The Immortal Hunter(91)

"What are we going to do?" Justin asked quietly.

Decker thought and then said, "The men should be here by now. They're probably stationed at the exits. We'll have to start searching the hotel."

"I'll tell Mortimer to start calling the men and put them on the alert," Justin said.

When he nodded, the younger enforcer burst into a run and raced back up the hall to 1413. Decker continued at a quick clip, but didn't try to keep up. He was trying to coordinate things in his head, trying to think of every possibility and ensure they didn't miss something. Justin disappeared into the room where the other men waited just as Decker was passing the door to the room next to 1413. Moving fast, Decker almost missed the sound of something hitting the floor that was almost completely muffled by the carpet and door. But he did hear it, and instinctively stopped and moved closer to listen.

Dani couldn't move. Leonius held her completely immobile with one hand covering her mouth, the other at her throat, almost choking her, and his body pinning hers to the wall. He'd been holding her there like that ever since he'd reached out into the hall and yanked her into the room as she'd run past.

She had no idea why he wasn't just controlling her with his mind as she knew he could, but supposed it was because he took such great pleasure in the physical act of terrorizing her. However, she was grateful he wasn't, as she shifted her eyes sideways to try to see into the room.

Leonius looked in that direction too, she noticed, his mouth turning down with displeasure. He then dragged her away from the wall and forced her the few steps out of the hall and into the open bedroom area.

Dani spotted Stephanie at once. The pretty young girl was seated half bent over on the edge of the bed, swaying and trying to get to her feet, but she appeared too weak to manage it. What looked to have been a full glass of water now lay on the floor, and a clear liquid was soaking into the carpet in a wide puddle. Dani supposed its hitting the floor had been the thud she'd heard.

She looked over Stephanie quickly, relieved to see that there didn't appear to be any cuts or bruises on her, at least not on the parts she could see. Dani had feared that when they found her, Stephanie would be covered with them as the bodies in the ravine had been, but she was remarkably free of such injuries, her skin pale and perfect. However, Dani couldn't see her wrists or the insides of her arms the way she was clutching herself, and Stephanie definitely wasn't all right, Dani realized when Stephanie raised a sweating, too pale face to peer blearily at her.

"Dan-?" The name was cut off at once, and Dani knew Leonius had slipped into the girl's head to take control of her and shut her up. In the shape she was in, it apparently wasn't a pleasant experience for him, because his face contorted with pain. She didn't know what he did, but after a moment, Stephanie's head drooped and his expression began to ease. Sighing with what sounded like relief, he glanced to Dani.

"I had just given her my blood and was about to tie her down when I heard the shots from next door," he said in a hushed voice, and then commented, "Those silencers don't work nearly as well in reality as they appear to on television, do they?"

Dani flinched at this news, worry for her sister immediately rising within her. There was no time for that now, however, and she forced it down, concentrating on how she could make more noise and, she hoped, attract the attention of the men in the room next door... If they were still there. She'd heard Justin and Decker talking as they walked past the room moments before the thud had made Leonius move her out of the hall. They had been talking about her, and the fact that she was missing and she'd wanted to scream, but hadn't been able to with Leonius holding her as he had.

"I know you want to make noise to draw your friends, but I'm afraid I can't allow that," Leonius said by her ear. "It's all terribly exciting to be hiding just feet away from where Lucian and his men are standing, but also fraught with danger. If you make a sound, I shall have to silence you."

He moved her closer to the bed so that they stood in front of Stephanie, and then shifted Dani, turning her toward the bedside table so that he could look the girl over. The teenager was rocking where she sat, her hands clutching at her stomach, but she wasn't making a sound, and Dani didn't know if it was because he was still controlling her or not.

"Twenty-one hadn't yet turned her when I got here an hour ago," Leonius muttered quietly. "Oddly enough he argued with me about doing it. He seemed to want to keep her as some kind of mortal pet. He hadn't even fed on her." He paused and then added, "I did before I gave her my blood... as I did you."

Dani glared at him over his hand, and he smiled widely. "The two of you share a common temperament. She tried to fight me off just like you did." The smile faded as he added with displeasure, "And Twenty-one was moved to try to stop me. He made such a nuisance of himself that I had to send him into the next room and lock the doors to get it done without interference. A fortuitous occurrence for me as it turns out, but not so fortuitous for Twenty-one."

He turned to glance at Stephanie again, and then said, "Of course, I have bigger plans for Stephanie than keeping her as a mortal pet; for both of you actually." He smiled cruelly and added, "Someone has to bear me more sons to replace the ones I've lost this week."

That was too much for Dani. Rage roared up through her like a tidal wave at the prospect of either her or Stephanie being broodmares for this animal. Leonius had moved her close enough to the table that she could reach the bedside lamp, and before Dani quite knew what she was doing, she'd grabbed it and was swinging it up over her head and back. There was a sickening crunch as it slammed into Leonius's head, and then he released her to stumble back.