watched, Remy moved over and shoved a pair of socks into Yue’s mouth, then tugged a frilly pair of thong underwear over the woman’s mouth to hold them in place. “Come on, let’s dump her in the closet.”
We did. Yue was surprisingly heavy—she was deadweight and we were both wimps. Sophie didn’t seem inclined to help, watching the hall through a crack in the door as we struggled with the body of her friend.
“Why is she helping us?” I asked Remy as we shoved Yue’s bound legs into the closet.
“Long story,” Remy hissed back. “Tell you later.” She raised a pinky into the air. “Pinky swear.”
Once Yue was situated, Remy grabbed a pair of candlesticks off a dresser and handed one to me. “Here. Weapon.”
I looked at Sophie’s belt, full of knives and throwing stars. “Can’t we just borrow one of hers?”
An amused smile curved Sophie’s full mouth. “No.”
Well, fine then.
“Shall we go retrieve your master?” Sophie asked me.
“My page, too,” I pointed out. “Phryne stole that from me and I need it.” It was absolutely vital to finding one of the haloes, and the closest I’d come so far.
“Phryne has that page locked away. She thinks that holding it hostage will keep you here.” Sophie tilted her head, dreadlocks bouncing. “Will you prove her right?”
I sighed heavily. “No. I want Zane and I want out of here, in that order.”
Remy patted my shoulder. “We’ll figure out some other way to get the page, Jacks. Don’t you worry.”
We fell in step behind Sophie. Armed with candlesticks, we crept down the hall after the tall succubus. She walked with quick, ground-eating strides. Confident. Unafraid. Meanwhile, Remy and I crouched and slunk down the hall after her. I glanced over at my friend as Sophie paused at the entrance of a door, cracking it open a hair, checking for occupants. She gestured for us to stay in place, and slipped into the room.
“How do you know Sophie?” I asked Remy quietly, wincing as I heard another too-loud crack come from the other room. God, I hoped that wasn’t someone else’s neck.
Remy jabbed me in the gut with the candlestick. “Be quiet.”
“She’s not going to leave anyone in that room to hear us, dummy. Just tell me.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “This isn’t my first run-in with Phryne and friends, Chatty Cathy. Trust me when I say they’re assholes. If you see someone, don’t hesitate to bash their brains in. They’ll grow ’em back.”
Right.
Sophie returned a moment later and gestured for us to follow once again. We crept through the house, and my heart pounded wildly. I kept expecting someone to happen upon us and sound the alarm. But there was nothing. All was quiet.
We cut through the kitchens and Sophie tugged open a door, flicking a hand to indicate that we should follow. She led us through a wine cellar and then down another flight of stairs. The walls were stone here, the air damp and cold. One solitary light flickered overhead, revealing a dark, narrow passageway.
“Where are we?”
“Dungeon,” Remy replied grimly, and I shivered. The thought of being in someone’s dungeon scared the crap out of me. Mostly because if someone had a dungeon, they were going to use it. And this didn’t look like the fun kind of dungeon that leather fetishists liked.
My internal spidey-sense began to tingle and I turned down one hall, toward a door on the far end. “This is the right way,” I told Remy. “I can feel him.”
The knowledge that he was so close pulsed within me, a strange mixture of anxiety and arousal. I needed Zane. How badly did he need me—need blood—right now?
We moved to the end of the hall. The door was cold metal, no window. When I looked closely, I could see faint symbols traced into the metal, as if scratched there with a knife. The stain of wet liquid in the dirt at the doorway was likely holy water. If we got in, how would we get Zane out?
I tested the doorknob anyhow. It turned