“Isn’t that… using magic unlawfully?” My eyebrow arched at him.
He huffed. “No. Not when we’re protecting a fellow GRIMM.”
I shrugged and pulled a hair to give him. The line between acceptable magic and forbidden was blurred. As an outsider, I could see the flaws in their system, but no one else seemed to see it or maybe they just didn’t want to.
Grayson held the hair up and chanted something, his voice echoing around us. He stood, eyes closed as we watched.
“That way.” He indicated straight ahead.
Brady scoffed. “Are you sure you did it right?”
Grayson ignored him and led us forward. I followed close on his heels, gripping my flashlight tightly. The sooner we got Javi and got out, the better.
We made it to a closed metal door and my heart sank. Were we locked in? Brady stepped up and placed a hand on the scanner. The door opened instantly.
He grinned at us. “Aren’t you two lucky I came along?”
I snorted. “Why did they give you access?”
“Um. Because I’m the headmaster’s only son. Duh.”
Grayson stiffened and glanced away. I realized then, I didn’t know much about him except for him being an orphan and the headmaster’s ward. There on scholarship, but still expected to do his bidding. When did he become an orphan and how? Had he hoped to be adopted by the headmaster only to find the man preferred him as an employee rather than a son?
“This way,” he grunted, leading us forward.
The room widened to reveal an empty desk and lobby area. Grayson held up the hair again and pointed toward the left. Another locked door. Brady did his part and let us through. The hallway grew narrower, cells on each side. All of them were empty.
“Is anyone else freaking out about all the empty cells? Where is everyone?”
“Look.” Grayson shone his light against the wall. The hall split into two and in the middle, dark words were written against the white wall.
A promise made in blood cannot be undone.
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
I held my flashlight closer. Blood. The words were written with actual blood. Nausea rolled inside me. Javi.
“Is this where it led you? Here?” I turned to Grayson.
He held up the hair once more and shook his head. “No. The link is weakening though. It could be because magic is suppressed here or…”
“Or what?”
“Your cousin is dead,” Brady finished.
Grayson scowled at him. “We don’t know that. Just let me try it again.”
He turned his back toward us and started chanting. Brady slunk down beside him, sitting crisscrossed on the ground. I turned back to the words, using my light to inspect them.
The hairs on my neck bristled. A promise made in blood… it was a phrase I knew I’d seen before in one of my textbooks, but I couldn’t remember what it referenced. In the supernatural world, blood and promises were pretty much on every page of the schoolbooks.
An invisible tug pulled me toward the hall, away from the words and the others. I shone my flashlight down the path. My heart raced. Was it Javi?
Nothing but darkness stretched before me. My instincts were telling me to get away, but my curiosity grew. Something was telling me to go that way. I gripped my light tighter and followed it. A voice in the back of my head told me to stop and wait for the guys, but I didn’t listen.
I kept going.
My light bounced around, revealing a narrower hall. I brushed my hand against the smooth, stone wall, heart leaping into my throat. When did the walls changed to stone? Shivers ran up my back. A strange smell hit my nose, making me stop in my tracks.
Blood.
No. Javi.
“Javi? Are you in here?” My voice shook.
I ignored the pounding in my ears and pushed myself forward. Prison cells stood on each side of me. I squinted against the dark, fighting the panic that was spreading through me.
My flashlight went out. An icy fear filled me. I shook it and slammed it in my hand, trying to get it back on. Giving up, I clenched my eyes shut and reopened them, trying to adjust to the dark.
Moonlight streamed in, lighting up the back cells.
Empty.
I swallowed my fear and moved forward. “Javi?”
“Are you lost?”
I jumped at the voice. There. A shadowy form in one of the cells. My heart slammed against my ribs. I should have turned and run, but my legs propelled me forward, some hidden desire to discover what was behind the metal bars.
He laughed. The moonlight gleamed in his dark eyes and his smile revealed his very real, very sharp fangs.
Fear shot through my veins. This was no Halloween vamp with fake blood and stupid, black cape. No. This was real. And it was freaking the hell out of me.
He leaned closer, peering at me through the bars. I shuddered. Thank God for the metal keeping him caged. I could sense his… strangeness, something deep seated in me, telling me to get my ass out of there.
“Come closer,” he hissed. His words were accented, but clear.
Hell to the no.
Alarm filled me as I realized I’d taken a step toward him.
“Stop. Whatever you’re doing. Just stop. The guards are right out there.”
He laughed again. “No. They’re not. You are alone.”
My heart slammed against my chest. Why weren’t my legs working to run away?
“It’s the compulsion ring. Whoever put it on you didn’t expect you to meet a vampire, no?”
Chills crawled over my skin.
“It’s not a ring.”
“Bracelet. Ring. All the same.” His fangs glistened in the moonlight. “Am I your first?”
My eyes bulged. “What?”
He chuckled. “First vampire.”
A shudder ran down my spine. My body remained frozen, but my mind was screaming, begging for me to run.
“No,” I lied.
Which only made his smile widen. “Why do you still wear the compulsion ring? What did you do? What are you?”
I blinked at him. He thought I was a prisoner? I wasn’t
