Prisoner

Chapter 11

"Run!" Doll-eyes shouts, grabbing my arm and shoving me towards the door. Hero turns and starts to follow us. Leo swoops down, and the wolves dart forward. N and Ravi bare their teeth and snarl.

Doll-eyes pulls me into the hallway and slams the door shut. "Come on!" He says, grabbing my hand in his.

"What about them?" I yell.

"I'm more worried about you," he says. He doesn't look back at the maximum vaults. "I will never understand Hero..."

"Why does he want me?" I ask.

Doll-eyes glances at me. "I don't know. I really don't know."

Leo slams into the wall with a grunt. His wing is pinned beneath him painfully. As he stands up, he shakes the pain off and glowers at Hero. The alpha werewolf yelps as he is thrown into one of his packmates. Leo growls as Hero laughs.

"You've gone soft, bird boy," Hero taunts. "Too many years trapped in your own mind have made you docile."

"Too many years slaying Wardens has made you cocky," Leo says calmly. "You like being underestimated."

For once, Hero's smile doesn't seem as natural. "Why join her, though? You'd be free even if you hadn't."

Leo stiffens. "Her family asked for my help, and so did she."

You can still change your mind, Hero says in Leo's mind. It would be so easy for you to stop.

It would be easy, Leo says. His wings flutter. Unfortunately for you, I hate you more than I hate the Wardens.

Hero laughs out loud. "You've always been difficult, Leo. I'm glad the other creatures of the maximum vault are more easily influenced."

One of the vampires stiffens. Leo flies into the air as the orange-haired vampire lunges for him with a roar. Ravi was totally under Hero's control. Unable to reach the flying demon, Ravi turns to the next thing--the small werewolf, Baekhyun.

With ninety-nine percent of his enemies distracted, Hero turns to follow the escaped Warden. Leo growls to himself. Oh no you don't! He folds his wings and nose-dives directly into Hero. The two roll on the hard cement floor until they hit the wall. Leo yells in pain as Hero's knee jabs into his left wing, snapping it beneath his weight. HIs full demonic appearance comes forth against the intense agony.

Hero's hand tightens around Leo's neck. "Nothing," he snarls, showing his teeth, "will keep me from Noelle. Even something like you can't stop me from reaching my mate."

"Your..." Leo struggles to breathe. "...mate?"

"She is mine," Hero growls. "If you get in my way again, I will kill you." With that, Hero lifts Leo off the floor and slams his head into the wall. Leo drops with a groan. He watches Hero vanish into the hallway before his vision goes black.

Kris saw the demon's body hit the floor, but he couldn't do anything. He was too busy helping Baekhyun. The younger wolf whimpered; he had been injured severely by the vampire's surprise attack. Kai and Sehun were struggling to fight the half-crazed vampire now.

"Alpha!" Sehun shouts, staggering beneath the rabid vampire's strength. "Help!"

"Dammit," Kris growls, dragging Baekhyun backwards.

"Where the hell is that silver-haired bastard?!" Kai snaps. "Unless he wants his friend to die, he'd better show up!"

"I'm right here!" N hisses. "I've been trying to restrain him!"

"Get him into the vault!" Kris hollers. He drags Baekhyun to a safe place and whispers in the younger wolf's ear before running to help his packmates. Kai manages to throw Ravi into one of the vaults.

Kris wraps his arms around the other vampire. "This one, too," he orders darkly.

"What?!" N snarls as he is thrown into the vault. The door is slammed in his face.

"We can't risk you weak-minded fools being controlled," Kris says. He turns to Sehun and Kai, who look very scruffy from the fight. "You see that?" The alpha points to a hole in the ceiling. Silvery light fell from the night sky onto the cement floor.

As if on cue, Baekhyun howls. Kris waits after he stops. A moment later, another howl responds. This howl comes from outside the prison. Immediately, Sehun and Kai grin. Their canines are even sharper than normal.

"The pack is on the way," Kris says; his husky voice sounds more like a growl than a man speaking. The boys' eyes glow red, brighter than usual. "We'll finally be whole again."

He raises his eyes to the ceiling as the familiar silver light slides over him, bathing him in its beams. It was the full moon. More howls pierce the air. Kris groans as his body snaps and cracks, growing and stretching. Black fur shoots over him in a thick pelt. He raises his large, black head and howls.

Noelle, he thinks, you picked a hell of a night to let us out. I'm free, and the rest of my family will join me soon.