Page 4 of Rescued By the Vampire Assassin

A dark chuckle. "And if the experiment fails, we can still turn the human and try again with her. It’s a win-win."

Was that what had happened to Chrissy? Had she been a willing part of this, or was she one of the humans that they turned in order to “try again” with?

"Think it worked?" the gruff voice asked from just outside the cell.

"Should have," the other replied. "Boss said the drug was potent stuff, and Nicolau was starving for blood."

Keri's mind raced. What kind of drug had they pumped her up with, and what were they expecting it to do to Joshua?

She expected to hear the cell door opening, but instead, there was only the sound of shuffling feet. They were being observed, she realized with a chill.

"Looks like it did the trick," the first guard observed. "Nicolau is out like a light, and the girl's catatonic and paralyzed."

I was? Keri resisted the urge to wiggle her fingers and toes just in case.

"Good," his companion replied. "Now for the next step."

Their footsteps receded down the hallway, leaving Keri and Joshua alone once more. Keri counted to sixty in her head before daring to open her eyes.

Joshua was already alert, his unnaturally bright eyes scanning the hallway. A smile played at his lips, revealing the barest hint of fang."Well done," he murmured. "You might have missed your calling as an actress."

"So what's the plan?" Keri whispered, her voice hoarse from the screaming. "Get me out of these cuffs, and then you can bend the bars and we can make a break for it?"

Joshua's laugh was low and devoid of humor. "Easier said than done. This entire cell is built to contain my kind."

Keri felt a flicker of fear at the implications of his words. If vampires found it difficult to escape, what chance did she have?

"We could try to trick them into opening the door and then overpower them," she suggested halfheartedly, knowing it was a desperate long shot.

"Even if we could, it wouldn't matter. The cell is warded against vampires. I couldn't leave even if the door was wide open."

"Warded?" Keri repeated. "Like... magic?"

A humorless chuckle escaped Joshua's lips. "Is that really so hard to believe?"

Keri opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. He had a point. If vampires were real, why not magic?

"So we can't break out. But there has to be some way to signal for help, right? Don't you have friends or allies who might come looking for you?"

A shadow passed over Joshua's face, his expression darkening. For a moment, Keri glimpsed the ruthless killer beneath the veneer of civility. "The Vasiles have powerful enemies, yes. But I doubt any of them would risk open war to save one imprisoned assassin."

"What about your family?" Keri pressed.

"Enough," Joshua snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously. The sudden surge of power in his voice made Keri flinch. "My past is none of your concern. Focus on the present."

Keri slumped. She was trapped in a den of vampires, imprisoned with one of the deadliest assassins in the underworld—who couldn’t do a damned thing to save them.

"I don't suppose you have any vampire superpowers that could get us out of here?" she asked, only half-joking.

Joshua's lips quirked in a humorless smile. "I'm afraid Hollywood has greatly exaggerated our abilities. And whatever strength I had has been diminished by my time here. Until I feed again."

She shuddered as she remembered his earlier words about "fresh prey." How long before his hunger overcame whatever tenuous alliance they had formed? “Can you feed on a vampire? Maybe I can trick them into coming in here, and you can...you know.” She gnashed her teeth at him.

“I could, but how would you get them to cross the vampire ward and be trapped in the cell with us?”

“Right.” Keri scowled at him. “I don’t see you coming up with any ideas. Do you smell that?”

It smelled like freshly baked cookies, a summer breeze, and then her favorite men’s cologne. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”

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