He heard the note of hope in her voice andturned to look at her. “No, I’m not,” he replied. He would havedone anything to make her smile, but he wouldn’t lie to her. “Idon’t know for sure, but I would say those who were here are stillalive, minus some memories, and probably any cameras or evidencethey had.”
“Okay, good.”
Aiden searched the alley for his phone andthe key card to his hotel room. He discovered the phone at theother end of the alley. Lifting it, he examined the broken bitsbefore tossing the useless thing aside. The key card was gone.Either one of the officers had picked it up before the Savagesreturned, one of the Savages had it, or it had fallen out somewhereelse.
Either way, it didn’t matter, they couldn’tuse it to find him.
Aiden’s head lifted when the scent ofgarbage wafted to him; he sniffed at the air as the aroma drewcloser. Maggie placed her hand over her nose. Aiden frowned as hestudied her, but the growing stench drew his attention away. Theyhad to get out of here, but the only safe place to go was Carha’sclub.
He despised revealing any glimpse of thedepravity of his soul to Maggie, but her safety was far moreimportant than keeping his secrets hidden. Most of the vampires inthe club weren’t fighters, but they wouldn’t tolerate an attackfrom Savages on anyone, especially since Savages had a habit ofturning on and killing their kind for more power.
Placing his hand on the small of Maggie’sback, Aiden hurried toward the door. “What are you doing?” shewhispered.
“They’re coming.”
Maggie glanced nervously over her shoulder,but she didn’t see or hear anything. She wouldn’t argue with hisvampy senses. However, she had no idea what he expected to do witha closed metal door that had no handle. She had no doubt he couldbreak it down, but their location wouldn’t exactly be unknown if hedid.
Stopping before the door, Aiden knockedthree times on it. He paused for a few seconds before knocking twomore times, then paused again and rapped five times.
A window in the middle of the door suddenlyslid open. Maggie would have leapt back if Aiden’s hand hadn’t beenthere to stop her. Perfectly hidden, she hadn’t seen the outline ofthe window until it opened. Leaning forward, she tried to peerinside, but there was only darkness on the other side.
Maggie jumped when a set of brown eyesappeared in the window. Those eyes settled on her before going toAiden. “Back so soon?” a gruff voice said from the other side.
“Let us in,” Aiden commanded, and he couldsense Brutus’s annoyance over the order. He also knew Brutus woulddo as he said.
After a hesitation, the click of locksturning filled the air, and the door creaked as it swung open.Maggie’s heels dug in when Aiden nudged her forward, but unwillingto face those Savages again, she gave in to his prodding andstepped inside.
The door swung shut behind them, and thelocks slid back into place. “Reeks of blood out there, and you looklike shit. What happened?” Brutus demanded.
The voice coming from her right sent shiversdown Maggie’s spine as she glanced anxiously around, but with thedoor closed, a tomblike darkness enveloped them.
“Didn’t you look?” Aiden inquired.
“Couldn’t risk giving away our location,”Brutus replied. “Heard the voices and sirens and figured it was ahuman situation.”
“Not entirely,” Aiden replied. “Some killervamps were involved, and they’re coming back.”
“Bastards,” Brutus hissed. “They may becoming back, but they won’t be coming in.”
“Good.” Aiden turned away from Brutus, andkeeping his hand on the small of Maggie’s back, he led heronward.
“Carha will be happy to see you again,”Brutus said from behind them and gave a small chuckle.
“Who is Carha?” Maggie inquired.
“She owns this place,” Aiden replied.
“Where are we?”
“It’s a private club.”
“As in a privatevampireclub?”
“Yes, but there are humans here too.”
Maggie’s step faltered before she forced onefoot in front of the other again. “Did you bring me here to pass mearound to your friends?”
“I wouldneverallow such a thing tohappen to you.Noone will touch you here; I’ll make sure ofit.”
