Page 72 of Bound By Blood
If they did walkaway, they’d probably have less extremities and blood when theydid.
Still, he hungback as they slithered through the shadows behind her. He couldn’ttell if Caro was aware of them while she strolled along, peeringinto store windows and nodding to the humans she passed.
Saber waited untilthey got somewhere more remote; the Savages wouldn’t pounce untilthen. Unwilling to scare them away, he hung back while they stalkedher, even as every part of him clamored to end them.
The fact they’ddared tothinkabout harming her was enough to infuriatehim, but he managed to keep himself restrained. When she turned acorner and vanished, Saber picked up his pace as the Savagesfollowed her.
Saber came to anabrupt halt as confusion and anger warred inside him. She was onlyout of his view for ten seconds, no more, but when he turned thecorner, she’d vanished. How was that possible?
Only seconds ago,he’d been looking at her. Now she was gone.
There was nowaythe Savages could have taken her anywhere that fast. Notwhen it was just the two of them trailing her.
Then he recalledthe one on his phone, texting. Apparently, he hadn’t been lookingfor a good time; he’d been plotting to take her fromhim.
But if they’dplanned an ambush, then there would have been more of them on thestreet before she disappeared. They wouldn’t be completelygone.
His eyes scannedthe street, but he saw no sign of her or the Savages anywhere. Hisheart raced faster as he resisted running down the road, callingher name, and freaking out.
Saber had managedto keep control of his emotions, but they were completelyunraveling now. He couldn’t lose it; she would die if he did, andhe’d survived this long because he’d learned to channel thecompulsions that turned him into a killer.
If he panickednow, he’d never get her back; he was certain of it. He lifted hisgaze to the rooftops, but nothing stirred there. And then, his eyesfell to the storm drain.
They would havehad to do it fast, but as she was walking by, a Savage could havecome up from below, grabbed her, and jerked her into the stormdrain. Caro was a fighter, but she wouldn’t have prepared forthat.
And if the othertwo pounced on her at the same time….
Saber gripped thesword as he sprinted over to the metal covering. He bent, graspedthe cool metal bars, and plucked the grate from the ground.
He almost heavedit away but managed to set it silently on the ground beside him soas not to alert his enemies to his presence. Leaning forward, Saberpeered into the small, dark hole.
Nothing movedbelow, footsteps didn’t reverberate off the concrete, and feetdidn’t slosh through puddles. He had no idea where else they couldhave gone if they weren’t down there.
He glanced behindhim, but no one had come this far into this section of unlitstores. The rooftops remained empty, and none of the stores showedany signs of life. They could have pulled her into one of thosestores and might be standing there now, watching him.
He was about toturn away from the storm drain before he made a mistake that costCaro her life, but then he caught a whiff of the ocean from below.There was nowaythis place smelled like that on a normalday.
She was downthere, they’d taken her, and he would make them pay for it.
CHAPTER 55
Sliding his swordonto his back, Saber lowered himself into the manhole. His feetfound the ladder rungs, and he climbed down enough to pull themetal grate over the hole.
He didn’t care ifsomeone was walking along, fell in, and broke their leg, but hecouldn’t have a Savage discovering the removed grate. It wouldalert them to his presence in this place.
Saber swiftlydescended the ladder to stand in the concrete tunnel. It was largeenough for him to stand with inches to spare. They wouldn’t touchthe sides if he stretched out his arms, but there wasn’t much roombeyond his fingertips.
He rested hisfingers on the ground as he gazed in both directions whilesearching for Caro. The dim light from above did little toilluminate his surroundings, but he didn’t require his sight forthis. His nose told him they’d gone to the left, and he rose tofollow Caro’s scent through the grimy tunnel.
Thankfully, thebottom of it was dry, so he didn’t have to slosh through waterafter them. There would be no way to cover that noise.
The spidersskittering over the walls retreated into the darkness when theyspotted him. Cool and damp below the earth, it smelled of mildew,dirt, and dead things.
He didn’t hear anyrodents; the Savages had probably hunted and killed them all duringthe daylight hours. It would have been a small form ofentertainment for them.
And he stilldidn’t hear the Savages, though their foul aroma and Caro’s calmingscent grew stronger. If they’d hurt her, he wouldn’t get the chanceto test his sword on them; he’d draw and quarter them with his barehands.
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