Shawn and Sage followed him into the hallway.
“Which way do we go?” Lucas mumbled.
“We’re on the top floor. I remember that much from them bringing us up here,” Sage said.
“I know the way,” Shawn said and stepped in front of Lucas, leading them to the left. Lucas shrugged. He had trusted Shawn once before and his life turned upside down because of it.
Fuck it. Lucas searched Shawn’s mind. He quickly left again when he saw nothing but truth. Shawn turned to him as if he detected something but wasn’t sure what it was. As a human, he probably didn’t fully comprehend Lucas’ magic.
Seven minutes, baby.
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and he turned to Sage. “Bennett will be here in seven minutes.”
“Who’s Bennett?” Shawn asked him as he led them down a flight of stairs.
“My mate,” Lucas said and stopped in the middle of the staircase. “They’re coming up. Shit. Is there another way?”
“Not that I know of,” Shawn said, stopping a few steps down.
Lucas turned to Sage. “I won’t be able to hold them all for long.”
“We’ll have to run fast then,” Sage said.
Lucas nodded. “Go, Shawn. Quickly. And when I say run, you run your fucking ass off.”
“Got it,” Shawn said as he took two stairs down at a time whenever he could. Lucas and Sage went after him.
Lucas took a deep breath and then let it out again when he saw six vampires come toward them. Shawn hesitated, and Lucas got him moving again.
“Trust me,” Lucas whispered in his ear, right before he stopped the vampires. They literally froze in place. Shawn pushed a couple of them aside as he went past, making a path for Lucas and Sage to follow.
“How many floors are there in this place?” Lucas asked as they made their way down the endless staircase.
“I don’t know. A million. Fuck, there’s more of them.” Shawn pointed around the side of the stairs when the bottom came into view and, with it, several vampires.
“Damn it. I have to release the group I confined up the stairs to stop the vampires down the stairs,” Lucas huffed out in frustration.
“Just do your best, Lucas,” Sage said from behind him.
Lucas tried to hold the men at the top for as long as possible as they made their way down.
He felt Bennett close by and was so relieved he wanted to cry. Instead, he tried not to think about it and concentrated on the problems surrounding him.
“Okay, run your ass off,” Lucas yelled as they got closer to the first floor. Lucas froze the vampires below them. He couldn’t help but release a few of the stronger ones at the top.
It was weird because he felt a few disappear up there, as if someone had killed them. He didn’t have time to think about it because Shawn was running right toward the strongest vampire Lucas had ever come into contact with. Shawn stopped when he finally saw the vampire standing there. “Come here, Shawn.”
Shawn nodded and backed up.
“You must be the male witch that made my life worth living again.” The vampire took a step toward them. They all backed up. Lucas reached for Sage’s hand and he held on for dear life. “I don’t know how you did it, but the bitch’s curse lifted.”
“I separated her human side from her witch side. I think that released all of her curses.” Lucas tried to keep the guy distracted for a few more minutes.
A dark head poked around the corner of an open door just behind the vampires. Lucas peeked into the guy’s mind first and discovered that the vampire was holding him prisoner. He used to be the vampire’s mate, but Fate had taken the mate pull away, giving it to someone else. Wait. The man had two mates.
He really liked that lady, Fate.
Run. Go, before he sees you.He told the man and watched him turn. He was naked and that didn’t seem to faze him as he made his way along the wall toward the front door. Lucas noticed the bruises on his sides. They appeared to be fingerprints but, when Lucas looked in, he saw the human hadn’t been violated, although it was a close thing.
