Pain seared her scalp as the vampire yanked her head back by her hair. She slashed upward with the knife, and the vamp reared back to avoid the blade. Ari wrenched free and scrambled away on all fours, knocking chairs out of her way. Surely the racket would bring someone soon. She heard her cell phone ring. An iron grip clamped onto her left ankle, pulling her toward her attacker.
In desperation, Ari snagged the wooden foot of the couch with her good arm and held on. The maneuver left her on her stomach, and when she tried to kick herself loose, she lacked leverage. She released the couch and flipped over to make another strike with the knife. Her elbow struck the floor, sending the blade flying to drop with a clatter.
The vampire laughed, low and mocking. Ari saw the flash of white fangs lowering toward her throat, and she head-butted him. A hard fist retaliated, making her ears pop. She finally heard voices in the distance. She groped along the floor, searching for a weapon, finding only her unzipped bag of clothes. As the fangs reared again, set to strike, Ari did the only thing she could. She dumped the bag over his head.
The door crashed and the lights came on. Victor’s body was ripped away and slammed against the wall. Andreas pinned the assailant by the collar of his shirt. Victor’s feet dangled in air, his face brought nose to nose with his furious boss. Victor’s eyes bulged, his throat close to being crushed.
“Wait,” Ari whispered. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Ask him about the wolves, where they’re hiding.”
Andreas hesitated, as if reluctant to allow Victor even a small reprieve. Finally, he said, “She has given you another few minutes of life. The longer you talk, the longer you survive.” He loosened his hold enough for the tips of Victor’s feet to touch the floor. “Begin talking now.”
“I’m not telling the bitch anything,” Victor gasped.
“Fine with me,” Andreas growled, tightening his hold again.
“Are you willing to die to protect them?” Ari demanded. Her head throbbed, and she was slow getting to her feet. Blood dripped from the gash on her forearm. “Or maybe you think you’re protecting Sebastian?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” was the sullen response.
Andreas shook him like a terrier with a rat.
“Don’t delude yourself,” Ari said. “Sebastian’s sitting safe in Toronto while you take all the risks.” She was on her feet now, next to Andreas’s shoulder. “He doesn’t care what happens to you. But you can help yourself. Tell us where Sheila is. Tell us their plan. And we’ll talk about sparing your life.”
“It is your only chance.” Andreas’s voice was harsh.
Victor hesitated. His eyes rolled toward Ari. He wanted to believe it. He focused on his former boss. “You’ll kill me anyway.”
“Perhaps,” Andreas admitted. “But I can make it less painful. What more do you have to lose?” Contempt crept into his voice. “You have betrayed your prince. Betrayed me. And for what? Sebastian used you.”
Victor struggled against the choking grip, his voice a ragged whisper. “You don’t know anything. Riverdale was supposed to be mine.”
Andreas’s laugh was ugly. “You would have nothing. Sebastian would always hold your chain.”
“Last chance,” Ari said. “Where’s Sheila? Tell me where I can find her.”
“Go to hell.”
“Oh, not me, buddy. But you have a nice trip. You’re not only a traitor, you’re a moron.” Ari backed away. Unless Andreas had some mind thingy up his sleeve, they weren’t getting anything from Victor. The would-be prince was at least smart enough to know he didn’t have a remote chance of surviving the night.
Andreas leaned forward and whispered in his ear. Victor’s body went rigid. Andreas released his grip, turning Victor over to the other staff now crowding into the room.
“Get rid of him,” Andreas ordered. “Make this his last sunrise.”
Victor didn’t resist as they hustled him out. The fight was gone; his face was blank once again.
“What’s that mean, his last sunrise?” Ari asked.
“Have you seen a vampire execution?”
She nodded. Andreas didn’t need to tell her any more. The condemned vampire had burst into flames as soon as sunlight touched his body. It was a quick but painful way to go.
“You are hurt,” he suddenly said.
Ari looked at her arm. She hadn’t noticed the blood dripping on the floor. “Yeah, sorry about the mess.” She grabbed a shirt from the clothes strewn on the floor and dabbed at the wounds. “Guess I could use a bandage.”
Someone found a first aid kit. Andreas cleaned and wrapped her arm. The blood was starting to clot and the gashes smarted, sure signs of healing.
“Was Victor the one you suspected?” Ari asked as he put the extra supplies back in the box.
His hands paused. “Yes. I regret not telling you. If I had thought…” He closed the first aid box with a snap. “After the failed raid, I hired a private firm to investigate my staff, including the four men who were with me. The background reports arrived last Monday, and Victor’s revealed he was born in Canada. That did not mean he had been a vampire in Canada or knew Sebastian, but it raised concerns. Since he came to us four years ago from South Carolina, we had no prior suspicion of any Canadian ties.” Andreas’s mouth formed a thin line. “He hid his ambitions well.”
“Four years is a long time to plan a coup.”
“Not in the life of a vampire.”
Well, damn. Ari kept forgetting their unique point of view. Vampires were bound to see time on a much bigger clock.
“So that’s all you had on him? That he was born in Canada?” No wonder Andreas had hesitated to share his suspicions.
“That, and an uneasy feeling. Now I see other small hints that didn’t mean much at the time. Like his failure to tell you Angela’s companion was a werewolf.”
“Yeah, I remember that one.”
“And his antipathy toward you. His frequent reminders you were a witch, an enemy to vampires, and already involved in two vampire deaths. It was Victor who reported he saw you with Marcus. He said much to poison my opinion of you.” Andreas’s eyes held regret. “I should not have listened.”
“You didn’t know me then.”
“A poor excuse.” Andreas set the first aid kit on his desk. “Victor must have warned the wolves of the raid.”
“Then he tried to talk Ryan out of searching the house. Afraid Gordon or Marcus would expose him.” Ari suddenly put together one of the elusive pieces that had nagged her for days. The tattooed guy from Toronto—she’d seen him talking with Victor in a bar one night. “I think we all missed a lot.”
Andreas grimaced. “Including his befriending of Frederick. I wonder if Victor intended from the beginning to have him murdered. Ironic, is it not? Betrayed by one of our own.”
“Why’d he attack me? And why tonight? I thought he was on a buying trip.”
“I thought so too. The trip was a way to keep him busy while we explored his Canadian activities. He must have figured that out, realized he was about to be exposed, and moved his plans forward.” Andreas’s gaze sought hers. “Removing you was his next step.”
Ari shivered, not so much from his words as from the raw emotion in his eyes. She broke the contact and began gathering the clothes scattered around the room. He watched for a moment before gliding forward. Taking the items from her hands, he tossed them on the couch, and his hands settled on her shoulders. An instant spark of awareness brought her gaze to meet his.
Andreas slid a hand down to touch her injured arm. “I am sorry I was not here to prevent this. I received a message to meet Daron, and I went, thinking Victor was out of town.”
Andreas’s eyes darkened, and Ari’s skin tingled where his hands touched her. Her witch magic hummed with pleasure. Magic or pure attraction, it was heady stuff.
“The minute Daron told me the message was a fake, I knew you were in danger. I called. When you didn’t answer, I feared I was too late.” He moved closer, both hands sliding to her elbows. “It was not a good moment.”
Ari breathed in the masculine, musky scent of him, the allure of his cologne. She titled her head upward in invitation, and Andreas’s mouth closed over hers. Gentle at first, the kiss became deeper and possessive as he pulled her into his arms, pressing their bodies together. Ari let the kiss take her under, full and sweet, a delicious moment. As she teetered on the brink of drowning in sensation, he drew back and gently, but firmly, set her away.
Ari stared at him, pulse pounding. Andreas had been like the forbidden apple, tempting but beyond possibility. Now he’d changed the rules of this game they’d been playing, and she wasn’t sure how to react.
“It is late, and regretfully, this is not the time,” he said. He retreated across the room, putting distance between them.
Why not? Ari wanted to demand. What better time? But something kept her from saying the words. Something that knew he was right.
She watched as he closed the open trap door. Victor’s point of entry. He shoved the file cabinet against the closet door. “Secure locks will be added tomorrow,” he muttered. Still not looking at her, he picked up the splintered door and examined the damage, as if the last five minutes had never happened. But a warm pulse lingered on her lips.
As Ari watched his dark head bend over the door, silent amusement bubbled in her throat. The ever-so-cool Mr. De Luca was acting as if he didn’t trust himself. Probably a good thing, she thought. Deep inside, she was feeling very smug.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ari threw off the covers. The clock on Andreas’s desk read 6:30. Why hadn’t someone woken her? Barefoot, she padded to the desk, switched on a lamp, and saw the note sticking under the door. It was written in a strong masculine hand. Andreas and the other members of the vampire court were holding an emergency meeting and would be staying at the compound. He suggested she sleep late and take the tunnel. It was signed with a simple A.
Ari’s lips curved. A vampire sleepover. Lucien and Carmella and all the gang. Then it occurred to her what a bad idea that was. She grabbed her clothes, weapons, and pouch of spells and powders, searching under the sofa for a missing shoe. What were the vampires thinking? You don’t put all your big guns under one roof. Not when you anticipated an attack. What kind of strategy was that?
She continued to mumble to herself while tying her sneakers, barely noticing her arm had healed to thin white stripes. Another Guardian ability she took for granted.
“They’re arrogant,” she grumbled, bouncing to her feet. “That’s what it is.” But Ari knew the real problem was the vampires were solitary hunters. Troop strategy was foreign to them. And the wolves would be watching for a mistake just like this. She raced out the door, her cell phone already dialing to warn the team. They might be called on to demonstrate all their skills today.
When Ari arrived at the compound, it was quiet. The kind of quiet referred to as the calm before the storm. The team worked in silence, scanning the cameras for trouble. Weapons were laid out on desks and tables. They’d already absorbed the news of Victor’s treachery, understood his intimate knowledge of the compound, and that the dreaded map of the inner chambers was probably in the hands of the wolves. Determination hung thick in the room. The way to the vampires was through them.
“With Victor dead, is there a chance the wolves will give up and go home?” Benny asked her.
Ari shrugged, knowing Benny’s question was just nerves talking. “Doubt if they know he’s dead. They’ll think he’s sleeping like the other vamps. I’m more worried they already had a plan and were waiting for the right moment.”
Benny plopped in a chair. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”
* * *
Just before noon, the
whump, whump, whump
of a helicopter and an explosion on the roof announced the assault. Plaster and debris rained from the ceiling, and thick, black smoke filled the air. Ari dove for cover behind the TV. Mike upended the table and crouched behind it with an assault rifle. The smoke bomb continued to pour a heavy veil around them. Ari heard gunfire from the other room, returned from above. Then thumping and scrambling as feet hit the floor. The combatants were coming through the roof. Mike fired a couple rounds, but the smoke was too dense to identify the targets. A strong odor of werewolf confirmed the arrival of Sheila and her pack of assassins.
The smoke residue stung Ari eyes, temporarily blinding her. She released a powder from her magical pouch and the smoke thinned around her. Snarls and growls seemed to come from every direction. Ari glimpsed a furry hand, but wasn’t sure whether it was friend or foe. A human form appeared in the haze carrying an Uzi, but combat was too close for him to use it effectively. Ari lunged forward, knocking his feet out from under him as she delivered two sharp jabs to his face and throat. He bucked her off, swinging the weapon around like a hammer and clipping her shoulder. He scrambled away. She threw a binding spell, but he vanished into the smoke.
A furry body crashed into her left side. Ari staggered and whirled to land a sidekick on the wolf’s hindquarters. As the creature turned to swipe with its claws, Ari caught a good whiff of its scent. The same scent that had been all over Yana. Ari’s blood pumped with the realization she’d finally come face-to-face with Sheila. The she-wolf’s claws raked across Ari’s waist, ripping her shirt and tearing away her belt. The dagger and bag of potions skidded across the floor. A gun exploded near Ari’s ear and blood splattered her face, blinding her, as Sheila yelped and rolled away. Mike yanked Ari behind the table.
Ari took a deep breath. The sweet, metallic smell of blood saturated the air. She wiped her face, removing a layer of blood and bits of fur. Sheila would heal her injuries, but Mike’s bullet had given the she-wolf something to think about.
A gray wolf face loomed over the table. Ari hit him between the eyes with witch fire. The face exploded in flames. Let him try to heal
that
.
The ventilation system kicked in, and the heavy smoke drifted toward the vents. Ari saw dark shadows to go with the various screams, growls, and loud blasts from the guns. She finally located the rest of her team. Lilith was in the surveillance room, firing from behind a computer desk that partially blocked the door. Russell, transformed into a small but muscular lion, was locked in a biting, clawing struggle with a large, dark-brown wolf. Ari figured Russell’s greater agility would win that fight. Mike had traded the rifle for a handgun. All of her team members were armed with silver bullets. After that brief second of assessment, Ari went to Benny’s aid. He had shifted into lion form but was outnumbered by three wolves who had trapped him in a corner. She blasted two of them with three stuns, at least temporarily evening the fight.