She didn’t stand much of a chance with him either, but at least he could offer her some protection, and he had experience with what they were facing. She was like a babe in the woods when it came to the Savages.
He needed to sleep off the drugs; when he woke, he would be stronger, but until then, they were both extremely vulnerable. And soon, the Savages would start hunting them again.
They traversed a couple more streets that led them into more of a warehouse and business area of the city before coming across a chain-link fence surrounding hundreds of storage units. When he tipped his head back, he almost fell over, so he lowered it again.
When he staggered to the side, Callie braced her legs apart as she tried to support his weight. He was skin and bones but far heavier than she expected.
“We have to… to…fin… find a way in,” he slurred.
Callie searched the fence, but she didn’t see an opening, and spirals of barbed wire covered the top. “There is no way in, and there are cameras on some of the fence posts.”
“Stay away from them.”
“That might be impossible,” she muttered as she led him to the left.
She tried to keep them away from the cameras, but she had no idea if she was doing a good job of it or walking straight through the video feed of every one of them. The fence bordered the street until they arrived at an area where it ran along the back of a couple of large warehouses. When they turned the corner, an opening in the fence came into view, as did a guardhouse.
“There’s a guard up ahead,” she said.
Lucien had taken control of that woman’s mind while he fed on her, but she’d been mostly asleep and more malleable. He didn’t know if he was strong enough to control someone awake and capable of fighting against him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any other choice.
“Let’s talk to the guard,” he said.
“Yeah, fantastic idea; you’re talking so well now.”
If he were capable of doing so, he would have chuckled, but he barely felt capable of standing right now. Still, he gathered the scattered pieces of his mind and focused his attention on the guardhouse. He had to do this; it was the only way they would survive.
The guard looked up as they approached, set down his paper, and frowned at them over the edge of his glasses. His gray hair and lined face said this was most likely his retirement job, but the look on his face made it clear he wouldn’t take any shit from anyone.
The booth was tucked securely behind a rollaway section of the fence. It had a metal bottom, and plexiglass windows surrounding the top so the man could look out in all directions. Parked next to his booth was a golf cart, but Lucien didn’t see a car. The man had to have one somewhere.
“Are you okay?” the man asked Callie as he stared warily at Lucien.
“Yes,” Callie said.
“Is he okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lucien said as he focused his attention and power on the man. The effects of the drug still had such a powerful hold on him that he couldn’t tell if it was working, but he held the man’s eyes. “Let us in.”
The man blinked at him before laughing. That laughter broke through his drug haze and sent a bolt of fiery rage down his spine. He was tired of being weak and useless. He needed his strength and abilities back to keep her safe.
“Let us in,” he said more sharply.
The man’s laughter abruptly stopped; he blinked at Lucien before shaking his head as if he were trying to shake off Lucien’s words.
“You’re going to let us in,” Lucien stated.
The man’s eyes took on a glassy stare Lucien recognized. It was working but not as well as it should. However, that would come with time, and all that mattered was getting inside this place.
“And once we’re inside, you’re going to forget our existence,” Lucien continued.
The man didn’t blink as he stared at him. Then he stepped out of his booth, grasped the edge of the rollaway gate, and pulled it back to allow them entrance.
Callie was so astounded by this turn of events that for a second, she couldn’t move. She had no choice but to move as Lucien started forward, pulling her along with him. He seemed stronger and steadier as he stopped in front of the man.
“You’re also going to go through the camera footage. If you find anything with us on it, delete it,” he commanded.
The man’s eyes remained glassy, and his mouth parted as he nodded.
“Repeat to me what I just said,” Lucien demanded.
“I’m going to delete any footage with the two of you on it,” the man said.
“And you’re going to forget all about us.”
“And I’m going to forget all about you.”
“Good. Where’s your car?”
“At home.”
“How did you get here?”
“The bus.”
Lucien’s teeth ground together. Once he got some sleep and healed, he would find a car, but it would have been much easier if he could have taken this man’s car.
“Close the gate,” he commanded.
The man shut the gate behind them, and Lucien led her into the numerous rows of storage units. Trying to process what she’d witnessed, Callie walked numbly beside him until they were halfway down the first row of units. He tripped and went to the ground, pulling her with him.
She muffled a startled cry when her knees hit the asphalt. Whatever reserves of strength he’d dredged up were fading as he knelt with his head bowed and his shoulders hunched forward.
She had no idea what she would do if he couldn’t get up on his own. She wasn’t strong enough to drag him through the rows of closed and padlocked doors, and she couldn’t leave him here. She didn’t want to spend any more time with the vampire than necessary, but he hadn’t left her, and she wouldn’t leave him.
“Lucien, you have to get up.”
“Okay,” he slurred, but he remained on the ground.
Bracing herself, Callie kept her arm around his waist as she strained to lift him. She gritted her teeth when she almost fell over, but he caught her, shoved himself to his feet, and leaned against her.
They stood in an awkward embrace as he leaned heavily against her and she tried not to fall on her ass. Then he peeled himself away but kept his arm draped over her shoulder as she held onto him with both hands.
Together they walked to the end of the row, but Lucien was aware he was leaning on her far more than he should. However, he had no other choice as his legs felt as sturdy as a deck of cards in a hurricane.
They could stop and break into any one of these units, but he was trying to get far into the maze of storage containers before stopping.
“There’s a bathroom,” she breathed.
He tried to locate what she was talking about, but everything blurred around him. “Do you need to use it?”
“Yes.”
Callie led him toward the concrete building with the bathroom sign reading “employees only.” She searched for another guard patrolling the lot before recalling the golf cart by the guard booth. It was more likely that, every once in a while, he would drive it around the area to make sure everything was fine.
She leaned Lucien against the wall outside the bathroom. “Can you stay up?”
“Yes.”