Desperate to stop her, Cain walked to the wall and laid his hand over the hidden mechanism.

“Your Majesty, wait!”

He swiveled and saw David hurry into the cell. Cain breathed a sigh of relief. Faye hadn’t made it into the tunnel yet.

“Oh thank God!” Cain let out, almost wanting to hug David. “Faye?” He looked past the older vampire to search for her. “Where is she?”

David lowered his lids. “Somebody took her.”

Cain’s heart stopped and inside him the beast roared. “Who? Who took her?”

“Your brother. I heard her say his name.”

“Fuck!” Why hadn’t she called out for help to him? Why hadn’t she used their telepathic bond to communicate that she needed help?

He sucked in a shaky breath and with it the bitter smell that lay in the air. He recognized it now. “Wesley’s potion.”

He stared at Gabriel and Eddie who were now crowding into the cell.

“He knocked her out with Wesley’s potion.”

Cain whirled to the secret door in the stone wall. “I have to save her.”

43

Even though Cain had been able to figure out which branch of the vast tunnel system Abel had taken by following his brother’s and Faye’s scent, he’d lost their trail when they’d surfaced in a wooded area about three miles from the palace.

Cain cursed and turned to John. The leader of the king’s guard looked agitated and Cain knew why.

“Abel will have had ample time by now to arrange for his jailor to hurt Nicolette,” John said, his eyes pleading.

“Wesley put the protection spell on her, didn’t he?”

John nodded. “But we have no way of knowing that it worked. Please, give me a couple of men, and let me free her. Wesley has her location.” He shoved a hand through his dark hair. “And who knows? Maybe Abel is on his way there himself. Baltimore was guarding Nicolette when they caught me and, knowing that you banned Baltimore from the palace after he got back, we must assume Baltimore returned there again and relieved his men. He’s Abel’s closest confidante. If anybody knows what Abel is planning, then it’s Baltimore.”

Even though Cain knew that John would say anything to make his case for a swift rescue of his lover, he couldn’t deny that John had a point about Baltimore. If anybody knew where Abel could be hiding, or where he was heading, it had to be his right hand man.

It was the only lead they had. Faye was still not responding to his telepathic calls and he had to assume that she was still unconscious from Wesley’s potion, though it was strange that the witch’s punch was having such a lasting effect. With the defanged vampires the potion hadn’t lasted longer than fifteen minutes. The thought that Abel had more than just knocked her out made a chill creep into Cain’s bones. He didn’t want to think of what Abel could have done to her.

“Let’s make this quick.”

It took twenty minutes before two dark SUVs headed into the bayous. One of them carried Cain, John, Wesley, and Eddie. Gabriel, Blake, and Haven rode in the other. Thomas and Maya stayed back in the palace to maintain order and control.

“Has Thomas started grilling the guard who indicated to the Mississippians that the two defanged vampires were in the kitchen?” Cain now asked.

Eddie nodded. “He’s just started.”

“What will that serve?” Wesley asked.

John, his entire body coiled with anxiety, answered in Cain’s stead, “I’ve always suspected that Lee is loyal to Abel. Most likely he was told to give David and Kathryn’s hiding place away to cause trouble. In fact, Abel only invited the Mississippian as a diversion.” He sought eye contact with Cain. “And to make sure he can claim the throne as soon as you were dead.”

Cain nodded, immediately understanding what John alluded to. “If he could blame the Mississippians for my assassination, there would be outright war, and he would become king instantly without having to wait out the mourning period once more.”

Wesley whistled through his teeth. “Nice brother you have.”

“We can’t choose family,” Cain agreed. “But we can choose our friends.”

“How many more guards do you think are on Abel’s side?” Wesley, who drove, asked.

Cain shrugged. “Hard to say. Simon for sure, but he’s dead. He was the one on duty in the cellblock when Abel came for me and Robert. But when we escaped through the tunnels, Abel must have realized that he had to cover his tracks and couldn’t rely on Simon not giving him up to save his own life. So he killed him.”