and slammed me against the ceiling. I thudded face down in the dirt.
"Justin?"
"Elyssa?" I woozily crawled forward and saw her lying beneath Fausta.
"Oh, god!" Tears sprang into her eyes. "It's Justin!"
Elyssa tried to get around Fausta, but the tunnel was too tight.
"Ugh, can't you wait to get aboveground before getting all smoochy?" Fausta said, motioning for Elyssa to ascend the ladder behind her. She followed.
I climbed up after, breathing free air at last with the compound a hundred yards or so behind me. Elyssa launched herself into my arms, planting kisses all over my face. I felt like I'd just won the Kings and Castles Grand Tourney, even if I did smell a bit ripe from captivity.
"Are you hurt?" I asked. "I thought you guys were vampires."
Elyssa's full lips spread into a beautiful smile. "Hurt? You're alive. If you want, I can fly."
Just the sound of her voice sent a wonderful chill down my back.
"Oh no, dear, what's wrong?" Bella said from somewhere behind.
I turned to see Katie pulling herself out of hole, sobbing. She shook her head. "I—I—"
The gray man emerged behind Katie.
"Son of a—!" Elyssa ripped her sword from its sheath.
I jumped in front of him and threw up my hands to ward off his quick dismemberment. Strong arms gripped my waist. Before I could get out a word, he flung me over a shoulder and ran.
"Stop!" I shouted as he rushed down an alley at breakneck speed. I looked up to see Elyssa and several others in hot pursuit. "Where are you going?"
"The other entity wishes you great harm, Justin," he said, his voice not the least bit strained from exertion. "Her sword could be detrimental to your health."
"Stop, stop, stop! She's not trying to kill me. She's my girlfriend."
"Are you certain? She appears dangerous."
"She's not after me. She's after you."
He stopped so suddenly, I was surprised I didn't fly off his shoulder. "Should I leave you and continue to flee?"
I sighed. "Put me down. I'll save you."
He placed me on my feet a split second before Elyssa and Fausta, swords drawn, reached us. I held up my hands. "Wait. He's with me!"
Elyssa's violet eyes blazed. "Justin, he's a freaking golem. How can he be with you?"
"Trust me on this." I noticed the golem edging away from us ever so slightly, and motioned him back over. "I'll explain it when we get back to the group."
"This is one of the golems you told me of?" Fausta said to Elyssa.
"Yeah." My girlfriend shook her head and furrowed her lovely brow. "How do you do it, Justin?"
I caressed her cheek with a hand and pressed a kiss to her lips before whispering, "I'm just a badass."
Fausta groaned. "In case you don't remember, we're on a mission to save Templars, people. We can't waste any more time on lovesick teenagers."
"Wait, you're going in there?" I said, jabbing a finger at Maximus's fortress.
Elyssa nodded. "I'll explain on the way back."
We jogged back to the hatch and Elyssa told me about their plan of attack.
"Ugh, this is not how I envisioned spending my first day of freedom." I took Elyssa's hand. "But there's no way in the world I'm letting you go back in there without me."
"Justin," said a sharp male voice and Adam Nosti appeared. "Where's Felicia?"
A knot of dread caught in my throat. "She freed me, and was supposed to meet us so we could all leave at once. But she didn't show up."
"And you left her in there?" he stared incredulously at the walled compound.
"I didn't have a choice," I said. "A group of vampires was shooting at us. We had to get out of there."
"So you're saying that tunnel could be full of vampires?" Fausta said. "Merda!"
I shook my head. "No, I don't think they found the hatch. I closed it behind us and it's pretty well hidden."
Fausta lowered her ear to the open portal and listened. "I don't hear anything. Maybe you're right." She pulled out her phone and started issuing commands.
I turned and saw Bella hugging a distraught Katie who still shook with sobs. Someone gripped my shoulder. I turned to see Adam all up in my face.
"How could you?" Adam said, his face crimson. "We talked about this, man. Both our sisters are in trouble."
"No. Mine wasn't in there," I said. "It was a lie."
"My sister saved you, and you didn't even make sure she got out okay?" His eyes glinted with anger. "Son of a bitch."