Pacing the floor, William checked the time on his watch. “Where is she?”
“Cool your jets,” Charles called as he entered the dining room. “She said she’d be here.” His Australian accent sounded thicker than normal.
William glanced toward the man, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t deny you’re stressed about her whereabouts. I can hear it in your tone.”
“Yeah, you hear what you want to hear.” Charles clapped him on the back, then the pair looked out the window, over the lawn. The sun had set, and Sadie should have been back by now. “I can go check in with the driver.”
“It’s no use,” Adam added as he joined the men. “He dropped her off and came back here. She said she needed time to pack her things.”
“Then, why is she not picking up our calls?” William growled. “I don’t like her out alone without a guard or one of us with her. If she had only fed from us.”
“We’ll make sure she does when she returns,” Adam told him. “She needs to be ready in her own time.”
“We need to talk to the help as well,” William said under his breath. “One of them apparently came at Sadie with accusations of us being vampires.”
“But we are vampires, brother,” Adam said.
William frowned and looked at the man next to him. “I know that, idiot. My point here, is that the service workers here need to understand their place is not to drop ideas and such things to our guests.”
“I’ll talk with them,” Charles offered. “They like me more anyway.”
“What the Hell does that have to do with anything?” William asked.
“You’re intimidating to them,” he answered William. “And you...” He looked at Adam. “Can come across as cold and callus.”
“Good,” he said and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “Maybe they’ll keep to themselves.” He placed one ankle over the other. “And I’m not mean. I’m a dick. There’s a difference.”
Charles chuckled. “Sure, tell yourself that.”
William’s phone rang and he flinched, then pulled it from his pocket. He furrowed his brows then glanced between Charles and Adam. “It’s Malik.” He pressed the Talk button. “Malik?”
“William, is Sadie there with you?”
“No, she’s not. She went to her apartment to pack a few things before moving into our home.” His chest tightened with concern. “Is everything all right?”
“Not exactly. The vampire who attacked Sadie before?”
“Yeah?” William said, and punched the button to put the phone on speaker.
“He was being transported to another facility. During the transition, he managed to attack his handlers and get away.”
William frowned. “How the fuck did he manage that?”
“He was savage, William. He was mad without feeding for so long. The last thing the handlers heard was him going on about finding the blood demon and finishing what he started. I have a team out now to scope her building and check on her whereabouts.”
“We’re on our way,” William told him, and motioned for his brothers to follow suit.
“William, I’ll ask you to remain at your home for the investigation. My team—”
“No,” he said. “You listen to me. No disrespect intended but she is our blood demon. She is ours and we cannot lose her. We’ve formed a bond with her and—”
“Did she feed from you?” Malik interrupted.
“What?” Adam chimed in.
“Did she feed from any of you?” Malik repeated.
“No,” the trio said in unison.
“Then, technically, she is not your blood demon, yet. You know the rules. You must abide by them.”
“Fuck the rules!” William growled. “We’re going to find her and regardless of the feeding, she is ours!” He hung up the call and pointed toward the garage. Truer words had never been spoken. Sadie was theirs and theirs alone. Not some maniac out for vengeance, not to be auctioned to the highest bidder at the fucking claiming ceremony. She was theirs.
The men bustled through the house until they made it to the garage. A number of cars sat ready to be driven and William pointed to the Range Rover.
“Allow me,” came the deep, gravelly voice of their driver, Thomas. The human male stepped around the men and shook the Rover’s keys in his hand. “I don’t trust any of you to bring Mitzi back in mint condition.”
“Mitzi?” Charles asked. “You named the fucking Rover Mitzi?”
“Yes, sir, I did. Now, if you’ll please get in, I’ll drive you back to Miss McKenzie’s residence.”
Pulling into the parking lot, Thomas parked, and the vampires exited the Rover.
William sniffed the air. Her blood was faint, but he could smell it. “She was here,” he growled and walked to the sidewalk of the apartment building. “What was her number?”
“3D,” Adam answered. “There’s a door to the stairwell. Let’s go.”
The men rushed to the door and opened it when they heard a familiar voice call their names.
“William! Charles! Adam! Don’t go any further.”
They turned to find Malik with the vampire version of police, except his men were not in uniform, but in business suits. Each carried a stake and a mallet.
“Stand back and allow us to do our jobs,” Malik ordered.
“With all due respect,” Adam started. “Your team didn’t do that good of a job the first time.”
“I’ll let that slide,” Malik said, and stepped past the men. “Wait in your ride and we’ll be out shortly with Sadie and Stanley.”
“Stanley?” William asked. “Right.” He stepped to the side as Malik entered the building, followed by five of his officers.
“So, we’re supposed to just wait for them to go in and clean up?” Adam asked.
“I’ll give them two minutes,” William answered. “Then, we go in.”
“I like it,” Charles added and rubbed his hands together. “Stanley will become chopped food for the critters at City Park. Mark my fucking words. The vampire will soon become crocodile shit in the bayou.”
“You mean alligators?” Adam corrected. “There are no crocodiles here in New Orleans.”
“What the fuck ever, Adam. I don’t care if he’s eaten by fucking ants and shit out for fertilizer. He’s a dead man.”
“Sirs?” Thomas called. “Please, have a seat in the SUV. They’ll be out shortly.”
William growled and punched the brick wall of the building. “Fuck,” he groaned and held his hand to his chest.
“Feel better?” Adam asked and turned William back toward the Range Rover.
“Calm your tits,” Charles barked. “One more fucking minute and we’re going in.”
William held his hand while Adam paced, and Charles stared up at the third floor window. Nothing was happening.
It was quiet.
Almost too quiet.
“Fuck this, I’m going,” Adam said, and headed toward the door right when it flew open. On the other side was Malik with a lifeless Sadie in his arms.
“Get to your SUV. Now!” Malik ordered and rushed toward the back of the ride. The trunk rose open and Thomas laid down the back seats. William and Adam climbed in and motioned for Malik to hand over her body. “She’s still alive,” he told them. “But her pulse is faint.”
Charles climbed in on the other side of Sadie’s body. “What of the vampire, Stanley?”
“We’ll take care of him. Her apartment will be cleaned of the blood and ash.”
Ash as in the vampire was killed. Good riddance. And with that, the trunk was closed.
Her neck was covered in her blood and several jagged fang punctures. It appeared as if Stanley ripped her skin with his teeth.
Thomas put the SUV into drive and the Rover sped back toward their home.
William held his right hand over her neck in an effort to keep her blood from pumping from the wound. With his free hand, he pulled his cell out and called Doctor Chayton Blair. When the doctor answered his phone, William yelled, “We need you at our home immediately. Sadie was attacked again and left for dead. Bring blood for her and an antibiotic, or whatever you feel is necessary.”
He hung up and held Sadie’s head in his lap. Her blood pulsed and oozed between his fingers. He longed to taste her blood, but in this moment, thirst was the farthest thing from his mind. He loved this fragile blood demon and would give his life for her to take just one more breath.