Page 19 of Vampire Lee

Dillon clutched the dart gun and watched as Mars took down one of the people who’d exited the warehouse before the poor fucker could understand what happened. “Damn.”

“Yeah.” Devin sounded breathless.

“We’re staying here, right?”

Devin nodded, but then Murrie hauled someone toward the car, and Hanna and Mars went in through the door. Devin clawed at the door handle.

“No.” Dillon grabbed his arm.

“But what if he’s hurt? What if he needs blood, and I’m out here where he can’t get to me?”

Dillon frowned. “No. We’d be in the way, and then they’d have to rescue us on top of rescuing Rei and Lee.”

Devin made a noise of protest but let go of the door handle. Dillon’s pulse was hammering in his ears, especially after Murrie opened the door to Mars’s car and he could see Jala slumped in the seat. He reached for something, then he aimed a gun at the guy he dragged over there and pulled the trigger. A dart hit the man’s thigh, and he flopped to the ground.

Dillon looked at the gun he was clutching. It had darts.

After Murrie had hauled the now limp body into the car, he jogged toward the warehouse and disappeared from view, leaving Dillon and Devin the only conscious people in the parking lot.

Time dragged, and Dillon drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, rubbed the butt of the gun where the surface had been scarred, fiddled with the keys in the ignition, and went back to drumming on the steering wheel. Devin stared out the window without moving a muscle. Dillon wasn’t sure he breathed, though he had to be.

With a loud bang, the door flew open, and Lee tumbled out, only to roll around with a heavily muscled man on the ground. Dillon gasped. Lee was covered in blood. With a roar, Dillon pushed the door open and, more or less, fell out on the parking lot gravel.

“No!” Devin reached for him, but he was too late. Dillon ran. He was distantly aware of Devin opening his car door, but Lee was bleeding, and he was down on the ground. Dillon ran faster. He was close enough to make out details when he raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

The dart hit the massive man in the shoulder, and he looked away from Lee and focused on Dillon. With a vicious snarl no human ever could produce, he flung himself off Lee and toward Dillon. The next second, he fell to the ground, out cold.

Whatever was in these darts, it worked fast. Dillon stared at the unmoving form.

Lee was by his side before he could see him move. “Okay, babe?”

“I shot him.”

“You sure did.” Lee grinned, which was a gruesome sight with all the blood. “How did you get here?”

“Drove.” He gestured at the car. “Are you hurt?”

“We don’t have time now. I have to get to the cages. I don’t want anyone else approaching Angelo. He won’t know what’s going on.”

Dillon nodded. He had no idea what Lee was saying, but right then he didn’t care.

Murrie exited the warehouse dragging yet another person. He looked at the guy on the ground, then at Dillon. “You need to reload. That model only holds one dart.”

Good he didn’t miss then.

“Go reload and stay in the car. I’ll be back in a minute.” Lee kissed him on the lips and Dillon grimaced at the taste of blood but nodded his agreement.

* * * *

Lee hurried past Hanna, Rei, and Mars. They each held one person to the ground. A calm had settled. Lee wasn’t sure he trusted it, but he didn’t think there would be a massive attack anywhere, so he headed toward the cages.

“Lee!”

Lee turned and looked at Rei, who twisted the head of the person he was holding. The sickening sound of a neck breaking overtook the air, and Lee winced.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Okay.” He took a couple of steps. “Let me be the one who approaches Angelo.”

Rei growled, which had Lee whipping his head around. “What the fuck?”

“Why should you get to approach him?”

“He’ll recognize my voice.”

Rei stopped and stared at him. “Your voice?”

“He’s blind.”

A pained look flitted over Rei’s face, then it turned into a blank mask. So fucking weird. Was he one of those who believed flawed people should be put down? Nah, he was protective of both Devin and Dillon.

“He’s in pretty bad shape, and they threw me in his cage since we’re both vampires, I think. He can’t feed from me, so they probably deemed it safe.”

“He needs to feed?”

“Desperately. Come on.” Lee more or less jogged toward the cages. Angelo was in the first one, back against the bars in the corner and his head bowed forward as if the weight of it was too much for him.

“Angelo.” Lee neared the cage only to realize the door was locked. “How do we get in?” He directed the question to Rei.

The inhabitants of the other cages got to their feet and the scent of injury and infection grew stronger.

“Fuck.” Rei looked around, a look of distaste taking over.

“Yeah, I know. They need to get cleaned and get proper nutrition.”

“I fucking hate places like this.” Rei looked to be on the verge of shifting, and Lee winced. He’d believed he reacted badly to being there, but it looked like it was hitting Rei harder. Lee had been too focused on Angelo and on if or when the others would come for him or not to take in the situation. Now a shiver shot through him, and he feared he’d puke. The wound in his side throbbed, the blood clotted only to tear open again when he moved.

He took a deep breath. They needed to get out of there. The sooner, the better.

“Rei. Keys.”

Rei nodded and turned around.

“Angelo?”

Angelo raised his head, his sightless eyes turning in Lee’s direction. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

“I don’t think I can fight anyone right now.”

“Nah, I was thinking a shower and some food.”

Angelo didn’t look as if he believed him. “Can you get over here? Straight ahead from where you’re sitting. There is nothing in your path.”

Angelo dragged himself to his feet. He was nothing but skin and bones, and he looked worse now than when Lee had first seen him with the new bruises and lacerations that should’ve started to heal but hadn’t.

He took a careful step forward, then another and another. Lee pushed his hands through the bars, and when Angelo was close enough, he took his hand. “I’m outside the bars. Rei, my friend, is getting the keys or if he can’t find them, we’ll figure out a way to get you out of here. All of you.” He added the last bit in a louder voice as a murmur was growing in the other cages.

Angelo shook, but Lee ignored it.

A few minutes later, Rei came back. “Found them. I think.”

Angelo hissed, his fangs on full display. Both Rei and Lee ignored him.

Rei fumbled with the keys and tried a couple of different ones before finding the right one. “Got it.” He turned the key and pushed the door open.

In a blur of motion, Angelo was on him. Fangs sank into Rei’s chest through the fabric of his shirt since it was where he could reach, fingers curled into birdlike claws. Rei gave a startled snarl, buried his hand in Angelo’s hair and pulled him away. Then something close to pity overtook his face, and he crouched. He carefully allowed Angelo to get closer to his throat.

“Gently.” The whisper was so intimate, Lee looked away. When Angelo whimpered, he reached for the keys Rei had dropped when Angelo attacked and went to unlock the other cages.

The prisoners watched him wearily as he unlocked one door after the other. They didn’t move, didn’t exit the cages, and Lee’s heart broke for them. Fuck, he wished he could kill Maybe-Aaron all over again.

As he neared Angelo’s cage, Rei was gently running his hands over Angelo’s back. “You need to stop now. I need my strength.”

Angelo made a sound of protest.

“I know, but we’ll get you more blood later. And food, okay? Now, we need to get going.”

Zain took a careful step out of his cage. “Can we go, Vampire Lee?”

Before Lee could answer, Rei did, still with Angelo attached to his throat. “We need statements from everyone.” He tried to straighten, only to wince and bend down again. “Angelo, please, retract your fangs.”

This time, Angelo did as told, and Rei straightened and looked at the men spilling out of the cages. “Follow us. I’m sure Murrie has arranged some sort of transportation by now. We’ll get you showered and fed, and then we need to speak to you one-on-one. After that, we’ll help you get to where you belong.” He hesitated and glanced at Angelo. “Or set you up somehow.”

Lee placed a hand on Angelo’s shoulder. “Ready to go?”

Angelo grabbed his arm, his grip bruising. Rei looked between them, a flash of something before another blank mask fell into place.

“Let’s go before Dillon comes in here and starts shooting people with his dart gun.” Lee squeezed Angelo’s hand where it dug into his forearm.

“Is he here?”

“Outside. He drove here, so if you want, you can ride with us.” He didn’t know what the procedure was in cases like this, but since Angelo trusted him, he assumed Murrie would be okay with bending the rules a little to make him as comfortable as possible.

Angelo nodded a reply, and Lee guided him through the warehouse to the door. The moment they stepped outside, Dillon rushed toward them. Angelo hissed before he could reach them, and Dillon paled and took a stumbling step backward.

Fuck. “Dillon, this is Angelo.” Angelo closed his mouth, hiding his fangs. “Angelo, this is my boyfriend, Dillon.”

Dillon’s eyes widened, and Lee winced. Maybe he should’ve checked if the boyfriend label was okay before introducing him as such.

“I’m sorry.” Angelo held out a hand, the angle a little wrong, and Lee noted the moment Dillon realized he couldn’t see.

Dillon took his hand. “No worries, we’re all a bit on edge.” He glanced at Lee, and Lee wanted nothing more than to let go of Angelo and haul him in for a kiss, but he didn’t.

“Angelo will be riding with us.”

Dillon nodded. “You’re hurt.”

The moment he’d said the words, Lee became aware of how much he hurt and how his side was still seeping. “We’ll clean up when we get home and see how bad it is.”

Worry shone in Dillon’s eyes. “Okay. Can we go?”

“Ask Murrie.”

Dillon nodded and hurried over to where Murrie stood speaking to the other prisoners.

“You’re dating a human?” Angelo looked confused. “I didn’t think we were allowed to…They can’t know about us.”

“Dillon was a blood slave before Rei and the others rescued him.”

“Rei?”

“The guy you snacked on.”

A blush painted Angelo’s cheeks, which was a good sign. At least he had enough blood in his system to blush.

Dillon waved at him and indicated the car.

“Looks like we’re good to go. The car is about thirty feet away.”

Angelo nodded and took a step forward, still clinging to Lee.