by Tina Folsom
The door shut behind her.
“We have about four minutes until he’ll be back,” Luther said.
“How do you know?”
Luther rounded the large desk and plopped down into the office chair. “I know everybody’s routine. When you spend twenty years in this joint, you find all kinds of things to pass the time.”
Katie looked around. This wasn’t a recreation room. The room was packed with filing cabinets, computers, and servers. A records room, yes, that’s what this was.
“And the code to the door?”
Luther was already typing away on the computer and clicking with the mouse. He didn’t even look up when he answered, “I have exceptional hearing and a musical brain. Every number on that keypad makes a slightly different sound. I can recognize the numbers by their sounds.”
“But the guy who left, he didn’t punch in any numbers.”
Luther looked up briefly, smirking. “The code is changed only weekly. I was on the detail to clean these corridors for the last three years. I can rattle off the code for each and every week that I was here.”
Katie blew out a breath. She had to admit she was impressed. Exceptional hearing, a musical brain, an extraordinary memory. What else did Luther have up his sleeve?
“Got it!”
Katie rounded the desk and stared into the monitor just as Luther clicked on the print icon.
“Cliff Forrester?” she read on the electronic file.
“Do you know the name?”
She shook her head. “No. And the letters weren’t signed.”
The printer on a cabinet along the wall started humming.
“Let’s grab this and get out of here,” Luther said and stood up.
Katie turned to the printer and snatched the sheet from its tray the moment the printer spat it out. She folded it and shoved it in the front pocket of her jeans.
“Let’s go!”
A blaring signal nearly deafened her. The eardrum-piercing high-pitched sound lasted for several seconds.
“Shit!” Luther cursed.
20
“What is that?” Katie stared at him, panic in her eyes.
“Intruder alert.” What that entailed, Luther had neither the inclination, nor the time to explain. The shit was gonna hit the fan any moment. “How about some witchcraft now? Otherwise, I’m afraid we’re gonna be in trouble.”
“Witchcraft?” she choked out, her head moving from left to right and back. “I don’t know any witchcraft.”
“What?” He ground out the word, making an involuntary step toward her.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any powers. I was born a witch, but I don’t know any spells.”
Luther clenched his fist. “Oh that’s just peachy, isn’t it? I have to fall for the tricks of a witch, and then she isn’t even a real witch! Perfect, that’s just perfect!” His ears perked up. “Fuck! He’s coming back!”
His eyes darted around the room, looking for a weapon.
“I know what to do,” Katie claimed and pointed to the wall next to the door. “Stay there behind the door. I’ll distract him.”
Luther would have laughed, had the situation not been so hopeless. “What the fuck with?”
“Acting.” Katie peeled herself out of her cardigan, then pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it on the desk. She was wearing a black lace bra that presented her boobs as if on a silver platter.
“What the—” His sensitive hearing picked up the sound of the code being entered in the keypad outside the door. Shit. He jumped next to a tall filing cabinet just as the door was swung open. As long as the guard entering looked only at the desk where Katie was standing, he wouldn’t detect Luther.
“What’re you doing in here? This is a classified area.”
The guard—Luther recognized him immediately as Bauer—stepped into the room, hand on his hip where his UV gun was holstered, while the door fell shut behind him.
“Hi!” Katie batted her eyelashes at him, strutting out her enticing female assets, while running her hands over her torso.
“You can’t be in—”
“I’m a gift from your colleagues, honey,” she interrupted and brought her hands to her breasts, cupping them. “They said you like to play with bad girls like me. And I’m a real bad girl.” She pouted. “So, are you gonna punish me for being in here without your permission?”
Luther swallowed hard. Fuck! Was Katie acting? He sure couldn’t tell! She looked like she meant it.
“Do you wanna touch ‘em?” she continued seducing the dumbstruck guard. Her fingers slowly, deliberately worked the front of her bra. When she finally dropped her hands, her bra fell open in the front, revealing her ample breasts.
Paralyzed, Luther stared at the unexpected sight. His mouth went dry, and his heart stopped beating.
“Fuck!” the guard grunted and took a few steps toward her. “Are you for real?”
Katie brought her hands to her breasts and squeezed them. “Don’t you wanna sink your fangs into these babies?”
“Yeah!” Bauer appeared to salivate. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Over his fucking dead body!
Luther leapt from his hiding place and jumped toward the vampire guard before he could reach Katie and dig his dirty fangs into her perfect breasts. Before Bauer had time to turn around, Luther pulled the guard’s UV gun from the holster and directed the concentrated UV blast at the other vampire’s face. The full load hit him in the eyes. A blood-curdling scream came from Bauer and he jerked his hands up to his face to shield it from the attack, but it was too late. Luther had already blinded him.
He aimed another shot at Bauer’s open mouth, singeing his lips, tongue and throat so severely that he wouldn’t be able to speak until after his regenerative sleep cycle. His vision would eventually return, too.
Luther lowered the gun, then pushed the disoriented vampire down. He landed on the ground, whimpering now in obvious pain, unable to speak.
“Oh my God!” Katie murmured.
Luther shot her a look, ran his eyes over her. She was uninjured. For a split-second, he drank in the sight of her naked breasts and felt a bolt hit him in the groin. She was beautiful. So goddamn beautiful.
“Get dressed.”
Luther averted his eyes and looked back at the vampire on the floor. “Bauer, you know I could kill you, and I will if I have to. It depends on you. Here’s how this works: I’ll take your protective gear and your access card, and you won’t struggle. Resist, and you’ll die. If you understand me, raise one hand.”
The guard lifted his right hand in a one-finger salute, grunting as he did so.
“Big mistake!”
Luther pointed the UV gun at his groin. “I’ll let you guess where I’m pointing your weapon now.” He jammed the gun between Bauer’s thighs.
The guard instantly jerked away, and a second later he raised his hand again, this time without flipping him the bird.
“I’m glad we understand each other,” Luther said and looked back at Katie. Her T-shirt now covered her torso again, and she was putting on her cardigan. “Point the gun at him while I get the Kevlar gear off him. If he tries anything, blast his balls. Just make sure you don’t hit me.”
Katie took the gun from him. “With pleasure.”
It took less then thirty seconds for Luther to liberate Bauer from his protective gear and another thirty to put it on himself. Then he used the silver handcuffs on the vampire’s belt to cuff him to a steel filing cabinet, being careful not to touch the silver with his bare hands, but donning gloves first.
When he was done, Luther glanced around the room until he found what he was looking for: the protective head gear that would shield him should anybody deploy the UV lights in the corridors. It would also help him avoid detection. Dressed like a guard in full battle gear, nobody would be able to tell who he really was. In the chaos of an intruder alert nobody would take much notice of him.
Which onl
y left one slight problem: how was he going to get Katie out of here without anybody stopping him?
“What are we waiting for?” Katie asked nervously.
“Do you think you can do a little bit more acting?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to pretend you’re a hooker, just like you did earlier.”
It was the only way other guards wouldn’t see her as a threat and look the other way instead. It was an unwritten code in the prison: prostitutes were tolerated and considered a side business for many guards. With some luck, any guard Luther encountered wouldn’t bother him if he thought Luther was simply trying to get a hooker out of the prison before there was a general lockdown.
“You want me to take off my bra?” Katie asked.
“No!” The word shot out of his mouth almost automatically. He ran a hand along his nape. “Just take off the cardigan and the T-shirt. I’ll find you something else to wear.”
He ripped open a closet, then another one. Just like he’d suspected, Bauer kept a change of clothes in his office, like most guards did. It happened often enough that clothes got ripped or bloodied during fights.
“Here.” He took a white dress shirt from a hanger and handed it to Katie. “Put this on, but don’t button it. Just tie a knot at your waist so your black bra will show. It’ll make you look slutty enough.”
Without protest, Katie changed into the shirt. She turned over the sleeves that were too long for her. When Luther saw her transformation, he knew he’d been right.
She looked like sin personified. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, the top of her breasts peeked out from over the black lace of her bra, and at the right angle, one could even see her belly button. Her jeans were tight, showing off her fabulous ass, and her legs were long and slim. Yes, definitely hooker material, though he hated the thought of other men looking at her like that, thinking they could have her in exchange for cold hard cash.
When he lifted his eyes and met hers, he saw something there, saw that she could read him, read the thoughts that were going through his mind as plainly as if he’d spoken them. But she said nothing, didn’t comment on what she saw, didn’t even flinch or toss him a look of contempt, though she had to think that he was just like all the other vampires: lecherous, and unable to control his need for sex and blood. At the moment those two needs were battling for supremacy, and even though he was doing his best to appear calm on the outside, the storm raging in him had to show on his face and body. He could sense his muscles twitch, his nostrils flare, and his cock thicken, just as surely as he could feel his fangs lengthen.
“Let’s go,” he ground out and turned abruptly.
“How do you want me to act?” Katie asked from behind him, while he marched to the door.
“You looked pretty convincing earlier. I don’t think you need me to coach you on what to do.” Luther ripped the door open. Strobe lights on the walls indicated that the intruder alert was still active.
He felt her hand on his elbow and with it a shock of electricity traveled up his arm. He whirled his head to her, a curse already on his lips, when he saw her eyes.
“I’m scared,” she murmured.
The curse never left his lips. Instead he lifted his hand and brushed his gloved knuckles over her cheek, surprising himself with the gentle gesture. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Her lips parted slightly, before he turned his head back toward the corridor and lowered the visor of his protective head gear.
21
The corridor was empty when Katie followed Luther, but even without vampire hearing she could already hear approaching footsteps and commands being shouted. Despite Luther’s assurance that he would keep her safe, she knew their chances of getting out of this place alive were minimal.
This had been a bad idea.
A guard came running down the corridor, talking into his communication device as he rushed past them with barely a second glance. Surprised, Katie gave Luther a sideways look. The reflective visor hid his face, and he appeared just like any other guard. Only the name tag would identify him. Bauer it said.
“Just how common is it for a guard to be seen with a woman?”
Luther shrugged. “Common enough.”
A door opened a few yards ahead of them and another guard dressed in Kevlar gear ran in the other direction. Katie followed him with her eyes when she realized something.
“Why wasn’t he wearing a visor like you?” The guard who’d run past them only moments earlier hadn’t worn one either.
“Because the UV lights aren’t on.” Luther’s response was clipped; he seemed pre-occupied with deciding which way to turn next.
He gripped her by the elbow and dragged her down a hallway to the left. She almost tripped over her own feet trying to keep up with him and only saw the door in front of them when Luther opened it.
The room looked like a central foyer from which several doors and walkways, as well as stairs, led in a multitude of directions.
Vampires dressed in their protective Kevlar gear seemed to converge here, some strapping on weapons, others speaking into their communication devices.
Neither glancing right nor left, Luther marched through the space as if he owned it. Katie’s heart pounded, while she tried to avoid looking at anybody in particular. None of them was wearing the kind of visor that covered Luther’s face. Shit! That had to look suspicious.
The door Luther was heading for was closed. Next to it, there was a card reader. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Luther pull an access card from his pocket.
“Hey, Bauer,” a voice from behind them called out.
Katie froze.
Luther grunted and pulled her along. Only a few feet separated them from the door now.
“What’s with the head gear, Bauer? You know something we don’t?”
Luther swiped the access card at the door. A click sounded. He ripped the door open, shoved her through it.
“That’s not Bauer! Get them!” At the words, all hell broke loose.
“Intruders in Section K, heading for—”
Katie pivoted and squinted as she suddenly saw the flash of UV lights coming from the guards’ guns. Luther ducked and dove into the corridor, slamming the door shut. He jammed the butt of his UV gun into the card reader on this side of the door, smashing it.
“You okay?”
She nodded automatically, meeting his eyes. “Will that keep them locked in?”
He’d already grabbed her arm and started running. “Central command can override any door. We’ve gotta get out before they can disable my access card.”
They ran down the hallway to the next door. Luther swiped his card so fast, Katie’s eyes couldn’t even perceive the movement. This time he went through the door first, shielding her with his broad body.
“What’s going on?” a male voice asked.
She saw how Luther jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Bit of an uproar,” Luther said and stepped aside, giving Katie a view of the room. “Not every day the boys get an eyeful like that.” His voice sounded muffled behind the visor.
The vampire guard who’d spoken—she read the name on his uniform, Patterson—looked at her for a brief moment, then glared at Luther. “Can’t bring a hooker through here. Rules are rules.”
Luther grunted.
“And open your fucking visor when I’m talking to you.” The vampire guard narrowed his eyes, his hand shifting toward his weapon, but Luther didn’t follow his order and took a step closer.
Pulse racing, Katie took a quick inventory of the room and the guard. There was a computer console that looked like it belonged in a recording studio. Behind it was an arsenal of weapons, and beyond it the only other door. The way out was past this guard.
“Come on, buddy, gimme a break,” Luther coaxed. “They’re gonna eat her alive back there. And I’ve already given her more than she can take.”
“Lockdown! All stations on lockdown!” a voice c
ame through a loudspeaker. “Watch out for a male intruder posing as a guard, accompanied by a female.”
Patterson’s eyes widened as he reached for his weapon, but Luther was already pouncing. With his full body weight, he slammed into the prison guard. As Luther and the other vampire traded blows and kicks, Katie ran toward the other door, but to her surprise there was no knob and no card reader. She spun around.
“The console!” Luther called out to her, before the guard’s left fist flew toward him. He avoided it narrowly and tumbled backward.
Katie rushed to the computer console. Her eyes traveled over the buttons and switches. But there were too many, and they were only labeled with initials. “Fuck! Which one?”
Luther and his opponent crashed against the console, making it rattle. Both men growled and continued fighting each other. Luther had lost his head gear, and Katie knew what this meant: they would recognize him and hunt him should they ever make it out of here.
Frantically, Katie flipped switches and pressed buttons. An alarm began to sound.
“Oh shit!” Luther cursed, freezing for a moment. Time enough for the prison guard to land a blow to his temple, jerking his head to the side.
Luther careened back, trying to regain his balance. Horrified, Katie watched as the guard pulled a smaller gun from his boot and jerked it toward Luther. The metal barrel gleamed under the harsh lights. This wasn’t a UV gun. This was a small-caliber handgun. She’d seen Scanguards’ people use them—they were usually loaded with silver bullets, and once they hit a vampire, the silver would eat him alive from the inside.
“Fuck!” Katie gripped the first thing her hands reached and charged toward Patterson.
Holding the iPad with its rigid cover in both hands, she threw herself between the guard and Luther, thrusting the tablet in front of the muzzle just as the shot fired.
She felt the impact as the bullet hit the iPad and—luckily!—got stuck in it. The force of it though, pushed her back, making her lose the ground beneath her feet. Arms flailing, she fell with her back against the console. The wind was knocked out of her lungs, and when she pulled in another breath, a scream ripped from her throat.
