AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When Maddy lets go, she loses her balance and falls back into the large bush. “Oof.”
Caleb scrambles to his feet and helps her back to his side. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He winks at her. “Vampire strength.”
“Apparently.”
He tosses the shopping bag into the basement. Then he drops to his belly again and shimmies inside, ignoring the shards scraping his abdomen. He drops to the ground on the other side, curling around to manage the fall a little better. Maddy works her way in after him.
A stinging sensation has Caleb lifting his ripped shirt, and he discovers three lines of red scratches seeping blood. Carefully, he touches the wounds, and he hisses as a burst of pain surprises him. His body had become so fragile now.
Maddy drops to the ground beside him and is quickly on her feet. When she sees his blood, her eyes widen and her pupils dilate. She nods to the injuries without moving closer. “You okay?”
Caleb drops his shirt, smoothing the fabric over the scratches. “I’m fine.”
“K.” She doesn’t say anything else; she doesn’t have to.
Caleb knows from experience that she can smell his blood. She’s still so new as a vampire, it’s probably all that she can think of right now. And they’re in the middle of a council building, and he’s got bleeding wounds. It’s as bad as swimming in a pool with sharks and leaking blood.
“Let’s get the book,” he says. “Maybe we can find a rag or something so I can get cleaned up.”
She nods, but her eyes stray to his abdomen. Her long, pointed teeth glint in the dim light of the basement.
Together, they run to the rickety unused stairs at the far back corner of the unfinished lower level. They lead up to the first floor where the coal chute and cellar used to be back at the turn of the last century.
The stairs creak and complain as they creep upward. Caleb steps up just far enough to see down the short hallway out into the first level. There’s a tumult in the council hall beyond, but no one’s back here. He steps into the corridor and darts to the door on the left. The handle gives easily, and he opens the door.
Inside, Cora shrieks, but she clamps down on it as quickly as possible. Caleb steps inside, whirls toward Maddy, and waves her in.
In a blink, Maddy’s in the corridor and into the room, but her eyes widen with surprise. “I won’t get used to that.”
“What?” Cora asks. “Vampire speed?”
Maddy nods, but her gaze moves to Caleb’s abdomen again. “Yeah. That.”
Cora takes a deep breath, and her eyebrows pinch. “Are you hurt?”
Caleb lifts his shirt. “Yeah. It’s nothing.”
Cora grimaces. “Except it’s blood, and we’re in a house of vampires.” She waves to Maddy. “With a newbie in tow.”
“It’ll be fine,” Caleb growls.
“You should have been more careful,” Cora snaps.
“Well, it’s not like we can do much about it now.”
Maddy glares at Cora. “I just ate. I’m fine. Two quarts.”
“Well, at least there’s that.” Cora puts her hands on her hips. “Now, how are we going to get out of here?”
“We’re going to go out the way we came in.”
Caleb hands her the shopping bag, so Cora tucks the book inside the bag and hands it back to him. The trio stand on the threshold, dart back to the rickety staircase, and make their way back down.
Caleb’s heart thuds in his chest, and he can’t believe they haven’t been caught yet. Is it going to be this easy? He hooks the shopping bag with the book over his arm. They make it to the basement without being spotted, but the minute he places his foot on the first stair, a loud splintering sound shatters the quiet.
