them underfoot. "I always dressed in these short skirts and nerdy clothes because Maximus wanted me to. Said it turned him on. I'm through being someone's pet."
I squeezed her hand. "If there's anything I learned over the past few months, you just have to be yourself and to hell with those who don't like it."
"Thanks, Justin." Felicia dropped her hand from mine. "If we get out of this alive, that's exactly what I plan to do."
I glanced at Katie. "Where are Ash and Nyte? Do they know I'm here?"
She shook her head. "I just found out they're not here anymore. Maximus sent a whole group back to Atlanta."
I wanted to ask her how and why, but my questions could wait until we were clear of this hellhole.
"I'll need to scout ahead," Felicia said. "Katie, you know the exit by the dumpsters?"
Katie nodded. "I'll take him through the cellar."
"That's a great idea. It'd be too risky taking him up top." Felicia held up a finger and trotted down the hall. She returned with a sword encased in a leather scabbard. "I got you this in case you run into trouble." She held it out to me.
I took it and fumbled with the straps, trying to figure out which way it went. Before long, both women took over, strapping it over my shoulder. Katie closed the buckle and stood back a step.
"Reminds me of that time I went to see you fight all those other nerds in Kings and Castles." She smiled.
A grin caught me off guard as that unfortunate day came to mind. "Wasn't that the same day I got drunk and said all sorts of nasty things about you online?" Talk about bottom of the barrel. It had been the day before I'd hit incubus puberty.
"We really don't have time for this," Felicia said in a low hiss. "I'll go draw the guards off the cellar door. Follow me in fifteen minutes, and I'll meet you at the dumpsters. I doubt anyone will be back there. The odor is awful, especially with a supernatural sense of smell."
"They haven't been dumping bodies there have they?" I asked, horror constricting my chest at the thought of what all the vampires had been feeding on.
Felicia shook her head. "No, even Maximus isn't stupid enough to let his followers drain the locals. All the noms who want to be vampires have to let the others feed off them in the meantime. Otherwise, we'd have the cops busting down our doors." She checked the time on her phone and showed it to us. "Fifteen minutes, then you follow, okay?"
I nodded. Katie and I watched Felicia climb the spiral stairs and leave. Katie took my hand and gripped it tight.
"I'm nervous." Sweat dampened her palm.
I gave her a sideways hug. "We'll be fine." I sniffed my armpits. "Eww. I can't wait to take a proper shower."
"Oh, man," I said as a thought hit me.
"What's wrong?" Sweat dampened Katie's blonde hair. She tied it back to keep it out of her face.
I checked the time. Ten minutes to go. "Wait here. I'll be right back." I jogged into the room where Maximus held me prisoner. A panicked sense of claustrophobia struck me full on at the sight of my table. Taking a deep breath, I surveyed the room, looking at the long rows of tables. In a far, dark corner, I saw a shadowy hump atop one and strode to it. In the dim light, I made out the form of a man, still fully dressed in a suit, lying on the surface.
He stared blankly into space. I snapped my fingers and he jerked. My blue-tinged night vision hadn't come on yet, so I couldn't make out his features, just his general outlines.
"You will help me?" he said.
"Are you a vampire?"
"I am still unsure of my designation."
Whatever was wrong with this guy might slow me down, but my conscience told me it would be wrong to leave a poor, lobotomized dude tied down like this. Touching the straps restraining him didn't do anything, so I had to run back across the room to retrieve the bloody tissue Felicia had used to free me. I brushed it against each strap and they parted. The man sat up. Pivoted and set his feet on the ground. He stood in one fluid motion and looked at me.
"Thank you." His voice remained dull and almost without inflection.