A Chase of Prey (A Shade of Vampire #11)(22)

Days… Where’s Caleb?

I’d hoped that he would break free. But perhaps they hadn’t opened the doors. Perhaps they’d been smart enough to realize that he’d spring on them again. I spread my hands out on the wall, trying to feel for a switch, anything other than crumbling brick. The wall disappeared and my hands brushed against wood. I felt a door handle. Gripping it, I tried to yank it open. It was locked fast.

“Let me out!” I shouted.

I banged my fists against the door, then placed my ear flat against it. No sounds of anyone approaching. I banged again and again. I kept banging until my fists felt raw and blistered.

Fear welled in the pit of my stomach as I continued feeling my way around the room, still hoping to find a light switch. But I didn’t. I felt my way back to the mattress and sat down, running my hands down my thighs. That was when I realized that the clothes I was wearing were different from those I’d fallen asleep in. I was wearing some kind of top and baggy pants. I shuddered.

I have to get out of here.

I crouched down and spread my hands out around me on the dusty floor. I was hoping by now that my eyes would have adjusted to the darkness and I’d be able to see at least something. But it was so pitch black, I was as blind now as I’d been when I’d first woken.

I almost screamed when my hand hit something hairy. I scrambled back, barely daring to breathe as I strained my ears. It felt like a leg. A man’s leg.

I thought for a moment that it might have been Caleb, but as I fumbled up his shoulders and placed my hands on his neck to check his pulse, he was warm.

Who is this?

It could have been the biggest mistake I could have made, but desperation was clouding all rational thought. I clutched his shoulders and began to shake him.

“Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling. “Wake up. Please…”

He drew in a deep, rasping breath and began to move. I crawled back away from him, listening to sounds of him waking from his slumber. I could only assume that he too had been kidnapped and drugged.

He began mumbling incoherently. His voice was young, which I was relieved about. Somehow it made me feel safer that at least I wasn’t sharing a room with someone twice my age.

“Do you speak English?” I asked, barely daring to hope.

I breathed out in relief as he replied in a Midwestern accent.

“Y-yes.”

“My name is Rose. My friend and I were kidnapped by three men. Phillipe, Guillerme and Miguel. They drugged me. I just woke up. Who are you? Do you know where we are?”

“My name’s Brody. I… I think I know where we are.” His voice was thick and sluggish.

“Where?”

There was a pause.

“On the coast. Some miles out of Caracas.”

Venezuela. I swallowed hard, trying not to think about how long we must have been traveling to reach here.

“How do you know?” I didn’t want to believe we could have traveled so far.

“I was still conscious when they brought me in. And I’ve been here before, on my brother’s behalf. He… did business with Aurelio.”

“Business? Who’s Aurelio?”

“Miguel, Guillerme, Phillipe… they all work for him. My brother and Aurelio’s business is none of yours. Just know that it was dirty.”

“Why are you down here?” There was a pause and I heard him let out a deep groan. “Are you all right?”

His groans intensified. The anguish in his voice sent chills running down my spine. Clearly he was everything but all right.

I wanted to do something to help, but I was afraid to approach. I didn’t even know what he looked like. And I had no idea what was wrong with him. There wasn’t much help I could offer him when I was just as blind as he.

“Just the drugs wearing off…” His words came amid rapid breathing. “I’m here because my brother did something stupid. Very, very stupid. You see, Rose, when Aurelio’s not happy, entire families feel it.”

“Where’s your brother?”

“Eyes and tongue cut out. Shot three times in the head.”

I winced, my insides churning. “What will they do to you?”

To my bewilderment, Brody began chuckling. Though his laughter soon descended into a violent coughing fit. “You don’t know how funny you are,” he wheezed.

I was too confused by his response to continue that line of questioning. Instead I asked the next question burning at the forefront of my mind. “Phillipe asked me if I liked the circus. Do you have any idea why?” I’d have to be a moron to not have understood by now that Phillipe envisioned Caleb as a circus attraction, but I didn’t know why they would think of me for a circus. I wanted to hear Brody’s perspective on the matter.

“If Phillipe mentioned the circus, then you’re lucky. Exceedingly lucky.”

“How?”

“It means you’ll likely be handed over to Aurelio’s brother, Camilo. Now, Camilo’s hardly Mother Theresa, but he’s less heavy-handed than his brother. At least with the women.”

“Camilo manages a circus?”

“Camilo owns a traveling circus company. The biggest in South America. But they’re successful overseas too. They normally leave for Europe at this time of year.”

My heart pounded against my chest. “Do you have any idea what they could have done with my friend?”