Brian paced anxiously back and forth beside the building, tugging at his hair with one hand as he glanced at his watch for the hundredth time since they’d gone inside. Only two minutes had passed, but it felt like an eternity.
“I should have gone with her,” he muttered as he pulled at his hair again. “We could have slaughtered every vamp in there.”
“There could be a hundred in there,” Stefan replied.
“You’re not helping!” Brian pulled back his arm and punched the warehouse beside them, shattering the brick. He barely acknowledged his broken and bloody knuckles. They would heal. He would not if something were to happen to her. He spun back toward where Abby had disappeared and took a step after her.
“Talk to her through the bond. It will help keep you calm and assured of her safety,” Stefan said.
“I can’t,” Brian muttered. “The bond’s not completed.”
“Shit,” Ian muttered.
Stefan stepped forward. “You can still sense her, believe me, I know. I sensed Issy was in danger before our bond was completed. You can do it too. Focus on her. She’s fed from you.” Brian hadn’t bothered to cover the bite mark on his neck. There was no need to; she was his, and everyone would know it. “That will help you to connect with her.”
Brian stopped pacing and turned to face the warehouse again as three more humans hurried up the stairs to the massive vamp standing outside the door. He mentally searched the building and himself for any hint of distress from Abby. The minute she was out of there, with or without her sister, he was taking her someplace private and completing the bond. He’d never be shut off from her again.
After what had transpired between them in the alley, he’d intended to seal the bond as soon as they’d returned to her hotel room. However, by the time he’d been able to secure blood from the hospital and they’d returned to the hotel, her family had only been an hour away, and there was no way his first time with her was going to be a quickie. No, he would savor her body for hours, days if he could. Once at the hotel, he’d settled for another cold shower, but he regretted that choice now. Not knowing what was going on in there was going to drive him mad.
He could feel her in there, but he got no other impressions from her. “Nothing,” he muttered.
“That’s not a bad thing,” Stefan replied. “It simply means she’s safe. You’ll know if she’s not.”
“I hope so,” he replied as he resumed his pacing. He glanced at his watch again, three minutes. He didn’t think he could take another twelve minutes of this. “I might kill your sister for putting Abby through this,” he shot at her brothers.
“You might have to get in line,” Ethan replied, his eyes focused on the building. “Especially if they don’t come back out.”
Beside him, Ian nodded in agreement. “We may have just sacrificed three more to save one,” he murmured.
What was I thinking to agree to this? Keeping her happy was one thing, keeping her alive was far more important. Brian swore as he started toward the warehouse. Stefan grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him back before he could storm across the street and unleash Hell upon everyone in there.
“You told her fifteen minutes,” Stefan reminded him.
“I lied,” he snarled at him.
He jerked his arm free of Stefan’s hold and stepped off the curb toward the warehouse when he caught a new scent on the wind. Turning to face them, he spotted the red eyes of at least a dozen vampires approaching from behind Stefan and the others. They must have caught the scent of them too as their heads turned to look behind them.
Trap! His mind screamed at him. Abby! They’d set her up, and now they had her.
His gaze shot to the warehouse Abby had entered; bloodlust surged through him as the vampires pounced.
***
Abby stepped over the body of a human who was as close to death as one could be while still breathing. As the breath passed in and out from between the human’s blue lips, it sounded worse than a baby’s rattle. Look away. There’s nothing you can do for her right now.
She forced her attention away from the dying woman and back to the writhing, screwing, keening crowd around her. What were they doing here? Maybe Vicky really didn’t want to be found. She obviously had something to do with this life, if Garth so easily recognized her face and name.
But why, and what is she doing involved in this mess?
They’d had a wonderful life growing up; they’d never known anything but love. No one had ever abused or mistreated them, and if someone had tried, they would have faced the full wrath of their family. Vicky had always been outgoing, popular, and happy. She hadn’t liked school as much as Abby, but she’d done well enough to get by. She’d always been invited to more parties than Abby, had more friends, and been the center of attention.
Had those numerous parties been her undoing? Had what Abby assumed was good fun been masking a deeper need? Abby didn’t want to believe it, but she didn’t know what to believe in this chaotic and messed up world surrounding her.
A single tear slid down her cheek, but she didn’t know if she was crying for the sad souls surrounding her, the brother who was battling against his demons beside her, or the sister she missed so desperately. A sister who may, or may not, have abandoned her and their family for this sort of lifestyle without so much as a good-bye.
A clearly intoxicated human woman stumbled into their path, nearly colliding with Aiden who bared his fangs at her. Instead of being put off by the display of promised violence, the woman smiled and batted her lashes invitingly at him. Abby’s stomach twisted at the sight of her black and rotten teeth.
“Get away from me!” Aiden spat at the woman, his eyes blazing a ferocious shade of red and his muscles rippling. The woman grimaced before scurrying into the shadows.
Beads of sweat dotted Aiden’s brow as he focused on the hallway across from them again. Finally breaking free of the crowd, they slipped into another hall. Screams and cries reverberated against the walls surrounding them. Never had she longed for Brian as badly as she did right now. His arms may be the only thing that could help erase the hideousness of all she was seeing and hearing.
Aiden reached into his coat and tugged his crossbow free. “We’re going to have to start opening doors to see if she’s in one of these rooms.”
“Wait,” Abby said and pointed down the hall toward a set of stairs enshrouded in the gloom at the end. “We should probably check up there before we start alerting everyone that we’re not exactly here for the party.”
He nodded his agreement, and they walked down the hall to the stairs. Abby’s heart hammered as every step up they took creaked beneath their weight. When they reached the top, Aiden pressed his ear against the closed door. His brow furrowed as he listened to whatever was happening on the other side.
“I don’t hear anything but stay behind me,” he said to Abby.
She pulled one of her stakes free. Turning the knob, Aiden pushed the door open to reveal a large space the same size as the downstairs. The two vampires closest to the door whimpered before scuttling into the shadows where they huddled against the wall. Their chains clattered against the wooden floor, they shook as they drew their knees against their chests.
The smell of terror oozed from the vampires as their frightened eyes followed them into the room. “What the fuck?” Aiden murmured.
Abby’s gaze fell on a woman about her height, but she weighed a good thirty pounds less than she did. The woman’s collarbone stood out against her dirt-streaked, pale flesh. Abby could count every rib on the woman’s hundred-pound frame due to the fact she was wearing nothing but a bra. Abby didn’t catch the rancid scent of drugs or death on her, only the sour stench of never-ending fear.
Beneath the layers of dirt, Abby realized the woman was covered in bite marks. Aiden hissed beside her, and David cursed as he took a step toward the woman who immediately scooted away from his approach.
“No more,” the woman whimpered in a pitiful voice that broke Abby’s heart.
“Jesus,” Aiden said. “What is going on here?”
“Aiden?” the weak voice came from the shadows at the back of the room.
Abby’s heart leapt into her throat at the sound of that voice. Without thinking, she shoved past her brother and raced by the other vampires in the room who scampered away from her.
“Abby, wait!” Aiden commanded from behind her.
She wasn’t waiting for anyone though as she continued onward. Then, through the darkness, she spotted someone at the end of the building. Instead of scurrying into the shadows, Vicky surged forward, tears streaming down her face as she strained against the chains binding her.
“Abby!” she cried.
Abby fell before her, unaware that tears streaked her own face until they fell upon her sister and left clear trails in the dirt covering her. She’d never felt so relieved or happy in her life. “Vicky!”
She threw her arms around her twin, pulling her close against her and sobbing openly as Vicky’s emaciated body quaked against hers. Beneath the layers of sweat and dirt, the scent of garbage wafted from her sister. Shock rippled through Abby, but what had caused that scent was something they could deal with at another time. They had to get Vicky free of these bindings and out of here first.
Pulling away, she grabbed at the steel cuffs secured around Vicky’s thin wrists. Blood and bruises marred Vicky’s chaffed skin from straining against her bonds.
“They don’t break,” Vicky whispered. “I’ve tried everything, but they won’t give out. I don’t know what they’re made of, but they’re designed to keep a pureblood restrained.”
Vicky lifted her head to look at Abby. Her identical green eyes shimmered with tears when they met Abby’s. “You have to go, Abby. They’ll be coming soon, and you can’t be here when they do.”
“Not without you,” Abby promised as she yanked at the cuffs again.
Aiden fell to his knees beside her. “What have you gotten yourself into now?” he asked Vicky as he pushed Abby’s hands aside to grab at one of the metal cuffs. He’d be able to break it; Abby was certain of that, but as Aiden tugged at the metal, it refused to give. “What the—?”
“They’re designed specifically to keep a pureblood restrained,” Vicky told him.
Aiden released the cuff and leaned back to study the chain going to the large bolts in the wall behind Vicky. The chain ran through the manacles at her wrists, allowing for about three inches of space between Vicky’s wrists. Standing, Aiden grabbed hold of the chain and gave it a violent yank, but it remained secured to the wall.
“You have to go,” Vicky said again. Her gaze darted toward the door. “They’ll be here soon. Abby, go.”
“Who will be here soon?” Abby demanded.
“The vampires who imprisoned us.” Vicky pushed against her. “Go.”
“No.”
She rose to her feet. Behind Aiden, she grabbed hold of the chain with both hands. They both planted their feet against the wall and pulled back as hard as they could on the bolts holding it in place. Her arms strained as sweat beaded across her brow and slid down her cheeks. She might tear her arms from their sockets, but she wasn’t going to give up until Vicky was freed.
David grabbed the rest of the chain behind her, adding his strength as they pulled against the bolt in the wall. A low screeching sound filled the air before the chain gave way with a pop. The abrupt release caused Abby to fall backward. She tripped over David’s feet, taking them both down. She found herself sprawled on top of him on the floor. Aiden fell on top of her, his elbow jabbing her in the gut. The breath exploded out of her, and she instinctively curled in on herself.
Her pain vanished when she realized they’d managed to pull Vicky free. Her sister lifted her hands and laughed as she brought her wrists before her face. Around them, the other chained vampires crept forward, their eyes wide and hopeful. Vicky threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around her three rescuers who were still on the floor where they had landed.
Abby eagerly hugged her back as she tried to free herself from her brother’s weight. “We have to go,” Aiden said as he rose to his feet. “Now.”
“We have to set her free first,” David said as he extricated himself from the bottom of the pile.
Vicky kept her arms around Abby as she lifted her head to look around the room. “We can’t leave them,” Vicky whispered. “They’re purebloods, like us.”
“All of them?” Abby asked as she gazed at the six vampires peering at them from the shadows.
There were only a little over a hundred purebloods in existence. As far as she knew, the highest concentration of them was her family. Then there were Ronan’s men, though she had no idea how many of them there were. The number of purebloods could have grown over the years, but how had they gotten so many purebloods in this room, and why were they all chained to the walls?
“All of them,” Vicky confirmed.
“This way,” David said and jerked his head toward the front of the room.
He hurried back to the first woman Abby had seen cowering in the shadows. The woman crept a little closer to them as they walked down to join David. Abby cringed when she spotted those raw bite marks again. A glance at her sister’s neck confirmed she also had bite marks on her. She didn’t know about elsewhere as Vicky was still wearing a dirty, red sweater that hugged a frame much thinner since Abby had seen her last.
Abby reluctantly released her sister to take hold of the chain behind David. “How did you find me?” Vicky asked as she grabbed the chain beside Abby.
“Brian helped me,” she whispered.
Vicky did a double take; her startled green eyes appeared larger and brighter due to her weight loss and the dark circles under them. “He must really hate our family. We’re always dragging him into shit.”
Aiden snorted. “There’s at least one in our family he likes,” he said with a pointed look at Abby.
Abby pretended not to notice her sister’s questioning gaze as she braced her leg against the wall and gave a forceful heave. They all teetered as the bolt worked its way out before releasing with another pop. This time, Abby managed to keep herself from falling as she danced out of the way of the others.
“Thank you,” the woman murmured. Tears streaked her face when she threw herself into David’s arms. David seemed to have no idea what to do with the crying stranger; he patted her back awkwardly while she clung to him.
“Us too?” the vampire beside her whispered.
His chains rattled when he stretched his thin arms toward them. Abby’s stomach curdled when she realized he couldn’t be much older than thirteen. Sorrow twisted in her chest at the sight of his bruised and battered body.
“What is going on here?” Abby demanded.
“Hell is going on here,” Vicky replied as she hurried toward the boy.
Abby glanced at her watch. Her heart sank when she realized they only had three minutes left and five more vampires to release before Brian and her brothers came in here. They would never be able to free them all in time. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she hastily typed him a text.
We’re fine. Be out soon. Won’t be coming out the front door. Have Vicky. Stay outside.
She had no idea how they would be getting out of here with all these vamps, but they could figure that out once they were all freed. Grabbing hold of the boy’s chain, she planted her foot again and gave a mighty jerk.
The chain had just clattered free when a baritone voice spoke from the doorway, “Look at what we have here.”
Abby froze and a chill ran down her spine when Vicky trembled violently beside her. The woman who had thrown herself into David’s arms pulled away to slink into the shadows. A low whimper came from her as she sat on the floor and drew her legs against her chest once more. Abby released the boy’s chain, letting it fall to the floor as she braced herself to face whomever had joined them.
Turning, her heart sank when she spotted the numerous vampires standing in the doorway with their eyes glistening the color of blood.