He hissed at me, shaking his leg, struggling to right himself.
“I don’t think you can get free, but if you do, I’ll just knock you out again and try something else. So instead of trying to get free, how about we just make some kind of a deal? I need information and you want out of this cell. Right? If you tell me what I need to know, I’ll release you and … your bride. Does that sound fair?”
“Waaast do you want? … I”—his voice was broken with a strong Russian accent—“need…”
It was clear Yuri hadn’t spoken or dealt with anyone in a very long time.
“You need what? To escape this place?” I prodded.
“More … power…” He hissed. It was paining him to speak. He had healed more, but it was still going too slowly. What we won’t do for information. My wolf yipped in agreement. I crawled back over to him, mostly because it was easier to stay on his level.
“I’m here to help you,” I cautioned as I moved closer. “But if you lash out, I won’t hesitate to defend myself. After I give you power and you heal a little more, we are going to make a deal. Nod if you agree.” I looked down at him, wondering if I’d receive anything coherent back. “And once you make that deal, I’m going to hold you to your word.”
He nodded once.
I placed my hand over his forehead and pushed more power into him. His head arched under my grip, his eyes fluttering. They went from dead black to a hint of normal flecked with silver. “Ahhhh…” he moaned. “Haven’t … felt … in too long…”
After a moment he went still and I brought my hand off his head and moved back on my heels, but stayed where I was. He blinked a few times and then glanced up at me.
“How long have you been down here?” I asked curiously. “Did Valdov put you here? Or was it the Queen?” I had so many questions, but being in the shape he was, he may not be able to answer all of them.
“Valdov,” he managed, “has doomed us … the Queen can do … nothing.”
I sat up a little straighter. “Valdov is in charge?”
“He wields … much power … over her.” His eyes flickered in earnest now, mostly staying free of black, his face almost fully healed. What he really needed was blood, but he wasn’t getting mine. That was not an option. “My niece … will not rule … much longer … have to … stop him.”
Niece? “You’re Ivan the Terrible’s brother?” I gasped, jumping to my feet. “How did you get locked in here? If you’re Eudoxia’s blood-kin, this is even worse than I first imagined.”
He shook his head, his eyes rolling back in his head for a moment. I understood. It was too much to tell me right now and we needed to move on.
“Listen”—I crouched onto the balls of my feet—“what I really need to find is a way out of this dungeon without raising attention. I’m beginning to think I’ve been put in this cell for a reason. All this can’t be a coincidence.” His eyes were focused back on me. “I’m searching for a vampire named Naomi. Do you know where they might keep her? She has something valuable in her possession, and if Valdov has already gotten ahold of it, it may be too late for your Queen.”
“You are not … in a dungeon…” He gasped. “It is trickery. We are in a crypt … behind the mansion. Below us … is only one way out. There are … tunnels below.”
“What?” I exclaimed as I stood. I had not expected that to come out of his mouth. “The muscle vamp took me down steps and we never came back up. We have to be underground. That can’t be right.”
“It is an ancient ward … few can sense…”
The strange signature I’d felt was a ward? It had all been an elaborate illusion. Damn. “You said the only way out was tunnels beneath us. How do I find them?”
He lifted his hand and pointed to the corner.
Right where Alana was lying like a corpse.
“It is below…”
I peered at the corner skeptically. “So we’re actually in a crypt aboveground? And below us are underground tunnels. Is that what you’re saying?”
He nodded. “There is a vast … graveyard on the grounds. Each crypt is connected … by a network … of tunnels.”
It was hard to wrap my mind around it, but I had no reason to doubt him. There was an easy way to find out if he was telling the truth. If there was no access to a tunnel in the corner, he was lying. “If I free you now, will you stay away from me?” I asked. “I need you to tend to your bride so I can uncover the tunnel. I knocked her out, but she should heal—I have to warn you it’s a little gory.”
“I will not attack,” he managed. “But you will … promise to … honor your part…”
“Of course I will honor it,” I said. “Once I find my friends, I will come back and break you out of this horrid prison.” I had no idea what freeing him would do, or why the two of them were kept here, but I didn’t care.