“I’ll be fine, and Doug will keep you safe.”
Mollie bit back any further protests. They were here because of her, and Doug couldn’t be the one to go as he could barely open his eyes beyond slits.
“Be safe,” she whispered before leaning forward to kiss Mike.
“If anything happens, fire the gun and I’ll come back,” he said.
“I will, and I’ll shoot to kill,” she promised.
He kissed her and pulled away before he changed his mind about leaving. He nodded to Doug and slipped into the woods. Gliding from tree to tree, he stayed out of sight until he neared the mansion. Once closer, he stopped and bent to scoop up handfuls of dirt. He rubbed the soil over his face and into his hair to help him blend in with the woods before continuing.
When patches of the gray, brick building started appearing through the trees, he settled into a spot where he could see the side and part of the front of the mansion. Dropping, he wiggled forward on his belly before settling in behind a rotting log. Most of his body remained hidden behind the log, but he poked his head around the edge of it to study the mansion.
A vampire’s vision was better than an eagle’s, but heavy drapes covered the windows, and if someone looked out, he doubted they’d search the ground for any enemies. He should be well-hidden here.
In the distance, to his right, sporadic gunshots continued from the barn, but Mollie’s gun remained silent behind him. He tried not to think of her with Doug, but the scent of her lingered on his skin and in his blood. The constant pull to return to her almost launched him to his feet and back through the woods, but through sheer will, he remained behind the log.
Then the sun touched the horizon and streaks of pink and yellow illuminated the sky. A flash of movement drew his eyes to one of the drapes as it swayed back and forth. No one pulled it back to peer out, but someone walked close enough that their passing moved it. It was the first sign of life in this place.
Mike tensed when the sun dipped lower, but nothing else moved until dusk descended and the first star twinkled to life in the sky. The creak of the front door broke into the start of the cricket’s song, and even the insects went quiet when Savages poured out the door. Nearly two dozen of the creatures spilled down the stairs and spread out in different directions as they loped across the lawn toward the woods. The inhuman howls and grunts of excitement they emitted chilled his skin.
There was no denying these things were on the hunt.
Most of them ran in the direction of the barn, but some split off and rushed toward the sides. Mike held his breath as two of them raced toward him. One plunged into the woods a couple of hundred feet to his left while the other entered on his right, only seventy feet away.
Mollie!Mike glanced at where the other one had disappeared, but it was too far away to be much of a threat to Mollie and Doug. The one closest to him wasn’t though. Rolling away from the log, he slipped into the woods after his enemy.
When the Savage veered to the right, heading away from Mollie and Doug, Mike decided not to pursue it. He’d spent too much time away from her already, and he couldn’t risk something going wrong.
* * *
“Do we just go in there?”Mollie whispered. Through the trees, she stared at the back door of the mansion, one she assumed led into a kitchen or perhaps the servant’s quarters judging by the size of this place.
“I think that’s our only option,” Doug murmured.
Mollie fiddled with the edges of her sleeves as she gazed at the door. She wished she could see through walls, so she could learn if Aida was in there. But unless she miraculously became Superman between this second and the next, her wishing would get her nowhere.
“I’ll approach the door,” Doug said. “I’m healed now.”
“I don’t think that’s the best way of going about it,” Mike said. “I watched this place for a while, and no one looked out the windows. Granted, it was daytime, but we’ve been standing here for a good ten minutes, and we still haven’t seen anyone. The Savages think they’re safe in this place. So safe, I bet they didn’t leave anyone behind to guard it, and I don’t see any cameras monitoring the outside.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Doug inquired.
“Walk right on up there,” Mike replied.
Mollie gulped.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Mike slippedfrom the trees with Mollie close on his heels and Doug following as they approached the mansion. He couldn’t watch all the windows on the back side of the house, but his eyes scanned them for movement; he saw none.
He didn’t sense anyone nearby in the woods before leaving them, but he remained alert for the slightest shift in smell or the smallest step that would alert him to the approach of an enemy. The constriction in his chest didn’t ease when they made it to the back steps.
He had no idea what they might find inside, and he was leading Mollie straight into it. For years, he’d waited for her to enter his life, and he could lose her before he ever experienced life with her.
Easy,he cautioned when his hands flexed, and he had to fight the impulse to sink his fangs into her, change her, and screw the consequences.
But those consequences were far too significant for him to ignore; without enough blood to get her through the transition, she would become somethingcaught between a human and a vampire and have to be destroyed. He would not allow that to happen, and he wouldnotbe the one who caused it.
