She stilled with her foot about to cross the threshold, and then she smelled it.
“Oh God,” she whispered. “Blood.”
The tangy rusty smell permeated the air. Even before she was all the way into the safe house, she could smell its pungent aroma. This was one of the larger safe houses. They’d been hoping to find upward of fifty people in this place. Reyna was terrified to see what waited for them.
Still, she couldn’t just stand there. She steeled herself and hung on to Beckham’s strong will. Then she walked forward, pulling the door closed behind her.
Bodies lay sprawled on the floor. So many bodies. Piled on top of one another and haphazardly arranged. As if someone had killed them, then thrown them aside like trash, again. In comparison, the other murders had been almost civil. Throats slit for a quick death and cryptic messages.
This was grotesque. Deep puncture wounds in their necks and arms and wrists. As if multiple vampires had been let loose in a feeding frenzy.
Reyna covered her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Beckham didn’t say anything. He strode into the room and observed what had happened. Reyna felt like her feet were buried in cement. Staring at all the dead bodies made her feel queasy. She would never get used to the blood and death. These had been people. Living, breathing people and vampires had mutilated them. They had no care for the lives they were living. Humans were food. Nothing more.
She forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and see what Beckham was seeing. With a quick scan of the room, she took in the number of bodies vaguely and the way they were arranged. She focused on the sheer number of bite marks.
“This is either a newborn or starved vampire. Or both,” Beckham said, pointing out a young woman with eight visible bite marks on her.
“How…how can you tell?”
“Most vampires go for the throat. It’s the easiest and mosteffective spot. Newly made and starved vampires have no conscience whatsoever. They’re merely eating machines. They ravage prey until their system is full of blood. Then they begin to return to themselves.”
“How horrible.”
“Newborns usually snap out of it in a few weeks once they’ve eaten enough, especially if there are other vampires around. But starving vampires can be strung along like this—”
A scream pierced the air and Beckham stopped abruptly. Reyna’s head snapped to the back stairs. She darted after Beckham, who moved at vamp super speed. She had made it to the top stair when she saw Beckham struggling with a stray vampire.
She looked beyond it and saw a group of Elle members protecting the children behind them with a human barricade. Her heart went out to them. How long had they been enduring this? Watching the others die one by one and not knowing how long it could hold the vampire off.
“It’s okay. We’re going to get you out of here,” Reyna reassured them.
Whimpers and cries were heard, as relief flooded their systems. A few broke into tears as the fear relented. The children collapsed into waiting arms. A few whispered thank-yous were spoken.
Finally, Beckham restrained the vampire and Reyna reluctantly glanced away from the poor children. Beckham had his hands on either side of the vampire’s face, prepared to snap the neck of the foul beast who had murdered so many, who had clearly been sent here by Harrington to finish off his dirty work.
But when she made eye contact with the vampire, she gasped.
“Beckham, no!”
His eyes locked on hers in confusion. The vampire snarled angrily, trying to break Beckham’s hold.
“What?” Beckham demanded.
“It’s…it’s Brian.”
Chapter Sixteen
Reyna’s heart shattered into pieces. Her body felt as if it were going to collapse. The worst horror of all horrors stood before her.
Brian.
Her Brian.
Her oldest brother.
The protector of their small family.
