Chapter 37

At that moment Nicki would have done anything Stefan asked, if it meant she could stay near him. Now that they were here, on site, her tension was ratcheting up to ever increasing levels. She was fine. She knew she'd be fine. But that didn't stop the tension winding tighter.

Relax, relax, relax, she chanted to herself. She focused on Stefan. "Name it."

"These men are being held against their will, and the guard is up top. He has all the guns, presumably. There's no way out without him electrically opening the door. So, there needs to be a distraction while I get that process started."

She brightened. Distraction, she could do. She was an excellent distractor. "Any kind of distraction in particular?"

"Loud, ideally." He frowned at the ceiling, as if trying to determine what might work best with the guard. "You're not big, and you're dressed in black. You'll need to get directly under those lights, on top of the table. Movement and sound. I doubt there will be anything easy at hand to pick up, but that would be ideal. Failing that, if you can incite the men into being louder than usual, which might pull his attention to you, assuming he's not already focused squarely on the men. That would be the best scenario, but I'm not expecting it."

She smiled. "Yeah. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but he didn't seem too enamored with his job."

"That he did not," Stefan said. "So anything you can do to improvise, short of taking off your clothes, would be certainly advisable. With any luck you'll be able to see when I am in the room. Or hear me, which is my intention." He pointed through the window. "Those double garage doors aren't padlocked shut. If a single button will open them, so much the better. Fastest egress and closest to the road. The gate will probably be padlocked, but…"

"But climbing a fence, we can do." She looked out the window, then back to him. "How long do you need?"

He gestured to the window cut into the door. "How long will it take you to get into the center of the room?"

She peeked through the window. "Thirty—make it sixty seconds. I'll count off as I walk."

He nodded. "That's enough time. You distract, I disable the guard and hit the doors, then I go down and make a quick perusal of the pens, and we're out."

"Are you going to let all the men go free?"

He glanced back out to the pens. "If I can, and if they won't pose a danger to us, I will. With the guard out, I should have access to keys and his gun. The moment that door opens, though, you need to run for it. I won't let them free until you're clear of the building. Run and keep running toward the city. Tamas and his team are in the park. They'll find you with their tracking gear, but I want to be sure you're out and safe. Call me as you get into the shadows, away from people. Do you understand?"

"Loud and clear." Her heart kicked up with excitement, but trepidation too. "What if you can't get the door open? All the men will still be losing their minds but there won't be a clear way for them to get out."

"If the door won't open remotely, there will be a box at the units themselves, activated by the guard's key. Failing that, the key definitely opens the exterior push doors—we know that because the guard used it on his trash run. So if the garage door doesn't open, run to the first exterior door you can find, and hunker down there. I don't know how far off reinforcements for the guards here are, but we can't run the risk. I'll find you and we'll get out. That's most important."

"Sounds good." She put her hand on the door. "You ready?"

"Almost."

She looked up at him expectantly, and Stefan leaned down, kissing her hard. He seemed like he would break it off as quickly, but he didn't. Instead, he slid his arms around her, pulling her close. Then he moved to pull away and it was Nicki's turn to grab at him, deepening the kiss a moment more, as if she could take his very strength into her veins, her muscles, and her rapidly beating heart.

And then, suddenly, her heart slowed down. Steadied. The kiss between them reverberated through her, practically shifting her bones—as if her center of gravity reoriented higher in her body. She didn't understand what was happening, didn't know what it meant. But it was good. It was so, so good.

She pulled away and Stefan's eyes were alight with a sea of conflicting emotions. "You're okay?" he rumbled quietly, and she silently cursed herself. She shouldn't have shown weakness—not here, not so close. Nodding quickly, she gave him a fierce smile.

"Yup, but admit it. Bringing Tamas along wouldn't have been nearly so interesting."

He coughed a short laugh. "Go."

Nicki slipped through the door and into the wide space, her eyes adjusting to the variance of light. A harsh set of fluorescent bulbs hung in a row above the distant cages, causing most of the men to hunker into a ball, trying to avoid the glare. A few had pulled their pillows or shirts over their heads, while some didn't seem to be bothered by the lights at all, instead rocking in a corner or lying against the bars of the cage, staring into the darkness.

None of them were facing her, which was a blessing. Nevertheless, she had to force herself to count as she moved along the perimeter of the room. She didn't want to move too slowly or start her show too suddenly, but she didn't want to leave Stefan hanging, either. Then there was the question of the distraction. It needed to be loud and boisterous, which she could do, but the room was larger than she'd originally thought. If the guard was asleep or listening to music, she could scream her lungs out and it wouldn't faze him.

She slid her gaze to the men. They would be able to help out, if she caught their attention first. Some of them already seemed a lost cause, but if she approached from the other side of the table and stood on top of the thing…maybe. It would be her best bet.

It would also take longer than sixty seconds.

Shit, shit, shit.Nicki picked up her pace, trotting at the edge of the shadows, quietly enough that most of the men didn't notice her. One did, though. The third from the end, an older, bearded man with shaggy white hair who didn't rock but who wasn't trying to sleep, either. He peered up as she padded forward, his face tilting at the sound, like a dog scenting an unfamiliar smell. He didn't cry out though, but simply put his hands on the bars and stared at her intently.

"Pretty," he observed in a low, guttural voice. Nicki blinked at him. She heard the word, understood it. But his mouth moved in an unfamiliar way, the word sounding English but…it couldn't be.

Then the man grinned, his eyes going a little unfocused. "Watch out for the monsters, pretty. They gobble up the weak."

Monsters?She ripped her gaze away from him and kept moving. Was the old man being serious or had he lost his grip on reality? How long had these men been kept here—and who among them were still sane? She scanned the walls, picking out details in the shadows, but though there were several large entryways leading deeper into the building, there were no more cages. Plus, she wasn't picking up on the distinctive reek of animals, just of men. If she could just?—

"Aiggghhh!" Another man suddenly shrieked from the center of the cages, the howl so unexpected that Nicki almost jumped out of her skin. His companions seemed to be used to it. The one on the right of the wailing man curled more tightly into a ball, the one on the left said something harsh in return. The man kept crying out, but it was clearly a common occurrence, and Nicki used the distraction to get into position.

She stopped as her toes hit something thick and metal—chains, but far too heavy to lift. Beside her on the table was a cattle prod, and her lip curled to see it. Barbarians.

But there wasn't anything to cause noise, like cymbals or aluminum cans. She was going to have to cowgirl up and do her best work…and she had to do it now.

Drawing in a deep breath, she ran forward and started shouting.