“This way,” he said and tugged on her hand.
Pulling her with him, they ran toward the ladder leading to the hayloft. He despised the places, but he reached around her to grasp the rungs of the ladder and jerked on them. The old wood creaked but remained firm, and he believed it would hold their weight.
He nudged Mollie toward the ladder. “Climb.”
Mollie balked. “We’ll be trapped up there, and there’s a side door over here.” She pointed to the left side of the barn. “I saw it behind those cages before they took Aida.”
“They’ll have that door covered already,” he said as the truck engine turned off. The headlights remained shining on the barn.
“But they’ll know we never left the building!” she protested.
“We have no other choice. The longer we remain free, the better our chances of escaping.Go!”
She gazed uncertainly at him before reluctantly grasping the rungs and climbing the ladder. Mike watched her tall, supple body move with grace and speed. Her black, long-sleeved shirt emphasized pert breasts that would fit perfectly in his hand. His gaze fell to her round, firm ass in her form-fitting jeans.
He tore his attention away from her when he found himself growing aroused. Now was not the time or place. Grasping the rungs, he climbed swiftly as Mollie pulled herself into the hayloft. She glanced back at him before vanishing into the shadows above. Seconds later, Mike followed her into the cavernous space as the large barn doors opened.
He slid further into the shadows where he could stay out of view but still see what was happening below. Mollie crept forward and knelt at his side. The headlights spilling inside illuminated the dirt floor and the hundred or so cages tucked inside the barn; most of them were full. Many of the occupants threw their hands over their eyes and cringed away from the light.
Mike spotted Jack in his cell, sitting with his back against the bars and a knee drawn up against his chest. An insolent look of disdain was on his face as Jack tapped his fingers against his shin. Mike didn’t see Doug anywhere, but he could be in one of the cages inside the stalls.
However, Mike couldn’t get a good view of the dozen or so stalls in the barn. Judging by the size of the barn, Mike suspected there had once been more stalls, but they’d been ripped out to make room for more cages.
The first vamp who strolled into the barn held a rifle; he tapped the barrel of it against his palm while he surveyed the cages. Mike focused on the gold patch on the man’s coat, but he was too far away to read what it said. Beside him, Mollie slid further into the shadows and crouched lower.
Mike searched for more cameras and found three of them tucked into the corners of the barn; he didn’t spot any in the loft though—not that it mattered, whoever was watching them already knew where they were. He didn’t know if they had some way to relay that information to these bastards, but he suspected they did.
Two more vampires entered and flanked the first. They wore identical coats, but they didn’t have a rifle.
“Two piggies got out,” the woman said.
The one holding the gun smirked. “Not very bright piggies.”
“Not at all,” the other man agreed.
Mollie tried to keep her breathing even as she watched the lunatics sauntering into the barn, but it was difficult when her heart was running faster than a racecar’s engine, and a clammy sweat coated her body.
We never should have come up here.As she thought it, the barn’s side door opened, and two more men entered.
If they had gone out the side door, they would have been caught or dead already. They were trapped in the loft, but at least they were still free for whatever short amount of time they had. Mollie jumped when Mike reclaimed her hand and jerked his head to the side.
She remained crouched low as they made their way across the loft. The brief realization the wood beneath them might be rotten and could give way at any second flitted across her mind, but she dismissed it. Rotten floorboards were the least of her problems, and there was no way for her to know if they were or not, so there was no point in worrying about it.
Mike led her around the old, molding bales of hay scattered throughout the loft. The vamps most likely knew they were up here, but the smell of the hay should cover their exact location, which might allow him to get the drop on some of them. But before he tried to go after them, he had to get Mollie somewhere as safe as he could considering what they faced.
Mollie shoved her finger under her nose when Mike led her around a pile of hay and the dust tickled her nose.Do not sneeze! Do not sneeze!
Over the years, she’d watched countless horror movies and screamed at the fleeing women to take off their heels, or not go that way, or tostopbeing so loud! She would not be one of the idiot horror victims who sneezed in the hayloft.
Mike gestured for her to kneel behind a stack of three bales before settling in front of her. Even in the dark recesses at the back of the loft, Mollie’s startling eyes were vivid. His words died on his tongue as he found himself momentarily lost to those wide eyes with their thick fringe of black lashes.
He didn’t know what it was about her, but he wouldnotlet anyone or anything hurt her.
Leaning close, he rested his lips against her ear. “Stay here.”
When she started to shake her head and pull away from him, he tenderly clasped her neck and held her close. The soft strands of her hair caressed his face while the scent of her engulfed him. It took all he had not to turn his head and run his lips over her skin before pressing his lips to hers.
“I’m going to try something,” he said, “and I’d prefer you stayed safe.”
