The Immortal Hunter(81)

Dani turned and was about to head for the kitchen when she heard the soft click of a door closing upstairs. When footsteps followed, moving quickly toward the stairs, she ducked into the empty living room and pressed herself to the wall, eyes locked on the archway to the hall. Her heart beat rapidly with the fear of discovery as she listened to someone jogging lightly down the stairs. She held her breath then, but the footsteps merely moved away toward the kitchen. She let her breath out with relief and glanced around, looking for a proper hiding spot.

That was when Dani saw John and Hazel Parker. The couple were seated on the lush carpet, upper bodies slumped against each other on the far wall, both apparently asleep, she realized as John let out a loud, snuffling snore. The sight of the couple answered one question for Dani. Leonius hadn't been caught. If he had, the couple would have been returned to their home with their memories altered.

John Parker let loose with another loud snore, and Dani began to worry that it might draw whoever had come downstairs into the room to check on the couple. She would definitely be discovered then. It was time to move. Easing up to the archway leading to the hall, she started into the entry, planning to check out the room across the hall for a possible haven where she might think. But she was only halfway across when the person in the kitchen started out and up the hall once more.

Panic yanking on her, Dani changed direction and slid into the empty coat closet next to the front door, easing the door carefully shut in an effort not to make a sound.

Decker moved quickly out of the kitchen, a cold bag of blood in each hand; one for him, and one for Dani. He wasn't sure how long she would be knocked out, but he planned to feed her another bag whether she was awake or not. He'd done that intermittently through the night as she went through her ordeal. Sometimes it hadn't gone too well and his clothes had suffered for it. When he'd seen the bloodstains covering his shirt and jeans as he'd stood to head for the kitchen, Decker had decided it might be better to change first. He didn't want the first thing Dani saw on opening her eyes to be him covered in blood.

Decker had headed to his room, just planning to change, but several yawns and a weary scrub at his eyes along the way had made him think a swift shower might be good too. He'd intended to be quick about it, but thoughts of Dani had slowed him somewhat and he'd found himself simply standing under the beating water as his mind crowded with worry for her. Decker thought the worst of the turn was over and was pretty sure Dani was going to survive it. Now there was just the question of whether she would come out of it sane or not... and what he would do if she didn't.

It was concern that she might wake up alone and afraid that had forced him to get out of the shower. Decker had dried himself, dressed in clean clothes, and headed for her room, only to recall that his original intention had been to fetch some blood from the kitchen. He'd come down to the kitchen then, grabbed two bags, and was walking up the hall intending to head back upstairs when he caught sight of the coat closet door closing ahead.

For one moment Decker thought he must have imagined it, but then he heard a soft thud and a grunt from behind the door. He paused in the hall, staring at it for a moment, then took a couple more steps forward and stuck his head into the living room. His lips turned down in a frown when he saw the Parkers still there, sleeping soundly. It hadn't been one of them closing the closet door from inside.

Decker straightened and turned to approach the closet, thinking that it couldn't be Mortimer, Lucian, or Justin. They were all at the Parker house waiting for Leonius to show up. And Leigh, Rachel, and Etienne had headed to bed shortly after Sam had left for work. That left only-He caught a glimpse of the frayed end of rope sticking out under the door and then it disappeared, tugged inside the closet.

"Dani?" he called uncertainly, and shifted the bags of blood into one hand so that he could open the door. He'd turned the doorknob and pulled the door open a bare couple of inches when she said, "No," and the door was pulled out of his hand to slam shut.

Recognizing her voice in the short word, Decker found a smile plucking at his lips at her denial and nearly chuckled until it occurred to him that the woman was in a closet, denying it was she. That wasn't exactly sane behavior. It wasn't psychotic either, at least he hoped not, but...

Worry gnawing on his nerves, he reached for the door again. "Dani, are you all right?"

This time he got it open six inches or so before she snapped, "Go away," and yanked it closed.

Really worried now, Decker set the blood down beside the door so that he could use both hands on the knob, but Dani must have been using both of hers as well on the other side. He had to put in some real effort to turn the knob and then pull the door open. He had it nearly a foot ajar when she suddenly released her hold. Unfortunately, Decker hadn't expected that, was still pulling with all his might, and slammed himself in the head with the damned thing. Cursing, he stumbled back a step, grabbed for his head, and saw her tug the door closed again.

Sighing, he let go of his head and moved up to the door to ask wearily, "Dani, what are you doing?"

"Hiding. What does it look like?"

Decker considered that. She sounded odd, like she was crying and trying to sound angry so that he wouldn't know. He was about to ask her again if she was all right when she suddenly said, "I'm not an animal."

He blinked at those words, his head jerking back slightly at the pain evident in her voice.