Stephan’s stomach twisted in disgust. “I’m sure it was.”
“Gage went on to assure the guard that as long as the women were healed in time for the night of the party, he did not care that Trace had had some fun with them. Later, I overheard Lucio and his mate discussing their party. Apparently his mate, Andrea, is concerned that they would run out of food, but Gage had reassured her by saying that if they ran out of food, they would simply start sooner than planned.”
Stephan’s mood soured, his dark brows furrowing deep over his eyes. “That sounds very suspect. Do you think Gage Lucio is guilty?”
Marcus nodded. “I think so. They never came right out and used the words hunt club, but from what I could gather, it sounded like that is what they plan on doing the night of the party. It also sounded like Gage has been using his guards to gather the humans for quite some time. At one point, Gage mentioned something about having used one of the humans for his personal pleasure for months.”
Stephan scrubbed a hand up his face, brushing back an errant lock of hair. “I am bothered that we still aren’t one hundred percent sure, and Nicholai didn’t sense any human minds in the house.”
“I know, but he did say he could sense fear and malice and smell stale human. Perhaps they found some way to mask what is going on in that house.”
Stephan rose to his feet and squared his shoulders. “I cannot simply sit back and allow the murder of innocent humans. I must find out if Lucio is guilty.”
Stephan began to pace the room, his long strides eating up the length of the carpet. His lassitude ebbed with each step, his anger becoming an energy that rolled over Marcus. “Didn’t Nicholai say the party was in a few days?” A muscle ticked along his jawline.
Marcus gave a curt nod of his head. “Yes, on the 29th.”
“If they plan on doing the hunt on the day of the party, that doesn’t give us much time. I have to stop this hunt club before any humans are killed.”
Stephan’s thoughts turned to Katrina. The thought of her being kidnapped and hunted turned his stomach. Rage boiled his blood. “I’m going over there now and find out exactly what is going on.”
“Wait, I’ll go with you.” Marcus pushed from his chair, determined to help his friend.
“No, you stay here.”
“Like hell. I really think someone should go with you. Besides, it’s getting late. It will be daylight soon.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going over there to try to talk to Lucio, get him to cancel the party. If he won’t see reason, I’ll leave, and we’ll regroup. Plus, I want you to remain here with Kat, make sure she is safe.” His tone brooked no argument.
Under Stephan’s steely glare, Marcus reluctantly agreed to remain behind. He stood and grasped Stephan’s forearms in the way of the warrior.
“Just be careful.”
“I will.” Stephan released his friend. As he shrugged into his jacket and turned to leave, Stephan hoped that his assurance would not be in vain.
****
Stephan arrived at Gage’s house, his body humming with anger and wrath. His pounding fist shook the door on its hinges as he demanded entry.
“What do you want?” demanded the hulking vampire guard who opened the heavy door.
Stephan squared his shoulders. “I demand to see the master of the house.”
“It’s late, and he has retired for the evening. Come back tomorrow.” The guard started to push the door closed.
Stephan threw a hand against the door, pushing it open as he forced his way over the threshold. “I will see him now. Get him.” His voice echoed off the foyer walls.
The guard grabbed Stephan’s arm in a bruising grip. “I said come back tomorrow.”
As Stephan was pushed toward the still open door, the warrior spun, throwing his weight into the guard, sending him stumbling backwards into the suit of armor at the base of the stairs. His arms moved with blurring speed as he caught the armor with a loud clang, steadying it before it could topple.
“What is going on?” Gage asked as he appeared at the railing on the landing above.
“I need to speak to you,” Stephan informed him, working to keep his disdain from showing on his face.
“At this late hour? Dawn is approaching.” Gage’s eyes narrowed in recognition. “Wait a minute. Don’t I know you?”
Stephan nodded curtly. “We were introduced by Nicholai Peterhof.”
“Ah yes. Now I remember. Von Haas, right?”
“Correct. I need to speak with you.”
“I’m sure whatever it is can wait until tomorrow. It is late. My heartmate and I were about to retire for the day.”
“It cannot wait. We must speak now.” Stephan moved to the base of the stairs, his hands fisted at his sides.
Stephan watched anger and frustration contorted Gage’s face. “What is so important that it cannot wait?”
The Alpha glanced at the large guard coming up behind him. “I don’t think you want to discuss this in front of the help. Perhaps there is some place private we could talk.”
Gage motioned with his hand. “Come up here. We’ll go into my library. But I’ll warn you now. I don’t have much patience for this so be quick about what you have to say.”
While Stephan made his way up the stairs, his ire rose. He smelled the stale stench of humans Nicholai had mentioned. His eyes scanned the home while he followed Gage to the library. Everything visible seemed in order, nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing physical at least, but something didn’t feel right. A sense of fear and hatred clung to Stephan’s skin. The longer he stayed in the home, the more palpable the sensation became until it clawed at his skin, irritating his already dour mood.
Gage sat behind his desk, his fingers steepled, elbows resting upon the hard wood. He eyed the Alpha warrior cautiously. “Go ahead.”
Stephan stood to the side, the position giving him a clear view of not only Gage, but also the door and windows in the room. Years of training taught him to always keep a vigilant watch on your enemies, especially any opening though which they might ambush you.
“I have reason to believe you are conducting a hunt club.” His bluntness did not earn him the reaction he expected.
Gage raised a questioning brow, the only indication he’d just been accused of a heinous crime. “They are forbidden.”
“Exactly why I have come. I cannot allow such a disgusting event to take place in my city.”
A sanguine laugh escaped Gage’s lips, exposing the sharp ends of his teeth. “Your city? I wasn’t aware Vegas belonged to you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I want the humans freed,” Stephan demanded. A muscle in his face twitched, the only movement visible on the otherwise still warrior.
Gage leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Why would you even care about such a thing? Not that I’m admitting to having any humans on the premises, but even if I did, they are but cattle. Creatures put upon this earth to sustain us.”
The arrogance of this male! Gage sat calmly, not denying nor confirming the hunt club. His lack of denial was as good as a confirmation to Stephan. The male’s aloofness only served to fuel Stephan’s pique, like lighter fluid fuels a fire, igniting an uncontrollable inferno. His rage burned white-hot.
“Humans are no different from us. They feel. They love. How can you speak so callously about them? They are not beasts to be hunted. “
Stephan’s face contorted with fury. Ire flashed in his dark eyes. His power began to coalesce around him, growing until he knew Gage would feel it prickling over his skin.
“Humans are food!” Gage shouted. “A hunt club is an honored tradition among our kind. I see nothing wrong with conducting one.”
“So you admit it then, you are planning on doing a hunt club!”
“You dare to come into my home and hurl accusations at me. Throw your power around. If this was old England, I would have your head on a pike! No one, especially a commoner like you, may speak to me
in such a way.”
The air in the room stilled as Gage drew his own power to him, readying for the altercation Stephan knew was about to come. “Enough of this. What exactly are you accusing me of, von Haas?”
Stephan steeled his features, straightened his spine. He slung his accusations like a mace, with force and purpose. “I believe you have humans hidden somewhere on this property and are planning on having a hunt on Halloween. I also believe you are a sick bastard who gets off on the thrill of a hunt. And I think your heartmate is just as deranged as you.”
His anger obviously overcoming his common sense, Gage rounded on Stephan. “Hunting is what vampires do. It’s in our very nature. We can pretend we are human, but we aren’t. Just like the tiger or lion, hunting is in our blood. To be vampire is to hunt.”
As far as Stephan was concerned, Gage had just confessed.
His disgust for Gage grew like a vine that weaved itself around his subconscious, strangling the last bit of his self-control, allowing his fury to build into a palpable force.
He threw his head back and roared.
Chapter 23
With the roar from von Haas shaking the walls of his library, the sound of his heartmate’s voice in his mind diverted Gage’s attention. Are you okay?
Yes, Andrea, my dear. I am fine.
I can hear you and the male. I’m sending Trace.
I can handle this! I do not need help.
I know you can, but we have guards for a reason.
Ten seconds later, Trace threw open the library door. He arrived in time to witness Stephan’s rage rippling from him like a blast wave of a nuclear bomb, knocking down everything in its path, including Gage who landed flat on his back on his expensive oriental rug. Like a thousand knives sticking his body, the vampire’s power flowed over him.
“Do you need any help?” Trace asked eyeing von Haas warily when the vampire turned toward the guard.
“Yes,” bellowed Gage pointing toward the door. “Get him the hell out of my house! The sun has risen, throw him outside!”
Already braced, Stephan didn’t move when Trace rammed into him. Trace wrapped his arms around the male, trapped Stephan’s arms to his sides and lifted him off his feet. Stephan struggled as Trace made his way out of the office into the hall, Gage on his heels. The guard’s arms tightened around Stephan’s middle. Gage heard one rib crack, the sound amazingly satisfying.
Gage felt Stephan summon his strength. After he forced Trace’s arms apart, Stephan spun and threw Trace against the wall. His hand shot out to grasp the guard’s throat, but his guard ducked, using his agile speed to dart out of reach.
I’m coming.
Damned woman. No, Andrea! Stay away. Trace and I are handling this.
His heart seemed to drop to his toes when his mate appeared at the top of the stairs. She stopped as she rounded the corner, her eyes glued to the thrashing bodies in the hall. They were a blur of motion. Her eyes tracked the crimson flying in a wide arc. Her nostrils flared registering the blood before it hit the floor. Connected mind to mind as they were, Gage felt her anger rise. It burned like bile in her throat. Her guard, her friend was losing the fight. She screamed, the piercing sound of which echoed in the foyer.
His heartmate drew Stephan’s attention, a fortunate distraction. The vampire turned toward her and his hand hit the now empty wall in front of him. Plaster fell to the floor as his fingers bit into the wall instead of Trace’s neck.
The well-trained guard seized the momentary distraction and rushed forward grasping Stephan in a lineman’s tackle that sent him crashing down on the floor. Von Haas kicked his legs, catching Trace in the gut, and sent him flying in the opposite direction. The guard landed hard with a grunt of air.
Both males jumped to their feet, settling into identical fighting stances.
Gage moved further down the hall, wanting to get his heartmate to safety. Unfortunately, the males’ battle stood between him and his mate. The need to protect his woman and unborn child pushed at him urgently. “Finish him, Trace!” he commanded.
Stephan launched forward, and his fist made contact with the guard’s chin, snapping his head back. Trace staggered, but with swift efficiency returned a blow of his own. Stephan’s body turned with the impact of the blow to his face. Trace grabbed him once again from behind in a tight bear hug and began backing the two of them down the hallway toward the stairs.
Stephan flung his head back into Trace’s nose, breaking it instantly, no doubt causing the body guard to see stars. Trace’s hold slackened, and the vampire broke free of his grip. Von Haas kicked out a muscular leg and contacted with Trace’s stomach sending him staggering backwards.
The next few seconds unfurled in motion slowed by time in a way only possible during great tragedy.
Gage and Stephan stood side by side watching the guard stumble and collide with Andrea. The pair fell against the banister in a mass of flailing arms and legs. With a loud crack, it gave way beneath their combined weight sending them tumbling down to the floor below. Andrea screamed, her arms thrashing, desperately seeking a purchase that would not be found.
Stephan and Gage both rushed toward the edge of the landing. Gage heard the guard land on his back with a whomp sound, the air knocked from his lungs by the hard impact on the wood floor. His gaze landed on Andrea just as her scream was strangled by a sickening gurgle sound. Both males remained motionless, looking down in horror at the scene below them.
Andrea lay draped, her dress reaching toward the floor. The sword from the suit of armor below had made a clean slice through her heart; the point could be seen through her chest, its shiny metal now painted with scarlet streaks. She lay impaled on the shiny weapon like an insect suspended on a pin in a collection box, the gossamer fabric of her dress hanging limply like wilted wings. Blood pooled red below her at the knight’s feet while her blank eyes stared sightlessly up at them.
Gage felt the ripping sensation with every part of his being, as the sword cut through his heartmate’s body. He stood on the landing, frozen. The feeling of instantaneous loss and depravity so great it took his strength, his knees threatened to collapse under his weight. His body swayed as he stood next to von Haas.
Andrea’s life flashed before his eyes. Memories of her holding court in England and instructing the peasants blurred into his mate touring Europe during the World War and then the memories changed to her designing the garden for their current home with an exuberant smile on her face. The memories so vivid, each came with its own set of smells and sounds that transported Gage back to those times. Happy times that, thanks to their immortality, he thought would never end.
The sound of Trace’s moan pulled Gage from his reverie and back to the present.
He dematerialized down to his mate, and hoisted her off of the sword in one swift motion. Cradling her in his arms, he dropped to his knees. He held her tightly to his chest, brushing one hand down her face. His mind instinctively pushed into hers, needing to feel their connection. He found only a black nothingness, an emptiness that coated his soul in sorrow.
“Andrea…Andrea… please no… no…” His hand tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear. “Andrea wake up…please no… wake up, my dear… please no, please!”
Gage begged his heartmate to be well, putting all his love for her behind his pleas, but it was of no use. She would never wake again. Andrea was gone from his world.
The realization tore through his body with a physical pain so great it caused him to collapse over her body. He felt as if his very soul had been ripped from him.
“No! Come back to me!” he roared, so loud the walls of the house shook with his rage, glass shattered. His power surged forward causing the bulbs in the room to explode. Its force knocked Stephan off his feet. Had the bastard not braced himself by throwing his hands behind him the force would have completely leveled him.
Gage glared up at von Haas, allowing his hatred to show in his eyes. Stephan shook his head and had the audaci
ty to look down at him apologetically. “It was an accident. I’m so sorry.”
Gage bared his fangs and hissed at the male. “I will make you pay for this! I swear I will see you pay with all you hold dear!”
Two guards bounded up the stairs toward von Haas as two more ran into the foyer. Before they could reach him, Stephan dematerialized out of the house, leaving only a small puff of smoke in the air.
Gage watched his heartmate’s killer disappear from his sight. Animosity mixed with anguish, when he looked back down into his heartmate’s unseeing eyes, clutching her to his chest. Tears blurred his vision. He lowered his mouth to her hair and began to rock back and forth murmuring, “no, please, no.”
But he knew it was too late. He’d known the minute her life extinguished. He felt it throughout his entire body, in each cell. Now not only was his heartmate gone, but so too his child, the child he waited over three hundred years for. His body went numb, all he felt was the anger and rage that filled him. In an instant his entire future was gone, taken by Stephan von Haas.
The guards silently encircled the couple where they sat in a crumpled heap on the floor. They stood stoically, apparently unsure how to be of assistance to their master. Never before had they seen him broken and tortured.
Trace rose slowly. He limped cautiously, pushing through two of the guards to approach Gage. “Can I take her for you, sir?” he whispered.
“No. No one is going to take her! You cannot take her from me!” Gage embraced her tighter, so tight something snapped under the force of his hug.
Chapter 24
Stephan paced back and forth, as he’d been doing since stepping into his library with Marcus.
“You’re going to wear a path in the carpet if you keep this up,” said Marcus.
Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) Page 16
