A Ride of Peril (A Shade of Vampire #46)(51)

“Please, let us out.”

“I beg of you, my children are out there. I need to find them…”

“Please, send a message to my father…”

“Please, I won’t last much longer. Help me!”

It went on and on while we advanced through the chamber, shushing them and asking them to not give away our position. Some listened, keeping quiet while glimmers of hope bloomed in their eyes. My heart twisted in pain. How many of them would still be alive by the time we could return for them?

“Can’t we do anything to help these people?” I asked Draven, who walked ahead of me.

“Not unless you want a horde of Destroyers to descend upon us and make us join them. I’m sorry, Serena. We can’t risk it. We need to find Sverik.”

I sighed as a fae caught my eye. She was beautiful, even beneath the layers of dried blood and dirt. Her once platinum hair was matted. Her eyes were the color of lilacs, and her lower lip was swollen and bruised. She must have been here when Azazel overthrew the government and forcibly took control of this planet.

“Excuse me,” I asked her with a trembling voice. “You’re a fae, aren’t you?”

She looked at me and nodded, a frown pulling her eyebrows closer, informing me that she was leery of strangers. But she was sharp enough to recognize that I was as out of this world as she was.

“Do you know if there’s an incubus named Sverik around here?”

“You’re not from around here, are you?” she replied, her tone flat and dry.

I shook my head.

“Figures. If you were, you would’ve known not to walk into this miserable hellhole.” She grimaced, bitterness lifting her upper lip.

“We need to find Sverik,” I insisted, certain that she would be willing to help if I gave her good reasons. “He’s the one who will help us free everyone from these cages, including you.”

“I don’t know of any Sverik. And there is no way out of here. But it’s refreshing to see all that hope coming from you. I’m sorry, but you will lose it all. We all do in the end.”

She’d succumbed to her captivity, hopeless and lightless. The shackles around her wrists had symbols engraved on them. Judging by how sad she seemed every time she looked down at them, I figured they were the reason why she couldn’t use her fae powers to get herself out of there.

“Let’s go, Serena,” Draven whispered.

I looked at him, then at the fae.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I wish I could set you free.”

“I’m sorrier for you than you are for me. You will never make it out of here alive. But there’s a spare cage behind me. We might become neighbors,” she replied dryly.

A husky voice caught our attention. “Are you looking for Sverik?”

We turned our heads and found an incubus locked in a cage on the other side. He looked young and had fewer injuries compared to the other captives. His military tunic was coated with dried mud, and a deep cut had formed a dark gray crust on his left cheek, but his bright green eyes were alert, beaming with the will to survive and fight his way out of there.

“Indeed, we are,” Draven replied, stepping toward the incubus. “Do you know him?”

“I know where he is.” He said, hope straining his voice. “But you have to let me out of here. They will kill me soon.”

“You will slow us down,” Hansa shot back. “We cannot fail on this mission. All our lives depend on it, not just yours.”

“I won’t! I promise! I’m not injured. I am strong. I can help you! I’ve only been here for two days! They captured me near Mount Agrith. I’d left my garrison when they were forced to join Azazel’s troops! I couldn’t! I can’t die in here! I will take you to Sverik. I know where they’re keeping him!”

Draven thought about it, but my nerves were too stretched for me to be patient. Our time was running out. Destroyers lurked. We could be discovered at any moment, especially with all the prisoners still moaning and begging us for help.

I made the decision. I looked around and found a heavy chunk of black stone discarded on the wet, dirty floor. I picked it up and smashed the lock that held the incubus’s cage shut. It took a couple of hits for the metal to break free.

The incubus jumped out of the cage and stretched, beaming with relief and sheer joy. I noticed Draven’s frown aimed specifically at me and shrugged.

“Executive decision.” I smiled, then looked at the incubus. “What’s your name?”

“Grindel,” the young soldier replied.

“Grindel, you’re free now. Take us to Sverik, please. Keep your end of the bargain,” I told him.

He nodded enthusiastically and swiftly ran down the narrow lane between cages. Hansa, Draven, and I followed. We took several turns before we found Sverik. He was tucked away between two other incubi by the wall. Sverik was as handsome as Aida had described him, with beautiful features and light blond hair. His crude green eyes moved around, constantly scanning his surroundings, until they settled on our approaching figures and widened with surprise.

He sat up from his slumped position, gripping the bars and measuring us from head to toe. The bruises on his cheeks and temples were nearly black, as were the circles around his eyes. He’d been there for a while, stuck in darkness and misery. Our presence seemed to bring him back to life.