maintain enough control to prohibit the invader from going on a rampage. The more people he killed, the harder it was going to be to keep him alive.
Thomas didn’t know what happened or when. His awareness came only in small intervals and never stayed for very long. Something was horribly wrong. He thought back, searching his memory.
He’d been with Juliana at the Apocryphan. He’d been with her and then...Then what?
Oh, yes. The records.
And then everything had gone black.
When he’d next come around there had been blood. So much blood. And bodies. So many dead that had trusted him. That had depended on him to protect them.
When the blackness came again, he’d welcomed it.
Now, he fought against it. Struggled to maintain some control over his body. This thing inside him was after his bride. “The thing” he called it, but it must be the demon. Had to be, for there was nothing else that could override his control this way.
“I will not let you harm her,” Thomas said. “She is mine and you cannot have her.”
“Wrong, vampire. She is mine. Go back to sleep.”
And the darkness overcame him again.
Michael and Juliana were silent as they pulled up in front of the gate at the house. It stood undisturbed, no movement, no sound. She climbed out of the car, went over to the keypad and punched in the code she hadn’t used in seven years. The gates slid open, inviting them in and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her ability to open locks only worked on the old-fashioned kind. Anything requiring any kind of technology was beyond her magical skill. If her code worked here, it should still work in the house as well. She would have access to anything. Of course, Michael probably did, too.
They drew their guns and walked through the gates following the driveway to the house. Several cars sat scattered along its length, but there was still no sign of anyone. Her stomach stretched tight with dread. She had to remind herself to breathe. This house was never silent. It was Thomas’s house, but it was also the gathering place for the local coven. At any given time, members of the coven, guests and staff occupied a variety of its twenty-seven rooms. Where was everybody?
Michael reached for the keypad by the front door. She put a hand on his arm to stop him. A smear of blood colored the door near the knob. She pointed it out to him.
He nodded and entered his code then used his fingertips to turn the knob. The foyer was empty, the house silent. Dim light filtered through the curtain, but there were no lamps on. They stepped into the house and shut the door behind them. She sniffed the air. The scent was there but faint. Cinder and ashes.
“He was here, but it’s been a while.”
“How do you know?” Michael glanced at her over his shoulder.
“I can smell him.”
He arched a brow but said nothing.
The entry was a sea of cherry hardwood and cream marble. Papers lay scattered across the floor and up the gently curving staircase. She picked a sheet up and her eyes scanned the typewritten print. She read it twice before she realized what she held in her hand. Grief weighed her down, made it hard to breathe. The page crumpled as she put her hands on her knees and bent forward. This was so much worse than she imagined. That stupid, stupid man. What had he done?
“What is it?” Worry laced Michael’s voice.
She closed her eyes, took a trembling breath and wished she could make things anything but what they were. “It’s my records from the hospital.” The gods only knew how he’d gotten them. Probably one of his minions worked there. She was sure a payment had been made as well. She ran a hand down her face before forcing herself to straighten.
Thomas now knew what happened when he left and he’d found out in the worst possible way. There was the chance he wouldn’t remember any of it when this was over, but she doubted it. He was too stubborn to let the demon take over completely.
She started up the stairs, stepping on more sheets of paper as she went. She followed the trail to the left down the hall to Thomas’s room. Their room. The room she couldn’t bear to return to after she left the hospital. This was the first time she’d even been in the house in seven years.
The door hung loosely on one hinge, resting diagonally across the opening. She holstered her gun and grasped the door in both hands. With a tug, she pulled it loose and set it against the wall to the side. Her gasp was the only sound as the room came fully into view. It was almost unrecognizable.
The destruction centered on the bed and radiated out from there. The mattress, ripped apart, leaked stuffing onto the floor. Shreds of sheets clung to the remains. Splinters of wood surrounded the broken, cracked bed. The bulk of her file was here as well, the pages tossed haphazardly. Everywhere she looked destruction reigned. Cracks spider-webbed across the mirror above the dresser. Drawers were pulled out, emptied, thrown across the room. There was nothing here but misery.
Michael whistled through his teeth when he came up behind her. “This was all Thomas. The demon might have fueled him, but this was him.”
She knew he was right. The demon had no reason to care what happened to her. Her mate did. At least he was still partly in control, or had been. “Where is everybody? I heard screaming over the phone. I know I did.”
He shrugged. “You said he hadn’t been here in a while. Maybe that was after he left. Who knows what he’s been up to. Let’s get busy. There are a lot of rooms to get through.”
After one last look at the bedroom, she ignored the twisting in her gut and followed Michael down the hall. He paused at each door, listening before swinging it open. When they encountered a locked door, one of them used their code to open it. Room after room yawned empty before them. There were no signs of destruction, but there were also no signs of life.
“I don’t think I remember the place ever being this empty before,” Michael said as he opened the door onto their tenth empty room. “It’s eerie.”
At least she wasn’t alone in feeling like she’d been dropped into the middle of a twisted horror movie. “It wouldn’t be so bad if there was some indication that someone had been here. It’s like everyone just vanished.”
Michael swung open the next door. “Ask and ye shall receive.”
She stepped forward and he turned sideways so she could see past him. They still hadn’t found anyone, but they’d found blood. A lot of it. “Okay. That’s not exactly what I meant.”
They shut the door and backed away. Continuing their explorations, they found more blood in another bedroom as well as the kitchen. She wasn’t sure whether to be thankful there were no bodies to go with the blood or not. It was almost worse that there weren’t any. There was no release for the anticipation that had been building since she walked through the front door. Adrenaline pounded through her veins making her heart race. What the hell happened here? And, more importantly, when?
They circled back to the foyer. “There’s one more place to check.” His face was drawn, distant. She followed him to the library. They’d come through the room earlier, but it was empty like the others. As they stepped into the room, a glass case to one side caught her eye. She hadn’t noticed it before. She had a vague memory of it from when she lived in the house, but she’d never spent much time in the library. That was Thomas’s domain.
She walked over and placed one hand on the glass. The case was empty. “What was in here?”
Michael looked over, distracted. She let the topic drop as he pulled a bookcase away from the wall and slid it to the side to reveal a hidden door. Blood coated the keypad beside it.
“Guess that answers the question of where he went,” she said. Blood on the bookcase caught her eye now that she knew where to look. She’d glanced right past it the first time through. She moved to Michael’s side. “I didn’t know this was here.”
“You weren’t supposed to. This is the one place your code won’t work.” He punched in his and pulled the door open to reveal stairs descending into darkness.
