Kyle slammed his hand against the glass. Hewould tear that bastard’s throat out for touching her.
Melanie struggled against the guard’s hold.His fingers bit into her flesh until it felt like they were digginginto her bone, but she couldn’t let him succeed in pushing her ontothe elevator.
She jerked on her arm before turning andswinging out with her free hand. She’d never be able to fight herway through the guards above, but she could fight this asshole longenough for Lucy to set Kyle free.
She landed a solid blow to the guard’s jawthat staggered him back a step. Her gaze fell on the rifle slungover his back, and before she could think about it, she lurchedforward and seized the barrel.
She tried to rip it away from him, but itremained securely strapped to his back, and he was recovering.
***
Lucy studied the controls as she tried tofigure out which one worked for Kyle’s cage. She thought she hadthe right one when she hit the button. It wasn’t until a two-footgap appeared between the ceiling and the retracting glass that sherealized she hit the wrong one.
The vampire inside the cage practicallydrooled as he stared at the glass. Normally, the controller wouldflood the chambers with gas before the glass pulled away from theceiling, but she couldn’t gas Kyle before setting him free. Thatwouldn’t do them any good.
“Shit,” she muttered as she hit the buttonagain.
Thankfully, the glass started going up again.Incensed, the vampire shrieked and leapt in the air. It clawed atthe glass, but unlike what Kyle did to his cage last week, theglass didn’t fracture beneath the vampire’s blows.
She hit another button and held her breathwhile she waited for the glass around Kyle’s cage to retract.Instead, the cell next to him pulled away from the ceiling. Thevampire within ran in circles like a hamster on a wheel.
“Damn it,” she hissed, but she was gettingcloser.
Movement drew her attention, and she lookedup as Melanie and the guard started fighting. Melanie tugged at therifle until the guard spun and slapped her across the face; she hitthe ground.
Lucy gasped as a bellow reverberated throughthe cavernous space below. Kyle threw himself at the glass as theguard grasped Melanie’s ankle and dragged her toward theelevators.
Lucy’s hand hovered over the button that mustbelong to Kyle’s cage. If she hit it, she would set him free, butwould he kill the guard if she did?
However, if she didn’t hit it, they would allremain here, and most likely, she and Melanie would find themselvesinside one of these glass cages too. The possibility of thatsmashed her hand down on the button.
She wouldn’t spend the rest of her life inthis place, trapped like some fading firefly in a kid’s mason jar.The guard made his choice when he signed up for this, and she’dmade hers.
Lifting her head, she bit her lip and waited…and waited… untilfinallythe glass in Kyle’s cage pulledaway from the ceiling. His head tipped back, and for a second,their eyes met. Her blood ran cold as the red of his eyesdeepened.
Lucy gulped; she hoped she’d done the rightthing.
CHAPTER 31
The guard rippedMelanie forward and shoved her toward the elevator so hard shestumbled and nearly went down. She managed to catch herself beforeshe hit the ground by twisting and throwing herself against thewall.
The guard cursed as he stalked toward her.When Melanie kicked him in the shin, the blow knocked his leg back.His leg bent at an odd angle, and he wheezed in a breath beforerecovering his balance.
When he came at her again, he limpedslightly, but it didn’t deter him. Melanie ducked as he grabbed ather; his hands scrambled over her back before snagging herponytail.
His hand entwined in her hair, and he jerkedit back. Melanie bit her tongue against crying out and threw herelbow back. It connected with his ribs, and he grunted as he tore ahandful of hair from her scalp.
Their fight's angle made it impossible forher to see Kyle’s cage, but she saw the other guard stalking towardthem. And then, he stopped and turned toward where she last sawKyle. He yanked the gun from his back and aimed.
“No!” she cried out as the first shotrebounded throughout the cavernous room.
She didn’t know how well sound traveledbeyond this room, but if they didn’t get this under control soon,they would be discovered.
Her guard’s grasp on her loosened as thegunshot drew his attention. Melanie twisted in his arms andhammered the palm of her hand into his sternum. He wheezed as hetried to draw oxygen into his lungs but failed. She’d succeeded inknocking the wind out of him and pissed him off more.
He lashed out with the back of his hand andcaught her across her cheek with a crack nearly as loud as thestill reverberating gunshots. The blow knocked her to herknees.
She was still trying to recover when theshots abruptly ended. As the guard twisted away, she captured hisankle and attempted to rip him off his feet.
