He tilted his head when he spotted a faint line near the left wall. A human never would have seen it, and most vamps would have missed it if they weren’t aware Joseph and his flunkies slithered beneath the ground.
Saxon knelt near the line to run his frozen fingers over the floor and stopped when he felt a subtle mound in the floor. Fumbling with the mound, he figured out how to push it back and revealed a small, clear button beneath.
He pulled out one of his stakes before pushing the button. He jumped to the side when the floor vibrated beneath his feet before sliding back to reveal a set of stairs.
Chapter Eighteen
A light wason in the bunker as Saxon stepped back to try and see beyond the stairs. Nothing moved, and no sounds came from below, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t down there. He’d be exposed and vulnerable the second he stepped onto those stairs. However, he couldn’t walk away without knowing what was inside; he’d be putting himself and Elyse at risk if he did.
If anyone was below, they probably expected him to creep down the stairs one at a time, but he couldn’t give them time to prepare for him. He didn’t think there would be booby traps; they wouldn’t expect anyone else to discover their hiding place.
Edging around the hole and closer to the door, he took a deep breath before running and leaping over the stairs to the pit below. His foot never touched a step before he hit the ground, dropped, and rolled across the floor.
Something stirred the air over his head and thudded against the wall before clattering to the floor. He sprang up again and kept moving so he didn’t give whoever was in the bunker time to track his movements. He leapt onto a cot and jumped across to another bed as he tried to locate his enemies.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted a Savage tracking him with a crossbow.Shit!
He hit the floor as the Savage fired the next shot and, rolling to the side, seized a cot. He flipped it over before he lifted it off the ground and used it as a shield while he charged at the bastard. The Savage released a shout and dropped to the ground before Saxon could hit him. Anticipating the move, he slammed the cot onto the vamp and pinned him to the ground before he could move.
Saxon pressed his weight into the cot, and something snapped. The asshole screamed, and a hand popped out from underneath the bed. Lifting his foot, Saxon stomped on it, and the bones crunched beneath his boot. Before he could finish the bastard off, he caught the movement of something coming at him and ducked in time to avoid the Savage with a stake aimed at his heart.
He swung up his arm, knocking the stake aside as he crushed the other Savage’s hand into the ground. Lifting his leg, he drove it into the chest of the second Savage. He felt the give of the creature’s chest as he shoved it back and knocked it to the floor.
Scanning the bunker, he saw it was just him and these two. He lifted the cot and tossed it aside before grabbing the Savage by the front of its shirt. He plunged the stake into its heart and turned to find the other one fleeing up the stairs.
Elyse!
He ripped the stake free and sprinted after his prey. Taking the steps three at a time, he burst out of the bunker and into the shed. Footprints marred the snow, but the Savage was nowhere in sight.No!
He plunged into the snow, but before he could track the Savage, a heavy weight crashed onto his back. Staggered by the impact, Saxon didn’t have time to recover before something smashed into his back.
His breath exploded out of him as he was driven to his knees. He rolled to the side, and snow exploded over him as something fell into the snow. Through the cloud of white, he saw the second Savage wielding a branch the size of his thigh. It must have climbed into one of the trees.
The vamp charged at him with a look of maniacal glee on his face and his fangs bared. Saxon rolled again and leapt to his feet; he darted to the side as the branch soared by his head. It bashed his ear and skimmed his cheek before crashing into his shoulder.
Saxon grunted from the impact; his dislocated shoulder sagged, and he lost the feeling in his fingers; the stake fell into the snow. Still, he managed to grasp the branch with his good hand, yank it away, and swing it around to batter the Savage’s chest. The creature staggered back before recovering and coming at him again.
The vamp went low, and when its arms enclosed around Saxon’s waist, he brought the branch down across its back. The Savage crumpled into the snow, but it clawed at his legs as it tried to pull Saxon down with it.
Tossing the branch aside, Saxon drew back his arm and slammed his fist into the Savage’s back, breaking it on impact. The vamp cried out as his arms and legs went limp, and he hit the ground. Saxon leaned back to examine the paralyzed vamp before walking over to a tree.
He clutched his limp arm and, leaning against a tree, shoved his shoulder back into place. Bending, he used the snow to wipe some of the blood away while he studied the shed and the Savage.
He’d prefer this thing dead, but he required some answers first. “How many of you were here?”
The vamp turned its head to look at him; its red eyes blazed with hatred as Saxon leaned against the tree again while he waited for his shoulder to heal more. “Fuck you.”
Saxon grinned at him. “Not today. Was it only the eight of you here?”
The vamp clamped its lips together as it glowered at him. Saxon rotated his arm as he tested his shoulder. Pinpricks of discomfort lanced through his body when he shrugged it up toward his ears, but it was almost healed.
Saxon prowled closer to the broken Savage and knelt beside the creature. “You’re going to tell me everything.”
“Why? You’re just going to kill me.”
“Yes, but I can make it easy or I can make youbegfor me to put you out of your misery. The choice is yours.”
The Savage spit a gob of blood at him. Saxon stared at where it landed in the snow before lifting his eyes back to the vamp. “Good choice.”
