they realize you are not as unprotected as they thought.”
“I doubt they’ll react favorably to you coming back into the house, either.”
“That is a risk we must all take.” Thankfully, his gaze returned to the house. “I have my orders, Risa. I will obey them.”
Meaning it was pointless to argue. We reached the end of the court. Number twenty loomed in front of us, dark and silent. While the surrounding houses might be well cared for, it was obvious that this place had been left empty for a while. The grass in the front yard was long enough to brush my knees, and there were trees sprouting in the gutters. Metal shutters covered all the windows, making it impossible to steal a glimpse inside, but the front door stood slightly ajar.
It was an invitation to enter that I wished we could refuse.
I flared my nostrils, sucking in the air and sorting through the scents as Markel pressed his fingertips against the door and pushed it all the way open. The house smelled of age and damp, but underneath these ran teasing scents of humanity and wolf. The latter undoubtedly belonged to Rhoan, but did the other belong to Taylor or his assistant, or someone else?
There is no one other than Rhoan inside, Azriel commented. As Markel has already said.
But they’ve been here, and very recently. If the strength of that scent was anything to go by, at least.
Naturally. They had to set their trap.
A trap we were willingly walking into. I shivered again, and rubbed my arms as I forced myself to follow Markel inside. With the windows shuttered, the only light coming into the house was from the door behind us, and it did little to lift the deeper darkness of the hallway. Rhoan’s scent was coming from the room at the far end of the hall, but we approached cautiously, peering into each of the rooms we passed even though there was little enough to see. Markel and Azriel might be certain that no one else was here, but neither of them was taking any chances. For that, I could only be thankful.
Markel pushed the door at the far end of the hall open. The light that hit us was so fierce and bright that I had to blink back tears.
It revealed a room that was stark, white, and empty. Or rather, almost empty. Rhoan lay on the tiles in the middle of the room, his arms crossed across his chest and his face deathly white. Panic surged.
No, God no! I pushed past Markel, but he caught me before I got more than a step.
“Damn it,” I said, twisting violently against his grip in a desperate attempt to rip free and get to Rhoan. “Let me go!”
“Your haste will kill us all,” he said, and pointed at my legs.
Or rather, the trip wire that waited only inches away from my shins.
It felt like someone had tipped a bucket of ice water down my back. That one moment of panic reaction could have killed us all.
Think, I reminded myself fiercely. Don’t react blindly. That’s what he wants.
And while I doubted he’d actually want us dead just yet, I was betting he wouldn’t have minded having Markel, at least, incapacitated.
“Follow me—carefully,” Markel instructed.
He stepped over the trip wire and proceeded forward with caution. I did the same, practically stepping on his heels.
“Trigger plates,” he said a few seconds later, and pointed at the tiles directly ahead.
I peered around him. “How can you tell?” They looked exactly the same to me as all the other tiles.
“The edge is fractionally raised. The trap waits above.”
I glanced up. The trap was four rows of long, wickedly pointed metal stakes. They might not kill a vampire —only wooden stakes to the heart or decapitation could really do that—but they would still make a goddamn mess. “This is no seat-of-the-pants trap. He’s been planning this for some time.”
“From the moment you clashed on the astral plane, I would suggest.”
He stepped over the tiles, then offered me his hand. I accepted it gratefully. Four rows of tiles might not be much of a leap, but if I became unbalanced and fell backward into one, I’d be dead. Those stakes would kill me.
We continued moving forward carefully, but there were no more traps and we were soon by Rhoan’s side. Markel motioned me to remain where I was and knelt beside Rhoan. I flexed my fingers, fighting the urge to drop down, press my hands against his pale, still body, and feel the life within him even though I could clearly see he was breathing.
It seemed to take forever for Markel to pat Rhoan down, but eventually he glanced up and gave me a nod.
I dropped down beside Rhoan and touched a hand to his cheek. It was clammy and cold, and though he was definitely breathing, it was becoming labored. That could only mean the hemlock was beginning to fully kick in.
I glanced up. Markel regarded me steadily. It was oddly unnerving. “If we don’t get him to hospital soon, he’ll die.”
He must not die tonight, Azriel said. No reaper waits.
And that meant he’d be one of the lost ones if we couldn’t save him. I closed my eyes and fought the rush of panic. It wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t die. He wouldn’t.
I reached across his body and gripped Markel’s arm. “Get him to that ambulance,” I said fiercely. “Make sure they know he’s been injected with hemlock. And be careful, because I wouldn’t put it past Taylor to have some sort of backup attack on the off chance I did decide to save Rhoan’s life rather than protect myself.”
Markel’s sudden smile was fierce. “Oh, he’s very welcome to try an attack. It would be a pleasant way to stretch the kinks from my body after the inactivity of following you via the astral plane.”
I found myself hoping Taylor wasn’t that stupid, if only because I didn’t want my uncle caught in the cross fire between Taylor and Markel.
He scooped Rhoan into his arms, then rose. “Tread carefully on the plane, Risa Jones. Hunter will not be pleased if your life was ended before her plans have come to fruition.”
“Like I really care,” I retorted, then saw the amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. “You have a warped sense of humor, vampire.”
“To remain sane in my profession, it pays to,” he commented, then headed out.
I watched him leave, and prayed like hell that Rhoan would be okay. Then I took a deep breath, gathered the fading strands of my courage, and lay down.
Three minutes later I entered the astral plane alone.
Chapter 14
There was nothing to be seen except gray. There were no vague outlines of buildings, nothing to hint that anything existed beyond the fog. The astral world was still and quiet, and>
It didn’t last too long.
Air began to roll past me like waves receding from a distant shore.
It meant Taylor was here, somewhere.
I flexed invisible fingers, scanning the grayness, waiting for him to appear. I had no doubt that he would. He was the type to want to taunt me before he got down to the business of killing me.
Or at least, trying to.
Noise began to stir the fog—a soft, steady sound, like the rhythm of a heart at rest. It grew in tempo, getting louder and louder, until the fog churned with the force of it and the fibers of my being vibrated in violent harmony.
Game, Amaya said. Play not.
She was right. This wasn’t some weird storm on the astral plane. This was little more than foreplay, designed for fear rather than pleasure.
And it was certainly something I didn’t have to stick around for if he had no intention of appearing.
