Changeling (Book 1) Rated R

Chapter 22

Christian froze, in the middle of dusting his hands off mid-air.

Twisting my head a fraction of an inch, I was able to spot my captor.

He was a broad man, with arms as wide as a tree trunk, a wide set face accentuated by a thick black beard.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, pressing my back to him as he held me at gun-point. There was no twitch to his hand. No hesitation. He would kill me if he had to, no doubt about it

My eyes, two exclamation points of panic, met Christian's and there was an unspoken plea in them.

Help me.

Christian eye's scanned the man from head to toe, sizing him up. When he realized what I had, that the black-bearded man was not bluffing, he slowly lifted his hands into the air.

The man whistled and within seconds, two other goons arrived, their guns out and aimed at us, the intruders.

"Get on the floor." They ordered, pushing both Christian and I onto the ground.

Blades of grass pricked my chin and neck.

I squirmed but the man's hold was unrelenting.

"Let's take them to the boss."

I began doing a little supernatural math in my head.

Vampires, plus mafia business, multiplied by three guns equaled and meant that we were totally screwed.

Well crap.

"You have a gun aimed at my skull. You don't need to sandwich me against your body to get your point across." I snapped at thug number one as he dragged me onto my feet.

He harrumphed. "Keep your smart mouth shut before I do something real unpleasant to you, girly."

"Oh, because this isn't already unpleasant." I rolled my eyes just as he pushed me down the steps and into the damp entryway of the dungeon.

He barked a command in Italian which was soon rewarded by another man lighting a match and holding it against a torch lining the highest corner of the tunnel.

Where was that when Christian and I had been trapped in here?

It lit up almost instantly, casting a soft glow around the otherwise stark and stone-cold entryway.

My eyes darted to Christian, catching the calculating glint in his eye.

Sure, he was a vampire, but we'd both seen how his last encounter with a Soulsucker had gone.

And in this case, he was also outnumbered.

He frowned.

I reeled in my thoughts before I really pissed him off and he decided I wasn't worth the trouble and just left me here to be one of the Verlac's prisoners.

The guards shoved us into one of the cells, locking the door with a clang. I grew almost giddy as they stepped away because if they were planning to leave us alone, I could easily melt down the bars and escape.

To my dismay, they only gathered at the foot of the tunnel while one of them barked quick and fast Italian into his cellphone.

"What do we do?" I hissed at Christian.

"Let me think." He replied.

He shut his eyes, his jaw clenching.

I turned away from him, eyeing the two guards before catching sight of the horrific scene one cell over.