Page 51 of Scorned

The guy nodded, but the look on his face said he didn’t believe her. After pushing the button for his desired floor, he locked his hazel eyes on me again and they stayed there until the doors closed. The scent grew weaker, leaving no doubt it emanated from him.

Naomi turned the alarms off again, and a man’s voice came over her watch.

“Damn it, Naomi!”

“I’m so sorry, Daniel. I may not make it to the meeting after all.”

“Stop messing around. End that program and get down here.”

“Copy. Over.” Naomi pushed the button on the elevator, and we waited for it to return. After we entered, she hit the button for the parking garage, and one for the floor she was going to. “You two go ahead and grab those boxes from the van. I’ll head to the hall. Meet me there when you’re done.”

That was our signal that she was abandoning us, and we had to get out on our own, which was going to be tricky since we couldn’t take the van, but Erik assured me he had a plan.

Once off the elevator, he led me through a dark parking garage. We weaved in and out of the black vans before coming out a door in the back. The air outside was crisp but warmer than it had been this week.

We headed across the compound and the layout and spacing of the large brick buildings reminded me of a college campus. We stayed as close to them as possible, hiding in the shadows instead of walking the streets. With perfect night vision, I was able to see numerous cameras and floodlights Naomi had disabled.

When we were close to the back fence, Erik stopped next to a manhole. “Help me with this,” he muttered low.

Even though I wouldn’t need his strength, I assisted him in removing the cover off a sewer drain. He nodded his head toward the hole, telling me to enter. I shook my head no. He repeated his actions, and I once again shook my head.

“There could be snakes down there,” I whispered.

Erik’s eyes bulged under his mask before he let out an exasperated sigh, lowering himself into the hole. “Close the lid on your way down.”

After a few seconds of wondering if I could jump an electrified fence with barbed wire on top—which sounded much safer than snakes in a sewer—I followed him into the hole, pulling the lid on behind me.

Once my feet landed in a half a foot of standing water, my skin crawled. “Seriously, bro. There better not be snakes.”

“You’re a damn vampire. How are you scared of snakes?” Erik asked as I eyed the water for creepy crawlers. “Wait, don’t you have a snake tattooed on your arm?”

“I got that because it was cool. And I’m not scared, I just don’t like them.”

“Sure, Winnie.” He trudged through the sewer, and I hoped he knew where he was going as I followed.

“Who was that dude by the elevator?” I asked, wondering why he smelled the way he did.

“That was Benjamin Argent. Sage’s uncle. Why?”

“Fuck,” I whispered, and Erik came to a stop, causing me to almost run into him.

“What’s the problem?”

I lifted my mask to the top of my head. “There was something weird about him. He knew I was a vampire, he could smell me. And his scent was weird. Like a mix of different species or something. I don’t know, dude, but something is definitely up.”

“He’s an asshole, but as far as I know he’s human.” Erik continued walking, rounding the corner to the left.

“Believe me, he wasn’t.”

When we finally reached the end of the drainage system, we stopped at a ladder and I went up first, pushing the cover off. Once I emerged, the entire area looked desolate. Nothing but land beneath my feet, trees, and empty spaces as far as my vampire eyes could see. I turned around to see how far we were from the Venom base and . . . it was gone.

“What the fuck,” I mumbled as Erik crawled out of the hole. “Where did the headquarters go?”

“What are you talking about, Winnie?” Erik got to his feet and scanned the area. “It’s too dark, so we probably can’t see it.”

“Bro, I can see much further than you. It’s gone.”

Erik removed his mask before his gaze swept the darkness once more. “That’s weird. I can’t even see the lights from the windows.”

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