Captive: Hopeless

Chapter 53 - Trouble

Kay heard a sound coming from the water, and she momentarily stiffened but recognized the vampire instantly.

"So, are they out yet, or do you require help?" Cat asked.

"They need help," Darcy said right behind her as Marcella lifted herself out of the water.

"We told you that you won't be safe around them," Akira warned, and none of them paid attention to her.

"Go back," Kay said quietly, and they lowered their heads.

"If we leave, Adrian and Claudia will take our place," Marcella said, and Akira sighed.

"We're out of time. If they want to get their asses killed for following Kay into this place with these ancients, who might kill us for our trouble anyway, why stop them?" Akira lifted her hand to strike the keypad, and Kay grabbed her wrist.

"Hit that, and it explodes, just like the ones at your house," she warned, and her sister stepped back as she activated the keypad.

"Which one is she?" Kay asked.

"Artemis, I think," Akira guessed.

Kay stared into the dungeon, she really didn't enjoy being this close to the darkness in there, and her throat threatened to constrict.

"Are you?" she asked, and the blond didn't respond.

"Yes, she is," someone said from next door, and without hesitating, Kay used the corresponding cell phone text letters to spell Artemis in numbers, and the door clicked open.

Only Azera would have such gall.

"Seriously?" Akira asked, and she shrugged.

"Azera mocked them. What would they know of cell phones?" she asked, and as Artemis approached them, they stepped away from her as if she were a lion or a tiger.

"This gun is loaded with silver. Do not try anything," Cat warned, and behind her, two more guns aimed securely.

"Silver?" Artemis mocked.

"It used to be a particular spear hanging above our fireplace," Akira warned, moving toward the next pad.

"Hera," she said out loud, opening the gate as water stirred around their ankles, and the force of it was impressive.

By the time they reached the eighth cage, they were shoulder deep in water, and just as Kay feared, the water messed with the mechanism. Although it unlocked, the bolt seized, and it took all of their combined strength to pry it open.

The next one had shorted and fused shut, and there was no way to open the door.

Kay turned to Akira, there was barely room to breathe, and they kept being pulled under.

She motioned toward the entrance and took a gun from Cat.

"If I shoot at the lock, it might blast open," she said.

"What if the blast is wider than you think?" Akira asked.

Their eyes met and held, but she would not be dissuaded.

"I did not almost kill myself so you could die again," she said, shivering and growing weaker by the moment.

"Do they not deserve to have lives after all of this?" she asked as their gazes battled and nodding, Akira turned wordlessly away, swimming for the entrance, but Adrian didn't budge.

***

Making it back outside was hell.

"Where's Kay?" Marcus demanded immediately.

"Still inside with Adrian. The last door stuck, and she's going to blow it," Akira said.

"How could you leave her there?" he asked as Thane hauled her from the water, and she collapsed, unable to support her weight.

"Because she's hurt, and Kay wouldn't take no for an answer," Claudia said.

"Why didn't you stay with her?" he asked.

"She ordered us to go," Cat admitted.

"I can understand why it would affect you and not Adrian?" he asked, not thinking straight.

"She ordered you, and you obeyed, and she'd never order Adrian," Cat reminded as he prepared to jump into the water.

"You will not go, Marcus," Thane commanded. "Nor will anyone else."

She glanced at her father, whose fisted hands told her it was the hardest thing he had done in a while, and he wanted to go as badly as they did.

An explosion rocked the cliff, and something shifted. Claudia fell to their knees, wailing, and Darius made a sound that startled the newly freed immortals.

"Is she dead?" Marcus demanded, and Claudia shook her head as she held her stomach.

It took a moment for her will to separate the pain from herself. "She got hit; she's bleeding but conscious. Mother isn't," she bit out through clenched teeth.

Marcus sprang past them, and Thane had to prevent Darius from doing the same.

***

Time passed slowly. When Akira glanced at her watch, she realized it had been too long. Not even an immortal can stay beneath the water for such a period. They made small keening noises, and only her pride kept her from joining them.

"What is wrong with them?" Hera demanded, uncomfortable around so many of the creatures she had once known as pure animals and which became cunning enemies in the ring but never friends.

"Their alpha female is dying. What do you think is wrong?" Cat asked testily; guilt etched on her face as she stared at the waves as if willing them to part.

"Do not snap at me, bloodsucker," Hera retorted, and Cat ignored her.

"Marcus?" someone asked.

"He is still alive, but he is not doing well," Claudia bit out.

She shook as if she were cold and howled in terrible pain before abruptly passing out.

"Marcus," Thane bit out, and no explanation was needed.

The mating bond between Claudia and Marcus was not like that between Marcus and Kay, which was incomplete.

A complete bond worked two ways. Kay was bonded to Marcus, but Marcus was not bonded to Kay, which was why he had not experienced her death on the day of the assault. If Marcus died, there was a genuine possibility Claudia would not wake from her slumber.

Akira dragged herself closer to the edge, barely aware of the people around her.

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