Avenge (14 page)

Alastair turned and faced me, but
didn’t take a step. Max grabbed my waist, silently letting me know
he wouldn’t let that happen.

“
You’re going to let her
go, or I’m going to kill you slowly and painfully,” Max threatened.
“I’m going to kill you either way, but you choose how much you want
to suffer.”

Alastair laughed heartily, bending at
the waist. “It amuses me so how you think you have any way out of
this.” He threw up his hands and spun in a circle. “Look around!
How exactly do you think you’re going to escape? There’s nothing
you can do, and nowhere you can go that you won’t have dozens of
vampires at the ready. And—struggle as you may, dear—you’re still
incapacitated. It’s over. We’ve won.”

“
Never!” Max yelled. “The
rest of the team is on their way, and it won’t matter how many you
have. We will take you all down.”

Alastair tapped his cane on the ground
three times in rapid succession, and a dozen more vampires showed
up at the door. He turned to Max once more, a deadly look in his
eyes. “See, friend. We’ve been planning for this for months. We
knew you’d come for her, so we dangled her like bait. She was never
our prize. You were. As a matter of fact, we’d already negotiated a
price for her with the head of the werewolves. Apparently, they
didn’t take kindly to your attacks in the recent months and have
been looking to extract a little revenge for a few of their
packmates.”

Max’s nostrils flared and he squeezed
my leg. “You didn’t count on one thing.”

“
Oh yeah, what’s that?” The
smug fool stepped even closer to Max, twirling his cane like a
baton.

“
This.” Max thrust the
knife into Alastair’s side, immediately turning his body and
plunging it into the second closest vampire before either of them
even saw him coming.

Chapter
Sixteen

“
Lucy, now. Break free
now!” Max screamed, pulling a grenade out of his pocket.

I knew from experience it was full of
shredded silver pieces and would not kill the vampires, but the
impact would reach the entire room and allow us a few moments to
run. I yanked on my arm, screaming out in pain. My shoulder
dislocated, but my wrist wouldn’t break on its own. “I can’t do it,
Max. I can’t break it myself. I need your help.”

Max pulled the pin and tossed it high
into the air. It detonated immediately, sending a rainstorm silver
dust and debris over every surface of the room, covering everything
like a sparkling dust layered thick. I ducked as much as I could to
avoid getting any in my eyes or up my nose. I could hear hissing
and screaming all around me as the vampires wiped it away. Little
did they know that it would only make it worse, smearing and
burning more of their skin that way.

Max was next to me in a heartbeat. He
didn’t even pause before reaching up to my restrained arm with both
of his. He cupped my hand, squeezing it like a vice as he pulled
down simultaneously. My screams were muffled as his pressed a hot
kiss into me. The sultry feel of his lips against me mixed with the
terrible pain pulled every emotion inside me in a different
direction, and my knees went weak. It was exactly the distraction I
needed, and I returned the kiss in earnest, but only for a moment.
We didn’t have long before either the effects of the silver wore
off or more vampires turned up to capture us.

Max scooped me up and we took off. I
was too weak to walk from the weeks of torture. As much as I wanted
to close my eyes and get lost in his embrace, I needed to stay
vigilant for more threats.

“
Do you know of any other
exits?” he asked as he ran down an empty corridor.

“
No, I never left that
room. And I was passed out when they brought me in. Can’t we go out
the way you came in?”

“
No. It
was too heavily guarded. I only got in because they were distracted
watching
True Blood
. Now, there’s no chance of sneaking out that way.” He turned
another corner and ran up a flight of stairs. Footsteps came toward
us, and we ducked into a storage closet until they went
by.

“
Where exactly are we
anyway? The last thing I remember is being near the water behind
Café du Monde.” We searched the small room for an exit, or a
window—some means of escape.

“
We’re in an abandoned
warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It was flooded during
Katrina and no one rebuilt. James and I were patrolling, checking
in with some psychic sources, when I spotted two vampires coming
out of a bar. They each headed opposite directions, so James
followed one and I followed the other. Mine led me directly here,
but as soon as I entered the building and attempted to ping my
location to the group, my bracelet went on the fritz.”

“
All of our powers are
useless here. It’s like they put up a giant firewall and our
systems are blocked out entirely. We need to get out of this
building. I think once we clear the radius we should be able to
call for backup.”

We ducked back out of the closet and
hooked a left. Every window and door we found was completely sealed
shut with welded-on sheet metal. I started to worry that the only
means of escape was that front door, and if that were true we would
never get away.

“
We’re going to have to try
the front door. I don’t think there’s another way,” Max admitted.
He squeezed me tight, and set me on my feet. “How are you? Do you
think you’d be able to run if you had to? I might be able to fend
them off until you can escape and call for backup.”

“
I can barely walk, but if
it means saving our lives I’ll run like hell.” I nodded my head
confidently and stood up straight, trying to muster any energy I
had left.

“
That’s my girl,” Max
exclaimed, scooping me up again. “But I don’t need to you use any
extra energy until it’s absolutely necessary.”

As we turned the final corner, I could
see light pouring out of the doorway. I was so happy that freedom
was a mere ten feet away that I didn’t notice the footsteps behind
me. My hair caught in something and my head yanked back. I screamed
out in pain, knowing at least one large clump came out by the root.
Max stopped immediately, looking around for any threat.

“
Uh, uh, uh. Going
somewhere? And without saying goodbye to your host? Tsk, tsk. So
rude!” Alastair grasped my hair roughly, leaving Max no choice but
to put me down so I wouldn’t be yanked to the floor. “Seize
them!”

Before I could scream for
Max, a group tackled him to the ground. I wanted run to his aid,
but Alastair still had a hold of me. He grabbed my still healing
broken wrist and twisted it behind my back, causing white hot pain
to course through my body like fire, and I passed out.

Chapter
Seventeen

I drifted back to consciousness but
kept my eyes closed. I could feel that I was now restrained around
my waist instead of my arms, which was a great relief to my broken
wrists and dehydrated body that didn’t want to support its own
weight. I could also feel that Max was still here with me, and I
silently sighed in relief. Keeping vigilant for the sound of
footsteps or voices, I only heard hard breathing coming from behind
me.

“
That was a very nasty
trick,” Alastair hissed, though I had no idea who or what he was
talking about.

“
You let me out of these,
and I’ll really show you how nasty I can be,” Max
growled.

My eyes flew open and I swiveled my
head to see what was going on behind me. Out of the corner of my
eye, I could see Alastair hovering over Max, who was tied up to
what looked like an operating table. He was restrained at his head,
hands, waist, and feet—so I knew he wouldn’t be escaping this time.
I stifled my whimper at the hopelessness of our
situation.

“
Here’s what we’re going to
do, Mr. Kensington. First, we’re going to remove that bracelet and
deposit it far outside the city, so your team won’t come anywhere
near this place. Then, we’re going to make you watch as the
werewolves come in and tear your little girlfriend here limb from
limb. I want you to have that image seeped into your brain, so when
we bleed you dry—slowly and painfully—you will remember who your
betters are and who you need to respect around here.”

Max roared at Alastair’s threat,
thrashing around until the table flipped over. Two of his
restraints broke free, and it took six vampires to right him again.
But he was determined, and I knew he wouldn’t give up that easily.
I took the opportunity to try to wiggle out of mine, but it was
suctioned on tighter than pleather skinny jeans after a night of
clubbing. No amount of wiggling was getting them off.

Max broke one more of the restraints
by holding down a vampire and using the vampire’s razor sharp teeth
against him before smashing his head into the table. He was about
to break the last restraint—one tied to his left ankle—when
Alastair came up to me. He swiped his hand over the lock mechanism,
allowing my waist restraint to pop open before dragged me next to
him. His sharp, pointed fingers clawed at my throat, leaving five
little gashes that trickled with blood.

“
Enough!” Alastair cried,
stilling Max and the vampire he was currently fighting. “I’m going
to make you an offer, Mr. Kensington. One I will only make once, so
pay attention. This girl here is no longer of much use to us. We’ve
drained her for our purposes already. But I can see that she means
a great deal to you. So, I’ll tell you what. You stop fighting and
come willingly, and I’ll set her free. I’ll tell the werewolves she
escaped. My sources can snatch another Patronus to fill their needs
if necessary. But you, oh we’ll be keeping you around. All that
old, strong, rich Patronus blood is exactly what we need. Hers is
much too weak anyway. So agree to come quietly, and the girl goes
free.”

Max’s eyes met mine, and I knew he was
going to take the deal. He would serve himself to the vampires if
it meant keeping me away from them. He would sacrifice himself in a
heartbeat if it meant keeping me safe.

“
No! Don’t do it, Max.
They’re bluffing.” I held perfectly still and willed him to see the
truth of my words. “They’ll kill me anyway. You can’t do this.” My
gaze found his. His eyes told me that his mind was made up. I could
see the love and determination in them. Tears streamed down my
face.

“
You release her first, and
then I’ll agree. But I have to see that she’s safely away from here
before anything else.”

“
No, please, don’t,” I
whimpered. “It’s a trap. Please see that. I need you.”

“
I will need a show of good
faith first.” Alastair released the hold on my neck and replaced it
with strong arms around my waist. “Let us remove your bracelet, and
then we will let the girl go.”

“
And how do you do that?”
Max flexed and unflexed his fingers, a silent threat that he was
not about to let his guard down yet.

“
You’ll see.” An evil grin
spread across Alastair’s face, but Max ignored it.

Max hesitated. I could see him
calculating the odds in his head. He needed the benefits to
outweigh the risks. I held my breath waiting for his response.
“Agreed. But I swear, if you hurt her in any way, I will have no
mercy.”