“Not yet,” she said from across the room. She’d been foraging through the drawers of a desk in the far end of the room.
“The keys are up there!” Vivienne said, pointing to a hook in the ceiling from which hung a dozen keys. “One of the hunters hung them right in front of us, just out of reach. A nice form of torture.”
I jumped and unhooked the keys. I started fumbling with each one until the lock to Vivienne’s cell finally clicked and the door swung open.
She flung herself into my arms. We hugged briefly, but then I pulled away to move on to the next cell. Eli had been put next door to Vivienne. He looked up at me with weary eyes, but his face broke out into a smile.
“Good job, Derek. We were really starting to worry,” Eli said.
Once I’d freed Eli, he rushed out to greet his brother Yuri. I quickly moved on to the others: Cameron, Landis and Claudia.
Just as we’d gathered everyone together, a snarl emerged from the far corner of the prison. The snarl grew into a bark. Oh, no. No. I’d forgotten about the dog in my frenzy and we were about to leave without him. He continued to bark and jump against the bars.
“Shut that dog up!” Zinnia seethed. “He’s going to get us all caught!”
I bolted over to his cell and unlocked it. He immediately jumped up at me and began licking my face. I grabbed his collar and led him to Eli, who bent down and tried to calm the huge animal.
But it was too late. Footsteps sounded over our heads. Gavin, who had been keeping watch on the floor above, came rushing down the staircase.
“Listen to me! All vampires, get back into your cells! Yuri and Liana, find cells of your own and shut the doors behind you! Just do as I say!”
Although they all looked bewildered, they obeyed. I took Shadow from Eli and shoved him back into his cell too, pushing the door until the lock clicked. Quickly catching on to Gavin’s train of thought, I swung the keys back over the hook on the ceiling.
Everyone returned to their places just in time before two burly young hunters came staggering down the steps.
Zinnia moved forward and greeted them. “Oh, hey, Joshua. Hey, Tyler,” she said smoothly. “How are you two? We just came to add a couple more vampires to the lot. Arron’s orders, ya know. Sorry we disturbed you. I didn’t realize you had a noisy dog down here too. He got a bit over-excited.”
She walked over and wrapped an arm around both men’s shoulders, kissing them each on the cheek.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you two. I’ve missed you.”
The clenching of Gavin’s jaw didn’t escape my notice. But otherwise, he was doing a good job at keeping his face expressionless.
“I missed you too, Zinnia,” Joshua said, returning the kiss. From the slur of his voice and the redness of both men’s eyes, the two had poured themselves a glass of wine too many.
Tyler looked a little more suspicious as he glanced around the room. “Who are those two? And what are they doing here?” He narrowed his eyes on Gavin and me, who were the only others outside of the cells.
“Oh, don’t mind them,” Zinnia purred. “They’re new recruits at Headquarters and helped me bring the vamps here.” She snaked her arm around Tyler’s waist and stood on her tiptoes so her face was barely an inch away from his. “Mmm. I’m pretty thirsty actually. I fancy some of what you two have been having. Smells good. And, God knows, it’s been ages since I’ve spent a night in good company.”
Tyler glanced around the room once more but seemed too wound up in Zinnia’s charms to give the situation much further thought. The three of them made their way back up toward the exit.
Just as Zinnia was about to close the door behind them, she threw a quick glance back at Gavin and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
Once their footsteps had faded away, Gavin scowled, but he shrugged it off quickly. “Well, she did what she had to do,” he said. “Now, before anything else happens, let’s get these vampires out of here.”
I reopened all the locks, which was thankfully easier the second time around. Eli grabbed hold of Shadow once again and we all climbed up the steps and hurried across the top deck, back to the metal railing.
The speedboat was still where we had left it. Gavin leaped onto the roof first, and then I assisted each vampire one by one in jumping over, where Gavin waited to help them keep their balance and lower them down through the window.
Finally, only Shadow and myself were left on the ship. I helped the massive animal perch on the edge of the railing and hurled him off. He landed with a thud on the roof and very nearly sent Gavin skidding into the rough waters. Eli reached out from below and helped Shadow climb clumsily down into the boat’s control room, almost falling into the waves himself.
I looked back across the dark wet deck toward the direction in which Zinnia had vanished. I wondered what the men would do to her in the morning once they’d realized all the vampires had vanished during the night.
Something told me though that the small hunter would find a way to wrangle herself out of it. I chuckled softly before thrusting myself off the railing.
Chapter 28: Sofia
Craig had been surprisingly easy to deal with. He’d made no attempt to give me trouble as we waited for Derek and the others to return. He barely spoke a word. Admittedly, I’d had my claws extended the entire time we were sitting together, and had placed my hands on my knees so they were clearly visible to him.
As soon as they had arrived back and slid safely down into the boat’s cockpit, Derek barked at Craig to start the engine and speed us away.
Despite the cabin now being cramped—with a soggy Shadow hogging an unholy amount of space—Derek squeezed over to me. I reached for his wet face and examined him, relieved that he appeared to be unscathed. He slid his hands down my body and wrapped them around my hips, pulling me closer to him in a tight embrace. He caught my lips between his and kissed me intensely. He didn’t say anything, but I knew from the look in his eyes what was going through his mind. He’d been afraid something could have gone wrong while I was alone with Craig.
Our kiss was interrupted rather unceremoniously by a third party. Something coarse and wet slapped against my cheek. Shadow was attacking me with his smelly snake-like tongue.
“Urgh, thanks.” I grimaced, wiping my face against my sleeve. “It’s good to see you again too, Shadow.” The dog placed his front paws on my knees, flattening them against the hard wooden bench.