Gabriel exhaled heavily, his breath hissing out between his teeth. For the first time in centuries, fear gripped him. "I shouldn't have trusted you with the men," he said quietly.
"Keep your head down. No one can find this place. No one can link the rogue vampires to you unless you show them the way."
"I swear to everything holy, if this swings the wrong way, I'm going to rip out your heart myself."
The promise was bone-deep. Gabriel's gaze lingered on Williams for a beat longer, as if daring him to smirk again, before he turned sharply and disappeared.
*****
"I cannot work in a place like this." Doctor Thessa stood just inside the threshold, her gloved hands clutching her bag to her chest
She glanced around the cramped, circular chamber. The bed in the center was nothing more than a slab of stone with a mattress, unfit for any procedure involving a queen and her unborn heir. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she shook her head.
