Page 17 of The Bloody Ruin Asylum & Taproom (Sam Quinn #7)

Twelve

Where’s Fergus When You Need Him?

“Now wait a minute,” Sebastian said, striding toward our group by the door. “You can’t take them. We have a protocol in place.”

I had my arm around a tiny girl who couldn’t have hit her teens yet, ushering her with the others.

I spun back, eyes bright gold. “Does your protocol include the abduction and molestation of children? Do you kill the ones who prove too difficult? I’ve heard people wearing misbuttoned clothing are found dead in alleys in this town. Is that part of your protocol?”

He opened his mouth to respond but said nothing, his eyes turning black.

“And does your protocol,” I continued, “allow for your victims to remember just enough of what was done to them that they are haunted by nightmares? How many have taken their own lives because they couldn’t live with the trauma they’d endured here?”

I took a step forward to separate his smug head from his bloodsucking body, but a hand fell on my shoulder.

“Take the child out with the others, yes?” Vlad said. “I’ll deal with this. Wait for me at the door.”

He was right. The humans were the priority right now, not my rage. I looked into her blank eyes and felt my own filling with tears. Nope. I needed to hold it together and get these people out.

Cadmael beside him, Clive was walking under his own power, helping to keep the humans moving forward. He paused. The tunnel door?

He’s not going to want us to compromise the Guild’s secrecy, so I assume so.

He kept them all going down the main hall.

How are you feeling? I asked.

Like I’ve been dead for a thousand years.

I’m sorry.

It serves me right for not being more careful. It’s been a few centuries since I was poisoned. I’d forgotten how painful it is.

Is there anything more we can do?

You’ve already done it. Your blood stopped the cramping. I’ll recover.

Vlad met us when we reached the door. He opened it and we all filed in. When it closed, though, he didn’t head down the stairs, instead pointing to the right.

Waving his hand in front of what appeared to be an earthen wall, he triggered a mechanism and a panel slid open to a narrow passage.

The humans couldn’t see in the inky dark, so I turned on the flashlight on my phone and Clive did the same.

We both aimed our lights at the ground as Vlad led the way.

“I’ve seen no listening devices here,” he said. “I don’t believe the current Guild members even know this passage exists, so we should be safe enough.”

“I didn’t know,” Cadmael said, “and I’ve been a member almost since the beginning.”

“Good,” Vlad said.

One of the humans staggered and Cadmael reached out to keep him upright and moving.

“Where does this tunnel let out?” I asked.

“Behind the Bloody Ruin. There is a small youth hostel nearby. Someone is at the front desk around the clock. We’ll leave them there.”

“Okay, but you have to wake them up. Otherwise, they’ll be at the mercy of human predators. And this little one has to have family frantic, trying to find her.” We couldn’t just leave a group of mesmerized people in front of a hostel and take off. They were our responsibility now.

“We won’t, darling,” Clive said. “I realize it’s foremost in my mind right now, but perhaps poisoning would work for a cover story. They’d all eaten at a kiosk and got sick, feverish. That might explain the lost time.”

“I’ll call Viktoria. It’s the pack’s job to protect the people of Budapest. They can escort them to different clinics,” I suggested.

“Yes,” Vlad agreed. “The wolves can take them to the proper authorities. Wait until we’re close to the hostel and then call.”

We were silent for the rest of the walk. Finally, Vlad stopped us. He looked at Clive and Cadmael. “Poisoned sausages? Vomiting, diarrhea, fever, too sick to leave the public toilet?”

“Yes,” Clive agreed. “Then too disoriented to know where they were and how to get back. Do they have wallets? IDs?”

“No,” Vlad said. “That’s the first thing they destroy so there’s no link to the Guild.”

“You two are the most powerful of your kind in the world.” I didn’t want to use the word vampire in front of the humans. “Why didn’t you stop this? What’s the point of having that power and authority if you’re not going to use it to do the right thing?”

Cadmael glared at me. “I haven’t been here in at least a decade. I only came to support Clive.”

“That’s a cop-out, if I’ve ever heard one,” I said as he glared at me.

“Sam, we’re on the same side. Cadmael is an ally,” Clive said.

“No, she’s right,” Vlad argued. “I knew what they did, and I chose to absent myself rather than stop it. It’s dangerous and plays into the desire some have to openly rule over humans.”

“Let’s get rid of these humans before we have this discussion,” Cadmael said, sounding as though he disapproved of everyone and everything, but especially me.

The vamps got to work, mesmerizing each one of the humans to forget what had happened, laying over a new memory of being sick from food poisoning.

When they were done, Clive and I walked them out of the passage—the tunnel door was hidden behind a rusted dumpster—and then over to the hostel.

It had a light by the door, glowing on the dark street.

I called Viktoria. It took her a moment to answer.

“Yes?”

“Sorry to call so late, but I need your help. What happened to that teenager was happening again tonight.”

“What?” Her anger was palpable through the phone. There were multiple growls in the background. Good. Hopefully that meant the pack was together.

“We got them out, but they need protection until the effects wear off and they’re feeling more themselves.” The little one beside me started to shiver, so I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “One of them is a child, so there’s probably a search party looking for her.”

I had to pull the phone from my ear when an anguished howl pierced my eardrum.

“Where are they?” she demanded.

“We’re outside the youth hostel on the street behind the Bloody Ruin where I met László and his friend. I’ll wait with them. I don’t want anything to happen before you get here.”

Angry voices shouted over one another but I didn’t understand the language, which in this case was probably for the best. The phone went dead and I pocketed it.

You should go. They’re very angry. I said to Clive.

So I heard. Darling, they’re not happy with you either. I don’t want to leave you here alone.

I thought about it a moment. Stay nearby. I’ll need you to get back in the Guild anyway, but your presence here will only make them angrier.

As I agree, I’ll go, but know I’m close if they decide to take out their anger on you.

There was a bench, so I sat a few of them on it while we waited. A couple began rubbing their stomachs. One put his hand over his mouth. They were coming out of it. The wolves arrived as two shot up and vomited into nearby bushes.

Viktoria came straight to me. “What did you do to them?”

“I got them out, with the help of three vampires who had nothing to do with any of it. They were disgusted by what the others were doing.”

She scoffed at that, drawing the child away from me. She spoke to her in Hungarian.

As quietly as possible, I said, “They were given the memory of eating tainted meat from a street vendor and then being violently ill in a public restroom. They’re coming out of it now and their stomachs are cramping.”

“Still, you cover for them. They attack children and you shield the monsters,” she sneered. “You’re as bad as they are. I should have known only garbage associates with leeches.”

László snarled something in my direction. Viktoria gave me a look of disgust, waving me away, while she took the child from my side, ushering her to the larger group.

I walked down the road and turned toward the river, away from the asylum. Clive would find me. Right now, I just wanted to breathe clean air and walk. I understood I was the only one they could curse for what had been done to those poor people. I got it, but I still felt like crap.

Eventually, I made my way to the Chain Bridge.

Leaning on the rail, I looked over the edge as the Danube rushed beneath.

Lights from the bank danced on the water.

If Fergus were here—and my leg was strong enough—we could go for a run and I could shake off this melancholy.

Alas, my sweet boy was half a world away.

Needing to focus on anything other than tonight, I stared at the water, wondering about the cruel prince, his glass castle and mermaid daughters. I needed a happy ending. I hoped she’d escaped with her fisherman.

Clive leaned on the rail beside me. “You know what they said was aimed at my kind, not you, right?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “The people are getting taken care of, which is all that matters.” I turned my head to study him. “I don’t think there’s any coming back from what I did in there.” Thunking my head against his shoulder, I added, “I’m sorry. I wanted that Counselor job for you so badly.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t be silly. If you hadn’t done it, I would have. Unfortunately, I was indisposed at the time.”

Standing straight, I tried to check his color in the light of the bridge. “How are you feeling?”

“Less like writhing in pain for a few hours, thanks to you.” He kissed me and I was finally able to relax. He was going to be okay.

“As far as the rest of them are concerned,” he continued, “you entertained some profoundly bored vampires and gave them something to talk about.”

“I guess there’s that. Do they know I’m the one who—”

He kissed me again. Never mention that. As far as they’re concerned, it could have been me, Vlad, or Cadmael. No one thinks a werewolf could destroy a vampire like that, and we don’t want to do or say anything that makes them suspect, all right?

Okay. I broke the kiss and then gave him another quick one before resting my head on his chest. If I didn’t screw up your chances, shouldn’t you be in one of those meetings?

I would imagine it’s chaos right now. Two are dead. I wasn’t watching, so I have no idea if they were Guild members or underlings. Either way, there’ll be upheaval.

I’ve been thinking about the timing of the poisoned goblet. Do you think they took advantage of the creepy, Kubrick-esque spectacle to try to kill you, or was the spectacle created in order to kill you?

A chicken or egg situation.

I squeezed him around the middle. I mean is it one person trying to eliminate you or did the Guild invite you here to kill you?

We’ve been causing trouble in the vampire world of late. He kissed the top of my head. So I’ve been wondering the same thing. I was under the impression Sebastian was an ally, but he’s been acting strangely.

Could that Ava chick be messing with his head? She seemed pretty sketchy to me.

Possibly, but I wouldn’t have thought her strong enough.

Maybe she’s only pretending to be weak. Or maybe she’s actually ancient and just escaped from a prison created eons ago to hold her.

She had to dig her way out, as the prison was part of a hidden city far beneath the earth.

No one knows her because she’s been chained up longer than any of you have been alive.

She’s biding her time, learning about this new world, and about the vamps who will soon be her servants.

Hmm, less possible. You need to listen in on one of our meetings and then tell me how she’s an all-powerful mastermind.

Done and done. Let’s head back so I can eavesdrop.