28. Ren
TWENTY-EIGHT
ren
Bodies and blood littered the dance floor. Throats had been torn open and limbs littered the establishment. I nudged a limp body with my foot and approached the long stretch of bar wrapping down the furthest left wall. Good thing we had left Bastien in the car.
I lifted the flute filled with red liquid and sipped. The taste paled to Cat. A gasp brought my attention to the human male standing a few feet away. He turned green.
“There’s a finger in there.” His voice shook.
I peeked down at the severed finger resting at the base of the glass.
“It’s fresh,” I shrugged and downed the rest of it, thumped it on the bar surface, leaving the digit swirling inside.
“There was zero indication of the incoming attack?”
“None.” Talia’s lower lip trembled. “They behaved like they were compelled; the humans attacked every vampire they saw.”
Like what happened to us. “The vampire hunters are back, they got Roberto,” Talia wailed, pointing at a pile of dust.
This massacre was not executed by hunters. Long ago, when they still existed, I’d seen enough of them, and this was never their MO. Whoever we were dealing with wanted to make it seem like they had returned. The attack was targeted to us, especially after the attack at the house. It had been the same method, too.
I scoffed in disgust, did the filthy vampire have no imagination?
This vampire male trying to make a claim on Catalina was desperate for her. I sneered. War was what he would get.
Tobias met my gaze and his head slightly inclined. Great, we were in agreement.
“Get this cleaned and shut down for the night,” Tobias said. I turned on my heel and left.
“You,” I barked at the woman sweeping up broken glass. “Get me the security footage.”
“Yes, Mr. Crimson,” she said. Her shirt was ripped near the stomach, the jagged edges of the tear fluttering as she left.
Tobias walked up next to me.
“You believe it is him attacking us?”
“No, he is challenging us.”
Realistically, it could be anyone. We’d faced similar situations in the beginning of the formation of Crimson Coven. We also didn’t have the best track record after offending many vampires, but this? This was waving a red flag in front of a bull.
“She is not to be unaccompanied or out of our sights,” I said and didn’t need to look at him for his agreement. He was as protective of her as I was.