Don't Touch My Men - Helen Scott Page 0,68

wonder if our worst fear had come to pass. Had the Horseman somehow gotten his hands on his head? Was Mae dead? Incapacitated? Worse? If she was in trouble, then the guys were as well.

Being stuck in here was going to drive me crazy, I just knew it. If I could get to the deadside, it would all be different, but I couldn’t, not with these damn magic cuffs on.

“Grim,” someone hissed, and it had panic rolling through me.

I lunged to the edge of my cage, praying that it wasn’t the voice I thought it was. As soon as my sister’s face came into view, I spun from the bars and punched the wall. My knuckles split open on impact with the wall.

“Someone is a bit grumpy,” Adelle whispered.

“You would be too if your sister had just walked into a death trap.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that feeling when one of Fang’s vamps told me where you were.” She crossed her arms and scowled at me. “Different when the shoe is on the other foot, isn’t it, Azrael?”

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” I said, pleading with her.

“No, I’m going to get you out.” She grinned at me.

“Is Fang here with you?”

“No, the Horseman would have sensed him, since he’s so powerful. It’s just a few of his men, which is why we need to do this fast.” Adelle pulled her lock-picking kit from her back pocket and went to work on my cell door.

“Listen, I traded myself temporarily so that Mae could go and find the Horseman’s head, but I think he’s got it and she’s not back, and neither are the guys. Or if they are, then they’re already dead.” Adelle glanced up at me with fear in her eyes for the first time since she strode into the dungeon, and it was like a knife to the gut. “I can’t leave yet. If the Horseman has his head, or maybe just part of it, I don’t know, either way I’m the only one that can stop him. I don’t know how I’m going to do it with his banshee around, but if I don’t try, then I won’t be able to live with myself. I can’t do that and worry about you though.” As I finished speaking, the lock clicked and Adelle pulled it open.

She stepped forward and gave me a hug. “I get it. Maybe I can distract the banshee?”

“No, you need to get out of here. I can’t worry about you too.”

“Okay, I hear you. What if I ask Fang’s men to help?”

I wanted to say no, to tell her it was all too risky, but the truth was I stood a snowflake’s chance in hell of killing this bastard on my own. My only chance was surprise, which meant that the banshee had to be out of the picture. Finally, I nodded.

“Well, you better get going then, make sure you’re not caught and put back in a cage. I don’t think I’d be able to sneak in again.”

I stepped out and pulled her into another hug. We hadn’t always seen eye to eye, but we always showed up when we needed each other, even if we didn’t expect it. I walked out of the dungeon and toward the main hall, ducking into rooms here and there when I could hear people coming. The closer I got, the louder the Horseman’s voice became.

There was more than one entrance to the auditorium, I knew that because of the stage I’d seen when I was in there the last time. Stages always had side entrances. As I tried to find my way back toward the side entrance, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d abandoned Adelle. She’d busted in there and gotten me out when I couldn’t do it myself, and then I’d just left her.

The longer I thought about it, the less my feet seemed to want to carry me in the right direction.

Fuck.

I needed to make sure she got out okay, or I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.

Decision made, I turned and ran back the way I’d come, until I saw her blonde and pink hair going around a corner that would put her straight in front of the Horseman’s auditorium. I switched directions and went after her.

“Adelle,” I hissed at her when we were in the same hallway.

She froze and turned to face me.

“What are you doing? I thought you were leaving!”

“I’m going to kill that damn banshee. Stop thinking like my older brother