Adrian tried again to talk the woman into letting them in the house. Damian knew he didn’t want to draw attention to them standing on the front porch, arguing. “Ma’am, please, let’s just go inside and talk about this. We will explain everything to you and your husband, I promise.”
She took another look at the child in Damian’s arms and said, “If I make you leave, you are going to take her away with you.”
It wasn’t a question, but Damian didn’t lie. “Yes, Ma’am, if we leave she is going with us. This would be much easier on everyone if we could just sit down and talk in private.”
Shana reluctantly agreed, probably thinking she could stall them long enough that her husband would come home and make them leave without the child. Little did she know that they were not leaving this house without Kassie with them.
Shana led them into the living room. Damian sat in an overstuffed armchair with Kassie in his lap talking a mile a minute. She was telling him how much she missed him and knew he would come for her. She wanted to take him outside to see her playhouse and to her bedroom to have a tea party with all her dolls.
She asked if he had come to get her and take her home with him. Then, looking over at Anstice, she asked how he had found her mommy and thanked him for bringing her to get her.
Nikkos
and Adrian exchanged a knowing look. Damian could feel something off inside the house and knew they could probably feel it, too. He just couldn’t put their finger on the cause of his unease. He needed to get this over with quickly and get out of there with Kassie.
Anstice had sat on the couch between
Nikkos
and Adrian and was weeping while they held her. She looked at Kassie and asked, “You remember me, baby?”
The girl looked confused. “Of course, you’re my mommy. I missed you when Daddy took me away. Can I go home with you now?”
Shana had apparently had enough of what was being said and announced she was calling her husband. She called him and told him they had company and he needed to get home right away. After she hung up, she informed them, “He will be home in less than ten minutes, but I want to know what’s going on right now.”
Nikkos
had copies of all the paperwork, including the only picture Anstice had left of Kassie and the picture Damian had of her. He handed her the envelope, and Damian watched as her hands shook while she tried to open it. She carefully took everything out and placed it on the coffee table. She took her time sorting through everything and reading everything thoroughly.
By the time she finished with all the papers she was sobbing, and the males could hear a vehicle pulling into the driveway. Her husband rushed in the door, still in his uniform, and froze, his hand immediately going to his gun in his holster. It was then that they realized what was off at the home. The husband was
kynigos
.
Not an original but a recruit. He was not pale and had dark, chestnut-colored hair and green eyes. Even through all of that, the boys could tell. They could smell the evil coming off him in waves, and he had a tattoo of a moon on his right forearm that they could see.
As they heard several more cars pulling up in front of the house, they all jumped to their feet and
Adrian
hissed, “
Kynigos!”
Nikkos
shoved Anstice toward Damian, yelling for him to get both her and Kassie to safety. Still holding Kassie in his arms, Damian wrapped his other arm around Anstice’s waist and started dragging her toward the back door.
Anstice complied immediately as if she wasn’t about to fight him. He knew she had seen what the
kynigos
could do, and would be all about getting her daughter far away from them. She told Damian that she could walk herself, and he let her down and grabbed her hand and ran. When they were almost to the back door, it burst open and four
kynigos
poured in.
They skidded to a halt, and Damian pulled them all down behind the kitchen table, but not before one could get a shot off, hitting Anstice in the shoulder. She screamed in pain, and he could hear her males in the other room roar with rage. Thankfully, Damian was a crack shot and was able to take down all four with four shots from his gun he had palmed when he realized they were trapped in the house.
He pushed Anstice and Kassie into the corner and tipped the table over in front of them. He stood watch in front of them to make sure no one else would get to them while he waited for
Nikkos
and Adrian to take care of how many others were in the other room or were sure to come for them. Damian was watching both the back door and the doorway between the kitchen and living room when Shana came running into the kitchen, screaming. She looked from Damian to the open door and decided on Damian to be her savior. She started to run toward him, but he leveled his gun on her and told her not to move.
She looked so confused at what was going on, and he wanted to believe that she didn’t know her husband was
kynigos
,
but he couldn’t trust her near the princess and her little girl. She begged him to please protect her. He motioned her to sit in the chair next to him but made sure he was still between her and his charges. He told her, “I will protect you, but if you make any move to hurt them I will not hesitate to kill you, and I will not regret it for a minute.”
She paled even more but sat in the chair and thanked him. He could hear the fighting in the other room and wanted to help but wouldn’t leave his girls.
The fight seemed to go on forever, with no one else making it into the kitchen, but Damian knew it was only minutes before he heard
Adrian
call to him and tell him he was coming into the kitchen and to not shoot.
* * * *
Damian lowered his gun when
Adrian
stepped into the doorway. He shot Shana a look of pure hatred and told Damian to tie her up as he passed her to move the table away from where he had hidden Anstice and Kassie.
He lifted Kassie first and handed her off to Damian, who had just finished tying Shana to the chair. As he knelt down next to Anstice, he could see the puddle of blood under her. She looked at him and asked, “Are they gone? Is everyone okay? Are we safe?”
Adrian nodded and said, “Yes, for now, but we need to get out of here in case more come for us.”
She gave him a smile and said okay before her eyes slipped shut. He lifted her easily and carried her into the living where
Nikkos
waited. They were both injured from the fight but would be fine in a few hours. He was more worried for Anstice. She was losing a lot of blood and needed medical attention quickly.
* * * *
Nikkos
looked up and saw how injured Anstice was then looked toward the kitchen where Damian was walking in from. “Where is Shana?” he asked.
Damian nodded toward the kitchen.
Nikkos
ran into the kitchen and loomed over her. She was crying and looked frightened and confused, but he didn’t care. She was the reason they were all there, and she was going to pay for it. “How could you call them here? Don’t you care about Kassie? Or was she just bait to get us all here?”
Shana looked up at him through tears, trembling, but didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “Who were those people? Where is my husband? And I told you her name is Emily, not Kassie.”
He had to hand it to her. She was scared, but not of him. The woman had spirit. He didn’t answer her questions. “Are there more coming?” he asked.
She shook her head and said she didn’t know because she didn’t know who they were and asked if he thought there were more coming.
“You can count on it. There will be a lot more coming when their friends don’t check in.”
She started to shake harder. “Will they hurt me if they come?”
“Most definitely!” he replied. If she shook any harder, he thought she might break into pieces.
“Please, let me go. I don’t know who they are or what they want, but I didn’t do anything. I love my daughter and don’t want anything to happen to her. If you can protect her, please take her with you, but let me go so I can get out of here before they come for me.”
He studied her for a minute and yelled for Damian.
Damian came into the kitchen, still holding Kassie close. “What do you need, brother?”
Nikkos
wasn’t sure he wanted to make his brother do this, but he knew that if he did he would kill her. “I need to you take her blood so we can tell if she is lying. If I do it, I’ll kill her.”
Damian thought about it for a minute and replied, “I’m not sure I won’t. Look at how scared Kassie is and what she just had to go through.”
Nikkos
took the trembling child from his arms. She apparently wasn’t afraid of him, because she snuggled into his neck and told him he smelled like Damian. He gave a small chuckle at that. Oh yeah, the girl was definitely going to become a vampire when she hit maturity. Life was going to be interesting around the mansion in about seven years.
Nikkos
looked at Damian and whispered, “I have faith in you, brother. You will always do the right thing.” With that said, he turned so Kassie couldn’t see what was about to happen.
Damian knelt in front of Shana and looked her in the eyes and whispered, “This won’t hurt, but if you scream and scare Kassie, I won’t regret it one bit if I have to kill you.”
She looked confused but nodded her head as more tears slipped down her face. He lifted her hand and held her wrist to his mouth. She tried to pull away, but he froze her in place with his stare. The only sound she made when he punctured her skin was a swift intake, but she didn’t scream. He drank until
Nikkos
told him that he had taken enough.
Nikkos
watched Damian’s face and could tell by his expression when Shana’s feelings hit him. He studied her face for a few seconds before turning to
Nikkos
. “She’s scared, but not of us. She’s confused and has no idea what is going on. She doesn’t know what we are and what they were.”
Nikkos
just nodded his head and handed Kassie back to Damian before he started to untie Shana. She started to thank him until he grabbed her by the neck and simply stated, “You are going with us. If you fight or try to harm anyone, especially Anstice or Kassie, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
She paled even more but nodded her understanding. As they walking into the living room she made no move toward her dead husband, but did try to pick up her cell phone.
Nikkos
stopped her.
“I have to be able to call my family and tell them I’m all right. When someone finds this they will worry,” she pleaded.
He just shook his head. “No one will find anything, and you are officially presumed dead until further notice. Unless you want me to kill you right now, you will do as I say.”
She started to protest but must have thought better of it. They all left the house, and just as they were pulling away, the explosion rocked the SUV. He knew she now understood what he meant by no one would find anything.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nikkos
drove with
Adrian
holding Anstice in the middle row of seats. Kassie’s car seat they had gotten for her was in the middle row, too. Damian sat in the third row of seats back to watch Shana and make sure she didn’t try anything.
Adrian had called the doctor that Mikhaila had recommended while he was rigging the explosives and trying to stop Anstice’s bleeding. They didn’t really want to go to a human hospital, but if she needed surgery, it couldn’t be done at the villa. Dr. Bennett assured
Adrian
that seventy-five percent of the staff were vampires and everyone there could be trusted.
Adrian
had also called Mikhaila, and she reminded him that if she needed blood, that human blood may not be compatible with her anymore.