Even with my vision blurred, I could see Bodhi grappling with not just one, but two men. There were more men charging toward us.
Men in balaclavas waving weapons. More gunshots sounded from the audience. Fighting spilled out onto the stage. I wanted to look for Em, but as it was, I couldn’t take my gaze off the fighters making their way toward Bodhi.
Taser out, I shocked the guy before he could close the distance behind him and I kept my finger on the voltage until he dropped. The lights slammed off. Then back on.
Once my target dropped, I started forward only to pause as the hard muzzle of a gun pressed against my spine and a hand clamped down on the nape of my neck.
Bodhi’s gaze cut to me and I looked at him even as more men swarmed him.
“Come with me,” Juraj Vedriš ordered. “Or I will kill everyone here and I’ll start with him.”
Chapter
Thirty-Six
LAINEY
His grip on my neck bit into the flesh painfully. Dread scraped through me as I fought to steady my breathing. The sounds of sporadic gunfire added to the pandemonium. I was still staring at Bodhi as he vanished into a swarm of balaclava-wearing assailants. The need to rush to him burned in my veins, but Vedriš’ grip was far too tight.
Darkness plunged down again and Vedriš yanked me backwards. I was torn between digging my heels in and fighting or cooperating, for now, until a better opportunity presented itself. As it was, I couldn’t see where we were going.
Blue lights came on then cut off abruptly. At this point, whatever they’d done to the light board was just adding to the confusion.
“Keep moving,” Vedriš ordered. I wasn’t entirely sure what was more painful, the gun pressed against my spine or the way his fingernails dug into my neck. Still, I continued to move obediently.
While I didn’t quite drag my feet, I also didn’t hurry. It was dark and I didn’t plan on disappearing out into Prague somewhere. I also didn’t want Vedriš shooting anyone. If we could get to a little more private area—
“Faster,” he hissed the command and pain from his grip digging into my neck had me gritting my teeth. Now he was dragging me backward. I tried to track where we were going as the lights flashed on, then off, then on. The strobing effect just added to the horror movie flavor of it all.
We were backing down a narrow little hall that I hadn’t seen, it cut away at an angle. A door swung open behind us and I wanted to turn, but Vedriš didn’t give me the opportunity.
Then we were on a set of stairs. He didn’t make any pretense of dragging me down them. The lights down here were steadier and I barely got my head up in time to see the door to the theater close with a kind of ominous finality.
My stomach dropped.
Fantastic.
“I don’t know what your specific plan is Mr. Vedriš, but you should know—it’s not going to end the way you think.”
“Arrogant American bitch,” he muttered, hauling me around as the base of the stairs. If not for his grip, I probably would have gone sprawling. As it was, I was off balance, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all.
Using my neck like a handhold, he yanked me to my feet and then marched me down the stone tunnel. He moved swiftly and I was half-running to keep to his pace. The route curved and continued away.
Tunnels. Catacombs beneath the city? Or just the theater? Even as I tried to map it, I suddenly understood how they got in. The arrival of so many men invading the theater from the back as well as the audience made sense. The Vandals had everything else covered, but they didn’t know about these.
This was going too fast. How long before we were too far away from the theater? “Mr. Vedriš, name calling really isn’t going to do you any favors either.”
He hauled me back against him, the sting of his nails cutting into my skin abrasive. Lips next to my ear, he growled, “Shut. Up. You have caused me enough problems.”
The heavy stench of onions and garlic threatened to smother me. “You need a new chef.” The last comment really aggravated him and he shoved me forward, releasing me abruptly. Probably hoping to slam me into a wall, but I caught myself with my hands and spun around to face him.
It put me eye to eye with his gun. Not ideal, but we were also not moving farther away anymore. I lifted my gaze to focus on the man behind the gun. LED lights seemed to run along the ceiling and the floor level, illuminating the way. The light was faint, but it didn’t need to be bright to let us see.
Did they use this often? Was this how they hauled people in and out without others being aware? A problem to solve another day. I studied the man with his silver hair, neatly brushed until the ends seemed to feather against his shoulders. He was dressed in a fine suit, though the tie was pulled loose and his shirt disheveled. Sweat dotted his face and there were heavy shadows beneath his eyes.
“You don’t look well.”
“You stupid little bitch with your stupid little comments as though the whole world is here to serve you.”
“Not the whole world,” I said easily enough. There was a musty smell down here, dampness and dust. “Just the morons who can’t elevate themselves above it or are smart enough to avoid it.”
It was a kind of arrogant attitude I’d heard from my mother more than once. There were our people and then everyone else. As disgusting as the sentiment was, baiting Vedriš with it had his mouth compressing into a hard line and his eyes narrowing.
His hand also shook.
Just the slightest bit.
Drug abuse?
Alcohol?
Stress?
So many potential causes.
“Are you blind to the gun I have on you?” Spittle flew from his lips. He really was a mess. “Walk.”
