CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE || COLE
“I’ll be damned,” Jeremy said, the moment we arrived.
Driving would have taken too long. Instead, we used vampiric speed to race across town.
It was still agonizingly slow. I followed his gaze to the top floor of the building, where I saw three vampires descending from the roof and dropping through a broken window, one after the other.
Disbelief washed over me, and my stomach tightened with dread.
A group of human bystanders noticed it as well. One of them gasped and pointed. Another took out their phone.
“Go,” Thierry said harshly, glaring toward the humans. “We’ll be right behind you. Right after we handle them.”
I was in motion before I even realized I’d moved. My only thought was getting to Eli.
In a blur of speed, I reached the outer wall of the hotel and scaled it, my fingertips jamming through the stucco like it was made of butter. I felt my nails splinter, and my hands began to burn as though they were encased in fire while I climbed. I ignored the pain. It didn’t matter.
Not him. They couldn’t hurt him. I wouldn’t allow it.
I reached the window, following two more vampires through.
Immediately, I ducked a bolt of greenish light cast by Thierry’s witch friend, Poppy.
The vampire who lunged into the space directly in front of me wasn’t as lucky.
Her spell hit him square in the chest, causing him to go completely rigid, as though he’d touched a live wire. He dropped to the ground.
Poppy immediately hissed out an incantation, pointing at the vampire. His skin turned to stone in an instant.
Belatedly, I realized that the hallway was filled with stone statues.
The other vampire—a black-haired female dressed all in red—turned on her heel and went right for Poppy, fangs bared and eyes wild.
The redheaded witch turned and raised her hands, more of that vivid green light blooming between her palms. But she wasn’t going to be fast enough.
I darted forward in a blur of speed, grabbed the female vampire’s head with both hands, and snapped her neck with a sickening crunch. She dropped to the ground, unmoving. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would put her out of commission for at least a few minutes—longer if she was newly turned.
“Thanks for the save,” Poppy said wearily, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. “They just keep coming—I need to put another ward on the window to keep them out. They tore through the last one.”
“Thierry, Jeremy, and Godric are right behind me. Wait on the barrier until they’re through.” I paused. “Is Eli… is he—”
“He’s alive,” Poppy said, pointing down the hallway to the room opposite the one I’d booked. “Sadie, Sam, and Harris are with him.”
I launched forward, grabbing a male vampire on his way toward Poppy, my fists clutching his lapels as I drove him into the wall with enough force to crack the plaster.
He snarled and reached for me, clearly intent on breaking my neck, just as I had done to the female.
He was likely a newborn—he lacked the skill and speed that came with age—and I was faster.
I batted his hands away and then backhanded him with enough force that it would have taken his head off if he’d been human.
He dropped to the ground and didn’t get back up.
Ahead of me, Simone was at the opposite end of the hallway, locked in battle with a half-dozen male vampires.
They were dressed like Mormon missionaries, in white short-sleeved button-up shirts, black pants, and ties.
They even still wore their name tags. Gruesomely, their shirts were splattered with red.
There were a dozen more bodies at Simone’s feet, all dressed the same way.
I couldn’t tell if they were dead or merely unconscious.
Yes, they were Magnus’s vampires, I realized. He preferred religious men—those who believed they had a connection with God. Those were the ones he turned into monsters.
It seemed Harris was right after all. The missing missionaries had been the work of a vampire.
Simone raised a hand and said something so low I couldn’t hear it.
One of the vampires turned and attacked his brethren.
Two others launched themselves at her. One she flung out the open window behind her.
The other she grabbed by the throat and hurled down the hall.
He landed practically at my feet and tried to scramble upright.
“Sorry,” I said. “But I’m in a hurry.”
His brows slammed together, as though my words had confused him.
I snapped his neck in a blur of speed.
“Get to Eli!” Thierry snapped, appearing behind me. “We’ll keep them off you!”
Godric and Jeremy surged past to help Simone, just as another half-dozen vampires dropped into the hallway.
How many innocent people had Magnus turned?
“Don’t kill them!” Thierry called, glaring at Godric’s back. “Incapacitate them only! They can still be saved.”
I turned away, trusting they would keep the newborns at bay. Moving quickly, my heart in my throat, I darted into the hotel room. I had to leap over a half-dozen downed vampires, landing in a low crouch.
Eli had to still be alive. There was no other option. He was okay. He was—
“Hello, Nicolas,” Magnus said when I landed. My stomach flipped with dread, and I rose slowly, every part of me feeling as though it were filled with ice water.
Magnus held Eli with one hand under his jaw and the other at the base of his skull.
It would take no effort at all for him to break Eli’s neck.
My maker’s eyes were silver and merciless as he eyed me with contempt.
He hadn’t changed at all. His hair was still ashen blond, a little shorter than shoulder length, his mouth full and cruel, and his features so perfect he looked like an avenging angel—or a fallen one.
A sneer curled his lips as he gave me a once-over, his gaze lingering on the wooden stake I gripped.
“Let him go!” I snarled, a mixture of rage and helplessness crashing through me. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m disappointed,” Magnus said at last. His eyes narrowed. “You were one of my finest creations. And now, look at you—filled with such emotion I can practically smell it on you.”
“What do you want?”
“Imagine my disgust when I watched you,” Magnus said, glaring at me, hatred burning in his eyes. “You’re weak. Tainted by human emotion. You love this young man.”
“I can still help you,” I said desperately—anything to get him to release Eli. “I can do whatever you want. Just let him go.”
Nicolas, no! You can’t do anything he says. Kill him—it doesn’t matter what happens to me. I’ll come back! I’ll find you again, I swear it.
No, I replied through the bond, panic lancing through me at the implication of Eli’s words. All that matters is your safety. I won’t allow anything to happen to you.
Magnus, clearly unaware of our exchange, snorted. “I was truly hoping you’d have a different reaction—that the lovely Doctor De La Cruz was merely a diversion. But he isn’t, is he?”
Behind me, Thierry entered the room the same way I had—by leaping over the pile of unconscious vampires. He stopped dead beside me, his eyes widening as he took in the scene.
“You!” he snarled, his gaze locking on our maker.
“Ah, Thierry,” Magnus sighed happily, his grip on Eli tightening. “I looked for you over the years, you know.”
“Is that what you call it?” Thierry hissed, outrage twisting his features. “I was never able to stay in one place for longer than a few weeks! I spent centuries alone because of you!”
Magnus snorted, eyes mocking as he held Thierry’s gaze. Then he looked over at Harris, who was on his knees beside Sam—both wide-eyed, frozen, and trembling. Tears streamed down Sam’s cheeks, but neither of them seemed able to move a muscle.
They were clearly under a powerful hypnotic compulsion. Sadie’s body lay crumpled in the corner. I couldn’t tell if she was unconscious or dead.
A fresh wave of fear flooded through me. History was repeating itself.
“Ah, it’s so nice to see the brothers reunited again after all these years, isn’t it?” Magnus asked, his gaze sliding back to the detective, his smile cold. Then he looked at Thierry and me. “You know, just between us, I hadn’t realized how much I enjoyed twins until the day I met you two.”
“Go to hell,” Thierry snarled.
“Such a temper,” Magnus said, shaking his head. “I would’ve broken you of that, eventually.” His tone sharpened. “Godric is here as well. Once I’m done with you two, he’s next.”
“You were never going to recruit Nicolas,” Thierry said flatly.
Magnus tsked. “I came to Los Angeles to do exactly that. Once I saw what the good doctor did to him, of course, my plans changed. He’s corrupted and useless to me.” Magnus’s smile vanished. “I remained because it was only a matter of time before you and Godric came. You’re all so very predictable.”
“And Rookwood?” Thierry demanded. “All those innocent people—”
“I’ll deal with them in the fullness of time.” Magnus sneered. “The ones who aren’t weak will join me. The rest will receive something you three will not—a quick death.”
“Let the humans go,” I said, barely able to control the helpless rage that made my voice shake. “Let them go and I’ll do anything you want. I’ll help you.”
“Oh, is it all of them now?” Magnus snorted.
“But I thought you wanted me to release the lovely Doctor De La Cruz?” He tsked again, shaking his head.
“So greedy. But then, you always were, weren’t you?
Once you’d had a taste, you couldn’t stop.
” His smile turned colder. “How’s this? I’ll release your lover—but in exchange, I want you to kill the detective and the sister. ”
“No!” Eli gasped.
A sick feeling settled in my stomach as I glanced at Harris and Sam. Harris was only here because we’d somehow become friends. He’d sworn to protect Eli and Sam. And Sam wasn’t yet a friend, but she might have been—if given time. And Eli loved her.
I couldn’t hurt her. I couldn’t hurt either of them.