Fools.
How many would live to see the dawn? Her gaze swept over them. Stopped on the two muscled guards near the entrance of Temptation.
They both wore headsets. Small microphones were attached near their lips.
Well, well. Looked like the Vegas vamps were smarter than those in L.A.
If Hugh had been equipped with a unit like that, he might have been able to call out for help before that damn level ten had killed him.
But the extra security did mean she'd have to alter her plans a bit.
She had a feeling Adam wasn't going to be too wild about the strategy shift. But, well, there wasn't much choice.
They climbed out of the SUV. The gun pressed into her back as she walked. Adam's attention was on the feeding room, a frown pulling down his brows. "Can't they smell it?"
The blood. The death that hung in the air like perfume. Maya shook her head. "They're here for the thrill. They don't care about anything else." Too bad for them. Some thrills weren't worth the price.
She studied the building for a moment. Granite. With tall white columns and a wide entranceway. Not much had changed since her last visit.
Damn, but she'd been thirsty then. Thirsty enough to walk into this hell.
At least she knew her way around inside. That knowledge would make searching for the girl much easier.
Adam took a step forward. Maya's arm flew out in front of him, shoving back against his muscled chest. "Sorry, Slick. There's been a change of plans."
He blinked. "What?"
"You can't go in. I'm going to have to do this alone."
"The hell you are." His heart drummed furiously beneath her hand. "This isn't a solo game, Maya. You're not leaving me."
She jerked her thumb toward the guards. "See them? If I walk by, show some fang, flash a little hunter's black eye, they'll let me in, no questions asked." Her lips tightened. "But you-no scent, rage pouring from you-they'll notify the vamps inside about you before you can even say 'Screwed.'" Which they most definitely would be if he didn't listen to her.
"You're not going in alone." The words were bitten off.
Yeah, she was. "If you want to find Cammie, well, then I sure as hell will be." They were wasting precious time. "Look, there's a back entrance," she told him, pointing to the alley on the left. "If you stay in the shadows, no one will see you. I'll search the place, get the girl, and slip out to meet you." And if luck was on her side-doubtful, but maybe-at least this once, "Then we'll get the hell out of there without any of the vamps knowing what's happened."
"I want Torrence." Flames burned in his eyes.
"I know you do." But they had to prioritize, dammit. The guy couldn't just go on a revenge spree. "But what do you want more, him or your niece?"
His hands fisted. "Cammie."
She exhaled. "Good answer, Slick." Payback would have to wait. "Now go, and I'll meet you as soon as I find her." If she was inside.
She'd damn well better be.
They didn't have much longer to search for her. The whisper in Maya's head, that soft call, was growing more insistent.
Nassor would rise soon.
And call to those taken of his blood.
She turned away from Adam, began walking fast.
"Maya!"
His shout stopped her. There was something in his voice. A hesitation. A fear? She glanced over her shoulder. Found him watching her with a face that looked hard and cold under the streetlights.
"Why'd you do it?" His voice was soft, but easily reached her ears.
"Do what?"
"Dig me out of those rocks." His gaze bored into her. "Why didn't you just me leave me-"
To die.
"Leaving you wasn't an option." She'd never even thought about it.
"Why?" Stark.
She didn't know. She just…hadn't been able to walk away. She couldn't leave, not when she knew he was down there, trapped under those rocks. Maya forced a shrug. "Hey, I'm sure you would have done the same for me, right?"
She turned away, not wanting to see his expression and Adam didn't reply, didn't speak again.
His silence followed her to Temptation.
"Hey, I'm sure you would have done the same for me, right?" Her words seemed to echo in Adam's ears.
But would he have done the same? He watched her stalk away from him, back perfectly straight, shoulders thrown back. Her hips swayed slightly, a sexy roll that caught his eye-and the eyes of others.
Maya.
She marched past the crowd. Flashed the guards the promised smile and slipped inside. He could hear the doors slide closed behind her, a soft whoosh that seemed far too final.
Alone. Damn. He didn't want her in there without him.
Sure, the lady knew how to handle herself, but there was only so much that she could do against a gang of vampires.
Be safe, Maya. And get the hell out of there, fast.
He sighed and turned toward the alley. He'd wait for her, as she'd ordered, but if he caught even the faintest whiff of trouble, he'd knock down the bar's doors and go in after her.
"Hey, I'm sure you would have done the same for me, right?"
It was just as she remembered. Gold cages lined the walls. Scantily clad men and women undulated inside them, dancing in a slow, teasing rhythm to match the beat of the band.
A woman was lying across the bar as a vampire fed from her neck. She moaned in ecstasy, her hips rocking against the smooth surface.
Couples were dancing. Humans, vamps. Blood was flowing.
You come to fuck or to feed? That had been the question gruffly asked by the guard at the door.
She'd replied, as most vamps did. "Both."
Maya knew she wasn't going to find the kid in any of the main rooms. Not the bar, not the VIP lounge, not the sex rooms in the back. If Cammie was there-and since it was Torrence's little home away from home, it figured that the girl would be-then he'd have hidden her well.
Her gaze darted to the gray door marked "Private." It led below. She knew, she'd caught a glimpse of stairs when the door had opened before.
What waited below? Who waited? The hair on her nape began to rise. Slowly, she let her stare drift around the crowded bar.
So many vampires.
Sex and blood. The scent filled her nostrils.
Her eyes locked on the tall figure of a man. A man with blond hair, a perfect face, and fangs that were just inches away from a woman's throat.
Torrence? She couldn't be sure. He fit the description, but that wasn't saying much.
Just to be safe, she used the crowd as a cover and carefully made her way to the gray door. She'd search below first. If there was no sign of the girl, then she'd work her way back up until she covered every inch of Temptation.
Her hands were against the door when a shiver of awareness worked its way over her body. She glanced back.
And found the blond vampire smiling at her. Kind of like a cat who'd just caught a fat mouse and was now getting ready to have a really, really good dinner.
Fuck it. Maya shoved open the door and took the steps three at a time.
CHAPTER 12
The night was too quiet. Adam stood near the back entrance of Temptation, a steel door that was locked tight, and wondered why the night seemed so quiet.
Maya had been inside for ten minutes now.
Not enough time to search the bar.
Enough time to die? He swallowed back his fear. He'd give her a little longer. She'd been right to leave him behind, he knew that. If he went inside, saw that bastard Torrence, the rage would overwhelm him and everything would go to shit.
And the feeding room would go up in flames.
Not a good plan.
Cammie came first.
Revenge would be a sweet second.
Hurry, Maya.
A lone wolf's howl ripped through the night.
Adam stiffened. Aw, hell .
Harold "Harry" Thomas knew that Temptation wasn't a normal bar. Each time the door opened, he'd caught the scent of blood. He'd seen the marks on the men and women when they came out-if they came out.
But he knew not to ask too many questions. If he did his job, he got paid and he got to keep living.
Seemed like a good enough arrangement to him.
Besides, the way Harry figured it, he wasn't really doing anything wrong. Those fools who went inside, they were looking for trouble. Not his fault if they found it.
Vampires. Shit. Who would have thought they were real? And sometimes, they looked so harmless. So normal.
Like that last woman who'd gone inside. Pretty little thing-silky black hair, body so small, and a sweet ol' face on her.
Then she'd smiled at him, shown him her fangs, and met his stare with eyes gone pitch-black.
You just never knew about those vamps-they were everywhere and could be anyone.
Static crackled in his headphones. "Send in more girls."
Harry motioned to the two leather-clad redheads at the front of the line. They'd been waiting for an hour. It was their turn.
They giggled as they hurried past him, their eyes a little too bright.
Maybe the drugs would make it easier for them.
Harry went back to his post. His partner Mac stood silently beside him.
It was gonna be another long night.
Harry's gaze swept the street.
The piercing cry of a wolf's howl split the night.
What the hell? He stepped forward and saw them. Big, dark shapes moving fluidly in the night. Running.
Snarling. Coming closer, closer.
The men and women in line began to scream, to run.
But the wolves just kept coming closer.
"Trouble! Shit!" He screamed into the microphone, stumbling back against the white column.
"We've got-"
A man stepped from the middle of the snarling pack of wolves. A tall man, with black hair, eyes colder than hell, and a twisted smile on his lips.
The wolves, big, ugly bastards whose tongues and teeth dripped with saliva, snarled and backed Harry and Mac even farther against the hard columns.
The man stopped inches away from him. Lifted his hand to Harry's chest. "What you've got, my friend," he murmured, and Harry noticed his ear then. It looked as if it had been partially bitten off.
"Is more than trouble. You've got hell at your door." His fingers lengthened into claws.
Harry tasted fear on his tongue. A voice in his ear was screaming, demanding to know what was happening, but Harry couldn't speak.
"You've got something I want inside," The man-no, he wasn't a man– the monster snarled. "And I'm going to fucking rip this place apart! "
Harry knew he was looking into the face of the devil.
Company was waiting for Maya at the bottom of the stairs-company in the form of three of the biggest, ugliest vampires she'd ever seen in her life.
She literally stumbled off the stairs and landed in front of them. She hadn't caught their scent-the scents of vamps were everywhere. Too hard to distinguish amid all the blood.
Hell. She'd always had piss-poor luck.
But a pretty passable ability to act. She flashed a smile. "Hi, guys, wanna party?"
The guy in the middle-probably the ugliest-stepped forward and the dim overhead lighting winked off the piercings that began at both earlobes and looped to the tip of his ears. He was bald, with a shining scalp and a face that looked like it had been beaten in more than once during his mortal life. His fangs flashed-and they were sharp.
Maya didn't step back. Just kept smiling.
His gaze raked over her. A growl rumbled in his throat.
There was a door just behind him. A thick, steel door.
These guys were in the basement for a reason-guarding that special door. So what waited on the other side? She couldn't wait to find out.
But first, she'd have to get rid of her company.
The vampire in front of her reached out a hand and trailed his thick fingers over her arm. "A horny little vampiress wants to party, huh?"
Not likely.
The two vamps in the background stepped closer, eyes beginning to shift black.
"I wanna go first," the guy on the right said, his tongue snaking out to lick his lips. "I haven't drunk from a vamp bitch in years."
And it would be years before he did again.
The bald leader snarled at the other vamp's words and hit him with a barrel-like fist to the face.
Oh, nice.
The guy slammed back against the wall.
One down, and she hadn't even worked up a sweat.
The clang of a metal door slammed from above her. Shit. No more time for games or partying.
Maya stepped closer to the pierced vamp. Stood on her toes and whispered in his ear, "This is gonna hurt." Then she grabbed his head and pushed him back, slamming his skull straight into the steel door. He fell with a whimper.
She had her gun drawn and aimed at the third vamp's heart before he could even move. "Open the door." The other two weren't dead. Just stunned. And someone had entered the stairwell. Two flights separated them. "Now."
His lip lifted in a sneer. "Bullets won't kill me-"
"These will." Her finger tightened on the trigger. "Wanna find out?"
His black gaze dropped to the barrel of the gun.
"Tick-tock, asshole," she snapped. No time for this.
A scream tore from upstairs. Another. Roars. Growls.
What the hell? The vamp bent down, fumbling inside Baldy's pocket. Maya heard the jingle of keys. The guy lifted up the key ring, holding out one silver key-
Maya rammed the butt of the gun against the side of his head.
Three down.
Footsteps thudded on the stairs. Whoever had been up there had decided to join the game.