The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 156

[Gray]

I woke up with a pounding headache and some nausea. It felt like what my human friends described as a hangover. It took a lot to get a werewolf drunk and hangovers were uncommon among us.

dark for me.

Groaning, I rolled over and put my arm around Echo. I had no clue what happened last night. I remembered talking with Val in the TV room while Dillon and Jean-Claude played a fighting game. Then he just keeled over. It was only moments before everything went I sniffed and froze. That wasn't my mate. I drew my arm back slowly.

"Mmm. Cam." Harmony murmured and rolled over, wrapping her arms around me.

"Umm, kitten? I'm over here." I heard Cam say from nearby.

The room was pitch black. I tried looking around, but there wasn't enough light to make out anything. Harmony stiffened, then pushed me away.

"Who the hell are you?!" She shouted, making my head feel like it was bursting.

There were groans from all over. It seemed like I wasn't the only one with that headache. I scooted away and bumped into someone else. "Watch out." Val groaned.

"Could you all talk a little quieter? I haven't had a hangover this bad since I was in my twenties." Preston muttered.

"Does anyone know where we are?" Sean asked.

"I don't know, but it sounds like the gang's all here." Dillon chuckled, then groaned.

"Echo? Where are you?" I whispered.

There was no answer. I sat up and started feeling around. I came across a set of legs that were too thick to be hers.

"Go any further up and you'll have to buy me dinner." Amelia giggled.

"Sorry. I'm looking for Echo." I told her as I felt around and got a thinner pair of legs.

"Not Echo." Emmalyn hissed.

"Val, can you make a little fireball at your finger tip?" Preston asked.

"Yeah." Val answered.

A light flickered behind me and disappeared. I searched for Echo in the little flashes. Everyone was here except her.

"I can't keep my flame going." Preston said with exasperation.

"Me, either." Val said.

"Keep trying." I instructed. "We can use the little flashes of light to get an idea of where we are."

"Is it the curse?" Harmony asked.

"Fenton said he would take away everyone who supported Echo until it was only the two of them. I thought we'd have time." I murmured.

"You never told us that." Val growled. "You mean my little sister is all alone with that cat?"

"The vampires aren't here." Emmalyn stated. "That means she might have them still. She's probably not entirely alone. We need to figure out how to get out of here. And how to get home."

"I tried contacting Echo, but I'm not getting an answer." Sean said.

"I tried too." Harmony sighed.

"So we can't reach out to anyone?" Val asked.

'Lisa, are you at the house?' I asked in my link.

No answer. Damn. Of course, for all I knew it was the middle of the night and she was sleeping.

I had no clue who was taking over for the guards this weekend. Travis, Brandon, Chris, and Justin all left after we got back from breaking the wards. Echo had met the new guards, but I didn't know who they were. "No answer from Lisa." I said.

"None from Wendell, either. It looks like we had the same idea." Cam chuckled.

In the corner of the room was a cot and in another was a toilet and sink. By the door was a smaller door. It reminded me of the cells in the basement. In the door was a little slat for someone to look in. I had an uneasy feeling.

"Is anyone here familiar with the cells in the basement?" I asked.

"No. I never went down there." Val answered.

"I did. I wanted to check it out. Are you thinking we're in the basement, Gray, because I agree, this looks like the cells in the basement." Dillon said, standing and looking around.

"At least we don't have to worry about how to get home." Rosario chuckled.

"Echo wouldn't think to look for us down here. It's kind of the perfect hiding place. We can't hear anything, so we wouldn't know when she came down to see Victor." I muttered. "Damn. I can't think of how to get us out of here. We should be able to reach someone once they're awake, but I have no idea when that will be."

"What if he somehow blocked communications. If he could send me out of my body, he could probably make it so we can't contact anyone." Rosario replied.

My cellphone wasn't in my pocket. Somehow, he'd gotten my phone away from me. That was a crafty cat.

"Does anyone have their cellphone?" I asked.

Everyone patted their pockets and shook their heads. He must have thought of that. I was at a loss. It felt like there was nothing I could do.

Suddenly, the small door opened and a tray piled with food slid in. A familiar scent wafted in with it.

"Echo!" I shouted.

Everyone groaned and many grabbed their heads. My mate's upside down face appeared in the small doorway. She smiled at me.

"I made breakfast. I hope you all like it. I wanted to do something that wouldn't be too messy" She replied.

"Let us out, angel." I told her gently.

"Oh. I can't do that. You're safe right now. Fenton has no idea where you are, so he can't get you. I'm going to tell him that everyone left me when I couldn't protect Rosario. I'll even cry to make him think he really hurt me. Don't worry. This is only until I break the curse." Echo promised.

"Echo. You can't keep us in here. There's no privacy for the girls." Val insisted. "Girls need privacy."

"Well, I couldn't put the boys in with the vampires because Sean and Rosario are fae. They can control their hunger in a space like the house, but it would be much harder in a cell." She reasoned.

"Let us out of the cell, Echo. Then this won't be a problem." Preston said.

"But, you're safe here, Uncle Preston. No one can hurt you and Fenton can't take you away. You just don't understand, but that's okay. I can keep you safe for now." Echo answered.

"What would Victor say?" I asked. "He probably doesn't like this anymore than we do."

Echo's face disappeared and I could hear metal sliding against metal. She was actually going to ask Victor. That meant it was possible to talk her into letting us out.

"Echo! Let us out of here." Talia shouted.

"So much for our thought that the vampires are with her." Emmalyn muttered.

"Princess, why did you lock Finn and Talia up? Does Grayson know what you've done?" Victor asked.

"Unfortunately, Talia and Finn aren't the only ones she's locked up." I said, moving toward the food hatch.

"Echo, did you lock everyone in the cells?" Victor pressed.

"I'm keeping everyone safe. Fenton couldn't get you because he didn't know where you were. That's why he went after Rosario. If he can't find anyone, he can't attack them. It makes perfect sense." Echo insisted. "Angel. Listen to yourself. This isn't you. This is the curse talking." I pled.

She sighed. "You say that whenever I make a decision you don't like, Gray."

"He's right this time, princess. This isn't you. You're smarter than this. Locking everyone up makes it easier for us to get hurt."

"Listen to Victor. It's pitch black in these cells. Someone could have gotten injured." I told her.

"None of you understand. I'll turn on the light in the cells before I head up to get to work. When I come back with lunch, I hope you'll all have had time to see that this is the best option." Echo replied.

"Can you leave the hatches open so we can talk to the vampires?" I asked. "That way we can all understand together."

"Okay!" She said cheerfully.

I could hear her footsteps retreating and the light in the cell came on before I heard her start up the stairs. I picked up the platter of food and it got passed around. There wasn't enough food to feed five werewolves, even if no one else ate. Sitting on the floor by the hatch, I ate the two pies I got. It was something, but we would be seriously weakened if we didn't get more food today. Rosario came up to me and handed me his second one.

"You're going to be our best chance for getting Echo to see that she has to free us. I can go on half rations." He said.

Emmalyn and Amelia gave theirs to me as well. Preston came to hand his over and I started directing them to Val and Harmony. If I couldn't get through to Echo, they should be able to. We were the only ones who really knew Echo. "Is there anything you earth witches can do?" I asked.

"There are sheets of metal behind the wall. I can't do anything with metal." Emmalyn said.

"I can, but it takes a while." Amelia answered. "If Emmalyn can take care of the stone, I can work on the metal, but it could end up taking a lot of energy and a few hours."

"Amelia! Are you alright, Amor?" Finn called out.

"I'm fine, Finn."

"She only opened the viewing hatch on our cell. Is anyone in your side small enough to get through the food hatch she opened?" Talia asked.

Harmony and Emmalyn were pretty small, but Sean's frame was thin. I had each of them try. Harmony and Emmalyn couldn't get their chests through. Sean's shoulders were too broad. We were seriously stuck.

"Can you contact Marius?" I asked Talia.

"No. Broodmates need to be closer together to speak to each other than sires and children. Val, Harmony, can you reach him?" She questioned.

"We can try." Val answered.

I watched as they closed their eyes and tried to focus on speaking to Marius. They opened their eyes at the same time and looked disappointed. No luck.

We had to work out how people could use the restroom when Jean-Claude revealed that he had a full bladder. This wasn't going to be great as time wore on. Eventually, Victor and Finn had to go to sleep.

Cam tried contacting Lisa and Wendell again. Still nothing. I wondered if Echo had sent them back to the pack lands. That would be too far for us to reach through the mindlink.

Emmalyn focused on trying to get the cement to move. She seemed to be having a lot of trouble. Sweat poured down her face as she kept her hands on the wall near the door.

"I don't know why it's not listening to me." She sighed. "It's like the earth in the cement can't hear me."

"Damn it." Talia growled and I heard a thunk as she probably punched the door.

"What?" I asked.

"Marius had these cells built. That's why we can't reach anyone. The metal is most likely iron lined in silver and there's probably rowan and ash mixed into the concrete. There's most likely something to block witch's magics as well." She told me. "Why did Marius have to be so good at this?" I groaned.

"My broodmate has had to figure out how to keep practically every type of supernatural being from escaping his dungeon. I'm betting I wouldn't be able to get through the feeding hatch either. He would have had it built so only the tiniest creatures could fit through. Marius has special cages for them." Talia said. "We're stuck here until she lets us out or someone comes to save us."

I sat heavily on the floor with my back against the wall. I thought of how we could get out. The doors had never burned me. I'd touched them.

Standing, I walked to the door and punched it. There was no bend or dent and it felt like my hand had broken in several places. I cursed loudly while cradling my broken hand.

"There's silver all around you, Gray. Even if the door isn't silver, you're weakened by it. Sit in the center of the room and maybe your wolf will be able to heal you." Dillon ordered.

Crossing to the center of the room, I sat down and started feeling the tingle of healing. It was slow, but faster than a human. I looked around at everyone.

None of them looked hopeful at all anymore. Harmony was curled up in Cam's arms. Dillon and Jean-Claude were murmuring quietly to each other. Probably unable to mindlink. Val, Preston, Sean, and Rosario were talking about different approaches to use on Echo. Amelia was sitting with her arm around her sister.

How had this all gone so wrong? How did I not see that Echo was this far gone? Emmalyn had said she was fully in the grip of the curse, but she never seemed this bad.

I put my head in my undamaged hand. How was I going to get through to her? Echo didn't see anything wrong with this at all.

All we could do was sit and hope someone would come save us. Who was there to do that, though? Maybe my brother when I didn't call or show up to the family dinner? Maybe the girls would figure it out and come down? Maybe Marius would come by and ask about the empty house?

He would have come for Echo's training this morning. That means he didn't figure it out. Damn. That was one chance gone.

It felt like hours before my hand was healed. We heard the door at the top of the stairs open. A couple people tried calling for help, but the response we got was Echo's frustrated sigh.

"I brought you lunch. I just knew you all were going to be naughty. It's a good thing I sent Lisa and Wendell back to the pack lands. They could have heard you. Then you wouldn't be safe anymore." Echo chided.

"Did you bring enough to actually sustain the werewolves this time?" Cam snarled.

"Back the hell off, man. She's doing her best." Val growled back at him.

"I read that there could be nausea when you woke up, so I didn't want to give you too much food this morning. I have a lot more now. I just need you to slide out the other tray." Echo said.

I took the platter from Dillon and slid it out through the hatch. A tray of sandwiches came in followed by a tray of fruits and a tray with bottles of water. I started handing out food to everyone. She definitely made enough for everyone.

"Angel, why don't you let me come out and help you with everything. This can't be easy all alone." I crooned, catching her hand and squeezing it gently.

"I can't do that, Gray." She replied, pulling her hand from my grasp. "It's not safe."

"I can stay hidden. Fenton won't know that I'm in the house." I suggested.

"Listen to him, Echo. This is the best option for you." Talia added. "Victor would want to know you're safe."

"The wolves who guard the perimeter are still there. Victor doesn't need to worry. I have to go, Marius will be here at some point and I-"

"What is going on here, Echo?" Marius demanded. "Did I just hear Talia in that cell?"

"Marius!" Talia exclaimed.

"I'm keeping her safe, papa. I'm keeping everyone safe." Echo told him.

I got down on the floor to look out the hatch and saw Marius come down the stairs. He strode over to the door of the other cell. I got excited. He was going to free us.

Echo stepped behind him with a disappointed look on her face and put a hand on him before they both disappeared. Then she reappeared outside the door. "Really, papa. Now I have to keep you safe as well." Echo sighed as she turned from the doors.

"Echo! Let me out of this cell this instant!" Marius shouted. "How did you even do that!? Vampire abilities aren't supposed to work in these cells."

"You forgot, papa. I'm not a vampire. I'll bring some blood when I come back with dinner. See you later." Echo said, and closed the door at the top of the stairs. "Well, that worked out." Talia snickered.

"Shut up." Marius muttered.

I had no idea what we were going to do now, but I would keep working on getting her to let us out. There had to be some way to reason with her. Something of my Echo had to remain.