Page 41 of The Death God
“I can’t see anything about how many houses or wings there are. But the warden wasn’t at the top of the facility or wherever this guy’s from. It’s all…” Prophecy grimaced. “…a bit jumbled, but I think the warden was in charge of our facility, not any other. A woman is in charge of this…fraction.” He grimaced. “It doesn’t have a hospital feel like ours, and there is someone at the top of them all.”
Shit, this was much worse than Thanatos had believed.
“But there are other facilities?” Rufus sounded calm as he spoke, and Thanatos tried to seek strength from that. They weren’t going back. He’d never allow Jaki to go back.
“Yes.” Prophecy looked a little shaken, something Thanatos had never seen before.
When Gregory tugged at him, Thanatos went willingly into his arms. Fuck. More houses. He’d been feeling guilty for not searching for the others in their facility, but this was worse.
* * * *
Gregory carefully hugged Thanatos to his chest. He didn’t know if a full-on embrace would trigger something. He didn’t want to have to deal with it with an audience, but this wasn’t good news, and Thanatos looked ready to topple over.
“What do we do with him?” Rufus nodded toward the car.
“Kill him.” Amell flashed sharp teeth.
“No!” Minerva glared at him, which was either brave or stupid. Gregory hoped they wouldn’t have to fight the weres to keep her safe.
“If the facility he comes from is anything like ours, he had no say in this.” Thanatos rubbed his chest as if trying to calm his heart. Gregory focused on the pulse. It was beating a little faster than normal, but not at a freak-out stage.
“Except he was let out.” Prophecy glared at Himeros through the open car door. “Had I been let out, I’d have run.”
Cold washed over Gregory. Anyone in their right mind would’ve run. “There isn’t a tracker on him, right?”
Alaric winced. “We patted him down for weapons, but…”
Rufus snarled, and the next moment he slammed Alaric into the car, creating a dent. His fangs were fully extended, and he looked as if he was about to tear Alaric’s throat out. Gregory moved to intersect Amell when he went to attack Rufus. Werewolves were fast, but not as fast as vampires, and Gregory got a good punch in before Amell saw him move.
The snarl leaving him shook the sky.
“Thanatos! Go inside.” Gregory prepared to attack Amell again. He was a lot bigger than Gregory, and as Alaric’s second, he’d fought a lot of strong people and won, but there was no way Gregory was allowing him to get near Rufus.
“Stop!” Alaric’s voice held all the alpha power he had, and Gregory had a knee-jerk reaction to follow the command, but he shook it off. Amell didn’t move, though.
“Stop. We came here for help, not to start a conflict.”
“And yet you brought danger to our doorstep. My mate lives here. You came to our home, where we keep our most precious and defenseless, and you led them here.” Rufus’ voice was like a knife edge.
“We apologize.”
Snorting, Rufus let go, but then he punched Alaric with such force that Gregory believed it would take days to heal, even for a werewolf. Alaric did nothing to reciprocate, and Amell snarled.
Gregory relaxed his stance. “Strip and search him.” He gestured for Amell to go to the car. The look of distaste taking over his face made Gregory want to grin. He was charming like that.
“Or we could ask him.” Minerva crossed her arms over her chest.
“Ask him what?” Gregory hadn’t meant to snarl, but it was how it came out.
“If there is a tracker on him, it’s likely he’s aware.”
Amell reached into the car, grabbed Himeros, and dropped him on the gravel without much care. Minerva crouched next to him. “Remove his gag.”
“Do it yourself.” Amell stepped away from them.
“I can’t. I’m triggered by touch, and we might need my prophecy later.”
Thanatos stepped forward, and Gregory wanted to order him back. He didn’t want him anywhere near someone with a tracker. After some struggle, Thanatos managed to get Himeros’ mouth free.
