Текст книги "Born in Chains"

Автор книги: Caris Roane

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER 9

Adrien heard her last desperate telepathic cry. He had one more in the air and he saw the fifth vampire dive suddenly into the water.

The vampire he battled had lost his religious garb and now fought him with dagger and chain, battling as fiercely as he and his brothers battled. Adrien had a few cuts, nothing too serious. But he had to get to Lily. If she died, they both would because of the chains.

He allowed his second self to appear weaker, listing toward the water.

The vampire took the bait and followed. With his first self, Adrien caught him from behind in the kidneys with his dagger. The man screamed and plunged into the water.

“Lily!” he shouted.

The vampire who’d dived earlier now surfaced, jeering. “She’s dead.” He lifted Lily’s pale hand and shook it.

Adrien could sense that she was close to death, but not yet gone. The sudden rage he felt was so raw that before he understood what he was doing, both parts of him moved at light-speed toward the vampire who now opened his eyes wide. He tried to dip below the surface, as though that would do any good.

His rage had opened his vision. He could see Lily floating now as well as the panicked, thrashing movements of the gloating vampire as he tried to escape. Adrien pierced the water, dove straight for the bastard, caught him with one self while his split-self cut his throat.

He turned in the water, grabbed Lily in all four of his hands, and took her straight into the air. He meant to get her to the club, but as he spun in a 180 he saw a dozen more hooded figures closing in.

He held Lily close to his primary self’s chest, re-formed, then flew away from the lake, faster than he ever had before, faster than any of these bastards could move.

He reached one of his private cavern homes, this time in South Africa, within twenty seconds of pulling Lily from the water. He stretched her out on the stone floor of his living room and began pumping the water from her lungs, then gave her mouth-to-mouth.

The moment she coughed and spewed all that liquid, her food followed. She cried out, grabbed her head, undoubtedly in pain from the speed of the recent flight, and with one arch of her back passed out.

He sat back on his heels, knowing that his life had just changed … forever.

Lily had almost died.

And his stubbornness about not embracing his Ancestral power had almost gotten her killed.

Well, that had to change.

He made plans with his housekeeper about caring for Lily.

Then he called Gabriel.

Three hours later Adrien sat in a chair by his bed, where Lily now slept. A fire roared in the nearby hearth. He sat in jeans and a T-shirt, his leathers and tank drying out. His housekeeper and one of her staff had taken care of Lily, changing her, washing the lake water off her, forcing a healing herbal tea down her throat.

The tea contained a short-term sleeping potion as well so that Lily fell into a deep sleep and no longer thrashed and cried out for Adrien, or for her family; for Josh, for Jessie, or for her husband, Robert.

Now she was quiet, though very pale.

He’d sent two of his more powerful male servants to the Himalayas to check on Lucian and Marius, to let his brothers know that as soon as he could, he’d come for them and arrange their escape. Somehow. He also sent them to Lily’s Manhattan apartment to bring more of her belongings back to South Africa.

He’d done all he could for his present situation, but the hardest truth about Lily’s near-drowning, and what he needed to do about it, hit him square in the chest.

From the time she’d put the chain on him and he’d flown her back to Paris at full speed, hurting her the entire way, he’d been avoiding what he needed to do.

Now he saw no real way out.

Lily had basically drowned in Lake Como tonight, and all because of his hatred for his parentage and his fear that if he embraced greater power, like his father possessed, he’d become like him: without conscience, a risk to his friends, even to his half brothers, certainly to his world.

If there was some way he could predict where and how the fanatics might attack, he could manage where he took Lily and how fast they traveled. But from the events of the past twenty-four hours, he understood they meant to stop him from getting the weapon at all costs.

He couldn’t let that happen. Silas and his fanatics were no more to be trusted than Daniel.

But the truth was, the source of the attack didn’t matter—only that Lily’s vulnerability and his stubbornness had brought her to the point of death. Now she had one more horror she’d have to recover from, of drowning while under attack by goddamn fanatical vampires.

Some kind of change needed to come to his world. Maybe Sebastien was right, maybe there was something he could do, especially with so many loose factions out there, ineffective courts, and not enough laws on the books to protect the innocent. The governing Council, prior to Daniel’s takeover, had failed time after time to do what needed to be done. So here he was, sitting in a goddamn chair in one of his favorite caves, on the edge of despair because he’d been pushed to this point through no fucking fault of his own.

He leaned forward and shoved a hand through his hair. Sweet Buddha Christ, and all the vampire gods thrown in together, he didn’t want to do this thing.

He scoffed mentally, then offered a deep disgusted grunt into the air. He knew about pain. He’d been on close terms with cuts, bruises, and suffering from the time he could remember. His father had been a sadistic brute and had taken the flesh off his bones a hundred times with his whips and razor-sharp knives.

Dear old Dad.

His sire had been a sociopath who tortured his children. Worst of all, though procreation was rare in their long-lived world, his father had been one of the few extraordinary vampires able to sire as many offspring as he liked. And his siblings had all suffered as he had.

All of them.

Yes, his pain went deep, his disgust even deeper for the governing Council who had accepted Daniel’s bribes and lain down for him, one and all.

When Lily began to stir, even to stretch her arms over her head, he rose from his chair and moved to the doorway. His housekeeper, who oversaw all of his homes, sat in a comfortable chair in the opposite alcove, reading the Vampire Quarterly.

She lifted her gaze, then her brows. “How’s she doing?”

“Starting to wake up. Is the soup ready?”

She nodded and unfolded her legs from the chair. Setting the journal aside, she headed to the kitchen.

When he turned to look at Lily from the doorway, her eyes were open. Her fingers moved uneasily over the edges of the sheet and blanket that covered her. “Where am I?” she asked.

“South Africa, a good five thousand miles from Italy. No lakes around.” He tried to smile, but the panic in her eyes as she put a hand to her throat set his lips once more in a tight line.

He returned to his chair, pulling it close to the bed. He reached for her hand and held it in his. She had long fingers and beautiful nails. He lifted her fingers to his lips. A swell of emotion tightened his jaw.

“You drowned,” he said. Some things need to be faced head-on.

She nodded, tight bobs of her chin. “When will this horror stop?” she murmured, not meeting his gaze.

He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the bed, folding her hand into both of his. “Hey, you’re alive. Right now, that’s all that matters.”

She let go of a quick sigh, nodding once more.

“Think about why you’re doing this.”

Her gaze slid to his and she frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I’ve decided, knowing all that I sense about your character, that you’re not doing this for money, are you?”

She shook her head. “Not even a little.”

He watched her eyes fill with tears.

“I wish you’d tell me.” There it was again, that profound need he felt to have her trust him.

“I can’t.” She shook her head back and forth, her gaze looking panicked again.

He eased back on pressuring her. “It’s okay. But I hope at some point you can trust me enough to tell me.”

She glanced around the room. “This is really nice.” Then her gaze drifted to the ceiling and her eyes widened. “Oh, my God.”

Adrien looked up as well. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” This part of the cavern was on a long ridge of granite that he’d had tunneled out into various living quarters. Vampire craftsmen had then chiseled and polished the ceiling of his apartment into a variety of patterns. “This design is called ‘The Brook.’”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not seeing it. I suppose there’s sort of a flow of water.”

He chuckled. “No, the design was named after the creator, Edgar Brook.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I believe Mr. Brook must be a genius.”

“He was. He died about three hundred years ago.”

She shifted her gaze to him once more. “Are you saying that this cave, in this state, has been around that long?”

He liked that the color was returning to her face. “Yes, that long.”

The housekeeper arrived with a tray bearing a small tureen of soup.

Lily moaned. “That smells like heaven.”

“We’re indebted to the age of electricity,” she explained. “And to hydroponics. We have acres of the best vegetables in the world growing deep in this system.”

Lily pushed herself to a sitting position, and the housekeeper carefully placed the tray over her lap. She said she hoped Lily enjoyed the soup then left the room. Adrien listened to the sound of her soft-soled shoes disappearing down the hall.

Lily wore a white cotton nightgown with small pleats across the bodice, which made her look youthful, even fragile. Her hair was clean and she swept it back with one hand to rest over her shoulder. As she lifted her spoon and dipped, Adrien didn’t know what to make of this woman or her sudden appearance in his life.

She didn’t look at him as she ate. The trip of her spoon from lips, to bowl, to broth and back, became a slow, steady progression.

He waited until she had finished the last bite, then rang the bell. The housekeeper returned to take the tray.

Adrien knew the time had come to tell Lily what needed to happen next, but she was already sliding out of bed. “We need to get to that club. What time is it? Wait, I didn’t sleep through the night, did I?”

He glanced at the clock. “No. We have several hours till dawn, but Lily, we’re not going there, at least not yet.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, and her brows rose. “Why not? I mean, I’ve recovered. I feel fine. I really do.” The whiteness of her complexion belied her true condition. Hell if he didn’t admire her all over again.

“Gabriel will be here shortly with a new set of chains, a double set. He said it wouldn’t take long to get this thing done.”

“I don’t understand.”

Absently, Adrien touched the chain at his neck.

Her eyes widened. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, hard. “No,” she cried. “No. We decided we’re not doing that.”

“You’re not doing anything. And all I’m doing is becoming something I should have become when I first flew you to Paris.”

She glared at him in response.

“Don’t look at me that way. Lily, you drowned. Don’t you understand? You were almost gone when I pulled you out of the lake. Once we were airborne I might have tried to fly you slowly, but another, larger group of assassins was on us. I can’t risk your life again. I can’t because if you die, then I’ll die and Daniel will kill my brothers. I have to keep you alive, just to stay alive myself.”

“But I know how much you don’t want to do this thing. I can feel that it’s almost unbearable to you.”

“My mind’s made up.”

She grabbed him harder and leaned forward. “No. I won’t allow it.”

“At this point, you don’t get a say. Or do you want to be dead? And frankly, you are too much of a liability for me not to add a new power level to my arsenal.”

Adrien felt like a strong wind blew over his face. He didn’t recognize the sensation right away, but he was stunned. He’d only known Lily a little over two nights, and she sat here gripping his arm, standing in his corner, battling for him. What made it more intense was knowing that his kind had taken the lives of her family, changing and ruining her life forever. Yet she cared about him enough, after so short a time, to want him to hold his course.

Maybe that’s what settled everything in his mind: As much as he detested what he was about to do, saving Lily’s life was worth it. She hadn’t deserved to have her family ripped apart, or to be somehow forced onto this mission of hers. And she sure as hell didn’t deserve to die because of fanatics that apparently wanted them both dead no matter what.

He covered her hand with his once more then leaned in and kissed her.

She drew back, surprised. “What was that for?”

“Thank you,” he said, with emphasis. “You’re a true friend and I’ll never forget that. In all my long centuries, I can count on just these two hands the people in my life who would have stood up for me as you just have. It means a lot.” He drew in a deep breath, then said, “Now, here’s how this is going down.”

* * *

An hour later Lily was dressed in appropriate sex-club attire: a shimmery, low-cut blue halter, a short black leather skirt, and long sexy boots.

She teased up her hair and added more eye makeup than she usually wore, hoping to create a different appearance so that she wouldn’t be easily recognized.

Gabriel had arrived with the more powerful bonding chains. Apparently, no more was involved than for Adrien to put on his chain and let the process work through him. She’d reap the benefits, too, in terms of taking on more vampire abilities.

Even though Adrien stood just on the other side of the wall, she felt his unease about taking this step. From all that she understood, his father had been evil and powerful. Whether he still lived, she didn’t know, but the last thing Adrien wanted was to be like him. “Lily, we’re ready when you are.”

The room had a full-length mirror so that she could get a good hard look at her reflection. Her heeled boots finished off the look better than anything else could have, and a zing of pleasure went through her knowing that Adrien would probably like this look on her.

He’d told her to wear anything she wanted. She’d considered another pair of jeans, but this was the better choice.

“Lily? What’s going on?”

She rolled her eyes. He’d probably sensed her sudden excitement. Those chains again.

She moved toward the doorway and, after taking a deep breath, crossed the threshold.

Adrien turned toward her, his mouth agape as his gaze drifted slowly down her body, rested for an eye-popping moment on the stilettos of her boots, then retraced the journey to her face. “Holy shit,” he murmured.

She shrugged. “I thought I’d blend in at Rumy’s.”

He nodded. “Yes, you will.”

He moved toward her, dazed, and took her arm. She felt his desire for her like a hot, sizzling wave that washed over her and left her tingling head to toe. “You look really nice, Lily, but then you always do.”

She shifted to look up at him. He wore black leather again, more weapons no doubt, ready for anything. “Thank you. So do you.” The chain at her neck vibrated heavily, and if Adrien’s friend Gabriel hadn’t been standing a few feet away she would have thrown her arms around Adrien’s neck and kissed him.

She wondered suddenly what would happen between them once Adrien wore the new double-chain.

He nodded once more, searching her eyes. “You okay?”

“Overwhelmed.”

“I know what you mean.”

She turned her attention to Gabriel. Adrien made the introduction.

Gabriel had short spiked black hair and warm gray eyes. He was nearly as tall as Adrien and wore a tailored shirt and slacks as well as a fine silk tie.

“Nice to meet you.” Her gaze fell to the cloth-covered board Gabriel held in his hands and to the double-chain clamped in place on top of the cloth. Then she felt the vibration of the chain even at a distance. “So this is it.”

“Yes, it is.” Gabriel turned slightly in Adrien’s direction. “You just put them on. The chains do the work.”

Lily sensed a sudden rush of anger from Adrien, and she caught his arm. “It’s not too late to stop this. I’m willing to take the risk.”

At that, he met her gaze once more, but the flecked teal of his eyes darkened. “I’ve put this off far too long. And maybe if I hadn’t, I could have stopped Daniel before he got this far.”

With that, Adrien closed the distance between himself and the chains, pulled the double-looped silver set out of the clamps, and without skipping a beat slid it over his head.

At the same time, he jerked the single-loop blood-chain off his neck and threw it on the floor.

Lily blinked.

A second passed, then two.

A new vibration entered her chain and a wave of dizziness hit hard. She weaved on her feet and even held her arms away from her sides to balance herself.

Then her head began to hurt all over again.

* * *

Adrien saw that the new chain had put Lily off-balance and he wanted to go to her, to steady her, but he couldn’t move. The natural power, Ancestral power, that he’d felt from as early as he could remember flowed through him in a succession of almost painful waves.

Power.

The most corrupting influence in the vampire world.

The thing that had made his father a monster.

And now it filled every cell of Adrien’s body.

Would he become corrupt like his father?

His muscles contracted painfully, released, contracted again, his arms, his legs, chest, and back. Sweet Buddha Christ he hurt. He sank to his knees and held his head.

The waves struck hard again, causing the double-chain to vibrate.

He didn’t want this. He’d never wanted this level of power because there was nothing he feared more than becoming like the one who’d sired him.

The more he resisted, the greater the pain, yet he couldn’t let go, couldn’t embrace what he’d always hated so much.

He groaned and rocked on his knees, his head still in his hands, his eyes squeezed shut.

He felt a pressure on his arms, a cool touch that began to ease a new kind of soothing wave through him. His muscles stopped seizing and the throbbing in his head calmed. The new waves of power began to flow.

He let his hands fall away from his face and opened his eyes.

Lily stared back at him. I didn’t know what else to do, she said. But I remembered that in the cavern, when I first met you, my touch calmed you down. Remember?

He nodded. Lily was so beautiful and so pure—pure of heart, of soul, of conscience. He saw an aura around her, a silver shining glow. He blinked several times but the glow remained.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

He touched her cheek. She had soft skin and a creamy complexion, much prettier than a vampire’s usual porcelain look, healthier, more alive.

“Adrien?”

He nodded. “I’m okay now. You were right to touch me. For whatever reason, contact with you helps.”

“It’s the bond of the chains.”

“Maybe. Probably. Who the hell knows.” He rose to his feet, lifting her with him, but he was surprised how much lighter she felt. Apparently even his physical strength had been enhanced.

He turned to Gabriel. “Thanks for helping out.”

“Anytime. You know that.”

“Yeah, I do.” He turned and clapped Gabe on the shoulder.

“You’re going to feel strange for a while.”

“I can tell.”

“And your speed will increase during altered flight, so watch those takeoffs and landings.” He smiled crookedly. “I mean it. Be careful.”

“I will. And thank you for doing this.”

Gabriel nodded.

Adrien shifted toward Lily. “You’re anxious to get going.” He touched the chain, the double loops feeling strange beneath his fingers. “I can sense you even more clearly than before, the level of concern, almost desperation that you feel.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “Almost as though you believe your life depends on getting that weapon. That’s how you feel, isn’t it?”

But the sensation that returned to him in a ripple of emotions felt more like deception than concern. He grabbed her arm. “When are you going to tell me the truth?”

But that stubborn chin of hers rose. “Never.”

“Never’s a long time,” he murmured.

“Yes, it is.”

“Fine.” He released her arm, then addressed another issue. “You’re a locator, we know that. And so far, you’ve had little success getting a fix on the weapon. But with this change of mine, I’m hoping that you’ll be able to do better. Can you give it a try?”

Lily’s hazel eyes widened. “Absolutely.” She closed her eyes and touched the chain at her neck.

He felt her effort, even that his increased power was assisting her, but after a moment she opened her eyes and shook her head. “The tendrils were more active, but seemed to be reaching out in every possible direction.”

“That would make sense,” Gabriel said. “I know that when the Council shut down the scientific experiments all those years ago, many of the documents and more than one of the actual weapons were hidden in a bunch of cavern systems.”

“Then we need more information.”

Lily nodded. “So, it’s on to The Erotic Passage.”

Adrien slid an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. As she had been doing, she put her left foot on the top of his right boot.

She slung an arm around his neck and for a long few seconds desire for her rose, as it always did when he got this close to her. Only this time, given that his power level had been bumped up, a wave of need poured over him like a brushfire.

He trembled—not just because of what he felt, but because his desire ignited hers. This terrible attraction between them, which shouldn’t have existed, roared to life.

With every ounce of strength he possessed, however, he turned away from his need, dipped his chin at Gabriel, and took off in a streak of altered flight that stunned him, straight up through the cavern, up and up.

Lily’s arm around his neck tightened.

Are you in pain? Shit, I’m sorry. I’m going too fast.

He started to slow down, a process he found incredibly difficult since he’d launched them well through the cavern system and into the night sky.

I’m fine. Her arm relaxed. Adrien, there’s no pain at all. Don’t slow down. You don’t need to. You were right about this; more power has changed the experience for me. I have no pain.

He rocketed through the air, heading north back to Italy. But as he passed over the Mediterranean, then the Italian landscape, before he knew it he found himself well over the Alps, having overshot his destination.

That’s never happened before.

What?

I’m having a little difficulty gauging distance.

Well, just remember what Gabriel said about landings.

Right.

He spun around, headed south once more, then promptly overshot Lake Como by about fifty miles. And he kept overshooting. Again and again.

Eventually, he made enough adjustments to finally reach the lake, but it still took three landing attempts before he finally brought Lily to Rumy’s private side entrance.

The bouncer knew him well and didn’t even glance at Lily as he opened the door for them. Adrien had brought lots of women to the club over the years, and Lily, in her halter, short skirt, and damn sexy boots, fit right in.

Of course he’d donned a new set of battle leathers and was armed to the teeth. He also wore a black tee made of soft cotton, which seemed to make Lily happy since she kept touching him, or maybe it was the chains, or the sex. Hell, he didn’t know. Didn’t care, only that she stuck close, because that’s where he wanted her, which begged a new question: How had he come to care so much in just a few hours?

He heard Lily gasp.

He stopped and turned toward her. “What? What’s wrong?”

But she was staring at the carvings on the wall. “These are couples doing it, in about every position imaginable. Oh, that one is really inventive.” She tilted her head sideways.

Instead of following the direction of her gaze, he looked away from the wall. He didn’t need a reminder of what he really wanted to be doing right now. “I guess I should have warned you.”

“I should have known. I mean, come on, The Erotic Passage?” She laughed.

He took her arm and gently put her back in motion.

“Are all the walls carved like this?”

“No. Some have bigger etchings.”

“Well that’s not going to help anything, is it?”

“Tell me about it.” Her sweet feminine scent rolled around him now, and if that wasn’t bad enough the new double-chain told him the rest of the story. He could sense the level of her desire and it matched his. He took deep breaths and started doing sums in his head.

A few yards more and the tunnel branched.

He made a right and after another ten yards, he came to Rumy’s office. He glanced up at the security camera, red light winking. He rapped on the arched, wooden door. Black wrought-iron hinges and a ring-pull above the latch fit the club’s overall feel, very dominance-based.

A masculine voice, muffled by the heavy wood of the door, called out, “Adrien, get your fucking ass in here.”

He smiled and leaned down to Lily. “Rumy’s home.”

“Oh, goody.”

At that, he chuckled once more, depressed the latch, and pushed.

Unfortunately, he met three automatic weapons pointed straight at him, all held by men in black robes; more fucking fanatics.

Rumy stood to the side of his guests offering a shrug and a roll of his eyes. He wore the usual extra-snug black T-shirt that emphasized that he worked out. He was short, maybe five-five, his black curly hair oiled and glistening in the dim light. He wore a silver belt and tailored Italian slacks, leather tasseled shoes, his typical style.

With a wry smile, he shrugged again. “Sorry, Adrien. There’s a bounty on your head and the prize is a portion in the Rio Crystal Casino. I couldn’t turn it down.” His gaze shifted to Lily. “Of course the bounty includes your woman here. You must be Lily Haven. Heard a lot about you.”

Adrien’s hand naturally dropped to Lily’s waist, especially since her body had stiffened. Holding her close, he said, “I guess somebody wants us bad.”

Rumy glanced at his armed guests. “And don’t try any of your altered flight shit. I’ve been assured these boys know how to use their weapons and you’ll be full of holes before you punch past even one of these walls.” The points of his fangs showed as he spoke, which almost gave him a lisp. He’d taken so much Double-V in recent years that he could never fully retract his fangs. He had permanent calluses on his lips from daily use. Nothing like a black-market vampire Viagra to change things up.

His operations suite had been carved out of granite in an intricate maze of rooms, each with a curved polished ceiling, marred only by discreet black tubes carrying electrical and air-conditioning. This front room had a couple of large black leather chairs near the front door and a wide wooden desk opposite. All three armed, hooded men, as well as Rumy, stood in front of the desk.

One of the back rooms of the office suite included a central command for his extensive security staff.

New question: Where were Rumy’s men?

Adrien had the beginnings of a plan, but he wanted Lily’s input, so he sent a telepathic stream. Lily, he doesn’t know that I have an increase in power and my gut tells me I could fly us both out of here, without injury, but we still need information and this is the best place.

What do you suggest?

That we ride this train to the next stop. Can you handle it?

Hell, yeah. Take them all on.

He held Rumy’s gaze. “As you can imagine, I’m not crazy about the idea of turning my woman over to your friends. Got any other ideas? I have a fortune I’d happily spend to change this scenario. Care to make a trade?”

One of the fanatics started to protest, but Rumy held up his hand. “Not to worry, my fanatic friend. My course was set the moment you stepped into my office bearing your guns.”

Inwardly, Adrien began to smile. Rumy, for all his shortness of stature and absurdly callused lips, didn’t allow anyone to bring firearms into his club, not without repercussions at some point. The fanatics with their religious bent couldn’t possibly understand the rules of an underground.

To Adrien, Rumy offered a subtle jerk of his head toward the archway at the back corner of his office, which led to the security center.

Adrien understood the signal. Rumy’s men waited in place for their boss to give the word.

Good.

As he assessed the hooded men, he didn’t know which he despised more, his father and the weak-willed Council of Ancestrals that he now owned, or these fanatics, who in the name of spirituality killed the innocent.

Spit gathered in his mouth.

But the faint pressure of Lily’s hand on his arm reminded him why he was here, that he wasn’t alone, and that these men were hopefully just a bump in the road to get where they needed to go.

Funny how just her touch reined in his all-over-the-map emotions and drives.

He covered her hand with his and gave a squeeze. He felt her try to reach him telepathically, but he blocked her, a strange event all on its own. He needed to figure this out, though, and do it quickly. The middle bastard was sweating and had his finger too close to the goddamn trigger.

“Again, don’t even think about altered flight,” Rumy said. “You’re not fast enough.”

Rumy was giving him a hint about how he wanted this to go down.

He opened up his mind to Lily and said, I need you to stay right where you are and ignore what I’m about to do. Got it?

Yep.

“I wouldn’t think of altered flight,” Adrien said.

Then he did.

He moved fast—a little too fast, shooting past the first gunman. He adjusted, gripped his gun, took the next, and just as the third asshole would have fired, he took him out of the room, carrying him straight over the water and dropped him into Lake Como.

When he flew back into the room, Rumy’s security staff had the two remaining assassins on the floor. One of them was using the butt of his gun to pound the vampires in turn, over and over, although purposely avoiding the head.

The men screamed and balled themselves up.

He returned to Lily’s side and tried to take her in his arms, knowing she shouldn’t be watching this, but she pushed him away. “Make them stop, Adrien.”

At first he thought she was distressed by what she was seeing, but the chains told a different story and he felt her determination.