Why do you have to do it?
Ronan blew out a breath. Because, he said, his voice tinged with resignation. I’m the only one who can.
On waking, Travis immediately opened his link to Sara, blew out a soul-deep sigh of relief when he felt her at the other end. So, now what? he thought. He had never done this before. Except with his sire.
Ronan. I need you. Now.
He had barely thought the words when the man was standing beside his bed. “What?”
“Good thing I don’t sleep in the raw.”
Ronan snorted.
“My link to Sara is active. What do I do now?”
“If you concentrate, you should be able to follow that link to wherever they’re holding her.”
Sitting up, Travis focused on the thin crimson link that connected him to Sara in some mysterious way he didn’t understand. As he did so, the scent of her blood was borne to him, as easy to follow as the GPS on his cell phone.
Swinging his legs over the edge of the mattress, he reached for the jeans on the foot of the bed, then looked at his sire. “Are you coming with me?”
“Sure. Unless you think you can face down a master vampire on your own.”
Sara kicked and scratched and clawed at the vampire who dragged her up the stairs and out of the basement, but it was like pitting a kitten against a Rottweiler, she thought hopelessly. She didn’t have a chance.
Growing weary of her pathetic struggles, the vampire struck her across the jaw, rendering her unconscious. And then he transported the two of them to his new lair, leaving Bowman and the rest of the coven to dispose of the other mortals however they saw fit.
“She’s not here!”
Ronan laid a restraining hand on Travis’ arm when they reached the abandoned warehouse located in a seedy part of a city some two hundred and fifty miles away from Susandale. “Calm down. We’ll find her. Right now we need to look after the people still in there.”
Travis fought down his frustration and as he did so, he became aware that there were vampires in the building. The hot, fresh scent of blood told him they were feeding on the adults and their children as well. Children. The thought turned his stomach. “So, what are we gonna do?”
“You’re going to help me get the people out of there after I dispose of the coven.”
“What about Jarick?”
“He’s gone. And I think he took Sara with him.”
Travis felt his inside go cold at the thought of her at the mercy of the master vampire. “And Bowman?”
“He’s not here, either. Let’s go.”
The iron door to the building was locked. Ronan tore it from its hinges with little effort, then they followed the terrified cries and screams rising from the basement.
Travis stared at the scene before him, horrified by what he saw. The vampires were so involved in what they were doing, none of them even noticed their presence. When he would have rushed forward, Ronan grabbed his arm. “Stay behind me.”
Frowning, Travis stepped behind his sire. He swore softly as a rush of preternatural power filled the room, a force that apparently only affected the vampires, who all froze in place, their expressions stunned, their eyes red and wide with alarm as they stared at the master vampire. Travis swore under his breath. What was Ronan doing to them?
“Listen to me,” Ronan said, his voice as cold and implacable as death itself. “I know who you are now. It’ll be no trouble at all to hunt you down. And I will do so unless you put an end to this immediately. Leave the coven. Stop trafficking in human life. Stop killing.”
“If we do what you say,” one of them said through clenched teeth, “Jarick will destroy us.”
“No,” Ronan said flatly. “He won’t.”
Travis grunted softly as understanding dawned in the eyes of the other vampires. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place, he mused.
As Ronan withdrew his preternatural power, the vampires scrambled to their feet. They glared at him as they filed toward the steps. All but one who, with a wild cry of defiance, hurled himself at Ronan.
Travis watched in amazement as his sire stood his ground and then, at the last minute, reached out with one hand and ripped the other vampire’s heart from his chest.
The rest of the coven quickly transported themselves elsewhere.
Every eye in the place stared at Ronan as they waited to see what would happen next.
A murmur ran through the room, along with whispers of “Did you see that?” and the sound of retching. Mary Robbins had covered her children’s eyes.
Ronan tossed the heart aside. “You start on that side and I’ll start over here.”
One by one, Travis moved among the people, freeing them from their shackles, speaking to them quietly, smiling at those he recognized as he assured them they had nothing to fear. Returning to Ronan’s side, he asked, “What now?”
Lowering his voice so only Travis could hear, he said, “I’m going to wipe their memories of everything that’s happened here and then they’re free to leave.”
Travis nodded. Under other circumstances, he might have suggested taking them home, but these people were safe now while his Sara still needed help.
It was only after they left the building that Travis realized Overstreet hadn’t been in the basement.
But his main concern was for Sara. Where could she be? The link between them had shut down again. What if it stayed that way until sunrise? Dammit, she could be dead by tomorrow and he’d never know what happened to her.
Carl Overstreet woke to find a woman staring at him through a pair of deep-set, impossibly red
