14. Rowan #2
Rowans stood at vampire speed, sending his chair crashing backward. Only knowing Lane needed to stay by his side stopped him from charging out of the room.
Lane got to his feet a second later, determination settling over him. “Let’s go.”
Onyx jumped to attention. “What’s happening?”
“The Hillmans are enemies. They hurt Lane.”
Luckily, it was all Rowan needed to say. Onyx’s eyes flashed with blue fire. “I’ll follow your lead.”
Rowan stormed from the room, Lane right behind him. The yelling man was surrounded by security, with everyone in the room staring.
“What’s happening?” Rowan demanded.
“We’re throwing this nuisance out,” one of the bouncers—a human—said. Not everyone working in the casino was a coven member, but unlike the strip club, they were all aware of the magic world.
“I’d like to see you try,” the Hillman witch yelled. He was belligerent, but seemed to be causing nothing worse than a disruption. This didn’t seem like an attack or part of the plot Lane had uncovered.
Rowan stepped forward to grab the man. “You’re coming with me.”
He swung around to see who was speaking, a snarl twisting his lips. His gaze darted past Rowan, and all color drained from his face. He turned and ran.
Onyx moved in a blur and tackled the Hillman witch to the ground. “Gotcha!” He settled on the man’s back and trapped his hands. “I’m stronger than I look.”
The man struggled, muttering something unintelligible.
Lane stepped forward. “Did you recognize me? Surprised I’m not dead?”
“Shit! Get off me!” the man yelled, straining against Onyx’s hold.
“Bring him to the fifth floor,” Rowan ordered, acutely aware of every eye in the room on them.
Luckily, Onyx didn’t object to being told what to do and climbed off the man, dragging him to his feet. Rowan grabbed the man’s other side, and together they marched him from the casino. He pulled against Rowan’s and Onyx’s holds to no avail.
As they entered the hall, Jack fell into step beside them, leaving Eric, another coven member, on the door alone. “Who’s this?”
“One of the witches who cursed Lane and threatened our coven.”
Jack hissed. “What the hell is he doing causing a scene?”
“Nothing good. Put everyone on alert.” To Lane, he said, “How many were with him the night they cursed you?”
“Two others. Do you think they’re all here?”
“I doubt their plot against me was merely to berate my employees.”
Jack hurried off, his phone already at his ear, and Rowan continued up the stairs, dragging the prisoner. He struggled harder against him and Onyx, but as a witch, he was no match for immortal strength.
Rowan took him to the judgment room, a large empty space on the top floor. He let go, allowing Onyx to hold him in place. “What are you doing here?”
“Fuck off,” the man spat.
“I know who you are,” Rowan growled. “Your attempt to murder Lane will not go unpunished, so tell me what you’re doing, and I might be lenient and not kill you.
” His blood boiled, hunger rearing its ugly head and setting his insides screaming.
Rowan couldn’t care less. He leaned into the out-of-control feeling, filling the growing pit inside him with rage.
Attempting to murder one of his own earned you a death sentence, and Lane was his. “Speak, or I’ll make you!”
He didn’t abstain from using hypnosis completely. Rowan would never abuse it, but in situations like this, he’d make use of every trick in his arsenal.
The man’s eyes bulged. “You can’t make me.”
“No?” Rowan’s eyes flared with vampire magic. “Tell me the truth. Why are you here?”
The full weight of his hypnosis hit the man, but instead of a confession spilling from his lips, he choked, spluttering and gasping until his lips turned blue.
“What the Devil?” Rowan glanced at Lane, who seemed just as bewildered.
Onyx swung the man around, his eyes glowing blue. “Do as I say and tell me why you’re here.”
Demons had their own hypnosis powers and, being the origin of magic on Earth, were inherently more powerful than any vampire or witch.
It worked.
The man stopped choking and sucked in a lungful of air. “Looking,” he gasped.
Onyx gripped him by the chin. “For what?”
The man’s free hand shot into his pocket, the movement almost mechanical. “I’m looking for—” He pulled his hand free and slapped it to his mouth.
Too late, Rowan realized he’d held something small. A pill?
He lunged, fingers delving into the man’s mouth, but the pill was gone. Whatever it was didn’t take long, as the man’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed. A few moments later, he was dead.
“Fuck!” Rowan ran furious hands through his hair.
“Did he just…” Lane looked stricken. “Why would he…? He didn’t even bargain for his life. Or anything.”
“He must have been under hypnosis.” Rowan cursed himself for not realizing. A contradicting command had caused their captive to choke when Rowan influenced him, and had been broken by Onyx’s superior power.
“He was hypnotized to keep quiet and then kill himself?” Lane asked. “That’s fucked.”
It was, but the robotic way he’d searched for the pill once his arm was free reeked of a predetermined command.
Kill yourself if you’re forced into questioning.
This Hillman business was more serious than Rowan realized.
Not only had they attempted to kill Lane to keep him quiet, but they killed their own.
“You said the Hillmans were a coven of witches,” Rowan said to Lane.
“They are. At least as far as I know. If they lied to my father, I had no idea.”
“They could have hired a vampire to perform the hypnosis,” Onyx said.
True, but the Hillmans weren’t any less dangerous for it.
“What do you think he was looking for?” Lane stared at the dead man as if he might give away his secrets. “Do you think they were looking for me?”
Rowan forced himself to focus through his raging hunger.
His skin crawled now that there was nowhere to direct his fury.
“They couldn’t have been. He was shocked at the sight of you.
No, they expected you to be dead. But if he was looking for something, why not sneak around unnoticed? He wanted attention.”
“It was a diversion,” Lane said. “There must be someone else here.”
“I’m checking on Nico.” Onyx rushed for the door.
Before he reached it, Jack appeared, grim-faced. His gaze landed on the man’s lifeless form. “He killed himself, too?”
Rowan’s heart sank. “What happened?”
“Kai and I cornered a witch in the stairwell. He popped a pill as soon as he had a hand free. I was focused on not letting him escape and didn’t realize what was happening in time.”
“It’s not your fault. It seems they were hypnotized to end their lives if captured.”
Jack’s face twisted. “I had the same impression. It’s fucking despicable. Who the hell does that?”
Rowan met Lane’s eye. “The Hillman Coven.”