"You can do this, Kylie. Go!" He waved her away. "Hurry."
Kylie did what Lucas told her to do. She started flying back. Too fast.
She concentrated until she found how to reduce her speed. Then she looked down. She saw a skyline. Houston skyline. She dropped lower until she saw a large building, the Toyota Center, she recognized it. Then she remembered her father had taken her downtown into the Houston tunnels.
Flying through the tunnel, unstopped by the walls, Kylie didn't slow down until she saw herself. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
Seeing oneself slumped over in a chair, chained like a scene in a horror movie, freaked her out. She heard a noise. The iron door began to open. She felt herself falling into her body.
"No!" She had to get back to Lucas. She had to give him directions on how to find her.
Chapter Thirty-four
Fighting the pull to move back into her body, Kylie swung around and flew back the way she'd come. The speed prevented her from breathing.
Someone called her name. Not Lucas. It was the old vampire.
The clouds were thick. Wasn't Lucas just through the layer of fog? She felt herself being yanked back. She was about to wake up. "Lucas, I'm in the Houston Tunnel System. Under the Toyota building. Can you hear me?"
"What are you doing?" the dark, rusty voice growled. Kylie jerked her eyes open. The old vampire stared at her. She remembered she couldn't lie. "Dreaming."
"What kind of dream? I felt the energy."
"A disturbing one. I ... used to have night terrors when I was younger."
No lie there.
He appeared resigned to believe her, but remained suspicious. Was there something for him to be suspicious about? Had Lucas heard her?
"I have some old friends interested in meeting you. For your own wellbeing, I hope you will be on your best behavior."
"Who are they? And why do they want to meet me?"
"I think, Kylie Galen, that you are even more special than you know."
"How am I special?"
He didn't answer. "If you can tell me that you will not try to escape, I will release the chains."
The thought of having the heavy metal bracelets removed sounded like heaven. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but they would have been a lie.
"We both know that if there is a way to escape I will take it. Your job is to make sure there isn't a way."
He laughed. "I appreciate your honesty."
"Enough to unchain me?"
"Not that much," he said.
She met his aged gray eyes. "I see no way to escape the room. Unless you believe I have the power to overtake you when the door is open.
And since I can't break these chains, are you saying that your powers are weaker than this metal?"
He studied her. "You are very intelligent, my child. Dare I worry that you are as cunning as you are smart?"
"If I was that smart and cunning, would I be here?"
"Let's compromise." He closed his eyes and the metal bracelets around her arms and one from one ankle disappeared. Her right ankle was now attached to a long heavy chain.
Shocked at his ability, she stared at him. "What are you?"
He smiled. "See, I am already winning your respect."
"You misread curiosity for respect," she countered.
His eyes tightened, but a slight smile crept from behind his anger.
"What are you?" she asked again.
He folded his aged arms over his chest. "What's wrong, dear? Are the similarities frightening?" With that, he disappeared into the thin, cold air.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she yelled, and stood to see how far she could get with the chain attached to her ankle.
No nearly far enough.
Kylie tried to fall back asleep, to get back to Lucas, but she couldn't.
She could only hope her message had gotten through and that he'd already phoned Burnett and they were on the way here now. How long would it take?
What if they didn't come? What if her message never got through? She attempted to pull the chain free, but her strength wasn't there. What was it with her strength? Why did it come and go?
Kylie started pacing, dragging the chain as she went. She couldn't reach the thick door, though it wouldn't have mattered if she had.
When the vampire had disappeared, so had the doorknob. Opening it would have been impossible. Still she paced and tried to come up with a way out, with or without any help from Burnett. She glanced back at the door with its missing knob. What the hell was he? And what had he meant by that whole similarity crap?
The chain clattered against the concrete floor. She remembered she hadn't phoned her mom before she left Sara's house and she hoped like heck that she wasn't worried. Turning again, pacing toward the right wall this time, Kylie was surprised to hear voices. Was the old man back with his friends? She stopped moving and listened.
It wasn't the old dude's voice, but that of the rogue. Oh, great, was he planning on visiting again? Her body tensed and she looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. Before her gaze swept the room, she heard the rogue's voice clearer.
"Who are you and what are doing snooping around here?"
Where were the voices coming from? She hesitated and moved closer to the wall. Suddenly, a loud thump sounded as if something heavy had been tossed across the room.
Or someone?
Her heart stopped. She moved even closer to the wall trying to see if the voices were coming from behind the wall. Another clatter echoed and she felt almost certain that it was.
"You will tell me!" the rogue hissed.
Fear filled her gut. Who was the rogue talking to? Was it ... was it someone who'd come looking for her? Her thoughts and heart shot to Lucas.
"Unchain me and fight like a man!" Lucas's voice roared.
Her chest swelled with regret. She'd gone to him for help and ... "Why? You would only fight like the dog you are." A loud thud followed, and Kylie knew Lucas had taken a blow.
Her muscles tightened. A surge of energy shot through her. She grabbed the chain with one hand and yanked it out of the concrete.
Then, turning to the wall, she charged at it with her shoulder. Only a flicker of a second before she hit did she consider how it might hurt.
Oddly, she felt nothing. Chucks of concrete fell around her. She knocked the big pieces from her face and then, realizing she stood on the other side of the room, she stared through the cloud of dust. Lucas lay on his side, still chained to a chair, much like the one she'd been in moments earlier. She saw his face, a bloody mess, and his eyes were closed as if he was unconscious.