Elevator fight in 3 … 2 … 1…
Slipping my hands into my boot I yanked out a blade. At the same time Kyle pulled one from a secret pocket right near his junk. Brave dude.
All fake drunkenness gone, we had the complete element of surprise. Gripping the knife tightly, I sprang up and whammed the hilt up into meaty #1’s nose, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone. As he leaned forward to grab his face I came down hard with the butt of my heavy blade and cracked at the base of the skull. The entire two-step maneuver had been fast and smooth. The sexy six would be proud of me. Those sergeant hardasses had been drilling this type of knock-out move into me over and over in training. Nice to know the boys riding my ass in the least sexy way was actually paying off.
Meaty #1 fell and I looked up just in time to see Kyle snap meaty #2’s neck. Okay, so I guess if you caught them off guard, fighting a vamp wasn’t so bad. Kyle gave me a fist bump and then I returned my knife to my boot, thankful I hadn’t had to use the pointy end. The elevator was three floors from reaching the Pit so I quickly slipped my hand inside my dress and came up with two stainless steel razor-wire zip ties.
Kyle raised his eyebrow. “Damn, girl.”
I winked, handing him one of the ties. We both made quick work of strapping the meaties’ hands behind their backs. Then, as the elevator dinged and the doors started to open, Kyle smoothed his hair and I checked myself for blood.
Before stepping out, I pulled the button to pause the elevator. We were definitely going to need to make a quick escape. Then we quickly dragged the meat twins out and deposited them off to the side of the main entrance.
Leaving them, we crossed the dank, underground area. I started praying Lucas had come through for us. Without him, the rest of the plan would sink. Moving toward the bright reception spot, we approached the old-looking guard, Marty, who basically lived down here and knew everything about this place.
My blood turned to ice when another figure stepped into the light and I realized Marty was talking to a member of the Quorum. A female. She was one of the more silent members but I remembered her making rude jokes when they drew my blood last. She was on my bitch list.
There was nowhere for Kyle and me to hide, and since the sound of our footsteps had already echoed through the tunnel, we were immediately spotted. As she took a step toward us, her eyes blazed in anger.
Shit. Not part of the plan. Marty was supposed to be alone and Sam was supposed to have wired a large sum of money into his human family’s bank account to ensure his cooperation. Lucas said Marty hated being relegated down here to the bowels of the Hive, hidden away. He had plenty of beef with vampires and therefore made the perfect ally.
With no other option, Kyle set off at a sprint, charging the Quorum member. Marty didn’t even hesitate to jump out of the way, so I was guessing he was still in on the plan. I pulled my knife out again and charged down the narrow and dark hall right behind Kyle.
Quorum bitch stood there dumbfounded, her jaw slack. The last thing she’d expected was that we’d attack her—lowly ash should only bow to vamps.
She took a step back, recovering enough to sneer at us. “You wouldn’t!”
Kyle slammed into her. They hit the ground as he threw out an elbow, cracking her in the throat. I used my height advantage to leap over them, landing on the other side of the grappling pair, turning back to try and find a way to help my friend.
The Quorum member was nailing Kyle—who was on top—with her red talon claws. The moment she had a good grip on his biceps, she threw him so hard into the air his back cracked into the ceiling. Oh hell to the no, bitch!
She didn’t even see me coming. My hand flew down hard, jamming the knife into her eye. A scream ripped from her as Kyle landed on all fours next to her. He stumbled a little from the fall, but recovered in an instant to dive across her and wrap his hands around her neck. She missed his movements, distracted by the blade still lodged in her eye.
As he choked her out, I leaned down, full of rage, and whispered in her ear, “Welcome to the culling.”
Kyle snapped her neck. I knew enough about vampires to know this would only keep her down for a little while. She would heal in a few hours. And we so didn’t have time to kill the bitch. Plus, our escape would already have enough of the vamp world gunning for us. No need to increase our list of offences.
My eyes were surely blazing as I straightened and locked Marty in my gaze. He was still flat against the wall, looking very pale and shaky. Before I could start demanding, the vamp extended his hand. Cradled in his palm was a set of keys. “Ryder’s in cell one-thirty-eight. Always respected him. Was a pleasure to work with.”