Viggo nodded, allowing Bjorn to lead him a step back from Sebastian.
“Turn around, please,” Bjorn said. Viggo obeyed, though he kept looking over his shoulder and around the prison, constantly on the lookout for threats.
Sebastian watched as Bjorn reached up and felt between Viggo’s shoulder blades, finding the smooth rock and making a quick incision right under it. Bjorn squeezed the round piece of rock out through the cut and let it clatter to the floor.
It lay there on the concrete, just as flat and slick with blood as the one that had been in Bjorn’s back, and Sebastian wondered how something so innocuous could have such a drastic effect.
Viggo shuddered and started to sway.
“Stay awake!” Bjorn barked, grabbing him by the arm when he stumbled, holding him upright. Standing right next to Viggo, propping him up, Bjorn looked strangely small, which was quite a feat considering he was six feet and nine inches tall.
Viggo’s swaying got worse, his eyes drooping like it was taking everything he had to stay awake, and Bjorn was forced to support more of his weight.
“Viggo!” Bjorn growled, punching his chest, making Viggo bare his teeth in objection. Then Viggo seemed to realize what he was doing and closed his mouth.
“Viggo, I need you to shift back to human.” Bjorn sounded desperate, and Sebastian wondered what they would do if Viggo fell asleep. “You’re wasting energy you can’t afford.”
“Just need to sleep one second,” Viggo slurred, his claws retracting and fangs pulling up from his lower lip. He shrank down, like the air being let out of a balloon, getting smaller and smaller until Bjorn was back to being the tall one.
He swayed, stumbling and falling forward until Bjorn was pretty much carrying him.
“If you sleep, they’ll kill me and Sebastian.” Bjorn’s voice was hard, but it had an immediate effect. Viggo growled, pushing himself to his feet and rounding on the door like he was ready to take all comers.
After a few seconds, he groaned, stumbling again and needing Bjorn to catch him. He pushed to his feet and waved Bjorn away, standing on his own.
“I’m fine. I just need to stand,” he said, bringing his hand up and shielding his eyes just like Bjorn had done. “Shit, my head hurts.”
“Are you with us?” Bjorn asked, rubbing Viggo’s shoulder and standing ready in case he needed support again.
“Yeah, fucking hell,” Viggo grumbled. “Fucking werewolf MMA. I got the memo. Let’s get everyone together and kill these fuckers.”
The werewolves still locked behind the bars of their cells rumbled their agreement.
“Open the cells, and then we’ll get everyone back to normal.” Viggo leaned against the bars of his cell, breathing slow and steady. He turned to Marge and Bart, looking at them briefly before shielding his eyes from the light again. “How many employees of this place are on the other side of that door?”
“Not that many,” Bart said. He turned to Marge, who nodded her agreement.
“It’s late, and it’s not a show night. The only people who should be here now are the nightshift guards. Sometimes they’ll do rounds and check on us, but usually not.”
“There’s a building outside with guards in it,” Sebastian added. “I think I saw four or five.”
“That’s the guardhouse,” Bart explained. “That’s where the guards will be unless they’re doing rounds.”
“And how many captives?”
Marge and Bart both shrugged. “Twenty, maybe?” Marge counted on her fingers.
Viggo dropped his hand and looked at them. “These people have twenty werewolves captive?”
Marge nodded. “Maybe more.”
“We need to work fast.” Viggo pushed to his feet and turned to Bjorn. He’d unlocked all the cells, but only Marge and Bart had come out into the aisle. The feral wolves were watching Viggo, their posture stiff and tense, expressions wary and waiting.
Sebastian thought Viggo would reassure them – tell them it was okay – but instead he bared his teeth and growled in a way that had Sebastian glad he’d already peed his pants.
The still feral werewolves shrank back, baring their throats and submitting to Viggo’s display of authority.
Satisfied, Viggo nodded for them to come out. He turned to Sebastian, a pained look flashing across his face.
