25. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
L ucas expected the vampires to have locked the door, but they hadn’t. He pulled it open as quietly as he could and held his breath, counting to three before he stuck his head out. When he didn’t see anyone, he inhaled again.
Shawn and Sage followed him into the hallway.
“Which way do we go?” Lucas mumbled.
“We’re on the top floor. I remember that much from them bringing us up here,” Sage said.
“I know the way,” Shawn said and stepped in front of Lucas, leading them to the left. Lucas shrugged. He had trusted Shawn once before and his life turned upside down because of it.
Fuck it . Lucas searched Shawn’s mind. He quickly left again when he saw nothing but truth. Shawn turned to him as if he detected something but wasn’t sure what it was. As a human, he probably didn’t fully comprehend Lucas’ magic .
Seven minutes, baby.
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and he turned to Sage. “Bennett will be here in seven minutes.”
“Who’s Bennett?” Shawn asked him as he led them down a flight of stairs.
“My mate,” Lucas said and stopped in the middle of the staircase. “They’re coming up. Shit. Is there another way?”
“Not that I know of,” Shawn said, stopping a few steps down.
Lucas turned to Sage. “I won’t be able to hold them all for long.”
“We’ll have to run fast then,” Sage said.
Lucas nodded. “Go, Shawn. Quickly. And when I say run, you run your fucking ass off.”
“Got it,” Shawn said as he took two stairs down at a time whenever he could. Lucas and Sage went after him.
Lucas took a deep breath and then let it out again when he saw six vampires come toward them. Shawn hesitated, and Lucas got him moving again.
“Trust me,” Lucas whispered in his ear, right before he stopped the vampires. They literally froze in place. Shawn pushed a couple of them aside as he went past, making a path for Lucas and Sage to follow.
“How many floors are there in this place?” Lucas asked as they made their way down the endless staircase.
“I don’t know. A million. Fuck, there’s more of them.” Shawn pointed around the side of the stairs when the bottom came into view and, with it, several vampires.
“Damn it. I have to release the group I confined up the stairs to stop the vampires down the stairs,” Lucas huffed out in frustration.
“Just do your best, Lucas,” Sage said from behind him.
Lucas tried to hold the men at the top for as long as possible as they made their way down .
He felt Bennett close by and was so relieved he wanted to cry. Instead, he tried not to think about it and concentrated on the problems surrounding him.
“Okay, run your ass off,” Lucas yelled as they got closer to the first floor. Lucas froze the vampires below them. He couldn’t help but release a few of the stronger ones at the top.
It was weird because he felt a few disappear up there, as if someone had killed them.
He didn’t have time to think about it because Shawn was running right toward the strongest vampire Lucas had ever come into contact with.
Shawn stopped when he finally saw the vampire standing there. “Come here, Shawn.”
Shawn nodded and backed up.
“You must be the male witch that made my life worth living again.” The vampire took a step toward them. They all backed up. Lucas reached for Sage’s hand and he held on for dear life. “I don’t know how you did it, but the bitch’s curse lifted.”
“I separated her human side from her witch side. I think that released all of her curses.” Lucas tried to keep the guy distracted for a few more minutes.
A dark head poked around the corner of an open door just behind the vampires.
Lucas peeked into the guy’s mind first and discovered that the vampire was holding him prisoner.
He used to be the vampire’s mate, but Fate had taken the mate pull away, giving it to someone else. Wait. The man had two mates.
He really liked that lady, Fate.
Run. Go, before he sees you. He told the man and watched him turn.
He was naked and that didn’t seem to faze him as he made his way along the wall toward the front door.
Lucas noticed the bruises on his sides. They appeared to be fingerprints but, when Lucas looked in, he saw the human hadn’t been violated, although it was a close thing .
The poor man looked at Lucas for guidance once he reached the door. Lucas tried not to alert the vampire to his presence, keeping his gaze trained on the vampire in front of him, who was narcissistic enough to expect the complete attention.
“You’re a very strong witch, aren’t you boy,” the vampire said and took another step closer. “My wife can be a real bitch sometimes. Tell me, did you kill her?”
Lucas shook his head. “Fractured her mind even more than it already was. She’s…altered.”
The vampire smiled. “I should thank you for saving my sanity. I was getting frustrated. My poor slave understood my frustration, didn’t you Jules?” The vampire’s lips curled as he turned to Jules. Jules froze in his tracks and fell to his knees as if commanded to do so.
Get up. Now! Lucas told him and stopped the vampire from going to him. The vampire was way too strong for Lucas to hold for very long.
Jules bit his lip.
Lucas nodded. Trust me.
Lucas knew what being mated was like, having the pull toward someone. He wouldn’t blame Jules for staying. His mates would know where to find him if he did.
“Why isn’t he leaving?” Shawn whispered to him.
Lucas took Shawn’s hand in his, keeping the three of them together. “His mates won’t be able to find him if he leaves.”
“I’ll help them find you.” Lucas would figure it out if it meant Jules would stay safe.
“What’s a mate?” Shawn asked.
“The other half of your soul, dumb ass,” Sage said to Shawn.
“Well, I don’t know anything about you weirdos, so fucking sue me,” Shawn whispered .
The vampire tried to move his hand. The will he used pulled at Lucas’ strength. “I can’t hold him for long, Jules. So if you’re going then leave now.”
Jules’ chin wobbled and he turned. He reached for a door handle just as Lucas lost his hold on the man.
“Run!” Lucas yelled and tried to push Sage and Shawn along with him.
The vampire moved so fast Lucas couldn’t see him, but he grabbed Jules before he could get outside the house. Jules flew back as the vampire stood in their way, hissing at them, with red eyes and fangs.
A part of Lucas willed Jules to get up, but he curled into a ball, covering his head with his arms. He couldn’t concentrate on anything. When Shawn pulled his hand away from Lucas just as the vampire came at them, he felt everything slip from his control.
Lucas turned, meeting Sage’s gaze. Sage spoke but the words drowned amongst the sound of his own breath.
The vampire took a step in Jules’ direction just as a big black dragon roared outside.
“Bennett.” The relief came through in one big whoosh of breath and a hysterical laugh.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Shawn came up beside them with an arm around Jules’ shoulder. Both looked pale and scared.
The reason for Shawn’s leaving him made sense upon seeing them together.
“Let’s go.” Lucas pulled Sage along, not wasting time.
Shawn didn’t move, even when more vampires came down the stairs.
“Come on, Shawn!”
Shawn shook his head.
Come here now! Bennett was like balm for his soul .
“Please Shawn.”
Jules moved first, pushing Shawn toward the door. Shawn stumbled forward but finally got with the program. Lucas let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived because some of the vampires had closed the distance. They had guns and swords pointed straight at Bennett.
Lucas let Sage’s hand go and froze the head vampire before he could grab Jules. He let energy wash over him until he had a gray ball of light, throwing it into the hoard of vampires coming toward Bennett.
Sage ran past Lucas straight to Bennett who moved aside even as he fought off a vampire who’d come to close.
Lucas threw another gray ball, which ended up being a mistake because he couldn’t hold the leader anymore.
The leader pulled Jules back as soon as he was free. Lucas didn’t even think when he launched another ball in that direction, forcing the leader to let Jules go in favor of protecting himself. The strongest vampire hit the floor, letting the light sail passed him into one of his followers.
Jules ran toward him, and he directed him to walk under Bennett’s front legs to the side.
“Bennett!” The attention Lucas took to protect Jules and Shawn allowed too many vampires toward Bennett until he was overrun.
Lucas released ball after ball until Bennett could fight them off on his own.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew Shawn hadn’t made it out of the house yet, but the thought took a back seat when his vision faded to black.
His legs crumbled but he never felt the hard floor. Instead he floated on a cloud that smelled like cinnamon.
“Bennett.”