Vengeance (The Captive #6)(80)
The man turned and ran toward the bars. William cursed as he stormed toward the frightened vampires gathered at the bars and now howling to be set free. He shoved his shoulder into the back of another man, shoving him against the bars. “Untie my hands!” he shouted into his ear in order to be heard over the growing commotion.
The man glanced at him over his shoulder; his eyes rolled in his head before he lifted his arm and pulled it back. William dodged the punch the man threw at him as he swung his joined hands into the side of the man’s face. The force of William’s blow caused the man to spin to the side. He crashed against the bars separating their cell from the one next door. The scent of the man’s blood and his body sprawling onto the floor caught the attention of the others.
William thrust his hands out at another man. “If you want to live, untie my hands. I can get us out of here,” he said in a calm tone that finally pierced the shroud of panic enveloping the room.
“They’ll kill us,” another man said in a tremulous voice.
“They’re going to kill you no matter what. I’m the only chance you have.” The man glanced nervously at the front door. “Or we could all burn to death in here. Me, personally, I’d prefer not become a shriveled vamp-ka-bob today.”
A woman with hair the color of a strawberry stepped forward and shoved the man out of the way with her shoulder. Her skin was pale, but her hands were steady when she took hold of the rope. “You can get us out of here?” she asked as she tugged at the rope.
“I can.” He forced himself to remain calm, while inside he was a seething mass of impatience as her fingers worked the knot. Time was running out, he knew it. The smoke in the room was no longer a thin gray stream; it had thickened, causing the whole room to become the color of slate. It would only be minutes before the building was on fire, if it wasn’t already.
A breath escaped him when she finally tugged the knot free. William jerked the rope away from his wrists and threw it aside. Bending down, he pulled off his boot and removed the large hairpin Pallas had given to him. He shoved his foot back into his boot as he worked to bend the pin into the shape he needed it to be.
“Get out of the way,” he said as he pushed his way to the front of the cell. The vampires parted for him, but hovered nervously around him as he stretched his hand over the cell door. His fingers slid over the metal in search of the lock. He finally found the keyhole and slid the pin into it.
He looked at the ceiling as he carefully worked the pin within the lock, searching for the mechanisms to spring the door free. His fingers froze for a second when he spotted a small hole beginning to form above him. The hole started as nothing more than a pinpoint, but became the size of an apple in the few seconds he stopped moving his hand.
The growing hole, directly above him, revealed the burning timber that had fallen onto the roof from the building next door. A timber that would be crashing through the roof, and into his cell any second now. He knew he didn’t have much time as his fingers began to move faster on the pin and lock.
***
Finally making it to the cave leading out of town, after what felt like hours but had only been mere minutes, Tempest turned to look back at her home. Her deadened heart leapt in her chest at the rampant inferno consuming the buildings. Even from this distance, she could hear the shrieks of alarm and terror. The screams came from everywhere at once as they bounced off the face of the mountains and echoed through the valley.
Her hand pressed against her mouth, Agnes snuggled closer against her shoulder and wrapped her chubby arms around her neck. Tempest remained frozen as the flames shot higher into the air and danced across the snow around them in sparkling reds and oranges that would have been stunning, if she hadn’t felt so sickened by the sight.
The crackling sound of the flames brought to mind witches gathered around their caldron, but no one had cast some kind of spell, she had created this.
There was also no sign of William amongst the chaos.
He’d told her to go; he’d told her to leave him and never look back. Tears burned her eyes; her chest ached so badly she found it difficult to turn away. In her mind, she heard his words from when he’d first outlined his outrageous plan to her that night in the attic…
You must leave Tempest, no matter what happens, you have to do whatever you can to get word to my sister, Braith, Daniel, or Jack. They were all in the town of Chippman when I left, they may still be there. Jack will be there no matter what, he’ll take care of you, he’ll keep you safe, and he’ll help you if Braith and Aria have already left. If you don’t leave and get word to them, it will all be for nothing. I’ll find you as soon as I can, and I will find you.
Glancing back at the town, she knew she couldn’t let all of this destruction be for nothing. She couldn’t let this awful loss and sacrifice be in vain, couldn’t allow that woman in the hotel to continue to unleash her destruction on future unsuspecting vampires and humans. She and the children never would have been allowed to leave here. The burnings and imprisonments would have continued until they’d all been broken or locked away and turned into the monsters roaming outside of these mountains.
Anguish bloomed in her chest as she forced herself to turn sideways to shuffle into the entrance of the cave. She froze before she could move much further inside. William wouldn’t find her, she knew it; he wouldn’t be coming. She didn’t know how she knew it; she just knew something had gone wrong, and he was in danger.