11. Chance #2
He didn’t hesitate for a second as he rushed the desks, sliding over the top and landing on the humans who’d taken cover behind them. Three bullets sounded before he popped back into view.
“Good?” I asked as I glanced at him.
“Motherfuckers,” he replied, rounding the desks. “These are my good pants.”
Just as we split up to clear the perpendicular aisles, Cap and Sully came into view, clearing the space from the opposite direction.
Then everything was quiet.
“You two, go,” Cap said grimly to Beau and me. “We’ll cover the exits and make sure we don’t get any company.”
Beau and I separated again and moved to the cells closest to the desks on opposite sides.
When I reached the first one, a hollow-eyed Vampire stared dully at me through the bars.
It looked like he hadn’t bathed in weeks.
His beard and hair were matted, and he was wearing only a stretched-out pair of boxer briefs.
“Time to get the fuck out of here,” I announced, moving toward him slowly. “You with me?”
“My mate?” he asked, his voice like broken glass.
“If she’s here, we’ll find her,” I assured him.
“He,” the Vampire corrected as I unlocked the heavy manacles around his ankles.
“We’ll find him,” I said, helping him to his feet. “Go to the desks. There’s a Vampire there who will help you.”
I moved to the next cell.
Another Vampire. This one was cleaner, but not by much.
His jeans were covered in blood and God knew what else.
He didn’t speak. He just sat quietly while I unlocked his restraints.
When I tried to help him to his feet, he shied away.
I watched as he awkwardly pushed himself upright and shuffled out of the cage.
In the next cage, I barely kept my composure. Curled up in the corner was a human woman, covered only by a raggedy hospital gown. When I reached her, I tried to speak quietly and reassuringly, but it didn’t matter. She froze in fear as I reached for the cuffs on her wrists.
Carefully, so fucking carefully, I unlocked them without touching her skin.
“Go,” I said, standing close as she rose in case she went back down again. She was so skinny, I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep herself upright.
After I’d freed the third Vampire, he followed me into the cage beside his and rushed to his mate. She was standing in the center, sobbing as he reached her. I let him unlock the handcuffs and ordered them to hurry before leaving them.
Cage after cage, I let the Vampires and mates free.
Some were silent. Some thanked me over and over again. Many cried. Many called out for their mates. They were all dirty, though some were far dirtier than the others. Each had wounds that I couldn’t acknowledge. Not yet. I still had to get them out of that fucking industrial park.
When I reached the end of the row, a familiar face greeted me.
Gordy was skinnier than I’d ever seen him, beaten to hell, and missing one of his teeth, but he still grinned as I unlocked his cage.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he rasped as I moved toward him.
That’s when I noticed that from just above the elbow, his left arm was gone.
“Fuck, Gord,” I said, kneeling to unlock his ankles.
“I’ll make do without it,” he said as I helped him to his feet. “You think you could spare a pistol?”
I nodded and pulled one of my pistols from the holster, handing it to him.
We’d barely made it halfway to the desks when a woman with matted blonde hair came running toward us. She was limping badly, but it didn’t seem to slow her down.
“Lewis,” she called, breathless and bawling.
“We gotta keep moving, baby,” he said as he caught her against him. “Come on. Like I told you.”
“Like you told her?” I asked quietly as we hurried toward the still-full cages.
“Knew someone would come,” Lewis said. “Told Lorna to keep her eyes open and be ready to get the fuck out.”
“Gods, Gordon,” I said, shaking my head.
“The alternative was to tell her it was hopeless,” he said, kissing her head. “What’s the point in that?”
I opened another cage, and inside was a mate who was fully clothed but had a wide white bandage around her neck. She was on her feet and staring at me with wary eyes as I entered the cell, but she lifted her arms in my direction as I reached her.
“Who are you?” she asked quietly.
“The cavalry,” I replied.
“Thank fuck,” she said, shaking her head. “My mate is two spaces over, but I don’t think he’s conscious. He stopped talking to me this morning.”
“Let’s go get him,” I said, leading her out.
The cage between them was empty, which was a pleasant fucking surprise, but when I opened her mate’s cage, my gut sank.
He was lying on the floor on his stomach, his head twisted to the side, completely still.
The bandage around his neck matched his mate’s, but his was saturated with dried blood.
“Byron?” she called, hurrying toward his still form. “Byron, come on, baby. Wake up.”
“We’ll stay with her,” Gordy said softly. “You go get the rest of them.”
I nodded and hurried toward the next, and the next, and the next, and the next.