Warrior Fae Trapped (Warrior Fae #1)(17)

Moving down the hallway, she tried another room, equally unlocked. Rather than swing the door open, she opened it a crack and listened. A feminine moan teamed with masculine grunts had her backing out quickly.

Did no one lock doors in this place?

Thankfully, the house had a crap-load of rooms. Not all were bedrooms, no, but based on the chorus of grunts she heard from what looked to be a bathroom, that didn’t matter.

Had the whole party retired to the bedrooms? Was that what it was, a big hookup party?

Sam’s conversation with the other girl blinked through her thoughts. The explanation of a hookup party fit. Devon wasn’t going to work, so Sam went for the next available bachelor in her age range. Everyone so far looked and sounded like willing participants, so they were definitely on board. The few who weren’t into the notion had probably already taken off.

Dang it, I could’ve gotten a ride.

After the fifth try and some furious blinking—the naked gymnastics on the pool table were a marvel—she finally stumbled into an empty bedroom. Two twin beds were stationed on opposite sides of a room organized with bins and toy boxes. Being that she was, apparently, the only one with a G-rated sleeping agenda, she figured she was doing the kids a favor by choosing their room as a crash pad.

After locking the door firmly behind her, then checking it just to make sure, she placed Sam’s heels by the bed and fell onto a pink duvet. Judging by the duplicates of everything, the occupants were probably young twins—the only scenario by which two kids were likely to share a room in a house with countless bedrooms.

Charity took her millionth deep breath for the night. Waiting out a sex party hadn’t been on her list of to-dos for the weekend. All she wanted to do was go home without being waylaid by the hot psychopath out front.





Chapter Eight





“Explain yourself,” Devon demanded, anger spiking his pulse.

Jimmy’s face paled, but the rigidity didn’t completely leave his spine. “She was trying to get away. It’s our job to stop that.”

“It’s your job to follow orders,” Devon said, leaning into Jimmy. “She didn’t drink the elixir. You heard her yourself.”

“And you believe her?” Jimmy mumbled, looking at his feet.

“You saw how confused she was. Nothing we were saying computed. She thought we were drugged up.”

“But her smell—”

“Was not the smell of a human in transition. Not even remotely. In the absolute simplest of terms, she smelled…” Amazing. Out-of-this-world fantastic. So great it had made his mouth water. “…good. Vampires smell bad. See the issue?”

“Yes, sir,” Jimmy murmured.

“You scared her into that house. She wasn’t even supposed to be here, for all we know, and now her death warrant is signed. She’ll be food, without question, and very few food sources brought to these things make it out. You all but guaranteed that we’ll have one more to clean up.”

Jimmy looked up with round eyes, his body shaking. “Sorry, sir,” he bleated, finally submitting. “It’s just—she seemed so sure of herself, you know? Usually dames are either half scared or half turned on by us. And she’d come from the house, and I—”

Devon let the rage infuse his eyes, cutting off the yammering. “You screwed up on this one. You’ll face the consequences.”

Jimmy gulped. He nodded mutely and resumed staring at the ground.

Devon bit back a curse. He wanted to send Jimmy home, but he couldn’t. He needed every last member of his pack to take on the newbies. Roger and his pack would be wrapped up in combat with the elder and the upper-middle-level vamps.

“Get into position and change forms,” Devon barked. “Roger is moving into position as we speak. The vampires have pulled back their territory presence to the house, which means they’re preparing a fierce defense. We should assume they know we’re in the area. We’ll strike in an hour, two tops. We aim to get them while they’re at their most vulnerable.”

“Sorry, boss,” Jimmy said again.

Devon clenched his teeth. It didn’t sound like Jimmy meant it.

Oh yes, he’d be dealt with.

“Go,” Devon said, turning his back on the lesser male.

The memory of the girl’s smell resurfaced. He recalled the strange light that had kindled in her eyes, making them glow, when he’d advanced on her. It had sparked something, that light. The perfume of her had oozed a little thicker, tantalizing. Mouth-watering. He’d never smelled anything like it. He wanted to bottle it up and spray it on everything around him. It was intriguing and irritating at the same time.

She had a fighting background. She’d moved fast and efficiently. Regardless, she wasn’t fast enough to take on a vamp. And that smell, whatever it was, would attract them in droves. They’d overcome her in moments.

Guilt and regret pinched his gut as he turned and jogged down the hill, returning to check on the rest of his pack. There was nothing he could do about it now. Her only chance was to hunker down until help arrived. Best-case scenario, she found a closet to barricade herself in until Roger and crew could make it in there.

As he moved away, one thought floated up: I should’ve warned her that vampires can magically open locks.