He turned to find a mad-eyed vampire holding a blade to John's throat. "It doesn't matter if he's frozen, this knife can kill him easy, even without me taking off his head."
Careful to keep his tone almost bored, Leo asked, "What is it that you want?"
The French bastard frowned. "Don't anger me or I'll kill him."
"You said that. Now, are you going to tell me what you want or should I figure out a way to kill you instead?"
The French vampire narrowed his eyes. "I want you, is what I want. Drop your weapon and come here."
He raised an eyebrow. "And how do I know you won't just slit his throat and then attack me?"
"You don't."
Leo assessed the situation quickly. One vampire with a regular knife would be child's play. However, one infused with who-knew-what kind of magic was another.
As he opened his mouth to ask the French male something else to give Leo a few more seconds to assess his opponent, a brick appeared above knife-wielding male's head, fell, and smacked him soundly. John just managed to duck out of the way of the blade before the French male crumpled to the floor.
John kicked the blade away and Leo shook his head. He had no idea what the fuck was happening with random objects appearing out of thin air, almost as if helping him, but he'd deal with that later. As John and two others tied up the unconscious Frenchmen, Leo rushed to the closed wooden door. He turned the key, opened it, and gasped at what the light from the room behind him highlighted.
Ambrose lay on a table, stripped naked, a complex web of slices covering his body, oozing blood and pus.
Rushing over, he could barely hear his nephew's heartbeat. It was hard to kill a vampire in a frozen state, but magical wounds that wouldn't heal, causing massive blood loss, and a possible fae witch brewed poison, could do it.
John's voice came from over his shoulder. "How the fuck are we going to get him out of here without killing him?"
Without some sort of magical potion to stabilize him, Ambrose could very well die if they moved him.
As he debated sending a runner to beg something from Khan to help stop the bleeding caused by magic, a bag appeared next to him.
Not bothering to question it, he knelt and rummaged through. Inside was a brief note:
This will help him.You need to move. Danger. Map enclosed.
—Yesenia
He recognizedthe handwriting as his bride's.
All this time, it had been Yesenia helping him from afar.
Pride at her abilities filled his chest for a second, but then he went riffling through the bag, looking to see what she'd sent. He wouldn't waste the chance Yesenia had given him to save Ambrose. He'd have plenty of time to talk about what the hell had happened with her later.
Leo quickly found a small vial that said "DRINK" and a larger jar that said, "SPREAD ON WOUNDS."
Leo handed the jar to John, and he went to gently raise his nephew's head. Putting the small vial at Ambrose's bloodied lips, he tilted it and gently massaged his nephew's jaw and throat until he swallowed.
That done, he helped spread the salve all over Ambrose's body. It kept his wounds from bleeding more, although he didn't know what else. And frankly, he didn't care as long as it kept Ambrose alive long enough to get him back to Leo's gaming hell.
With his nephew stabilized as best as they could manage, he and John lifted him and held an arm over each of their shoulders.
He barked orders to take the bag, find the map, and for his strongest male to be the navigator.
As they moved slowly through the tunnel, following the directions, he heard shouts behind him. From the accents, it sounded as if the humans had found the French vampires trapped inside the nets.
A part of him cursed, as he would've liked to capture one of them to interrogate.
But it was more important to get Ambrose to safety, his males looked after, and for all of them to regroup and live to plan another day.
And by the time they reached the rank air of the Thames, he breathed a sigh of relief. Making a specific bird call, the other half of his team showed up and they were soon on their way back, leaving the fastest among them to alert the others searching the area to return.
No doubt Leo would have a furious human leader to deal with in the morning, but he didn't care. Protecting his family came first. Always.
And so he did his best to rush without hurting Ambrose further, eager to get his nephew proper care and to see his bride again.