He was staring out the door, so I tapped him to let him know I was ready to go. When he turned to look at me, I was startled and almost fell back. He was wearing her goggles and mask. My heart raced at what this could possibly mean but I didn’t voice my concerns. We were going to get out of here together. That was all that mattered.
Sticking our head out the door, we scanned left and right in case there were any other guards around us. There were none. We walked up the hall slowly, making sure our footfalls didn’t make too much noise. There were cement walls in between several doors leading to who knows where. Blood covered most of them and I wondered which one was mine.
Vik took several turns and so far, we hadn’t run into any more vampires or humans.
Maybe this Katherine had set all of this in motion just for him. It seemed personal. And the way he whispered her name after he saw her face…
A pang of something hit me.Mal contigo—what’s wrong with you, girl? You’re not possibly jealous over that perra?
Was I?No, this feeling was something else. I hated her. I hated the fact that she put us through this.
Vik tapped my legs as we both held ourselves closer to the wall. “Keep close,” he instructed. I nodded even though he was still facing forward and not looking at me.
This was the Vik I hadn’t seen. The one that trained us at Black Hollow. The one I wanted to follow into battle. I chuckled inwardly.
Be careful what you ask for, Inés.
Each step was one closer to freedom. Where was the damn exit to this place? I was a bit groggy but I made sure to follow tightly behind him. Vik was still shirtless and I winced at the slow healing wounds that were on his skin. There was no time for pity, though.
I was still wondering how Vik came about those vials and what was in it when he took another turn down another corridor. Whatever was in those vials, whatever blood that was could be a turning point for the war between humans and vampires.
“Vik,” I whispered.
We walked for almost an hour and my legs were getting fatigued.
“Vik, what was in those vials?” I asked finally.
He stopped and turned to look at me. The goggles and mask he wore were creepy. I knew it wasn’t her but my heart raced as if it was. My body tensed as if I needed to brace myself for what was to come.
Vik raised his arm slowly and I flinched. When his warm palm landed on my shoulder, my body took a few moments before it sagged in relief. He pulled me into a tight embrace and whispered against my ear.
“Animal blood.”
I pulled back and stared at him. “How do you know that?”
“Because they live off human blood. What other blood could it be? The probability of other vampire blood doing what it did to them in there is low. It had to be animal blood.”
His voice cracked at the end and my eyes widened. He didn’t mean…
He quickly turned back around to lead us out of this crazy place. After a few moments, my steps became slower and slower, my breathing labored.
“We have to move. I know you're tired, exhausted, but we don't have time to rest. I promise you more are coming and the reaper is going to collect.”
Thiscabrón, this fucker, was talking nonsense. What was up with this Reaper thing? I was too scared to ask. I just wanted to get out of here.
Suddenly, the sound of a door could be heard opening and shutting up ahead. The hair on my body stood up as my hands began to shake, grasping onto Vik’s waistband.
Vik stopped and looked around. He placed his hand back and tapped me. He said something under his breath but I couldn’t hear it because of the mask.
Footsteps echoed and I trembled.
Vik turned toward me and lowered his voice against my cheek. “Get ready to fight, Inés. Can you do that for me?”
I shut my eyes and let the tears fall. “I’m scared. I don’t want to go through that again.”
He caressed my face with his hand and tilted my face up. “We won’t. I promise you. I’ll keep you safe. Don’t die on me, Inés. We do this together.”
I stared into his goggles and my own fearful eyes stared back at me. He was right. I needed to find that woman again, the one who followed this man into the woods hell bent on being his backup when no one else would. I needed to show him that I wasn’t a liability and that I could help keep us alive too.
