A Chase of Prey (A Shade of Vampire #11)(27)

My eyes fell on the werewolf, now in mid-transformation. I almost choked as his metamorphosis completed. As he straightened up, I found myself staring at Micah’s unshaven face. He stared back, and I could have sworn I saw a flicker of apology in his eyes.

He turned his attention to Rhys. “Where have you brought us now?”

“Just start sniffing,” Rhys hissed, tugging on the chain around Micah’s neck. It seemed to have shrunk to accommodate for his change of size. “We need to find the vampire.”

My stomach formed in knots. As much as I was desperate to find Caleb, I couldn’t bear to imagine what Rhys would do to him for his betrayal. I stared at Micah as his nostrils flared, taking in deep breaths.

Please, Micah, don’t pick up his scent. Don’t pick up his scent.

I wanted to reach out and throttle Micah as he began walking forward. Rhys followed, pulling me along after him. Anger boiled up within me, but I knew that it wasn’t right to blame the wolf. Rhys had him under his control. I wasn’t sure that Micah could refuse even if he tried.

We reached the end of the chamber, and Micah was still sniffing the air. He walked toward a door to our right and pushed it open. It led into yet another storage chamber. The musky smell of animals invaded my nostrils as we stepped into the room. Micah kept walking forward, past cages of lions, chimpanzees, a couple of zebras, until a black armored truck came into view at the end of the room.

“No,” I breathed. “Please.” I gripped hold of Rhys’ rock-hard arm and tried to pull him back. I might as well have tried to move a mountain.

He strode forward and gripped the heavy lock. He muttered an incantation, and a second later the lock snapped open. I hurried forward, holding my breath.

Caleb wasn’t there.

There was a thick splattering of dried blood on the floor, but otherwise, the dingy container was empty.

I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or devastated.

What could they have done with him? Could he have escaped? Where would he have gone?

Rhys turned around, grunting in frustration. Micah shrugged.

“Keep moving,” Rhys said, casting one last look inside the truck before turning away. We walked through a door to our left, leading into yet another storage chamber. If it weren’t for the blood on the floor, a clear reminder of the struggle here before the doors slammed shut, I would have suspected this to be a different truck entirely.

“Follow, Rose,” Rhys growled. “Don’t make me hold you the whole time.”

I was about to limp after him, but something made me look upward, at the ceiling.

My breath hitched. Caleb clung to a shadowy corner of the ceiling of the container like a spider. If his eyes had been closed—as they must have been when I’d first looked inside—I wouldn’t have noticed him. It was their gleam that had caught my attention. Our eyes locked for but a second before I whirled around and began walking toward Micah and Rhys. I was scared that they might have already seen my reaction, but their backs were turned to me. I hurried forward to catch up with them, even as my heart lifted.

He’s still alive.

I had to get out of this chamber. The doors to Caleb’s prison were open now. I’d have to lose Rhys. I couldn’t afford to let him give up his search and vanish me away somewhere, maybe to another realm. If that happened, it would be the end. Both for myself and Caleb. Even if Caleb managed to make it back to The Shade without me, he needed me to let him in and convince my parents to allow him to stay. I wasn’t sure that Mona’s word alone would be enough.

My mind was reeling as we entered the adjoining chamber. Like the last, this too was filled with cages of animals. We’d walked halfway across it when Micah stopped.

“I’ve lost the scent,” Micah mumbled. “I guess he was kept in that van, but now he’s elsewhere…”

I was tempted to suggest he might be upstairs, but was worried Rhys would find it suspicious I was so keen to reveal Caleb’s whereabouts.

“We’ll retrace our steps,” Rhys said, turning around.

What happened next was a blur. Caleb leapt from the shadows and brought a sledgehammer crashing down against Rhys’ head. A thud echoed around the chamber as Rhys’ scalp split, blood gushing from the wound. He collapsed on the floor, his limbs twitching before becoming still. My insides churned at how crushed his skull looked.

Micah lost no time in yanking the end of his chain away from Rhys’ loose grip. Caleb’s arms slid around my waist as he grabbed me and held me to him. I wrapped my legs around his torso, my hands around his neck, and held on like a monkey as he raced toward the exit. I looked back to see Micah following closely on our heels. Tears of relief spilled from my eyes, running down my cheeks and wetting Caleb’s bare shoulder. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be in his arms. I found myself kissing his cheek, neck, shoulder blade, any part of his parched skin I could reach. I hated to think how long he’d gone without blood now. But even in his weakened state, he raced forward.

Caleb was practiced at shutting out pain. If I knew anything about him after all this time, it was that.

“How many days have passed?” I croaked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You were locked in that thing the whole time?”

Caleb nodded grimly.

We reached the exit, but as Micah reached out to open it, it wouldn’t budge. He swore, wiping sweat from his brow. Caleb brushed him aside and, putting me down, barged into the door. He made no more of a dent than Micah. Both men tried together, but their efforts were in vain. We shared the same panicked expression as we looked at each other.