Warrior (Relentless #4)(191)

Abandoning all pretense of stealth, I called for Chris, who ran upstairs, looking as confused as I was.

“They have to be up here,” he said, walking to the first doorway on the right. “Unless they sprouted wings and flew away.”

The two of us did another search of the second and third floors and met up again in the master bedroom. The room looked undisturbed except for a corner of the bedspread that had been ruffled. I walked over for a closer look. Seeing nothing suspicious, I straightened and looked around the room. Something was off about it, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

“What are you looking for?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know.” I did a three-sixty degree turn. “There’s something about this room that…”

I trailed off as it hit me what I was looking at. “This room is shorter than it should be.”

His brows drew together, and he looked from one end of the room to the other. “You sure?”

“Positive.” I went to the head of the bed, where the cover had been out of place, and felt around the bedframe and nightstand. My fingertip touched a slight depression at the base of the headboard where it connected to the frame. I pressed the area and heard a soft click before a door-sized panel separated from the wall on the other side of the nightstand.

“Damn,” Chris said. “We’re not getting through that thing.”

My lips pressed together when I saw the steel door behind the wall. A panic room. The door was probably an inch thick, and there was no knob of any kind. I’d bet it could only be opened with a remote, and I had a good idea where that remote was.

I glanced at the upper corners of the room, and I wasn’t surprised to see a camera in one of them. No doubt, there were cameras all over this place that fed into a security system in that room.

I stood facing the camera, guessing it had an audio feed as well. “Madeline, we just want to talk.”

Chris shook his head. “Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”

My reply was cut off by the sound of pounding feet below and Brock’s hoarse shout. “We’ve got trouble.”

“Jesus Christ!” Calvin yelled. “They’re everywhere.”

I ran to the window and watched a mob of people surrounding the house.

No, not people. Vampires. Dozens of them.

I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. In my whole life, I’d never seen that many vampires in one place – and working together.

A door slammed, jerking me into action. I took the stairs two at a time and had my sword drawn before I reached the first floor.

“Everyone in?” I shouted as warriors ran to take up defensive positions near the windows and doors.

“All in,” Brock confirmed.

Will peered through a closed drape. “Fuck. We’re screwed.”

“No, we’re not.” I strode over to the much younger warrior. “They have the numbers, but we’re armed. And I guarantee half of them are new.”

He nodded and tightened his grip on his sword.

I looked at Brock. “Call Raoul and tell him we’re under attack. Tell him we’ll hold them off, but we’ll need backup ASAP.”

Chris came to stand beside me, his sword drawn. He peered out the window and swore. “Bloody Canadians don’t do anything small, do they?”

Glass shattered all over the house as the first wave of vampires came. The warriors near the windows took the brunt of the assault, and Chris and I jumped in to even the odds.

I sliced through the throat of one of the two vampires attacking Will, sending a spray of blood across the warrior. He didn’t seem to notice, his fear from a few minutes ago swept aside as adrenaline and training kicked in.

A grunt of pain had me spinning to Calvin as he went down with two vampires on top of him. I grabbed one of the vampires by the hair and ripped him away before he could sink his teeth into the warrior’s throat.

The vampire sailed across the room and went headfirst into the stone fireplace. Before he could move, one of the Vancouver warriors was there, finishing him off.

I looked back to Calvin to see him on his feet, facing off against the second vampire. Behind him, Tyrelle and Brock were locked in battle with three vampires.

From all over the house came shouts and the sounds of fighting.

The second wave came at us. Vampires poured through the broken windows, and it hit me that this was an organized breach, unlike the one at Westhorne last fall. They’d waited until the first group had engaged us fully before they sent in the second group to overwhelm us. It was a military tactic, and one we used whenever we cleaned out a large nest.

My blade eviscerated one vampire. He fell to his knees, and I spun to the larger threat. This one was faster and stronger. His claws scored my stomach before I could bring my blade around to counter his attack. With so many bodies in the room, it was getting harder to wield my blade. No doubt whoever was commanding this assault knew that too.

I ignored the burning pain in my stomach and drew one of my knives. The vampire’s eyes flicked between my sword and my knife.

My foot slammed into the side of his knee, and the cracking of bone was followed by his scream of pain. He flailed and fell toward me, his claws reaching for my throat. My knife caught him between the ribs, and his momentum did the rest.

Brock yelled, and I whirled to see two vampires trying to pull him through a window.