Faye! Please!
Tears shot to her eyes, but she swallowed them and shifted farther to the side, exposing a portion of the slab. She focused her eyes.
M, she thought. A name starting with M.
She sucked in a breath, twisting further. MON. She exhaled sharply. MONT. That’s all I can see.
Then she relaxed back onto the slab and her eyes wandered up the wall to the ceiling. Her heart stopped.
“Oh, God, no!”
You have to hurry, Cain! You have to find me! There’s a hole in the wall and another in the ceiling. When the sun comes up, it will shine right onto me.
And the mirrors would make absolutely sure that any ray entering the crypt would hit her, no matter at what angle it entered. The sun wouldn’t have to be at its peak to do damage.
Oh, God!
“Well, hello, look who’s awake.” Abel’s menacing voice came from behind her.
Faye twisted her head and saw him emerge from behind one of the mirrors. She made a mental note that the exit had to lie behind it.
The laugh that rolled over his lips chilled her to the bone and made her shiver. And the way he was dressed made him look like the devil. He was clad in Kevlar gear from top to bottom, his hands covered in dark leather gloves, his feet in heavy boots. In one hand he carried a motorcycle helmet with a polarized shield.
“Looks like the witch’s brew is more potent when swallowed.”
“Abel.”
“Yes, Faye. It’s me, but then you knew that all along, didn’t you? You never trusted me.”
He was right. Deep down she’d never been able to trust him, though until Cain’s return he’d never done anything to warrant her hesitation to open up to him.
“Cain will kill you.”
“I’d be disappointed if he didn’t try. Now, let’s see if Cain loves you more than his kingdom.”
***
The partial name Faye had given him could only mean one thing. “She’s at the Montague crypt. Our family’s crypt. He has easy access to it.”
Cain looked over his shoulder at Haven who sat in the back seat. Wes was driving. Blake was riding in the second SUV with John and Nicolette. They’d split up and driven toward different sections of New Orleans to cover as large an area as possible once they got word of Abel’s position. But Thomas hadn’t been able to pinpoint Abel’s cell phone. He hadn’t replied to the text message Cain had sent from Baltimore’s phone, probably guessing that his minion had already been taken down.
“Where is that?” Haven asked.#p#分页标题#e#
“St. Louis Cemetery number 3. It’s on Esplanade Drive, just south of City Park.” He glanced at the dashboard’s clock. “We have less than twenty minutes till sunrise. I’ll drive, Wes!”
Cain reached for the steering wheel and motioned Wes to change seats with him. Through the opening between the two front seats Wesley squeezed into the back, while Cain jammed his foot onto the gas pedal and slid into the driver’s seat. He knew this city best and, right now, every second counted. They had to reach Faye before the sun had a chance to shine into the crypt.
“Call John and have them meet us there. He knows the crypt. Tell him Abel knocked a hole into the ceiling and the wall and chained Faye to a grave right below it.” The thought of what would happen to her if he didn’t get to her in time sent a shudder through his body.
“Shit!” Haven cursed. “Fucking asshole.” He pulled his phone out and called John. “John listen, we’ve got Faye’s location. Meet us . . .”
Cain didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation, because his own cell phone started ringing. He looked at the display. Abel, it said.
He answered it. “You—”
“Oh please, spare me the accusations. We have no time for that. You have about fifteen minutes to rescue your precious Faye, so let’s get down to business.”
Cain kicked the gas pedal down farther, accelerating the car to a speed of over eighty miles an hour on the almost deserted Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. To either side of the road was only water.
“What do you want?” he bit into the phone.
“You know what I want. My kingdom. It was always supposed to be mine. We agreed to it when we disposed of the old king.”
Cain remembered all too well that this had been the plan. “The people didn’t want you as their king. They chose me instead.”
“Because you played the hero. But this time they don’t get to choose. I’m going to be king. And you’ll make sure of it. Or Faye will burn to death. Is that what you want?”
“You harm one hair on her head and I’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heard it all before. What are you trying to do, bore me to death?” An evil chuckle came through the line. “Now listen carefully. You’ll pull all your men off the palace grounds instantly. That includes all members of your personal guard. Call me when it’s done.”