Chapter 37
37
T he silver handcuffs around Vanessa’s wrists chafed, and she cursed quietly. She and Patrick weren’t only handcuffed, a long silver chain was looped through the cuffs, chaining them to massive iron rings that were anchored in the concrete floor. And they weren’t the only team that had gotten captured. Within a half hour after their arrival in the large industrial looking building, more of her colleagues arrived, similarly bound before they were chained up in the same manner.
The building looked like it had once been a large auto repair shop, though it also had a second floor. Two sets of stairs led to the upper story, and her sensitive hearing picked up footfalls from above. How many men were on the second floor, she couldn’t tell.
In the van, Milo’s men had put hoods over their heads so that they couldn’t see where they were being held, though she was certain that they were still in the city. They hadn’t driven for long.
When she saw both her brothers being brought in, Vanessa was both worried but also relieved. She managed to get close enough to Ryder to whisper to him.
“Have you contacted Scarlet?”
Because Ryder was blood-bonded, he had the unique ability to communicate telepathically with his mate, Scarlet. Just like the other two blood-bonded hybrids could: Damian and Cooper, both of whom had just arrived.
Ryder nodded, and whispered back, “She’s already called HQ and alerted them that we were taken.”
“Could you see where they brought us?” Vanessa asked.
Below his breath, he said, “No.”
“Fuck,” she cursed. It appeared the ability to communicate to HQ wouldn’t help much if they didn’t know where they were.
“Don’t worry,” Ryder added, keeping his eyes peeled on the vampires guarding them, and waiting for a moment when they weren’t looking at them. “Cole followed you and Patrick. He’s given Dad our location.”
Relief washed over her. Cole was a stubborn man, and any other time she would have torn him a new one for not trusting that she could handle herself, but now he would actually be their salvation.
Ryder smiled at her. “I’m looking forward to meeting him properly.”
Then Ryder fell silent and leaned back against the wall. Vanessa caught a glimpse of Damian too, and noticed that he was letting his eyes roam in the dimly-lit building, most likely telepathically sending information to his mate, Naomi.
Vanessa glanced around too. Milo was huddled in the far corner of the first floor, talking to several of his henchmen. She wasn’t sure how many vampires were in his camp, but if he’d sent three to each incel’s house to lay in wait, he had to have over forty men working for him.
By now, all hybrid teams had arrived in the building. Even Isabelle, Samson’s daughter, was among them. She’d taken part in the mission, and while she showed no fear, as a mother of a toddler, she was most likely scared of what would happen if she didn’t make it back. Vanessa could admit it to herself: she was scared too, because it was still morning, still daylight for another ten hours or so, which meant the cavalry wouldn’t be arriving anytime soon.
Scanguards had sent all their hybrids out into the field. There were none left who could mount a rescue operation during daylight hours. They could certainly use some of their human staff, perhaps aided by Wesley and Charles, the two witches in Scanguards’ employ, but knowing Samson and her own father, she was almost certain that they wouldn’t risk their children’s lives by sending anybody but the A team. Which meant that they had to wait for nightfall.
Not all of Milo’s vampires were in the same area as Vanessa and her colleagues. Some of them could easily be on the upper floor, or in some other corner, hidden from her. It was of course also possible that they were hiding in a neighboring building, maybe to attack from the flanks and the back once Scanguards tried to rescue the hostages.
After a while, Ryder leaned closer and whispered, “Were any of the men that took you and Patrick hybrids?”
She found the question odd. “No, why?”
“HQ wants to know.”
She glanced down to the area where Damian was chained up. He too was whispering something to the hybrids next to him, and she could only assume that he’d been posed the same question by their superiors.
It could only mean that HQ was already working on a rescue plan. She doubted that Milo had any idea that several of his hostages were secretly communicating with their spouses and were passing information back to Scanguards. She hoped it would remain that way. It gave them an advantage, and if Milo really had over forty vampires on his side, they needed any advantage they could get.
All of a sudden, there was some activity in the corner where Milo was talking to his men. Vanessa watched closely, when she noticed that Milo and three of his men were approaching. All whispers subsided instantly, and all hybrids watched the kidnappers approaching.
Milo stopped a few feet away from the corner where all sixteen hybrids were tied up and looked at each of them as if trying to choose one. He grunted, then pointed to Grayson.
“Well, look at you. So much like your father,” Milo said, his voice calm and almost friendly, though the evil glint in his eyes betrayed his words. There was nothing friendly about him.
“What about it?” Grayson spit, rising to his feet.
Monique, his mate who was chained a few feet away from him, cast him a warning glance.
“You shouldn’t even exist,” Milo claimed. “Nor your siblings.”
He pointed to Isabelle and Patrick, and it was clear that Milo had done his homework. Most likely he knew all his captives’ names and whose sons and daughters they were.
Grayson didn’t take the bait, and remained silent. Vanessa had to admit that she was surprised. The old Grayson would have started an argument that most likely would have gotten him killed right here and now. But the new Grayson, the man who’d blood-bonded with a vampire princess, was smarter and knew when to pick a fight, and when to hold back.
“I should have killed your mother myself, when I had the chance,” Milo taunted.
Next to her, Vanessa felt Patrick tense up. She put her hands on his arm to stop him from doing something stupid. With a nod he acknowledged that he would remain calm like his older brother.
“I’m assuming you want something from my father,” Grayson said in calm tones. “Milo, is it?”
“I see I haven’t been forgotten,” Milo answered with a smirk. “Even though I hear that Thomas moved on. Got himself a boy toy.”
Surprised at Milo’s comment, Vanessa wondered whether Milo was still pining for Thomas. Or was it just another remark to show his disdain with anybody connected to Samson and Scanguards?
“I’m really grateful to him. Thomas let me live, when he should have killed me. Ah, he was always too soft for his own good. Too weak.” Milo shrugged, then his voice changed, turning icy in a second. “So here’s how this is gonna go. I’ll send my demands to Samson. He’ll have one hour to comply, and for every hour that he doesn’t, we’ll kill one of you.”
He pointed to one of his associates, who lifted a cell phone in the air so everybody could see it.
“And Clint here will send the video recording to him so he’ll see that we’re not bluffing.” Milo chuckled. “And just to make it interesting, we won’t tell him with whom we start. It could be you.” He pointed to Grayson. “Or you.” He turned and pointed to Damian.
“Or you.” He pointed to Vanessa, and her heart instantly began to pound into her throat, cutting off her airflow.
Milo let out a chuckle, and the three vampires next to him joined in. He cast a glance at Grayson.
“Now sit down, or I’ll stake you just for fun.”
Vanessa could see the tightness in Grayson’s jaw as he suppressed an angry reaction, before he sat down without letting Milo bait him. She was surprised that Milo hadn’t mentioned what his demands were, but she could guess. After having failed stealing Samson’s millions thirty-seven years ago, he was giving it another try, this time with an army behind him. But would he also demand a life in exchange for his sister’s? Even though Vanessa knew next to nothing about Milo, a look at him told her more than she ever wanted to know. Milo wanted more than just money. He wanted retribution.