Page 79 of Auctioned for Her Blood
“This way.” I lead her down the hallway. Ryker saying the name Ricky proves Diederik is with him.
Sensing movement behind us, I turn to see that the orgy participants are filing out of the room we passed. At least they’re heading the other direction. Likely Ryker’s screams disturbed their activities.
Following the sounds, I lead her through a labyrinth of tunnels and then, as I peer around a corner, I spot two burly guards standing in front of a door to our right. Another scream fills the air. Very close now.
“Wait here,” I tell her, but she shakes her head, telling me with her eyes that there’s no chance that she will let me leave her behind.
“Please,” I say. “Stay here. If you come, you will make it more dangerous forhim, and for me.” Arguments about her own safety clearly have little effect.
Sighing, she presses her back against the stone wall. But the look in her eyes does not reassure me that she will stay put. Alas, I cannot do anything to control her.
I squeeze her hand, before I leave her. Turning the corner, I button my suit jacket before I stride up to the guards, keeping my shoulders back, my face firm in a display of authority. This is a DEFTA facility—or I assume that it is. I am a senior executive and these men are prison guards.
“Let me through.”
The guards widen their stances, fully blocking the door with their bodies. “No one gets in.”
I scowl. “I am DEFTA’s Senior Vice President of Research and Compliance.”
The guards look at each other and shrug, clearly unsure what to do.
I raise my voice. “I demand entrance. Tell Diederik, or whomever is in charge, that Zuben is here.”
The door opens behind the guards, revealing Diederik.
Not only is this confirmation that we are in some kind of DEFTA run secret prison, Diederik will know that Ember and I were incarcerated in error, and will release us.
I am about to beckon Ember to join me, but then Octavia steps up to join Diederik, and I pause. Better to err on the side of caution. Until I know what is going on, I do not want to expose Ember to Octavia, to anyone.
Alone in the hallway, the risk to Ember is high, but it would be many times higher if Octavia links her to my research. And I don’t know how Ryker will act if he sees her. The pirate fed from her… Does he already know what her blood can do?
“Join us,” Octavia says sharply. “Why did you take so long to respond to my summons?”
“Your summons?” The guards part, I step into the room, and the door is closed behind me.
Ryker is sitting in a chair about twenty feet away, bound with silver cuffs at his ankles, wrists and throat. Naked, he is breathing heavily, clearly recovering from whatever induced his last round of pain.
“You!” He glares at me. “This isyourfucking doing? I’ll kill you!”
I do not want to point out that he has no chance of killing me while strapped to a chair in a dungeon. That truth is obvious and it seems cruel to state.
A guard, dressed fully in leather, including a face covering, steps up to Ryker and puts a gag in his mouth. The pirate struggles against it, but the guard pulls back on the silver around Ryker’s throat and the pirate stops moving as smoke rises from the burns on his neck.
I turn to find Octavia glaring at me.
“I did not receive a summons,” I tell her.
“Nonsense. I called for you as soon as we had Ryker in custody,” she snaps. “What took you so long to arrive?”
“I have been in custody too. I have been down here in…wherever we are.”
She blinks, and then turns toward Diederik. “Is this true?”
Diederik starts laughing, and although it has been a century since I have resorted to any form of violence, the urge to punch his smug face is overwhelming. Octavia glares at Diederik and he swallows his chuckles.
“I didn’t know Zuben was taken.” Diederik clasps his hands behind his back. “As you commanded, my team brought in any vampire found with Ryker.” He gestures toward me. “Guess he was with him. My guys were just following orders.”
Octavia shakes her head. “Well, you are here now, Zuben.Finally. But it seems you were wrong about Ryker.”
