Page 62 of High Stakes

“Asa, dear brother. You have no faith in me,” she pouted, walking around me and Titus to perch on the edge of the desk.

They didn’t kill Enoch. They couldn’t have! I kept telling myself. Titus flicked his eyes to the window in a silent message. One of us had to get to it and jump. Our tech was linked, and, for the moment at least, mine was working. Now was our chance...

Fueling my veins with adrenaline, I bolted toward the glass. I was an inch from breaking through when something pulled me back by my hair, slamming me onto the floor.

Asa loomed over me with a thunderous expression. “That was foolish.”

Raising my head to look at Titus, I saw that Terah had his head in her hands. With just one twist, he would be dead. “Please don’t hurt him,” I pleaded.

Asa crouched down next to me. “Tell me everything you haven’t told my brother, and I may let one of you live. You can begin by detailing all you know about vampires.”

* * *

Seconds later, the door exploded inward with a boom. Through the chaos and shards of flying wood, Enoch emerged, dark as an avenging angel. Terah tossed Titus to the side and stood, baring her fangs, while Asa slowly stood to face his brother.

Enoch didn’t pause. He bolted, blurring from sight, and Asa finally moved to meet him, the two colliding in the center of the room. Enoch roared as he grabbed Asa by the throat, launching him across the room. The bed splintered and collapsed under the impact.

The room darkened suddenly, like the sun itself was terrified of the two fighting Nephilim. Asa jumped to his feet in one graceful movement and tackled Enoch with a ferocity that left me stunned. Terah screamed for them to stop as the entire castle shook from the impact.

Titus inched his way to me and grabbed my hand. The brawling Nephilim were blocking the window—our only way home. “We have to get to another turret,” Titus panted, watching the two first vampires attempt to best one another. Asa barreled into Enoch’s stomach, tackling him to the floor.

“Let’s go,” I agreed. The moment Enoch righted himself and launched at Asa again, we ran.

Mortar rained down on our heads as we fled down the spiral staircase to the castle below. The humans cloistered inside gasped with every thunderous boom and tremble. Children cried out in fear, babbling about the thunder, never realizing the storm they heard was inside the castle, not out.

“Look for the staircase to the next turret!” Titus yelled between the melees.

The only problem was that we weren’t sure exactly which staircase led to the next one. We checked three, all leading to hallways on the upper floors and not where we needed them to. The castle continued to shake and tremble violently, punctuated by rumbles and explosions. I ducked and covered my head, convinced the whole place might collapse on us. Titus motioned for me to run, so I calmed my heart and ran like Maru, like I was part of the wind itself.

Titus ran ahead to check another staircase and didn’t come back. I jogged up to see if he’d found anything, but as soon as I turned a corner, my vision exploded in a burst of stars. Along with the back of my skull. My chin hit the floor, my jaw cracking on impact. All the air whooshed out of my lungs in a rush, and I struggled to pull in more through my throbbing mouth. Blinking the stars from my eyes, I felt the back of my head. My fingers came away sticky and wet.

A pair of leather boots stopped in front of my face.

The owner pulled one back and kicked me.

My nose broke. Fire and pain spread over me.

My tech was down again. I couldn’t control my pain.

Another kick came to my ribs, followed by a crushing blow to my spine.

I was like a rag doll, unable to fight back from the tumult.

I managed to cry out, “Enoch!”

A familiar voice spoke in my ear. “You should have killed him when you had the chance. Traitor! I knew you wouldn’t have the guts to do it.”

“Abram,” I choked. Blood pooled in my mouth. Another cough sent it spraying to the floor. I tried to push myself up.

“Victor will reward me—no, God himself will reward me for ending you. They wasted so much on you,” Abram snarled. “Eve—the special one among us. The most upgraded. The deadliest.” He laughed. “If they only knew what you would do when you finally came face-to-face with the infamous Enoch.”

“The same as you did with Asa?” I taunted. “He’s still alive, the last I checked.” Thankfully, my tech suit was operational, commencing the process of accelerating my healing. The bone in my nose began to knit together. Abram noticed.

He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me across the floor. I gripped his hands, trying to keep him from pulling it out. My hand tech sputtered to life and I got my feet under me and knocked his hands away.

As he crouched back into a defensive position, I took a split second to scan the room. “Where’s Titus?”

He huffed, “He can’t help you this time.”

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