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I study his arm, frowning at the dark marks on the inside of his elbow. This must be how they steal his blood. I crouch and examine the cuff mechanism.
“If I concentrate hard enough, I think I can remove the screws that hold the cuffs together,” I tell him.
He shakes his head and turns me to face him. “No. You need to concentrate on getting the hell out of here. I’m going to wake you, and you’re going to fight with everything you’ve got.”
“Will, I can do this.” I wince as Lilliana cuts into my wrist with the scalpel. Will’s jaw clenches. He grasps my shoulders tightly, like he’s fighting to stay on his feet. My blood must smell intoxicating to him.
“Drag her inside,” Lilliana says.
Christopher balks. “I’m not going in there.”
“He’s chained to the wall. You’ll be fine.”
“If it’s so safe, then you do it.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine.”
Lilliana snatches up the keychain, then stops halfway to the cage, staring at Will’s prone body. I use her hesitation to my advantage, turning my focus on the screw securing Will’s left ankle cuff. It takes a couple of tries, but eventually, it starts to turn.
Will pulls on my arm. “Mariah, you have to wake up.”
I shake him off.
“Not yet.”
The screw is at least two inches in length, and badly tarnished. It twists and turns and twists some more, until it pops out onto the floor.
We stare at the fallen screw and wait for Lilliana and Christopher to notice, but they’re too busy arguing over who’s the bigger pussy.
“When’d you learn to do that?” Will asks.
“Just now.” I focus on removing the screw from his right ankle, then his wrists. My head pounds as I struggle to work the final screw from his throat cuff.
Will wraps his arms around me from behind. I lean against him, throwing all of my focus into loosening the screw.
It falls to the floor.
“You’re incredible,” he says into my hair. “You know that?”
I smile. “Don’t thank me just yet. We still have to get you out of this cage. Wait for one of them to drag me inside, then pounce.”
“No. I’ll rip you to pieces right alongside them. You have to get out first.”
“If they don’t open your cage then it was all for nothing.” I kiss the inside of his palm. “I trust you, Will. Now I need you to trust yourself with me.”
He kisses me, his hands grasping at my body like he’s afraid to let go. But he needs to. Releasing the demon inside him is the only way he can free us both.
“Okay,” he rasps. “But the second the bloodlust takes hold, I become a hunter. I won’t be able to stop until my prey is dead.”
“So, don’t stop,” I tell him. “Hunt them down.”
Will’s face hardens with renewed resolve. He searches my gaze for understanding and finds it. He’s going to kill them all, and I’m going to let him do it.
There’s a loud clang and the grinding of metal against metal. Lilliana has turned the key in the lock.
“The second you wake up,” Will says, “crawl to the corner behind me. Hopefully I’ll be too busy chasing these two down to notice you.” He smooths my hair and kisses my forehead. “And no matter what you hear, Mariah, don’t follow me.”
Chapter Sixteen
