When I turn again, I find a familiar metal door and bang on it.
Pain erupts in my shoulder as my guard grabs my arm and yanks me away. “I said stop!” he yells and wrenches my arms behind my back.
“Gage!” I scream.
The guard zipties my hands, the plastic biting into my skin.
“Let’s go.” He shoves me back into the hallway.
“Georgia?”
I look over my shoulder.
Shirtless, his hair going in a dozen directions, Gage stands in his doorway. His gaze turns stony. “Release her.”
“Sir, my orders?—”
Gage shoves the man aside, and I catch the scent of alcohol on him. “Get the fuck out of here, Lieutenant, or I’ll have you on quarantine dutyoutside. Do I make myself clear?”
The soldier’s eyes widen, and he opens his mouth, then snaps it closed. Without another word, he turns and hurries away down the hall.
“Come on.” Gage holds his door open for me.
“Can you—” I show him my hands.
“Yeah, inside.” He sighs, the liquor even more loud and clear on his breath.
“We’re in danger. Gregor knows about this base.” I explain what Valen told me as Gage pulls out a pocketknife and frees my wrists. “He’ll send Valen and all his troops. They’ll kill us all. We have to do something.”
“So now Valen’s a threat?” He crosses his arms over his bare chest, his expression doubtful.
“No!” I rub my wrists. “He’s not, but you know how the bloodline works. Gregor can make him do things, anything really. And that includes coming here and killing us all.”
“If Gregor were to do that, his line would end. The other vampire houses would tear him apart.”
“He knows, and he doesn’t care. His life is over. He wants to burn it all down on the way out.”
“Even if Gregor sends Valen here, we’re well defended.” His nonchalance is nauseating.
“He already got in once.”
“We closed that ventilation shaft and placed silver bars on all the others. He can’t get in. His soldiers can’t get in, either. They can launch an assault, but we’ve wrested control of the military stockpiles back, and General Lopez can order strikes on the surface that will annihilate intruders while we’re safe down here. Not even Valen will be able to survive it.”
“That’s why we have to stop it! Valen doesn’t want to do any of this. Gregor is forcing him.”
His eyes harden. “Valen is a monster among monsters, Georgia.”
“No, he’s not. He has a heart. He cares about?—”
“You, Georgia.” He shakes his head. “He only cares about you. How do you not see that as a problem?”
“What?”
He scoffs. “He would keep following Gregor’s command until you were the only human left on earth. He would kill us all—every man, woman, and child—as long as you were still alive. Why can’t you see that for what it is?”
“I’ve seen him save humans. He’s working to thwart Gregor’s plans as best he can within the confines of his bloodline. Why can’tyouseethat?”
He lets out a groan and runs a hand along his five o’clock shadow. “Go back to bed. You have nothing to worry about. The base is safe.”
