the smallest of the ten Vissimo, threw her an amused glance. “Jealous, Vera?”
“No,” she snapped back.
“Then I’m not sure this job detailed remarking on the human’s appearance.” The short woman faced me.
I peered out at the female who’d come to my defence. She could be a potential ally.
She met my gaze and frowned, reaching into her pocket.
“What?” she snarled into the phone.
Sliding the phone away a moment later, she smiled. “He’s left the tower alone. They’ve certainly exchanged blood twice?”
The ten Vissimo turned to me and inhaled in unison. My heart hammered. They could smell Kyros on me?
“Yes,” she purred. “He will feel her location. He’ll come directly here.” Her eyes snapped to the triplets. “He should be mindless with the urge to protect her, but there are measures in place if this isn’t the case?”
My mind tripped over the feeling her location part, but I didn’t have time to contemplate it right now. I needed to get all the information I could and escape.
The middle triplet rolled his eyes. “What do you think, Gina?”
Telling the three apart was impossible.
She approached him, showing fang. “I think you know better than to disrespect me, little brother.”
Whoa, little brother?
Was everyone in this basement related?
He schooled his features, and I darted looks between them. Okay, so she was in control, but also seemed the nicest. Which probably meant I shouldn’t trust her one bit.
Listening to their conversation, I dropped my gaze to the glass embedded in my stomach. If I had to run, this thing could do more damage. Until I had to move, it could stay put.
Peeking through my lashes, I studied my prison.
The cage was large enough to sit back on my heels. The four corners were bolted down. There wasn’t any door.
Shit.
If Kyros was coming now, there was no time to wait for a tidy plan. Waiting—though it catered to my fear—felt like a big, six-foot-deep mistake.
“I need a doctor,” I slurred. It wasn’t all an act. I was bizarrely grateful to be wearing leather. Who knew how much glass would have embedded in my body otherwise.
One of the triplets smirked. “Your heartbeat is strong.”
Fucking vampire senses.
Escaping the basement while surrounded by ten vampires was unlikely for a human, but maybe I just had to mess with their plan to capture Kyros. Undo one part of their strategy so the rest imploded.
I scanned the basement. The floor was polished concrete, but otherwise followed the recipe of most underground storage spaces. Shelves lined the walls, odds and ends—buckets, boxes, tools, were strewn across the floor. A short set of wooden stairs led to a white door. Exit.
The walls were formed of heavy concrete blocks.
Only one exit.
I inhaled and stilled at the acrid smell.
Petrol.
Gripping my side, I leaned forward onto all fours and located the source. Two huge cans of the stuff sat around a cleared area directly in front of me.
Vissimo could be killed with fire. Kyros said the stronger the vampire, the longer they took to burn. Which meant he’d suffer unimaginably.
Swinging my hair forward, I studied the cleared space between the petrol cans. It was irregular with the rest of the flooring. I took a second look at the strewn items throughout the basement.
My eyes rounded.
They weren’t strewn!
The items were a funnel to the cleared space. And that area was positioned directly in front of my cage. I had no idea what to expect from Kyros. He hadn’t seemed mindless while I was in the tower. Though he’d said that his condition would worsen if I left his territory. If the female vampire here expected him to be mindless, I was inclined to listen. And that meant Kyros would run for me without hesitation.
That couldn’t happen.
Decision made, I sat up, channelling my grandmother’s strength. Gripping the glass shard in my stomach carefully, I yanked it out.
I tossed the glass aside, hunching over as I swallowed my scream. I pressed my shaking hands to the burning wound.
“What the fuck is the crazy bitch doing?”
My head spun, and I choked on a laugh—not having thought past the ripping out the shard part.
Time to act.
“You thought you had it all figured out.” I panted. “Didn’t you realise I’ve been a fucking prisoner in that tower? Watched around the clock. I’m not going back there.”
I reached for the glass shard. It was slippery with my own blood.
Fumbling, I slowly lifted the shard to my throat.
“Stop her!” someone shouted.
Please stop me.
I moved the glass shard in a sweeping motion.
One triplet ripped the entire cage