The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 118

CAULDER

Vampires swarmed out of the bunker like bees fleeing from a hive to attack a potential threat. Blade and I held back a moment, waiting for the right moment to rush in. Meanwhile, Mason and some of the other werewolves dashed forward to get the vampires' attention. The werewolves turned to draw the vampires away from the bunker, but I knew they weren't going very far, because we didn't want the vampires to just retreat into the base.

When I didn't see any other vampires running out of the little shed, I knew it was time to move in. I signaled Blade, and he didn't hesitate to move. He was significantly faster than me while I was in my human form, but he slowed down to make sure I stayed near him.

We entered the little shed, avoiding the flames as best as we could, and there was a set of stairs just a few yards away from the entrance. We descended into the bunker, and darkness surrounded us. My werewolf eyes immediately kicked in, and a memory flashed into my head. The concrete walls reminded me of the walls at the headquarters of the Council of Magic. I stumbled forward as the memory made my chest start collapsing. I couldn't breathe, and my hands shook as I thought about the horrors that had faced me there.

"Caulder!" Blade shouted, snapping me out of the moment of panic that had started to fill my body.

I looked up in time to see a vampire rushing towards us. I took a step back as Blade swooped in and grabbed the vampire by the neck. He slammed the him into the wall so hard that it cracked the concrete. He quickly finished him off before turning to me. Blade put his hand on my shoulder. "I need you to focus right now. Do you sense any wolfsbane now? Because if not, I could use your werewolf form."

I took a deep breath, and my nose immediately started to tingle. I didn't see any active wolfsbane, but it was somehow in the air. "It's not strong, but it's here."

Blade nodded. "Then let's find the girls as fast as possible."

I looked down the long concrete-filled hallway and suppressed the flashbacks threatening me. Trusting my instincts, I began running. "This way."

I couldn't smell Harper or Remy, but there was a feeling tugging at my heartstrings, so I followed my gut feeling, knowing it would bring me to my mate.

There were several hallways that branched off the main one, but it all felt familiar. My father wasn't kidding when he said they based our prison off of this bunker. As we moved through the building, we ran across a couple of lingering vampires, but Blade was able to take care of them while I backed him up with my magic.

As I ran, I passed a hallway that had a strong scent of wolfsbane to it. It made my head spin slightly, so I stopped and backtracked. "Wait," I called out to Blade. Based on the difference in the potency of the wolfsbane in the air, I was sure the source of the scent came from down that hallway.

I turned down the path, and at the end of the hallway, there were two vampires standing in front of a large door with a large lock attached to it. It was clear they were either trying to keep people out of that room, or they were trying to keep them in. I was about to rush forward, believing that we would find Harper and Remy behind that door, but Blade grabbed my arm and pulled me around the corner. "What are you doing?" I whispered harshly.

"That door isn't a normal door," Blade warned. "It was specially designed by vampires to be indestructible by vampires themselves. When your own kind is inhumanly strong, you have to take extra precautions." "What kind of precautions?" I asked. I felt antsy just standing around when I was sure my mate was just down the hallway from me.

"The lock on that door can only be opened with the programmed vampire's blood, and I would bet anything that it needs Draven's blood," Blade explained. "Now that he has his hands on Remy, he will do anything to keep her."

"How do we get his blood?" Before leaving for the rescue mission, we all agreed that Draven wasn't our target. As much as I wanted to rip him to shreds, Blade made it clear that Draven was stronger than any other vampire we would likely face, even himself. Draven had the bloodline of an old vampire clan running through his veins, making him abnormally strong, even for a vampire. To face him, we couldn't be distracted by anything else.

"Hopefully those guards were given a vial of his blood to allow them to open the door. If that's the case, we just have to get it from them, but we have to be careful about killing them until we know for sure." Blade glanced down the hallway, and I could see him calculating his attack plan in his head.

That was why Blade held me back from going after them. We had to be strategic about our attack. If I had just rushed in, we could have lost valuable information."Got it. What do you need me to do?"

"If you can distract them, I can knock them out when they aren't paying attention. Just be careful."

I took a deep breath. "Ready if you are."

Blade gave me a quick nod, so I flipped around the corner, ready to distract the guards with a magic light show. However, when I looked down the hallway, the door was wide open, and the guards were missing. Then I heard a muffled scream.

-

HARPER

My ear was pressed against the door, waiting to hear any signs of commotion outside. I held Remy in one arm, keeping her as steady as possible, which was growing more and more difficult. She was struggling to keep consciousness, and my arm was growing tired from holding her body weight. On top of that, I kept flicking my eyes to Julie, questioning if bringing her along was the right choice after all. I didn't trust her to do something stupid that would get us all caught and killed.

"It's cold," Remy whispered to me.

I looked at her face, and she was covered in sweat. Her body was struggling with the lack of blood, and it didn't seem to know if she was hot or cold.

"Come on. Come on," I whispered under my breath. Remy had said Caulder was on his way, but it felt like it was taking forever. I was tempted to knock on the door to get out of the room sooner, but if the vampires saw Julie tied up, they would know something was up, and I knew I wouldn't be able to defend Remy and myself without my wolf form. If we could just make it out of this place and away from the wolfsbane, I would be able to do something.

Remy's head started to fall forward, and this time her entire body slumped after. I wrapped both arms around her and grunted as I tried to keep her upright. I stumbled backwards as I slowly lost my grip on her, and she slipped to the floor. I ended up sliding onto the floor as well. Knock. Knock. Knock.

As I looked up, I saw Julie hitting the door with her elbow. I saw red, and I was ready to tear her apart. I set Remy on the floor as gently and quickly as I could before jumping to my feet. I dove forward and tackled Julie to the floor, and at the same time, the door opened. Julie screamed as two vampires filed into the room. I was too late.

My brain frantically searched for a way to fix this, but I didn't know what to do. The vampires stood between Remy and myself, and there was no way I would be able to get to her before they did. Draven wanted Remy alive, though, so I hoped they wouldn't go after her anyway.

"What's going on in here?" the shorter vampire asked. He looked young, but I knew looks could be deceiving among vampires.

Julie screamed, muffled by the rope in her mouth. She was trying to get help from the vampires, and that was my last straw. I refused to help her when she was continuously fighting against me, even though we had tried to help her. She didn't deserve the kindness Remy had begged for on her behalf.

"The prisoner was trying to escape," I lied. "I was trying to stop her." Since Julie was the one tied up, I was hoping the vampires wouldn't know the difference between us and just believe me. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing I could think of. The vampires looked between Julie and myself for a moment before their faces twisted. "Aren't you supposed to be the prisoner?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, losing my confidence. Of course, it was a stupid plan. They would have seen Julie entering and leaving this room. They would have recognized her face.

"You can't fool us," the short vampire said. In the blink of an eye, there was a hand wrapped around my throat, and I was being pressed against the wall. I couldn't breathe, and the pressure in my head was building.

Caulder would be here soon. I tried to remind myself of that as I struggled against the vampire's grasp. I just hoped soon would be soon enough. I kicked my legs, trying to get the vampire to let go, but he was stronger than me, and my kicks made no impact. I tried to inhale, but my windpipe was being completely cut off, and I couldn't get a single molecule of air into my lungs.

Suddenly, the grip on my neck was released, and I collapsed to the floor. I gasped for air, and the most wonderful scent hit my nose. It was like I was breathing in sweet honey, and my mouth started to water. I looked up, and Caulder was rushing over to Remy, picking her up. My heart raced at the sight of him, and my entire body ached to be near him.

"Mate," my wolf purred in my head.