A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(65)

"Thank you," Quinn said quietly.

He nodded once. "Stay out of the Crux." She started to turn away, but he stopped her, his three-fingered hand on her arm. "Good luck."

She might escape, but he never would. And his hatred of this place was palpable. She wasn't sure what got into her, but she found herself leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on Grant Blackstone's cheek. "Thanks, Grant. May you find happiness in some form."

A small smile lifted his mouth, warming his eyes a few degrees. "Go."

And she did.

Chapter Fourteen

Quinn left Grant and strode quickly across the cave, to where the dark-skinned slave waited for her by the hidden door in the stone.

The man handed her a twelve-inch-long wooden stake. "Don't lose this. Vamps die if you stake them through the heart with wood."

"So that legend really is true?" She ducked through the doorway into another dimly lit passage through the rock. The other slaves were already a distance ahead.

"It's true," he said, following her in.

"Who built all these tunnels?" The tunnels were barely tall enough for her, let alone anyone taller than her own five-foot-nine. "I would think we should be up to our eyeballs in water down here."

"Slaves built them about fifty years ago. With Grant's help."

"With magic?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Are they hidden from the vampires?"

"Concealed. If the vamps find the tunnels, they can get into them. Grant's magic is good, but it's not that good."

Parlor tricks, he'd said. Yeah, right. The man was a wizard. Literally. And yet he couldn't renew the magic of Vamp City. But they expected her to? They were crazy.

"I'm Quinn, by the way," she said quietly.

"Marcus. They say you walked into V.C. on purpose."

She glanced at him. "The second time."

Understanding entered his eyes. "Your brother."

She nodded. "I lost him."

Marcus squeezed her shoulder lightly from behind, a warm gesture that strengthened and settled her more than any number of words could do. She'd thank him for it. Later. By finding a way to get him home.

As they rounded the next curve, Quinn saw the rest of the group ahead, the guy with the silver reflective glasses holding up a lantern, waiting for the stragglers. Was he really wearing sunglasses in the dark?

When Quinn and Marcus caught up, the leader began to speak, his voice low-pitched and quiet. "We'll come out of the tunnel in an abandoned row house about a block from the castle. Getting out of the Gonzaga kovena lands may be the most dangerous part of the journey. I'll go first to ensure that the coast is clear. Stay here until I give the signal. Once you're topside, don't go near the windows and don't make any noise. Not a sound."

"Jeff?" Celeste asked. "If the coast isn't clear?"

"If there's trouble, follow Celeste deeper into the tunnels. She knows them almost as well as I do." Jeff turned and started climbing a wooden ladder that rose straight up.

Quinn glanced at Marcus. "Is it day or night, now?"

"Day."

"Why not wait until full dark?"

"The vamps can see perfectly fine in the dark, and we can't. The little bit of daylight provides an even playing field." He shrugged. "Though not f**king much." He lifted his finger to his lips, his gaze following Jeff as their leader slowly pushed open the trapdoor above.

Quinn and the others turned silent as stone, barely breathing as they listened, tense and ready to run. If the vampires found them, they'd almost certainly catch them. Vampires were way too fast.

A soft click sounded, a tap similar to the one Celeste had made on the two doors. At the sound, Celeste grabbed the ladder and started climbing. One after the other, the remaining slaves followed until only Quinn and Marcus remained. As before, he waited for her to go, then brought up the rear.

Moments later, she emerged into a small, dark room, deep with shadows, that might have once been the living room of a small town house. The remains of rotted furniture littered the wood floor while the smell of mildew and decay thickened the air, along with swirls of dust.

Jeff, his back pressed against the wall, peered out a window so dirty it let in only the faintest of light.

Quinn followed the woman in front of her into the shadows at the back of the room while Marcus closed the trapdoor. Did they really think there was a chance that a group this large could pass through the city unnoticed by the vampires? They must.

Jeff slowly opened the front door, but only far enough to slip through. Halfway out, he nodded, then disappeared. One followed, a second, a third. Seven of them were out the door, Quinn only two back, when the house began to shake just as it had right before the sunbeam burst through the last time.

Upstairs, something crashed. Timbers creaked, one snapping. The whole damn house was going to fall on top of them!

Marcus grabbed her arm with one hand and yanked open the hatch with the other. "Down," he hissed.

Quinn hesitated. The others didn't, diving for the hatch like rats escaping a fire. "But this is it," she hissed back.

"No. Not here." He pulled her to the floor, until she was on her hands and knees. "There are too many vamps around. We'd never make it."