Younger, Bree - Burn [All American Vampires 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (27 page)

With that thought, he rose and went into the adjoining bath to start his night. After showering, he dressed quickly in jeans and a pullover before heading down to find a donor for some fresh blood. As he bit into the young female’s neck, he stifled a feeling of guilt. He wasn’t betraying Libby by taking blood, even though he could hear the woman’s moans of arousal and feel his own body’s response. This was a fact of vampire life that Libby would have to accept if they were to have any kind of future together.

He closed the wounds and shook his head at her silent offer of sex. Ignoring the look of disappointment that crossed her face, he headed to his office. He’d just sat down and was scrolling through his cell phone messages when Quinn came charging into his office. “Cumbest has escaped.”

“What? How the hell did that happen?” Ty rose to his feet.

“I’m not sure about all of the details, but RJ is in pretty bad shape. Come on.”

Ty closed his phone and shoved it into his pocket, hurrying after his brother.

As they drove, Quinn filled him in on what he knew. Apparently Cumbest had somehow overpowered RJ when he let him go to the bathroom. When Hawk had arrived shortly after dusk, he’d discovered RJ unconscious and Cumbest gone. The other two vamps were still locked up tight. It was assumed that Cumbest hadn’t been gone long.

By the time they’d arrived at the safe house, RJ had regained consciousness and was looking embarrassed and pissed. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I can’t believe he got the best of me like that. I’m still not sure how it happened. One minute he was shuffling into the john, the next minute Hawk was leaning over me.”

“Is he still cuffed?” Ty asked, relieved his friend hadn’t been hurt worse.

“Yeah, at least I wasn’t stupid enough to take them off of him.” RJ nodded his head and then winced, his hand going to a knot on his head. “Shit, he must have hit me with a tire iron or something to put me out like that.”

Hawk walked over shaking his head. “Nope. But close.” He held out the metal slat that Cumbest had somehow broken off of the bed. “You’re lucky he didn’t jab this thing through your eye or it would’ve killed you.”

“Shit, he must have spent all day working that thing loose. It was welded on.” RJ began pushing himself to his feet. “He couldn’t have gotten much rest.” He looked at Ty. “He’ll be loopy.”

RJ nodded. Vampires needed at least a few hours of sleep during the hottest part of the day or their bodies suffered ill effects—dizziness, paranoia, nausea, headaches.

“Did you give him any blood?”

“Hell no.”

“Good. What time was it when he escaped?”

RJ wrinkled his forehead in thought. “Couldn’t have been too long ago. I’d gotten up and had some bottled blood when he started screeching about needing to take a leak. Maybe just before dusk.”

Quinn smiled. “So he’s cuffed, weak, and thirsty. He can’t have gotten too damn far. I say we spread out and start searching the area around here. Say a three- to five-mile radius. He’s probably looking for a food source.”

Ty nodded. One of the reasons they’d chosen this location for their safe house was the distance from human habitation. There weren’t even any large animals around, just some skunks, raccoons, and squirrels. Yeah, he’d bet anything Cumbest was still pretty close by.

The men split up the search area and headed out. Ty headed northwest, using all of his vampire senses to cover the area as thoroughly as possible. They’d turned their phones on vibrate, and when his started buzzing, he pulled it out quickly. “Yeah?”

It was Hawk. “I’ve got some dead rodents over here and signs of a man passing this way. Head east and we can probably bottle him up.”

“Right.”

Ty did as Hawk had said, gradually moving further and further east, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any sign. At last he heard something. Immediately turning his head he saw a flash of movement about forty yards in front of him. He took off after his quarry. He shouted to get the attention of the others and give them some idea of where he was. Their own calls echoed through the surrounding woods and sent Cumbest spinning back in his direction. Putting on a burst of speed, he gained on the vampire. When Cumbest realized how close Ty was, he turned again, attempting to avoid his pursuers. Ty launched himself into the air, coming down on the vamp’s back and dragging him to the ground and wrestling him onto his stomach. Since his hands were still cuffed, all Ty had to do was sit on him until Quinn and the rest reached them.

When the others arrived, he yanked Cumbest up and threw him toward Hawk. Then he bent down, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “Fuck. I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Quinn just laughed. “Come on, old man. Let’s get back to the house.”

Slowly they made their way back to the safe house where RJ waited to lock Cumbest back up in his room. The vampire cursed and threatened them the whole way, struggling against his captors with every step.

“Well, that was interesting,” Quinn said to the men as they sat around the kitchen table.

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s feeling like talking any more now than he did yesterday,” Hawk added.

“Somehow I think you’re right,” Ty agreed. He checked his watch. Almost eight o’clock. Libby should be at work, but maybe she had called earlier and left a message on his cell phone. He pulled out the phone and excused himself from the others, ignoring the knowing looks he got. Walking into the front room, he clicked on the button to retrieve his messages. Immediately he saw the message from Libby and smiled, pressing the button. His smile faded as he listened to her voice. “Fuck.” He quickly turned and went back to the kitchen. “Quinn. I need you to listen to this.”

He played Libby’s message again.

“Hi, Ty. It’s me. Look, I’ve been trying to find my camera but it isn’t in any of the stuff from my truck. I had it when I found you. I remember it almost hitting your head when you were on the ground. I thought maybe Quinn or one of the others might have wanted to check out the pictures in case there was anything that could help you guys. Anyway, it’s a Nikon with a pink strap. It has my name and address on it so it’s easy to recognize. If you have it, I really need it by midnight tonight so I can meet my assignment deadline. Gotta go.”

His eyes met his brothers. “Do you have any idea what camera she’s talking about?”

Quinn shook his head. “No. I never saw a camera.”

“Me, either.” He had a really bad feeling here. If they’d left the camera in the woods where he’d been staked out, the vampires would have found it. And if they found the camera, then they knew who Libby was. And worse. They knew where to find her.

“Shit.” He hit redial on his button, but Libby didn’t pick up. He got her voice mail. He left a quick message for her while Quinn tried the were who was guarding her. Then he tried the restaurant where she worked. He spoke quickly to her boss.

Rocco told him. “Libby didn’t show up tonight. I tried calling her but didn’t get an answer. I hope she’s all right. She’s never missed work like this before.”

Ty thanked the man and hung up.

When he met his brother’s eyes, Quinn just shook his head. They immediately headed for the vehicle, Quinn snapping orders. “Hawk, you stay with RJ. Ty and I will head to Libby’s place. I’ll let you know if—”

Hawk just nodded. “Go.”

The brothers pulled out, Ty in the driver’s seat, and sped toward Gulfport and Libby’s house. Quinn got on the phone and called Ricardo Diaz to let him know that there was trouble. Then Ty heard him talking to Mick, telling him to round up some muscle and meet at Libby’s house.

By the time they pulled into Libby’s driveway, Ty was half-mad with worry. They pulled in behind a white SUV that he knew belonged to Diaz. Another car was parked in front of Libby’s house, and Mick and a couple of vamps were standing next to it. Libby’s front door was open and Ty saw Diaz and another were walking down the front steps.

“Libby?” Ty ran toward the house, but Diaz stopped him.

“There’s no one here,
amigo
. We found my man dead about half a mile from here in his car. Looks like someone slit his throat. Someone drove the car until it was forced off the road, and it crashed into a tree. I’m guessing it was your lady, but there’s no sign of her anywhere.”

Ty felt Quinn’s hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off. They had her. They had Libby. He had said he would keep her safe, but he hadn’t. And now she was in the hands of his enemy.

“We’ll find her, Ty.” Quinn assured him.

“How? We don’t know where they are. God knows, we’ve been looking for them long enough. By the time we find them, Libby will be…she’ll be…”

Quinn clicked open his phone and dialed a number. “Hawk? This is Quinn. They’ve got Libby. You’ve got to find where McElroy is hiding out, and you’ve got to do it now.”

Ty stood numbly beside Quinn as he gave Hawk his order, but he doubted it would do any good. Cumbest hadn’t talked yet. Odds were, he wasn’t going to start now.

“Do whatever it takes, Hawk.” He paused and listened a moment. “Yes, anything.” Another pause. “I don’t care. Call me as soon as you have any information.”

He hung up and met Ty’s eyes. “We’ll find her, brother. I promise you. We’ll find her.”

Chapter Eighteen

Libby woke with a groan, a lancing pain streaking through her head. For a moment she lay still, trying to get her bearings. She was lying facedown on something hard and cold, and she ached all over. Immediately she remembered the wreck and wondered if she was in the hospital. She opened her eyes, but everything was black. Moving her head as much as she could, she groaned again as another jolt of agony pierced her skull.

“Well, well. I think the little human is finally waking up.” A drawling, masculine voice came to her from somewhere above. She jolted at the comment, trying to raise herself up, and realized that her hands were tied behind her back. A scratchy fabric brushing against her cheek told her she was also blindfolded. This was no hospital. She’d never felt so helpless in her entire life. There were no silver linings this time.
Ty, Ty
. God, did he even know she was gone? And if he figured it out, how would he ever be able to find her? She could be anywhere. This was how he’d felt when he’d been staked down in those woods. Lost. Confused. Defeated.

“
Oui
, I believe you are correct,
mon ami
.” A woman’s voice with a heavy French accent said in reply from what Libby could tell was a short distance away. The sharp tap of high heels echoed across the floor, approaching Libby’s position. She froze. Could this be that Simone woman? The one that had made Ty and Quinn vampires? That made her even more frightened because Ty had said that she was evil. Truly evil.

The sound of footsteps circled where she lay on the floor, and Libby tensed, not knowing what to expect. Whatever it was, it was not going to be good, she knew. These had to be the people Ty had been trying to find. They had ambushed her and…
ohmigod
. She just remembered. They had killed that young werewolf who was guarding her.

Her breath caught on a muffled cry. The woman obviously heard the distressed sound because she told Libby, “Oh, don’t be afraid,
ma petite
. It will make me feel
triste
.” The voice came nearer, and Libby realized the woman was kneeling beside her. Though the words she spoke were empathetic, the tone of her voice was cold and frightening. She felt a hand stroke across her cheek, and she jerked away, trying unsuccessfully to muffle a helpless whimper.

“Tsk, tsk, your
pauvre
head, it must ache so.” Another stroke, pushing her hair to the side. “Such a nasty bump. But we must make you more
confortable.
Come, Robert, help me turn the
petite
over.”

Libby felt hands on her, pushing and tugging until she was flopped over on her back. The new position was not better. Her hands were now painfully digging into her back in an awkward angle, and her head ached even more than before.

“There, that is much better. Oh, my. You are a very
étrange
-looking
femme
,
n’est pas
? So tiny. Like a
fée
, almost. And your hair. Most peculiar. I’m afraid I do not see what my Tyler sees in you. Most
intéressant
. He likes fucking you,
non
?” A hard yank on her hair sent another dart of pain through her head. She felt nauseous, but she bit her lip, determined not to moan again. She didn’t want to give this sadistic bitch the satisfaction. “Do you find her
très jolie
, Robert? Would you want such a
maigre
bag of bones in your bed? She has not breasts. No hips. She looks like a
garçon
, doesn’t she?”

More footsteps and then a rustle, and she knew the man knelt down beside her opposite the woman. She could feel his knee brush against her hip. “Well, I don’t know about all that. She’s cute enough. I’d do her. I kinda like that wild hair of hers. She’s a little bit of a thing, that’s true, but I bet that pussy of hers would be tight as a vise grip.” He laughed, and she felt his hand moving across her abdomen and lower. She squeezed her legs together, trying to keep his hands from touching her more intimately, and he laughed again. “Oh, yeah. Nice.”

Libby swallowed nervously. Please, God. Not rape. Let them just go ahead and kill her. She knew they were going to, but she didn’t think she could stand the feel of that man’s hands on her another minute.