Page 53 of The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune
“Gray,” Ryder interrupted. I made a face, ready to argue if he told me no. Instead, he said, “You don’t like heights.”
His words gave me pause.
“Oh.”That.Yeah, that would cause some issues. Ryder chuckled.
“I can make ice too,” she called over her shoulder before disappearing into the office.
“How?” I shouted after her, even though she’d shut the door. I whirled back to face Ryder, demanding, “How, baby?”
“I still haven’t figured that out,” he admitted.
“She figured out how to alter the temperature of the air and water,” Sam explained. Arms crossed, he meandered closer. Hisexpression was carefully drawn as he joined us. “Combined, they create ice.”
“That’s fuckin’ awesome,” I whispered. “Can I do that?”
“I imagine you could alter the temperature of air,” he replied, “but I’m not sure how much good that’ll do you, considering you can’t control water.”
“Damn it.” He had a point. I couldn’t create ice with those two elements. I asked, “Are we gettin’ out of here now?”
“About that,” he began slowly.
“That answer better be a real loud yes,” I interjected.
“Yes and no,” Sam told me. “It’s not that simple.”
“Simplify it,” Ryder ordered.
“Look, this can go one of two ways,” he replied. I already didn’t like whatever the hell he was going to say. “If we get you out of here now, all you’ll end up doing is running for the rest of your lives.”
“We’ve been runnin’ most of our lives,” I pointed out. That was nothing new.
“Not like this. Not with vampires chasing you down,” he said. “But… vampires take decades to crawl back out of Hell. All upper-level demons do. If we killed them, you’d be in the clear. By the time any of them come back, we’d all be long gone.”
“You want to kill the vampires?” Ryder finished for him.
“No,” I cut in instantly. “There ain’t no way in hell we’re takin’ on a group of vampires.”
“Four,” he corrected. “There are only four left. Ryder killed two of them, and Andrea doubled back to kill the one I ripped in half.”
“Youwhat?” I exclaimed. What the hell had happened out there?
“And we all barely got out of there,” Sam continued over me. Those words made my stomach twist uncomfortably. I didn’t like the sound of that.Not one fucking bit.
“No,” I repeated. “Not a fuckin’ chance.”
“Just hold up a minute,” Ryder cut in, surprising me. Before I could say more, he held up a hand to shut me up. “Do you truly think any of us stand a chance against four vampires?”
“I do,” he said, nodding. “We have a plan—one that’ll work.”
“And I don’t fuckin’ care. It ain’t safe.”
“Look,” Sam stood a little taller, his shoulders squaring off, “we put a lot on the line to rescue you, including our lives. We have a chance to make sure that no one has to deal with them anytime soon. We can give you your lives back—at least, some part of it. And after that? That jet will take you wherever the hell you want to go.”
“I don’t like it—”
“Gray,” Ryder interrupted me. I turned to him, and he jerked his head slightly, indicating for me to follow him as he put some distance between him and Sam. I trailed after him, knowing full well I wasn’t about to like where this conversation was going.
“It’s a bad plan,” I whispered the moment we were alone, my tone harsh.
