Page 120 of Imprisoned with the Vampire King

"And you need thirty minutes to unravel enough magic to run it once?"

"Ten," I corrected.

"Thirty," Dante corrected me.

"We're not getting out of here by lunchtime," Callum said.

I shook my head.

He turned. I was pretty sure he was looking at his mate, even though I couldn't really see her.

"I'll order lunch for everyone, and Grayson and I will trade places with you after we eat," one of the female fae said. I was pretty sure it was Merrily, but with all of the auras, I couldn't really tell.

"We might have to," Callum agreed reluctantly.

"It'll be fine," Kat said, her voice upbeat.

"Let's get this over with," he finally grumbled. "As many of us as we can fit will take the elevator down. If we need help, everyone else will come down in half an hour."

Nods went through the group.

We all headed for the elevator, for what I seriously hoped would be my last time descending into the hell I'd created.

twenty-five

DANTE

Everyone was silent while the packed elevator descended far more shakily than I remembered.

"Should we worry about the state of the magic?" I asked Ophelia silently.

"Not really. Since it's functioning, I don't think Reaper could've done too much damage to it." She didn't sound completely convinced.

River moved his hands through the air, weaving the shield we may need when we faced the remaining prisoners.

As much as I would've liked to take Reaper down myself, that wasn't what I was there for.

The woman tucked tightly to my chest, with her cheek pressed to my shirt, was the only thing that mattered.

Everyone was tense when the elevator dinged.

Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut.

Violent magic thudded against River's shield as soon as the doors slid open. The sound echoed loudly through the elevator. No one jumped, but a few of the fae exchanged wary looks.

The hallway was packed with prisoners. Some were in rough shape. Others were the reason some were in rough shape.

It would've been nice if Ophelia had a shield of her own, but she didn't have the power reserves for it. We'd be sticking with the group until she'd gathered enough power to branch off, or until Reaper had been killed.

Darius sent a burst of fire toward the prisoners in front of us, and a gap quickly appeared between us and the prisoners. Hands were raising in surrender. Growls and whispers were echoing down the hallway, moving from one person to the next.

If they hadn't recognized the fae royals before, they did now.

"This floor of the penitentiary is being shut down," Liv, the spring fae queen, announced loudly as she and Callum stalked out of the elevator at the front of the group.

"You're all being moved upstairs. Get in a single-file line, against the wall." Callum gestured stiffly toward the wall to our right. "Anyone who makes a move against my people chooses a slow, painful death."

The prisoners fell into line.