When she spotted a set of backstairs, she started toward it, but Kyle grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She glowered at him, and he glowered back as he lifted a finger to his lips and held it there.
“They can’t know we’re coming, or we’ll all end up dead,” he whispered.
Cassidy nodded, but Kyle continued to stare at her until a rat ran over his foot. He released a muffled squeak and jumped back from the rodent that vanished under the stairs.
“I hate rats,” he grated through his teeth. “Why are these things so fat? What have they been eating?”
Under normal circumstances, Cassidy would have found his reaction amusing, but she couldn’t experience humor when terror pulsed through her with every beat of her heart.
Kyle took another deep breath before focusing on her. “Let me go first.”
Cassidy opened her mouth to protest, but she decided not to waste any time arguing with him. He edged past her and, keeping his back to the wall, started up the stairs. Careful about where she put her feet, she held her breath as she waited for one of the steps to give out completely.
They were halfway up when one of the stairs creaked before bowing beneath her weight. They both froze, and Kyle’s head turned toward her. He reached for her, but when the stair remained firm beneath her, his hand fell away.
They stared at each other for a second before they both looked to the darkened stairwell. Cassidy bit her lip as she strained to hear any sound while waiting for something to burst out and attack them.
The chatter of the rats became as loud as gunshots in her ears as the silence stretched on, and then Kyle started forward again. For a second, she couldn’t move. Sweat covered her palms and stuck her shirt to her back. Some of her siblings thrived on this adrenaline junky garbage; she despised it.
What would they discover above? Was she ready for this fight?
Move! Or you’ll discover Dante’s body. That spurred her on, and it took everything she had not to shove Kyle out of her way and bolt up the steps.
The stair beneath Kyle’s foot squeaked; he grimaced as he paused.
Please let them think it was the rats, she inwardly pleaded.
A loud boom sounded overhead, and the walls quaked from the force of whatever caused it. Her heart leapt into her throat, choking the breath from her. No!
Forgetting about being quiet, Cassidy surged forward, and so did Kyle. He took the steps two at a time as they bypassed the second floor and continued to the third.
Another bang shook the building as Kyle arrived at the heavy metal door and shoved it open.
Chapter Forty-Four
Cassidy barely had time to take in the strange scene that was a blend of romance and violence before one of the Savages ran at her. The Savage was almost to her when Kyle lowered his shoulder and barreled into the creature. The impact lifted the monster off the ground and flung it away.
“Kill them!” a woman screeched, and Cassidy assumed it was Jasmine.
Across the room, Cassidy spotted Dante, and their eyes met. He’d shut her out, but she felt a ripple of disapproval across their bond.
Her attention was diverted from him when a Savage lunged at her. She dodged its attack and, swinging out her hand, managed to deliver a solid throat punch. The Savage clawed at its throat as it stumbled back.
Over the years, her family had taught her plenty of defensive moves, and she’d learned how to fight dirty from her siblings, but her skin prickled as her cold sweat increased. She’d killed before; she would do it again, and she would not be a liability to Kyle and Dante.
However, she couldn’t deny that recalling the sensation of her stake piercing through flesh and bone made her stomach churn. And she did not want to do it again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to have a choice.
She ducked low when the Savage lunged at her again, but this time she couldn’t avoid it. Its fingers entangled in her hair before it jerked her head back. Instinct caused her to spin toward it, and she lashed out.
She landed a solid backhand across its face and experienced a moment of grim satisfaction when its head snapped to the side and putrid blood spouted from its mouth. Instead of releasing her, its hand entangled in her hair and jerked her head back. It ripped her off her feet.
The breath exploded from her lungs when she hit the floor on her back. She tried to gasp in a breath, but air refused to fill her constricted lungs. She couldn’t lie here; she had to move.
Still unable to breathe, she put her hands on the floor and pushed herself to the side. Somehow, she’d managed to retain her stake, and as the asshole was jerking her hair up, she plunged the weapon into its foot. The creature howled and yanked its foot away, taking her stake with it but also releasing her hair.
Rolling onto her back again, she caught a glimpse of red, fury-filled eyes as the Savage ripped her stake from its foot. Getting onto her hands and knees, Cassidy pushed herself to her feet as air finally rushed back into her lungs.
With her stake in hand, the Savage charged toward her; before it got there, Dante crashed into its side. Wrapping his arms around the creature, he propelled the thing into the floor, shaking the building. The candles they knocked over, spilled across the ground. The flames sputtered before the melted wax smothered them.
Pinning the vamp beneath him, Dante released a series of bone-crushing blows to its face. Its cheekbones gave way, and its eye socket shattered, but Dante couldn’t stop pummeling it. This thing had touched Cassidy; it hurt her, and he would make it pay.
“Dante!”
