“She’s alive!” Travis said. “I felt her last night.”
Ronan nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, then placed a restraining hand on Travis’ arm. “Wait a minute.”
“Like hell!”
“Overstreet’s here.”
“Here?”
“In the hospital. Come on.”
Treading cautiously, they went inside. Made of brick, the outer walls were scorched but still standing. Inside, anything not made of brick or metal had been destroyed. Here and there, small fires still burned.
They found Overstreet in one of the labs in the basement, asleep on the floor, his head pillowed on his coat, one bloody hand wrapped in his handkerchief. He was snoring softly.
“I wonder how he escaped,” Travis said.
“Just dumb luck, I’d say.” Bending down, Ronan shook the writer’s shoulder.
Overstreet let out a startled yelp as he rolled to his feet, his eyes wild. He stared at Ronan and Travis a moment, then steadied himself against the wall with his uninjured hand, only to jerk it away. “Damn! That’s still hot.”
“What happened to you?” Travis asked.
“Some female vampire carried me away.” Carl shook his head. “She couldn’t have weighed more than ninety-eight pounds soaking wet, but she picked me up like I wasn’t any heavier than a sack of potatoes and carried me out of the place. When she told me she was going to drain me dry, I went crazy and slugged her as hard as I could, then I threw a vial of holy water in her face and got the hell out of there. I hitched a ride with a trucker to get here.” He shook his head again. “Where’ Sara? Is she all right?”
“We’re on our way to find her,” Travis said.
“You’re not going to leave me here alone, are you? What if that crazy vampire comes after me?”
“Go stay with Winona,” Ronan said. “You’ll be safe there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me.”
Carl nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.
“We’re wasting time,” Travis said impatiently.
Ronan nodded. “Go to Winona’s and get cleaned up, Carl. We’ll meet you there later.”
Once Travis got the hang of tracking the blood link between himself and Sara, it didn’t take long to locate where she was being held. He was surprised to find that Jarick’s lair was located about thirty miles from Susandale. Unfortunately, there was no way to get into the place. The house was warded against humans and vampires alike, the windows and front door barred and reinforced with steel. There was no sign of life save for Sara’s heartbeat.
He sent a glance at Ronan. “Now what? How do we get in?”
“I’m working on it.”
Travis paced back and forth, his agitation growing with every step. They were so close!
“We need Bowman.”
“Why?”
“He’s Jarick’s number two.”
“Why would he help us?”
“To quote a line from a famous movie, I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
It took only minutes to transport themselves to Bowman’s house in Susandale. Olivia’s eyes grew wide when she saw Ronan on the front porch, whether from fear or surprise or both, Travis couldn’t say.
Ronan got right to the point. “Tell your husband I need to see him. Now!”
“He isn’t …”
“Forget it. I know he’s inside.”
Face pale, she said, “Wait here,” and closed the door.
Several minutes passed before Bowman opened up. He didn’t step outside. “What do you want?”
“I want you to take me to Jarick’s lair.”
“No way!”
Ronan didn’t argue. Merely unleashed his preternatural power.
Travis watched, fascinated, as Bowman’s whole body tensed and then began to shake uncontrollably.
“I’m not going to ask again,” Ronan said, his voice razor-sharp. “If you refuse, your wife will be a widow and you’ll be a dark stain on the floor.”
“All right.” Jason forced the words through clenched teeth, grabbed hold of the door to steady himself when Ronan released him. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to either get me inside or get him outside.”
“He’ll kill me if I do what you want.”
Ronan twitched one shoulder. “I’ll kill you if you don’t.”
“Just let me tell Olivia where I’m going.”
Ronan nodded. “I trust you won’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t,” Jason replied sullenly.
“Dammit!” Travis hissed. “This is taking too long!”
“Patience, fledgling,” Ronan said.
“Easy for you to say. It isn’t Shannah’s life in danger. I can feel Jarick feeding on Sara! Dammit, I think she’s drying!”
When Jason stepped outside, Ronan grabbed his arm. “Let’s go.”
With a wary glance over his shoulder, Bowman knocked on Jarick’s door. Several minutes passed and when there was no answer, he looked over his shoulder to where Ronan and Travis waited and shrugged. At a signal from Ronan, he knocked again. And again.
Finally, the door opened.
Jarick stared at Bowman. “What the hell are you going here? You’re supposed to be retaking the town.”
“We did that. Mind if I come in?”
“Why?”
“I think I was followed.”
“Make it short,” Jarick said with a feral grin. “I’m in the middle of a seven-course meal.”
Bowman forced a laugh. Took a deep breath. Grabbed Jarick’s arm and yanked him across the threshold.
Ronan immediately sprang forward, hands reaching for the vampire.
Travis growled low in his throat as waves of preternatural power washed over him, driving him backward so that he skidded across the driveway. He saw Bowman go flying through the air and crash into the block wall separating Jarick’s house from the vacant lot next door.
Travis struggled to regain his footing but to no avail. He seemed frozen in place. Unable to move, he could only watch as the two master vampires came together in a rush, fangs and claws ripping and tearing into preternatural flesh that healed almost instantly. In all his life, he had never seen anything so brutal or so vicious.
He looked up at the house as a movement caught his eye, let out a wordless cry of rage when he saw Sara dragging herself across the threshold toward the porch steps, her breath coming in labored gasps. But it was the two bloody puncture wounds in her neck that held his attention.
“Sara!”
She looked in
