Christian crawled to his feet, a malevolent look marring his handsome face.
I recoiled at vicious barking and snarling.
Lenore shrieked in agony. Something had its jaws locked on her hand, and that something was Harley.
The bullmastiff violently shook his head, and Lenore shrieked in pain.
She raised her other arm to strike him, but before she could bring down the fatal blow, Christian dove at them and wrapped his arms around the dog, releasing his savage hold and rolling them out of reach.
Lenore, fangs out, made a feral sound as she pivoted into the hall.
Stunned at what I’d just witnessed, I jumped over Christian’s legs and flashed down the hall.
“Not one more step,” she warned, her good hand wrapped tightly around Hunter’s small neck. She had him pressed against her with her fingers gripping his throat.
Hunter’s blue eyes were saucer-wide.
I slowed my pace. “You’re not a killer. I should know because I am. But a Vampire hiding behind a defenseless child? Where the hell is your dignity? That’ll crush your reputation.”
She reached the door and opened it, her wound healing up. “Stay inside. If this door opens, I’ll crush his trachea and snap his neck. If you want to take that chance, you’ll have to live with it, and we’ll see how much of a killer you really are, Raven Black.”
Lenore stepped outside and shut the door.
Knowing she was listening, I ran to the window and watched.
Lenore shouted for Fletcher to drive when she reached the car. My heart raced—I was terrified she would kill Hunter anyway.
Viktor approached the other window.
“She said if we opened the door—”
“I heard,” he replied. “Let her go. We have the human, and there is much information we can get from him. Information that will lead to where the money is.”
“Do you think she’ll flee the country?”
“Doubtful. Not until she knows our intentions,” he said absently, yanking the door open and rushing out.
Seconds before Fletcher and Lenore sped away, Hunter kicked the car door and stalked back to the house. Viktor ran up to him and knelt. I lingered in the doorway while he consoled the boy, who wasn’t crying at all. Instead, his eyebrows slanted down over his blue eyes, and the scowl on his face reminded me a lot of Shepherd. Especially with the smear of Lenore’s blood across his cheek.
The Mercedes kicked up a cloud of dust when it turned at the gate.
“We were so close,” Christian said from behind me.
“Maybe you should have had someone else walk back to the kitchen with you.”
“’Twasn’t thinking that far ahead,” he admitted. “I was certain the chainsaw would be enough to distract her.”
“Maybe we should have used that instead of a stake.” I turned, and a laugh burst out of my mouth. Christian’s shirt was now nothing more than a shredded collar dangling from his neck. Blood smeared his arms and chest, and his entire left pantleg was ripped wide open, exposing his leg up to the thigh.
Behind him, Harley trotted into the room, tail wagging and Christian’s shirt in his mouth.
CHAPTER22
“You sure you’re okay, little man?” Shepherd squatted in front of the black beanbag chair in Wyatt’s office, where Hunter was watchingToy Story.
Hunter had his knees drawn up, and his short pantlegs revealed dark-pink socks. He leaned to the side, trying to watch his movie. Shepherd finally sat down in the beanbag next to him. With his eyes still on the TV, Hunter reached out and touched Shepherd’s hand. I knew that was more than a comforting gesture—Sensors had a different way of communicating with each other.
After Lenore had made her great escape, Shepherd almost lost his mind when he found out what happened. Everyone upstairs was so preoccupied in the game room that they’d been oblivious to Hunter’s disappearance. He must have either heard something that piqued his interest or followed Harley downstairs. To be honest, I didn’t know that anyone was put in charge of watching the dog.
