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When he finished, I took his hand and hugged it to my chest as I whispered, “No one’s ever sung to me before.”
“Did you like it?”
“I loved it.”
“Then I promise to sing for you any time you want me to.”
After a while, I whispered, “I’m so scared about what’s going to happen if and when the brothers find us.”
“I know I’m the only person in our group without any magical ability,” he said, “but I promise I’ll protect you, Mateo. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” I really believed he would.
Chapter 12
The next day dawned with blue skies, a rarity on the central coast this time of year. Griffin went out and bought some groceries, and Elias and I joined the newlyweds for breakfast. We tried to keep the conversation light, and they told us about all they’d seen and done in Paris. But there was an undercurrent of worry, and we all felt it.
Meanwhile, Carter was pacing outside. He kept checking his phone every few minutes, and once we finished eating, I joined him and asked, “Anything wrong?”
“I’m not sure. Early this morning, some kind of power surge took out every camera we had set up around the compound. Desiree sent some people to do surveillance, but for about twenty minutes, no one had eyes on that place. I hate not knowing for a fact whether the brothers are still inside.”
I took his hand, which was cold to the touch, and said, “Come have some coffee. Even if the sun’s shining, it’s freezing out here.” He met my gaze with concern in his pale gray eyes, and I told him, “You can check your phone just as easily from the kitchen.”
He let me lead him inside, and I directed him to my seat at the table before bringing him some coffee and a croissant. While he and Elias discussed this latest development, I went and found August and Tinder. They were playing chess at a small table by a window in the living room, and Tinder was sitting on his husband’s lap. Whenever it was Tinder’s turn, he barely glanced at the board, then leaned over and made some type of bold move that always seemed to surprise August. When Tinder announced, “Checkmate,” August sighed and slumped in his seat, and Tinder grinned at him.
I repeated what Carter had told me, and August said, “That’s not great news, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve left the compound, or that they know where to find us.”
“That’s true. Just to be on the safe side though, is there anything we can do to prepare ourselves? I feel so helpless just sitting here and waiting to see if something will happen.”
“Tyler and I already spent the morning searching my library,” August said. “I have texts spanning several centuries on a range of paranormal subjects, which have all been scanned and stored digitally. There was no information to be found on how to defeat a demon, let alone two.”
I returned to the kitchen and asked Carter, “How long has it been since Desiree’s cameras were knocked out?”
He glanced at his watch. “Almost three hours.”
“It’s only, what, an hour to fly here from L.A.?”
“About that,” Carter said.
“Just because the cameras were knocked out doesn’t mean the brothers are on their way here,” Elias told me. He had a point, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
He tried to distract me by leading me to the other end of the kitchen and showing me how to make bread. He’d sent a shopping list with Griffin that morning and planned to make lunch for all of us. Well, those of us who weren’t vampires, anyway.
The process of breadmaking was surprisingly soothing. He talked me through the steps, demonstrating techniques when needed, and for a little while I forgot about everything but the soft, pliable dough in my hands.
We’d just finished kneading it and transferred it to a bowl to rise when the hair on the back of my neck prickled. A moment later, a slight tremor shook the house. I whispered, “They found us,” as fear shot through me.
Everyone ran into the kitchen, and Griffin said, “Please tell me that was just an earthquake.”
I reached out with my senses and shook my head. “There are two demons just outside the wards, along with eight…no, ten vampires.” I tried to get a sense of what they were doing and muttered, “I think they brought the vampires for the entertainment value. They plan to have them attack us first, because it’d be over too quickly if the brothers fought us head-on.”
Tinder startled us by smashing one of his wooden kitchen chairs against the floor. Then he picked up two of the jagged, broken legs and tossed one to August as he said, “Bring it on.” His eyes glimmered with excitement, and he actually grinned.
