Chapter 36: Chapter 36
Angel raised his eyes to meet him then and said, "We will not be helping your father again, boss." His voice was calm and unbothered. Mathew's eyes were as cold as ice. When he made as if he was going to train the gun on Blaze again, Nadia yelled his name louder.
Mathew let out expletives and then answered, "I'm coming NADIA!" Taking a few steps backwards from Angel before turning to march away.
Angel raised his eyes to meet Nadia across the plain and knew she had done that to get Mathew away from them. He gave her a subtle nod, and started to walk in the direction of the pit. Blaze followed him.
When they were close to the pit, Blaze said, "Why do I feel like she just did that on purpose and her uncle didn't call for Mathew?"
"She did it on purpose. She is on our side," Angel said, and gave the younger Were a side glance. "She is mine," he added. Blaze nodded.
"She is pretty…" he replied calmly as they continued to walk as if Mathew wasn’t just about to blow his brains out. Angel thought if he had done that, he would not have waited for Xavier to come for them. He would have killed the bastard and caused quite an uproar. "She is very very very pretty," Blaze added with a quiet longing sigh, snapping him out of his dark thoughts.
"I heard you the first time, pup," Angel replied.
"You are one lucky old dude," Blaze said.
"Old? I'm only twenty-eight," Angel replied, his lips stretched in a smile.
"Yeah, like I said -- old," Blaze replied. Angel chuckled.
"You know she just saved my life?"
"I know, Blaze, give me a few hours to get us out of here, he will get what's coming to him."
When they got to the circular manhole-type entrance that Angel typically took to climb down into the pit, Blaze went first and Angel paused before following gingerly down the hole. The place was unusually quiet, but then he figured that because there were fewer of them now, it should be expected, but the pit was also plunged into darkness. And even though that was not a problem for them, Angel couldn’t help feeling that something was amiss. In all the years he had been in the shit hole, he had never experienced a total blackout for once. There was always at least one fluorescent light on. His eyes darted from one cell to the other and saw that the Weres in the occupied cells were on their knees with their hands held over their heads. He tensed up.
"What is…" Blaze said and didn’t get to finish his statement as several white darts of electrical shock current lit up the darkness, hitting both Angel and Blaze at the same time. Blaze let out a grunt and so did Angel. The younger Were resisted but slowly lowered to the floor.
Angel didn’t get to. He felt something sharp pierce and plunged into his side. He growled in pain as the object was repeatedly thrust into his side and he felt warm, thick fluid stream down his skin under his shirt and started to drip on the concreted floor.
Angel doubled over. Both the electric shock and the blade were targeted at him at the same time, causing him to jerk spasmodically. He then dropped to his knees.
Whoever it was was bent on killing him. And would have. But then his assailant suddenly stopped, leaving the blade stuck into him and falling heavily over his back.
Angel pushed him away, breathing hard. He dragged hurriedly to the sidewall, hugging his back to it. He let out a pain-filled grunt as he pulled the blade out and pressed his hand hard against his side.
The lights came on in a blinding flash and Angel saw Nadia standing by the bodies of two guards, covered in blood. His eyes settled on the gun in her hand and then he shut them briefly, understanding she had shot the guards to save him. Blood pooled under him. He grunted hard. His big chest heaved up and down. When he directed his eyes to the weapon used on him, he found it was a custom-made silver blade. A memory flashed through his head of Daniel holding the same blade and then he saw the initials carved on the handle. He clenched his teeth together in understanding.
Nadia rushed to crouch by his side, reaching to touch his face. "Darling,” she whispered in a shaky tone, “Let me get the doctor…” she added, and tried to draw back from him.
"No!" Angel growled, grabbing her wrist to stop her. “They can’t find out about us!” he grunted through gritted teeth.
"Oh, God! You are bleeding,” she said as her eyes settled on the pool of blood by his side. “They stabbed you, Angel."
"I'm… aware, babe," he managed to say.
“Tell me what to do. How can I help you, please?”
"Unlock the cells," Angel growled. Nadia quickly drew back to rush down the cell block to do as he asked. All the Weres watched her with weary gazes. When Nadia was done, she started to walk back towards Angel as the Weres started to step out of their cells, including Wolfe.
When Angel asked her to unlock all the cells, he had forgotten about Wolfe. The Were, just like the others, stepped out of his cell, only unlike others, the eyes he trained on Nadia were filled with malice. He charged for her and smacked one Were out of his way. That one fell hard against the hard iron rods, causing every Were to direct their attention in that direction. Angel cursed as Wolfe lunged forward. Nadia saw him and almost tripped running towards him.
Angel rose to his feet with an effort. Silently noting he was the closest to the two. Blaze was still dazed and on the floor. Kurt was just coming out of his cell at the far end. Wolfe had sprinted passed the other Weres. He knew he must stop the half-crazed Were, otherwise, he would maul Nadia in the next minute.