Page 61 of Grayson’s Challenge

“Everybody clean?” Zoltan asked after a while.

Everybody nodded.

“There are weapons in a cupboard at the end of the corridor,” Zach said. “But you’ll have to get past the guards to get to it.”

“Not a problem.” Zoltan looked at Enya and Virginia. “We’ll have to take the guards out simultaneously. Let’s go.”

As the three disappeared in front of his eyes, Zach envied the Stealth Guardians for their powers. At the same time, he listened for sounds from outside the cell. Nobody spoke.

All of a sudden, there was a commotion from outside. A few thuds could be heard, then a woman’s cry of pain. Had Virginia or Enya been injured? There was grunting now, then, a gunshot. Zach’s gaze met those of his companions. Had one of the guards shot a Stealth Guardian? Because for certain, the three Stealth Guardians wouldn’t have used a gun for fear of alerting Abel’s men to come to their colleagues’ aid. Zach thought he heard the faint sound of footsteps, but his heart was beating so loud, he couldn’t be sure of it.

The scraping of metal against metal cut through the silence. Somebody was unlocking the cell door. Had the Stealth Guardians prevailed? Or were their jailors coming to finish them off?

Zach pressed himself against the wall next to the door, ready to attack whoever entered with his bare hands—hands that had turned to claws. He glanced at Cooper, David, and John. Their eyes were glaring red now, their fangs extended, and their fingers had turned into sharp barbs capable of ripping an opponent’s throat out.

The rusty hinges of the door creaked as it was jerked open, and light streamed into the cell.

~ ~ ~

“That was a gunshot.” Monique’s heart pounded.

She, Grayson, and Hamish had just entered the palace through a side entrance meant for deliveries. Only one vampire had guarded this entrance, and Monique had driven a stake through his heart, killing him silently.

“From downstairs?” Grayson asked, his voice but a whisper.

She nodded and motioned him and Hamish to follow her to the stairs. But before they reached them, Grayson jerked her back.

What? she mouthed.

Grayson pointed to something on the high ceiling, then to the floor, where a thin layer of dust covered the otherwise pristine wooden floor. She focused her eyes on the ceiling, recognizing something that looked like a fan or a vent. A cable was protruding from it, and she followed it with her eyes, until it reached the floor, where it disappeared under a rug.

She understood immediately. If somebody stepped on the rug, the fan would be triggered, and rain fine ash or dust onto the person below.

Why? she mouthed to Grayson and Hamish.

Hamish motioned her and Grayson to step closer to him, then whispered, “If the dust falls on you, your silhouette becomes visible.”

“Fuck!” Monique ground out below her breath. “That’s how they must have caught the others.”

Grayson nodded. “I’ll warn Logan to be on the lookout for more of these traps.” He pulled out his cell phone and sent a text message. A moment later, Monique saw a reply coming from Logan, though there was no sound. All their phones were set to silent.

“Okay,” Grayson said. “Where to now? I think the gunshot came from below.”

“To the cells.” Monique sidestepped the rug and squeezed past it to reach the stairs leading to the lower levels of the palace.

She felt Grayson behind her, his hand on her lower back, and Hamish followed, when she suddenly heard noise coming from downstairs. Several people were yelling something unintelligible, and there were thuds and the sound of heavy footfalls.

Monique tightened her grip around her stake. At the landing, she turned to the right, the direction the noise was coming from. She bumped into a vampire, and stumbled. Grayson’s quick reaction saved her from falling on her ass, and she gasped.

The vampire stared in her general direction, his gaze searching. “Intruders! Invisible intruders!” he screamed from the top of his lungs. A second later, Hamish plunged his stake into the guy’s chest, turning him into dust. But the scream had alerted others, and with dread, Monique saw several of them coming from the end of the corridor and rushing toward them.

“We’ve got this,” Grayson murmured next to her. “I’ll take the two on the left.”

Hamish pressed himself against the wall so the assailants would run past him if he was lucky. “I’ll get them from behind.”

“I’ll take the right,” Monique said and braced herself.

The assailants were almost upon them, when the fire alarm suddenly blared. A second later, the sprinkler system came on, and water rained on them. As the water hit them, their silhouettes became visible.