“Shit,” Elyse whispered.
Saber sighed as if they were a bunch of children who required a time out. She was really beginning to dislike this guy.
He slid scabbards onto each end of his knife, but the smaller point remained exposed as he opened the door and climbed out. After he slipped the blade into a holster on his back, he lifted his coat from the vehicle and put it on before closing the door and walking around the front of the SUV.
Elyse’s heart hammered as she realized her life was in the hands of these strangers, who were all vampires. Yes, they’d been kind to her, forgiven her for things she may not have been able to forgive another for, and they were Saxon’s family, but Logan meant more to them than she did.
Chapter Forty-Four
Saxon was beginningto think they might cross into Canada and never find anything other than these rooms when a dim glow at the end of the tunnel caught his attention.
“Turn off the lights,” he whispered.
Lucien clicked off his flashlight, and the others followed suit. Without the lights on, the glow at the end was brighter as they cautiously approached it. Saxon’s blood pumped faster with every step he took, and adrenaline coursed through his body. He wanted this over with, these things dead, and Elyse in his arms as he shut out the memories of death.
Slowing his step before they made it to the end of the tunnel, he cautiously poked his head out to see what lay ahead, and his jaw almost dropped. Metal wiring encased sickly, yellow lights on the walls of the dome-shaped room.
The room was large enough to accommodate a few hundred Savages, and a couple of dozen, ten-foot-long tables filled the center of it. At least a hundred glasses and dozens of decanters sat on the tables. Most of the glasses had a red liquid inside, and judging by the smell and look, it was blood.
On the far side of the room, a dais with a single table on it sat above the room. The black chair on the dais was more like a king’s throne with its ornate carvings and high, winged back. A golden goblet sat before the chair.
“It looks like we interrupted lunch,” Ronan said.
“So where are the feasters?” Declan inquired.
Four other tunnels branched off from the dome, but there was no movement in the shadows. He understood why Elyse could only find that entrance; it was the closest one to her father. There was no telling where these other tunnels went or how far they stretched.
Glancing behind him, he saw nothing but those who’d entered with them. While some of the Savages might be able to go out in the day and reenter the tunnel to come up behind them, most couldn’t tolerate the sun’s rays to do so. The only other corridor they’d encountered was now blocked off, but still, he worried the Savages might pin them in here.
“Could there be secret pathways that would allow them to enter behind us?” he asked.
“Who knows,” Killean said.
“Keep a look out behind us!” Ronan commanded, and feet shuffled as the fighters readjusted themselves.
“It’s like an ant colony,” Lucien said as he surveyed the tunnels and dome with disgust.
“Killer ants,” Asher said.
“No,” Saxon said as he realized exactly what it was. “It’s a society. It’stheirsociety.”
Silence followed his statement as his words sank in. The Savages who’d always mostly stuck to themselves or traveled in small groups were now forming societies and having social gatherings. For centuries they mainly functioned as independent entities, but now they were grouping together and doing lunch.
“What the fuck is going on?” Lucien inquired.
But no one had an answer for him.
“I say we blow this place up and get out of here,” Lucien said.
They couldn’t divide their group to go down those tunnels; they would leave themselves open to slaughter if they did. If what they’d been through already was any indication, they probably wouldn’t kill many, ifany, Savages if they threw bombs into the tunnels and left.
But if they continued down these tunnels, they would almost certainly be walking to their deaths. There was no way they could avoid becoming pinned into the corridors the Savages knew better than them. And with the way these bastards worked, the Savages wouldn’t kill them; they would turn them into monsters too.
Would he go after Elyse if they turned him? It was a good possibility as he’d still desire his mate if he were a monster. He wouldnotallow that to happen. He would never let these things take him alive.
Ronan turned to Elijah and waved him over. “Is there anyone else here who can use these explosives?”
“No,” Elijah said. “But I have more grenades, and anyone can use those if they’re careful with them.”
