“He’s the worst of them,” Aida said, “and more of a monster than the vampires. Scott took a lot of pleasure in coming to see us when they were done feeding on us and enjoyed watching us cry. He’s also the one who made sure we were ready when they came for us and would watch us shower.”
Mollie met Mike’s eyes over the top of her sister’s head. Unlike Mike, killing Scott wouldn’t put limitations on her, and she would love to rip the bastard’s heart out. When her hand went to the handgun she’d tucked into her back pocket, Mike grasped her wrist.
“You will regret it if you do,” he said.
Mollie fought back her resentment and disappointment as she tried to regain control of her temper. He was right, but she still wanted Scott dead. “What do we do with him?”
“We leave him,” Mike said. “What they’ll do to him when they realize their food supply is gone, and he’s the one who brought us to it, will be far worse than anything we could ever do. We have to go.”
He clasped her elbow and led her toward the door. She kept hold of Aida as they walked. They were almost to the exit when Mike heard the distant click of another door shutting somewhere in the mansion. He drew Mollie back as he strained to hear anything more.
“Don’t make a sound,” Mike whispered to the others.
He released Mollie and strode over to press his ear against the wooden door, he listened to the footsteps coming toward them. Whoever it was wasn’t trying to be secretive as their boots rang against the wood floor.
Mike edged back and twisted the lock on the knob. It would do little to stop a vampire from entering, but it was a small barrier. He pointed to Doug and then one of the windows. Doug strode across the room and grasped a corner of a drape. When he edged the curtain aside, his shoulders became rigid.
“Fuck,” Doug hissed.
Doug glanced at Mike before throwing the drape open. Two leering faces stood on the other side of the glass, their red eyes gleamed malevolently, and their fangs glistened in the light. On the other side of the door, the footsteps stopped, and the knob rattled.
“How did they know we were here?” Mollie asked.
Mike’s gaze fell on Scott, who gave as much of a grin as he could with a sock in his mouth. Mike didn’t know how he’d done it, but somehow, Scott alerted the club and its followers to their presence in this place. Mike glanced back at the light switch Scott first turned on, but he didn’t think that was what had given them away. The Savages expected Scott to move around the house and to tend to their victims.
Then he recalled Scott’s hand running across the shelf before settling on the cat that did nothing. Somewhere on that shelf was something used to alert the vamps to any threat in the mansion.
“You prick!” he snarled.
Scott’s smile spread around his gag. Behind Mike, something crashed into the door, and it rattled in its frame. Some of the humans cried out and huddled together when the wood shuddered.
“Be quiet,” Mike commanded them, and they whimpered before settling down.
Striding across the room, Mike pulled back another drape to reveal two more Savages on the other side. Doug yanked aside another to reveal one vamp, and when Mike pulled back the curtain on the fourth window, he discovered three more Savages.
Eight vampires had already gathered outside, an unknown number of them could be in the house, and possibly more were on the way. If they left through the mansion, they could be trapped in the corridors and would have a difficult time moving so many through the halls.
“You,” Mike said, pointing at some of the humans. “Grab those chairs and throw them in front of the door. We’re going out the windows.”
“They’re out there; we can’t,” someone whined.
“Then don’t,” Mike replied. He didn’t much care what they did as long as they didn’t get in his way.
Some of the humans scampered away to obey his command while others remained cowering in the center of the room. He turned back to Mollie as she handed the revolver to Aida.
“They’re not wooden bullets,” she said to her sister.
“They’ll still hurt anything you hit with them,” Mike told Aida.
She gazed up at him with round eyes that were amazingly bright in her pale face before setting her chin firmly and nodding.
“No matter what happens, you stay close to me,” he said to Mollie. “Unless I tell you to run, and then run faster than you’ve ever run before.”
“I’m not leaving you behind,” Mollie protested.
“If I tell you to leave me, then do it. Head for our hiding spot by the lighthouse, and I’ll find you there if we’re separated.” He would do everything in his power to avoid separating from her, but he might not have a choice.
“Mike—”
