Gilded Cages (Vamp Tales Book 6)

by Melony Paradise

  As soon as I heard the last cage open, I dashed over to Kat, hurdling an empty gurney. I slid across the smooth floor, almost ramming into her. The third vampire caught me before I knocked over an IV pole, giving me a once over with eerie white eyes, the only color in them was the black of his pupils and the rim of his irises. We edged up beside Kat who clutched her victim tight, glaring at us with glowing red orbs.

  “Kat,” I murmured softly so as not to startle her. “That’s enough now. You don’t want to kill her.”

  A menacing growl emitted from her throat as she narrowed her gaze on me.

  “Come on, Kat. You’ve had enough.”

  “You must stop her,” the other vampire said. “If I grab her, she’ll make a lot of noise.”

  I inched closer to her with my hand out, and with a sigh, tapped into our connection. Pulling out all the stops, I sent her every painful emotion I’d had since she’d turned me into a vampire without my permission. I let her feel how angry it had made me and how frightened and alone I’d felt those first few days. Then, I called up the memory of Edgar and his horrific death, sharing my sorrow with her.

  With a gasping breath, Kat sat up, dropping the tech into the other vampire’s waiting arms. Tears poured down her crumbling face, which she buried in her trembling hands, mumbling something too low for me to hear clearly.

  I scooted over to wrap my arms around her shoulders, rocking her and making soothing sounds. “It’s all right, Kat,” I said slowly. “It’s going to be all right. You’re okay now, but we need to get moving. The hunters will be here any second.”

  She sniffled, and sat up straight again, taking a deep breath. Giving a quick nod, Kat composed herself and stood. “Thanks,” she said with a shaky voice. “And, I’m so sorry.” My sire stared at me with big, watery eyes, and I stared back, too shocked to speak.

  “Um…” Kat looked over my shoulder, nudging me. “We have an audience.”

  Chapter 10

  I turned around to see what Kat meant and gasped. All the weres had crowded together by the cells, watching us. Those too weak to stand on their own were held up by another, and those on four feet leaned up against legs or lay nearby.

  The other vampire had already opened the cells and begun yanking out IV’s.

  Giving Kat a moment, I approached the crowd. “Let’s get these others ready to move. Those of you in your animal form, please guard the doors and see if you can get a sense of what might be out there waiting for us.”

  “Hey, I’m Eric,” a scruffy, dark-haired man said, stepping forward. “I’ll go with them. There’s no time to explain, but my alpha ability will let me communicate with them and relay info to you.”

  “Um…great! You do that.” My curiosity was piqued since I knew at least one werewolf who could talk in wolf form.

  I went to the cell the other vampire was in, helping a naked woman into a lab coat. As if Rowena hadn’t already taken our freedom, but to leave this poor woman strapped to a table without a scrap of cloth to cover her, just sickened me.

  “Hey, uh, what’s your name?” I admired the long waterfall of white hair that swished back and forth over his lean, muscular back. He stood a good foot over the frightened woman, at least six and a half feet tall.

  “Victor,” he mumbled as he turned to face me. “You can call me Vic.”

  “Okay, Vic.” I gave him a quick smile. “Are we going to be able to get everyone awake and out of here?”

  “I hope so,” he said solemnly. “I will not leave anyone behind who is still breathing.”

  “Good to know.” I glanced over to see the others helping to wake the unconscious or lending a steadier hand, since none of us were really all that steady to begin with.

  Kat cleared her throat behind me, and I stepped back to stand beside her. “What’s the plan?”

  “We’ll have to fight our way out,” she said. “That’s the only option I see, unless anyone else has any ideas.”

  “We don’t know the layout of this building,” Vic said, “or where we are located within it, to know which way will get us out.”

  “We’re not strong enough to split up,” Kat replied. “We’ll just have to take our chances.”

  “Put our strongest at the front and back with the weakest in the middle,” he said, peering around at the others. “Our only hope is that the weekend security is less stringent, but there’s just no way to know without opening those doors.”

  “There’s something happening,” Eric hollered. The three of us rushed over to the doors. He leaned with his ear pressed against the door, his bristly face pinched in concentration. “There were two hunters on the other side, but they were called away on their comms. I think they said something about a breach.”

  “Which way did they go?” I asked.

  Eric looked down at a wolf laying with its head pressed to the crack under the door. “Jimmy says they ran full out to the left. Says he hears lots of boots running in that direction.”

  Eric pointed to the left at the wall where the cage door control panel was mounted.

  “So, do we go to the right then?” I looked at Kat then Vic, hoping one of them would have an answer.

  “Can you hear anyone to the right?” Vic asked Jimmy the wolf.

  Jimmy yipped, scooching around to press his ear into the crack under the door, and listening in the other direction.

  “He says he can’t hear anything, but that could mean the hunters are just out of hearing distance for a wolf.”

  Vic nodded at Eric and smiled down at Jimmy. “It’ll have to do, won’t it?”

  “Keeping listening,” Kat said. “We still have to get everyone on their feet.”

  Vic and I followed her back to the cells. Only one body remained on a bed. Everyone had gathered around that cell and stood with their heads bowed.

  A young woman with short, straggly pink hair broke away from the crowd to approach us. “He’s dying,” she whispered, tears dribbling down her cheeks.

  Vic wrapped an arm around her shoulder, hugging her to his side. Kat pushed her way through the mourning crowd and into the cell. I sidled up to Vic’s other side to watch her.

  With a somber face, Kat muttered something to a man hovering over a teenaged boy laid out on the bed, all of the IVs and machinery disconnected and pushed away. The boy’s chest moved ever so slowly with labored breaths wheezing in and out of his slack mouth. The man beside him gripped the boy’s shoulder as he wept openly.

  Giving Kat a reluctant nod, the man stepped back, his body racked with tremors as he held himself and watched. Kat placed her hands around the boy’s face gently and pressed her forehead to his. She whispered softly to the boy and I felt her through our bond, pouring compassion and love into the child.

  A moment passed, no one made a sound, and we quietly observed as the boy took one last breath before his body stilled in finality. A stab of sorrow hit me through our connection, and I worried Kat wouldn’t survive anymore death. I knew it was up to me to keep her from giving up, to carry her when she couldn’t carry herself, to share my will to live with her. I hoped and prayed I would be strong enough for the both of us.

  Chapter 11

  “Someone’s coming!”

  Eric and Jimmy ran at us, the rest of the four-legged weres in tow. Jimmy whined and a werepanther behind him emitted a low, menacing growl.

  “How close are they?” I asked, my heart in my throat.

  “Too close for us to sneak out now.”

  “How many?” Vic asked, pushing the pink-haired girl behind him.

  Eric looked down at Jimmy. “He says at least six, and he thinks one of them smells like the revenant.”

  “Shit,” I snapped, dropping my head back in exasperation. “What do we do?”

  “We’ll have to fight him,” Kat said with a sigh. “Vic, you’re going to have to pick one off the bunch and feed right away. We need you at fighting level.” She looked back at the others and raised her voice. “Anyone willing and abl
e to fight, move up front. The rest of you move to the back, behind Mercy. Mercy, you’ll have to shield them. Keep them safe as long as possible while we fight.”

  I gaped at her. “But I can fight. I’m stronger than you…”

  “Exactly,” she replied, squeezing my arm. “You are strong enough to protect them, maybe even get them out. Take out a wall or something.”

  Kat pulled me aside. “You are stronger than any vampire I have ever seen. I’ve only heard stories of what my grandsire, Martinus, could do, but if you’re as strong as he was, nothing can stop you. Protect our Kin, Mercy, please.”

  “Okay,” I said, giving her a quick hug. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I promise.”

  “Everyone move back,” Kat ordered. “Fighters form a line in front. Let them spread out around the machines and tables. Separate them from their pack as much as you can, and remember… It’s our lives or theirs!”

  The conviction in Kat’s voice gave me hope that, maybe not now or even soon, but eventually she would be okay.

  With Kat and Vic, we had a line of twelve fighters, a ragtag band of underfed, abused, supernatural creatures ready and waiting to unleash their rage on our captors. I had no doubt these were-creatures would be tasting human flesh this day. Three wolves, a panther, and a hyena crouched beside me, ready to pounce on anyone who dared try to attack our weak and wounded.

  On the other side of the door, the distinct sound of boots shuffling and guns racking filtered through. When the whispering stopped, I tensed, throwing my hands up, ready. Growls beside me bolstered my confidence.

  A loud crunching boom sounded following a whispered countdown. The doors bucked in response. Again, the hunters rammed the doors, causing them to buckle where the lock held them closed. One more bash and the double doors squealed, slamming open, bouncing against the walls beside them.

  Six men in all black, strapped to the hilt with various gadgets and weapons, moved into the room, holding a tight two-line formation. They wore night-vision goggles attached to their helmets and held their rifles tight to their shoulders. I didn’t see Michael among them, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nearby.

  “Now!” the lead hunters yelled, and the lights went out.

  The dark meant nothing to us. Light still spilled in from the hallway and that was more than enough for us supernatural beings to see by. I almost laughed at how stupid these humans were, even after all this time studying us and experimenting on us.

  The hunters split, one line going left, the other going right. They hadn’t come in shooting, so I assumed that meant Rowena still wanted us alive. Big mistake. One she’ll be regretting for the rest of her short life, if I have anything to say about it.

  Kat and Vic moved with super-speed to the back of the hunter’s lines, dragging the back-most hunters and sinking teeth into them. I felt confident Kat would be able to control herself, even if that meant using restraint while still killing the enemy. Vic, on the other hand, would probably eat his victim alive, as starved as he was.

  Eric grabbed the rifle right out of the hands of the first hunter to the right, taking a hit from the second hunter in line who shot wild from fear. Two of our fighters pounced on that hunter, taking him down with angry snarls and meaty sounding chomps. The guy screamed and screamed until he couldn’t scream anymore.

  To the left, an Amazonian woman with a buzzcut shoved the front hunter, knocking the line down like dominos. As she started wailing on him with her huge fists, a rifle barrel slid past her aiming at us. I threw up an extra thick air shield as the firing pin clicked. The bullet hit my shield and mushroomed, dropping to the floor. I threw my hand out, expelled my own bullet of air from my palm, and plugged the barrel, using my power to shred the metal to bits.

  The hunter dropped his rifle and scooted back on his knees and elbows right into the hands of a short, burly man wearing nothing but ripped jeans. The look on that man’s face sent a shiver down my spine and I had to look away.

  All the hunters were either dead or on their way to being dead when I heard her.

  “They’d better have those monsters under control, Michael, or I’ll make you pay!” Rowena yelled loud enough for my enhanced hearing to catch as she stomped through the hallway in her wildly expensive high-heels.

  Typical megalomaniac blaming everyone else for their mistakes!

  I sent an urgent poke down the bond to alert Kat. She’d finished with her first victim and was feeding on a second, stopping to lift her head and look at me then at the door. Vic shot up from the pile of bodies and vanished, reappearing beside the broken doors a heartbeat later. Woah!

  Behind me, the shifters huddled together, shivering and whimpering. I’d seen what Michael could do, so I didn’t blame them at all for being afraid. And she called us monsters. Whatever.

  Michael stomped into the lab on heavy boots, no weapons or gear of any kind, just his uniform. Rowena propped herself against the wall opposite the doorway, crossing her arms and smirking at us as if waiting for the show to begin. She turned her head and grinned as more hunters filed past her to form up behind Michael.

  “Michael,” she sang in her brain-piercing, high-pitched voice, “handle this quickly. I’m late for a dinner meeting.”

  He grunted and began a slow, clomping march toward me and my group. I added more depth to my shield, having no idea what surprises he might have in his growing powers.

  For just a very brief moment, I pitied this creature. Once a friend to the Kin, then an enemy wanting only revenge for the death of his family at the hands of rogue vampires and witches, and now a mindless weapon controlled by a heartless, soulless, narcissistic tyrant. Death would be a merciful kindness.

  I watched Michael make his way toward us, shoving our fighters away as they tried to attack him. The hunters behind him engaged our fighters as they fell away from Michael. In a panic, I thrust my hands out and bombarded him with air-spears. They bit into his skin, pushing him back, but he threw his weight down, bracing his feet. My spears left bloody gouges in his flesh tearing fabric, but barely knocking him off course as he slid back only a few inches.

  With a frustrated growl, I grabbed him by the waist with my telekinesis, lifted his massive body a few feet off the ground and shoved him as far back as possible. He flew backward, crashing into tables and equipment, leaving a line of empty space in his wake. Colliding with the wall, he grunted as his bulk smashed a huge dent in the whitewashed metal.

  Using all my strength, I held him in place as he struggled, bashing and thrashing, unable to move. The effort put a definite strain on me as I felt more physical power in him than I could have imagined. A loud squawk broke my concentration, and I turned to see Rowena rushing into the lab, frantic.

  Michael broke my hold and barreled my way.

  “Michael!” Rowena screamed. “They’re coming! In the hallway!”

  He halted and turned, glaring at the shrieking woman.

  “There’s an army in the hall,” she yelled at him, pointing. “You must stop them!”

  Chapter 12

  Michael grunted in irritation, glared at Rowena for a moment—possibly reconsidering his loyalties—then headed to the doorway. My shoulders slumped in relief. I was grateful to not be his target, at least for the time being. The sound of so many footsteps coming our way made me tense up again.

  Please, don’t let this be more enemies. We can’t handle anymore. We can’t even handle what we already have.

  My despair was so great, I didn’t even realize that Rowena was in a panic about the approaching army. Maybe the government didn’t like her proposal. Maybe they thought what she did to us was unethical and inhumane. Who am I kidding? As if!

  Who else could frighten Rowena? I couldn’t think of anyone besides… Wait! Could it be? No, this place is probably a fortress. Our people couldn’t possibly break in here. The raid on the ranch had decimated us. I don’t even know how many survived. I don’t even know if Nick… Nick!

  There he stood, b
loody and fierce, one step behind Chima, beside Isabel. Others formed up behind them, but I only had eyes for Nick Owens. He scanned the dark lab, finally landing on me, and the relief on his face melted my heart. Happy sigh.

  A growl rumbled in Michael’s chest and all eyes turned to him. Chima’s amber gaze narrowed and the roar he let out began in a human throat and ended in a lion’s, mighty and deep like thunder. The two adversaries leapt at each other, their bodies meeting in a tangle of limbs and claws. Isabel shot into the room, latching onto the first hunter she met and snapping his neck before moving to another.

  Nick broke into a run, racing my way, stopping only to tear apart those hunters that dared to get in his way. The Kin army flooded the lab, moving like a flow of lava, destroying Rowena’s mercenaries as if they were nothing. A few were able to fire a round here and there, but they couldn’t halt that tide of supernatural force.

  A metallic click rang in my ear as the barrel of a rifle nudged my cheek. In all the excitement, I’d lost track of Rowena. She’d caught me with my shield down. I must have let it fall when I’d sent everything I had at Michael and forgotten my promise to protect my people. That little slip-up would be my downfall.

  Rowena had me.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid. All this fighting, all this power, and the bitch still got to me.

  “You messed with the wrong person,” she snarled, spraying my cheek with saliva. “You’re going to pay for this with your life. You’re all lowlife monsters. My people will smack you down. You’ll be nothing but slaves to humanity. You’ll be nothing but weapons for us to wipe out our countries enemies. I’m going to—”

  A gunshot rang out and the center of Rowena’s face burst, covering me in blood and gore. I blinked away a globule to find Kat standing behind Rowena’s teetering body, a rifle in her hands.

  “Do absolutely nothing, you stupid bitch,” Kat spit with more cockiness than I had ever seen from her.

  When the body crumbled to the floor, Kat dropped the rifle to her side, holding it with one hand, the other propped on her hip, wearing a satisfied smile on her face. I moved to give her the biggest, squishiest hug I could, but a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.