Page 5 of Villains and Vengeance
Caught twice in one day. Luck isn’t with me right now, that’s for damn sure. My mind is racing, trying to figure out how I’m going to get out of this, wondering if I can use Gargantua a second time.
‘Dante is going to give us whatever we want for this,’ one of them breathes.
‘Where’s O’Toole?’
The two orcs seem to suddenly notice the webbing that’s all over the ground and spilling out of Gargantua’s tunnel. Both take a couple of steps back, looking wary.
That’s not what I want, I think as I begin to pluck at the web under my fingers. I’ve experimented with Siggy's web and even a couple of little strums usually gets her attention. Here’s hoping Gargantua isn’t going to be lazy now that she’s got her meal.
‘Looks like an arania got him.’
The other one rolls his eyes. ‘About time. That dumb cryptid was a liability.’
I keep playing with the web with one hand while I begin to unstick myself with the other and get ready to move. My shoes are well and truly embedded though, so I ease my feet out of them. This is why I keep my laces loose.
I feel a shudder in the silk.
She’s coming back.
Fast.
‘Can you help me, please?’ I ask in my best damsel voice, keeping some of my attention on the entrance to the arania’s home.
The two orcs look at each other and I swear I see their dicks start hardening at my helpless, pathetic state.
Orcs. Easy to read, even easier to play.
They both step forward at the same time to lift me up, practically tripping over each other to be the first to touch the female, but at the last second, I roll out of the webbing just as I see Gargantua out of the corner of my eye, getting ready to strike.
Holy fuck she’s massive and so, so fast that she gets them both in one attack.
A millisecond later, the lantern is smashed on the floor and all I can hear is the breathing.
I’m out of the web, but I still stay where I am. The arania is clearly in a hunting mood today and the last thing I need is to get caught by her too. I definitely won’t be able to talk my way out ofherclutches.
I don’t move until a minute after I hear her take them, getting to my feet and walking gingerly back down the tunnel. My shoes are lost for now, but maybe I can come back for them tomorrow morning when the aranias are usually napping.
I can’t help but think that maybe it’s time to get out of dodge. All signs seem to be pointing that way what with Dante clearly stepping up his search for me, and the arrival of that incubus clan whose money Imighthave run off with after I stole it out from under them.
I keep it together until I’m back in Siggy’s territory and only then do I give in to the fear, sagging against the wall and practically hyperventilating with my hand clamped over my mouth to stay quiet.
I’ve been lying low here for weeks and I’ve been in my share of dangerous situations, but that was way too fucking close!
I have to face facts. It’s not safe enough here anymore to be worth the risks of hiding out in an actual prison. I’m going to need to get out of the Mountain and, when I do, I’ve got to have another plan in place or all of this was for nothing.
I stand up, the terror already fading to the background as I go into problem-solving mode.
Siggy won’t be happy I’m leaving.
* * *
Iron
I’m hungry.Feeding should be the last thing on my mind right now. I mean, fuck! We’re inthe Mountainand the assholes who put us in here weren’t overly forthcoming about when we might be getting out, so odds are this is for life. No one escapes from this place, not unless they have friends in high places and, considering wewerethose friends, there’s no one on the outside who’s going to help us.
I look around, not letting my gaze fall on anyone in particular although I know it’s only a matter of time before I’m challenged. I’m a big guy and an even bigger demon and the order of the hierarchy is supreme in here. Plus, my tats show I was a marine once and there are plenty of supes who love to fuck with the guys who used to pretend they were normal to get by before the humans knew about us.
We follow the vampire down the corridors. I keep my focus on Maddox who’s just in front of me. His first step is to introduce us to the power in the Mountain.
