To Love a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,48

spine, comforting me as I fall apart.

“They took him… Again,” I say in a gasp.

“I know. We’ll get him back.”

Her hand drifts to my upper arm and she lifts me from my defeated slump.

I take another shaking breath and try my best to listen to her reasoning. We need to think this through. We can get him back. We will. We have to.

“How many of them were there?” I ask, turning toward Declan.

He stands at Kaino’s side, the two commanders waiting for my instruction.

“One.”

My back stiffens as anger fuels my body. “One?” I repeat in an exasperated tone. “How did one human overpower the two of you?” I’m striding toward him, adrenaline and irrationality controlling my heavy steps.

“He shot off a dart into Asher’s shoulder. I…I didn’t stick around to wait for the dart with my name on it.”

Kaino remains standing with perfect posture as he turns his head slowly toward the hybrid at his side. “You left him there? You left a fellow warrior behind?”

“He isn’t a warrior,” Declan replies, his eyes narrowing to thin slits. “I could have gotten us all captured if I had stuck around.”

My fists clench at my side but I don’t have time to discuss this right now.

I trail down the dirt path, the deep divots and rough rocks disrupting my determined pace. Luca, Kaino, and Declan follow close behind. The four of us cling to the shadows, which isn’t hard to do in the dead of night.

The towering brick walls of the compound come into view and a bit of respite seeps through me. The white truck that took him away is parked outside. A single guard stands watch at the entrance of the building.

We assess the area from a few yards away, crouched behind a large and pungent smelling garbage bin. It reeks of rotting food, and… carcasses. My stomach churns, threatening to throw up the smell that’s strangling my lungs.

“Kaino, do you think you can manage the guard?” Luca asks, leaning around the dumpster for a closer look.

The warrior nods, his face stern as he begins to stand.

“I’ll do it,” Declan says, taking a single step before my hand wraps tightly around his wrist.

“No, Kaino will manage,” I tell him through gritted teeth, not chancing a glance at the hybrid I’m now beginning to doubt.

Kaino stalks through the night, his boots picking up pace the closer and closer he strides toward the man. In a flash, he appears before the guard. His large hands covering the man’s mouth and majority of his face as muffled screams are heard.

The two of them stand like that for several moments, the sounds becoming more and more faint with each passing second until the man’s body loses strength. He slumps forward and Kaino finally releases him. He drops to the ground, his legs crumpled awkwardly beneath him.

The three of us join the commander. “He won’t be out long,” Kaino tells us, his deep eyes expressionless as he looks at me.

A small part of me warms, seeing him as a real friend for the very first time. Kaino could have easily killed that man. It would have been easier, safer even. But he didn’t.

Drawing my sword, I grip the cold metal handle and open the door. The lobby is vacant and dark, void of the staff that once filled this morbid facility. I glance toward the work chamber that the hybrids once filled. Through the window, an empty and messy room is seen as if the hybrids were jerked from this place without notice.

I can’t help but wonder if too much damage was done. Shaw released countless veil into the world just to capture Asher. Too many lives were lost, his own life was lost. The government had to do clean up and they couldn’t risk someone else jeopardizing their precious pikes the way Shaw did.

Or perhaps they just wanted to use them first hand…

With cautious steps, I move farther into the compound, my body hugging the wall of the hallway as we walk to where the tests were done. I’m not familiar with the layout of the compound. When my mother worked here, I chose to stay in the lobby, but I know the awful things that must have happened here. My nerves can almost sense the wrongness of this place. The years of abuse that stains the walls, I can physically feel it crawling over my skin.

Looking around the corner, I spot a single guard sitting outside a steel door. His head is tipped