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He followed Emma’s lead and headed toward the guest house, well beyond the pool. Once there, he dropped down behind what was a small stone structure, an unusual choice for the desert. The gate was right where she’d said it would be. She reached for the latch, but he wasn’t willing to let her go first, no matter how much courage she had.
He caught her arm and held her gaze, though he spoke telepathically. I don’t care what your vision showed you, I’m going in first.
But her quirky smile appeared. Oh, don’t worry. You went before me. And believe me, I won’t argue with you on this one.
He couldn’t help but smile. She knew the chances they were taking, but she could still joke with him. Yeah, the woman had grit.
He drew his sword from its sheath, then his Glock. He wanted both weapons in hand.
Were we running or levitating?
Levitating, to keep the noise level down.
Got it. He moved slowly, floating just above the stone steps. When he got to the bottom, the entrance led to the right. He grabbed the knob and turned, then pushed. The damn door wasn’t even locked, another sign they were being drawn into Loghry’s lair. Bastard.
He saw the small caged lights, just as Emma had described them, as well as the stone walls and deep shadows. The smell was musty, but not surprising.
At the outset, three paths presented themselves. Which way?
Take the center path, then the one that bends slightly to the left.
He moved swiftly and she continued to give him directions. Make a quick right, left, then right again. Yes, this is it. Now take the straight path, but it will veer to the left.
&
nbsp; He heard the girls weeping, just as Emma had said they would be. He could feel her flying behind him, sticking close.
When he reached another branch of three, her voice hit his mind. We’re almost there. Turn right, but swing back left, then we should be in the center.
He sped quickly, slowing only to make sure that when he took a turn, he didn’t collide with anything unexpected. But the path was unobstructed and opened almost immediately to the wrought iron cages Emma had described.
Opposite, he saw the five girls clumped together, comforting each other. Were they huddled like this in the vision?
Yes.
And I see that the triplets are floating near them. What are they doing?
I think they’re trying to comfort the girls. If anyone knows how they would be feeling right now, Becca and her sisters would.
No doubt about that.
A hiss behind Vaughn had him turning to face the female vampire, the only other prisoner present. So, the rumors were true that Loghry kept a woman locked up to feed from him.
She looked like an animal. Her bare feet hugged a lower section of the cell-like bars while her hands grabbed at an upper part. Violet-colored flames, though mottled, streaked over the bared portion of her chest and throat and up the back of each hand and along her forearms. Whatever else Loghry did to the woman, his blood kept her addicted to one of the most toxic flame drugs in Five Bridges, amethyst flame.
She shook her body back and forth and let out an ear-shattering shriek. Her long black hair hung down the front of her face showing only a portion of her eyes, nose and mouth. Her dark red dress was filthy.
He’d heard a kind of insanity could afflict vampires who grew addicted in this second-hand way.
Being one of her kind, he was horrified at what she’d become. Yet something about her drew him closer, maybe because she was a vampire, or maybe it was a kind of enthrallment the addiction caused. Flame drugs were highly unpredictable, and often showed different effects from one addict to another. He kept moving toward the woman.
“Vaughn, what is it?” Emma tracked with him.
When he was within three feet of the cell, the vampire stopped all her movements and stared at him. Slowly, she lowered her feet to the ground. She was tall, at least six feet, and had gray eyes.
She pushed one side of her hair away from her face, then the other. “Nathan?” His name came out on a harsh rasp. “Is that you?”
Vaughn recoiled. He sucked in a huge amount of air, then shouted long and loud, “No-o-o-o!”
