Quinn turned to his friends and put his finger on his lips, then made a motion for them to remain where they were. As soon as the intruder had opened the door to the basement and disappeared, Quinn stalked after him.
Quietly, he opened the door and set a foot on the stairs leading to the basement. It was dark, but he needed no light to know where the other vampire was heading. Even Quinn could smell it now: the scent of human sweat. Blake had worked out down here in the last twenty-four hours, and his scent still clung to the area. It appeared that the intruder was following the human scent to find if Blake was hidden down here.
Quinn made sure to avoid the stair that creaked and reached the bottom of the stairs without being noticed. Despite the commotion in the rest of the house, it was quiet in the garage. Barely a sound drifted to him as he followed Keegan’s man toward the door to the gym. He kept back behind a wall and readied himself to attack.
Automatically his hand went to his back pocket to reach for the flail he’d placed there earlier in the evening and realized too late that he’d gotten rid of it when the fire captain had entered the home.
Quinn suppressed a curse. He couldn’t use his gun with the silver bullets to bring down the enemy vampire. First, the shot could possibly attract some of the firemen, and secondly, he didn’t want to kill the guy. He wanted him alive so he could be questioned. He wasn’t as good a shot as Thomas, and the danger of hitting a vital organ or major artery and having him bleed out quickly or, worse, combust instantly was too great.
Which only left him with one weapon: the throwing stars he carried in his jacket pocket. Before he could pull them out, the vampire opened the door to the gym and disappeared inside.
Shit! Throwing stars were useless in close combat, and now there was no other choice but to enter the gym, which was no larger than fifteen by fifteen feet, and engage the bastard in a fist fight. Not something he was particularly looking forward to.
He placed his hand on the doorknob and inhaled. The scent of vampire and a sound from behind him assaulted him at once, and he whirled around. His heart came to a standstill, and his fist, which had been ready to strike, stopped in mid movement.
Rose, he mouthed.
She leaned toward him, whispering into his ear, “Thought you might need some help.”
He rolled his eyes. “You shouldn’t have followed me,” he murmured into her ear. “One of Keegan’s men is in there.”
She moved away from him, pulling a long chain from her jacket pocket and grinned.
Let’s get him. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
Quinn nodded and took the chain from her, wrapping one end over each gloved hand. When he heard steps in the gym, he knew the guy was moving toward the door, having searched the gym and found nothing.
He heard the sound of numbers being punched into a phone, then the vampire’s low voice. “He’s gone ... No, I’m sure he was here ... Yes, sir.”
The person on the other end could only be Keegan. Maybe the fact that this vampire was reporting back to him that Blake was nowhere to be found would turn out to be a good thing.
Quinn motioned Rose to step behind the door while he took the other side when he heard their enemy move again. When the door opened and the vampire came out, Quinn pounced. The vampire’s fire helmet fell to the floor as Quinn slung the chain around his neck from behind. He forced him to the ground by kicking his knee into the guy’s back, wrapping the silver tighter around his exposed neck.
“Welcome to the Pacific Heights B&B,” Quinn hissed. “I hope you’ll enjoy your stay.”
27
A couple of hours after the fire department responded to the call, they had cleaned up and were on their way back to their station. The neighbors had started to return to their homes as soon as it was clear that the fire was small and had only caused minimal damage to the roof. The firemen had boarded up the area and cautioned Quinn and his colleagues not to let anybody go up to the attic until it was repaired. But they had lifted the evacuation order and declared the home safe.
Everybody was back inside, but the night wasn’t over yet.
Amaury and Wesley were keeping watch on the house, and Cain was with Oliver, who had protested, saying he didn’t need a babysitter. Quinn had begged to differ.
“By now Keegan must know that we’ve got his guy,” Quinn said, looking at Rose.
They both stood just outside the gym while Zane guarded the prisoner who’d been tied up with silver chains.
Rose snorted. “He probably thinks that we killed him. It’s what he would do. Maybe we should.”
“He’s more valuable to us alive.”