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“But…” I glanced at the trapdoor. “What about the guys down there? You wouldn’t seal them in, would you?”

“The priority is not letting the elder escape.” Lou replaced the tube in his pouch.

It was what he didn’t say that bothered me. No wonder they relied on a coin toss to decide who went down. No wonder those men had appeared less than pleased to be chosen.

Mordecai had told me to stall once the trapdoor was clear of garlic blossoms. He and Cristofer planned to slip down unseen. How? I could only guess. I had no idea if they had made their move, but my discovery of the loops bracketing the door and the subsequent discussion had killed enough minutes that I had to assume they were below.

Lou heaved the steel contraption, holding it ajar so I could enter. The base of the ladder ended a dozen or so feet underground, barely visible from my vantage but for a dim light coming from somewhere I couldn’t see.

“Go on. I have to close it behind you. Just put your shoulder into it when you’re done. It opens easily enough. I’m not locking you in.”

“I know.” Yet a quiver of uncertainty tainted my words.

“You look like you’re going to throw up.”

“I’m fine.” I wiped my sweaty palms along my pants. “Where’s the chamber?”

Lou huffed, and I sensed his opinion of me plummeting. “You won’t miss it. The tunnel goes one way. Follow the light. Twenty yards at most.”

“Right.”

I descended the ladder. Lou had the decency to wait until I reached stable ground before he swung the door shut with a crash.

I peered up, instantly unnerved. I couldn’t see the exit any longer. With no light penetrating around the edges of the doorway, the space above was an impenetrable black hole.

I blew out my cheeks. Clear the underground lair of traps. Release the elder vampire from a forced stasis. Don’t get killed by hunters.

Correction.

Clear the underground lair of traps. Get the fuck out. Don’t get killed by a cranky elder vampire who hasn’t eaten in over a year.

“Great. Easy-peasy.”

My heart pounded in my throat as I peered along the tunnel, psyching myself up for what I had to do. Mordecai had claimed it was relatively soundproof underground. If he was wrong, this would all go to shit.

“Fuck my life. Here goes nothing.”

I filled my lungs, closed my eyes, and exhaled. Then I ran toward the lit chamber, sounding the alarm.

33

Mordecai

I smelled Ensley’s fear the instant he was below ground. It seeped from his pores and radiated along the tunnel where Cristofer and I waited in shadow. For a moment, he stalled and mumbled curses.

Dammit. He wasn’t able to go through with it. We’d asked too much.

As I turned to confer with Cristofer, Ensley ran. A warrior charging into a den of enemies. Fearless and resolute. The panic in his voice was believable, and I suspected it was genuine.

I had the sudden urge to intercept, call the whole thing off, but this was our chance to end things. Right the wrong that had plagued my people for over a year.

Ensley hollered at the men in the chamber, his voice cracking. “He’s here! He’s here! Fuck. Help. Go, go, go. We need backup.”

The men, who Cristofer had already made submissive and pliable, jerked to attention as Ensley burst from the tunnel in a flurry. They didn’t question why the new transfer was the one delivering the message. They didn’t debate his claim or mistrust his story. They reacted with the perfect amount of panic and agility, exactly as we hoped. The choreography was spot on.

“Nicely done,” I said to Cristofer.

“Not my first time.”