Prey

Chapter 75

Doe's POV:

Okay... I'll admit. The drive was a whole lot colder than I thought it would be.

That fact started my list of things NOT to mention when Xander inevitably asks for all of the details when I get back.

Which I would allow since I wanted to know everything about the conversation we would be having with Nico.

I wondered if he happened to be doing that now.

The thought quickly got overridden.

This was Xander we were talking about. I'd confidently bet that he'll procrastinate and do it tomorrow.

Well, as long as it gets done.

It was just a big step on his long journey of fixing the mess he'd made.

I cringed a bit with my next inhale, the cold feeling like it was stinging my sinuses and down into my lungs.

Every girl around shivered with me, their quiet whispers dying down as we came to a stop and the engines died down into nothing.

There was nothing around to give off any sort of light. The lights from the main city were too far from view, and the clouds were hiding any light the moon wanted to give us.

A couple of surrounding girls gasped as the multiple sounds of car doors opening and slamming shut began almost in unison.

"Alright, boys! Unload em' and gather em' up!" a deep voice shouted from my right, followed by the immediate crunching of snow and gravel.

That and the very unnerving sight of nothing but their eyes glowing through the dark, surrounding where we were all already trapped.

The metal groaned as they pulled open the door to our cart, the sound of rustling chains and clips following as they one by one lead us out.

Either everyone here is new, or they were just doing things differently because this was taking a lot longer than it usually did.

Or maybe it just felt that way.

I've learned that time tends to slow down whenever I'm cold, and I just wanted to get into that building that I couldn't see but knew was there.

Eventually, I was lead out and lined up in what felt like the back row of pets.

Just to be nearly blinded by the lights surrounding where we stood as they were abruptly switched on, showing the position we were all in.

All of us were completely circled by vampires holding a... wide variety of 'disciplinary items'.

This felt like overkill.

At least out of everything I've gone through with Layla, a thought process like this was something I could appreciate every once in a while.

The realization that nothing else really scared me because I've already gone through worse.

Or maybe it was mixed with the knowledge that after seeing Xanders 'sadistic' act for years, I found some of the hard glares and stern postures of half of these vampires hard to believe fully.

There was also just the change that I was completely wrong on all accounts. Who knows?

I kept my eyes narrow as I scanned the area, confirming that I was indeed in the last row of many.

I risked turning my head behind me, fully aware that the vampire behind me might not find that acceptable.

Ah. Never mind. It was just Erik.