Love Me to Death (Underveil, #1)(83)

“Claude, how long have you known me?”

“Centuries. Since you was a little girl.”

“And you knew my father.”

He crumpled his hat in his hands. “Yes, miss. Of course. King Ivan was a great man.”

“And you are really wondering how I got past the upstairs guard?”

His gaze flitted between Aleksi and Elena.

Aleksi’s voice was as smooth as honey. “Open the gate, Claude. We’re in a hurry.”

“I can’t, my lady. You need a pass or he’ll kill me, too.”

“Open it, Claude.”

“Oh, please, Lady Aleksandra. He’ll kill my wife and children.” He shook all over.

Elena’s anger flared hot in her chest at the suffering these people experienced at the hands of Fydor. Aleksi said all Slayers would recognize the mark of the Uniter. She hoped this guy was really a Slayer and was fed up enough with fear to react according to expectations. “I have a pass,” she said, untying the cloak from her neck.

The man’s eyes grew huge in the candlelight as he stared at her chest. The leather top she had borrowed from Aleksi was so low cut it left the entire mark exposed. The part about the baby was below her ribs and well concealed. She was pretty sure that Stefan was the only one in modern times who read the “old language,” but she didn’t want to run the risk.

“Ah, I…” He met her eyes and then stared at the mark again, then recited the opening of the prophecy in a slow monotone. “From the ashes of death, the Uniter shall rise.”

“Yeah, yeah. From the blood of a warrior, I awakened. Now open the freaking door so I can go dethrone a tyrant, will you? We’re running out of time.”

Aleksi took the key from his shaking hand when he produced it and unlocked the heavy wooden door. The stench of unwashed bodies was oppressive and made Elena’s nose burn.

The man followed them in, carrying a candle. In the dim, flickering light, she could make out cell after cell on either side of a wide hallway. The bars were too close together to get a hand through.

“How do they feed them?”

Aleksi laughed. “They are immortal. Why waste the money? They can’t starve.” She moved farther down the hallway.

“But they can suffer,” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

Aleksi spun to face her. “Don’t go soft on me now. I’m in way too far to back out without landing myself a starring role in that execution day after tomorrow, and I’d rather not go to that party, okay?”

“Were it not for me, Slayer, you’d still be chained to your bed, doing the backstroke in a pool of your own blood.”

“You have a point.” Aleksi stopped at the cell at the end. “Hello, Vlad, baby. You hungry?” It was too dark to see into the cell, but the low, rumbling chuckle that came from it made Elena’s hair stand on end.

She took the candle from the guard and moved closer to the cell. The circle of light crept across the floor until it lit a huge, red-eyed hulk of a man in tattered clothes. A gorgeous, red-eyed hulk of a man in tattered clothes.

He chuckled again.

The lack of light was maddening. “I wish we had a flashlight,” Elena grumbled. Her palm burned like crazy, so she waved it by her side and the entire room was enveloped in light.

“Shit, girl,” Aleksi said. “What else can you do?”

“I’ve got something she could do,” the vampire in the end cell said in his deep, rumbly voice.

Her palm was throwing off flecks of light like a sparkler. Certain it used too much energy, she willed it to dim, and it did.

At least she could see now, but what she saw filled her with horror. Every cell had an occupant chained by heavy cuffs to the wall. There appeared to be one of every kind of immortal there, like a zoo of exotic, sentient, humanlike creatures. Some cringed at the light, while others snarled or simply stared. The vampire, however, leaned his long body against the wall to which he was chained, looking amused. She decided he was the most dangerous force down there. No matter how you sliced it, this situation was not amusing.

“Okay, listen up, losers,” Aleksi shouted. “We’re going to bust you out of here, but only on the promise that you will help the Uniter. Once Fydor is defeated, you can have your lives back. We’re going to send you to your people to spread the word. You must commit to follow her before we free you. If you renege, you will die.”

“Follow her?” the vampire asked quietly with a smirk. “You should hear her thoughts. Following her is suicide unless she gets herself under control.” He moved as close to the bars as he could, stretching the chains binding his arms and legs tight. “But you’re right about one thing, little Dhampir. I’m the most dangerous force down here.”

“You’re a Dhampir?” Aleksi said conversationally, as if the guy wasn’t all doomsday creepy. “That kinda kicks ass.”

What Elena wanted to do was kick the big vampire’s ass.

He busted out laughing. “Much better!”

She hummed a round of “Respect” to mask her thoughts, and the vampire laughed even louder. “I take it back. She may be worth following after all.”

“So, here’s the choice, my lovelies,” Aleksi announced to the creatures in the cells. “Either you help us, or we leave you here.”