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Good. Maybe they’ll get into a car and go back to their homes to hide under their blankets and do their best to forget about the Barrows.
I breathe in again, sorting through the scents of my kingdom, and once I locate Eloise, I’m running. I melt into the shadows, slipping through the black between neon glows, as the city streets turn into a blur around me. Humans don’t sense my passing, though a few shifters and vampires do. They know better than to let their attention linger on me, though.
It takes moments to arrive at Eloise’s building, and I wait at the edge of darkness as I see Ashe escort her from the front door to the car. His gaze finds mine, the golden hue reflecting the dim streetlights. He doesn’t acknowledge me beyond a slow blink, and I nod once before letting my gaze settle on Eloise.
She’s changed clothing, and yet somehow she’s even more tempting now that I’ve had a taste of her. She looks better like this, in clothing that she clearly prefers, as much as I enjoyed the displays of creamy skin of the earlier dress. Ashe tries to take her bag as he opens the door but she clings to it tighter as she slides in. His eyes find mine again, a silent message of irritation and I can’t help the small smirk that tilts my lips.
Eloise is stubborn and defiant. I will enjoy breaking her.
When Ashe closes the door and takes his place as the driver, I step out of the darkness and stalk towards the front door. It’s a simple tug to break the door free of the lock, and then I’m in. Following her scent, I climb the stairs, tracking it until I’m in front of the plain wooden door with a crooked apartment number.
I hesitate as I wrap my hand around the doorknob. If I break the latch, then even a simple human could get in. Snorting at my concern, I grip the handle and twist, the metal and wood splintering as it opens.
I’ll have someone come fix the door. Her home needs to be safe. I need to protect her, even if I don’t want to think about why.
Standing in the small apartment, my senses are flooded by Eloise’s scent and another woman’s—no doubt Deidre’s. I stalk through the apartment, inspecting the contents of the bookshelves, the kitchen, the numerous house plants. Sliding my phone out, I dial Kasar while stepping into Eloise’s room.
The phone connects, though Kasar says nothing.
“I’m sending you the location of the girl’s apartment,” I say, approaching the bed. “Have you found her trail?”
“Yes,” Kasar answered. The lack of sound in the background makes me believe he’s in a car. “She was taken by vampires. None of whom I recognize the scent of.”
I snarl and sink onto the edge of Eloise’s bed. “Find out everything.”
“Of course,” he says. “The woman?”
I grit my teeth. “Keep her alive as best you can. But if it comes to choosing her or the Nightshades...”
“Understood, sire.”
I hang up and ping him the address. He’ll find the apartment here if necessary in his hunt. Other messages command Lan to ensure tighter security measures for their front door and posting someone outside to watch who may try to enter their location. If this Deidre has truly discovered something of value about the Rapture leak and Kasar extracts her, they will look for her here.
Duties done, I lie down on Eloise’s bed, surrounded and drowning in her scent. My heart beats faster than it ever did as a mortal, and my mind fills with trace memories of her in this very room. The small sampling of her blood only gives me the faintest images to call on, but it’s enough for my cock to fill as I lie where she has slept for years. Her scents have permeated the walls, the fabrics of her blankets, her pillow, everything. Even the scent of arousal and pleasure from her past has sunk into the fabric cradling me and my body responds to its call.
Another part of me wants to hunt down those males who had experienced that pleasure and gut them.
Forcing myself up off the bed, agitated and pacing, I refuse to acknowledge my desire, and I leave the apartment before I do something stupid and rash. Like search her drawers for a scrap of lace that’s cradled her sex over time and stroke myself.
Even out of the building and into the renewed storm, I can’t get my head to focus on anything other than Eloise.
I let my feet carry me towards my home, tailing the car in which Ashe drives Eloise. He senses me—I sired him over a century ago, our connection linking us like I’m linked to so many others in my clan. I’m a silent guardian over the car until it turns into the underground gated garage that I installed under my home in this city.
Instead of following, I climb the side of my building with ease despite the rain, and slip in through the window that only opens at my touch. Mortals believe it magic, and perhaps to a degree it is. But runes and blood rituals had been around for thousands of years before mortals began to swarm this earth and sought to control things they didn’t understand.
In the relative safety of my home, I let my senses fan out—searching the house for any sign of abnormalities.
Only the sound of my staff and the vampires of my empire reach me. Good. I let out a low growl, too low for humans to hear—only sense it. But the vampires who room here occasionally would head the order. In seconds, I sense them fleeing the home with supernatural speed.
To the staff, I use the intercom in the wall to dismiss them for the night with clear instructions to not return until I call. Ashe gets a text message with instructions on what to do with the human woman.
Satisfied my orders would be followed, I change out of the wet clothes and into a fresh suit, though I leave off the vest and coat. Only when I hear the door from the garage open into the house, two floors below, do I let myself leave the room.
It’s time to see what Eloise makes of her new surroundings.
Chapter Six
Eloise
