Chapter 3
I would doanything for Gabriel. But the one thing we hadn’t yet done was share blood. I knew that was a big thing for vampires, but I wasn’t a vampire. And so, I’d drawn a clear line in the sand in regards to that. No biting. And he’d respected my decision. He wanted me, not my blood. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. Especially during…steamier moments. But then Adrian happened, and I hadn’t given it a single thought since then.
Until now.
It seemed I no longer had a choice. To save us, Gabriel needed to heal. And to do that, he needed my blood.
There was one slight problem though.
I couldn’t reach him.
Not to feed him, anyway.
I stretched my arm through the bars until I felt the cold metal up against my shoulder, but I barely grazed the tips of his fingers.
“Fuck,” I cursed.
I wriggled and repositioned my body, squeezing as much of myself through the bars as possible. I might have gained another millimeter, but that was it. If I could grab his hand, maybe I could drag him closer, but he was just out of reach.
With another curse, I pulled my arm back and stood. I shoved away from the bars and started pacing.
How the hell was I going to heal him then?
Clearly, Elias thought this was possible. Unless I misinterpreted him. The man had betrayed us, after all. Who knew the thoughts going through his head? Maybe I was completely off base. But I couldn’t imagine his gestures meant anything else. Why else would he point at his fangs and then at Gabriel?
But why? And what did that mean? Why would he help me after everything he’d said?
I paused and stared at the door, as though I could see right through it and into Elias’s brain.
What if everything he’d said had just been a show for Adrian? What if he hadn’t meant any of it?
I replayed the entire conversation and recalled the moments he’d shown hurt and anger. He said he’d come to watch his brother die. Was that true? Or had he just used that as an excuse to delay Adrian until he could get here and help us?
I shook my head.
I couldn’t place my hopes on Elias. Who knew what game he was playing? Because he was definitely playing one. And I didn’t intend to wait around and find out. Regardless of Elias’s message, I knew without a fraction of a doubt that blood would heal Gabriel. That was how vampires worked. Blood cured everything for them. And once Gabriel was cured, we’d figure a way out of this.
I hurried back to the bars and dropped to my stomach, ignoring the cool press of the steel cage floor beneath me. Feeding Gabriel was the only solution here. I just needed to figure out how to do it.
If I couldn’t reach him, then I had to make him come to me.
But how?
He was unconscious.
“Gabriel,” I hissed, hoping for even the slightest flicker of life.
Nothing.
I shot the door one more glance, then barked out, “Gabriel!”
I waited for the inevitable moment the door opened and the guards rushed in to check on us, but nothing happened. No one so much as twitched out there. I strained my ears but heard nothing. Not even the telltale sound of shuffling feet.
My pulse kicked into overdrive, and hope bloomed in my chest.
Elias had done that. He’d given me the space needed to help Gabriel.
Maybe he was on our side.
I shook my head, “Doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t,” I muttered to myself. I had to figure out this problem. And Elias’s allegiance didn’t factor into that.
“Okay, think,” I whispered. “If I can’t get to him, he has to come to me. But how…?”
I reached through the bars again and tried once more to tug him closer. His finger slipped out of mine without so much as him budging an inch.
“Clearly, that won’t work,” I said. “And clearly, you’re losing your mind, talking to yourself like this.”
I stared at my hands and considered my options. Ramming the bars had done nothing but break a rib or two. I couldn’t claw my way free—I’d tried that day one of imprisonment. And the bars were too narrow for me to slip through. Nor could I pick the damn lock.
So, what could I do?
I lifted my hand and eyed my wrist. Gabriel hadn’t responded to the sound of my voice, but maybe, just maybe, his vampiric nature would respond to my blood?
Pulling back my filthy sleeve, I eyed my flesh.
“Here goes,” I muttered.
I lifted my wrist to my mouth, pressed my teeth against the skin, and bit. Pain tore up my arm, and I squeezed my eyes shut, but I didn’t pull back. I suspected I would need a fair bit of blood to wake Gabriel up.
Only when blood started dripping on the floor did I lower my arm and shove it back through the bars. I reached out and touched the tips of Gabriel’s fingers once more.
“Come on,” I whispered. “Wakey, wakey. There’s fresh blood here, just waiting for you. Come on, Gabriel.”
He didn’t stir.
I cursed and shoved myself further against the bars. This had to work. It had to.
“Come on, Gabriel!” I hissed. “Fight. I need you to fight.”
The silence that followed was deafening, every second stretching out with agonizing slowness. My heart hammered against my ribs, a relentless drumbeat of hope and desperation. I kept my blood-soaked hand in Gabriel’s cage. My entire arm ached, and the cool, damp air wasn’t helping. If anything, it made the bite sting more. But this discomfort was a small price to pay if it meant saving Gabriel.
Of course, that meant my vampire had to wake the hell up.
Growling under my breath, I pulled my arm back to my chest, then massaged the bite wound. Werewolves healed fast. If he didn’t take me up on this offer soon, I’d have to reopen the skin, and I really didn’t want to do that.
“Come on!” I snarled at Gabriel.
Then I shoved my arm back through the bars and grabbed his fingers, coating them in my blood.
“For crying out loud, you’re a fucking vampire,” I grumbled. “And I’m offering blood. So, wake up and take it.”
I was about to unleash another string of curses when something changed.
At first, it was barely perceptible. A slight twitch in Gabriel’s fingers. For a moment, I wondered if I’d imagined it. People did that. They saw things they wanted so desperately to see. But then his whole hand moved. And when his fingers curled around mine, I knew I wasn’t imagining things.
“Yes!” I whispered.
My pulse beat with excitement. I couldn’t believe it. He was waking up! It’d worked.
Gabriel’s whole body twitched this time, his movements becoming a bit more deliberate. Then came a low, almost inaudible growl, one that had my breath catching in my throat.
Okay, I might not have thought this through. I’d been banking on the fact that Gabriel would never hurt me. But this wasn’t necessarily Gabriel. This was more the vampire dwelling within. I didn’t pull my arm back. I couldn’t. Not when we were so close.
Gabriel’s hand moved again, this time with purpose. His cold fingers wrapped around my wrist with surprising strength. The touch of his skin against mine was electrifying, and it sent a jolt of heat through my stomach.
He turned his head then. His eyes remained closed, but his face seemed almost determined. He gave a sharp pull on my arm, and my face crashed into the bars. I grunted, but still didn’t pull back.
“I can’t come any closer, Gabriel,” I told him, hoping that some part of his animalistic brain understood me.
It seemed it did because he rolled onto his side and inched toward my wrist. The second his lips brushed my skin, I jerked. My heart hammered against my ribs, partly from fear, but also from the excitement of being this close to my mate again. I forced myself to swallow, then leaned my head against the bars and closed my eyes. I needed to stay calm. Fighting this would only make things more difficult.
Movement brushed against my injured wrist, and I had to force myself not to jerk away. This was what I wanted, and what Gabriel needed. His mouth sealed around the bite, and I felt the scrape of his fangs. I counted to three in my head, knowing what would come next.
Gabriel’s fangs pierced my flesh, and I gave a choked gasp. Relief spilled through me, and I slumped against the cage, wanting to sob with relief. He was feeding. I really couldn’t ask for anything more than that.
My eyes fluttered open, and I watched as he fed ravenously from my wrist. Despite the situation’s gravity, I couldn’t help but feel a deep connection to Gabriel right now. My blood was sustaining him. Heck, it was more than sustaining him, it was bringing him back to life. Color returned to his skin, and the dark veins vanished. He almost looked like his old self again.
Except he still hadn’t opened his eyes.
“Gabriel?” I called.
His grip tightened as if in response to me calling his name. Yet there was no sign of awareness in his face, no glimmer of recognition in his actions. With every swallow, his hands—and his grip—grew stronger. He kept drinking, his fangs piercing deeper. A jolt of pain shot through me, and I nearly cried out. Only the fear of alerting everyone upstairs kept me quiet.
Gabriel kept drinking, drawing on the essence of my life, pulling himself back from the brink of death. With every swallow, he seemed to grow stronger, and relief spiraled through me, one that quickly dissipated when the world started to sway. Everything seemed to blur around me, the edges of my vision growing dark.
I rested my head against the bars and focused on breathing. Things were getting a little murky. But just as the darkness threatened to steal me away, I sensed a change. Gabriel’s feeding slowed, and after a few more moments, his grip loosened, and he released my wrist.
I lifted my head and stared at him, my whole body startling at the sight of his stormy gray eyes staring right back at me.
A weak laugh slipped past my lips and tears sprang to my eyes. I couldn’t help it. I was just so happy to see him right now.
“You’re awake,” I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks. “You’re really awake?”
“Maddie?” Gabriel’s eyes scanned the scene—the cages, our surroundings, my bleeding wrist—before settling back on me. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
“What do you remember?” I asked.
His brow knotted. “The Academy. Adrian. A flash of waking up here… Then, nothing but endless darkness, pain, agony. Your voice. It sometimes broke through the haze.” He shuddered and his words faded.
Squeezing his hand, I fought back my rage and filled him in on everything that had happened since I’d woken up here. The details rushed past my lips, each word tumbling one after another until I’d told the entire story.
Gabriel’s expression grew darker, almost murderous, as he listened. “Elias is here? Right now?”
I nodded. “I don’t know why he’s here. He said he wanted to watch you die. But then I think he gave me the idea to feed you my blood. I’m not sure. I’m sorry.”
He gave a grim nod. He cleared his throat and asked, “And what about Chris?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed, a fresh wave of fear crashing into me. “He wasn’t here when I regained consciousness. Maybe he’s being held elsewhere?”
Gabriel’s gray eyes met mine. Despite their contentious relationship, his worry mirrored my own.
“We need to get out of here,” I breathed. “I tried, but I failed. I’m so sorry.”
Fury rippled across his face. “You have nothing to apologize for, luv.”
I almost broke hearing his words. God, I hadn’t realized how badly I’d missed him. How lonely I’d been.
As though sensing the storm of emotions crashing through me, Gabriel squeezed my hand. “It’s okay. You aren’t alone anymore.”
I leaned my head against the bars, then sighed when he did the same. “We have to get out of here,” I told him. “Before Adrian and Elias come back.”
Gabriel stared at the closed door. “Do you know where we are?”
“No, I haven’t seen anything beyond these cages since I woke up here.”
“Alright,” he murmured. “Now that I’m somewhat back to my former self, we can figure a way out of here. Where are the guards?”
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “Elias and Adrian left, and then Elias ordered the guards to prepare for their departure.” I shot Gabriel another pained look. “I think now that Elias is here, Adrian plans to kill us. Usually the guards do two more round before sunrise to, you know, inject you with more holy water?—”
Gabriel’s expression shuttered.
“—but I don’t know if that’s going to happen now, seeing as Elias is here. And I don’t know what time it is, either, or how close to sunrise it is. I’ve lost track of time down here.”
Gabriel reached through the bars and cupped my cheeks. “You are amazing. And we’re going to get out of this, I swear.” He studied my face, then smiled, the tips of his fangs peeking out at me. “Walk me through their process.”
I did exactly that. Gabriel listened intently, nodding along when appropriate. Afterward, he rose to his feet and paced the length of the cage.
“It sounds to me like the best course of action here is to pretend nothing has changed.” He paused and stared at the cage floor. “You said the guards have to enter my cage to give me the injections?”
I silently nodded.
“Then that’s our best shot. They won’t expect me to be awake, so they’ll enter my cage, which gives me the perfect opportunity to attack. I’ll take care of them, then get you out. All you need to do is act the same as you have been this whole time. You said you’ve been in wolf form every time they’ve come down?”
Another nod.
“Are you feeling up to shifting?” Gabriel asked.
Truthfully, no. I was exhausted. Three days of lack of sleep and proper nutrition, along with a substantial blood donation, was wearing on me. I definitely needed a long nap. And maybe a buffet’s worth of food. But what choice did I have? We needed out of here, asap.
“I’ll manage,” I told him.
He studied me, clearly seeing right through my lie. But eventually, he nodded, knowing we really didn’t have any other options. “Okay. You shift, and I’ll play dead. Once the guards enter my cage, I’ll make my move.”
“The second guard doesn’t always enter your cage,” I said.
Gabriel considered that. “We’ll just have to risk it. Hopefully, we can get to the other before he can alert anyone to our escape.”
I bit my lip and considered Gabriel’s plan. I had tried to escape my cage and failed. And the guards always kept their distance from me. Waiting for them to enter Gabriel’s cage was truly our only option.
A thought came to me, one that made my blood run cold. “What if the guards aren’t the ones who come back? Adrian said it was time to put an end to all this.”
Rage flashed in Gabriel’s eyes. “Then he’ll have a nasty little surprise waiting for him.”
Oh, I liked the sound of that. I’d been dreaming of killing him for three nights now. My wolf couldn’t wait to rip his head clean off his shoulders. But just because I wanted him dead didn’t mean Gabriel did. Adrian had raised him, after all.
“Are you ready for that?” I asked.
Gabriel turned to face me, determination burning in his eyes. “I’m counting on it.”
Well, alright then.
“We’ve got this, luv,” Gabriel said.
A slow smile curled my lips. Hell yes, we did.