Predatory (Immortal Guardians #3.5)(48)

She smiled. “Well, at least you didn’t shatter all of my illusions about the children of the night.” Cassie stared into the darkness. “We must be close.”

He nodded.

She opened her purse and rested her hand on the gun inside.

Ethan leaned down until he could whisper in her ear. “I’ll keep you safe tonight. Trust me?” Stupid question. He was a vampire.

“Yes.”

He released her and beckoned her deeper into the shadows. He put his finger to his lips. They crept from building to building until they finally worked their way around to the back of Eternal Rest.

Zareb glided from the darkness. Ethan could see the silhouettes of the four other vampires who would go inside with them. He only hoped crazy Darren wasn’t one of them.

Zareb’s whisper was brief. “Ethan, Cassie, and I will go in the back door. The rest of you will go around to the front. If everyone else did their jobs, the outside guards should be gone by now.” Zareb watched the other vampires fade into the night. He avoided meeting Ethan’s gaze as he nodded at him. “Let’s go.” He didn’t even glance at Cassie. “Oh, and the door’s locked.”

Ethan turned his head away as he spoke to her. “Don’t hesitate to kill.” He took his place in front of her and faced the back door. “And whatever you do, don’t look at my face.”

He pulled the hoodie from his head, took off his glasses and shoved them into a pocket, then lifted his foot and kicked in the door.

Chapter Six

No plan? Just kick down the door and wing it? Where was the damn plan? Cassie’s heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode from her chest. That would pretty much put a kink in their covert action. Covert? Hah.

She gripped her gun as she wondered how Zareb would even know if his outside vampires had gotten rid of all the guards. No sounds of a struggle, no screams, no grunts or triumphant whoops. Cassie didn’t want to think about fanged shadows moving silently through the night.

Then she remembered what Ethan had said about a vampire’s power to read thoughts. Zareb would be connected mentally to all of his children. He was probably in her mind right now too.

A soft chuckle from behind Cassie shivered up her spine.

“Why would I not be there? Your mind is a delight, Cassie.” Zareb’s whisper seemed way too close. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m in everyone else’s mind as well, even the enemy’s. My only limit is distance.”

She forced herself not to respond. Instead, she stared at Ethan’s back as he strode down the hallway. He was all power and smooth deadly grace. And even in the midst of her panic attack, his presence did weird things to her nervous system.

Zareb spoke softly. “If I’m not mistaken, four of them are heading our way right now, and they’re extremely pissed off.”

The sound of running footsteps snapped her attention back to the hallway. Four men rushed toward them, guns in one hand and swords in the other. Swords? Really? They looked human to her—no fangs when they snarled—but they moved faster than a human would. What were they?

The need for action was almost a relief. Cassie pulled her gun from her purse. But she needn’t have bothered.

Ethan waited. The men facing him slid to a stop and then just stared. They dropped their weapons. Their expressions slowly shifted from fury to something so creepy that it made Cassie shiver. They looked as though they were in some sort of ecstatic trance—eyes half closed, mouths twisted in grotesque travesties of smiles. They stayed frozen like that while she held her breath. Then they simply collapsed. She exhaled. She recognized death in their loose-limbed sprawl.

Don’t shake, don’t shake. Whatever those men had seen in their last moments had killed them. For the first time, the Second One became real.

“But they died happy. How many of us will be able to say that?” Zareb’s voice in her head sounded mildly amused.

Cassie tried to control her horror. She’d seen enough violent death today to fill several lifetimes. Zareb’s attitude shouldn’t shock her. But it did.

“When you live thousands of years, Cassie, death becomes an old friend.” Zareb spoke aloud as he watched the vampires he’d sent around to the front entrance coming toward them.

Ethan pulled his hoodie over his head again. He hadn’t spoken or looked at them since they’d entered Eternal Rest.

Cassie couldn’t stop the questions flooding her mind. If the Second One was in control, did it recognize her? Did it care about any of them? The thought of a cold emotionless entity crouching inside Ethan’s body not only terrified her but also made her incredibly sad. She forced her gaze from him.

Zareb didn’t ask the others if they’d cleared the front of the building. The fact that they were standing here proved they had.

Cassie tried not to stare at the bodies. “Those were humans, weren’t they? Then how were they able to move like vampires?”

Zareb looked thoughtful. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” He walked to Ethan’s side. “What do you think about getting into the basement?”

Ethan kept his head turned away. “If anyone is down there, they can nail us as we get off the elevator. Let’s look outside. They wouldn’t want to get trapped with just one exit. I’m betting on a trapdoor and stairs.”