Chapter 5
Five
Winter glared at the massive house glowing against the darkness in front of him.
Of course, Damon’s house was enormous. It’d taken Winter three nights to get to Damon’s compound in Virginia.
He’d been careful to drive from his place in Connecticut, checking over and over again to be sure he wasn’t followed, that he wasn’t found by humans or vampires when he was forced to stop for the daylight hours.
Even after he reached Fairfax, Virginia, he kept a distance from Damon’s house, avoiding vampires and humans. He wasn’t sure who was on Damon’s side—he just had to assume they all were.
But there was one group he could safely speak to—the ghosts who lingered close to Damon’s grounds. And there were more than a few former vampires who would share all they knew about Damon’s home and security, seeing as how the new king had killed them.
It was how Winter had gathered mountains of information on his enemies over the years. Not every ghost noticed him, and not all wanted to speak to him, but they saw everything. And the ones looking for a little attention, or just a little vengeance, were happy to spill their secrets.
Damon had killed scores of vampires and humans over the years in Virginia. Plenty wanted to tell all of what they’d seen inside the place.
Their reports on the security were hard to judge since ghosts didn’t really have a sense of time, and Winter was confident Damon had beefed up his safeguards over the past few months as he dismantled the Ministry and seized power.
Glancing at his watch, Winter checked the time yet again.
Two hours until sunrise. He was cutting this shit close, but it was the best plan he could cook up.
If he took out the witch and made his escape close to sunrise, it would be impossible for any of Damon’s vampire minions to track him down or follow him.
Damon wasn’t the type to have any humans he trusted to look for him.
Winter just needed to get enough space between himself and Damon’s goons.
He closed his eyes and called on his powers.
The veil parted, and it felt like the world gave a happy sigh as it welcomed him back into its embrace.
The opening closed around Winter, and he was in the world of the dead.
Sadly, ghosts filled the grounds of Damon’s home.
Both humans and vampires found their end here, thanks to Damon and his clan.
This was merely a preview of what would happen to vampires and humans across the continent if Damon was permitted to ascend to power among the vampires.
Jogging across the vast expanse of neatly trimmed lawn, he skirted the front door and circled around the building, counting the guards and security cameras as he moved.
While he was quite adept at picking locks and had hacked more than his share of security systems, it was too dangerous to do it here.
It would require him to leave the dead world, and he wasn’t willing to do that unless absolutely necessary.
He needed them to open the door for him.
At the rear of the house, he found a door that looked as if it might lead into the kitchen.
Definitely not the type of place he’d find Damon or any of his upper-level disciples.
No, here would be the underlings and the servants.
Maybe some guards trying to keep a low profile or take a break. He could make this work.
Turning where he stood, he took a quick inventory of his surroundings.
Off the door was a small stone patio with a couple of cheap folding chairs and a bucket.
He glanced inside the bucket to find old cigarette butts and ashes.
Human servants with a bad habit? Or just some stressed-out vampires?
The nicotine wouldn’t affect the vampire any longer, but there could be some placebo effect going on.
The old habit helped to settled nerves more than the chemicals.
Bel would love to study these poor creatures.
A slow grin spread across Winter’s lips.
This was just perfect. Checking once again for the placement of the video cameras, he reached inside the bucket while also creating a small opening between the worlds.
He snatched up a cigarette butt that had a good length of tobacco before the pale brown filter.
Winter walked over to one of the bushes that would have been just at the edge of the security camera view but still a short distance from the patio, and he pulled off the small sling backpack he wore whenever he was on missions like this.
The bag held essentials such as rope, knives, matches, cash, bandages, and even a small squeeze bottle of lighter fluid.
With the bottle and matches in one hand, he reshouldered the bag and took a deep breath.
He needed to work fast. An opening couldn’t be moved, and neither could the bush, which meant his hands would have to be in the realm of the living to light the fire.
Once his nerves were settled, Winter pushed the veil aside just enough to carefully place the cigarette among the branches and leaves at the top of the bush, as if someone had simply flicked it in that direction rather than putting it out in the bucket.
He sprayed the leaves around the cigarette with the fluid and the lit the match.
The fluid instantly caught, creating a bright light in the darkness.
Winter immediately pulled back and settled the veil closed again.
He shoved the squeeze bottle and matches into his pockets as he moved over to the kitchen door.
He didn’t need a large fire. Just one big enough to catch someone’s attention to send them outside.
The important thing was that it needed to look like an accident.
He didn’t want to tip his hand just yet that someone was trying to infiltrate the house.
To his relief, it didn’t take long for someone to notice that a bush was on fire. The door was thrown wide, and a vampire stepped partially outside. He held open the door while remaining in the doorway, casting a shaft of golden light across the patio.
“What the fuck?” the bloodsucker snarled. “Who the hell was out here last?” He turned toward the interior, shouting, “Someone get me a bucket of water or the damn fire extinguisher.” He’d slammed the door shut behind him before Winter could move.
Winter hovered near the door, cursing under his breath. The bastard had blocked his entrance into the house with his body. His plan wasn’t working quite how he’d expected, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
A few seconds later, the same vampire returned with a bucket in hand.
He strode across the patio, toward the fire that was increasing in size and threatening to spread to another bush.
A second vampire followed him out, but he stepped through the open doorway just enough to allow Winter to squeeze inside.
Releasing his breath in a rush, Winter slipped down the short hallway that ended in a large kitchen filled with polished stainless-steel appliances and a fancy tile floor.
Everything was either white or silver, making the room feel oppressively bright.
The only thing out of place was a pair of dirty glasses and some empty bags that had once held blood.
Looked like Winter had interrupted their late-night snack.
He had barely gotten across the kitchen when the two vampires returned with the empty bucket.
There was some talk about a cigarette starting the fire and why someone named Leslie couldn’t fucking put his butts out in the bucket like everyone else.
Winter nearly laughed to hear that his distraction had worked so well.
There was no suspicion that anyone had set the fire on purpose.
Continuing through the house, Winter took note that even more ghosts were crowded inside of Damon’s house than outside on his lawn.
He would have thought most of his victims would prefer to move away from the murderer if possible, but maybe they were hoping to exact some kind of revenge on the bastard.
Besides the ghosts, there were even more vampires walking rounds through the house.
Two were stationed by the front door, and another two were in front of a set of double doors on the first floor that he was willing to guess was Damon’s office.
He counted at least three more walking rounds through the place, poking their heads into open rooms and checking windows at regular intervals.
It was as if Damon were expecting to be attacked at any moment.
Winter wished he could stroll into Damon’s office now and cut the fucker’s heart out, but he held back on that dark impulse.
Aiden was right that Damon’s death would create a power vacuum.
They’d lose one threat and just move Paavo or some other vampire into Damon’s place.
Right now, Damon was a known threat. Something Winter could at least partially plan for.
The soft scuff of a shoe across the tile floor was his only warning.
He’d been lost in thought and hadn’t noticed a new pair of vampires on their rounds.
He ducked out of the way just in time to avoid one of them plowing right into him.
Winter released a heavy sigh of relief, leaning against a wall for support.
The vampire stopped right where Winter had been and gave a whole-body shiver. “What the hell? You feel that?” he muttered, looking over at his companion.
“What?”
“Cold spot. Right here.”
“What?”
The vampire with short blond hair and a goatee turned around where he stood, his eyes passing right over where Winter was plastered to the wall. “A cold spot. Like the air dropped twenty degrees right here.”
The other vampire with brown hair waved his hand right in front of the first vampire, his face wrinkled with confusion. “I don’t feel anything. You’re crazy.”
“I’m not. I wonder if I walked through a ghost.”