Page 22 of Grayson’s Challenge

“William,” Grayson said, “did you see what happened to her?”

“I’m not certain, but I think they injected her with something.”

Grayson exchanged a look with Maya.

“Where’s their daughter? Monique? Did she see anything?” Grayson asked, looking at William.

“She wasn’t here. I called her.”

Grayson nodded. “Okay. How many attackers were there?”

“About a dozen, all vampires,” William said.

“Oh my God! Mom! Mom!”

At the female voice, Grayson looked over his shoulder. In the door to the living room stood a woman he knew all too well, a woman he’d left in his bed only minutes earlier. It was clear to him immediately that her name wasn’t Mona. Utter disbelief paralyzed him. He’d slept with Monique Montague, the woman Samson and Cain had tried to set him up with.

“Monique!” William called out in relief.

When she took a few steps into the living room, approaching Faye, Monique’s gaze suddenly connected with Grayson’s. She gasped.

“You,” she murmured almost breathlessly.

Perhaps proper introductions were in order now. “I’m Grayson, Samson’s son.”

10

“I’m Grayson, Samson’s son.”

The words ricocheted in Monique’s brain and took several seconds to register. No, this wasn’t possible. She’d had sex with the very man her father had chosen for her? The man he wanted her to date? Had Grayson known about this and played along? Or rather, tricked her, when it had become clear that she wouldn’t go to the New Year’s Eve party to meet him? Had she played right into their hands?

She shook off the thoughts. It didn’t matter right now. She could deal with all this later. Right now, only two things mattered: taking care of her mother, and rescuing her father from his kidnappers.

She nodded at Grayson, acknowledging his greeting. “What happened here? Who did this? What’s happening with Mom? William? Where are the other King’s guards?”

“Dead,” William said in a flat tone. “We tried to protect your parents, but we were outnumbered. There were a dozen of them attacking us just as we returned from the party.” He motioned to Delilah, who lay on the couch, unconscious and bloodied, while a young hybrid female fed her blood from her wrist.

“Samson and Delilah came with us. They wanted to stay for a while and talk, but then a dozen vampires stormed in and attacked us. We fought. Cain managed to kill one of them, and Samson would have killed one of his attackers too, but when two of them attacked Delilah, Samson tried to defend her, and they overpowered him.”

Monique kneeled down to her mother. “What did they do to Mom? Why is she unconscious?” She looked at the vampire female administering an IV and recognized her. She’d met Maya, Scanguards’ resident physician, several times over the years. “Maya?”

“I’m not sure why she’s out. I can see no obvious injuries.”

Grayson stepped closer. “Maya, do you think they could have injected her with dead man’s blood? That could have knocked her out, don’t you think?”

“You might be right,” Maya said. “If that’s the case, the transfusion with human blood will purge the effects of the poison from her body. But I’ve never had a case like that. I have no idea how long it’ll take.”

Monique nodded. “Please save her.” Then she looked straight at Grayson. “And your mother? Will she be all right?”

He looked past her, then nodded and looked into her eyes. “She will be. My sister is giving her blood. She’ll heal.”

He looked back at William, who was pressing his hand to his stomach wound. “Do you know how they transported Samson and Cain away? By car? Van? We need to find out where they took ‘em.”

“I glimpsed a black van, but I didn’t get a license plate or anything else,” William said with regret. “And there might have been more than one van. I can’t be sure. There were too many people to fit in just one.”

“We need to find the van,” Monique said, her pulse racing. If she were in New Orleans, she would know exactly what to do now. But this was San Francisco. “Do you have a contact at the police, Grayson?”

“I’m on it.” He pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number. “I’ll speak to the police chief directly. I’ve got his cell number.”