Blood Bound

Chapter 36: The escape

My mind is buzzing angrily with questions. Yet I can't form them into words because I'm focusing on not tripping myself as we run down the emergency stairs, Sophie leading the way. I hear nothing but the thumping of my heart and the wheeze in my dry throat. Ahead of me, Sophie's dark hair, bouncing slightly after each step.

"Get a move on," Sophie urges me, turning around and grabbing my hand. "We need to get to the parking garage."

"I'm trying," I pant, a searing pain pinching me at the side. It feels like a knife is lodged between my ribs. "But I'm not the one with great stamina."

Sophie ignores my jab at her and continues to pull me onwards. "If you can't run anymore, I'll carry you."

"No!" I splutter and she looks behind her shoulder, eyebrows raised. "It's dangerous to carry someone down a staircase."

She rolls her eyes. "We don't have time worrying about something stupid like that," she retorts as we land on the 15th floor.

My heart sinks. Only 15 more floors to go. My legs are already turning to jelly. "Why didn't we take the elevator?" I ask, gulping whatever is left of liqud in my mouth.

"Because I'm not sure if the guards will let us pass or not. Greg might have allowed us to escape the holding cell without problems but I don't know if he has told the guards and the Sangues that we're free to go. He can't exactly do that since he's an elder and all," Sophie scoffs. "He's gotta uphold his reputation and rule as one, I guess."

Great. That's another thing to worry about. Vampire guards who can easily tears us into shreds. I try to push the image away from my mind but it's already settled in nicely, along with the fear of falling down the stairs, the fear of getting eaten by ghouls and the fear of getting a heart attack from all that running. I swear I will get into better shape if we get out of this alive.

"I can't run any-anymore," I wheeze, yanking my arm back and I clutch my chest. The blood, rushing to my head, is already making me dizzy and nauseous. I lean against the wall, desperately catching my breath.

"We can't stop," Sophie says impatiently. She crouches down on one knee. "Hop on my back. I'll carry you the rest of the way down."

I want to argue but I can already feel the exhaustion taking hold on me, so I wobble towards her and place my legs between her arms. I wrap my own arms around her neck and she swiftly straightens up, making me yelp.

"Hold on," Sophie says and begins the descent with apparent ease. She's not even breaking a sweat. I gasp, holding on for dear life. Being carried like that is not exactly fun, bobbing up and down on each step make me feel queasy and I screw my eyes shut to get rid of the nausea. But it does give me time to catch my breath and my mind gives room for contemplation. This whole escape is fishy. Grigori had been so adamant on following vampire law that he wouldn't allow us to escape that easily. The way that we're met with wall after wall inside the emergency staircase makes me feel like we're not in a fortress but a labyrinth. Just two little mice desperately searching for a way out, not knowing that they're trapped.

"Sophie," I snap my eyes open, horrified at the revelation. "It's a trap!"

"Huh?" Sophie slows down, looking back in concern.

"It's a trap," I repeat urgently. "There's no way Grigori would let us free like that. I'm sure they're all going to be waiting for us at the bottom."

Sophie frowns. "I don't think so," she mutters but I can hear the hesitation in her voice.

"How can you be so sure it's not?" I press on, squirming so that she'll let me down. But she won't. "I thought you didn't trust him."

"I don't," Sophie spits out in annoyance. She narrows her eyes, seemingly thinking. "But he wouldn't violate the law of the last wish. He's a douchebag but not a complete one." She adjust the grip on my legs. "If they're waiting for us downstairs, I'll just have to pummel through."