Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (30 page)

“I know he can take care of himself. I have
to get down there.”

Tom is dead. The creature you see isn’t
Tom. You need to leave before they…
 Just then, every vampire
surrounding Eli looked up and focused on her.
Damn it. Too late. Go with
Cain!

Cain shoved her through the opening of
the cave. “No!” It was too dark. She tried to back away from the cave, but he
pushed her forward. She whirled around. “Stop pushing me! I’m not going in any
further!”

She resisted, but he was much stronger
than her.  He continued to push her deeper into the darkness, until she
couldn’t see anything. She heard the most horrific sounds of fighting.
Snarling, growling, and screaming echoed throughout the cave. It was absolutely
horrible.

Taking the lead, Cain took her hand and
pulled her along with him. She glanced over her shoulder. They must have made a
turn. She couldn’t see any daylight from the entrance. It was too late to go
back even if she managed to get away from him. She wouldn’t be able to find her
way out. She stopped fighting and walked with him.

Knowing that Eli was alone and fighting
a seemingly impossible battle to help her escape had her heart breaking. She
couldn’t stay mad at him for forcing her to go into the cave. And honestly, she
couldn’t legitimately feel betrayed. He was simply doing whatever it took to
protect her. It was her fault that he was going to die. If she’d never allowed
him to go into her room at the hotel, then he wouldn’t be forced to fight for
her. “We can’t leave him alone with the vampires!”

 “Eli is strong. He’s probably the
most powerful of our kind. He will be fine. He won’t be alone much longer. The
pack is close. You need to duck down a few inches.” She followed his
instructions. She didn’t have a choice. She hated having to rely on him, but
she was thankful that he could apparently see where he was leading her. “Okay.”
He stopped. “The slope here is steep and slippery. We’ll go slowly. There’s a
very cold pool of water at the bottom that we want to avoid.” He tugged on her
hand as he started to walk again.

She felt the sudden change in the ground
after only three steps. The mud beneath her wasn’t deep, but it was slick. The
slant was drastic. Her feet kept slipping out from beneath her, but luckily he
was steady enough on his feet to keep from losing his footing. He was also
strong enough to prevent her from falling. “You’re doing great. We’re almost to
the bottom.”

“How much further do we have to go until
we’re out of here?” She had a feeling she was going to regret asking and his
delay in responding confirmed it.

“About a mile,” he finally answered.

“Why tell me that?”

“You asked.”

“You should’ve lied.”

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time
we’re in a cave,” he said.

“There won’t be a next time.”

He laughed softly. “Just a few more
steps and we’ll be at the edge of the pool.” She took the last few steps. “Now
we go through it to get to the other side.”

“I thought we were being careful to
avoid going into it. It’s cold, remember?”

“Very cold. Sliding and falling into it
would result in a complete soaking. It’s only a few feet deep, so as long as we
stay on our feet we won’t go under. There’s a bit of a ledge. I’ll go first and
then help you down.”

The moment he released her hand, the
darkness seemed to crush down on her. She heard a splash. She tried to be calm
and wait, but the she felt suffocated by the darkness. “Cain?” She blindly
reached out for him.

“I’m right here.” She felt his hands
close down around her waist. “I have you. Just go ahead and step right off the
ledge.”

“I’m heavier than you might think.”

“I doubt I’ll have any trouble lowering
you.” She hesitated. “I won’t drop you. I promise.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you
end up stuck in bed for weeks with a backache.” She stepped off the ledge and
allowed him to slowly lower her into the water. It was shockingly cold. It
stole her breath away. It reached mid-thigh. “It’s more than a few feet deep.”

“Sorry. I hadn’t considered how short
you are. Are you okay?” Teeth chattering she nodded.  “I could carry you.”
She shook her head. “Alright then, let’s get moving so we can get to dry ground
as quickly as possible.”

He didn’t have to make the suggestion
twice. She was all for getting out of the water. He kept her hand and led her
through the water. At one point it reached her waist. Her legs quickly started
to feel heavy. She heard him talking to her, but she didn’t pay attention to
what he was saying. She had to concentrate to take each step. Eventually, her
legs were completely numb. She’d almost reached the point of asking him to
carry her when she noticed the depth of the water was beginning to lower. When
it reached her knees, he got behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist
and lifted her onto another ledge. 

***

Eli
knew Kara would resist the notion of going into the cave, but he was shocked
when he realized she was adamantly refusing to listen to Cain. She was smart
enough to see that there was no way she was strong enough to fight Jeremy and
his ghouls. He had to end the fight now.

Acting in haste, he was on what was left
of Tom in an instant. He could’ve destroyed the ghoul in the span of a few
heartbeats, but at the last second, jaws open wide and preparing to crush its
skull, Eli stopped.

He realized ghouls, and a few younger
less developed vampires were headed up the cliff. In an attempt to force all of
their focus away from Kara he ripped the Tom’s head off and then attacked
Jeremy. With any luck they would all immediately rush to their leader’s aid.

With his paws on Jeremy’s chest, Eli
pinned the vampire down flat onto his back, but the vampire caught his throat
to prevent him from ripping his head off. The vampire was strong. His fingers
and sharp, jagged claws were digging deep into Eli’s throat. He was stronger
than Eli had anticipated. He’d hoped to kill him right away, but it was obvious
that a quick end wasn’t going to happen.

He was thrown off the vampire and landed
several feet away. He rolled several times before crashing into the side of the
cliff. He barely made it to his feet before several creatures attacked him all at
once. Within seconds of the violent skirmish beginning, he realized that he’d
lost sight of Jeremy. His gut told him that the vampire was headed into the
cave to go after Kara.

Several minutes passed before a few
members of his pack had arrived.  They gave him a better chance of
breaking free from the vampires and making his way to the entrance of the cave.
Some of the vampires fled when they realized the pack was closing in on
them.  

The moment he stepped foot in the cave,
reality hit him hard.  He felt Kara’s fear of the dark. It seemed
misplaced. It was as fierce as her fear of the spider that was in her hotel
room. He’d been amused by it at the time, but it suddenly dawned on him that
there was nothing funny about her fear of spiders, or of the dark. Something
had happened to her, something horrendous.

He should’ve looked deeper. He should’ve
examined the fear. He should’ve uncovered the source of it. She’d been utterly
terrified of the dark and he’d made the decision to force her to face it. And worse
yet, he wasn’t with her to comfort her. 

He knew Cain would take good care of
her. He would give his life to save her. He would do his best to keep her calm,
but it wasn’t enough. She needed her mate.

***

They’d
been walking and at times crawling through tight passageways for what seemed
like an hour. If the other opening was truly only a mile away it wouldn’t be
long before they were out of the cave. She actually, despite shivering her butt
off, started to feel a sense of relief. Naturally, it didn’t last
long.  

Cain stopped abruptly and turned to look
down the way they’d just come from. “We aren’t alone.” 

“Is it Eli?” Kara asked.

“No. It’s a vampire.” He shoved her into
a corner and forced her down onto her knees as he knelt down next to her. “Stay
right here.”

“Let’s just keep moving. Don’t leave me
here.”

“I won’t be far away.”

“What if something happens? What if you
don’t come back? I can’t see ...” The sound of a man’s voice silenced her. No.
Not just a man. “You’re wrong. It’s Eli!” A few seconds later she heard another
man’s voice.

“It isn’t only him. A vampire is also in
the cave. The vampire is closer to us than Eli, but not by much.” He took her
arm and helped her up. “New plan. Let’s get moving again.”

“Now there’s a plan I can live with.”

“I agree, but I say we leave the wolf
behind.” She immediately recognized Jeremy’s voice.

Cain pushed her behind him with too much
force. Her head hit the rock wall hard. She couldn’t blame him. He obviously
didn’t have time for gentleness. She couldn’t see what was happening, but she
could hear a brutal exchange of blows and rocks crumbling. Cowering in the
corner sucked. She would’ve given anything to be able to see. She hated feeling
so entirely worthless. She couldn’t do anything to help anyone, including
herself.

A horrid odor filled her lungs. It was
worse than the urine and feces stench in the basement and confinement unit at
the psychiatric hospital. She’d truly believed that was the worst of the worst
odors, but the stench surrounding her definitely topped it. It reminded her of
rotten meat. Chicken to be exact. She covered her nose and breathed through her
mouth in hopes it would help. It didn’t. It was so strong she could taste
it. 

Effectively taking her mind off the
smell, she heard what sounded like hundreds of leathery wings flapping just
over her head. Bats! She was in a cave. It had to be bats. She looked up and at
once regretted it. Some things were better left unseen. They had demonic
looking glowing red eyes, which were all focused on her. Covering her head she
crouched down as low to the ground as she could as she listened to them swarm
around her.

It’s okay.
She was so
relieved to hear Eli’s voice in her mind, but she never got a chance to respond
before he ruined the moment.
He’s right behind you. The bats won’t hurt you.
He created them. He used them to locate you. He’s going to grab you. Don’t
fight him.

The bats burst into flames leaving
behind a thick veil of smoke that burned her eyes, nose, and throat. She
started to cough and gag. She tried to hold her breath, but it was too late.
Her throat was on fire. She couldn’t stop coughing, which forced her to breathe
in more of the noxious fumes. The sensation of suffocating caused her to panic.
She stood up. Her head hit
something
solid and she stumbled backward.

It was apparent from the way he grabbed
her arm too tightly that it wasn’t Eli or Cain who had her. “Move!” Jeremy
yanked her arm hard.

It felt as if he’d ripped her shoulder
right out of socket. “Let go!” Digging in her heels, she put up a fight until
Eli spoke again.

“You’re going to get yourself hurt if
you keep it up.” He spun her around so that her back was pressed up against his
body as he wrapped his arm around her neck. “Now walk with me.” He took a few
backward steps. Her throat still burned along with her eyes and nose, but the
air had cleared enough that she could breathe again. She wasn’t going anywhere
with the vampire. She continued to struggle to get away from him.

Stop. You can’t get away from him. He’s
too strong.

Stumbling, she took a few steps with
Jeremy.
What do I do then?

Just stay calm. I’m not going to let him
take you out of my sight. I can’t attack him while he has you. It’s too
dangerous.

Clearly Eli was insane. She couldn’t
see. She was being dragged off to only God knew where by a vampire. How was she
supposed to remain calm?
Just do it. Attack him. I don’t care if it’s
dangerous. I don’t want to go anywhere with him.

He’s taking you out into the open. That
is good. I told you that I won’t let you out of my sight. I won’t let him hurt
you.

He doesn’t want to hurt me. He wants to
kill me for my father.

No. He doesn’t want to kill you. He
wants something from you. I’m not sure what it is, but I know he won’t kill
you. Trust me. He can’t get away with you. My pack is surrounding you.

She felt bad for giving Cain a bad time
when he was trying to help her. If she’d been more cooperative they would’ve
had a better chance of making it out of the cave before Jeremy had gotten to
them.
Did he kill Cain?

No. Cain is with the rest of the pack
waiting for us outside the cave. 

***

Eli
watched as Jeremy forced Kara toward the exit. He couldn’t fathom why the
vampire had any reason to be interested in her at all, but he knew he didn’t
intend to kill her for her father. He wouldn’t have involved himself in a
matter such as that. He knew from rumors that Jeremy had established an
unassailable and prosperous empire in human trafficking. He’d been established
in the trade for hundreds of years. As a general rule he only took and bought
women and children from the poorest of the poor locations around the world to
avoid their disappearances being reported. He was as savvy of a businessman as
he was merciless.