“Why?”
“Maybe they’re going to let the vamps out next in the hopes the vampires will catch and kill them.”
“But there’s no guarantee that will happen. If they’re trying to turn the vamps into Savages, wouldn’t they do it in a more controlled environment where they could be certain the vamps killed the humans?” Mollie asked.
“You would think so,” Doug muttered. “But none of this has made any sense to me.”
The next woman who raced out the doorway didn’t run toward the hill but went straight across the field toward them. Mike’s hand tightened on her shoulder until the woman vanished into the woods a hundred feet to their left. She crashed through the trees like a deer fleeing a coyote.
“Let’s go,” Mike said.
“No, wait.” Mollie rested her hand on his arm. “There’s a chance they might have brought Aida back to the barn after we left, or even Jack.”
Mike opened his mouth to argue with her before closing it. She wouldn’t leave here if there was the slightest chance her sister might come out those doors. And it would make their lives so much easier if Aidadidemerge from the barn. However, he doubted Jack was in there.
Settling back in to wait, Mike watched over thirty humans fleeing the barn. Some came close to them, while others ran for the hill, and others fled in the direction of the mansion. Then the humans stopped coming.
Glancing at her watch, Mollie counted the seconds and then the minutes until ten of them passed. She was about to give up when she heard the distant clank of metal and realized another cage had opened.
Mike’s fangs pricked as he waited to see what would emerge from the barn next. After a couple of gunshots, a vampire appeared. Blood trickled from a wound in the vamp’s shoulder as he staggered away from the barn.
A shadow hovered at the edge of the doorway before the muzzle of a gun poked out. A flash exploded, and the ground behind the vamp kicked up. The vampire raced faster across the field, lunged over the fence, and plunged down the hill.
“We have to go,” Mike said.
“But—”
“He was a vampire, Mollie,” he interjected as another vampire sprinted out of the barn. “They’re turning the vamps loose now. We can’t be here.”
“What if Jack’s in there?” she asked.
“He’s not,” Doug said. “And if he is, then they’re setting them all free, so we’ll find him.”
“We have togo,” Mike insisted.
“Yes,” Doug agreed. Rising, he started through the woods once more.
Mollie followed him with Mike close on her heels. Her mind spun as she tried to figure out what they’d seen and what the Savages were doing with their captives. “They gave the humans a ten-minute head start,” she murmured.
“If those vampires are starving, that was nowhere near enough time for those people to get away,” Doug said.
“And some of them were definitely starved,” Mike stated. “A few of the vamps we left behind hadn’t been caged long, but we didn’t have time to free them. We left the others because they were bordering on starvation and couldn’t be trusted around humans. Because of that, we freed more humans from their cages than vamps.”
“Which means, if they’re lettingeveryoneout, then there’s soon to be a much larger vampire population roaming this island,” Doug said.
“Oh shit,” Mollie breathed. She glanced nervously over her shoulder when more gunshots sounded. “How many vampires were left in the barn after we escaped?”
“I don’t know. At least twenty-five,” Mike said.
Mollie swallowed the lump working its way up her throat as she realized things on this island were going to get a lot more lethal.
“And don’t forget they were recapturing some of the escapees,” Doug said. “Plus, I’d bet they’ve brought in more prisoners since we escaped.”
“Which means we have no idea how many vampires and humans could soon be roaming this island,” Mike growled.
Adrenaline flooded Mike’s body as his blood rushed through his ears and pounded in his temples. Dealing with the knowledge of Savages, other freed vamps, and humans running around this island was bad enough, but now they had to deal with an unknown number ofmorethreats.
His gaze fell on Mollie’s back as she ran behind Doug through the woods. His fangs had extended when they left the shelter of the spruces—he’d given up on getting them to retract—but now they throbbed with his need to tear the throat out of anything that came near her.
