Chapter 53

(**Sebastion**)

Gabe and his brother move into the monitor room as I step out into the hall. They are looking at the control panel for a way to open the cell doors from here. Beckett directs his team of vampires to look for another exit. There must be one. I highly doubt that Treadstone brings his rich guest through the route we took to get here. There must be another way he brings his captures down here.

“There is a parking garage attached to the building. Maybe there is a secret entrance that leads down here.” I suggest to him before they walk away.

Turning around, I go into the control room to ask Gabe a few questions. My eyes automatically go to the monitors along the walls. There are twelve people caged in those cells. Rooms that look no bigger than ten by ten. Looking the monitors, I can see they all have a bed and a small walled off bathroom with no door.

There are items in each cell to keep his prisoners occupied. Bookshelves, chessboards, yoga mats, loose notebook paper. Looking at the faces of his captives, I can feel tears prick at the corners of my eyes. They all deserve far more than the life Treadstone has forced on them.

“Gabe, can we speak to them from here?”

“Yeah, he has a PA system here,” he points to a mic on the desk.

“Show me how to work it. I want them to know we are here to get them out so that there is no panic when we get the doors open.”

Gabe presses some buttons that boggle my mind. When he is done, he gives me the thumbs up signal to let me know it is ready for me. I take a deep breath, then grab the mic off the desk. Everyone in the cells freeze when they hear the electronic static as the PA system comes on and I clear my throat.

Fear is on all their faces.

“No need to be afraid anymore. We are here to set you all free.” I can see hope replace the fear as soon as they hear a voice that isn’t Treadstone's. “We will move you all to a safe place so we can help you find your families. Then we will help you find somewhere that Treadstone or his friends can’t find you again. Please be ready to leave when your doors open. We are working to get you out now.”

I nod to Gabe to cut the system off and walk out to the hallway. My stomach lurches up into my throat, forcing me to rush into the corner to empty its contents. My mind rebels at what I saw in those monitors. Everyone in one those cells are a creature of nature and can’t thrive living like that. Concrete walls, no fresh air to breathe, no sunshine for their skin. Treadstone is slowly killing these people as each day passes.

Leaving Justin and Wade with Gabe, I walk down the hallway with Flint. Anger grows in my belly as I pass each door. Monroe and his two guards follow behind be as I explore the place. An open steel door at the end of the hallway leads into another corridor. This one is wider, brighter, and more polished than the concrete hall we were in before.

This must be where his guests walk. I make a right turn at the door to see where it will take me. Monroe goes to the left with both of his guards. We not heard or seen anyone else down here yet. Where are Treadstone’s guards?

He wouldn’t leave this place unprotected. Six men guarded the house where we found Zasha. The hallway end is a right turn. This leads us to wider hallway than the one we were just in. All long the right side of the hallway are open doorways. Turning to the first one we reach, I pull the velvet curtain aside and enter.

It is a small theater with a few seats. The lush interior lets me know that this is where the shows take place. This is where he brings his rich clients to see what they pay for. There is a floor to ceiling glass wall in front of the chairs. A marbled top bar is along the wall to the left of the door. A large throne-like chair is set off to the right of the room’s entrance. That must be where King Treadstone sits when he shows off his collection.

The glass looks thick with a steel shutter on the other side. Next to the window is a thumb pad that must roll the steel shutter up to reveal his prizes. I can’t comprehend the horror that these people must feel living like this. This isn’t living at all. This is purgatory.

“This is fucked up, Sebastion. Does Treadstone really bring people down here to see his conquests like they are a sideshow attraction?”

“That is exactly what this looks like, Flint. I would love to just burn this entire thing to the ground.”

Leaving the theater, we keep going until we reach yet another corner, another right turn, and another long hallway. This one had no doors or glass windows. At the end of the hallway, I see Monroe and his guards. This must be a giant square prison block. We meet in the middle of the long hallway and he tells me what he saw on his side. It was the same as on the side I explored.

“Did you find any other ways out of here?” We ask each other on our way back to the control room.

Monroe leads me to the left path he took and shows me the now open steel double doors. The coppery smell of blood hits my nose as we step through. The sight that greets me is gruesome. It is hard to tell from the scattered limbs, torsos, and heads, how many bodies are there. Blood is pooled on the floor, splattered on the walls, splashed on the ceiling of the large chamber.

If I hadn’t already thrown up my dinner, this scene would make me do so now.

What they used this room for was hard to tell at first. Once I tear my eyes away from the horror left by the vampires, I can see the security monitors on a few desks. There is another steel door across from the one that we just entered. It too is now open. From what I can see on one monitor, there is a large parking area and a ramp leading up. Presumably to the upper level of the garage above.

This must be how Treadstone’s guests enter the prison far below his office building. Hidden far below the surface is a world where the super-rich come to see the stuff of nightmares. The things that go bump in the night that. Things that humans have believed for thousands of years only exist in stories. Treadstone makes them pay to see that those things are very real.

“We need to get those doors open and get these people out of here.” I tell Gabe when I reach the control room.

“Working on it, boss. I am attempting to override the system, but his firewalls are extraordinarily strong. If this doesn’t work, then I can try to get in through the doors individually by using the scanner that got us in the loading bay.”

“How long will it take to you go through each door?”

“A few minutes, per door, maybe longer.”

Looking at my watch, I see that we have about two hours to get out of here. “Do you have another scanner?”

“Yes,” he reaches into his bag and hand the scanner to his brother.

“Then each of you takes one side of the hall and we will get this done.”

Gabe pulls a USB stick from his pocket, then inserts it into the computer. A download bar pops up after he opens the mainframe. Once the download finishes, he taps a few keys then pulls it back out with a grin. “Let’s do this then.”

“What did you just do?”

“I downloaded all of his files. Not just for this prison, but everything is on this mainframe. Then I inserted a virus that will destroy it the next time he logs in.”

“Can you use anything on there to lock him out of the location in France?”

“I will have to get it back to my computer first to find out.”

“Ok. Let’s get these people out of here.”

*Three hours later*
*On a cargo ship in the bay*

Whispering voices, silent sobs, and the overwhelming cries of pain can be heard from below deck. Monroe hired a team of doctors to be on hand when we freed the captives. He even went an extra step to bring a handful of psychiatrists to help with the PTSD that they will experience. I know this step is a small drop in the bucket, but it is a step in the right direction.

By the time we freed everyone from Treadstone’s house of horror, the sun was coming up. Beckett gave us a nod as he vanished with the other vampires. There was a sinister smile on his face that said there was more to what he did down there than I know. Part of my mind never wants to know. I saw what they did to the security guards.

I feel reluctant to leave the ship. Going home to my family after everything these people have been through, seems wrong somehow. I have the safety of my pack to think of. Staying away will leave them without their Alpha. I must go home soon, yet the feeling that I must do more here remains.

What more can I even do here? There are doctors examining each person we freed. They took the five women to separate rooms to be examined one by one. They took the seven men to a large cargo bay that was set up as a dorm. What made me sick was that it wasn’t much different from where they just came from. Only this time there were no walls to separate them. No one to come to stare at them.

Tensions are high in that room. Two of the men had to be moved to different rooms shortly after because they were fighting each other. One is a werewolf, and the other is a werehyena. I had thought once they were all free that they would be too exhausted to cause trouble. We were all proven wrong.

Out of all that we freed; one face struck a chord within me. A feeling I don’t know how to explain. I feel a pull towards her that frightens me. It is the same pull I feel towards Irina. I know it can’t be the same as the mate bond because I already have a mate. There must be an explanation to the feelings I get when I see this other woman.

Her name is Fiona, she is a werepanther. What confuses me is that we are not of the same species, but I can’t deny the pull from her. I know from what Rayne told me, that it is possible for mates to be from other supernatural species. Her mate, Parker, is a shifter and she is a werewolf. From things I heard at her wedding, it isn’t an uncommon occurrence.

Why would the Moon Goddess put Fiona in my path this way? I have enough problems with one mate. There is no need for two. The urge to go home to Irina is strong. Aries is growling in my mind to get off this ship now. Yet my feet take me below deck to the small room I know Fiona is in. Her scent is intoxicating. Jasmine and fresh lavender.

I can’t help but just breath it in as I knock on the door.

A moment later, a small doctor opens the door with a startled expression on her face. “Who are you?”

“I helped free all these people tonight.”

“Fiona is very agitated. I am going to have to ask you to go up on the deck so she can calm down.”

Instead of listening to the doctor, I brush past her to go into the room. My eyes lock with the most amazing pair of amber-colored eyes I have ever seen. Her pupils dilate and her mouth parts in surprise. My hands itch to touch her beautiful ebony skin. I shove them in my pockets to prevent that from happening.

She whispers the one word that has my heart thudding. Mate. My mind screams that it isn’t possible. The fierce beating of my heart tells me it is true. Moon Goddess, what are you doing to me? Why would you do this now? Pulling my gaze from Fiona’s is hard, but I manage to look at the floor. Then my traitorous feet move me closer to the couch she is sitting on.

“What is going on here?” The doctor asks from the doorway behind me.

Fiona launches herself at me and rubs her nose all over my neck as she clings to me. She is rubbing her scent all over me but pulls back with an angry snarl when she sees my mate mark. Her nostrils are flaring as she takes in Irina’s scent that clings to me. The growl that rips from her throat is enough to shake the thin walls of the room.

“Who has touched what is MINE?” Fiona howls at me.

The look in her eyes has lust pooling in my belly and fear in my heart. Something bad is about to happen that is beyond my control. I don’t have time to pull her off me before she latches her mouth onto my neck. Right above Irina’s mark. I can feel Aries clawing at my mind to get out so he can make her stop.

Blood runs down my neck as her teeth pierce my flesh. Sparks ignite all over my skin as her part of the bond breaks wide open. I can feel her claws digging into my back as her hold on my tightens. My mind snaps as I hear her thoughts, feel her emotions, and her desire to claim what is rightfully hers.

Aries breaks my control over him as I flee to the back of my mind so I can process what just happened. Darkness sweeps over me as he takes control. The blissful pillowy blanket surrounds me as the world around me fades. I don’t want this to be true. The love I have for Irina is strong. There is no way that I will allow this to happen.

*Please help me, Irina. Don’t let her win.* I whisper through our bond. *Don’t let her take me away from you.*