“I thought theelectrics had been damaged?”
“We have a differentgenerator down here for when we have … guests.” The doctor glancedbetween me and Nathan. “Are you sure you want t’bring him inhere?”
“I’m capable of makingmy own choices,” Nathan replied. “I’m undead. Not a child.”
“I beg to differ.”Graham pressed his large hand on the iron and pushed the door wideopen.
I don’t know what Iexpected to see. I was personally used to stepping into a basementfilled with gym equipment. Instead, I was greeted with a very longand wide stone room. Furniture and items you would expect to see ina basement were situated at the far end of the room, but it was thelarge iron cage that stood in the centre that caught my attentionfirst. The bars were thick and menacing.
“I expected Heathert’have something like that in her basement,” Nathan whispered in myear.
Graham stepped intothe large room. “Carter, I apologize for disturbing you, but I havesomeone here who wishes to see Heather.”
“Oh, fuck.”
Nathan’s gasp and thegrip in which he grabbed my upper arm broke my moment of wonder.Off in the right corner where the glow from the low hanging ceilinglights didn’t quite touch the walls hung a naked, one-leggedman.
Patches of skin hadbeen cut from his torso and arms. Silver glinted from the thickblades imbedded in his rib cages. His head hung low. Black bloodstained what remained of his pale flesh.
“Michael.” His nameleft my mouth on a stunned whisper.
Was he still … withit?
“These guys reallydon’t like Vampires.” He’d stolen the words from my mouth.
“Nathan, maybeyou—”
My words were cut offat the sound of a crash. Splinters of wood were scattered acrossthe ground due to the wooden chair which was hurled against thewall.
Four sets of eyessuddenly pinned us to the spot. The air in the large room seemed tobe evaporating with every beat of my heart. The four men steppedfrom the shadows and stood before the cage—two older, two younger,and only one still had his top on.
What is it withWerewolves and being topless?
“You brought a Leechhere?” the stocky male snarled, his silver eyes locked on us.
Graham’s head droppedto his chest. “He is with the girl.”
The male’s broad chestheaved, causing the two fierce scars that lay at the centre toexpand. Even though they were partially hidden through a thatch ofdark hair, the tissue was a pinkish colour, indicating that theywere fresh. Unusual that the male wore any marks consideringWerewolves were supposed to heal quickly, but clearly, somethinghad stopped the process. Splatters of dry, black blood stained histanned skin. Some had been caught by the nest of hairs on his chestand the thick beard he wore. The thick splodges of dead cells hadcaused his wiry hair to get matted. Exhaustion clung to thoseswirling eyes, his expression a pained scowl. Brown wavy hair whichstopped just above his shoulders was dishevelled and sticking tohis forehead and neck.
“He’s a Leech,” cameanother snarl, nostrils flaring. His fingers flexed. His entirebody seemed to be vibrating as if he was fighting to stay stood onthe spot.
“I guess that’sCarter.”
If it was possible forNathan to become paler, well, he had just turned blue.
The stocky malestalked toward us, the skin rippling on his bones, teeth bared andnails turning into talons before us.
“Jesus.” Nathan’s griptightened as he pulled me back and behind him.
It took me a second torealize what he was doing. My hand dropped to the hilt of my daggerwhich I slid out, and with a swift turn, manoeuvred myself back infront of Nathan.
Before I could open mymouth in warning, Graham had stepped in front of his Alpha andplaced his hand on the male’s heaving chest. His head remainedbowed.
“This isHeather’s cousin, Danielle and her … friend, Nathan.”
At the mention ofHeather, Carter’s expression relaxed slightly. Something flashed inhis eyes. His entire body was still poised, and his focus remainedon Nathan.
“It’s rather unusualfor Slayers and Leeches to be friends,” one of the younger malescommented, folding his arms. His chest was smooth and chiselled,and though I wanted to gag as soon as the thought flitted throughmy mind, he reminded me of one of those perfect roman statues. Heclearly took care of himself as every line of his physic wasperfect, which made the angry scar beneath his left ribcage standout.
“He was my friendbefore he was a Leech,” I replied, before taking a deep, steadyingbreath.
“And it wasn’t mychoice,” Nathan finished.
I fought the urge toclose my eyes and hang my head, not wanting to take my focus fromthe pent-up men before me.
“The being turned intoa Vampire,” Nathan explained. “Being her friend was my choice.”
Dear God, please letus survive this regardless of the idiocy that comes out of Nathan’smouth.
The younger male’seyebrow quipped. His face was even chiselled to perfection, astrong jawline and cheekbones. Smooth skin and perfectly styledhair. He could have been a model if it weren’t for the matchingscar that hugged the left side of his throat.
Clearly, something hadgone down as the younger male’s scars matched his Alpha’s. Hadthere been a fight between the two? Or could it be linked to theattack on their house? Were these injuries sustained from fightingoff Leeches? If so, why hadn’t they healed?
Shaking myself from myevaluation of the males, I kindly asked, “So, I ask that you leavehim be.”
“Do you always letyour girlfriend stick up for you, blood sucker?” the malecontinued, a smirk curling his mouth.
“I can never get aword in edge ways,” Nathan replied. “And not that it’s important,but she isn’t my girlfriend. She is a friend who happens to be agirl and a Vampire Slayer. So, she’s naturally wired to jump toanyone’s defence.”
I twisted and gaveNathan a ‘what-the-fuck?’ look. Eyes wide, he just shrugged.Chatting even more shite had always been a sign of his nerves.
“We’re getting offsubject here.” I turned back to the males, relieved to see that allbut the Alpha seemed to have relaxed slightly.
“Carter, they’re justhere for Heather.” Graham removed his hand from his Alpha’s chestand stepped aside.
“She’s not here,”Carter stated through clenched teeth.
It felt as though aboulder had dropped to the pit of my stomach. And just like that,we were back to Square One. “Do
