Page 82 of Flock This

He snickered, his hand dangling as he smirked at me. “I wish I could say that you’ll see. In fact, if it were up to me, I think I’d keep you around. Unfortunately, whether you die here before the trial or after you’re found guilty, you aren’t going to have much of a chance to see what happens.”

Iglesia laughed, the sound deep and full-bodied, as though he were having himself one hell of a time. It made me glare back in response.

He hopped to his feet but didn’t fully stand. Instead, he remained crouching, this time closer to me. He reached out and caught my face, his hand across my mouth as he dug his fingers into my cheeks, making them grind painfully against my teeth. “I’m going to go and make my report. When I hear back, I’ll come see you.”

Boy did that not sound reassuring.

He smiled, his fangs descending like exclamation points at the end of his threat. “I hope they’ll let me keep you, but if they don’t? I think I’ll have fun carrying out your punishment anyway.”

I made a soft, pained sound when I couldn’t hold it back anymore, when copper filled my mouth as my teeth cut the insides of my cheek from his tight grip. He released me as though waiting for that, like it was his signal.

Maybe it was like a climax for him, and he couldn’t get off until he heard it.

He stood as I tried to catch my breath, but said nothing else before he walked out, the sound of the door closing and locking behind him a reminder of my position.

My trial was tomorrow night, but it seemed like my execution might just come first.

Chapter Twenty

While it was hard to figure out the exact time, I’d gotten good at knowing generally after living with Kelvin.

It had to be about noon.

Only the strongest of vampires could remain awake at this hour, when the sun was highest in the sky and their power was at its lowest.

Now or never.

If I wanted to spring this joint, now was the time. Even if a vampire could be awake right now, they usually weren’t. It drained them and would put them at a disadvantage the next day.

Which meant trying to escape now would reduce the number of vampires I’d have to face to hopefully none.

Thralls were a problem, but less so.

Especially because they tended to keep the same hours as their masters.

I could have taken my phone from my personal bay and called someone, but I had no idea who to call. Kelvin wouldn’t be able to help, not until night, and I had a feeling one way or another it would be over by then. I had no idea where I was, so even if I did call anyone, what good would it do? When I had my phone, the tracking never worked quite right, so I was on my own.

That sure felt familiar.

Still, I was used to that, so I gathered my courage—or stupidity—then set my hand on the door. The click of each lock told me it had worked.

I twisted the handle slowly and pulled the door open. I found a bedroom, telling me my guess about the closet had been right. Through the last door—this one unlocked—was an empty hallway.

I stepped into the hallway, then headed left since right appeared to be a dead-end.

The flooring was a nice tile, and the walls remained empty. No pictures, no mementos, nothing that implied anyone lived here. Was it just a place to hold me? Were they just squatting here?

It didn’t really matter, so I hurried down the hallway, past the closed doors. The more I saw, the more I guessed this was nothing but a nice, large house.

Other doors remained closed, and I didn’t try them. They lacked locks on the outside, which said they weren’t for other prisoners. The last thing I wanted was to open one and come face to face with Iglesia or one of his buddies.

I’d also had bad luck when it came to going into bedrooms, judging by the whole William incident.

The hallway opened to a large room, still lacking any real furniture. It was an open-concept living room with a huge kitchen to the side, and only folding tables and chairs filled any of it.

It suggested this wasn’t a place they’d used long, or perhaps better to say they didn’t plan to use it long.

Then again, they seemed to think they’d got this all worked out. I’d bet they figured after getting their puppet onto the council, they’d get the penthouse in the Castle and abandon this place. Talk about moving up in the world, huh?

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