Page 13 of Hitched to the Vampire King

“Now we need togo,” I said. “Right this second, before anyone realizes we’re gone. You with me?”

Their dark eyes flicked over my shoulder, and their upper lip trembled.

“Gabriel won’t hurt you,” I assured the werewolf. “He’s a good guy. But the other vamps aren’t.Believe me, I know.”

Footsteps echoed in the distance, and all three of us went on high alert.

“Come on,” I hissed at the werewolf. “We need to get the fuck out of here. Now.”

The approaching footsteps seemed to knock some sense into our new friend, because they nodded, then hurried out of the cage, their steps dragging and awkward. Not great. Their lack of speed would certainly hinder us.

The three of us tumbled out of the room. I glanced down the hallway and jerked to a stop at the sight of Elias and Adrian. They stood a ways down from our former prison cell, their comically wide eyes making me snort.

A part of me wanted to shift and take them out right here and now. I might even have given it a shot, were it not for the small army of vampires fanning out behind them. At least six at first count. There were only three of us, two of whom weren’t performing at full-strength. Not to mention, I had absolutely no idea if the other werewolf even knew how to fight. Not all werewolves did. Which left us with Gabriel. He was powerful and pissed to all hell, but not even he could handle Elias, Adrian, and six other bloodsucking leeches.

As much as I hated to admit it, they greatly outnumbered us. And I wasn’t willing to risk either of our lives right now, not when we were so close to escaping. Sometimes the smartest thing to do was to retreat and fight again another day.

Gabriel cursed under his breath, then squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.

“Go,” he ordered. “Run.”

It killed me to do it, but I ran.

ChapterFive

It didn’t take longfor Adrian and Elias to respond. Adrian cursed our names, then ordered his cadre of vamps to, in his words, “Get them!” Not very clever, I admit. But hey, who was I to criticize?

Gabriel and I didn’t hang around long enough to let them catch us. Instead, we tore ass down the hallway, the injured werewolf hot on our heels. Our feet pounded against the cold concrete floor, the sound echoing off the walls as we ran.

This was an…interesting change of pace for me—and note my sarcasm. Usually, I was the one chasing vampires, not the other way around. And I had to say, I didn’t care for it. The sound of their feet racing toward us sent my pulse into overdrive. It certainly didn’t help matters that we only had the one path to take. I just wanted to be free of this damn building, steel cages and all.

But no, we had to race down this seemingly endless hallway, which led us deeper into the building. The air was thick with dust, and still reeked of death and decay, no matter how far or fast we ran.

“There,” Gabriel called out, pointing ahead. The hallway had finally come to an end, and a set of double doors awaited us. “Let’s hope that’s an exit.”

We sprinted forward, then shoved through the doors, spilling into a larger space. Gone was the narrow, confining hallway, replaced with an expansive, open area that I suspected had once been a warehouse. The enormity of the room baffled me, from the high ceiling supported by steel beams to the cracked concrete floor beneath my feet. Except, instead of boxes and machinery, this area apparently stored more fuckingcages.

Ice filled my veins. Rows upon rows of cages filled the room, some stacked by two or three. And at the far end sat a single forklift, ready to move them around as needed. I couldn’t begin to guess how many there were—but certainlymorethan enough to hold an entire werewolf pack, for sure.

“What the fuck,” I whispered.

“Keep moving,” Gabriel said, giving me no time to considerwhyAdrian needed this many cages. And he was right. We needed to keep moving. I couldn’t stand there slack-jawed.

He clutched my hand and dragged me deeper into the room, pulling me through the rows of cages in search of an exit. Unfortunately, we weren’t moving quickly enough. The sound of the door slamming open after us took a mere few seconds. The injured werewolf was slowing us down too much. It wouldn’t be long now before they caught us. And we absolutely could not let that happen.

“Gabriel,” I said, my voice far more breathless than I would have liked. The injured werewolf wasn’t the only one struggling.

He shot me a quick, worried glance, then nodded.

We were running on borrowed time. And these damn cages were just a prime reminder of what awaited us should we fail.

Goody.

“Come on,” Gabriel muttered. “There has to be a way out of here. A door, a window—something!”

I understood his frustration. Hell, I was thinking the same damn thing. But this freaking prison seemed inescapable. Who the hell had designed this place?

While Gabriel led us down another row, my focus darted to the walls in search of a bright red sign that glowed with the wordexit. Apparently, that was asking too much though. I scanned all four walls until finally—finally—a glimmer of hope caught my eye. One small window, barely visible through the stacks of cages, was hidden right behind the forklift. The sight sparked a surge of relief so intense, I stumbled over my own two feet.

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