Page 16 of Awakening the Dhampir

Silence hung heavy in the air. I was about to ask another question, but Conrad’s head rolled to the floor. Ever so slowly, like sand slipping through an hourglass, his body turned to ash.

A bloody knife hung from Nathan’s hand. He didn’t take his eyes from Conrad until he was nothing more than a pile of dust on the floor. I wanted to ask about the fae, but the look in Nathan’s eyes stopped me. He wouldn’t talk about it until he was ready. He was too angry right now.

“Let’s find the video,” he growled, storming off in the direction of the shattered door.

I realized he was following Lorna’s scent and went after him. The door led to a long hallway with four rooms at the end. Two of them had normal interior doors. The other two were made of some kind of solid metal with a small screen on the wall next to them.

I suspected we’d found Lorna’s cell.

Nathan tapped on the screen several times. When nothing happened, he put his fist through it. A shower of glass and sparks fell to the floor, and my friend cursed fluently.

“Feel better?” I asked, opening the normal door to the next room.

Nathan didn’t answer.

I flicked on the light switch, and a harsh glow illuminated the room. Metal shelves covered the entire back wall from floor to ceiling. Boxes filled the space. A laptop and two large monitors sat in the middle of a metal desk, and a small garbage can overflowed next to it.

We needed to take all of it with us. We didn’t have time to sort through it now, but we could once we got home. We might be able to fit it all in the back of Elliott’s truck. He could roll the cover over the bed to keep everything dry.

“I’ll start taking this to the truck,” I said, moving toward the shelves.

“We need to get into Lorna’s cell first,” Nathan snapped. “We can’t leave any trace of her for the fae to find.” He flipped open the laptop and cursed. A lock screen popped up asking for a password. “Damn it!”

I didn’t wait for him to try to guess a password. A half dozen steps took me back out into the hallway. I slammed my shoulder into the metal door. It groaned but didn’t budge. It was worth a try. I moved over a couple feet and charged the wall. The drywall crumbled, followed by a shower of concrete block. I hammered my fists into the block until I broke through.

I knew when I had. The stench of an unwashed body mixed with some type of toxin smacked me in the face. I almost gagged and staggered back.

“What is it?” Nathan asked, wrinkling his nose. “Never mind. Don’t get any closer until that shit dissipates.”

I agreed. Whatever it was wouldn’t kill us, but it’d probably knock us out. My head was already a little heavy from the first blast. I shook myself and went back to the office to empty all of Conrad’s stuff.

I met Kenrid in the lobby on my first trip to the truck. “How’s she doing?” I asked.

“Elliott’s helping her get cleaned up and changed,” Kenrid replied, his attention going to one of the guest rooms. “You need help with anything?”

“Actually, we do,” I said. “There’s a toxin lingering in the hallway where they were keeping Lorna. Do you think you can clear it out for us?”

He dragged his gaze back to me and shrugged. “I can try.”

I led the fae to Lorna’s cell. Without saying a word, he flicked his hand. A greenish-brown mist formed into a small cyclone. Kenrid made a circular motion and walked back down the hall with a whirlwind of toxins following him.

Nathan appeared at the door to the small office. “Is Kenrid alright?”

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “Before you ask, I don’t believe he had anything to do with Lorna’s kidnapping.”

Nathan sighed. “Neither do I, but he knows why the fae are spending so much money trying to get their hands on her.”

I raised a single eyebrow at him. He shook his head.

“I promised to give him the opportunity to tell his story,” Nathan said.

Both my eyebrows raised, and my wings twitched. We all had secrets, and Kenrid had many, but I didn’t realize he and Nathan both were keeping something from me that impacted Lorna. Before I could question him, Nathan looked in the hole I’d made in the wall. The beast lurking just beyond his control roared.

I was by his side a second later, tearing at the cinderblocks. As soon as the opening was big enough, we stepped inside. Rage vibrated off my friend in waves. I couldn’t blame him. The room wasn’t large enough for me to spread my wings. Only a small cot, a metal sink, and a metal toilet occupied the space, all bolted to the wall or the floor. No toiletries, no soap, no blankets, no pillows. Nothing that would make our dhampir comfortable.

Nathan’s nostrils flared, and his red eyes landed on a stain at our feet. “Conrad’s blood,” he sneered.

A few inches from the stain were a brown paper bag and an unopened water bottle lying on its side. I reached down and grabbed the bag, tearing it open easily. Two pieces of bread and a thin layer of meat were wrapped in clear plastic.

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