Brie glowered at him as she set her bag down. “No, and we should probably leave these here.”
Asher set his beside hers. “What if a neighbor comes out?”
“I’ll take control of their minds and send them home.”
A vampire’s ability to do that was what unnerved him most about them, but he wasn’t going to deny its usefulness when it helped them. Still, he was grateful their mind control didn’t work on hunters. He far preferred death to the idea of anyone taking control of his mind and body.
With a shiver, he recalled Elena, trapped in her cage and a twisted mutation of the proud, beautiful, and strong woman she used to be. If any part of her remained in that horrible shell, then she hated what she’d become and would probably prefer death too.
None of them were willing to let her or Logan go… not yet. They still had hope and certainly still had fight in them; he was determined both of those things would prevail over the demons.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
“I don’t seeany cameras on the back of the house,” Brie said.
Asher scanned the rafters and the walls, but he didn’t see any either. “It could be the doorbell, but I can’t tell from here.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
He’d be shocked if they got lucky and this house didn’t have cameras, but not everyone had jumped on the video train. “Maybe we finally have something going for us.”
“Maybe,” Brie agreed, but she doubted it. “Let’s go.”
Together they moved swiftly through what remained of the trees until they stood fifty feet behind the house. Flowers overflowed the window boxes on the lower floors, and more spilled out of the whiskey barrels set on either side of the patio.
Furniture also adorned the patio. The umbrella was down, and the grill had been neatly covered after its last use. Despite this, the remnant aromas of steak and corn wafted from it.
All the windows in the house were dark, and the AC unit set a few feet away from the corner of the house, hummed as it worked. If they were quiet enough, the AC’s noise would cover the sound of anyone approaching from the front of the house.
He cursed the unit but didn’t dare head for the corner of the house to see if the kids had broken apart and decided to go home, play in the woods, or were still sitting around the cul-de-sac. If they were coming this way, they’d most likely create a lot of noise. He had to trust that was true because moving around too much would draw more attention if someone was home or if a neighbor looked out.
As they got closer, he saw the glow of the doorbell, but it looked more like one of the old-fashioned ones and was a simple bell and not one with a camera. He scanned the backside of the house but still didn’t see any cameras under the eaves or hanging on the sides.
He almost grinned over this small break in their luck, but it was far too soon to start thinking it would be smooth sailing from here. They still had a ways to go before this was over, and so much could still go wrong.
When they reached the house, Brie climbed the two steps to the door and rang the bell. A chime rang within, but no other sound followed, or at least not one he heard over the AC.
Brie rang the bell again before knocking. She leaned closer to hear the possible sound of footsteps approaching but only detected the rumble of the air conditioner by the corner of the house. She waited another minute and pressed the bell again, but when no one came, she grasped the knob and turned it.
Asher wasn’t surprised when the door swung open; he suspected the child, or children, who lived here probably ran in and out all day for food, drinks, and anything else they had to have. Sometimes they’d run out the front door to greet their friends, and other times they’d rush into the woods to join them.
“Hello?” Brie called; silence returned her greeting.
Even from where he stood behind and a little to her side, Asher felt the cold air drifting out the door. No wonder the AC was working so hard; they kept it as cold as a morgue in there.
When Brie turned toward him, he climbed up to stand beside her. It was a little tight for the two of them at the top of the stairs, and their chests nearly brushed as they stood facing each other.
Now was not the time for it, but he had to resist pulling her closer. Her nearness and floral scent teased and aroused him even as he stared into the home he would soon be invading.
You’re an idiot.And he wasn’t going to argue with that.
“What does the stone look like?” he asked.
Brie hesitated as she studied the cool interior of the home. It was inviting with its dining room table before them and flowers in its center. The family pictures hanging on the wall around the hutch showcased beautiful, antique plates behind its beveled glass. The home smelled of apples and people, and she swore she detected love in the air.
There was a time when she lived in a house like this. Of course, it was nowhere near as nice. Modern technology with all its building advancements and heating and cooling systems hadn’t exactly existed five hundred years ago. There hadn’t been photos to decorate those walls, but there was a portrait of their beautiful, loving family.
Her home had always smelled of the lavender her mother loved to pick, fire from the hearth, and her father’s pipe. It had also smelled of her brother even after he left home to live on his own.
