Not waiting for a response, Cain charged out of the room and ran up the stairs. When he reached the upstairs foyer, he could already sense the tension that rendered the air so thick he could have cut through it with a knife.
Two guards blocked the entrance door and immediately stepped aside when Cain approached.
On the porch, Gabriel and Eddie stood, two more guards at their sides, their backs turned to the palace. Cain marched between them and stared at the six vampires who stood on the driveway just below the steps. Behind them three black SUVs were parked, and the tinted windows made it impossible to see how many more vampires were inside. Or how many others were hiding in the forest bordering the palace’s grounds.
Cain took a quick look around. Several of his guards were standing watch along the driveway and the grounds, pistols at the ready and waiting for orders.
The visitors from Mississippi were similarly armed, carrying their weapons on their belts in a show of aggression.
Cain stepped down the stairs and walked up to their presumed leader who appeared surprised at seeing him but caught himself quickly. “Victor. Since you’re leading the charge, I assume you’re representing your king?”
Victor, whose skin was the color of milk chocolate, chuckled. His eyes were of a vibrant blue-grey, evidence of his mixed race heritage. “I
am
the king.”
“I see.” It appeared that there had been an unexpected change in leadership in Mississippi.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” the vampire responded with a smirk.
Cain acknowledged the reference to having killed the king of his own clan without flinching. “You’re a day early. My welcome home celebrations don’t start till tomorrow night. So what do you want?”
Victor snorted. “Isn’t that obvious? You’re harboring two traitors, and I’ve come to collect them.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Take your men and leave. We have nothing to discuss.”
Victor clenched his teeth. “We have plenty to discuss. But first hand over the traitors.” He glanced at his men. “Or we won’t be using words but deeds to make our position clear. If you want peace between our two kingdoms, don’t undermine my rule by harboring traitors.”
Despite Victor’s words, Cain knew that the Mississippi clan hadn’t come to make peace. They were using the fact that Cain sheltered the two defanged vampires as a reason to stamp out any peace negotiations in their infancy. But right now, Cain couldn’t afford this distraction.
“They’re not here.” Cain motioned to the guards behind him. “Show our visitors the way off our property.”
Victor narrowed his eyes when his gaze suddenly strayed past Cain and a grin spread over his face.
Cain turned his head and saw Lee, one of the guards on the porch, tilting his head toward the side of the palace where the plantation kitchen was located. Cain ground his teeth in displeasure.
“It appears somebody has spotted my errant clan members,” Victor said pointedly and marched past Cain. “Shall we see where they’re hiding?”
Not having a choice now, Cain followed Victor, his eyes silently communicating with Gabriel to cover him. Confidently Victor walked to the enclosed walkway that connected the plantation kitchen with the main house and opened the door.
“May I?” Victor asked almost politely.
Cain sensed the other men as well as his own guards follow him. “After you.”
“Well, let’s see who we have—” Victor marched into the kitchen.
42
“This way,” Faye whispered to David and Kathryn as she ushered them through the corridor and cast a look over her shoulder to verify that the two vampires were remaining close to her.
In a few moments they would be at her suite, and from there she could smuggle the two out of the palace and get them to safety by using the tunnels. Cain would be furious for revealing the location of the tunnels to strangers, but she didn’t feel that she had a choice. She’d seen the delegates of the Mississippi clan through the windows. They’d been heavily armed, and she was sure they wouldn’t give up until they’d recaptured the two unfortunate defanged vampires. And with their fangs still not having fully grown back, the two would fare poorly in a fight with their clansmen.
At the next bend of the corridor, she stopped and peered around the corner. Her breath caught in her throat. Abel came running and ripped the door to her suite open, storming inside without looking left or right. What did he want in her room? And he hadn’t even knocked! This wasn’t good.
She couldn’t bring David and Kathryn to her rooms now to use the entrance there. Abel couldn’t know about the tunnels. After everything that had happened and all the things Abel had done to keep her and Cain apart, she knew instinctively he couldn’t be trusted. What was she going to do now? If the Mississippians found the two defanged vampires, they would imprison and torture them. Death would be certain to follow.
Faye turned to them, pressing a finger to her lips to command them to remain silent, when a thought pierced her mind. The prison cells. Cain had escaped from there via the tunnels. She knew which cell he and Robert had been in. It couldn’t be too hard to find the entrance to the secret tunnel.
She motioned David and Kathryn to follow her as she rushed in the other direction, away from her suite. Since nobody was currently locked up in the cellblock, she didn’t expect any guard to be on duty there. Besides, they would all be upstairs, trying to hold off the Mississippians.
Careful not to make a sound, Faye turned the next corner and reached the entrance to the cellblock. She peeked inside. It was empty. A sigh of relief came over her lips.
“Come.”
David and Kathryn hesitated when they saw what they were entering. Kathryn froze.
“Don’t be afraid. There’s an exit through there.” Faye pointed to the cell that Robert had occupied. “Trust me.” She walked to the open door and took a step inside, nearly tripping at the threshold. She looked down and saw that the wood had worn down over time and was loose, creating a tripping hazard.
Faye glanced back. The doors to the other two cells were open, too, and behind the last one was another small room the guards used for supplies. She entered the cell fully and looked over her shoulder.
Hesitantly, David and Kathryn followed her to the entrance of the cell and waited there, clearly afraid to step inside the dim interior. Faye didn’t press them immediately. After all, she had to find the entry point to the tunnel first anyway, and there was no need for the two to wait inside the cell they so clearly feared until she’d managed to locate the tunnel entrance.
“Wait there,” she instructed them and went to work.
Methodically, her hands swept over the walls of the prison cell, feeling every indentation, every groove, testing them, before moving on to the next section. She knew what she was looking for: a series of indentations that would fit her fingers, allowing a certain sequence of pressure which would unlock the mechanism to open the secret passage. She knew both the doors in her and in the king’s suite were opened that way, and she had no reason to believe that this one functioned any different.
Inhaling the stale air in the room, she tried to remain calm. Rushing would only lead to her not noticing the indentations she needed to find.
“Are you sure there’s an exit?” David whispered from the door.
Faye cast a glance over her shoulder. “Yes, there has to be.” Cain had used it. And if he’d found it while still suffering from amnesia, so could she.
She felt her heart pound in her chest, beating rapidly against her ribcage. Memories of her own suffering at the hands of a cruel king resurfaced and made her double her efforts. She had to help these vampires. Nobody deserved to suffer like they had.
Her index finger slipped into a groove. She froze. Then her thumb found purchase.
“There,” she whispered to herself and pressed against the stone wall, feeling something click. She stepped back, a feeling of accomplishment already spreading within her.
“Somebody’s coming,” David suddenly whispered.
Faye whirled her head around and saw how David grabbed Kathryn. Faye rushed toward him, but he was already dragging Kathryn toward the far end of the cellblock where the supply room was located. At the sound for footsteps growing louder, Faye froze for a split second. She was about to dive after David and Kathryn to hide in the supply room with them, when she remembered the door to the tunnel. She spun on her own axis and saw that it was now fully open. Anybody stepping into the cell would see it. She dove back into the cell, but her foot caught on the uneven threshold and she tripped.
Reaching out her hands, she fought for balance, when the person entering the cellblock reached her.
An arm caught around her waist and she was jerked back.
“How fortunate.”
The cold voice in her ears made her blood freeze in her veins.
“Abel,” she managed to echo, pulling herself up to standing. She quickly turned in his hold, hoping to block his view so he couldn’t see the open door to the tunnel.
But when she saw his face, she knew it was too late.
“Well, well, well. So that’s how he got out.”
Faye’s breath hitched. Abel’s words could only mean one thing. He’d been the one who’d tried to kill Cain. “It was you!”
Before she could do or say anything else, Abel shoved a vial at her mouth and forced the contents down her throat. The bitter liquid sent a shock through her system, making her spasm involuntarily. Then her movements slowed and though she tried to push against him and refuse to swallow, her body wouldn’t follow her mind’s command.
She concentrated, collecting her strength to send a mental message to Cain, but she couldn’t form any thoughts.
“Gotcha now,” was the last thing she heard Abel say before darkness engulfed her.
***
“Oh, hello, can I help you?” Maya’s voice cut off the Mississippi vampire.
Cain entered the kitchen behind Victor and looked around. Only Maya was present. He sighed in relief. The two defanged vampires were gone, as was any evidence of the operation that had taken place the night before. The place looked spick and span, a hint of bleach still in the air. It appeared Maya had scrubbed the place down to get rid of David’s and Kathryn’s smell.
Victor turned back to him and stared to the door where others were gathered, tossing the vampire who stood there an annoyed look. Cain didn’t have to turn around to see who he was communicating with. Lee had already outed himself as being loyal to Abel by giving Victor a hint at where he could find the two traitors.
“Well, it appears I was mistaken,” Victor said calmly and nodded. “We’ll be on our way then.”
Cain stepped aside. “A misunderstanding, I’m sure.”
“This is not over.”
“It is for now.”
Without another word, Victor left the kitchen. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cain glared at Lee before issuing his order to Gabriel. “Tie him up.”
“But, Your Majesty . . .”
Gabriel grabbed him and took him away.
Looking at Maya, Cain asked, “Where are they?”
“Faye is trying to get them off the property.”
“How?” he asked, his heart already thundering.
“She didn’t say.”
“Fuck!” he cursed, guessing what Faye was planning. She was going to get them out through the tunnels.
Faye!
he called out to her via their bond.
Faye, where are you?
But there was no reply. No wonder. She had to know that he was furious at her for revealing the most closely guarded secret of the kingdom. But that wasn’t even the reason his heart was pounding like a jackhammer: Faye was taking a risk by navigating the tunnels on her own. She wouldn’t know which exit to surface at and could still run right into the hands of the Mississippians. While they were leaving the property now, Cain was certain they had some of their men dotted around the forest to keep watch on them. If they caught Faye trying to smuggle out the two defanged vampires, they would capture her.
“To the queen’s suite, Gabriel, Eddie!” he ordered and ran back into the palace. Inside, he charged down the service stairs and ran along the corridor as if the sun were on his heels.
Meanwhile, he sent his thoughts to her.
Faye, don’t take the tunnels. Come back! It’s too dangerous.
But there was no reply.
I won’t be angry. Please just come back.
Still, there was no reply.
The door to Faye’s suite stood wide open. Cain charged in, Gabriel and Eddie on his heels. It was empty. Without a thought for the confidentiality of the tunnels, he touched the mechanism to open the hidden door in full view of his two friends. As soon as the door opened, he squeezed through it and entered the passageway.
“Faye!” he called out to her, his voice echoing in the confined space.
He inhaled deeply. He could only smell his own and Faye’s scent, indicating that no strangers had entered the secret passageway that led toward the tunnels. Stunned, he froze while Gabriel and Eddie stepped into the corridor.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
Cain turned to him. “She didn’t take this route.”
“Then which way?”
“I don’t know.” He’d never revealed the other secret doors that led into the tunnels, though he’d planned to do so once she was queen. But he’d never gotten the chance. “She doesn’t know any of the other secret passages.”
“How many are there and where?”
“Shit!” Cain cursed, suddenly realizing that she knew of one other entrance. “The cell. I told her how I escaped from the cell. She must be using that entrance to the tunnel.” But with some luck it would take her a while to find the mechanism that opened the door. It would slow her down and give him a chance to stop her.
Gabriel and Eddie were already charging out of the queen’s suite, Cain now chasing them. Cain ran faster, passing them at the next turn and racing ahead of them toward the cellblock. He reached it moments later.
The door to the cell he and Robert had been in was open. Cain barreled inside. It was empty, but an odd smell lingered. It reminded him of something, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.