“They’ll let me pass,” Cade assured me softly. “Once I’m inside, I’ll see if your human is still alive.”
I hesitated. Cade and I were not friends. Instead, we used each other when we had to, in order to survive. I didn’t exactly trust the sullen bastard, but he’d never crossed me before. I hoped he wouldn’t this time.
“How will you get word to me?”
“You’ll know,” he said with a churlish snort, right before he vanished. I watched him reappear in front of the smoking guard, who dropped his cigarette. A few words between them and then Cade disappeared through the front gates. Then I waited. And waited.
A flash of fire exploded from a window, and I heard the crack of the blast a second later, strong enough that I felt it in my chest. The glow gilded the forest in yellow light.
Forge. Selena’s voice echoed in my head. I’m here.
Reaching her was my only thought, and without hesitation, I materialized.
30
When we arrived, the Elder didn’t waste any time.
The hood over my head, I was led to a room where a man, a vampire, was chained to a metal chair bolted to the stone floor. I averted my eyes the second I saw him. He was naked, and had been tortured, in awful ways that I couldn’t—and didn’t—want to imagine.
One of the bodyguards grabbed his hair and pulled his head up so he was looking at me, while the other one maneuvered me roughly into place in front of him. The chained vampire had been beaten so badly that both eyes were swollen shut, and dried blood matted his hair.
Brandon leaned against the wall, bracing his unsteady legs, but his eyes were bright as he surveyed the scene.
“Can I trust him?” the Elder asked, gliding into the room, showing his yellow teeth in an eager grimace that probably passed for a smile around here. “Or did he betray me?”
“I…” My mouth snapped shut as I realized this was my test. Maybe my only one. If I failed, not only would I be dead, but Holloway as well. If I was successful, this guy would die. “Fine,” I said, thinking of ways I could keep all of us alive. “I’ll do it. But it takes some time for me to get a feel for his thoughts—especially if there’s been…damage.”
Actually, the poor guy was easy to read. Pain, pain and more pain. I pushed past the waves of agony to what was left of his addled brain. I didn’t mean to… I tried… He hadn’t betrayed anyone, but he’d failed the Elder, and I supposed, in his book, that counted as deception.
“He’s in too much pain for me to read him,” I said flatly. “Next time, I suggest you leave me something to work with.” I was sick as I said it, but passing the buck to someone else was the only way around this impossible situation.
“Kill him,” the Elder ordered his bodyguards dispassionately. “Unless you’d like to change your story?”
I shook my head. If I told them what I’d seen, then they’d kill him anyway.
The guard’s hand was poised at the vampire’s throat, ready to rip it out, I supposed, when the entire room rocked back and forth, a cloud of gravel and dust showering us. I went down, as did Brandon and one of the guards.
Forge, I thought as loudly as I could. I’m here.
“Get outside and see what’s happening,” the Elder snarled, turning on his heel. “Lock the door behind us.” He disappeared through the door, locking me, Brandon and the half-conscious vampire in together. With no windows in this room, I prayed the power held out.
Forge, I half screamed in my head. Where are you?
Right here, Selena. I’m coming. Hold on.
For the first time in hours, relief flooded through me. He was close enough to hear me, and just that little bit of knowledge caused tears to flood my eyes. I sniffed, and Brandon looked at me suspiciously.
“Dust,” I told him, wiping the tears with my sleeve. “It gets to me every time.”
“Why did they lock me in here with you?” Brandon whined. “I should be outside.”
Surprise, big brother, you are nothing but a loose end. I hooked my fingers around the door handle and yanked, but it wouldn’t budge. The smell of acrid smoke seeped beneath the door, along with a puff of black. Looking around, I was comforted by the fact everything was stone, so maybe we wouldn’t burn to death.
The light overhead flickered slightly, smoke now swirling around it. The table in the corner was heaped with junk, but the shiny silver keys looked like they might belong to the shiny chains holding the vampire to the chair. I found a tattered blanket and laid it on the floor next to him, then fumbled with the keys and the locks until I worked his hands and ankles free.
“Help me with him,” I told Brandon, my hands on the vampire’s shoulders.
“Do it yourself,” my brother retorted, pacing the length of the small room. “I have to get out of here.” He was getting jittery, which meant the drugs were wearing off. Pretty soon he’d realize he wasn’t as useful as he thought, and then he’d panic. I so didn’t want to be around for that.
I half dumped the poor guy onto the blanket, but at least he was free. Kneeling down beside him, I whispered softly, “If you can, you need to materialize out of here. I won’t be able to get you out of here. I’m sorry.”
Brandon’s incessant pacing stopped. “Since when do you care about some piece-of-shit vampire more than you care about your own family?”
“I don’t have a family anymore. You made sure of that.”
“Oh, now you’re going to have a pity party over Dad? He’d had a
