When Mollie vanished from view, Mike’s chest felt as if a panther was stuck inside trying to get free. He kept himself restrained from shoving people out of his way and bolting up the stairs to get to her as he followed the last of the group up.
At the top of the stairs, he discovered the group had come to a halt ten feet away from Scott. Some of them gazed at the man as if he were the lowest form of life while the others radiated hatred.
“You!” one of the women screeched as she ran at him.
The slap she delivered to Scott’s face snapped his head to the side and echoed through the room. When she started kicking and punching him, Doug walked over, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her away. The woman’s arms and legs continued to flail as she strove to break free of Doug. Scott’s head turned back, and he glared at all of them from a right eye already beginning to swell shut.
“What did he do to you?” Mollie whispered to Aida.
Mollie embraced Aida against her chest when her sister shuddered. Aida was five inches shorter than her and seemed far more fragile than she had before being brought to this island.
“He’s the worst of them,” Aida said, “and more of a monster than the vampires. Scott took a lot of pleasure in coming to see us when they were done feeding on us and enjoyed watching us cry. He’s also the one who made sure we were ready when they came for us and would watch us shower.”
Mollie met Mike’s eyes over the top of her sister’s head. Unlike Mike, killing Scott wouldn’t put limitations on her, and she would love to rip the bastard’s heart out. When her hand went to the handgun she’d tucked into her back pocket, Mike grasped her wrist.
“You will regret it if you do,” he said.
Mollie fought back her resentment and disappointment as she tried to regain control of her temper. He was right, but she still wanted Scott dead. “What do we do with him?”
“We leave him,” Mike said. “What they’ll do to him when they realize their food supply is gone, and he’s the one who brought us to it, will be far worse than anything we could ever do. We have to go.”
He clasped her elbow and led her toward the door. She kept hold of Aida as they walked. They were almost to the exit when Mike heard the distant click of another door shutting somewhere in the mansion. He drew Mollie back as he strained to hear anything more.
“Don’t make a sound,” Mike whispered to the others.
He released Mollie and strode over to press his ear against the wooden door, he listened to the footsteps coming toward them. Whoever it was wasn’t trying to be secretive as their boots rang against the wood floor.
Mike edged back and twisted the lock on the knob. It would do little to stop a vampire from entering, but it was a small barrier. He pointed to Doug and then one of the windows. Doug strode across the room and grasped a corner of a drape. When he edged the curtain aside, his shoulders became rigid.
“Fuck,” Doug hissed.
Doug glanced at Mike before throwing the drape open. Two leering faces stood on the other side of the glass, their red eyes gleamed malevolently, and their fangs glistened in the light. On the other side of the door, the footsteps stopped, and the knob rattled.
“How did they know we were here?” Mollie asked.
Mike’s gaze fell on Scott, who gave as much of a grin as he could with a sock in his mouth. Mike didn’t know how he’d done it, but somehow, Scott alerted the club and its followers to their presence in this place. Mike glanced back at the light switch Scott first turned on, but he didn’t think that was what had given them away. The Savages expected Scott to move around the house and to tend to their victims.
Then he recalled Scott’s hand running across the shelf before settling on the cat that did nothing. Somewhere on that shelf was something used to alert the vamps to any threat in the mansion.
“You prick!” he snarled.
Scott’s smile spread around his gag. Behind Mike, something crashed into the door, and it rattled in its frame. Some of the humans cried out and huddled together when the wood shuddered.
“Be quiet,” Mike commanded them, and they whimpered before settling down.
Striding across the room, Mike pulled back another drape to reveal two more Savages on the other side. Doug yanked aside another to reveal one vamp, and when Mike pulled back the curtain on the fourth window, he discovered three more Savages.
Eight vampires had already gathered outside, an unknown number of them could be in the house, and possibly more were on the way. If they left through the mansion, they could be trapped in the corridors and would have a difficult time moving so many through the halls.
“You,” Mike said, pointing at some of the humans. “Grab those chairs and throw them in front of the door. We’re going out the windows.”
“They’re out there; we can’t,” someone whined.
“Then don’t,” Mike replied. He didn’t much care what they did as long as they didn’t get in his way.
Some of the humans scampered away to obey his command while others remained cowering in the center of the room. He turned back to Mollie as she handed the revolver to Aida.
“They’re not wooden bullets,” she said to her sister.
“They’ll still hurt anything you hit with them,” Mike told Aida.
She gazed up at him with round eyes that were amazingly bright in her pale face before setting her chin firmly and nodding.
“No matter what happens, you stay close to me,” he said to Mollie. “Unless I tell you to run, and then run faster than you’ve ever run before.”
“I’m not leaving you behind,” Mollie protested.
“If I tell you to leave me, then do it. Head for our hiding spot by the lighthouse, and I’ll find you there if we’re separated.” He would do everything in his power to avoid separating from her, but he might not have a choice.
“Mike—”
“Take care of yourself and Aida first.” He wanted to tell her to take care of herself first, but she wouldn’t.
When her mouth parted on another protest, he gripped her shoulders and drew her close to silence her words with a kiss. “I will always come for you, Mollie,” he vowed against her lips. “I love you.”
Those last three words robbed the breath from Mollie’s lungs. He loved her? He’d spoken of the mating bond and how he believed she was his mate, but he’d never mentioned love. Mollie didn’t know how to respond as her head spun with the knowledge, and overwhelming emotion clogged her throat.
Then he started to turn away from her.
“Mike!” Mollie cried and captured his hand. She hadn’t known what she meant to say to him, but when his blue eyes met hers, the words blurted out before she realized they were on her tongue. “I love you too.”
She’d never said those words to anyone outside her family. But she did love him.
They hadn’t known each other long, but she’d shared and experienced so much with him. He’d risked his life for her, protected her above himself, wanted to share an eternity with her, and he loved her. She had no idea what would become of them, but no matter what happened, he had to know how she felt too.
“I love you too,” she said again.
A small smile curved his mouth, but it vanished when the library door splintered with a crack. The people stacking furniture against it staggered away as the door pushed inward a couple of inches.
With Mollie’s hand in his, Mike led her across the room toward the windows. Keeping hold of Aida’s arm, Mollie pulled her sister with them.
“We’ll break the windows out,” Mike stated as he approached Doug. He squeezed Mollie’s hand before releasing it. “All four at the same time. It will push the Savages back and give us an opportunity to get out before they can try to get in. You two”—he pointed at two of the larger men—“tear down those drapes and use the rod to smash out the glass when we do. Keep the rod as a weapon.”
The men nodded and tore the rods from where they hung over the window.
“You ready?” Mike asked Doug.
“As I’ll ever be,” Doug said and yanked the drape down.
Mike ripped the drape in front of him away, but he didn’t bother with the rod as another bang rocked the door and some of the humans started crying. The furniture stacked against the door scraped the floor as it was pushed inward. The three vamps outside the window grinned at him as they eagerly awaited his exit.
Mike turned and lifted the chair Scott was tied to. The human scowled at him, but apprehension glinted in his eyes when Mike smiled at him before speaking. “You’re going to be of some use to us after all.”
Mike turned the chair around so that Scott faced the glass and looked to make sure everyone else was ready to break out their windows. Scott’s useless struggles rocked the chair in his hands, but Mike held it steady.
“Stay in here until I tell you it’s okay to come outside,” Mike said to Mollie. She nodded as she released her sister and removed the rifle from her back.
“Now!” he commanded and bashed Scott face-first into the glass. He didn’t care if the bastard died, but he hoped he survived as his blood would be an attractant for the Savages.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The scent of Scott’s blood and his wails of pain filled the room as the glass gave way and Mike thrust the chair out the window. The three vampires outside scrambled to get out of the way as the chair toppled to the ground. Jumping out the window, Mike withdrew one of the stakes he’d tucked into his waistband. When the first Savage lunged at him, he slammed the stake into the creature’s heart before yanking it free.
Mollie aimed at the next vamp running toward Mike and pulled the trigger. Blood bloomed across the center of the vamp’s chest, it howled as it fell back, but she hadn’t delivered a killing shot.
“Mollie, they’re getting in!” Aida cried.
Mollie glanced over her shoulder as the door shoved further inward. To her right, a man screamed and stumbled back as one of the vampires succeeded in crawling through the window. When the vamp pounced on him, the man fell beneath the weight of the monster and toppled to the ground.
Perched on his chest, the vamp reared back and drove its fangs into the man’s jugular. It didn’t feed but instead pulled back to rip the man’s vein out. The man beat at the creature as gurgled cries issued from him.
Turning the rifle on the vamp, she aimed and pulled the trigger, but the thing leapt out of the way, and wood sprayed out from the bookcase when the bullet embedded in one of the shelves. Mollie tracked the vamp’s movements as it raced around the room. Her finger tightened on the trigger, but she didn’t dare waste another bullet until it stopped moving.
When it landed on another human, she fired. The bullet hit the vamp in the forehead and flung it back. The vamp squealed, its legs kicked against the ground, and it slapped its forehead as if that could knock the bullet free.
Screams erupted around the room as more Savages crawled through the windows. Mollie’s knees trembled, and her heart thundered as the door opened another couple of inches. A hand with nails filed into three-inch long, blood-red, razor-sharp points wrapped around the door before a head emerged. The man belonging to those nails grinned at her and Aida before he slipped into the room with the grace of a phantom.
“Mollie, come on!” Mike yelled from outside.
She didn’t dare take her eyes off the vamp stalking them as she nudged Aida toward the window. “Go,” she said to her sister.
Aida squeezed her arm before vanishing from Mollie’s side. The vamp’s red eyes never left hers as he bobbed back and forth like a cobra under the spell of a snake charmer. Mollie gulped down the lump in her throat as she edged closer to the window. She may not be a powerful, immortal being, but her entirely mortal instincts were screaming danger!
Her heel connected with the wall under the windowsill. Cold air caressed her back, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the vamp long enough to jump out the window. She knew if she looked away for a fraction of a second, this thing would be on her.
Hands gripped her waist and pulled her backward. Unprepared for the abrupt movement, her finger squeezed the trigger and a wild shot embedded in the ceiling. Plaster rained down, coating the vamp’s thin shoulders and dark hair as he lunged at her.
Lethal talons and bloodthirsty eyes filled her vision as she fell out the window with the vamp following her. That thing was going to slice her open and gut her in midair, she realized as the vamp’s lips twisted into a leering grin. She waited to hit the ground, waited to die, but she was yanked up and plopped onto her feet so forcefully she staggered back.
Mike set Mollie down and launched a fist into the vampire’s face that smashed his nose almost entirely flat and indented his face. Bloodlust thrummed through him as the Savage who’d been so confident of his kill on Mollie was flung ten feet back into the wall of the house. He crashed into the house with enough force to shake the stone wall; some of the remaining glass fell free of the windows and onto the ground.
Mike’s gaze fell on the Savage’s red nails, and a memory from the bar flashed through his mind. This prick was there the night they were taken!
Mike stepped toward him, intending to finish it, but screams from the library drew his attention. More Savages were spilling inside and going after the humans who remained there. Some of the people rushed forward and tumbled out the windows; the others weren’t so lucky.
“There’s more coming from the woods!” Doug shouted.
Mike glanced at the vamp slumped against the wall with his chin on his chest. No matter how badly he wanted to kill the Savage, Mollie came first. Taking Mollie’s arm, he ran with her and Aida toward where Doug was fending off two Savages.
Mollie tried not to look at the bodies littering the ground as they weaved their way through the Savages and humans scattered there, but she had to as she didn’t want to step on them. Seven of the humans were dead already, four stood in the shadows at the corner of the house, apparently waiting for them, and the other four were bolting toward the woods. Two of the waiting people held curtain rods with blood dripping from the ends. The third and fourth clutched broken pieces of furniture in their hands.
Another Savage knelt at Scott’s side, feasting on him while Scott’s fingers twitched against the armrest of the chair. Mike plunged a stake through the Savage’s heart, not to save the human, it was too late for that, but to destroy the monster. The fewer enemies they had on this island, the better, especially since they had no idea how many they faced.
Releasing Mollie, he sank his stake into the chest of one of the vamps battling Doug while Doug tore the head from the other. Doug lobbed the head aside as another Savage slid out the library window.
“Doug, keep Aida with you,” Mike commanded.
Doug stepped toward her but hesitated when the girl cringed away from him.
“He’ll take care of you,” Mollie promised.
Aida’s shoulders slumped a little as she glanced distrustfully at Doug, but she allowed him to take her arm and run with her across the lawn toward the woods. Mike followed with Mollie, and the four humans trailed them. If it became necessary, he and Doug would carry the sisters, but for now, it was better to have their hands free, and he wasn’t ready to leave the remaining humans behind to fend for themselves.
Howls echoed over the land as they charged into the woods, and some of them sounded far too close. Mollie twisted to see behind her and spotted a small red beacon on top of the mansion. The beacon hadn’t been on before, and she realized that whatever Scott hit to alert the vamps to their presence turned the light on.
Aida cried out, drawing Mollie’s attention back to her as she stumbled and nearly went down. Doug didn’t miss a step as he pulled her back up. Mollie’s lungs and her legs ached from exertion as she sprinted to keep up with Mike.
Some of the people were starting to lag as their legs grew tired and the debris littering the ground battered their feet. One of the women released a muffled ye
lp when her ankle gave out, and she fell to the ground. A man stopped to help her up.
“Wait!” Mollie wheezed at Mike.
“We can’t wait,” Mike said as another howl pierced the air, this one closer than the last.
The woman staggered to her feet and ran after them again. Then, from out of the night, a shadow raced forward and pounced on the man who had helped the woman. The man didn’t make a sound before he slammed face-first into the ground and the vampire sank his fangs into the man’s neck.
The woman screamed and darted to her right before disappearing into the forest. Another man battered the vampire’s back with a rod, but the slurping sounds only grew louder. Mollie yanked her arm free of Mike’s hold and planted her feet. She pulled the rifle from her shoulder and took aim, but as she was about to pull the trigger, another creature emerged from the woods and leapt onto the back of the man beating the vampire.
“Don’t shoot.” Mike pushed the barrel of her gun down. “Stay with them!” he called to Doug.
Mike ran forward, ripped the first vampire off the man’s back, and rammed it into a tree. The other woman with them sprinted over and fell beside the wounded man. Tears streamed down her face as she searched for a pulse.
Mike tore the heart out of the Savage before spinning to find the second vampire launching itself at the woman. The woman didn’t have a chance to react before the vamp snapped her neck. Mike staked the vamp through the back and gazed down at the prone form of the man. With a sinking heart, he realized it was too late for the humans, but not for them.
Sprinting back to Mollie’s side, he lifted her while she fumbled to secure the rifle on her back again. “Carry Aida,” he said to Doug as Mollie’s legs locked around his waist.
Mollie clung to him while he sprinted through the trees with Doug and Aida following. All around them, more howls and screams filled the night.
Consumed: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 8 Page 23
