted my shirt collar to hide Delacroix’s fang marks, unsure if they’d faded.
Marcus leaned back. “What do they have over you?”
I moved into a more comfortable position.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t ask.” Marcus threw my jacket at me. “Here, you look like you need it back.”
I wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Where are you from?” Marcus’ tone was laden with suspicion.
“Spain.”
“Near Scotland?” Lilly said.
I laughed and then realized she wasn’t joking.
“It’s across the sea, Lilly,” Marcus frowned. “He’s a foreigner.”
Lilly stared at me. “What’s it like there?”
Examining my metal cuff, I tracked the links up and along to where it met the brick. I tugged the chain and dust sprayed as the bolts loosened. Somewhere within the house, the strains of a violin could be heard.
Marcus stared at the wall, his expression even more anxious.
With my fingers wrapped around the chain, I prepared to give it another tug.
“I work for Mr. Simons delivering groceries,” Lilly said. “One time, I went to the wrong door of the great house in Greenwich, the main one instead of the one for servants.”
With an incredulous expression, I said. “What’s your point, exactly?”
“Well, I got into trouble and Mr. Simons refused to read to me.”
“Lilly loves books,” Marcus explained. “Mr. Simons reads to her.”
“I can tell you’re a man of education, too,” Lilly said.
I gazed off and didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry,” Lilly said, sighing. “You’re worried about your friend and I’m talking about—”
“Books are a good distraction.” I rubbed my temples.
Lilly moved closer to me. “Maybe you can read to me one day.”
I looked over at her and saw tears streaming down her face.
I put my arm around her thin shoulders. “I will, Lilly.”
She softened against me.
I gazed at the men. “I intend to get us all out of here.”
Lilly’s mortal scent assailed my senses.
I suppressed all desire and ignored the carnal feelings that arose within me.
Lilly had calmed down, full of trust. I did for a moment feel like my old self again, the man who’d acted with integrity.
I covered her with my half-dry jacket, providing some warmth.
My metal cuff made a rusty, grinding clang as I opened it.
I slowly rose to my feet as a key turned in the lock and the door swung open. Delacroix greeted me with that crazed, half smile of his, and just behind him lingered three of his minions.
“I was promised a room with a view,” I said.
Delacroix’s servants dragged me out, pulling me along the corridor. I fought against them, digging my heels in, but failed to slow our progress. They forced me into the torture chamber and shoved me into the chair, strapping me in.
Delacroix loomed over me.
“Tell me if I’m wrong, but I think you might be a bit vexed with me, right?”
The chair flew back, tilted in such a way that I now lay flat staring up at the ceiling. From an upside-down perspective, I viewed the jars on the back wall.
Benjamin stood quietly in the corner. Delacroix turned and walked out of the room, leaving us alone.
“I came here looking for you,” Benjamin said, and swallowed hard.
“Help me out of this chair,” I said.
Benjamin hesitated.
“I told you to wait for me.” I tried to squirm free. “Does he have Rachel?”
“No.”
“Why did you tell me that Rachel’s your sister?”
“I didn’t think you’d help us otherwise.”
“Hurry up and get these straps untied.”
He gazed at me silently.