there, and he needed to find the angle to set them free.
He watched, and waited.
This was a funny building, the Bastil e, a circular, stone tower that rose right up to the sky. It almost looked like a lighthouse in the center of the city. There were no windows
— just a few iron bars here and there. Kyle spotted the multiple layers of silver bars, and knew why they were there.
Inside, deep underground, lay seven of the most vicious creatures that had walked the planet. He had heard that, in addition to the silver, there was another layer of a special metal instal ed, to contain them. He needed to find out exactly which type of metal it was. Once he did, he would know what he needed to break it.
Kyle saw his opportunity, and moved quick. As the shift changed, one of the guards moved just a little bit slower than the others, on the far side of the building. Kyle crept up behind him, and before he could react, reached up and snapped his neck.
The man col apsed, lifeless, and as he did, Kyle grabbed the key off his waist. It was a long, silver skeleton key, and Kyle turned and opened the lock on the silver door. He could have kicked it down, but he didn’t want to cal attention to himself. He was stil vastly outnumbered, and he didn’t know the extent of their protection and didn’t want to risk a confrontation.
Kyle dragged the body so that it would not be detected, and shut the door behind them.
Kyle turned and surveyed his surroundings. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only light that came in came from way up high, through bars high above. It was a circular structure inside as wel , with the corridors shaped in steep circles, rising and fal ing from the top of the tower to the basement. It was al stone.
Kyle headed down. He knew that down there, deep in the bowels of the earth, would be where they were locked up.
As he descended level after level, deeper than he imagined possible, hundreds of feet beneath the earth, final y, the staircase ended in a wal . He knew there had to be something behind it.
Kyle took several steps back and charged, putting his shoulder into it. The wal gave way, stone col apsing everywhere in a big crash. He hadn’t wanted to cal such attention to himself, but he saw no other choice.
As he suspected, he saw the staircase continue of the other side, descending even further down.
He took off at a sprint, knowing there was no time to lose.
Final y, he reached it. The staircase ended in massive columns of silver bars, thicker than he had ever seen. More important, he could tel right away that they were coated in some kind of material.
As he reached out to touch them, he felt a burning in his palms, and felt himself being repel ed. This metal was too toxic, even for him.
He gazed closely, trying to detect what it was. Final y, he realized: titanium. The most toxic of al metals for vampires.
He looked past them, and saw additional layers of bars behind them.
He had no doubt now that the savage seven were being kept here.
Kyle heard a faint rumbling noise. As he leaned in, suddenly a long, yel ow claw reached out of the blackness, towards the bars. This was fol owed by a hideous face, with long, orange fangs, drooling. He could smel its rotten breath, even from here. Ancient, primordial creatures, the savage seven were too hideous too look at, even for Kyle, and he had to turn away. For a moment, he felt relieved that they were locked up, and he second-guessed releasing them.
Would he be unleashing a danger greater than even he could control?
But he had no choice. These creatures were just what he needed to unleash a monumental chaos upon the city, and to catch and kil Caitlin. He’d have to risk it.
Don’t worry, he thought, I’l come back for you and set you free.
As if reading his mind, the other six suddenly appeared, too, snarling back.
Suddenly, Kyle heard a rattling behind him. He spun to see several guards bearing down on him.
He was surprised they were so close: they had been quicker than he’d expected.
Before he could react, Kyle felt himself being picked up and slammed into the silver bars. He felt pain rack through his