Halfway through searching the right wing, Mike was closing the door on another bedroom when the door to a room three doors away opened and a human stepped out. The man had a set of white sheets draped over his arm, and his head down as he maneuvered a cart out the door before closing it.
Lifting his head, the human jumped when he spotted them, but then a broad smile lit his face. Bite marks marred his throat and wrists, but healthy color stained his cheeks, and he didn’t move as if he’d been fed on too much. The man’s butler uniform was crisply ironed and well-tailored to fit his lean frame.
“Back from the hunt so soon my lords and lady?” the man inquired in a formal tone better suited to a queen’s parlor than their current surroundings.
The man’s smile faded when they didn’t reply, and he stared expectantly at them.
“I left something behind,” Mike said.
The man’s smile blazed back to life. “I will be happy to retrieve it for you, my lord, if you’ll let me know which suite you’re in.”
“No need,” Mike replied as he strode toward the man. The wheels on the cart rattled down the maroon carpet when Mike shoved it out of his way. The man didn’t have a chance to react before Mike clasped his throat and pulled him close. “I’ve retrieved it myself.”
“Pardon me, my lord,” the man squeaked as he squirmed in Mike’s grasp.
“We’re not part of the hunt,” Mike informed him with a smile that revealed his fangs.
The man went still, and the color drained from his face so fast Mike assumed he might faint. When the beginnings of a scream started to erupt from him, Mike dug his fingers in and squelched the sound. The man sputtered as the sheets fell from his grasp and his arms and legs flailed.
“Easy,” Mike said. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here for answers.”
The man calmed a little, but his breath whistled in and out as his face turned redder.
“I’m going to ease my grip, but if you try to scream again, I’ll snap your spine and take away your ability to walk. Do you understand?”
“Ehh,” the man squeaked out and nodded the best he could.
Mike eased his grip and maneuvered the man to pin him against the wall. “What’s your name?”
“Sc-Sc-Scott,” he choked out before greedily gulping in air.
“Tell me, Scott, are there any other vampires in this house right now?” Mike inquired. “And tell me the truth, because if I find out you’re lying, I will make you regret it for the rest of the very short life I’ll grant you. But if you tell me the truth, we can part as friends, and you can continue on your merry, bed-changing way.”
“I… I don’t think there are any other vampires here,” Scott stammered. “As far as I know, they’re all out for the hunt.”
“When will they come back?”
Scott’s Adam’s apple bobbed beneath his hand. “Most won’t return until just before sunrise, but others will come sooner, and some will find places to hide so they can stay out all day.”
“So itisa hunt,” Mollie whispered as she gazed at the handsome man with his reddish-brown hair and green eyes. She’d already believed it was a hunt, but to hear Scott confirm it made it all the more real.
“Yes,” Scott said.
“Did our escape throw it off?” Mollie asked.
“You’re part of the escapees?” Scott croaked.
“Yes,” Mike answered.
Scott’s pulse skyrocketed against his palm. “They… they werepissedwhen that happened. I thought they were going to call the hunt off, but instead, they spun it to the others as a special pre-hunt to reward their clients. It’s worked so well that I’ve heard whispers it might become an annual thing.”
The more Mollie learned about the monsters behind all this, the more she despised them.
“They had to go out and catch more for the big hunt, and they recaptured some of the escapees, but they were able to get the number of captives back up in time to start the hunt tonight,” Scott continued.
“And what number is that?” Doug asked.
“There has to be a minimum of seventy-five captives for the hunt, but they prefer at least a hundred. I don’t know how many they gathered this year.”
