“Is he your mate?” Mathias asks, to my surprise.
She stirs, then stands, her movements stiff. If she had been anyone else, she would have died from the beating he gave her, but her vampiric blood is quick to heal her. Shuffling over to us, she stares at Mathias with dead eyes.
“What do you want?” she asks with a derisive laugh. “Let me guess. The panels? Jokes on you. I don’t know where he hid them. If I did, I’d have destroyed them. They’ve caused me nothing but misery. First with my father, then him.” She doesn’t even say his name.
“Are you in love with Frederick?”
Her eyes widen at my question. “Love can’t survive without hope or kindness. He destroyed any residual feelings I had centuries ago. Why do you want to know?” There’s a devastation in her eyes that says his betrayal of their bond has cut her to the bone.
“If I open the cell, will you leave him or raise the alarm?” Mathias interjects, silently warning me of our clock.
“I don’t have anything to offer you,” she cautiously replies. Footsteps sound in the hall, and she grips the bars tightly. “Except perhaps a secret way out of here. Only known to me and my father. He never shared it with Frederick.”
Mathias cranes his neck to see down the hallway, then reluctantly nods. “If you betray us, I’ll kill you.”
She lifts her chin. “If he catches us, he’ll kill me. Key is on that idiot’s waist.” Her head tilts toward the guard Mathias took out.
I hurry over and slide my hand along his belt, then with a flick, slip it from its loops and retrieve the ring of keys. “Which one?”
She takes the ring from me and selects one, then fits it into the slot. “I’ll get you out, then we’ll split.” With those words, she turns and points to a smaller hallway. “This way.”
Mathias stops her. “Where are you leading us?”
She rolls her eyes. “Below the city.” She strides over to a small stone door and shoves it out of the way. “My father created the aqueduct that serves this city two thousand years ago. Before Frederick. Hell, before there was much of a city. He wanted a fortified place that could withstand a siege.”
Smooth stone turns to rough-hewn boulders, held together by a mortar mixed long ago. The academic in me slides a hand along the walls of the aqueduct, admiring the perfectly preserved ancient site. “This is remarkable.”
Some of the tension leaves her shoulders. “Thank you. Vanescue, and its supporting infrastructure, is my father’s greatest achievement.”
Soon, we reach the banks of the river far below the foundation of the city. Even today, Sarah informs us, water rushes through the channels into large distribution tanks where it is siphoned into the city’s more modern water system.
“Now we go up,” she says, pointing to a light in the distance. “Our exit will put us roughly ten miles outside the city’s walls, near the northwest corner. Scouts won’t think to look that far out, so it should buy you some time.”
Bright sunlight guides us through the dark, damp interior of a cave and out into the open. If I hadn’t just walked through it, I wouldn’t have guessed a cave was even there. “Clever.”
Mathias opens a portal to the location she wants and holds out his hand.
“Thank you. If you ever need anything, reach out. The debt is mine,” he says.
Her hand briefly touches his before she jerks it back. “Do us both a favor?”
Mathias nods, and she continues. “Kill him, and we can call it even.” Then she steps into a portal.
He opens a portal for us, reaches back for my hand, then steps forward. Seconds later, we’re surrounded.
Massive arms sweep me up, nearly crushing me to death. I close my eyes and breathe in the wonderful scent of him while I take some of his strength for my own. “Gatlin.”
“Give her to me,” Jamison demands.
Gatlin reluctantly releases me and pulls Mathias into a bear hug.
Jamison places his hands on either side of my head, his gaze searching. “I’m now a firm believer of Gatlin’s rule. Never split up. These last few days have been hell.” Grip tight, his firm lips descend on mine with a wildness that’s unlike him.
With a soft sigh of surrender, I reassure him that I’m here and safe in his arms.
He breaks away. “Sorry, I…”
I place a finger on his lips. “I quite like it when your emotions get the better of you. Doesn’t happen often.”
