Page 98 of Those That Defy the Realm

I’d attempted to call him but found that there is a frustrating lack of service in the middle of the ocean.

Growling, I use my weight to turn the wheel again as it pulls off track, and add more power to the jets as they try to push its way through the uncooperative water.

“Come on!” I yell to the skies.

But the weather suddenly becomes the least of my concerns as floodlights from another boat light up mine entirely.

CHAPTER 34

HENRY

Islam the bars again with my palm, the rattle of the metal echoing throughout the stone corridor.

“Come back you mother fuckers,” I yell. It’s completely futile, the door at the entrance to this row of cells had slammed closed a while ago and there had been no noise or detectable heartbeats since.

The agents had arrested us and brought us to a facility that chilled me to my soul. We were far out of the city, to the west if I was correct in reading the angle of the rising sun as we’d been moved out of the vehicles and into the compound.

They knew we were vampires, or at least had accused us of such. The charging sergeant, who’d read us our rights, had dictated the law which ruled our species illegal and the ramifications that we would be facing if they managed to prove it.

“Those sons of bastards.” Ty’s sitting on the floor behind where I stand. “It has to be Fillias. He must’ve called the fucking authorities on us. After he spewed all that sanctimonious bullshit at me about protecting our own, he goes and gets us arrested.”

Slamming both palms against the bars this time, I release a growl as my frustration boils over.

Claire and Bree, being female, had been led to a separate block from us males. I guess I should consider it somewhat lucky that Ty, Antares and I had been thrown into the same cell, for this entire block was empty. They could easily have split us up and put us in a cell each.

I only hoped that they’d done the same with the females. Wherever they were, I hoped Bree was with my mate. Although, I also worried about Claire’s unpredictable status. What I hadn’t told her was that Fillias had definitely tried to turn her, that he’d pumped her full of so much venom, in fact, it was more likely that she’d not survive than turn. I hoped I’d sucked enough out of her but I’d been planning on monitoring her closely for the next week, or month, or however long it took to reassure me she wasn’t going to have heart failure from the overdose.

The fucking war and the fucking fae in charge. Due to our decimation, even our own bloody practices were being lost. A vampire, a leader in charge of a pack no less, should know how much to inject to turn an individual. Before the war it wasn’t knowledge needed by all, most never concerned themselves with it because their leaders controlled the number of turns that were made.

Dying was the least of her worries now, though. If Claire turned fully in this facility it would spell her death from the authorities’ hands, but she may also kill her best friend in the process should the blood lust take over. She was weak and injured, which makes our drinking instincts that much stronger.

We needed to get out of here, and fast.

“Can I assume your mate knows where you are?” I ask Ty, careful not to name Rory and implicate her.

“Yes, she’s strategising.” Ty’s cryptic answer gives me a small amount of hope. Thanks to their bond, our pack knew what happened. Hopefully, they’re working on a rescue strategy. We just have to survive long enough for any plans to be put into action.

Ty’s relatively relaxed state gives me hope. He’d be pulling this building down brick by brick if he didn’t have some faith in seeing his mate again.

Antares, however, has been way too quiet. “What are you doing over there?” I ask him as I start pacing, my hands starting to hurt from futilely attacking the bars.

The smaller male is curled into the far corner with his head facing away from us. Having done a sweep of the entire cell, he'd not moved from his position against the outer wall in quite some time. We only knew it was an outer wall because of the magically reinforced, frosted glass panel in the middle at the top, which provided the only light into the cell.

His lungs expand as he takes a deep breath before he turns and makes a twirling gesture with his hand. A fine cool breeze washes over Ty and me. My leader immediately leaps to his feet.

The scent of more binder has been a frustrating surprise, the mist filtering into our cell soon after the guards had left.

“There’s a crack in the mortar,” Antares says.

“You can breathe the outside air?” Ty asks excitedly.

Antares makes the universal so-so hand gesture before returning to his crouch. I watch as he uses his magic against the brick, drawing some fresh air into his lungs as he takes a breath.

“It’s a small amount, but as I get access to my magic back I should be able to filter the air in here.” Antares looks so pleased with himself, and to be fair, I want to hug him. Both of them having their powers back will significantly help our chances of breaking out of here.

“Shit, I’ve been breathing it for at least an hour. It’ll take time to wear off.” Ty deflates. “If I had access to my shadows I could perhaps make that hole a little bigger.”

Antares shrugs, then returns for another breath. “Come here, I can start getting you some fresh air to breathe.”