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“The guy who blew up the temple, yeah,” he said bitterly.
My mind raced. The commandant was kidnapping human slaves? But why? Was he responsible for Imogen’s disappearance? “Any idea where he’s planning to take us?”
“He didn’t say,” Simon muttered. “Probably wherever Imogen disappeared off to.” His shoulders slumped. “Hannah was right to be concerned. I shouldn’t have dismissed her like that.”
“There’s no time to think about that now.” Urgency pumped in my veins, and I scooted across the floor until I was seated next to him. “Turn your back toward my hip, and reach into my pocket,” I ordered.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
The human obeyed, awkwardly wiggling and leaning until he was able to wedge his fingers into the pocket of my skirt. “What in the hells is this?” he asked as he pulled the vampire stake I had hidden there out of my pocket.
“Our ticket to freedom.” The last two inches of the stake had sharpened edges, although a knife would have been better suited to this task. I shimmied my body until my bound wrists pressed against his. “Now use this thing to cut the rope, and I’ll free the rest of you.”
“What’s the point?” the human girl who had been sobbing her heart out whined. “It’s not like we can get out of this room.”
“Shut up,” Simon snapped. “Just because you’re willing to lie down and die doesn’t mean the rest of us have to.”
That’s the spirit.
I felt Simon fumble with the stake, then swore when burning pain slashed across the heel of my hand. “Be careful!” I snarled as the scent of my blood permeated the air. “Are you trying to get us killed? The last thing we need is for my blood to draw them back here!”
“Sorry, sorry!”
It took nearly thirty agonizing minutes, but eventually, the human managed to cut through the ropes binding my hands. Sweet relief flooded me, and I grabbed the stake from him, used it to free my bound ankles, then went around the room and cut the bindings off everyone else.
“Is there anyone here who knows how to use a weapon?” I demanded in a hushed whisper.
Simon raised his hand along with a mousy brown girl, and I handed them both two stakes—leaving me with two for myself. “I knew there was something weird about you,” he said as he stared at the silver weapon in his hand.
“You could try showing a little gratitude,” I suggested.
His face flushed. “What do we do with these? Stab them in the heart?”
“That’s the plan.” I lied back down and curled myself into a ball. “But for now, we pretend that we’re still tied up. All of you, sit back down and be quiet. Simon and—what’s your name?” I asked the girl.
“Lucy,” she said with a sniff.
“Lucy. You two snivel a little when they walk in the room, but not too loud. I’ll be the one who fusses and makes a scene, so hopefully he goes for me first. When they get close enough toexpose their breastbone, you strike. Not a second before. If you go for it too soon—”
I clamped my lips shut at the sound of footsteps, and we all went silent. My heart raced, and I took steady breaths, trying to calm the frenetic energy pulsing through me. I wish I knew where Jinx had gotten off to. It was a total crapshoot as to whether she would come—I wished I could summon her, but the shadow feline very much marched to the beat of her own drum. I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt by her absence, but I swallowed back the emotion and tried to focus on the situation at hand.
The door flew open, and my entire body tensed as the commandant’s silhouette filled the entryway. His white teeth flashed in a sinister grin as his glowing red eyes found mine, and dread coiled in my stomach at the recognition on his face.
“Well, look at what we have here,” he purred, stepping inside. “Lord Starclaw’s little pet, caught in my rat trap.” His nostrils flared as he scented my blood, and his expression glazed over with bloodlust. “You smell delicious. I’m not sure if I should have you for dinner, or if I should keep you alive as a trophy.”
I leaped to my feet, the first stake already flying from my hand. It had been nearly three days since I’d taken the bloodbane, and if Vinicius got his fangs in me, there was a good chance he’d figure out what I was. I was lucky he hadn’t smelled it on me already. But the vampire was ready—he snatched the weapon out of the air as four of his lackeys rushed in behind him, then flung it back at me. It zipped by my ear, and the human behind me let out a death scream as the stake plunged into her body.
“No!” I raised my other stake, but the commandant lifted his hand. Ribbons of blood wrapped around my wrist and yanked my arm down, and I realized he was using the blood of thehuman he’d just killed to bind me. Simon and Lucy tried to fight the other vampires, but they were quickly disarmed and restrained, clawed hands wrapped around their necks by their assailants, fangs poised to strike.
“Silver stakes?” The vampire used another ribbon of blood to take the weapon from my hand and lift it in front of his face. “Did the viceroy arm you with these?”
“Fuck you.” I spat in his face. “I’m not going to let you use me as a pawn in whatever game you’re playing with Maximillian. Just kill me and get it over with.”
“I’m sure you’d prefer that, since death would be far kinder than what I have in store for you.” The commandant yanked me to my knees with his blood ribbons, then pulled my head back by my hair until I felt like my neck was about to break. “But you’re not going to die, and so long as you cooperate, neither will anyone else in this room. Killing humans in cold blood isn’t profitable for me, you see. Not when your bodies have so many delicious uses.”
My skin crawled at the perverse delight in his voice. “What in all the hells does that mean? What are you doing with all these people?”
