Cloak of Deceit

Chapter Eighteen

I slinked away from my cell, peering around corners, listening intently before I made each move. Only the buzz of the lights and the hum of the motor in the wall cut the silence. I pulled the steel door closed behind me and locked it with Derek's keys. With no idea how long it would take him to wake up, the more I slowed him down, the better.

"Guess it's door number one." I tiptoed across the dim outer room. I held the gun loosely against my outer thigh. I wanted it with me, but I didn't trust it not to go off in my hand. I had no clue what I was doing, but I also didn't know who or what I would run into along the way.

The answer was one hundred pounds of black fur and teeth.

The Rottweiler issued a low growl of warning from my right just as I slid around a corner, intent on going the other way.

I froze.

He growled again.

My hand tightened on the gun, but who was I kidding? I wasn't going to shoot a dog. He —it had to be a he by the pissed of face he was making— stood up from his haunches, coupling a snarl with the growl.

I didn't breathe, didn't blink. If I'd had a second more to contemplate, I probably could have thrust him away, but I panicked and just turned and ran the other direction as fast as my death-enhanced muscles would carry me.

The dog skittered behind me, making all sorts of ruckus.

So much for stealth. I made two un-planned turns, just out of panic. Fido stayed hot on my heels. If I slowed down half a stride, he'd sink his fangs into my calf. I flew through a set of swinging double doors into a storage room lined with racks of boxes. I careened down the nearest aisle, and the dog lost his footing on the slick linoleum, buying me another half-second. I spotted the door at the other end of the room, and yanked it open with my powers before we reached it.

As I dove through, I caught the frame and whipped myself around. Fido couldn't stop as quickly. He started to slide, and I gave him a nudge with my powers, sending him into the nearest rack, where some empty boxes tumbled on top of him. I whirled back out of the room and pulled the door closed behind me. The barking and snarling continued from the slit under the door.

I had to backtrack and make a turn off-track to avoid an Undead guard. I sensed him coming, his thoughts edgy, but luckily, not that alert. I ducked into an unlocked room, then stood there in the dark and listened as he walked past, praying that he couldn't smell the dried blood all over me. I pressed my forehead to the door, trying to remember which way to go. Had I taken two rights, or just one?

Come on, Alex — think!

Some escape I'd hatched. At this rate it would take me longer to get out of there than they would have held me. What if they had more dogs? Time was ticking by, and if they didn't know what was going on yet, they would soon enough. Then the guards wouldn't just amble past me anymore. I spared one extra minute to reach out for the collective, dedicating every ounce of focus. Still nothing. Maybe I'd been impressed too easily. They weren't doing me a lot of good now.

"Okay." I took a deep breath, my hand poised on the door handle. Get it together. You can do this. You're tough.

Julian needed me. I thought about him, really thought about him for the first time since I'd left Monique's. I pictured the way the shadows played on his face, his crescent-shaped scar, his voice wrapping around me like a cocoon of safety and comfort. I thought about the heat in his eyes when he looked at me, the quirk of a smile he always had ready for me. I thought about sharing my blood and my body with him, becoming his. I recalled the possession in the way he said the words make you mine. I had been so wrong, because I was scared of how I felt for him. I wanted to tell him, to prove I had learned my lesson. To prove I deserved him. I had to see him again.