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“My dad will find us!” Cass unexpectedly interrupted our conversation.
I turned to her, hiding her with my hands, but her defiant little face peered from behind me. Constantine was looking at her in the same way that a hunter watched its prey. Biding its time.
Not this prey.
“Oh, I am counting on it, little one,” he told her. “You see, I thought that his first instinct would be to save himself. That is how vampires function. The selfishness principle. Feed first, rest first, kill first. We don’t care much for the needs of others, until our own are met and we function just fine like that. But Adrian… his upbringing has ruined him. It has made him forget who he is and he’s gotten soft. But I can fix that.”
“He is not soft,” I snarled back at him.
“Let’s agree to disagree,” he said, sounding exasperated, as if he had gotten tired of this conversation. “I truly don’t understand what he sees in humans, but I guess it has a lot to do with the people who brought him up.”
“His family, you mean?” I reminded him.
He frowned. He didn’t like that. “They were not his family.”
“That’s not how he feels,” I continued, seeing that this was pissing him off.
His brow furrowed even more. It was working.
“I am his family,” he hissed. “He just needs to be reminded of that, but that knowledge, that animal inside of him is in there. I will awaken it.”
“Don’t you dare,” I stared him down, despite the fact that from where I was standing, I was powerless to do or change anything.
He smiled. “There is nothing you can do, other than serve your purpose, which is to be bait. That is all you humans are good for.”
He turned around without another word and closed the door behind him. My heart was beating wildly, echoing inside my ears. Cass’ little body was still trembling, and so was mine.
That was what he wanted. Adrian. I should have known that this would happen. I should have been better prepared, but you just can’t predict some things in life.
Adrian would surely come for us. I knew that. But coming here might also be his undoing.
I turned to Cass and wrapped my arms around her, feeling more helpless than ever. Adrian would leave no stone unturned to find us. He had always been my protector, the one I turned to in times of need. Now, we had only each other. Everyone else had departed. Constantine was counting on this, fully aware of the fact that Adrian would never leave his family.
“Mom… I’m scared,” I heard Cass whisper in a trembling voice.
So am I, I thought to myself, but I bit my tongue before I could say those words out loud. Instead, I hugged her even tighter.
“Everything is going to be alright, baby,” I told her.
One way or another…
Chapter Nineteen
Adrian
I was finally there. My heart was pounding inside my throat, like a hard lump that was preventing me from breathing. The night was still enshrouded in darkness, the moonlight seeping onto the crumbling structure of the old mill, as if guiding the way.
Concealed in the shadows, I watched as six vampire guards patrolled the area surrounding the mill. They moved silently, their predatory senses focused on every sound that came from nearby. I knew that attacking them head on would be dangerous. I needed the element of surprise if I wanted to enter the old mill without being noticed by the others.
I patted the blade that I carried around my waist. It had been the only weapon I wanted to take, as anything loud would draw an alarm. After all, I was just one man against an entire army of vampires. The odds were stacked sharply against me. I drew my blade, as the cold steel felt reassuring in my hand, a symbol of my determination to save my family. I crouched in the underbrush, my breath steady, my senses sharpened.
My plan was simple, but dangerous. I would wait for the perfect moment to strike, to catch the guards in a moment of their lack of focus and incapacitate them swiftly. Still, I knew I couldn’t wait too long, because I knew that Lil and Cass didn’t have a lot of time. I had to execute each take down with precision, leaving no room for alarm.
I surveyed the area and noticed that the first guard had moved far enough from the rest. He would be the first one to go down. I approached him slowly and stealthily from behind, my blade poised for a quick and precise strike. With a deft motion, I delivered a well-aimed blow to the back of his head, causing him to crumple to the ground, unconscious. He didn’t make a single peep. One down, five more to go.
I swiftly closed the distance to the second guard, who was patrolling along the mill’s perimeter. In a fluid movement, I struck him with the hilt of my blade, rendering him unconscious with a blow to the temple. The third guard came into view immediately after, unaware of the threat. I circled behind him and used a chokehold to subdue him, ensuring his silence moments later.
I caught the fourth guard as he turned a corner, administering a tranquilizing jab to his neck, watching him then fall to the ground. It almost felt too easy. The fifth guard was stationed near the mill’s entrance. I approached him from behind, using the hilt of my sword to deliver a precise strike to the back of his head.
