Acutely aware of each shadow, Red rested her hand on the familiar comforting leather of her hunter’s kit. She walked beside Kristoff through the cactus garden to the other side of the courtyard.
Pushing aside a hanging Navajo blanket, he yanked the knob off a hidden door. He tossed it over his shoulder, then pushed the door open.
Multiple flat-screen monitors glowed on desks in the darkness. Separate video feeds arranged on the split screen showed empty rooms. Some ransacked and others untouched. Matt’s tiny form on the screen lay prone in a tight room.
Red pointed, relief surging like high tide. “There is someone there! Matt!”
“I don’t see her.” Kristoff typed a command into the keyboard, switching the screen view. “I need to find Alzbeta for more than Nedda’s sake.”
Red cursed when she saw the camera and the security system were on a closed network. She didn’t have the time to upload the footage onto a hard drive. But they couldn’t leave it here. Checking the equipment, it seemed like only the computer tower ran the system. She flicked her gaze at Kristoff. At least she had someone to haul the evidence around.
He pulled out his phone. Closing his eyes, he clenched his jaw before dialing. “Prince Marek, I’m at Soul House and Alzbeta is missing along with the others. The place looks like a raid went through. I await your orders.”
Red searched the computer for earlier footage from the kitchen. The files were neatly labeled without encryption. A video popped up. She rewound quickly looking for movement. She turned on the sound.
“Stop.” Kristoff put his hand on hers to click the mouse. “Alzbeta.”
Jerking her hand back, Red paused as the video started.
A short-haired woman in jeans rushed into the kitchen holding Matt in a headlock.
His feet kicked on the floor. The pant cuff of the mechanic’s uniform caught on the crack doorway.
Pinning Matt tighter under her arm, the smaller woman had no trouble manhandling the lanky bearded vampire. She kicked over the table and yanked opened the saferoom hatch. Alzbeta gasped out, “You can’t fight them. You need to hide.”
“Damn it, Alz, let go.” Matt struggled, cap falling to the ground.
“They lost one soulmancer. They can’t get another.” Alzbeta slammed a fat metal tranquilizer dart in his neck. She tossed him down the hatch before dropping his hat off after him. Closing the safe room, she set the rug and table upright in a blur, arranging it precisely as it was. She sat down. Resting her ankle on her knee, arm leaning on the table, Alzbeta waited. Dark hair framed wary eyes.
In a sprint too fast for the camera to capture, two vampires charged in. They paused to find an utterly collected master vampire. The shorter male in skinny jeans glanced, eyebrows lifting under his emo bangs, at the taller female in military camouflage with a buzz cut.
“Lookie lookie at who has a soul.” GI Jane sneered in a Midwest accent, elbowing Skinny Jeans.
Alzbeta lifted her chin. “You should turn around, young ones.”
Skinny Jeans rolled his eyes. “Okay, boomer.”
GI Jane laughed.
Jumping up in a blur, Alzbeta swung the chair across GI Jane’s face. Metal legs broke off the seat on impact.
GI Jane hobbled, trying to sidestep around the far older vampire.
Too quick for the camera, Alzbeta seemed to have more arms than the Hindu warrior goddess Durga. She slashed and bashed what was left of the kitchen chair in a flurry of movement, striking GI Jane from her shins to her back.
The vampire in fatigues spun to fall onto the table. She toppled it, scattering the chairs.
Alzbeta struck, grabbing the male vampire by the neck. Her wrist jerked to the side. She was moving before Skinny Jeans dropped, head bent at an unnatural angle.
Lunging, shoulders down like a linebacker, GI Jane howled.
Alzbeta caught GI Jane’s head in mid-tackle and twisted. Releasing the twitching vampire, she wiped her hands. Her bemused victory grin morphed into a growl as she spun around to the doorway.
A female vampire in a black gas mask and high-necked minidress, mid-gray in the monochrome feed, walked in. Her rubber-gloved hands gripped a spray canister. She sprayed silver into Alzbeta’s face. The liquid burned the other vampire’s pale skin like acid.
The scream reverberated through the computer speakers.
Cringing and feeling queasy, Red turned off the sound. “This has to be the Dague.”
“Tricks.” Kristoff’s fingers dug into the metal of the desk. He turned away, shoulders hunched.
Red gave him his privacy and stopped the video as Alzbeta was shot with a tranq dart and dragged out. She clicked through the other videos, trying to find another trace of the woman in the gas mask. She clicked on a file labeled ‘Dining Room’ with today’s date generated. A video of a long chamber appeared on the scree—far more peaceful than the one that they had walked into before. A dozen smiling and laughing vampires sat around a wooden table. One played the guitar. Alzbeta sat next to Matt and Selene.
The guitar player convulsed, dropping his instrument. His eyes glowed even in the black and white footage.
Red paused the feed and glanced back at Kristoff. “You’ll want to see this.” She ignored his closeness to turn on the sound and press play. The black and white video restarted on the computer monitor.
“Be calm, but we have a problem.” Matt stood, hands out. “Everyone back away from Teddy.”
“He’s all snarly now.” Selene tilted her head, scratching her nails down the long sleeves of her Breton striped dress. She trembled. “Constant and clear, I hear the drums and the fifes.”
“What the fuck am I doing?” Teddy threw the guitar down to spin around and glower at the dinner party. A dart struck his Adam’s apple. He choked. Fingers groped at his throat.
“Run!” Alzbeta yelled. She caught a tranquilizer dart in midair over her chest.
Raiders stormed the room. Even souled, the Soul House vampires fought their attackers with the fury of demons.
Matt and Alzbeta battled back to back.
Selene dropped to the floor, crying out. Her eyes glowed before she stood and rushed off-screen.
An unseen scream echoed through the speakers.
Selene came back into view, holding a leash and dragging a bleeding human woman. “I found a snackie.” Selene pulled the woman to her mouth again and bit viciously.
“No, Selene!” Matt yelled, punching pass a raider to get to her.
“Time to go!” Alzbeta grabbed him and tugged him out of the video frame.
“Fuck. Am I seeing what I think I am?” Red reversed the footage to see the moment that Selene’s eyes glowed.
Soulmancy on vampires had been forbidden by the Blood Alliance. Enough carnage had spilled over into the rest of the supernatural community in the August Harvest that it had been a de facto rule for even the most militant covens. Non-soulmancer spells were unstable anyway. No soulmancer would be stupid enough to sign up, especially to unsoul a vampire as notorious as Selene.
Red rewound the video to home in on Selene’s face. Even on the low-definition screen, Selene reveled in the unrepentant joy of slaughter. “Did they really do that?”
“They stole her soul.” Kristoff covered his mouth, wide-eyed before covering for the shocked gestured by rubbing his chin. Worry darkened his blue eyes. “Now, we really need to get you out of here.”
Duty battled with horror. Red had had sashimi for dinner and gore for dessert. Breathing deep to settle her stomach, she moved the mouse, swiping and clicking to make sure the video files were backed up. She leaned over unplugging the desktop computer tower. “First, take this. Cora will want to see the footage.”
“More hard drives are on the shelf.” Kristoff took the computer, fingers brushing against hers.
Dropping the tower in his hands, she turned quickly to the stack of hard drives on the shelf. Spotting a thick plastic tote bag, she filled it, trying not to notice Kristoff’s raised eyebro
w. She gulped, hands shaking as she imagined having to tell Lucas about his sire. He would be crushed. Red forced herself back to the task. She could analyze this situation to death on the road. It would be a long drive to Los Angeles.
Kristoff led her out of the Soul House at a trot. He put the computer in her car’s backseat along with the bag of hard drives. “My car is faster.”
“Mine’s a rental. I’m not leaving it here to go with you.”
“You shouldn’t drive alone.”
“I have a job to do.” Red put her hands on her hips.
“We have a job. This was pushed on my plate the second Alzbeta was taken.” Kristoff crossed his arms, looming with his above-six-foot height. “Even if my Prince wouldn’t put me on the case, I’d be here anyway.”
“They could be watching the road. We split the evidence. If they attack, then one of us can still make it through.” Red lifted her chin, matching his power pose. “We’ll do it convoy style. I take the computer equipment, you can take the unconscious vampire. We’re not bickering like old marrieds about it. You know it’s logical.”
Kristoff shook his head, amused. “Then watch your back, Red. Selene is on the loose.”
“She’ll go to LA. That is where her family is.” Red’s lips twisted. A flashback of the propped-up waitress, streaked with blood, sent a chill down her spine. At least Vic was out of town.
“Selene is used to being number one.” Kristoff put his hand on her upper arm. His brow knotted. “You’re with the man that she made to worship her forever.”
“I already figured out that a mad vampire with visions would be gunning for me.” Red dropped her head. “I need to go.”
“We’ll rendezvous at Moon Enterprises, but text me when you get home anyway, so I know you made it. Don’t hesitate to check in to the Pandora Hotel to hide.” Kristoff tipped her chin up. “Lucas won’t be around to protect you. He’ll be chasing after Selene.”
“Don’t say that.” Jerking away from his touch, Red crossed her arms. She didn’t need his poison in her ear. He’d say anything to fuck with his sire’s love life where she was concerned. “I know what you’re doing.”
Kristoff put his hands up in surrender. “You told me to be honest.”
“Sure, let’s go with that.” Sneering, she nodded. “I’ll be fine without big strong vampire men around to save me from Selene.”
“If it came to it, I know you’d go toe to toe with her. That’s not what I am talking about.” Frustration cording his broad shoulders under his midnight blue coat, Kristoff shook his head. “I don’t want you hurt again when he puts her first.”
Red rubbed her arms, turning away to stare into the barren wasteland of the Mojave. Nerves frayed and mental horror show fully downloaded, she already hurt. Adding suspicions of Lucas on top of it only made her shoulders slump.
“This is where you usually yell ‘I’m not her.’” Kristoff frowned as he stepped around her to make eye contact.
Meeting his gaze, she wanted to lie to him, but she couldn’t.
Wonder softening his tight jaw, his eyebrows lifted. Blue eyes twinkled. Kristoff sucked in an unnecessary breath. “To have seen your face when he told you.”
Red bit the inside of her cheek. Goosebumps rippled over her skin as if she had crossed some unseen meridian. She still couldn’t say the words.
“You have the same soul, don’t you?” Kristoff ghosted his hand over her hair. Tingles crackled even in the gap between them as if revelation had supercharged his touch. He stared at her like another puzzle piece had come loose.
“That doesn’t change anything.” Tossing her head back, Red stepped away. Her whisper sounded desperate to her own ears.
It changed everything. It already had.
Chapter Eleven
January 25th, Evening, Soul House, The Mojave Desert, California
A motorcycle engine broke the calm of the night. Dust billowed and curled in the headlight’s beam. The rider in black skidded to a stop in the gravel. Lean and encased in leather pants and jacket, he swung his leg over the bike. Pulling off his helmet, Lucas revealed stormy gray eyes and a taut grimace. He strode to Red and pulled her into a fierce hug.
“Oof!” Red sank into the hug, gripping him. The clinging terror lessened in his arms. He had saved her in her dreams before she met him. A part of her believed he always would.
Pulling back, Lucas cupped her cheek. His clever gaze took her in from her sneakers to her no doubt mussed mascara. He brushed his thumb over her cheek. Seeming to memorize her before breaking the spell, he whispered. “Red, it’s dangerous here. I don’t care what job Cora has you doing with Novak. We need to go.”
Gently entwining her fingers with his, she lowered his hand from her cheek. “Lucas, I don’t know how to tell you…”
“He already knows.” Kristoff hid his mouth behind a tight fist as if forcing back an ‘I told you.’ He tossed his hands to the side, chin jutting out in disdain. “Naturally.”
“She called, but I could barely understand her.” Lucas let go of Red’s hand, pivoting to snipe at Kristoff. “I ripped through the speed limit to get here. It sounded bad, and now seeing you, I know it was. What happened?”
“It’s bad. It’s Selene.” Red bit her lip. How do you tell a person that their maker had their soul removed before being kidnapped? “She’s not herself.”
Selene appeared, covered in blood, to stand beside Red and Lucas. Eyes dazed and hooded, she ran a slow hand between her breasts and down her belly. She giggled. “Silly girl, I’m myself again.”
Backpedaling on shaking legs, Red flipped open the clasp on the pocket of her hunting kit. She goggled at Selene.
Blood splatters decorated Selene’s black and white striped dress. Dried to a rusty brown, the blood covered her long sleeves and skirt. The wind carried her abattoir scent. Gore crusted her French manicure.
“No, Selene… baby, what did you do?” Raw and choked up, Lucas blocked Red from his sire’s view.
“My sweet prince, I’ve missed you.” Selene put her hands on his high cheek bones. Her fingertips left flakes of dried blood on his pale skin.
He grabbed her wrists. “Selene, I need you to come with me.”
Red pulled the revolver out of her hunting kit. Her pounding heart becoming the musical score for the gruesome memories of the Welcome Café. The dotty if sweet woman who had given her a plant potted in a jewelry box was gone. An unleashed demon inside a mad seer remained. Glancing at Kristoff, she backed up to him.
Kristoff tensed to rush the pair.
Red put her arm out and shook her head. This was Lucas’s sire. He had first dibs on the hunt. It was the hunter’s code. Unofficially. She’d actually just made that up, but she didn’t think that a three-way brawl would get them back to LA quicker. If Lucas could sweet talk his sire… Red wouldn’t like it, but the job had to be done.
Selene cooed, “Look- it’s like old times. What wicked games we can play now.”
“We don’t have time for games.” Lucas growled, but a plea hid in the rough tone. “Come with me.”
“Why don’t you want to play with the kitten? You toyed with her sweet parts, but you didn’t taste her even sweeter witch blood. The moon told me so.” Selene closed her eyes, lifting her face to the sky, licking her lips.
Red flushed, rubbing her neck sheepishly at Kristoff’s raised eyebrow. Gritting her teeth, she gripped the gun’s grip tighter. All her instincts told her to shoot while her compassion reminded her that Selene wasn’t in her right mind. Unstable and homicidal, Selene couldn’t be left on the streets. “Lucas, you can catch up with Selene on the road.”
“We need to get you safe, princess.” Lucas squeezed Selene’s hand and guided her closer to the cars.
Leaning her head on his shoulder, Selene shot him a winsome smile. “Let’s see if she still tastes like strawberries.”
The sirens rang out in her head. She never liked what happened after a vampire called her Strawberry. Re
d lifted the revolver, heart racing, without thought.
“No!” Lucas did a double take.
“Spoilsport.” Selene huffed. Mischief lifted her lips. She tugged her hand away from Lucas. Lithe and quick like a deer, she darted for Red.
Growling, Kristoff grabbed Selene’s arm, pulling her out of a blurred sprint, and yanked her back. “She’s mine. Mind the claim.”
Panting, Red turned to keep Selene in front of her gun. “Take her in.”
Selene swiped her French manicure at his eyes.
Jerking his head back to save his sight, Kristoff punched her.
Selene fell back on his Mercedes-Benz, denting the hood. She slammed her fist on it, metal caving further under her blow, before popping up on her bare feet. She slashed her nails out.
Hissing low, eyes amber, Lucas caught Kristoff’s raised hand. “I didn’t tag you in.” He pushed Kristoff away. Stepping to Selene cautiously, he spoke low and gentle. “Selene, you need to calm down. Let’s take a ride.” He reached for her.
Selene headbutted Lucas before twisting out of his grip. Breathtakingly fast, she pulled Red into her arms. “Little doll.”
As her brain screamed in panic, time slowed down in the cold thin arms. Red elbowed Selene, breaking away. Her breath caught in her throat. Swinging the snub-nosed revolver up and cocking the hammer, she aimed for the shoulder. Forgive me, Lucas, but you can’t do it.
She squeezed the trigger.
Hard palms slammed into her shoulder as the gun went off. Lucas pushed her away.
Staggering, Red gasped. The bullet went wide and hit the ground. Her jaw dropped as she gawked at Lucas.
In a black, white, and red blur, Selene sprinted away between the Joshua trees.
Cursing in an unfamiliar language, Kristoff followed.
“What the hell, Lucas?” Red put the safety on the revolver and jammed it back in her hunter’s kit. She’d let him take the lead at first because Selene was his sire and Quinn’s childe. She’d thought he could handle it. Who would die now because of her mistake? A vampire couldn’t sprint at top speed forever, but after feasting on a diner full of humans, Selene had blood energy to spare. It explained how she could run from Baker to Soul House. Red cursed again. The flush of anger in her cheeks didn’t repel the cold fear that a homicidal maniac was loose in the desert. Or the sting of knowing that Lucas had let her go. “What the fuck was that?”
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