“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 withenough 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.
