Yes. They picked up my scent and almost found me in Naida’s room. Every time I tried to speed up, Katherine would stumble and almost make us fall. We wouldn’t make it out of here if she didn’t pick up her pace. Naida transported us down a set of stairs, but Katherine isn’t doing well. We’re slowly making our way to the first floor.
I’m on my way. Donovan locked down our bond.
Dammit. I didn’t want him to get caught too. Roxy, stop him.
Girl, you know I can’t do that. She sounded aggravated. Maybe coming here was a big mistake.
Naida hid me, so at least, our original goal got taken care of. If we made it out of here intact, I’d consider it a win. As long as we could get back to the mansion, we could regroup without the constant threat of a fae attack. I have no clue how many shifters are here.
The door to the top floor banged open, and running footsteps hit the stairwell.
No. I glanced at the stairwell. We were only on floor nine. This wouldn’t work. I opened the door to the rooms and trudged Katherine through it.
Thankfully, she picked up her pace.
“Let’s go to the elevator. It might be our best chance.” I ran fast, dragging Katherine behind me. She stumbled over her feet, but I didn’t give a damn. Time was of the essence.
Some girls yelled as we ran by, startling them.
Great, this would alert the shifters to our location. I reached the elevator and pushed the down button.
The elevator was on the floor already, and the doors immediately opened.
“Come on.” I grabbed Katherine and pulled her in after me. I pressed the “close” button and hit the first floor. “I don’t care how sick you feel; when we get there, run fast and hard.”
“Got it.” Katherine leaned against the wall and took deep breaths. “I’m starting to feel better.”
“Good. Don’t focus on feeling bad.” Every second we stayed here meant we came even closer to being captured. The elevator bell pinged, alerting us that we were on the second floor. “Get ready.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors slowly opened to reveal Brock and some random guy standing there, waiting for me.
Chapter Twenty
Brock smirked at me. “Look what we just found.”
“The pink hair gave her away as soon as the van pulled in,” the guy beside him said. His shaggy, mousy hair fell into his bland brown eyes. For a shifter, he wasn’t very strong or attractive, which made it easier for him to blend into the background. His wolf didn’t have the strength of an alpha or beta; I could feel it from here.
I linked with the pack. Brock is here.
Where is here? Donovan asked. He’s with you?
Yes. I needed to keep calm and pretend to be weak. I had to catch them off guard. He was waiting for us outside the elevator.
Shit, Donovan growled. I’m coming.
No, don’t. The last time something like this went down, Tyler and Brock had almost killed Donovan. I couldn’t risk it again. Is the parking lot empty? Do you see any cars that stick out?
There are some expensive-looking black ones. He paused for a second. With Tennessee license plates for Hamilton County.
They’re Brock’s pack. His pack lived on Lookout Mountain. We need to hit the woods.
There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you, Donovan growled. I mean it.
Then get Mom and Titan to bring our cars around. Besides, if Tyler finds out Mom is here, there’s no telling what he’ll do. Titan wouldn’t let Mom leave without him, especially with all of these other shifters around. Besides, we had two vehicles. If they can slip away, we can meet them where Lillith did last time.
The elevator door slid closed, but Brock grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the elevator.
I turned my focus back to Brock. I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear it from his lips. “What are you doing here?” I scanned the room and realized it was oddly quiet. Only one human sat in the corner with earbuds in her ears as she worked on her computer.
He chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Stop it.” I tried weakly to pull my arm from his grasp. “I’m not something you can just yank around.”
“Oh, but you are.” He got into my face. “You were promised to me, and nothing will change that.”
This had been my worry about coming back here, but my death would have been imminent if we hadn’t. I’d thought that Brock and Tyler would’ve given up on me returning to the university. Apparently, they hadn’t.
“Let her go,” Katherine hissed lowly. “Now.”
“That’s not how this works.” Brock snapped his fingers. “Tommy, handle her.”
“Yes, sir.” Tommy grabbed Katherine by the neck and growled, “Don’t make a move or I’ll break it.”
Katherine’s eyes widened in surprise. I couldn’t blame her, though.
I hadn’t expected someone like Tommy to do that either. He didn’t seem like he had the guts, but we were wrong. Desperation and power could make even the weakest try to look strong. “You realize there is a human here.”
“Who is really preoccupied.” Brock’s breath hit me right in the face. “I’m not too concerned.”
It smelled like ass, and I wanted to gag. “We aren’t alone.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” He laughed hard as two shifters stepped from the stairwell. “I have adequate backup, so don’t worry.”
Egan strengthened our group tenfold. “Okay.” I didn’t want to argue. For him to be so cocky, there was no telling how many others he had patrolling the area.
Donovan linked to our pack. Winter said okay, but she isn’t happy about being the chauffeur. Axel, send Titan this way. I’m going inside the dorm to get Sadie and Katherine out.
No, I have a plan. I refused to dangle Donovan in front of Brock. That would make Brock more irrational and dangerous. Everyone, meet me in the woods. I’ll get Katherine and me out.
Displeasure waved off him. If you aren’t there in five minutes, my ass is coming to get you.
And my happy ass will be right there with him, Roxy chimed in.
I’ll be there. But first, I needed more information.
My attention went back to Brock. “How did we not smell you?” I’d thought we’d have seen this coming.
“Because Tommy hung around the school.” Brock tightened his hold on my arm. “No one you knew could be here or you’d have been tipped off immediately. Tommy’s been gunning for a higher spot in my pack. It was a win for both of us. He’s proved himself useful.”
“I knew I wouldn’t let you down.” Tommy smiled and tightened his grip on Katherine’s neck.
She gagged.
“Please stop.” I hated to beg, but I had to totally disarm him before I struck. “She has nothing to do with this. It’s between you and me.”
Where the hell are you? Axel said in a panic. I’m coming to get you.
Don’t you dare come here, Roxy chastised. We’re heading that way. They didn’t catch us, and we’re going around, so come behind Webster Hall.
Their argument sounded much like mine and Donovan’s. Hurry, Roxy. I’m about to kick Brock’s ass, but I need to wait until you’re close enough for everyone to meet up and run.
I turned to Brock, not wanting him to get suspicious. “Just let her go.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” he spat. “She helped you run away. Her mere existence insults me.”
“You tried to get her to drink blood straight from a dying human.” He wasn’t the victim here. “What did you expect? She wasn’t going to be thrilled to work with you.”
“I was trying to make her strong,” Brock sneered. “But she obviously didn’t appreciate it.”
“You tried to get her to lose her humanity.” Tyler and Brock had never had any humanity, or if they had, it disappeared a long time ago. “Not many people want to give that up.” Giving up our humanity made vampires turn into monsters with only greed and power ruling them. There was no happiness. That loss caused them to keep searching for something more to fulfill them because nothing did.
“Humanity holds people back,” he barked and turned to the two wolf shifters. “Anything out of sorts?”
“Two have picked up another wolf smell,” one of the guys answered as the two headed our way.
We were running out of time.
Roxy linked with me. Okay, I’m here. We’re all in front of the library, and Egan is overhead.