First Drop of Crimson

brunt of the attack to draw attention away from him, Fabian running interface to warn them of each new danger. Still, they could only be successful at that for so long.

Even through the other sounds, Spade heard stealthy noises ahead that let him know the kitchen wasn’t empty. When he reached it, he threw in his second-to-last silver grenade before rolling inside after the detonation. The three vampires wounded on the tile met a quick, rough death at the end of his knife.

But despite his rapid, thorough search of the kitchen, there was no walk-in freezer. Just a regular one with no door behind it, as Spade discovered when he ripped it from the wall.

A series of loud pops followed by heavy thuds in his back had Spade spinning around, snatching the human guard who tried to run after shooting him in the back.

“Where’s the walk-in freezer?” he snarled.

The man just bleated in terror. Spade snapped his arm and twisted it, ignoring the instant high-pitched scream. “Freezer,” Spade repeated before gripping the man’s other arm in open threat.

“Th-this way,” the guard got out between heaving sobs, pointing.

Spade dragged him in that direction, ducking to avoid another volley of silver and flinging his own blades in response. He was running low on knives, but he couldn’t risk using his last silver grenade. Not yet.

The guard led him to the pantry and then pointed at an inner door with his unbroken arm. Understanding dawned. The pantry was the last door on the left in the kitchen, and that’s where the freezer door was located. Spade yanked at the subtly designed handle made to look like just another shelf and the door swung open. He ducked immediately, but the guard wasn’t as fast. A flurry of knives landed on the man. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Spade vaulted forward on his belly, slicing into every bit of flesh he made contact with as he made his way into the freezer. Hard forms landed on him in a pile. Spade kept an unyielding grip on the knives in his hands, ignoring the pain from the stabs where his vest didn’t cover him, and slashed out with relentless purpose. It was so small in the freezer; his attackers had no room to maneuver out of the way, and no protective gear over their hearts like Spade had. After a frenzied minute filled with ceaseless hacking, Spade rose, blood spattering him and the vampire guards dead at his feet.

He kicked them out of the way, looking around the small room. There wasn’t a visible exit aside from the place he’d entered, but this had to be the way. Fabian had said so, and those vampires weren’t here to guard frozen chunks of meat. Spade shoved hard at each of the walls, feeling a surge of triumph when the third one gave. He pushed harder and it fell open completely, revealing a narrow staircase.

Spade quickly recovered as many knives from his attackers as he could before shoving them in his sheaths and descending down the stairs. At the bottom, another door beckoned. He tensed. If a trap waited for him, it was behind that door. But in all probability, so was the person he sought.

He kicked open the door and dove into the room.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Denise chewed on what was left of her fingernails as she looked up at the sky. Was it lighter? Or was that a trick of her mind?

Spade had said he’d be here by dawn. She didn’t have a watch, or she would have been obsessively checking the time. Bootleg claimed not to have one, either. Lyceum, who drove a second boat nearby, said the same. Denise didn’t believe either of them. How could no one know the time? she silently fumed, chewing her nails and staring at the sky once more. It was definitely lightening. Her stomach clenched. Where were they?

“Why don’t you go below and relax?” Bootleg offered. “There’s a nice bed in the main stateroom…”

He stopped at the glare Denise threw him. Sure, she could relax at a time like this, wondering if her lover and her friends were alive or dead. Didn’t he realize nothing short of a concussion could make her even close her eyes? You should have insisted on going with them, Denise lashed herself for the dozenth time. Yet here she was, safe while everyone she cared about was in danger. Again.

“Mon ami,” Lyceum said sharply. “Incoming.”

Both vampires stared at the purplish sky. Denise did as well, but she couldn’t see anything aside from the softly winking stars. She gripped the railing at the side of the boat. Was it Spade and the others? Or someone more sinister?

A whoosh above her head was the only warning she had before something big thudded behind her. Denise whirled around with a little scream—and then was swept up a hard embrace.

“Miss me, darling?” an English voice asked.

She didn’t have a chance to gasp out a reply before Spade’s mouth claimed hers in a bruising kiss. He picked her up, making their heads almost even in height. His mouth opened, stealing her moan of relief as she ran her hands over him. Safe. Solid. Whole. She couldn’t ask for more.

“I have a present for you,” he murmured once he broke off the kiss and set her down.

Denise looked behind Spade, more relief crashing through her at the sight of Cat and Bones, bloody but upright, Alten, Ian, and another auburn-haired man…

She froze, that face bringing back the rush of mental images. Raum inside a pentagram, a red-haired man on the other side. “Give me power like yours,” the red-haired man said, “and you can have anything you want.”

And now here he was, in the flesh.

“Nathanial,” she whispered.

His head jerked in her direction, hazel eyes widening. “You know my name.”

“Thank bloody Christ this is the right bloke. Wicked difficult getting the sod,” Ian muttered, shoving him away.

“I’ll take him below,” Cat said, catching Nathanial before he fell.

“Wait, who are you people? Why did you take me? How do you know my name?” Nathanial demanded hoarsely.

Denise was struck speechless. When she first saw him, she’d been overwhelmed by relief. Despite the incredible odds, Nathanial was here, so her ordeal with the brands was almost over! But face to face with her infamous relative, she was suddenly uncertain. Should she treat him like a prisoner? Give him a piece of her mind for everything Raum had done to her and her family? Rub it in that she was returning him to the demon who’d branded both of them? If only he didn’t seem so fearful—and hopeful. If Nathanial had acted like greedy, heartless figure from her imaginings, this would be so much easier.

“Take him below, now,” Spade told Cat.

Then he turned Denise away from the sight of Cat leading her relative below. “I smell the remorse starting to waft from you, but you’ve done nothing wrong,” Spade said low. “That man made his bed. It’s merely time for him to lie in it, and if the situation were reversed, he’d offer up your lovely arse to Raum without a moment’s pause.”

The cold logic made her feel better, pushing away her twinge of guilt. Spade was right. Nathanial willingly made his deal with Raum. He hadn’t been forced as she had. He might look harmless now, but he was just like any other criminal; not sorry about committing the crime, just sorry about doing the time. Spade had just risked his life to get Nathanial. So had Cat and everyone else. She wouldn’t let herself repay them by moping about it.

“Let’s get moving,” Bones stated. “Ian, you, Alten, Bootleg, and Fabian go in Lyceum’s boat. Head east. We’ll head west. If Web seeks to chase us, he’ll have two trails to follow versus one. We’ll meet back up in Vienna.”

Ian jumped over into the other boat, giving them a jaunty wave. “My compliments on an entertaining evening, everyone!”

“Mates.” Spade’s voice was thicker. “Thank you.”

“Yes, thanks, to all of you,” Denise said with heart-felt sincerity.

The rest of them said their goodbyes and then Lyceum sped his boat off in the opposite direction that Bones