Harper sat in her cell on the third floor of Gillen's Casa, waiting for somebody to come to get her out. When she saw that the two guards who had escorted her there were still standing outside the locked door, she sighed. Her heart had been thumping against the inside of her chest like crazy.
"He's going to pay for this," Lucas' voice kept echoing in her thoughts, and the image of the guy she once admired and loved flashed in her mind, and she couldn't seem to shake it.
Lucas was brokenhearted, but Harper had no idea how broken he was. Despite this, she felt in her heart and soul that she had to do it. She simply couldn't deal with their conflict right now, and she couldn't allow Lucas to use his position as her mate against her.
If she'd been like them, a lycan, there's no question she wouldn't have been able to stand even a second of being away from him, and there's no doubt she'd have run away with him. But she was human, and she had a choice, just as Aleister had told her.
She sighed again and ran her fingers through her hair.
When she peeked through the square barred window on the door to her cell, her heart almost leaped out of her chest when she saw Francine and Clay making their way. She took a step back and quickly heard a ruckus outside.
A moment later, the cell door swung open to show Clay standing there with the keys dangling from his hand. Harper couldn't keep a smile off her face. Among Gillen's most trusted slaves, Clay had been the only one she had imagined would be too scared to join in their attempt to escape. In fact, anytime she saw him anywhere in the Casa, he would either appear too scared to make mistakes and offend Gillen or too suck up to defy his master. Today, though, she noticed something different. He looked exceptionally stern. His jaws were clamped tightly, and his posture had even improved.
"Are you ready?" Clay asked, a bright and hopeful expression on his face. Harper wanted to tell him that she was hopeful, as well, that they would pull this off and be on their way to Moorland by daylight.
"Where are the guards?" As soon as Harper stepped outside, she asked.
"Dead," Francine said, emerging from a corner with blood trickling from her lips.
"You…"
"What? I was hungry," the vampiress said, rolling her eyes as she walked by.
"She sucked them dry," Libby said.
"Let's go!" Clay urged them.
Through the guards, down the tower, and into the main area, they were able to make their way out. Having managed to get past the final guards, who were by this time fast asleep on the floor, they were able to make their way outside to the garden.
"One of your potions?" Harper asked Libby as she scanned the sleeping guards on the floor where they were posted.
Libby gave her a sliver of a smile. "You're welcome."
A few moments later, they snuck out into the garden. Harper's chest throbbed as they made their way down the trail to the familiar area where she and Alex had met the night before. She realized that Alex wasn't just there to meet her, but also to survey the surroundings. It seemed like they had everything planned out.
"The other slaves and sitters would meet us at the wall," Libby said.
"May we be blessed-" Before Clay could finish his little prayer, Rea and Lovely appeared from the trees.
"I'm curious as to where you're headed, ladies and gents," Rea asked.
"It's today, isn't it?" Lovely asked Libby before turning to Rea. "I've heard rumors of their planned rebellion."
"Shut up, Lovely. You've decided to stay and suck dicks. It's a little messed up, but that's your choice. Allow us to have ours," Libby said sternly.
"What you're doing, Libby, is a betrayal of trust," Rea said then threw Clay a wrathful glare. "You've chosen to betray Gillen after everything he's done to you?"
Francine opened her mouth wide and allowed her fangs to grow, and before anyone could grasp what she was about to do, she acted immediately and gave no one any more time to react. She ran forward and sank her teeth into Rea's neck, draining her until she was almost severely drained of blood. The young slave's blood slid down the vampire's throat like silk, tasting better than anything she had ever tasted before.
"Rea!" Lovely cried out before her terrified and enraged voice screamed, "Guards! Guards! The slaves are running away!"
Harper closed the distance quickly, adrenaline racing, and threw a punch at Lovely. The scarred slave parried the first hit, but it was a rushed and uneven block, allowing Harper to deliver another blow squarely on the face, satisfyingly throwing the younger slave reeling backward till she fell on the ground, butt first.
Quickly, they rushed to the wall after that, but someone must have heard Lovely because guard reinforcements began to surge outside and into the garden.
"I thought you had them all dozed off," Clay said to Libby.
"Well, obviously not all of them had drunk the wine," Libby explained.
The guards charged towards them and Francine lunged forward, ripping out two of the soldiers' necks in one switch motion and caused blood to splatter everywhere, before knocking aside the third guard's thrusting sword. She spun around and struck her own clawed hands into the man's skull with surprising ferocity.
The universe must have favored them as slaves, sitters, and young fighters arrived and rushed to them, causing the guards to have trouble wading through the throngs of those who sought freedom.
"Francine!" Harper yelled out the vampiress' name as a warning, and the latter whirled around, not realizing until it was too late that the fourth guard was directly behind her, sword drawn and ready to strike.
Francine jerked to the side immediately, but she was not quick enough, and the guard's sword sliced her badly across the upper right side of her chest and shoulder. She winced at the superficial wound before deftly blocking the guard's second strike and turning low with her claws poised outward, effectively dismembering both of the fourth guard's legs at the knees.
As his top half dropped to the ground in a rapidly increasing pool of crimson blood, the man yelled in anguish. Francine redirected her eyes back to Libby and Harper, who were engaged in a struggle with a fifth guard a few feet away.
She was prevented from aiding Libby and Harper immediately by the sixth and seventh guards. While the women were being attacked by two guards at the same time, some male slaves stepped in to help them and traded blows with both guards at the same time until Francine finally hit the sixth guard with an elbow. This gave her the time she needed to incapacitate the seventh guard before severing the sixth guard's skull in a gushing pool of blood. She emerged from that little altercation with only a few additional cuts covering her upper torso.
The entire battle with the guard had lasted considerably longer than expected, and they had lost three sitters as well as two young male slaves as a result.
Francine dashed up to Libby just as the latter was gaining the upper hand and striking the fifth guard with her dagger. "We must go!" she cried to Libby over the cacophony of shouting slaves and guards.
They heard more soldiers in the distance. Francine would have loved to have taken out most of them, but she was no fool. She would have had no chance if she were up against all of them at the same time. So, for the time being, she and the others would be compelled to run.
Harper came to the same conclusion as she grasped the blade poking from the fallen guard. One of the young sitters turned to her, silently asking what they were going to do next. Her thoughts were whirling around in her head. "This way!" she said, pointing to the thick hedges behind them. " Quickly!"
They ran through it, Harper in lead, down the trail that would eventually lead them to the clearing.
"Alex and Lucas should be outside the gate waiting for us!" Francine said as they sped around a corner.
Clay didn't waste a beat in responding, "Well, they should be tearing down the gate by now."
Following another bend, they came to a complete stop when they came face to face with a massive wall in front of them.
"Where the hell are they?" Libby said, fidgeting nervously.
Francine took a deep breath and looked around before pressing her ear against the wall and declaring, "I don't hear anything on the other side."
Clay asked, in between heavy breaths, "What could possibly be taking them so long?"
"What if they weren't able to get out of the arena? Or what if they did manage to escape but were quickly apprehended?" One of the young, male slaves posed the questions.
Harper gave a shaky nod. Her gaze darted over the open space in a frantic search for something. "No. They should be on their way. They'll be here soon. Any minute now."
It was early evening, and the cool nighttime air felt pleasant against their bloodied and overheated bodies. Francine's mild cuts and scratches were laced with pain, but she ignored them, instead of striving to find a way out.
They had no choice but to wait for Lucas and Alex in the night, hoping that no additional guards would find them.
But then they heard a distant trumpet blast. The sound of trumpets booming from the arena was carried by the wind, drawing their attention and instilling panic in them.
"Oh, no…" Clay murmured, a mournful tone in his voice.
"Shit! The fight has officially begun!" Libby declared. "Why are they－shit!"
"What's happening?" Harper asked, her own fear beginning to take hold of her.
"The sound we just heard marks the commencement of the fight. Fuck!" Libby hissed between gritted teeth. "They're fighting in the arena."
Harper nibbled the inside of her lip. "No way, not a chance! We can't stay here! We have to get out of here now! No! We can't stay here!" she cried out, pounding on the tall metal wall with her fists. "We can't stay here! I won't be trapped in this place anymore!"
Everyone stood back in shock and looked at each other in horror, convinced that this was the end for them all.